Lamar Alexander says he will announce decision on witnesses vote Thursday night

Republican Sen. Lamar Alexander of Tennessee broke his silence Thursday evening in the trial of President Donald Trump, asking about bipartisanship during the trial's second day of questioning and telling CNN that he'll announce his decision for how he'll vote on whether to include witnesses.

Posted 1:06 a.m. Jan 31, 2020 — Updated 1:06 a.m. Jan 31, 2020

Alex Rogers, Manu Raju

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Ellie Kaufman, CNN

CNN — Republican Sen. Lamar Alexander of Tennessee broke his silence Thursday evening in the trial of President Donald Trump, asking about bipartisanship during the trial's second day of questioning and telling CNN that he'll announce his decision for how he'll vote on whether to include witnesses.

Alexander's question, posed in conjunction with two other Republican senators, was a request to compare the present acrimony with the bipartisans nature of the two previous impeachment inquiries in modern history.

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While the query was one of nearly 150 so far, it took on significance as the first from Alexander, who is considered a crucial vote on whether to allow new witnesses, along with Senators Mitt Romney of Utah, Susan Collins of Maine and Sen. Lisa Murkowski of Alaska.

Alexander privately met with Murkowski soon after the questions were answered by the prosecution and defense.

"I'm going to make my decision after the last question tonight," Alexander told CNN during a break in the trial.

"We were just talking," Alexander said in reference to his conversation with Murkowski. The group of swing senators are "all doing things independently," he added.

This story is breaking and will be updated.

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