Will There Be Witnesses In Trump's Impeachment Trial? Poll Shows Americans Want To Hear From John Bolton, Mick Mulvaney

On the day President Trump’s legal team rested its case, a poll indicated 75% of voters say they want the Senate to call witnesses before voting on whether the president should be removed from office.

Twenty percent, nearly all of them Republicans, were against calling witnesses, the Quinnipiac University poll indicated Tuesday.

Trump’s legal team wrapped up 12 hours of arguments Tuesday, using just half the time allotted. By contrast, Democrats used nearly all of the 24 hours they had been allotted to lay out the two articles of impeachment: abuse of power and obstruction of Congress. The Senate next moves to a question period before voting, perhaps as early as Friday, on whether to call witnesses.

Democrats want to call four witnesses – including former national security adviser John Bolton and acting White House Chief of Staff Mick Mulvaney – to testify. The New York Times reported Sunday Bolton’s forthcoming book says Trump explicitly linked aid to Ukraine to an investigation by Kyiv that could have benefited Trump politically. Mulvaney told an October news conference that politics always influences foreign policy.

"There may be heated debate among lawmakers about whether witnesses should testify at the impeachment trial of President Trump, but it's a different story outside the Beltway. Three-quarters of American voters say witnesses should be allowed to testify, and that includes nearly half of Republican voters," Quinnipiac University Poll analyst Mary Snow said.

More than half of those queried (53%) said they think Trump has been less than truthful about his actions involving Ukraine while 57% said Trump should provide more details about his actions. Fifty-four percent said they think Trump abused the power of his office and 52% said he obstructed Congress’ investigation of his actions.

“Despite the ongoing impeachment trial, President Trump matches his highest job approval rating since taking office, as 43 percent of voters approve of the job he's doing and 52 percent disapprove,” the poll indicated, with Republicans nearly unanimous in their approval (94%) and Democrats nearly unanimous in their disapproval (95%).

The poll queried 2,170 adults Jan. 22-27 by phone in English or Spanish. It has an error rate of 2.3 percentage points.