The goal of the GOP is to lose the Senate so the GOP is back in minority party status. It doesn’t want to be too obvious in seeking this, but lackadaisical support for Trump is part of the calculus.
That said, the Senate is the worst venue in the world for getting to the truth, and Trump can be acquiited without exposing Schiff’s malfeasance (in cooperation with leaker Ciamarella and IC IG Atkinson).
The goal of the GOP is to lose the Senate so the GOP is back in minority party status. It doesn’t want to be too obvious in seeking this, but lackadaisical support for Trump is part of the calculus.
It’s not really about Trump. The main beneficiaries of a non trial in the Senate are the blue state GOP Senators up in 2020. Collins, Gardner, etc. McConnell is trying to protect them from a months long Kavanaugh on steroids spectacle. He couldn’t care less about POTUS, obviously.