Another person with direct knowledge told CNN there’s a reason McConnell kept quiet about accusations because other Republicans pushed back: he’s furious about the president’s attack on the US Capitol last week, even more so that Trump showed no dispute. His silence was deliberate because he abandoned the option to support accusation.
McConnell has made no obligation to vote to convict Trump, and wants to see the article himself before voting. This is a stark contrast to the first indictment of the president when McConnell repeatedly spoke out against Democratic intentions to hold Trump accountable for a pressure campaign on the Ukrainian government to investigate Joe Biden and his family.
McConnell has been gradually moving his conference away from Trump for weeks. Although he knows that not everyone is with him, the Republican from Kentucky believes that the party should turn the page.
Several GOP sources said Tuesday that if McConnell supports conviction, Trump will almost certainly be convicted by 67 senators in the indictment.
“If Mitch is a yes, he’s done,” said one Senate GOP source who asked not to be named.
Many Republican senators remain silent on whether they will support conviction – a sign that they can also support conviction in an effort to free Trump from their party.
The relationship between the majority leader of the Senate and the president – the two most powerful men in the Republican Party – has collapsed, several sources told CNN.
A source familiar with the relationship between the two men told CNN McConnell is furious with Trump. The source said McConnell “hates” Trump for what he did last week following the attacks on the Capitol in which at least five people were killed, including a Capitol Hill police officer.
Trump and McConnell have still not spoken since last Wednesday’s riot, a separate source familiar with the matter confirmed to CNN. Another source said the two men had not spoken since McConnell’s speech on Biden was elected president in December.
McConnell could not get Trump on the phone when he did not want to sign the stimulus bill over Christmas week, a third source told CNN. McConnell has since told others in the wake of the stimulus circus he will not speak to Trump again.
McConnell also talks with the president-elect about how the chamber should handle an indictment against Trump.
Biden is not trying to stop the accusation proceedings, but he is trying to stop him from devouring his agenda and overshadowing the early days of his presidency. CNN understands Biden called McConnell on Monday to discuss the possibility of ‘bifurcation’ – to do accused proceedings along with confirming his nominees and approving a comprehensive Covid relief package.
The two men spoke candidly about a potential indictment for Trump, people familiar with the call said, as both noted it would be very different from the 1999 trial they had for then-President Bill Clinton.
McConnell told Biden that the Senate MP should decide whether the Senate can work on legislative matters other than accusation, people familiar with the call said, adding that McConnell does not offer his own view.
Biden raised this idea in public Monday when he received his second Covid-19 vaccine and said he had spoken to lawmakers. He did not reveal that McConnell was among them.
The New York Times first reported the Biden-McConnell call.
This story is breaking and will be updated.
CNN’s Devan Cole contributed to this story.