Adam Schiff Goes After McConnell And Demands A Fair Impeachment Trial

Rep. Adam Schiff (D-CA) wasted no time going after Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell and demanding a fair Trump impeachment trial.

House Intelligence Committee Chairman Schiff said:

The question now is whether Senator McConnell will allow a fair trial in the senate, whether the majority leader will allow a trial that involves witnesses and testimony and documents, a trial that should be fair to the president but should be fair also to the American people. The American people want to hear from people like John Bolton. The American people want to hear from people like Mick Mulvaney. The American people want to see what’s in those documents the president has been hiding at the State Department, in the Office of Management and Budget, in the White House itself.

We have done our duty here in the House. We have upheld the Constitution. We have done as the framers would have us do when a president abuses his office and obstructs a coequal branch of government. The question now is will the Senate uphold its duty? Will the senators uphold their oath? Do the senators want to hear from the witnesses? Do they want a real trial? We have to hope that they do.

The reason we undertook this extraordinary step is because the president not only abuses his office but threatens to abuse it again, threatens to interfere in it by inviting foreign interference in our election. The remedy isn’t complete as long as the president is free to invite foreign interference in our affairs.

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The pressure campaign on the Republican Senate majority has started. Rep. Schiff addressed his remarks to McConnell, but he was really talking to a group of Senate Republican moderates and endangered incumbents who may not find it politically sustainable to go along with Mitch McConnell’s plan for a sham impeachment trial.

McConnell still doesn’t have the votes for his sham trial plan, and Adam Schiff is making it as difficult as possible for Republicans to go along with the scheme.

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Jason Easley

Jason is the managing editor. He is also a White House Press Pool and a Congressional correspondent for PoliticusUSA. Jason has a Bachelor’s Degree in Political Science. His graduate work focused on public policy, with a specialization in social reform movements.

Awards and  Professional Memberships

Member of the Society of Professional Journalists and The American Political Science Association