The President of the United States has obtained satisfaction. The calendar of his dismissal trial, revealed Monday January 20 by the leader of the Republican majority of the Senate, Mitch McConnell (Kentucky), master of the agenda, is indeed the guarantee of a procedure carried out with the load step to settle the Ukrainian affair as quickly as possible, perhaps even before the State of the Union speech that Donald Trump is due to deliver on February 4 before the two Houses of Congress.
This trial is the epilogue to the Ukrainian affair sparked by a telephone conversation between the President of the United States and his counterpart, Volodymyr Zelensky. During the call, Donald Trump called for investigations into his Democratic opponents. Investigations by the House showed that crucial military aid to Ukraine and an invitation to Washington had been conditioned on these announcements. Donald Trump had unblocked aid under pressure from Congress, however, when he knew the content of his phone call had precipitated the reporting of a whistleblower.
If the framework imposed by Mitch McConnell is adopted by the senators Tuesday, which should be the case account of the consensus which seems to prevail within the republicans, the seven democratic delegates who will defend the two articles of impeachment adopted on December 18 (for abuse of power and obstruction of Congress) will only have twenty-four hours to present their arguments, which must be concentrated over two days.
The hearing of new witnesses, a sensitive subject
Following them, the President's lawyers will have the same speaking time, also for two days, to refute them. The senators will then only have sixteen hours to question the two parties, through written questions read by the President of the Supreme Court, John Roberts, who will direct this special tribunal. It is only at the end of this first stage that the question of the possible hearing of new witnesses will be asked.
This is the most sensitive subject, the opposing theses of the two camps having already been exposed at length in motions tabled in the Senate. Democrats who act as prosecutors and the president's lawyers will only have two hours to make their views known before a Senate vote.
Democrats want to hear from four new witnesses, including Donald Trump's chief of staff, Mick Mulvaney, also budget director, clearly maneuvering in blocking military aid, and former national security adviser John Bolton , presented as hostile to the alleged bargaining of the White House. They will argue that the Senate has greater powers than those of the House of Representatives to circumvent the blockage of the administration, justified in the name of the prerogatives of the executive.
