Why Biden allies in Senate opposed calling witnesses: Sources
Biden allies in the Senate told House impeachment managers during their deliberation Saturday afternoon that they opposed calling witnesses, making it clear that calling witnesses would take away from the president’s agenda and had the potential to derail COVID-19 relief, according to multiple sources close to the deliberations behind the scenes.
![PHOTO: Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell and other Republican senators and staff talk on the floor after a vote on the motion to allow witnesses in the second impeachment trial of former President Donald Trump in the Senate. Feb. 13, 2021.](https://s.abcnews.com/images/US/impeachment-president-donald-trump-10-ap-llr-210213_1613234948672_hpMain.jpg)
A White House official told ABC News that the White House was not involved with discussions over calling witnesses or the deal that was made.
The Senate Saturday voted 55-45 to hear from witnesses, but then the Trump legal team and House impeachment managers came to the agreement to admit the written testimony of Rep. Jaime Herrera Beutler, R-Wash., into evidence and not request further witnesses.
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Herrera Beutler, one of ten House Republicans who voted to impeach, tweeted a statement Friday reiterating comments she made about a talk she had with House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy regarding Trump's involvement in the Capitol siege.
In Herrera Beutler's statement, she reiterated her claims -- which she made earlier to Washington newspaper The Daily News -- that McCarthy spoke to Trump as rioters stormed the Capitol on Jan. 6, but Trump refused to stop them.
-ABC News’ Cecilia Vega, Katherine Faulders and Ben Siegel