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The number two Republican in the Senate, Sen. John Cornyn (R-TX) sent a strong signal on Monday that McConnell doesn’t have the votes to prevent witnesses.

Sen. Cornyn told reporters:

Cornyn: “When the time comes, if 51 senators want to hear from Ambassador Bolton, I think that’s fine. It doesn’t have to be live, it could be a deposition…my guess this could help the president” — Igor Bobic (@igorbobic) January 6, 2020

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Cornyn didn’t say that he would support subpoenaing Bolton:

BUT Cornyn didn’t say whether he would ultimately support a motion to subpoena Bolton. “I’m not for the Senate turning into a circus like the House. I would worry that would be a beginning and not the end of the other witnesses they would want to drag through here” — Igor Bobic (@igorbobic) January 6, 2020

Sen. Cornyn referenced the trapdoor that Bolton has opened by offering to testify. If Republicans can’t stop Bolton from testifying, they also won’t be able to stop Democrats from subpoenaing administration witnesses to testify.

The dam is breaking. Mitch McConnell and Donald Trump’s dream of a sham impeachment trial is in serious jeopardy of collapsing. Sen. Cornyn’s answer is proof that McConnell doesn’t have the 51 votes that he needs to prevent witnesses from testifying.

If Cornyn, McConnell, and Trump believed that Bolton’s testimony would be good for the president, they would be applauding former ambassador Bolton’s statement. Top Senate Republicans are squirming, because not a single witness has come forward to defend Trump, and that is not expected to change if John Bolton testifies.

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