Wednesday during an appearance on Hugh Hewitt’s nationally syndicated radio show, Sen. James Lankford (R-OK) said he anticipated witness reciprocity would be guaranteed for President Donald Trump during a Senate impeachment trial.
Lankford argued it would not only be equal as far as the number of witnesses given to each side, but the time allotted for witnesses as well.
“And the same opportunity to be able to bring witnesses, and to be able to set them up,” Lankford said. “Again, remembering during the House impeachment time period, the President was blocked, and the Republicans were blocked from bringing in any new witnesses or giving another side of the story. The President will be given the first opportunity to tell his side of the story during the Senate trial, and he’ll be given equal time with the prosecution at the very beginning of the trial. And it should stay that way, equal, all the way through, including witnesses.”
The Oklahoma Republican explained Bill Clinton’s 1999 impeachment would be used as a model for Trump’s impeachment.
“Witnesses that would be called would be deposed initially, and then the decision will be made do they need to come to be a live witness or not,” he added. “The Clinton time period during that trial in 1999, there were not live witnesses. All the additional witnesses that were there had already been deposed and testified for the House. And then they had additional questions from the Senate, and they were all done with depositions behind closed doors. It is entirely possible that if a witness is called, they would only be deposed, and then that written testimony would be brought to the American people and to the senators.”
Follow Jeff Poor on Twitter @jeff_poor
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