(Reuters) – More Republicans announced opposition on Friday to calling witnesses in President Donald Trump’s U.S. Senate impeachment trial, dooming a bid by Democrats to permit testimony and paving the way for his expected acquittal.
Here are some quotes as events unfolded:
REPUBLICAN SENATOR LISA MURKOWSKI, in a statement
“Given the partisan nature of this impeachment from the very beginning and throughout, I have come to the conclusion that there will be no fair trial in the Senate. I don’t believe the continuation of this process will change anything. It is sad for me to admit that, as an institution, the Congress has failed.”
REPUBLICAN SENATOR MARCO RUBIO, in a statement
“Just because actions meet a standard of impeachment does not mean it is in the best interest of the country to remove a President from office… I will not vote to remove the President because doing so would inflict extraordinary and potentially irreparable damage to our already divided nation.”
LEAD DEMOCRATIC IMPEACHMENT MANAGER ADAM SCHIFF
“The witnesses the president is concealing will tell their stories. And we will be asked why we didn’t want to hear that information when we had the chance. What answer shall we give if we do not pursue the truth now?”
SENATE DEMOCRATIC LEADER CHUCK SCHUMER
“It is inevitable that more information comes out, and it will be drip, drip. Drip or it may be thunderbolt, thunderbolt, thunderbolt, but it will be a lot.”
PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP, on Twitter:
“The Radical Left, Do Nothing Democrats keep chanting ‘fairness’, when they put on the most unfair Witch Hunt in the history of the U.S. Congress. They had 17 Witnesses, we were allowed ZERO, and no lawyers. They didn’t do their job, had no case. The Dems are scamming America!”
Reporting by Patricia Zengerle, Richard Cowan and Lisa Lambert; Editing by Daniel Wallis