Commentary: U.S. Senator Tom Udall (D-N.M.) issued the following statement after Senate Republicans voted to block key witnesses and documents in the Senate impeachment trial of President Donald Trump:
“Witnesses and documents that shed light on wrongdoing are basic tenets of our justice system. The Senate and the American people have been deprived of their right to know the full truth. Thanks to Senate Republicans, the Trump impeachment trial will now be the first Senate impeachment trial of a president without witnesses in history.
“The American people deserve the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth—not a cover-up. Today’s vote sends a signal to the American people and the entire world that the Senate Republican majority does not stand by the most basic procedures of conducting a fair trial – and that they are willing to shirk their constitutional responsibility to seek the truth about gravely serious abuses of power. And it sends an unambiguous message to the president that Senate Republicans will not hold him accountable for misconduct.
“One way or another, more and more information regarding this president’s abuses of the power of the presidency will come to light, and history will not look kindly on those who sought to suppress it.”