Trump wavers over impeachment trial

Bloomberg

President Donald Trump is wavering over how he wants his impeachment trial in the Senate to unfold, people familiar with his thinking said, but an offer by his former top national security aide to testify challenged Republican plans for a quick proceeding.
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell gave no indication that John Bolton’s willingness to testify was putting pressure on him to yield to Democrats’ demands for additional witness testimony. At least one GOP senator expressed an interest in hearing from Bolton but didn’t back a subpoena.
The terms of a trial are crucial to how the case ultimately is perceived by voters before the November elections, and even Republicans haven’t agreed on how to proceed, though McConnell has early support from key moderates. Speaker Nancy Pelosi is withholding the articles of impeachment approved last month by the House as a way to influence terms of the trial.
Trump and other Republicans have been pressing for a swift resolution — either a trial or a dismissal, citing a need for the president to focus on other matters such as fallout from the US killing of Iranian general Qassem Soleimani. However the trial unfolds, the chances the GOP-led Senate would remove Trump from office are remote.

Trial or Dismissal
Trump’s thinking on Senate proceedings remains fluid, according to the people, who asked for anonymity to describe the president’s private comments. As he returned to Washington from Florida aboard Air Force One, the president said he either wants a trial or a dismissal.
“I would personally be very happy with a trial, but I would live with a trial or a motion to dismiss,” Trump said.
The next morning, he underscored the urgency for some kind of resolution in a series of tweets on impeachment, saying: “Get this done.”
Trump hasn’t decided if he’d allow top aides or former officials to testify or if he wants witnesses at all, three people familiar with the matter said. The president considers the impeachment trial to be McConnell’s process, two of them said.
Yet the president has expressed interest in hearing from at least one witness: The whistle-blower whose complaint triggered the congressional inquiry that resulted in his impeachment. Democrats staunchly
oppose that effort, saying the person’s anonymity must be
preserved.