Mitch McConnell spent 30 minutes on the Senate floor attacking the House impeachment of Trump and promised the president a sham trial.
McConnell said in part:
The vote did not reflect what had been proven. It only reflects how they feel about the president. The Senate must put this right. We must rise to the occasion. There’s only one outcome that is suited to the paucity of evidence, the failed inquiry, the slap-dash case, only one outcome suited to the fact that the accusations themselves are constitutionally incoherent. Constitutionally incoherent. Only one outcome will preserve core precedence rather than smash them into bits in a partisan rage because one party still cannot accepts the American people’s choice in 2016.
It could not be clearer which outcome would serve the stabilizing, institution preserving, fever breaking role the United States Senate was created and which outcome would betray it. The senate’s duty is clear. The senate’s duty is clear when the times comes, we must fulfill it.
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Video:
Mitch McConnell spent 30 minutes calling the House impeachment of Trump illegitimate and promising the president a sham trial. #McConnell #presidentialimpeachment pic.twitter.com/1bfMMte7fS
— Sarah Reese Jones (@PoliticusSarah) December 19, 2019
McConnell’s remarks came in response to reports that Trump is raging in the White House and that Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi is threatening to delay the transmission of the articles of impeachment to the Senate until McConnell drops his sham trial plan.
Never has a Senate Majority Leader preannounced the verdict of an impeachment trial. By putting this right, McConnell means delegitimizing House impeachment with a show trial.
Mitch McConnell can try to blow off impeachment in the Senate because he can never remove the stain from Trump’s legacy that he is an impeached president.
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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
