Sen. Doug Jones Says He’ll Vote Against Impeachment if ‘Dots Aren’t Connected’
This impeachment thing isn’t getting any better for the Democrats. The Senate trial has not even started yet, but at least one Democratic lawmaker indicated that he’s not on board the “remove Trump from office no matter what” train. Sen. Doug Jones (D-AL) made an appearance on ABC’s “This Week” explaining that the case against Trump isn’t quite as clear cut as House Democrats insist.
Jones indicated that there are “gaps” in the House’s case and that he would not vote to convict unless they were closed. He said:
“What I’m trying to do, because quite frankly I didn’t sit in front of the TV set the entire time the last two or three months, I have been trying to read this. I have been trying to see if the dots get connected. If that is the case, I think it’s a serious matter, I think it’s an impeachable matter. But if those dots aren’t connected and there are other explanations that I think are consistent with innocence, I will go that way too.”
Like several members of the House, Jones is a moderate and is occupying a vulnerable seat in the senate. Recent polls have shown that voters in crucial House districts might not support Democratic candidates if they support impeachment. Jones might be in a similar situation.
The senator indicated that he wanted the Senate to call former National Security Adviser John Bolton to testify in order to “fill in the gaps,” and stated that President Trump should allow them to give their testimony. The president previously indicated that he would like both Bolton and Secretary of State Mike Pompeo to testify before the Senate. However, Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) stated that he does not intend to call any witnesses.
A recent poll shows that Jones’ seat is not too secure. According to the study, 34% of Alabama voters supported Jones’ re-election with 48% opposing it. Moreover, only 39% favored impeachment while 54% were against it.
It seems that at least some Democratic members of the Senate are not too keen on removing Trump from office based on the House Democrats’ findings, which are based almost entirely on hearsay. It is not likely that they are willing to jeopardize their positions for a clearly partisan effort to remove the president. If other Democratic senators share Jones’ concerns, then it seems the impeachment effort is just another Quixotic endeavor to attack the president.
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