On Monday, former Rep. David Jolly (R-FL) tweeted that Sen. Mitt Romney (R-UT) needs to break his silence and take a position on the effort by Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) to suppress evidence and witnesses in the Senate impeachment trial to protect President Donald Trump:
Senate Democrats, led by Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY), have demanded that the Senate call first-hand witnesses to the Ukraine scheme, including former National Security Adviser John Bolton and White House chief of staff Mick Mulvaney, and broadly adopt the same rules that were unanimously agreed to for the Clinton impeachment trial — rules McConnell voted for at the time.
Romney, who was elected to the Senate in 2018, has also frequently criticized the president, but has not yet tipped his hand on whether he would back the GOP's plan to rush the Senate trial. Republicans can only afford to lose three votes while adopting the impeachment rules, putting pressure on members like Romney.
Jolly, who served in Congress from 2014 to 2017, has become one of Trump's fiercest conservative critics, abandoning his former party over its unswerving loyalty to the president.