GOP senator says Democrats want to slow down impeachment trial

Sen. James Lankford (R-Okla.) criticized Democratic House impeachment managers on Sunday, saying they want to slow down the Senate trial of President Trump just as Republicans hope to wrap it up.

ABC’s George Stephanopolous asked Lankford on “This Week” why he wouldn’t want to call witnesses in the Senate proceedings. The senator responded “it’s the same reason” the House “didn’t want to hear from witnesses, apparently.” 

“They wanted to move as fast as possible, and now they want to slow down the trial as much as possible in the Senate,” Lankford said. 

“That’s just a very odd political strategy for them more than a fact-finding strategy,” he added.

.@GStephanopoulos: “Why not hear from the witnesses?”

“It’s the same reason (the House) didn’t want to hear from the witnesses, apparently,” Sen. James Lankford says, adding that Democrats “want to slow down the trial as much as possible in the Senate.” https://t.co/Y05UNTZORA pic.twitter.com/kUzv1UzJbs

— This Week (@ThisWeekABC) January 26, 2020

The Oklahoma senator also criticized the House Democrats for expecting the upper chamber to act as a “special counsel” and seek out evidence in the case.

“That’s not really the task of the Senate,” he said. “The task of the Senate is to hear the trial. The House is actually the one gathering evidence for impeachment, so we’re acting on what they’re sending us.”

{mosads}The impeachment trial started last week and will resume on Monday. 

House impeachment managers and Senate Democrats have been pushing to add more witnesses who didn’t testify in front of the lower chamber, like former national security adviser John Bolton. But Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) and other GOP senators have urged senators to allow opening arguments to be completed before considering witnesses.