"There are only tactics, and what works."

Meanwhile, multiple Senate Dems saying now that it's clear GOP is dug in against witness deal, it's time to send the articles and start the trial.
"I think the time has past. She should send the articles over," said @ChrisMurphyCT https://t.co/MIUFSFkxnn

— Mike DeBonis (@mikedebonis) January 7, 2020

Or take it as an opportunity to add a few more articles.   I was going to expand that point, but Twitter beat me to it, so why bother?

A few hours ago, @qjurecic and I wrote a piece about the game theory of the standoff over the impeachment articles.https://t.co/oxfKvLXIFr

— Benjamin Wittes (@benjaminwittes) January 7, 2020

Quickly on its heels, Mitch McConnell has announced that he has the votes to pass his preferred trial framework—without negotiating further with Democrats.

— Benjamin Wittes (@benjaminwittes) January 7, 2020

This is very clearly the scenario we had in mind when we wrote the following: pic.twitter.com/YtCUCj6ulo

— Benjamin Wittes (@benjaminwittes) January 7, 2020

But in the context of John Bolton's announcement yesterday that he's willing to testify if subpoenaed by the Senate, McConnell's announcement of his posture creates a strategic opening for Pelosi that she will not fail to notice.

— Benjamin Wittes (@benjaminwittes) January 7, 2020

A subpoena from the Senate is not, after all, legally different from a subpoena from the House. With McConnell now publicly committed to moving forward without hearing from a witness who is willing to testify, Pelosi's control over the articles becomes highly significant.

— Benjamin Wittes (@benjaminwittes) January 7, 2020

Here is a card she now has in her hand. She can announce that:
(1) She is not willing to hand over the articles so that McConnell can bury them without hearing from a witness who has suddenly made clear that he is, after all, available.

— Benjamin Wittes (@benjaminwittes) January 7, 2020

(2) Since the Senate majority leader appears committed to a trial framework that will not hear all the available witnesses with relevant information, the House Intelligence Committee will issue the subpoena Bolton has invited instead.

— Benjamin Wittes (@benjaminwittes) January 7, 2020

(3) She will hold the articles pending the completion of that testimony—and whatever litigation may be necessary to obtain it.

And critically, (4) the House reserves the right to pass superseding or amended articles of impeachment in response to new information it obtains.

— Benjamin Wittes (@benjaminwittes) January 7, 2020

This would put McConnell in the position of paying a significant price for not reaching an accommodation—and put pressure on him to do so. The articles of impeachment will dangle over the president and the Senate for some period of time to come if Bolton resists the subpoena.

— Benjamin Wittes (@benjaminwittes) January 7, 2020

What's more, such a position would be wholly defensible.

After all, as McConnell knows full well, there is no right and wrong here. There are only tactics and what works.

— Benjamin Wittes (@benjaminwittes) January 7, 2020

That last bit is the crucial bit.  George Conway and Neal Katyal want to argue the lawyers in the Senate "must" comply with the accepted rule of law, both as officers of the court and as men of sense. Ted Cruz is a lawyer who pisses on the law from the lofty heights of the Senate chamber on a regular basis.  The law doesn't apply to Senators qua Senators.  What applies is politics and pressure.

Wittes gets that right.  McConnell won't be embarrassed by more revelations about what a doofus Trump is.  That's baked into the pie by now.  The leverage the House has is the power of impeachment, and Pelosi is wielding it like a rapier.  She can subpoena Bolton and Schiff can start looking into the assassination, and both can become further articles of impeachment for Trump, or more reason to decide who the House managers should be and what they should present at trial (Little Marco's objections notwithstanding).

In fact:

Rep. Ro Khanna (D-CA) on Tuesday called for former National Security Adviser John Bolton to testify before a House committee.

....

“Now that John Bolton has said that he is open to testifying in the Senate, there’s no argument for why he shouldn’t testify from the House,” Khanna told MSNBC on Wednesday. “And it would help counter Rubio’s argument that we can’t consider [Bolton’s] testimony if the House doesn’t consider it.”

“We ought to do it,” he continued. “And we ought to get Bolton in here this week or next week and let the country hear what he has to say.”

Khanna said that Democratic lawmakers in the House are discussing a subpoena for Bolton.

“Bolton now is not going to have an excuse to avoid that testimony,” he said, “but it is something that is being discussed among colleagues.”

I doubt this would have been said publicly without Pelosi's approval.  If she accedes to the Democrats in the Senate mentioned in that first tweet, she loses everything she gambled for.  And why would she do that?

The House impeached President Trump three weeks ago, but a gusher of evidence related to the case has continued to flow — threatening to intensify a scandal that has consumed the Trump presidency https://t.co/FuEbzbKOcX

— POLITICO (@politico) January 7, 2020

There are only tactics, and what works.