Donald Trump's second impeachment trial has been temporarily suspended after a last-minute witness was unearthed claiming to have overheard a key phone call with the former president.
On the fifth day of the impeachment proceedings, which was most likely to be the final day, the US Senate voted to hear the last-minute witness call.
Many had expected Donald Trump to be acquitted from the charges he has been facing at the impeachment trial. Most of the Republicans including the GOP Senate leader Mitch McConnell had indicated they are voting for the acquittal.
The move for calling the witnesses was voted in favor by 50 democrats and 5 republicans, which gave it a majority.
Mitt Romney, Susan Collins, Lisa Murkowski, and Ben Sasse were the Republicans who voted for the approval of witnesses. GOP Senator Lindsay Graham was the other senator who voted alongside Democrats. He changed his vote after realizing the call for the witness was likely to be approved.
Jamie Herrera Beutler, a Republican congresswoman has recently released alleged details of a phone call between President Trump and House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy during the Capitol siege.
She issued a press release in which she said, "When McCarthy finally reached the president on January 6 and asked him to publicly and forcefully call off the riot, the president initially repeated the falsehood that it was Antifa that had breached the Capitol. McCarthy refuted that and told the president that these were Trump supporters."
— Jaime Herrera Beutler (@HerreraBeutler) February 13, 2021
According to Beutler, Trump then told McCarthy, "Well, Kevin, I guess these people are more upset about the election than you are."
Trump's Defense team has said they have 302 witnesses, they want to call so far.
The GOP defense has indicated that the trial will slow down dramatically if the witnesses are to be called.
Although Trump will likely be acquitted, the witnesses will solidify the case against the former president. It is also believed that there are some Republicans who might change their vote after hearing the witness from a Republican congresswoman.
