In the impeachment proceedings against Donald Trump, everything is open again: The indictment is being expanded.
That could also call into question the safe acquittal for Trump.
Washington DC (USA) - The impeachment proceedings against Donald Trump are completely open again: By morning (local time) it was apparently clear in the USA that Trump would still be acquitted on Saturday.
But then House accusers prevailed in a vote.
The senators voted 55 to 45 to allow witnesses - including a Republican senator who would have incriminated Trump.
The focus was on a phone call Trump made with Republican minority leader Kevin McCarthy.
McCarthy is said to have asked Trump to call his supporters back from the Capitol.
"Kevin, I think these people are more angry about the (presidential) election than you," Trump is alleged to have just said.
Republican MP Jaime Herrera Beutler reported on this to CNN, among other things, because McCarthy informed her about it.
Impeachment proceedings against Trump: everything open again - bizarre call comes into focus
After the vote, the senators withdrew to deliberations: Would the US be politically paralyzed by an ongoing impeachment process?
Is it in the interests of the Democratic Party to drag out the process?
The next turning point followed: instead of summoning witnesses to the Senate, both sides agreed that the phone call should be formally accepted as evidence.
The closing arguments should then begin.
Impeachment proceedings against Trump: Chaotic scenes in the Senate after the fall of the Wall
Slightly chaotic scenes had developed around this vote.
Some senators, like the reported television commentators, had apparently not been entirely clear about what they were voting on.
In impeachment proceedings, the rules are set during the process.
Should witnesses be called, the Senate would have to vote on the approval of each individual.
At first it looked as if the process could drag on for hours, days or weeks and thus also slow down Biden's agenda.
Because if one side had called witnesses, the other side would probably have done so too.
In the meantime, the media had even spoken of up to 300 witnesses on the Trump defense side.
That at least now seems averted.
(kat)
* Merkur.de is part of the Germany-wide Ippen-Digital editors network.