To observe President Donald Trump’s impeachment trial is to enter a word of the surreal. Up is down, down is up and two plus two equals four — but only if you play by the House managers’ rules.

On Monday, debate over new witness testimony reached a fever pitch following a conveniently timed “leak” concerning former national security adviser John Bolton’s tell-all book. Speculation gave way to insistence that this bombshell would finish off the Trump administration, once and for all.

The problem with that argument is that the House Democrats already considered it — and rejected it as politically and legally toxic.

Let’s lay out what our eventual House managers knew as 2019 drew to a close. They knew that their electoral prospects depended upon a quick resolution to an unwieldy inquiry. A Clinton- or Nixon-esque timeline would never do, because their case against President Trump was weak, riddled by hearsay and speculation. Their qualms boiled down to policy disagreements — an insufficient justification for removing a sitting president.

So, they rolled the dice on a series of subpoenas and requests for testimony from a current ambassador, the White House chief of staff, multiple Pentagon officials, Bolton’s most senior adviser and Bolton himself. They did this knowing full well that the information they sought was protected by executive privilege, and that the ensuing legal battle would last months.

OUR VIEW: Subpoena John Bolton for the people

Sen. Marsha Blackburn, R-Tenn., is a member of the Senate Judiciary Committee. (Photo: George Walker IV/The Tennessean)

Faced with impending refusals, they had a choice to make: Abort the mission, or commit to doing what they believed would help them defeat Trump.

You know what happened next. They decided they didn’t need that testimony. It wasn’t worth the political risk, so they yanked the Bolton subpoena and rushed to the Senate, demanding that we do their work and rebuild their case. They want us to challenge executive privilege and the separation of powers, and assist in removing a duly elected president from the ballot just in time for November.

The Senate should play no part in such a blatant, undemocratic power grab. The decision to support or oppose President Trump’s policies belongs in the hands of the American people, not in the hands of a few elected officials who believe they know better.

Sen. Marsha Blackburn, R-Tenn., is a member of the Senate Judiciary Committee.

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