Senate Democrat: Not unreasonable for Pelosi to wait to transfer impeachment articles

Sen. Doug Jones (D-Ala.) said on Sunday that he does not think it’s “unreasonable” for Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) to wait to transfer the House-passed articles of impeachment against President Trump until r ules for a Senate trial are decided.

Jones told ABC’s “This Week” that he supports the Speaker’s decision to withhold the articles to determine “what kind of playing field” her selected House managers will walk into when arguing for impeachment in the Senate trial.

“She’s not going to hold these forever,” the senator said. “We’re going to see these relatively soon, but I don’t think it’s unfair to ask, ‘What are the rules that we’re playing by, when we go and we get this over here?’ ”

“She’s not going to hold these forever,” Sen. Doug Jones tells @MarthaRaddatz when asked if he supports Speaker Pelosi withholding articles of impeachment from Senate.

“I don’t think it’s unfair to ask what are the rules that we’re playing by.” https://t.co/4oxxUovvgW pic.twitter.com/2MnUUXX4Oj

— This Week (@ThisWeekABC) December 22, 2019

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) have yet to decide on the rules for the Senate trial. 

Schumer has pressured McConnell to allow witnesses, specifically those the White House blocked from testifying in the House hearings, but Republicans have argued that the lower chamber should have conducted all of the necessary interviews with witnesses before impeaching Trump.

{mosads}The Alabama senator countered that Republican argument on Sunday, saying that if the GOP senators believe the case for impeachment is “thin,” the Senate needs to call more witnesses. Jones said having witnesses at the trial would allow for a “full, fair and complete trial.”

“If he really believes it’s thin, it’s thin because the president of the United States ordered his top people who were in the room who know — have firsthand knowledge not to testify,” Jones said. “He ordered documents not to be turned over.”

The House passed two articles of impeachment against the president last week, mostly along party lines, pushing the president to soon face a trial in the Senate. The Republican-majority Senate is expected to acquit the president.