WATCH: If senators want witnesses, Schiff says, Trump argument is 'we will make you pay' with delay

Trump's first impeachment - 2020

Sen. Ron Johnson, R-Wisc., asked President Donald Trump's legal team whether the Senate should reject a subpoena for John Bolton due to concerns about the time it would add to the impeachment process. Attorney Jay Sekulow said calling witnesses such as the former national security adviser would send the Senate down the road of a “lengthy proceeding” that could set up a troubling new norm for impeachment. “If we’re looking at the institutional interests at stake, we’re setting a dangerous precedent,” Sekulow said. In a response, House manager Rep. Adam Schiff asked senators not to be thrown off Sekulow’s claim that calling witnesses would turn the process into a “circus.” He said that Trump’s legal team had over-exaggerated what the effects of calling additional witnesses would be on the trial and insisted it wouldn’t take months of litigation like White House counsels have suggested. “Don’t take my word about John Bolton. I’m no fan of John Bolton...but you should hear from him, you should want to. Make up your own mind,” said Schiff. Senators had their first chance to ask questions of the House managers and President Donald Trump’s legal team on Wednesday, Jan. 29. That came after both sides were given three days, respectively, to present their case. The House of Representatives impeached Trump in December on two articles--abuse of power and obstruction of Congress. The questions come ahead of a vote on whether to bring forward witnesses and documents as part of the Senate trial. The Senate must now decide whether to acquit the president or convict him of the charges and remove him from office.

For more on who’s who in the Trump impeachment inquiry, read

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