It’s unclear how significant the new evidence is to the overall case Democrats have been presenting. Democrats have primarily called it “corroborative” but would not divulge its contents. Sen. Joe Manchin (D-W.V.) downplayed its significance, saying it was “just corrections” to Williams’ previous testimony.
“That’s it,” he said.
Senators rotated in and out of the secure room for much of Thursday morning, spending several minutes reviewing the contents of Williams’ supplemental testimony. More than two dozen Democrats were spotted entering the facility, including Sens. Dick Durbin of Illinois and Patty Murray of Washington state, the No. 2 and 3 Senate Democrats, respective.
Three Republican senators were spotted walking into the secure facility before the impeachment trial resumed on Thursday: Ron Johnson of Wisconsin, Mike Lee of Utah and Kelly Loeffler of Georgia.
When Johnson was asked if the letter was significant, he shook his head. But on whether the information should be declassified, he said: “I will make a blanket statement that we classify way too much information.”
Republicans, including Johnson, have complained they had not heard anything “new” in Democrats’ presentation of the evidence in the impeachment trial — evidence they gathered and revealed publicly over the course of a three-month investigation late last year. But Williams’ letter is one piece of information that has been kept from public view because of the classification designation.
In December, Pence’s office defended the decision to keep the letter classified, saying Democrats’ demand to release it “serves no purpose.”
“At this point, the Intelligence Committee’s oversight authority is limited to those areas in which it may potentially legislate or appropriate,” Pence’s counsel Matthew Morgan wrote to Schiff on Dec. 11, noting that Schiff’s panel had already filed its impeachment report at the time of his request. “Your request, coming after the completion of your report, serves no legitimate legislative or impeachment inquiry purpose.”
Morgan also jabbed at Williams for discussing the call with lawmakers at all. “The contents of a classified call with a foreign head of state should never have been discussed in an unclassified committee hearing or an unclassified deposition,” he said in his response to Schiff.
Source: politico.com
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