Statewide Iowa — (RI) — Opening arguments in the impeachment trial of President Trump begin in the U.S. Senate Tuesday.
Sam Clovis of Hinton was co-chairman of Trump’s 2016 campaign, then served in the Trump Administration until May of 2018.
Democrats have been calling for witnesses to testify during the Senate trial. Clovis says if Republicans capitulate, he has a list of witnesses he’d like to see testify.
Clovis had supervised Papadopoulos, a foreign policy advisor to the Trump campaign who pleaded guilty to lying to the F-B-I about talking with Russian-linked contacts. Clovis hired a lawyer, as he was interviewed during Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation.
Clovis doesn’t expect the impeachment trial to last long, partly because the Senate will be unable to do other business while the impeachment proceedings are underway. Clovis has battled health issues since his return to Iowa in mid-2018. In November of 2017, Clovis withdrew his nomination to be the top science adviser in the U.S. Department of Agriculture after Democrats and environmentalists complained he was skeptical of climate change. Clovis wrote at the time the political climate in Washington made it impossible to win confirmation to the job. Clovis worked six more months as a top adviser to U.S. Ag Secretary Sonny Perdue before leaving the Trump Administration.
