McAdams joins other Dems calling for impeachment trial, which may begin next week

Utah Rep. Ben McAdams, center, his wife Julie McAdams, right and chief of staff Nichole Dunn leave the Murray City Council chambers after McAdams announced he will vote to impeach President Donald Trump during a press conference in Murray on Monday, Dec. 16, 2019. | Colter Peterson, Deseret News

SALT LAKE CITY — Utah Congressman Ben McAdams has joined a growing number of Democrats calling on their House leaders to transmit articles of impeachment to the Senate and let the trial on removing President Donald Trump from office begin.

“I just think it’s time to end the games and to send it over to the Senate and let the Senate do their job,” McAdams said Thursday.

And that may happen as soon as next week, news outlets reported Thursday.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., said at her weekly news briefing that she would transmit the two articles of impeachment “when I’m ready. That will probably be soon.”

A few hours later, Politico reported that Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., told Republican senators that he expects to receive the articles of impeachment as soon as Friday, setting up a trial that begins early next week.

McAdams joins a small but growing number of Democrats publicly urging Pelosi to move ahead with the trial. Several Democratic senators spoke out Wednesday on the need to move on. Four senators are vying for the Democratic Party’s presidential nomination and delaying the weekslong trial could interfere with their campaigning in early primaries.

Sen. Cory Booker, D-N.J., told The Associated Press’ “Ground Game” podcast that a looming impeachment trial and other pressing issues in Washington could deal a “big, big blow” to his presidential campaign by keeping him away from Iowa in the final weeks before the Feb. 3 caucuses.

But Pelosi appeared undeterred at her news briefing, saying McConnell must tell her how the trial will proceed before she can appoint impeachment managers, who will argue the House Democrats’ case in the Senate.

“We need to see the arena to which we are sending our managers. Is that too much to ask?” she said.

Rick Bowmer, Associated Press

Utah Rep. Ben McAdams speaks during a news conference announcing he will vote to impeach President Donald Trump, Monday, Dec. 16, 2019, in Murray, Utah.

McAdams said he, too, wants to see a fair trial in the Senate, but that is largely out of the House’s control.

“I may or may not like how they proceed with it, but I think we need to let them do their job. And I’m ready to focus on other things,” he said.

McAdams was the lone member of Utah’s congressional delegation who voted to impeach Trump for abuse of office and obstruction of Congress on a largely party-line vote three weeks ago. Pelosi has since withheld transmitting the two articles to the Senate to pressure McConnell to agree to call witnesses and request documents the White House had blocked during the House investigation.

The power struggle tipped to McConnell’s favor earlier this week, when he announced he has the votes to proceed with the trial without a decision on witnesses. Among the Republican senators whose support he needed was Utah’s Mitt Romney, who has said he would like to hear from additional witnesses but was leaving it up to leadership to decide the process.

He said Wednesday McConnell wants to follow the model used in the 1999 impeachment trial for President Bill Clinton, when the Senate decided on witnesses after opening arguments and questions from senators.

“That’s a process which I can support,” Romney said.

With a slim 53-47 majority in the Senate, McConnell has been able to rebuff Democrats’ demands for testimony and documents before the trial starts. But it’s unknown whether that support will hold once the trial begins. It takes just 51 senators to set the rules, such as requesting witnesses.

Romney has specifically said he would like to hear from former Trump national security adviser John Bolton, who said earlier this week he would be willing to testify if subpoenaed by the Senate.

If Bolton were to appear, he could provide a firsthand account of events central to the impeachment case against the president. As a senior adviser, he was present for key moments that were investigated in the House’s impeachment inquiry, including meetings with Ukrainian officials.

Trump is the third president in history to be impeached. He is accused of abusing the power of his office by pressuring Ukraine’s new leader to investigate Democrats, including political rival Joe Biden, using as leverage $400 million in military assistance for the U.S. ally in its border battle with Russia. Trump insists he did nothing wrong, but his defiance of the House Democrats’ subpoenas and document requests led to an additional charge of obstruction of Congress.

Trump weighed in from the White House suggesting that he, too, would like more witnesses at trial, according to the Associated Press. They include Biden and the former vice president’s son Hunter, as well as the government whistleblower whose complaint about the president’s pressure on Ukraine sparked the impeachment investigation.

Trump suggested that he would continue to block Bolton or others from the administration with firsthand knowledge of his dealings with Ukraine from testifying before senators.

“When we start allowing national security advisers to just go up and say whatever they want to say, we can’t do that,” Trump said during an event with building contractors. “So we have to protect presidential privilege for me, but for future presidents. That’s very important.”

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