by Joe Callen
Sen. Lamar Alexander is not a fan of President Trump.
The moderate Tennessee Republican has been unusually critical of many of Trump’s policies as president, and more recently his actions with respect to Ukraine that the Democrats used to justify his impeachment.
So Democrats were confident Alexander would vote with three other RINO Senators to make it a 51-49 vote to permit them to drag the Senate trial on for weeks — or possibly months — to subpoena “witnesses and documents” before the trial.
Well they were dead wrong.
Alexander Thursday night announced he would be voting against allowing House Democrats to force new witnesses on the Senate trial.
And the way Alexander chose to do it is infuriating Democrats — literally saying he agreed with them that what Trump did was wrong — but that it was merely “inappropriate”, not impeachable.
According to one analyst, this means the Senate trial is all but OVER.
Trump-hater Mitt Romney will vote yes, as will perpetual waffler Susan Collins, which leaves only Lisa Murkowski of Alaska to decide.
But it simply won’t matter at this point. 50-50 is a tie that — under Senate rules — cannot be “broken” by the Chief Justice John Roberts, who according to the Constitution, merely presides, but does not vote on the verdict.
The Democrats were absurdly trying to do what has never happened in any trial in U.S. history: after prosecution’s case fails, forcing the defendant to come up with “documents and witnesses” to prove themselves guilty!
Well that gambit appears to have failed miserably.
Pergram noted that if Democrats do not have the votes needed to call for more witnesses that “the Senate would then vote for verdicts on both articles.”
Which means this could all be over by Monday.
UPDATE: The New York Times after midnight warned that “Democrats are hinting at a gambit to frustrate the Republicans’ plans, though Senator Chuck Schumer, the minority leader, has refused to tip his hand.”
