His point: The House acted quickly on impeachment, but the Senate needs time to prepare for a full trial.
He proposes to delay the start of the trial until sometime in February. He wants to give Trump’s team two weeks to prepare his case, according to a source.
McConnell’s office says a formal statement regarding his comments will be issued soon.
It remains to be seen whether the Democrats, who now have a slim majority in the Senate, will accept McConnell’s proposed Friday schedule.
While the decision on when to start the trial is up to the Democrats, there are reasons why the Democrats in Congress, and the Biden White House, may be willing to delay the trial, as it would give the Senate a chance to confirm more. chosen from Biden’s cabinet.
House Democrats could still send the impeachment charge at any time, and the Senate would be forced to begin the trial the next day. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi has not disclosed time plans to deliver the impeachment charge.
The Speaker of the House of Representatives, Nancy Pelosi, rejected on Thursday the Republican requests to back down in the impeachment against former President Donald Trump. Even though Pelosi did not say when she will send the charge of incitement to insurrection to the Senate to begin the process.
The start of the impeachment trial of former President Trump in the Senate, after the House indicted him on a single charge last week, has not been set. When that happens, the process will paralyze other Senate business. All while the upper house still struggles to reach a power-sharing agreement in a 50-50 Senate.
There is another factor complicating impeachment timing: The question of who will represent Trump remains unanswered.
Pelosi told a press conference Thursday that the House was “ready” to begin impeachment. However, he added that he would wait until the Senate was ready before formally transmitting the impeachment charge. Precisely, the step that would trigger the beginning of the impeachment trial the next day.
“Now they have informed us that they are ready to receive. The question is other questions about how an impeachment will unfold. But we are ready, “said Pelosi about the Senate.
House Democrats are in talks to send the impeachment charge to the Senate this Friday, according to two sources. But, one factor complicating the process is the fact that Trump still does not have an attorney to represent him in the Senate impeachment trial.
“The charges could be reviewed on Friday,” a source told Citizen Free Press.
How will the impeachment trial against Trump proceed? 1:09There are also discussions about how to ensure that an impeachment trial can move quickly and does not affect President Joe Biden’s agenda. However, ultimately the starting time has not been defined. Trump’s lack of attorneys for the process underscores the chaos the former president continues to inject into the Capitol. Even after he left Washington on Wednesday before Biden’s inauguration.
Sen. Lindsey Graham, a Republican from South Carolina and an ally of the former president, said Trump would have his legal team ready “very soon.” And he added that he will have “people who are competent and well versed in situations like this.”
“I would focus on the unconstitutional argument,” Graham said. “They did not present any evidence in the Chamber. So I don’t know if they can present evidence in the Senate that was not raised (before). I suppose you could. But, we will make our own decisions on whether the president overreached, whether this was incitement under the law, and what is the correct outcome there? So, frankly, it should be a quick trial, “he completed.
Republicans have urged Democrats to drop Trump’s impeachment in the Senate. In that sense, they argue that it is unconstitutional and that it directly undermines the message of unity of Biden’s inauguration in the first days of his presidency.
Pelosi rejected those requests Thursday.
“No, I’m not worried about that,” he said. “The fact is that the President of the United States committed an act of incitement to insurrection. I don’t think it’s very unifying to say ‘oh, let’s forget it and move on’. This is not how you unify … You do not tell a president ‘do what you want in the last months of your administration, you will get a card to get out of jail for free,’ “said Pelosi.
Senate Democratic leaders say they don’t know when impeachment will begin. Although, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer promised there would be a vote on whether to convict Trump on the House “incitement to insurrection” charge.
“The (Republican) leader (Mitch) McConnell and I are trying to reach a bipartisan agreement on how to conduct the impeachment,” Schumer said Thursday. But make no mistake about it. There will be a trial, there will be a vote for or against convicting the president. I think it should be condemned. And we will have to wait to see when (Pelosi) sends the charges to find out how to do all that, “he said.
Why could Trump lose his pension as former president? 1:05Asked when the impeachment charges would be sent, Dick Durbin, one of the top Senate Democrats, said that was not yet resolved.
“Whether or not it is a full trial with evidence and witnesses, or an ‘expedited’ – whatever that means – that final decision is not even close,” added Durbin.
During Trump’s impeachment trial in 2020, House impeachment prosecutors focused much of their case on the need to have witnesses in the process. This, to prove his charges that Trump sought Ukraine’s help to affect Biden before the 2020 campaign. Ultimately, that push failed, as Republicans voted against listening to witnesses before Trump went. acquitted.
This time, Democrats are waiting for a speedy trial. Precisely, since the Senate is likely to stand still while the impeachment is ongoing. Meaning those chosen by Biden to his Biden cabinet would face delays in their confirmation.
Democrats have yet to define whether they will seek witnesses for this trial. But, Pelosi hinted Thursday that they may not need to, and said the decision would be up to prosecutors.
“I see a huge difference between something that we all witnessed and the information you might need to substantiate an impeachment article based largely on a call the president made and described as perfect,” Pelosi said. “This year, the whole world witnessed the incitement of the president, the execution of his call to action and the violence that was used.”
House impeachment managers are meeting and preparing to present their case to the Senate, and Democrats are hopeful they can convince 17 Republicans to convict Trump, especially since McConnell has indicated that he maintains a mind open and you will hear the argument.
However, a faction of Republicans in the Senate is warning McConnell that his support will quickly wane at the Republican Senate conference if he votes to convict Trump.
“I see a huge difference between something we all witnessed and the information you would need to argue an impeachment charge based in large part on a call the president made that he described as perfect,” Pelosi said. “This year, the whole world witnessed the incitement of the president, the execution of his call to action and the violence that was used,” he said.
The impeachment prosecutors of the House of Representatives are meeting and preparing to present their case to the Senate. Democrats hope they can convince 17 Republicans to convict Trump. Especially since McConnell has indicated that he keeps an open mind and will listen to the argument.
However, a faction of Republicans in the Senate has warned McConnell that his support will rapidly decline in the Senate Republican ranks if he votes to convict Trump.