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Veteran investigative journalist Carl Bernstein blasted Senate Republicans on the eve of their vote to determine whether or not witnesses will be allowed in President Trump's Senate impeachment trial. "The Senate of the United States, through the Republican leadership and membership, has now joined hands with a tyrant," said Bernstein. "We now have a precedent that's been set, especially if we're going to follow this new catechism, this cult of Trump that professor Dershowitz has advanced, this catechism that he cannot abuse his power. So, totally different situation than what happened in Watergate, because in Watergate the real heroes were...

There’s a reason Mitch McConnell has been Senate Majority Leader for the past 13 years: He gets the job done. And the biggest part of that job is keeping the GOP caucus, however necessary. At this point, he appears to have pulled off the feat once again.

After five days of opening arguments from Democrat impeachment managers and attorneys representing President Donald Trump, Senators will now be able to submit their questions to each side. Here is how things will work. Like in the Clinton trial, Republicans and Democrats will alternate questions. The questions will only be directed toward Democrat House managers and attorneys representing President Trump. Senators are not allowed to ask each other questions and cannot directly challenge answers once they were given. Questions will not be asked by Senators directly, but instead will be submitted in writing to Chief Justice John Roberts, who will...

With several Democrats openly floating the possibility they might vote to acquit President Trump, congressional Republicans are planning an aggressive "Plan B" strategy in the event some Republicans break off and demand additional witnesses in the president's impeachment trial, Fox News has learned. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., privately said early Tuesday that he wasn't sure there were enough Republican votes to block more witnesses, given that some moderates in the GOP's 53-47 Senate majority were wavering. Any witness resolution would likely require four Republican defections in the Senate, because in the event of a 50-50 tie, Chief Justice...

The headlines going around this evening, all to the effect that “McConnell doesn’t have the votes!”, are misleading when you read down into the stories themselves. Republicans sound much calmer and more resolute about ramming through an acquittal verdict without witnesses than they did 24 hours ago, in the first flush of the NYT’s story on Sunday night about Bolton’s book. McConnell doesn’t have the votes yet but as of Tuesday night Collins and Romney remain the only two Republicans willing to say it’s highly likely they’ll vote to call witnesses. Murkowski is interested in hearing from Bolton but...

JOHN KASICH: It's all very, it's a terrible situation in terms of that transcript, Alisyn, but the question is, does one phone call, at this point in time, lead to impeachment? Mitch McConnell says it's laughable. I mean, he is the Senate leader. You know, we have the gentlemen you just quoted from Ohio, Mike Turner says, you know, it's not OK. I think it's absolutely worth condemning. And, by the way, let me point out, Alisyn, there is nobody, no one inside the Republican Party who has fought harder against Donald Trump than I have. Not personally, but against...

Lindsey Graham: When this trial is over, I don’t want to call Hunter Biden now, we will do oversight of the Bidens to give the Vice President (Biden) the scrutiny that the president has had regarding the Ukraine is yet to be had. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IXmR1BTvs_Q At 9.00 minutes

... Mr. Schumer nonetheless had an opportunity to do what Democrats keep pretending to do: Take the proceedings seriously. Had he reached out to Majority Leader Mitch McConnell to work on an agreement—had he privately spoken of the need for the Senate to come together and publicly refrained from partisan jabs—he’d have had an audience. Republican senators—in particular those up for re-election or retiring—don’t want to be accused of bias. As of last weekend, enough GOP senators to matter were still on the fence about Democratic demands for more witnesses. Not so much anymore. Mr. Schumer managed to annoy them,...

Every hostile nickname that Mitch McConnell gets is further confirmation of his effectiveness. The latest is “Midnight Mitch,” a reaction to his resolution setting out the road map for the Senate impeachment trial. The measure stipulated that House impeachment managers could make their case over two days of 12-hour sessions, possibly pushing the presentations into the wee hours. Hence, the latest alliterative moniker for McConnell, also known to his enemies as “Moscow Mitch.” McConnell relented slightly on the resolution, giving the managers – and the president’s team – three days, instead of two, for opening arguments. But he still got...

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., may have successfully corralled his Republican colleagues Tuesday to defeat 11 efforts by Senate Democrats to subpoena key Trump administration witnesses and documents (and modify other rules) in the Senate impeachment trial. But these tactics have likely put Republican senators facing competitive races in an impossible bind ( two January polls show) that, in both battleground states and swing counties, more voters support Trump’s removal than approve of him. That dynamic could cost the Republicans control of the Senate after the 2020 elections — and, in that event, McConnell’s powerful post as majority leader...

On Monday, as senators and House impeachment managers prepared for the opening of President Trump’s impeachment trial Tuesday, Democrats and their courtiers in the mainstream press decided to ratchet up the their rhetoric to the point of delusional hysteria. The House managers—led by Reps. Adam Schiff and Jerrold Nadler—issued a statement that essentially accused Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell of a coverup, saying his proposed rules for the trial are “rigged,” nothing more than an “effort to prevent the full truth of the President’s misconduct from coming to light.”That wasn’t all. Schiff and the impeachment managers also called on Trump’s...

