Sen. Ron Johnson, R-Wis., said Friday that the Senate should allow the House and President Donald Trump to make their case before deciding whether to dismiss articles of impeachment that the House might send over.
"I know outside pundits are just bringing up, dismiss this thing out of hand and move on, but at the same time that would not afford President Trump the ability to really defend himself. So I think the consensus viewpoint literally is we'll take it up in the Senate," Johnson told KHOW in Colorado.
He added that if the House sends articles of impeachment to the Senate, they will inevitably be "incredibly flawed," and House leaders and members of Trump's team would have to make their case to the Senate.
"I don't think we should ever just bring up a motion to dismiss. I think if at some point in time if we've heard enough, if we've really got the votes, we should bring up a motion to vote. Let's actually vote on the articles of impeachment and then dispense with it that way," Johnson continued.
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., dismissed the idea that the upper chamber would quickly dismiss articles of impeachment, telling reporters that "the rules of impeachment are very clear, we'll have to have a trial."
Trump himself said earlier Friday that he wants a trial.
Johnson also said that Trump should be allowed to call the whistleblower as a witness.
"I think certainly President Trump ought to have that capability," he said. "If the president wants to call the whistleblower I think that's totally appropriate."
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