February, 07 2021, 11:00pm EDT
Government Watchdogs Call For Witness Testimony In Trump Impeachment Trial
In a letter to Senators Patrick Leahy and Chuck Schumer and Representative Jamie Raskin, a coalition of public interest organizations urges Democrats to include witnesses of the events of January 6th to strengthen the case for convicting President Trump.
WASHINGTON
A coalition of six organizations today issued a letter to Senate President Pro Tempore Patrick Leahy, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, and Representative Jamie Raskin, the House's lead impeachment manager, as well as the House's other eight impeachment managers, calling for live witness testimony in President Trump's second Senate impeachment trial. The proposed format for the trial features only pre-recorded video evidence.
"The Senate, and the nation as a whole, need to hear from witnesses who can testify not only about the violent attack on the U.S. Capitol on January 6th, but also about Trump's actions leading up to that attack," the letter states. "The most compelling case cannot be presented entirely by pre-recorded video."
The witnesses proposed in the letter include Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger; Members of Congress, their aides, and Capitol staff targeted during the January 6th riot; Capitol police officers attacked by the rioters; and President Trump himself by way of subpoena.
To support their argument, the coalition quotes Senators who voiced their concerns about a lack of witnesses in Trump's first impeachment trial in February 2020, including Sens. Schumer, Patrick Leahy, Dianne Feinstein, Bernie Sanders, Susan Collins, Chris Murphy, and Joe Manchin, as well as Vice President Kamala Harris.
"President Trump has been impeached on the most serious charge ever levied against a president: that he incited an insurrection against the United States," the letter concludes. "For the sake of presenting the full case to the Senate and to the American people, the trial must include witnesses to Trump's high crimes and misdemeanors."
The signers, led by Free Speech For People, include Free Speech For People, Equal Justice Society, Mainers for Accountable Leadership, March for Truth, Progressive Democrats of America, and the Revolving Door Project.
Free Speech For People is a national non-partisan non-profit organization founded on the day of the U.S. Supreme Court's ruling in Citizens United v. FEC that works to defend our democracy and our Constitution.
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According to a statement from Murphy's office:
Under the law, boards of education and governing boards of public libraries are barred from excluding books because of the origin, background, or views of the material or of its authors. Further, boards of education and governing boards of public libraries are prevented from censoring library material based on a disagreement with a viewpoint, idea, or concept, or solely because an individual finds certain content offensive, unless they are restricting access to developmentally inappropriate material for certain age groups.
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New Jersey Association of School Librarians President Karen Grant said that "the Freedom to Read Act recognizes the professionalism, honor, work ethics, and performance of school and public library staff" and "promotes libraries as trusted sources of information and recognizes the many roles that libraries play in students' lives."
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