唐纳德·特朗普总统的私人律师鲁迪·朱利安尼(Rudy Giuliani)周二晚间告诉记者，如果特朗普被传唤，他将在参议院弹劾审判中作证，鲁迪·朱利安尼也曾在1994年至2001年期间担任纽约市第107任市长。
朱利安尼在佛罗里达州的马拉加参加特朗普的除夕夜庆典时，被问及他的当事人即将举行的参议院弹劾听证会。“我会作证，”他说说他补充说，他会“做示范”并“愿意尝试这个案子”尽管朱利安尼发表了上述言论，但他并没有被提名为总统辩护团队的一员。
众议院在12月中旬投票通过了对特朗普的两项弹劾条款——滥用权力和阻挠国会。历史性的投票使得特朗普成为第三位被众议院弹劾的美国总统。从那以后，民主党人和共和党人就如何处理即将到来的参议院审判以及是否传唤任何证人展开了斗争。
参议院多数党领袖米奇·麦康奈尔最近表示，他将与白宫“全面协调”，并拒绝民主党要求证人出庭的呼吁。参议院司法委员会主席林赛·格雷厄姆参议员本月早些时候重申了他的观点，发誓在弹劾程序到达参议院时终止正在进行的弹劾程序。“我正试图给出一个非常明确的信号，我已经下定决心了。我不想在这里假装是一个公正的陪审员，”格雷厄姆说。
作为明显的报复，众议院议长南希·佩洛西表示，在共和党人同意公平审判之前，她不会将这些条款提交参议院。
2017年1月12日，纽约市前市长鲁迪·朱利安尼在特朗普大厦对记者讲话。
尽管共和党人打算尽快宣判无罪，但民主党人一直在积极寻求政府官员的证词。朱利安尼是弹劾程序中的关键人物，弹劾程序是由特朗普和乌克兰总统沃洛迪米尔·泽伦斯基7月份的一次电话引发的。在这个有争议的电话中，美国总统敦促外国总统调查前副总统乔·拜登的家人。
民主党人认为朱利安尼协助特朗普执行乌克兰影子外交政策，并可能对他的合作感兴趣。总统的律师承认，他去年12月前往乌克兰会见官员，寻找与弹劾调查和拜登有关的新信息。回来后，他说他将向特朗普和共和党成员简要介绍他的发现。
尽管国会共和党人大多支持麦康奈尔弹劾案，缅因州参议员苏珊·科林斯周一，他成为党内第二个批评他与特朗普政府“完全协调”的人。她的讲话是在共和党参议员一周后发表的莉萨·穆尔科斯基来自阿拉斯加的人称麦康奈尔的评论“不恰当”
“根据我的判断，两党参议员在听到向我们提出的证据之前就预先判断证据是不合适的，”她说，“因为我们每个人都会宣誓，我会非常认真地宣誓以伸张正义。上面是这么说的，公正的司法。”
GIULIANI TELLS REPORTERS AT TRUMP'S MAR-A-LAGO NYE PARTY THAT HE 'WOULD TESTIFY' IN SENATE IMPEACHMENT TRIAL
President Donald Trump's personal attorney Rudy Giuliani, who also served as the 107th Mayor of New York City from 1994 to 2001, told reporters on Tuesday evening that he would testify in Trump's Senate impeachment trial if summoned.
While attending Trump's New Year's Eve celebration at Mar-a-Lago in Florida, Giuliani was asked about his client's upcoming Senate impeachment hearing. "I would testify," he said, adding that he'd "do demonstrations" and would "love to try the case." Despite his remarks, Giuliani has not been floated to be part of the president's defense team.
The House voted to pass both articles of impeachment against Trump—abuse of power and obstruction of Congress—in mid-December. The historic vote made Trump just the third U.S. president to be impeachment by the House. Since then, Democrats and Republicans have battled over the handling of the upcoming Senate trial and whether to summon any witnesses.
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell has recently stated that he will be in "total coordination" with the White House and rejected calls from Democrats for witnesses to appear at the trial. Senator Lindsey Graham, who's chair of the Senate Judiciary Committee, echoed his sentiments earlier this month by vowing to kill the ongoing impeachment proceedings when it reaches the Senate. "I am trying to give a pretty clear signal I have made up my mind. I'm not trying to pretend to be a fair juror here," Graham said.
In apparent retaliation, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi indicated that she will hold off from passing the articles to the Senate until Republicans consent to a fair trial.
Former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani speaks to reporters at Trump Tower, January 12, 2017 in New York City.
Despite Republicans' intentions to push through a fast acquittal, Democrats have been aggressively pursuing testimony from administration officials. Giuliani has been a key figure throughout the impeachment proceedings, which were sparked by a July phone call between Trump and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy. During the controversial call, the U.S. president pressed his foreign counterpart to investigate the family of former Vice President Joe Biden.
Democrats believe Giuliani assisted Trump in executing Ukraine shadow foreign policy and would likely be interested in his cooperation. The president's attorney admitted he traveled to Ukraine in December to meet with officials to find new information pertaining to the impeachment inquiry and Biden. Upon his return, he said he would brief Trump and members of the GOP about his findings.
Although Republicans in Congress have mostly backed McConnell over impeachment, Maine Senator Susan Collins on Monday became the second in the party to criticize his comments about being in "total coordination" with the Trump administration. Her remarks came one week after Republican Senator Lisa Murkowskifrom Alaska called McConnell's comments "inappropriate."
"It is inappropriate, in my judgment, for senators on either side of the aisle to prejudge the evidence before they have heard what is presented to us," she said, "because each of us will take an oath, an oath that I take very seriously to render impartial justice. That's what it says, impartial justice."
