House managers in the Senate impeachment process against former President Donald Trump defended their flip-flop decision not to call witnesses to testify – insisting they weren’t needed because members of the chamber witnessed the Capitol riots last month.
Rep. Madeleine Dean (D-Pa.) Was asked ABC News’ “This Week” if they and other Democrats prosecuting the case against Trump “succumbed” to seeking testimony Saturday, right after a vote that allowed them to do just that.
“Not at all,” she said. “We didn’t need any more witnesses. America witnessed this. We sat in a room full of witnesses and victims, we didn’t need any more witnesses.”
She noted that Democrats were able to have a statement by GOP Representative Jaime Herrera Beutler about House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy’s telephone conversation with Trump on Jan. 6 included in the evidence report.
Another manager, Del. Stacey Plaskett of the Virgin Islands, said the result was to put Herrera Beutler’s memory of her conversation with McCarthy on the map, adding that it was unlikely that Republican senators would have voted to condemn Trump anyway.
“I know people feel a lot of fear and believe that if we had (a witness), maybe the senators would have done what we wanted, but listen, we didn’t need more witnesses, we needed more senators with spines,” said on CNN’s “State of the Union.”
Herrera Beutler said McCarthy told her he implored the former president to blow off his supporters after they stormed the Capitol on Jan.6 and sent lawmakers to safety.
She said Trump told the Republican leader, “Well, Kevin, I think these people are more upset about the election than you are.”
The Senate voted 55-45 to call witnesses after Rep. Jamie Raskin, the House’s chief manager, wanted to subpoena Herrea Beutler to testify – a trial that could have delayed the Senate trial for weeks.
But then Trump’s house managers and legal team worked out a deal to admit her statement as evidence.
Herrera Beutler was one of 10 House Republicans who voted with the Democrats on January 13 to oust Trump.
Dean said the “determination” of the former president’s lawyers provided the truth of Herrera Beuter’s statement.
“I’m on file, a further witness to the high crime and insurgency instigated by a president,” Dean said.
The Senate acquitted Trump on the basis of a 57-43 House vote impeaching “insurgency. Seven Republicans voted Democrats to convict, but the margin was left behind the 67 needed to convict.”