Mitch McConnell Doesn't Have The Votes For His Sham Trump Impeachment Trial

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Mitch McConnell promised Sean Hannity that he was going to work with Trump to hold a sham impeachment trial, but he doesn’t have the votes yet to do it.

Here is McConnell laying out his plan for a sham trial:

WATCH: @SenateMajLdr is saying his priority is defending the president, not the rule of law. POTUS is being impeached for abusing his power by extorting a foreign govt to help himself politically. @SenateGOP owes allegiance to the people & the Constitution—not president & party. pic.twitter.com/SMwDlAZ6rO

— Senator Jeff Merkley (@SenJeffMerkley) December 13, 2019

There is only one problem. McConnell doesn’t have the 51 votes that he needs to implement his plan.

According to The Plum Line:
McConnell could of course refuse, and instead call a full Senate vote on a process that precludes witness testimony and the soliciting of documents — which McConnell reportedly favors, because he wants a quick trial with no circuslike calls for Hunter Biden’s head — and no damning new revelations. If that passed by simple majority, that would become the process.

Of course, McConnell might not have 51 votes for such a process — because a handful of vulnerable GOP senators might balk at voting for something so obviously rigged to protect Trump. Indeed, reporting indicates he doesn’t have those votes yet — which means he can’t yet do what he promised Hannity he’d do.

Mitch McConnell doesn’t have the votes to blow off Trump’s impeachment trial. There is still a chance that a few Republican Senators will come together and demand a full trial. If this happens, everything that Mitch McConnell promised relating to the structure of the trial will go up in smoke.

The sham trial is not a done deal yet, and if the American people push hard enough, it may never become a reality.

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Jason Easley

Jason is the managing editor. He is also a White House Press Pool and a Congressional correspondent for PoliticusUSA. Jason has a Bachelor’s Degree in Political Science. His graduate work focused on public policy, with a specialization in social reform movements.

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