On Friday, Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) emphatically rejected House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s (D-CA) attempt to dictate the rules of the Senate impeachment trial.
“Their turn is over. They’ve done enough damage. It’s the Senate’s turn now to render sober judgment,” said McConnell, Fox News reported.
It’s “obviously a non-starter,” he said. Then he accused House Democrats of having “cold feet.”
McConnell also blasted Democrats for putting “short-term partisan rage” before “core governing traditions.”
Addressing Pelosi’s holding back the articles of impeachment as a “sad spectacle,” he added that “House Democrats cared more about attacking President Trump…so they rushed a slapdash investigation.”
“They decided not to bother with the standard legal processes for pursuing witnesses and evidence,” he said.
“The same people who’d just spent weeks screaming that impeachment was so serious and so urgent that it could not even wait for due process now decided it could wait indefinitely while they checked the political winds and looked for new talking points,” he added accurately.
“Their turn is over,” he concluded. “They have done enough damage. It’s the Senate’s turn now — to render sober judgment as the framers envisioned. But we can’t hold a trial without the articles. The Senate’s own rules don’t provide for that. So, for now, we are content to continue the ordinary business of the Senate while House Democrats continue to flounder. For now.”
Sen. McConnell: “We’ll have to decide whether we’re going to safeguard core governing traditions or let partisan rage overcome them.” pic.twitter.com/osjFzNE3yq
— The Hill (@thehill) January 3, 2020
Chuck & Nancy Are Angry
Both Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi are up in arms over not being allowed to mandate the terms of the trial.
Schumer accused Leader McConnell of acting as an executioner. “Will we conduct a fair trial that examines all the facts or not? The country just saw Sen. McConnell‘s answer to that question. His answer is no,” Schumer said.
In her statement, Pelosi said,
“Today, Leader McConnell made clear that he will feebly comply with President Trump’s cover-up of his abuses of power and be an accomplice to that cover-up.
“Leader McConnell is doubling down on his violation of his oath, even after the exposure of new, deeply incriminating documents this week which provide further evidence of what we know: President Trump abused the power of his office for personal, political gain.
“The American people deserve the truth. Every Senator now faces a choice: to be loyal to the President or the Constitution.”
It’s a clown show. The House can’t impeach and then refuse to give the President an opportunity to due process. And the Senate has sole power over the trial, not her.
It’s fake outrage from dem leaders. Mitch had no choice but to reject demands, to save his own career. Mitch had a responsibility to investigate the coup, including leaks, lies, spying, … and he did nothing, thus contributing to this impeachment madness. I am not fooled by Mitch’s pretense at being reasonable. Mitch comes out the hero again for doing… Read more »
The entire impeachment charade is the opening salvo of the Second American Civil War and it will be far more destructive and savage than the one fought by our ancestors 160 years past. Do you really think American is going to allow the Commiecrats to steal the 2020 election? Do you really think we are going to sit on our… Read more »
Rules of Alinsky….Nov 6 2016….”impeachment” at any cost…these people have been drawing their salaries AND NOT WORKING…and have the audacity to accuse others of “abuse” of ANYTHING???
I have been saying this very thing ….all of them should not be paid until they actually get to work for the people they represent! People of different political ideals then just theirs. Their job is to get things as close to the middle of the road as they can through dialog and rational debate. To do what’s best for… Read more »
She is full of arrogant self importance thinking she rules everything.
Democrats’ tactics to smear the opposition to win elections. Lame
Oh my god Dowling. Get it right. The Constitution does NOT demand she send the articles of impeachment to the Senate. Those are the senate rules and you will NOT find them in the constitution!!
If a bill is not submitted to the Senate it simply dies as if it never occurred.
That’s reasonable and normal. The idea that it is not required by the Constitution is just another silly distraction in a 3 year long string of diversions from reality.
That’s a fake argument. No one here said it was required to send the articles. Pomposity and capitalized words are not impressive. Any objective person knows the proceedings in the House were improper. Dowling has it right, you were unable to cite anything wrong.