The vote for no witnesses is an attempt to control the scandal. If they remove Trump it will change the narrative. The Trump people will throw a fit. But the GOP will claim that they did the honorable thing and the party needs to move forward to nominate a strong candidate for president.

In some ways Trump will get what he wants. He'll be able to leverage the outrage of his base to make a lot of money. And he is off the hook with Putin. Pence will surely pardon them all.