Posted on 10/04/2019 12:42:10 PM PDT by Enlightened1
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) is signaling that he's prepared to dispose quickly of articles of impeachment against President Trump and that any upcoming trial in the Senate will look much different than the 1999 impeachment trial of President Clinton.
McConnell says he is required by the Senate rules to take up articles of impeachment, but notes that there is no requirement on how long such a trial must last.
"I would have no choice but to take it up. How long you're on it is a whole different matter," McConnell said on CNBC Monday.
Clinton's trial in 1999 took a month, with three days of testimony by the House impeachment managers and another three days for the defense. At one point, videotaped depositions of key figures in the Clinton controversy, including former White House intern Monica Lewinsky, were taken.
Senate Republican sources say no decision has yet been made about whether to hold a trial but predict if there is one, it's likely to be much shorter.
Senate GOP aides are pointing to a 1986 memo on the impeachment process by then-Senate parliamentarian Bob Dove asserting "the rules and precedents on impeachment argue for a rapid disposition of any impeachment trial in the United States Senate."
And GOP senators are already complaining about the impeachment process wasting time and crowding legislative items off the agenda.
Republicans say the partisan tone of the launch of the House impeachment effort undercuts the argument for a prolonged deliberative process in the Senate.
In the CNBC interview, McConnell hit Democrats for wasting time on impeachment that could otherwise be spent on passing a new trade deal to replace the North American Free Trade Agreement and other legislative priorities.
(Excerpt) Read more at thehill.com ...
Just looking for some good face time on c-span and it would be funny to see but the only reason he’d do it “quickly” and in an entertaining way is for positive exposure for the 2020 election.
Riding Trump’s coat tails is what the smart RINO scums will do.
I also ring a bell that the Chief Justice may preside.
Article I, Section 3:
The Senate shall have the sole Power to try all Impeachments. When sitting for that Purpose, they shall be on Oath or Affirmation. When the President of the United States is tried, the Chief Justice shall preside:
As an addendum to post 22, the VP has an obvious conflict of interest when the President’s job is at stake.
I agree with you in principal.
The problem though I imagine is some Republican Senators would get ensnared.
Sure Trump’s legal team would get shots and Obama, Hillary, Brennan, Comey, Clapper, et al., but they’ll burn the place down if they have to.
Hillary:
“No, I did not set up the consulting firm to funnel billions in influence money from China by myself.”
“Mitch McConnell and his wife helped me set it up.”
“It was all approved after we traveled to Beijin in the fall of 2009”
There are three of the original 13 House Managers for Clinton’s impeachment still in Congress - Chabot still in the House, Graham now in the Senate and Sensenbrenner still in the House.
actually, while the House can impeach (charge), the Senate can try (decide) the impeachment ... by any means.. and on any schedule.. it wishes...and the Senate can just ignore it too. As the sole trier per the constitution, the Senate’s refusal to take it up (or take it up in year 2488) would effectively put this entire pile of
“impeachment” BS out of its misery.
or not much time to really get to the bottom of all the corruption in DC that’s been going on for yrs and yrs! no time for real swamp draining!
“Why oh why would anyone not want and crave a trial in the Senate.”
This is so cut and dry that just as soon as the liberals in the house present their charges and accusations, they will be shut down because they don’t reach the level of impeachment of high crimes because Trump was doing exactly what the treaty between the two countries laid out when Clinton signed it in the late 90’s.
They have every right, if they can produce a 2/3 majority vote, to present a case in the senate. I personally hope it gets that far so they can be shut down and it can be displayed they have spent 3 to 4 years time wasting taxpayer money and services. Then it’s, “Goodbye 2020!”
And with it, every so called conservative house member that voted for it can be cut off from GOP funding for trying to harm the POTUS. Let’s see just how good they are without their sugar daddy assistance.
rwood
SCOTUS trials are one hour per side.
No point in wasting much time that could be used to confirm Federal judges.
[They have every right, if they can produce a 2/3 majority vote, to present a case in the senate.]
[As an addendum to post 22, the VP has an obvious conflict of interest when the President’s job is at stake.]
I admit my lack of knowledge on nuclear option but is it just a simple majority rather than a super majority and if so that sounds risky to me
I want to offer a prAyer of protection for Trump. Father God please protect Donald Trump and his family from the evil ones. In Yashua name I humbly beseech thee amen
Trump should we need to get back to work for the American people that is what rats say for American people haha
There is no constitutional or legal requirement that the President and Vice-President belong to the same party.
Sorry, miss-worded it. Meant to say they would not get a 2/3 in the senate. Thank you for the correction, you’re right.
rwood
McConnell needs to just sink his big mouth back into the turtle shell it came from!
I'd like to see the President's team motion the Chief Justice for a summary judgment, saying that the outcome is obvious. I'd like to see the President's team declare that the articles of impeachment are flawed, that they are based on unproven hearsay by biased witnesses, that the procedures that produced them in the House were illegitimate, that there were no "high crimes and misdemeanors" committed by the President, and that the nation would be severely harmed by proceeding with this when an election is less than a year away. Essentially, let the people decide.
The House Democrats would naturally object, and Roberts would hear their objections. Then Roberts should decide for the President and summarily end the trial. No Senator will be on record voting for or against, so they are all protected with their constituents. The House will say they did their part. The Chief Justice will be somewhat rehabilitated with conservatives. The People will be spared a national embarrassment.
And the President is free to begin his reelection campaign.
-PJ
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