Senate Democrats and Republicans cut a last-minute deal to avoid calling witnesses, agreeing to enter into the record a statement about House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy’s phone call with Donald Trump while the Capitol was under attack on Jan. 6.

The deal averts what might have been an indefinite extension of the impeachment trial and a protracted fight over witnesses. The trial is now expected to wrap as early as Saturday evening.

Instead of calling witnesses, lead impeachment manager Jamie Raskin read a statement from Rep. Jamie Herrera Beutler, a Washington Republican who disclosed her knowledge of the conversation between Trump and McCarthy, a California Republican.

Beutler, in a statement Friday, said she has disclosed many times over the past month her knowledge of the McCarthy-Trump conversation.

“When McCarthy finally reached the president on Jan. 6 and asked him to publicly and forcefully call off the riot, the president initially repeated the falsehood that it was antifa that had breached the Capitol,” Beutler said. “McCarthy refused that and told the president that there were Trump supporters. “That’s when, according to McCarthy, the president said, ‘Well Kevin, I guess these people are more upset about the election than you are.'”

The Senate paused Saturday after Raskin surprised the chamber by calling for witnesses and lawmakers then voted 55-45 in favor of Raskin’s motion. Trump’s defense lawyers then threatened to seek depositions from “hundreds” of witnesses and a much longer trial than desired by most Democrats, who want to move on to pass Covid aid and other legislation.