Shamelessness is their superpower
by digby
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., said Thursday that there was “no chance” that President Donald Trump would be removed from office in any impeachment trial and that it “wouldn’t surprise” him if some Democrats split from their party and voted in the president’s favor.
“The case is so darn weak coming from the House,” McConnell said in an interview with Sean Hannity on Fox News Thursday night, as the House Judiciary Committee continued to debate articles of impeachment. “We know how it's going to end. There's no chance the president's going to be removed from office.”
He doesn't even try to hide it. They don't offer even a pretense of caring about the rules or the laws.
By the way, here is the oath Mitch McConnell will be taking before the trial:
‘‘I solemnly swear ... that in all things appertaining to the trial of the impeachment of Donald J. Trump, now pending, I will do impartial justice according to the Constitution and laws: So help me God.’’
He will apparently have his fingers crossed when he says it.
This piece at Lawfare on the Senate procedures for impeachment is worth looking at. Reporting from various sources this morning says that the president is still demanding a full show trial with calls for Hunter and Joe Biden to testify. Maybe even Rudy. He wants them to present the fraudulent Ukraine conspiracy as his defense. There are people pushing back but who knows? He is the Dear Leader.
McConnell is reportedly one of them, as is Lindsey Graham. I get the feeling that they are promising to do a full fledged inquisition once the impeachment trial is over to entice him into agreeing to a quick and dirty acquittal without calling any witnesses. Whether McConnell can persuade him that that is his best bet for re-election remains unknown.
McConnell's narrow majority is in peril in the next election so everything he does is designed to prevent that loss. If any of his people defect, they will almost certainly get a Trumpist primary challenger. If they don't the Democrats will hang their vote around their necks and set it afire.
The Senate will acquit the criminal. They are made men in the criminal organization known as the Republican Party. But whether a few go the other way, giving the Democrats a majority for conviction is another story. And yes, for all we know, there could be some defections from the Democrats. There almost always are., unfortunately.
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