Mitch McConnell has refused Dem demands to agree beforehand to include witness testimony and additional document evidence as part of the Senate impeachment trial. This has given Speaker Pelosi good reason to withhold the articles of impeachment from the Senate; and this slows the entire impeachment process down.
Despite the Republican and mainstream media narrative, this just shows how stupid and cowardly Mitch McConnell is.
At the end of the day, regardless of whatever rules the Senate sets for the trial — even if they include witnesses and additional documents and any other demands that Dems want — Trump would only be removed from office if a supermajority two-thirds of the Senate votes to remove. And with the current makeup of the Senate, such an outcome is wholly unlikely.
To put in perspective how unlikely an outcome that is — for the impeachment trial of Bill Clinton, Republicans also controlled the Senate, but were actually the opposition Party to President Clinton. The Senate did eventually get to include witness testimony, that Republicans wanted. And they still could not get a supermajority to vote guilty.
McConnell and his many Republican Senators facing re-election this year would be better served by holding a trial that would be seen as neutral and bipartisan as possible. This would give the GOP Senators in swing states, like Susan Collins, Cory Gardner, and Martha McSally, the cover they need to vote either way — and still be relatively safe for Trump to stay in power. This would give them the best chance in their respective elections, and McConnell the best chance at remaining majority leader.
By forcing a biased trial, where McConnell is largely seen as conspiring with the White House (well, he’s actually already admitted to this, but we’ll set that aside for the moment), he only makes their campaigns tougher. Faced with such an outcome, those same Swing state GOP Senators would have no choice but to toe the party line — though I am sure they would be vocally much more indignant about it — and while this would help with the Trump base, there would now be zero cover for the unaffiliated and swing voters who are typically not very sympathetic of incumbents they see as corrupt. Even if they vote guilty, if the trial itself as seen as illegitimate, that would likely have little positive effect for them.
Then there is the delay. The longer the process is drawn out, the more chance that new developments come that make the trial and its makeup more perilous for McConnell. We have already seen examples of this: the documents released through FOIA strongly linking Trump to the hold up of the Ukraine aid, and recently John Bolton’s announcement that he would testify if subpoenaed. Even with those additional evidence included in the Senate trial, how much more likely does it make Trump’s removal? Again, with this current makeup, not likely. But the longer the process gets drawn out, the more that such pieces of evidence will start to see the light of day — the more this calculation by McConnell will be seen as backfiring.
Whether he holds a sham trial or a trial that is bipartisan and includes all the evidence that Dems want — the outcome really would not be that different for McConnell. The only person it really helps to maintain this stance on preventing witnesses and other evidence, is Donald Trump.
Even that is kind of iffy. Just like the Republican Senators facing tough battleground re-elections, Donald Trump would be better served facing a trial that is seen as more unbiased and thorough — and making it out without being found guilty.
Forcing a show trial instead of a trial with full evidence and witnesses makes little sense for McConnell, his fellow GOP Senators, even Trump himself. All it really does is makes Trump look less awful, by preventing all that additional evidence from becoming a part of the public record of the impeachment. But again, that is very unlikely to have an effect on the ultimate outcome. Even Trump himself sees that this would be better for him, which is why he is willing to signal that he is fine with such witness testimony as part of the trial. For once, Trump is not wrong. It helps him more politically, and is unlikely to change the outcome. What does it say about McConnell, when even Trump is making a smarter political calculation than him?
One final reason that it proves to be a McConnell blunder, though — the more that all the evidence is revealed that shows Trump’s guilt, even if it is not useful for the actual trial, becomes tons of useful ammunition to use against Trump in the General election. Perhaps even the Primary, if someone like Romney or Ted Cruz pounces on all the evidence showing Trump to be corrupt and unfit for office. After all, as much as people think of Trump’s devoted fan base — let’s not forget that he could not win a majority in any GOP primary in 2016 until after most of the other primary opponents dropped out. When it comes to the GOP’s primary voters, Trump was hardly the favorite — it is intriguing to wonder if that is still the case.
Regardless about the primary, all the evidence that comes out now that shows Trump to be corrupt, is useful ammo for the General, to use to fire up the Left and swing voters who are known for punishing corruption. Were McConnell to allow the evidence in the trial, and allow it to contribute to an outcome where Trump is found not guilty, it would be far easier to defuse for the General election, to frame as a non-issue, than if Dems could point to it as a clear-as-day stinkin’ Cover Up between corrupt politicians profiting from their offices.
Is Mitch McConnell really so afraid of what witnesses and other evidence could bring to the trial, that it might actually change the outcome and force Trump’s removal? He must be that afraid — but also that stupid — and also a statement of how untrustworthy he considers his fellow GOP Senators.
The McConnell and Republican Party narrative that they are trying to ram down our throats through mainstream media is that Nancy Pelosi’s decision to withhold the articles of impeachment until McConnell agrees to include witness testimony and documents as part of the Senate impeachment trial backfired, that it only helps them, and that McConnell and Trump have outsmarted everyone else.
The truth of the matter is, if you stop to think about it, it really just proves that McConnell is an idiot, and a coward.