Senate GOP will be accessories to obstruction if they shoot down a move by Justice Roberts to call witnesses: Ex-prosecutor

On Monday, former federal prosecutor Glenn Kirschner said that Rep. Adam Schiff (D-CA) must motion for Chief Justice John Roberts to call witnesses in the Senate impeachment trial — and that if Senate Republicans vote down this decision, they will be "accessories" to obstruction of justice.

Roberts, as the presiding judge over the impeachment trial, has some degree of power to admit new testimony and evidence into the record, but Republicans theoretically have the votes to unilaterally overrule his determinations if they so choose.

On Sunday, a bombshell report from The New York Times revealed former National Security Adviser John Bolton is alleging in his upcoming book that President Donald Trump directly told him he had imposed a quid pro quo on Ukraine for military aid — and that White House officials knew Bolton was going to publish this allegation for over a month, but sat on it even as Senate Republicans wrongly claimed none of the witnesses Democrats want to call are alleging direct knowledge of Trump's motives for denying the aid. All of this dramatically raises pressure on Republicans to allow at least Bolton to testify in the Senate.