接连几个小时，参议院共和党人周二否决了近十几项民主党修改弹劾审判规则的修正案，这些成功的驳回很可能是民主党获得新证据和证词希望的最后一根钉子。

民主党人已经承认他们有能力传唤文件和证人，白宫否认白宫弹劾调查人员可能已经正式来了又走了。

“让我们现实点吧。不会有“什么时候”众议院情报委员会主席亚当·希夫是七名弹劾经理之一，他在周二的辩论中说:“不会有‘何时’”。“你认为几天后他们会恍然大悟，说，‘我们准备好接受证人了吗？’"

根据参议院多数党领袖米奇·麦康奈尔的决议。)——这在很大程度上反映了前总统比尔·克林顿弹劾案的审判规则——不能保证对证人或文件进行最终表决。只有保证会有一个程序性的投票，让他们能够辩论这个话题，民主党人称之为“不必要的障碍”

共和党人，包括总统的辩护团队，支持首先进行公开辩论和立法者的问答时间，在这一点上，审判“将进行到证人的问题”，白宫法律顾问帕特·西波隆说。

希夫说:“推迟投票就是拒绝投票。”。“当他们说‘什么时候’，他们的意思是‘永远不会’"

民主党提出的11项修正案——其中10项是参议院少数党领袖查克·舒默(Chuck Schumer)提出的——在辩论和最终通过最终规则决议之前一直延续到周三凌晨2点左右。共和党人成功拒绝了每一项修正案。参议员克里斯·范·霍伦(博士)提出的修正案之一将保证在审判后期对文件和证人进行最终投票。

1月21日，在弹劾唐纳德·特朗普总统的审判暂停期间，查克·舒默走在美国国会大厦二楼。民主党对弹劾规则提出的11项修正案被共和党否决。在周三的新闻发布会上，舒默告诉记者，“对特朗普总统的弹劾审判始于一片乌云，一片不公平的乌云。”

“我们有所有的材料。唐纳德·特朗普总统周三在瑞士举行的世界经济论坛上告诉记者，他们没有这些材料，似乎在吹嘘民主党的失败尝试。

舒默在同一天的新闻发布会上告诉记者，“因此，对特朗普总统的弹劾审判开始时笼罩着一片乌云，一片不公平的乌云。”。他说民主党人“肯定会设法找到办法...在辩论后再次获得对每个证人和文件的直接投票，”但不确定该动议将如何或何时发生。

值得称赞的是，麦康奈尔在做出减少担忧的调整后，再次成功地让他的核心小组在规则问题上保持一致由更温和的共和党人私下征收比如缅因州参议员苏珊·科林斯。

舒默否认了参议院民主党人正在悄悄考虑交换证人的可能性的报道，比如打电话给亨特·拜登——前副总统乔·拜登的儿子，他以前与乌克兰天然气公司特朗普的关系一直集中在他的乌克兰交易上——以换取愿意作证的前国家安全顾问约翰·博尔顿。

舒默说:“我们不需要与此事无关的证人，他们试图转移美国人对真相的注意力。”。“我们没有听到他们想要任何证人。”

下图由提供Statista显示了美国成年人——共和党人和民主党人——的情绪，即新的证人应该在总统弹劾审判中作证。

这张图表显示了在参议院弹劾唐纳德·特朗普总统的审判中支持更多证人的美国成年人的百分比。

IMPEACHMENT TRIAL: REPUBLICANS STEAMROLLED WHAT MAY HAVE BEEN DEMOCRATS' ONLY CHANCE FOR WITNESSES

One after another, for hours on end, Senate Republicans rejected nearly a dozen Democratic amendments Tuesday to modify the impeachment trial rules, successful rebuffs that could very well have been the final nails in the coffin of Democrats' hopes for obtaining new evidence and testimony.

Democrats have acknowledged their ability to subpoena documents and witnesses that the White House denied to House impeachment investigators may have officially come and gone.

"Let's be real. There will be no 'when.' There will be no 'when,'" House Intelligence Committee chairman Adam Schiff of California, who's one of the seven impeachment managers, said during Tuesday's debate. "You think they're going to have an epiphany a few days from now and say, 'We're ready for witnesses?'"

Under the rules resolution by Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.)—which, for the most part, mirrors the trial rules of former President Bill Clinton's impeachment—there is no guarantee for a final vote on witnesses or documents. There is only the assurance there will be a procedural vote that would allow them to debate the topic, something Democrats have labeled as an "unnecessary obstacle."

Republicans, including the president's defense team, support first proceeding with opening arguments and the lawmakers' question-and-answer period, at which point the trial "will proceed to the question of witnesses," as White House counsel Pat Cipollone said.

"A vote to delay is a vote to deny," Schiff said. "When they say 'when,' they mean 'never.'"

Eleven amendments posed by Democrats—10 of which were by Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.)—preceded debate and ultimate passage of the final rules resolution to stretch late into the night until nearly 2 a.m. Wednesday. Republicans successfully rebuffed every amendment. One of the amendments, proposed by Sen. Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.), would have guaranteed a final vote for documents and witnesses later in the trial.

Chuck Schumer walks on the second floor of the U.S. Capitol during a break in the impeachment trial of President Donald Trump on January 21. Eleven amendments to the rules of impeachment that were posed by Democrats were voted down by Republicans. At a press conference Wednesday, Schumer told reporters that "the impeachment trial of President Trump begins with a cloud hanging over it, a cloud of unfairness."

"We have all the material. They don't have the material," President Donald Trump told reporters Wednesday at the World Economic Forum in Switzerland, appearing to boast about Democrats' failed attempts.

"As a consequence, the impeachment trial of President Trump begins with a cloud hanging over it, a cloud of unfairness," Schumer told reporters at a press conference the same day. He said Democrats "will certainly try to find ways... to get direct votes on each witness and document once again after the arguments," but was unsure how or when that motion would occur.

To his credit, McConnell proved successful once again in keeping his caucus unified over the rules after making adjustments to curtail concerns privately levied by more moderate Republicans, such as Sen. Susan Collins of Maine.

Schumer rejected reports that Senate Democrats were quietly mulling over the possibility of exchanging witnesses, such as calling Hunter Biden—former Vice President Joe Biden's son, whose former ties to a Ukrainian gas company Trump was fixated on in his Ukraine dealings—in exchange for former national security adviser John Bolton, who is willing to testify.

"We don't need to have witnesses that have nothing to do with this, that're trying to distract Americans from the truth," Schumer said. "We haven't heard them wanting any witnesses at all."

The below chart, provided by Statista, shows the sentiment among adults in the U.S.—Republicans and Democrats alike—that new witnesses should testify in the president's impeachment trial.

This chart shows the percent of U.S. adults who support additional witnesses at the Senate impeachment trial for President Donald Trump.