Senate to vote on Trump trial witnesses with end in sight

Voting on the witness question is expected late on Friday after hours of debate.

Donald Trump appears to be heading for all-but-certain impeachment acquittal as senators prepared to reject efforts to call more witnesses and moved to start bringing a close to the third impeachment trial in American history.

The timing of a final vote on the president is uncertain, but the outcome is increasingly clear after a key Republican, senator Lamar Alexander, announced he did not need to see or hear more evidence.

He said the Democrats had proved their case, that Mr Trump abused power and obstructed Congress, but he did not think his actions rose to the impeachable level.

Eager for acquittal, the president and his allies in the Republican majority are brushing past new revelations from John Bolton, his former national security adviser, as well as historic norms that could make this the first Senate impeachment trial without witnesses.

They resisted efforts by Democrats to keep the proceedings going for weeks.

Voting on the witness question is expected late on Friday after hours of debate, with other votes stretching well into the evening.

Democrats warned the outcome will not mean a true acquittal for Mr Trump but a cover-up.

“They’re about to dismiss this with a shrug and a ‘Who cares?’” said the Senate’s third-ranking Democrat, Patty Murray. “The full truth will come out.”

The impeachment is playing out in an election year before a divided nation. Primary voting begins on Monday in Iowa and Mr Trump wants action on his trial finished in time for his State of the Union address next Tuesday.

Protesters stood outside the Capitol as senators arrived on Friday, but few visitors have been watching from the Senate galleries.

Despite the Democrats’ singular, sometimes-passionate focus on calling witnesses, the numbers are falling short. It would take four Republicans to break with the 53-seat majority and join with all Democrats to demand more evidence.

Chief Justice John Roberts, presiding over the impeachment trial, could break a tie, but that seems unlikely.