The Democratic impeachment managers sent a letter Thursday demanding that former President Donald Trump appear and testify as part of the upcoming impeachment trial in the Senate, and said if he refuses it will be evidence of his guilt.
Rep. Jamie Raskin, the Maryland Democrat leading the impeachment team, said Mr. Trump should be forced to detail his behavior under oath, in person. He said it could come either before or during the floor proceedings in the Senate.
“If you decline this invitation, we reserve any and all rights, including the right to establish at trial that your refusal to testify supports a strong adverse inference regarding your actions (and inaction) on January 6, 2021,” the congressman wrote.
Republican allies of Mr. Trump mocked the demand.
“Obviously a political ploy on their part,” said Sen. Lindsey Graham, South Carolina Republican.
He said it wouldn’t be “in anybody’s interest” to force the president to testify.
“It’s just a nightmare for the country to do this, it’s just a political showboat move to do this and they didn’t call him in the House,” the senator told reporters.
Other senators said they were open to both sides — the House Democrats and the president’s team — making their arguments over witnesses and testimony, but ultimately it will be up to the Senate to decide what to allow.
In this case, the 100 members of the Senate who will sit in judgment of Mr. Trump are also personal witnesses and, in some ways, victims, since most of them were at the Capitol during the attack.
Mr. Raskin said Mr. Trump opened the door to the testimony when his legal team filed a reply to the impeachment denying his conduct surrounding the election was responsible for the Jan. 6 attack at the Capitol.
While that was part of Mr. Trump’s argument, most of his focus was on the legality of attempting to try and punish a president no longer in office.
Mr. Raskin demanded a reply by Friday. The trial is set to start on Tuesday.
Democrats did not give Mr. Trump or his team any chance to offer input when they powered the article of impeachment through the House last month, a week before the president left office.
Some legal experts have suggested that is a fatal flaw in the case, since it left no record for senators to judge.
• Stephen Dinan can be reached at sdinan@washingtontimes.com.
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