Senator Explains Why It's Crucial For Key Witnesses To Testify In Trump's Trial

Sen. Doug Jones (D-Ala.) on Monday broke down why he believes it is essential that key witnesses be allowed to testify in the Senate’s impeachment trial of President Donald Trump .

“For Americans to have confidence in the impeachment process, the Senate must conduct a full, fair and complete trial with all relevant evidence regarding the president’s conduct,” Jones wrote in an editorial for The Washington Post . 

“I fear, however, that we are headed toward a trial that is not intended to find the whole truth,” he added. “For the sake of the country, this must change.”

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) has vowed to work “in total coordination  with the White House counsel’s office” in Trump’s trial, the date of which is still unknown. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi  (D-Calif.) decided to delay sending the articles of impeachment to the Senate.

Jones noted how the Trump administration had repeatedly stonewalled the impeachment process by refusing to hand over relevant documents and denying the testimony of figures with “firsthand knowledge of the facts.”

“The evidence we do have may be sufficient to make a judgment, but it is clearly incomplete,” he wrote, suggesting the testimony of former national security adviser John Bolton, among others, “could help fill those gaps.”

“These questions need to be answered now, not later in Bolton’s upcoming book,” he added, after listing just some of the queries that the former top Trump aide should be asked under oath.

Read Jones’ full editorial for The Washington Post here.