Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) took direct aim at Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) on Tuesday, saying he is “tying himself in a knot” in order to protect Donald Trump.
Schumer said McConnell’s cover-up campaign for the corrupt president will do long-term damage to the U.S. Senate and will render the impeachment power of Congress “virtually useless.”
Not only will McConnell’s sham trial let Trump get away with high crimes and misdemeanors, but it will encourage future presidents to commit the same offenses.
“If the Senate can never get facts or evidence, if that is what is going to be going forward, then the august, solemn and very important power of Congress to stop an overreaching executive, namely impeachment, will be rendered virtually useless,” Schumer said.
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Video:
.@SenSchumer blasts @senatemajldr Mitch McConnell for doing massive institutional damage to the Senate. #ctl #p2 #impeachmenteve pic.twitter.com/Yrp8N7k0fF
— PoliticusUSA (@politicususa) December 18, 2019
Sen. Schumer said:
That’s another example of poor Mitch McConnell tying himself in a knot. I went in two weeks ago. We were on the floor, I said, ‘Mitch, any time you’re ready to talk about how we can try to come up with a bipartisan agreement on rules, I’m ready.’ He hasn’t done that. He went on Sean Hannity. He said he would just do what the president wanted. He started offering this proposal which would not allow for a real trial. And when I put out my document he said, ‘Whoa, why is Schumer going public?’ Well, I guess his meeting with Sean Hannity was in a little corner and no one heard it. Of course, he’s not acquitting himself fairly or well, but much more importantly so much is at stake here. Let me just say if the Senate can never get facts or evidence, if that is what is going to be going forward, then the august, solemn and very important power of Congress to stop an overreaching executive, namely impeachment, will be rendered virtually useless and this president will continue to overreach I’m sure in even worse ways, and the next president may do so, too. So they’re really not serving the nation in a very deep and long run sense.
McConnell has inflicted massive damage on the Senate
Mitch McConnell has been in the Senate for decades and has tried to craft a reputation for being the chief defender of the institution he now leads.
But time and again, the majority leader has shown that he is the worst thing to ever happen to the Senate. The longer he remains in power, the more damage he inflicts on the upper chamber of Congress.
By covering up for Donald Trump, McConnell is setting a dangerous precedent.
He isn’t only weakening crucial oversight responsibilities of Congress, but he’s telling future presidents that they, too, can commit high crimes and misdemeanors as long as their party controls at least one chamber of the legislative branch.
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Sean Colarossi currently resides in Cleveland, Ohio. He earned his Bachelor of Arts degree in Journalism from the University of Massachusetts Amherst and was an organizing fellow for both of President Obama’s presidential campaigns. He also worked with Planned Parenthood as an Affordable Care Act Outreach Organizer in 2014, helping northeast Ohio residents obtain health insurance coverage.
