Factbox: As Trump goes on trial, a fight over witnesses remains
unresolved
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[January 21, 2020]
By Jan Wolfe
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Donald
Trump goes on trial in the U.S. Senate this week on charges he abused
his office and obstructed Congress, with one of the most contentious
questions still unresolved - should senators hear from witnesses?
Senate Democrats in the Republican-controlled chamber want four current
and former Trump administration officials to testify. Democrats need at
least four Republicans to join them to reach a majority of 51 senators
to approve the subpoenas.
Many Republicans, however, want a speedy trial of Trump, their party
leader, without witness testimony. Trump has at times said he wants to
hear from witnesses, albeit not the same ones the Democrats want to
testify.
Here are some of the potential witnesses in the trial.
JOHN BOLTON
Bolton is Trump's former national security adviser. Democrats believe he
has first-hand knowledge of key decisions made to pressure Ukraine to
investigate Trump's rival, Democratic presidential contender Joe Biden.
![](http://archives.lincolndailynews.com/2020/Jan/21/images/ads/current/debbiesfloral_lda_010920.png)
Congressional investigators believe Bolton objected to Trump’s decision
to delay $390 million in military aid to Ukraine that is at the center
of the impeachment case and could elaborate on that, a Senate aide told
Reuters.
Bolton refused to participate in the House of Representatives
impeachment investigation, but in a surprise development said on Jan. 6
that he was willing to testify in the Senate trial.
MICK MULVANEY
Democrats have argued that Mulvaney, Trump's acting White House chief of
staff, was directly involved in withholding aid to Ukraine and has
first-hand information to share.
Mulvaney in October acknowledged during a news conference that the White
House withheld the money in order to push Ukraine to carry out the
investigations sought by Trump, although he later reversed those
comments.
Mulvaney was one of several Trump administration officials who defied
subpoenas issued by the House when it was investigating Trump.
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![](../images/012120pics/news_u39.jpg)
U.S. national security adviser John Bolton looks on as U.S.
President Donald Trump and first lady Melania Trump acknowledge
former astronauts and their family members during an Apollo 11 moon
landing 50th anniversary commemoration in the Oval Office of the
White House in Washington, U.S., July 19, 2019. REUTERS/Leah
Millis/File Photo
![](../images/ads/current/fitzpatrick_lda_SPONSOR_2017.png)
MICHAEL DUFFEY
Duffey is a political appointee in the White House budget office who
oversees national security funds. Duffey ordered the Pentagon to
freeze the security funding for Ukraine, according to publicly
released government documents.
Duffey also did not cooperate with the House impeachment
investigation.
ROBERT BLAIR
Blair is an assistant to Trump and a senior adviser to Mulvaney.
Blair was on the line during a July 25 phone call between Trump and
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy at the center of the
impeachment inquiry. Like Mulvaney and Duffey, Blair defied a House
subpoena for his testimony.
JOE BIDEN AND HUNTER BIDEN
Trump has alleged that when Biden was vice president he tried to
have Ukraine’s then-chief prosecutor fired to stop him investigating
Burisma, an energy company his son Hunter worked for. This claim has
been widely debunked and Trump has offered no evidence to support
the accusation.
Trump told reporters on Jan. 9 that he still wanted to hear from
Biden and his son during the trial. Biden has accused Trump and his
personal lawyer Rudy Giuliani of peddling “false, debunked
conspiracy theories.”
Biden said on Dec. 28 that he would comply with a Senate subpoena
but that there would be no legal basis for issuing one. He had been
criticized for previously suggesting he would defy a Senate
subpoena.
THE WHISTLEBLOWER
Trump has said the Senate trial should include testimony from the
whistleblower who prompted the impeachment inquiry by lodging a
complaint with an internal government watchdog about Trump's July 25
phone call with Zelenskiy.
(Reporting by Jan Wolfe; Editing by Ross Colvin and Lisa Shumaker)
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