Jones and Manchin bend the knee to Pelosi and Schiff, they want witnesses

quote:

---

n their fight to win new witnesses and evidence, Democrats latched onto a line from White House deputy counsel Patrick Philbin — that “cross-examination in our legal system is regarded as the greatest legal engine ever invented for the discovery of truth.”

---

quote:

---

“I was absolutely stunned that they would consistently say that cross-examination is the greatest engine for truth and we’re playing a shell game,” said Sen. Doug Jones (D-Ala.), referring to counsel Pat Cipollone’s remarks to end Saturday’s session. “It is the president that is playing that shell game and denying cross examination.”

---

quote:

---

Sen. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.), one of the few Democrats who is not a guaranteed vote to convict the president, was more insistent on securing witnesses than ever.

“They were very clear in saying there is not one witness we’ve heard from on the prosecution’s case that they’ve made [that] has had direct contact with the president,” Manchin said. “And I’ve been saying all along: How do you have a trial without hearing from witnesses?”

---