House Democrats Vow to Call Witnesses Themselves If Senate Doesn’t in Trump Trial

Democratic lawmakers in the US House of Representatives vowed to call new witnesses, including Lev Parnas, if Republicans in control of the Senate refuse to do so in the impeachment trial of President Donald Trump.

News ID: 448551

Date: 21 January 2020 - 10:16

RNA - The House has already informed the Senate of having impeached the president, obliging senators to put Trump to trial, for which they have already sworn an impeachment oath.

“We're not going to just say, ‘OK, we've disposed of it and now the ball’s in their court and there’s nothing left for us to do.’ I think quite the contrary,” said Rep. Eliot Engel (D-N.Y.), chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee as cited by The Hill in a Saturday report.

“The more we hear, and the more things come out, the more resolute we are to make sure that we're dealing with the truth, and that it’s not being swept under the rug,” he added.

Parnas, a Soviet-born businessman with close ties to Trump's personal lawyer, recently revealed details about Trump’s attempt to find dirt on Democratic frontrunner, Joe Biden ahead of the 2020 presidential election.

Parnas was arrested in October along with Igor Fruman, another Soviet-born businessman, also working for Trump’s lawyer, Rudy Giuliani.

“We would be remiss in the House of Representatives not to follow this trail to its conclusion. And Parnas has emerged as an important figure in this criminal conspiracy to force or coerce a foreign government to help Trump's reelection campaign,” stated Rep. Hank Johnson (D-Ga.), a member of the Judiciary Committee.

Republicans in the Senate have noted that they would acquit Trump without calling for witnesses such as Parnas and former National Security Adviser John Bolton, fired by Trump.

“The president necessitated this by his abuse of power and his obstruction of Congress and his actions which undermined our national security, violated his oath of office to protect and defend the Constitution and jeopardized the integrity of our elections,” House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) stated on Thursday.

Providing a documents, phone records, emails and text-messages, Parnas announced last week that “President Trump knew exactly what was going on… He was aware of all my movements”.

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