"..staff for prosecutors were...on the phone trying to schedule a potential...deposition.."

[servermsh]

Coons twice spoke to the managers during the recess, first telling the managers that a delay would cost Republican votes to convict and could even cost Senate Democratic votes. "The jury is ready to vote," Coons said. "People want to get home for Valentine's Day," according to a senior House Democratic aide.

Later, he returned again to tell the managers they should accept a deal to admit Herrera Beutler's statement into evidence and not call witnesses.

It was an important moment that did accelerate things and get the trial back on track, officials said, because it came as staff for prosecutors were already on the phone trying to schedule a potential Zoom deposition.

Democratic Sen. Joe Manchin of West Virginia also approached a manager in the hallway to urge against moving forward with calling witnesses.

According to a Democrat familiar with the matter, the impeachment managers did not tell top Senate Democrats they wanted witnesses until five minutes before the proceedings. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer didn't even know until that point, but he told the managers Friday night and Saturday morning that Senate Democrats would support whatever decision the mangers [sic] made -- and reiterated that point on a caucus call Saturday.

https://www.cnn.com/2021/02/13/politics/senate-impeachment-trial-day-5-vote/index.html

[msfiddlestix]

1. beating a dead horse for fun?

Do you actually think the Senate would have voted any differently if 100 witnesses from the defense and one or two from our side were deposed? Not to mention the weeks and months it would have taken to finish?

Personally, I don't think so, and I'm really, really glad the House managers didn't risk bad actors claiming to testify for the prosecution but end up testifying for the defense. I'm really glad they proceeded as they did.

[EarlG]

2. I don't think it does us much good to endlessly relitigate whether witnesses should have been called

I was expecting four GOP votes to convict, maybe five tops. The House Managers' strategy ended up getting seven. It's quite possible that extending the process indefinitely would have gotten us zero, and maybe even lost some Dem votes. It's also highly unlikely that any of the 43 senators who voted to acquit would have changed their minds, since they were basing their acquittal on a "process" fig leaf, not on the facts.

It's also possible that while the usual talking heads are now doing their, "Did Democrats make a mistake not calling witnesses?" thing, there's an alternate universe where witnesses were called, the GOP turned the entire thing into a massive circus by calling hundreds of irrelevant witnesses, badly gummed up the process, and as the trial drags on and on the talking heads are now asking "Did Democrats make a mistake by calling witnesses?"

Trump was impeached twice, and of the four presidential impeachments in US history, his are the only ones to have received any bipartisan votes for conviction -- one the first time and seven the second time. The House Managers clearly established his guilt. He's not barred from running for future office, but I think November 2020 represented his peak, and he still lost. The base loves him, but to everyone else he is completely radioactive. And that's before any further criminal and civil actions against him kick in.

He is the Republican Party's problem now, and I'm fine with that.

[Iggo]

3. Manchin again.

Told ya.