Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) says if his colleagues in the Senate support calling the witnesses Democrats are demanding for the impeachment trial of President Donald Trump, he will force votes "to call Hunter Biden and many more" witnesses to assure a balanced prosecution.

What are the details?

On Monday, Politico reported that Republicans are facing a "reckoning on impeachment witnesses," and quoted Paul as telling fellow Republican senators during a lunch last week, "Don't think you can just vote for Bolton and not the witnesses Trump wants."

Paul was referring to former national security advisor John Bolton, who said last week that he would testify if called by the upper chamber.

Politico noted that over the weekend, President Trump tweeted out a request "that House Intelligence Committee Chairman Adam Schiff (D-Calif.) and even Speaker Nancy Pelosi [D-Calif.] appear as witnesses."

Sen. Paul appeared to confirm his statement when he retweeted Politico's article, writing, "My colleagues can't have it both ways. Calling for some, while blocking others. If we are going to give a platform to witnesses the Dems demand, I look forward to forcing votes to call Hunter Biden and many more!"



Axios reported that in December, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) sent a letter to Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) requesting that four witnesses be called: John Bolton; Acting White House Chief of Staff Mick Mulvaney; Office of Management and Budget Associate Director for National Security Michael Duffey; and Senior Advisor to Mick Mulvaney, Robert Blair.

On Friday, moderate GOP Sen. Susan Collins (Maine) told the Bangor Daily News that she has been working with a small group of fellow Republican senators who agree "we should be completely open to calling witnesses."

Anything else?

The Hill pointed out that Sen. McConnell "has said he does not believe either side should call witnesses and warned Democrats last month that if they successfully call a witness, Republicans could try to call individuals Democrats would oppose."

McConnell told Fox News Radio that Republicans would "want the whistleblower. We're going to want Hunter Biden." He added, "You can see here that this would be a kind of mutual assured destruction episode that would go on for a long time."