Utah Sen. Mitt Romney (R) said today that it is “very likely” he will be in favor of calling witnesses in the Senate impeachment trial against President Trump.
However, the GOP lawmaker said he will hold off on making his final decision until after Democratic impeachment managers and the president’s defense lawyers conclude their opening arguments.
“I think it’s very likely I’ll be in favor of witnesses, but I haven’t made a decision finally yet and I won’t until the testimony is completed,” the Utah Republican said today after the first day of the Trump team’s opening arguments.
Romney declined to say whether he thought the president’s defense team was effective in the opening hours of their arguments, saying, “I just don’t have any comments on the process or the evidence until the trial is over.”
Earlier this month, Romney was the first GOP lawmaker to specifically say that he wanted to hear from former White House national security adviser John Bolton in the course of the impeachment trial.
Romney told reporters at the Capitol that he wants to find out “what he knows” about Trump’s contacts with Ukraine, the central issue in the impeachment effort against the president.
“I would like to be able to hear from John Bolton. What the process is to make that happen, I don’t have an answer for you,” Romney said.
Bolton has yet to be subpoenaed by lawmakers in the trial, and Democrats will need four Republicans to support their efforts if they are going to call the former Trump administration officials or other witnesses.
Bolton has said he would testify if subpoenaed by the Senate.
Fellow GOP Sens. Susan Collins (Maine) and Lisa Murkowski (Alaska) have also both indicated an openness to hearing from further witnesses.