Witnesses are likely inevitable in President Donald Trump's impeachment trial, says Newsmax CEO Christopher Ruddy, but he does not think they will hurt the president.
Ruddy, appearing Tuesday on Newsmax TV's "Greg Kelly Reports," said he talked to several congressional sources who say the news of former National Security Adviser John Bolton's upcoming book manuscript has "shifted the ground" on witnesses. The manuscript reportedly contains explosive revelations that Trump told Bolton he wanted to withhold military aid to Ukraine until it agreed to investigate Joe Biden, his son Hunter, and their business in that country.
"I believe that the that the witnesses are inevitable," Ruddy said, adding, "I don't think witnesses at the end of the day hurt the president."
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., late Tuesday said he did not have enough Republican votes to prevent witnesses at the Senate trial. The White House has said it would like to have Hunter Biden testify if Bolton is called. The younger Biden would presumably testify about his role as a board member on the Ukrainian gas company Burisma, which critics have said was merely a political appointment to gain access to his father.
Ruddy said Trump's legal team made a strategic error by not agreeing to two witnesses for the defense team and two for the House managers from the outset.
"Now you have a situation where it looks like the president's team is losing ground, when they're really not," he said.
In the end, Trump will prevail because the Democratic House managers have presented no evidence of a crime worthy of impeachment, Ruddy said.
"I believe that this president has not committed anything that is any crime," he said. "He didn't break any known law, first, and, second, what has been alleged about what happened here in the Ukraine is not worthy of impeachment. And, if anything, it's worthy of congressional oversight and hearings and then the public to decide in the election which is really just a few months away several months away in November."
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