It's all the more ironic considering how Pelosi and Schiff are manipulating the House impeachment proceedings to the democrats' advantage at every step.
https://www.motherjones.com/politic...cconnell-could-sabotage-an-impeachment-trial/
At a lunchtime gathering of Senate Republicans on Wednesday, Mitch McConnell had some news to share about impeachment: Should the House Democrats vote to impeach Donald Trump by Thanksgiving—which appears to be House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s preferred though perhaps hard-to-meet schedule—the Senate could start and quickly conduct the trial of Trump and wrap it up by Christmas. That, too, might seem an overly ambitious timeline. Action in Congress rarely occurs speedily. But one X-factor in the impeachment process—which so far has received little attention—is that Senate rules afford McConnell and the Republicans plenty of opportunity to derail an impeachment trial and turn the proceedings into a sham.
When House Democrats began raising the volume on impeachment talk earlier this year—especially after the release of special counsel Robert Mueller’s report, which detailed various alleged obstructions of justice committed by Trump—an idea was kicked around by pundits and commentators: What if the House approved articles of impeachment and McConnell refused to hold a trial? Two weeks ago, though, McConnell publicly noted that in the event of a House impeachment, Senate rules would compel the upper body of Congress to stick to the Constitution and put Trump on trial. But what sort of a trial might that be, if the Republican Senate majority did not truly want to mount one? Last time Congress went through an impeachment, both chambers were controlled by the same party. After House Republicans in 1998 enthusiastically approved two articles of impeachment accusing Clinton of lying to a grand jury and obstructing justice in the Monica Lewinsky scandal. The matter was sent to the Senate, which was also in the hands of Republicans, most of whom supported the impeachment (and conviction) of Clinton.
McConnell is renowned for his wily mastering of Senate rules—and for his willingness to bust norms for political gain. Though he has recognized the duty of the Senate to address—and not ignore—articles of impeachment, he may well have a trick or two in mind about how to conduct the trial.
This time, House Dems will be delivering articles of impeachment to a Senate controlled by a party loyal to Trump and hostile to the prospect of booting him out of office. So how committed will McConnell and his comrades be to staging a thorough and fair proceeding? Could they rig it in Trump’s favor? Given the Senate rules, they could try.
Any impeachment trial is governed by the Rules of Procedure and Practice in the Senate When Sitting on Impeachment Trials, which was last revised in 1986. These rules dictate the ins and outs of a trial to a great degree of specificity. They note that as soon as House impeachment articles are “presented to the Senate, the Senate shall, at 1 o’clock [on the] afternoon of the day (Sunday excepted) following such presentation, or sooner if ordered, by the Senate, proceed to the consideration of such articles.” The rules cite the precise proclamation the Sergeant at Arms must make once House manager of the impeachment appear in the Senate to present the articles of impeachment. They note how the chief justice of the Supreme Court must be told that he or she is to preside over a presidential impeachment and how an impeached official must be notified of his or her impeachment. (One method: leave “such copy at the last known place of abode of such person.”) And so on.
https://www.motherjones.com/politic...cconnell-could-sabotage-an-impeachment-trial/
At a lunchtime gathering of Senate Republicans on Wednesday, Mitch McConnell had some news to share about impeachment: Should the House Democrats vote to impeach Donald Trump by Thanksgiving—which appears to be House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s preferred though perhaps hard-to-meet schedule—the Senate could start and quickly conduct the trial of Trump and wrap it up by Christmas. That, too, might seem an overly ambitious timeline. Action in Congress rarely occurs speedily. But one X-factor in the impeachment process—which so far has received little attention—is that Senate rules afford McConnell and the Republicans plenty of opportunity to derail an impeachment trial and turn the proceedings into a sham.
When House Democrats began raising the volume on impeachment talk earlier this year—especially after the release of special counsel Robert Mueller’s report, which detailed various alleged obstructions of justice committed by Trump—an idea was kicked around by pundits and commentators: What if the House approved articles of impeachment and McConnell refused to hold a trial? Two weeks ago, though, McConnell publicly noted that in the event of a House impeachment, Senate rules would compel the upper body of Congress to stick to the Constitution and put Trump on trial. But what sort of a trial might that be, if the Republican Senate majority did not truly want to mount one? Last time Congress went through an impeachment, both chambers were controlled by the same party. After House Republicans in 1998 enthusiastically approved two articles of impeachment accusing Clinton of lying to a grand jury and obstructing justice in the Monica Lewinsky scandal. The matter was sent to the Senate, which was also in the hands of Republicans, most of whom supported the impeachment (and conviction) of Clinton.
McConnell is renowned for his wily mastering of Senate rules—and for his willingness to bust norms for political gain. Though he has recognized the duty of the Senate to address—and not ignore—articles of impeachment, he may well have a trick or two in mind about how to conduct the trial.
This time, House Dems will be delivering articles of impeachment to a Senate controlled by a party loyal to Trump and hostile to the prospect of booting him out of office. So how committed will McConnell and his comrades be to staging a thorough and fair proceeding? Could they rig it in Trump’s favor? Given the Senate rules, they could try.
Any impeachment trial is governed by the Rules of Procedure and Practice in the Senate When Sitting on Impeachment Trials, which was last revised in 1986. These rules dictate the ins and outs of a trial to a great degree of specificity. They note that as soon as House impeachment articles are “presented to the Senate, the Senate shall, at 1 o’clock [on the] afternoon of the day (Sunday excepted) following such presentation, or sooner if ordered, by the Senate, proceed to the consideration of such articles.” The rules cite the precise proclamation the Sergeant at Arms must make once House manager of the impeachment appear in the Senate to present the articles of impeachment. They note how the chief justice of the Supreme Court must be told that he or she is to preside over a presidential impeachment and how an impeached official must be notified of his or her impeachment. (One method: leave “such copy at the last known place of abode of such person.”) And so on.
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