When his Senate career is over, Democrat Minority Leader Chuck Schumer should consider applying for a job as a manager at Long John Silver's. Because the Democrat minority leader has displayed an affinity for a fishing metaphor that might rival that of Izaak Walton in "The Compleat Angler." In appearances on both MSNBC's Morning Joe and CNN's New Day this morning, Schumer repeatedly accused Majority Leader Mitch McConnell of going along with an alleged "coverup" by President Trump of the impeachment trial, "hook, line, and sinker." Schumer has cast the same line elsewhere across the media in recent days. Get...

Here is how things are expected go down Tuesday in the Senate for President Trump’s impeachment trial. By rule, the trial session begins at 1 p.m. ET. Expect to see Senate Sergeant-at-Arms Michael Stenger reprising his role from last week, bringing order to the Senate. Stenger may appear at other points along the way, too. The first order of business for the Senate will be to swear-in Sen. Jim Inhofe, R-Okla. Inhofe wasn’t present last week when all other senators were sworn in. He was attending to a family emergency. Then, there will be some short, administrative activity for documents,...

RESOLUTION AT LINK. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) on Monday released a resolution laying out the ground rules for President Donald Trump's impeachment trial. Trump's team and the House of Representatives have until 9 a.m. on Wednesday to file any motions. The exception being motions to subpoena witnesses or documents. All responses filed to any motions have to be in by 11 a.m. on Wednesday. The trial will begin at 1 p.m. on Wednesday. The House will have two days to make their case for impeachment but their time allotment cannot exceed 24 hours. After that, Trump's legal team...

Sen. Josh Hawley (R-Mo.) told Axios Saturday that Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) is expected to present a resolution that will allow President Trump's legal counsel to motion to immediately dismiss the impeachment charges during the Senate impeachment trial that starts, in earnest, Tuesday. "I am familiar with the resolution as it stood a day or two ago," Hawley told the news source. "My understanding is that the resolution will give the president's team the option to either move to judgment or to move to dismiss at a meaningful time," the junior senator continued. Hawley also said that he...

About the impeachment of President Donald Trump she engineered with her Democratic majority, Nancy Pelosi said Wednesday: "It's not personal. It's not political. It's not partisan. It's patriotic." Seriously, Madam Speaker? Not political? Not partisan? Why then were all eight House members chosen as managers to prosecute the case against Trump, who ceremoniously escorted the articles across the Capitol, all Democrats? Why did the articles of impeachment receive not a single Republican vote on the House floor? The truth: The impeachment of Donald Trump is the fruit of a malicious prosecution whose roots go back to the 2016 election, in...

“The House’s hour is over,” Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell declared Thursday in a floor speech slamming Democrats for putting on a “partisan performance” celebrating the signing of articles of impeachment by handing out souvenirs and posing for smiling photos. In a contrived signing ceremony Wednesday, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) signed the articles of impeachment, one letter at a time, using golden pens delivered to her on a silver platter – which she handed out as souvenirs, McConnell said:

On Wednesday’s broadcast of CNN’s “OutFront,” House Judiciary Committee Chairman and House Impeachment Manager Jerry Nadler (D-NY) stated that the House didn’t hear from “many” of the witnesses they should have during their impeachment proceedings, but they “heard from enough witnesses to prove the case beyond any doubt at all.” Nadler also said that it is a “travesty” that some members of the Senate don’t want to hear from any witnesses whatsoever in the Senate trial. Nadler said, “We brought the articles of impeachment. Because, despite the fact that we didn’t hear from many witnesses we should have heard from,...

When the impeachment proceedings against President Trump begin again next week, he won't be the only one facing scrutiny, Rep. Jerry Nadler said. "The Senate is on trial as well as the president," Nadler said during a Wednesday press conference. "Does the Senate conduct a trial according to the Constitution to vindicate the Republic, or does the Senate participate in the president’s crimes by covering them up?” **SNIP** "The emphasis is on litigators and on making the strongest possible case to the American people," the speaker said. Nadler, the chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, called into questioned the integrity...

The cult of Pelosi isn't just a 'hot take' or a 'be smart,' it's a mindset through which Washington's media elites interpret the world. It's false, and the harsh light of reality easily shows as much. There are many cults in Washington, D.C. The Founding Church of Scientology sits between Dupont and Logan Circles. The earth-worshiping Defenders of Wildlife are just a few blocks south, their entrance guarded by imposing bronze grey wolves. One block north, the Human Rights Campaign dispatches starry-eyed adherents with clipboards to recruit followers, and to the east lie the child-harvesters. Two blocks away, the remnants...