Susan Collins says she's had 'a number of conversations' with Senate colleagues after bombshell Bolton revelation

Many Republican senators have remained adamantly opposed to having any witnesses in President Donald Trump’s impeachment trial — even former National Security Adviser John Bolton. But over the weekend, a major Bolton-related bombshell came from New York Times reporters Maggie Haberman and Michael S. Schmidt: according to an unpublished manuscript of Bolton’s book, “The Room Where It Happened: A White House Memoir” — which isn’t due out until March 17 — Bolton asserts that Trump directly tied military aid to Ukraine with an investigation of former Vice President Joe Biden and his son, Hunter Biden. And Sen. Susan Collins of Maine, in light of this development, appears to be open to the possibility of including witnesses in the trial.

In an official statement on Monday, the GOP senator wrote, “From the beginning, I’ve said that in fairness to both parties, the decision on whether or not to call witnesses should be made after both the House managers and the president’s attorneys have had the opportunity to present their cases. I’ve always said that I was likely to vote to call witnesses, just as I did in the 1999 Clinton trial.”

The Maine senator went on to say, “The reports about John Bolton’s book strengthen the case for witnesses and have prompted a number of conversations among my colleagues.”

Bolton has said that if subpoenaed, he would be willing to testify during Trump’s impeachment trial.

Collins’ announcement has been met with skepticism by some Twitter users. @SarahClapp posted, “Thanks for doing the bare minimum, Susan,” while @LeeNME12 wrote, “HEROIC! (sarcasm).” And @Greg_Faltin asserted, “Weak.  Just say you want him to testify.  It's not hard.”