On
December 18, 2019, The House of Representatives impeached President Trump for Abuse
of Power and Obstruction of Congress.
The
next step in the process is for the Senate to hold a trial.
Unfortunately,
Mitch McConnell the Speaker of the Senate, indicated on October 8, 2019, that
he was coordinating preparations for the trial with the White House counsel. Do you suppose that he forgot that Senators
act as jurors in an impeachment trial? Surely
the jury should not be coordinating their efforts with either side.
But he
doubled down on December 17th on CNN when he announced: "I'm not an
impartial juror." (Barrett & Zaslav,
2019)
Hmm. Perhaps he shouldn't be a juror at all
then. And what about that pesky oath he
took to uphold the constitution? Doesn't
it preclude attempting to turn an impeachment trial into a sham?
Enter
Nancy to the rescue.
The
intrepid Speaker of The House announced on December 19th that she would not send
the articles of impeachment to the Senate until they indicated what the rules
of the trial would be. And, wait for it
- that it will be a fair trial. (Hughes &
Andrews, 2019)
Then
she sent everyone home for the holidays ensuring that the main topic of
conversation at family gatherings over the next two weeks will be - "Why
won't the Senate hold a fair trial? What
do they have to hide?" It's
brilliant.
According
to an ABC/Washington Post poll released on December 17th, 70% of Americans think
that Trump's aides should testify at the trial.
That figure includes 64% of Republicans, 72% of Independents and 79% of
Democrats. (Langer, 2019)
So
this is not a partisan issue. But rather
one that all Americans care deeply about.
That makes me think some Senators may come back from break with a whole
new attitude.
Thanks
Nancy.
Barrett,
T. & Zaslav, A. (2019, December 17) Mitch McConnell: 'I'm not an impartial
juror' ahead of Senate impeachment trial.
cnn.com. Retrieved December 24, 209, from
Hughes,
S. & Andrews, P. (2019, December 20)
Pelosi to Delay Sending Impeachment Articles to Senate. wsj.com. Retrieved December 24, 2019, from https://www.wsj.com/articles/after-house-impeaches-trump-timing-of-next-steps-is-unclear-11576755097
Langer,
G. (2019, December 17) Most expect fair
trial for Trump; 7 in 10 say let aides testify (POLL) abcnews.go.com.
Retrieved December 24, 2019, from https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/expect-fair-trial-trump-10-aides-testify-poll/story?id=67761813
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