A Trial Without Witnesses Is No Trial at All
It’s a pathetic commentary on the state of American civics that the biggest issue of the Senate impeachment proceedings wasn’t whether President Donald Trump asked Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky for a favor. It wasn’t whether the Senate would convict Trump; everyone knew from the outset that barring some Earth-shattering revelation, that wasn’t going to happen. It wasn’t even whether Trump’s alleged activities amounted to impeachable offenses, although that’s something worthy of thoughtful discussion. Instead, the big issue was the absurd debate over whether, in a trial, to permit evidence and call witnesses.
A trial, almost by definition, demands a in the past, it’s at least technically possible to have a trial without witnesses, such as when the dispute is simply a matter of . But as the complexity of a case grows, and the importance of the issues escalates, the need for evidence and witnesses becomes ever more imperative.
