Republican Senate Leader Mitch McConnell
Addison (Mitch) Mitchell McConnellGaetz targets Cheney during a protest in her home state. The Senate’s sad signal – Trump is one for the law books The Hill’s Morning Report – Dems question hearing; January becomes MORE the deadliest pandemic month (Ky.) Announced to colleagues on January 13 that he is open to votes to convict President Trump
Donald Trump ‘QAnon Shaman’ willing to testify in indictment, lawyer says Boebert clashes with Parkland survivor on Twitter: ‘Give your keyboard a rest, child’ Overnight Defense: FEMA asks Pentagon to help with vaccinations | US says Taliban ‘failed to meet commitments’ | Army investigating Fort Hood chaplain MORE because he incited an uprising, but since then he has taken behind-the-scenes steps to curb the Democratic accusation.
On Tuesday, 45 GOP senators voted in support of a motion by Sen. Rand Paul
Randal (Rand) Howard Paul The Senate’s sad signal – Trump is one for the law books The Hill’s Morning Report – Dems question hearing; January becomes the deadliest month of the pandemic (R-Ky.) Which declares Trump’s second indictment unconstitutional on the grounds that Trump is no longer president.
The vote made it clear that Trump would have no Senate conviction, as at least 17 GOP votes would be needed to secure the 67 votes needed in a 50-50 Senate.
“Just do the math,” Sen. said. Susan Collins
Susan Margaret Collins Kaine is looking to submit censorship next week aimed at deterring Trump from the White House’s future office, on the idea of splitting Byrd rule aid package, threatening political hourly minimum wage MORE (Maine), one of five Republicans who opposed Paul’s motion, told reporters after the vote.
McConnell was described by associates as ‘furious’ about the mob’s attack on the Capitol, and he went on to say he would keep an open mind to legal arguments presented during the trial.
It seems clear that he is more than open to the party moving away from Trump, especially after the former president was widely accused of losing the GOP two run-off elections in Georgia that cost him the Senate majority.
At the same time, McConnell probably wanted to avoid an intense battle within the caucus over a Trump conviction. And he saw the setback in the House, where Rep. Liz Cheney
Elizabeth (Liz) Lynn CheneyGaetz targets Cheney during his rally in her home state. GOP has a growing problem with Marjorie Taylor Greene. (Wy.) And other Republicans who voted to accuse Trump have received harsh criticism from Trump supporters.
Over the past few weeks, McConnell has made a series of moves in the run-up to the vote on Paul’s motion, which, according to GOP senators, said it is very likely that the motion will pass.
And the effect of these moves and Paul’s proposal was to stop the Senate hearing before it even began.
“I do not know how the pieces coincided, but they did coincide and Mitch is quite astute,” one GOP senator told The Hill.
McConnell’s leadership team informed Senate Republicans at a January 21 conference that Chief Justice John Roberts would not preside over the trial.
Roberts did lead Trump’s first trial a year ago. His replacement is Sen. Patrick Leahy
Patrick Joseph Leahy Leahy is expected to plead guilty to health concerns The Hill’s Morning Report – Biden seeks vaccine for all by summer; Trump censorship? Why John Roberts’ absence from the Senate hearing is no longer surprising (D-Vt.), The president of the Senate pro tempore and senior Democratic senator.
The revelation ‘crystallized’ for Paul the idea of challenging the constitutionality of the whole process, as a democratic senator would preside.
The timing of the Paul vote was also curious.
The Senate voted on Paul’s motion immediately after GOP senators heard a presentation by Jonathan Washington law professor Jonathan Turley, an outspoken critic of the Democratic indictment of a former president.
A second GOP senator who requested anonymity said the surprise vote was boxed in many GOP senators immediately after the presentation during lunch.
“It was a kind of sandbox for us,” the legislature said.
Sen. Lisa Murkowski
Lisa Ann Murkowski Kaine is looking into submitting censorship next week aimed at preventing Trump from future office conservatives. (Alaska), one of the five GOP senators who voted against Paul’s motion, said it was unfortunate that the Senate was forced to vote immediately after Turley’s submission and before they could hear different views.
“For an important institutional question like this, everyone had a bit of a flat foot to make it jump on us,” she said.
“So we heard one side,” she added. ‘I think almost everyone was surprised to be able to not only take a public position, but also vote on it today.
McConnell also took steps to delay the opening of the trial.
He Rejected Senate Democratic Leader Charles Schumer
Chuck Schumer Psaki expects the DHS-nominated Mayorkas to be the head of the task force to reunite divorced families. Biden DHS chooses progress in the Senate, which removes the Republican hurdle.‘s (DN.Y.) demands to recall the Senate from the January recess to begin the indictment while Trump was still in office.
At the time, it was not yet clear what would happen due to the delay, but it apparently sparked anger over the January 6 attack in the caucus.
“This is McConnell’s game. He knows the longer something waits, the more it twists,” said a Senate Assistant to the GOP. “McConnell knows that if you wait for something, the sis goes out.”
McConnell bought more time for his colleagues by urging the House of Representatives to wait until Jan. 28 to submit their indictment to the Senate, which Trump’s defense team would have given until Feb. 11 to to submit a preliminary assignment.
He insisted that the president, just as popular as immediately after the Capitol attack, would get the right process and a fair trial, even if it would prolong the process longer than the Democrats and even many Republicans wanted.
McConnell and Schumer finally agreed that the House’s indictment managers would exhibit the indictment on Jan. 25 and that the president’s preliminary injunction would only appear on Feb. 8, and Feb. 9 would be the start date of the trial.
There were reasons for Schumer to agree to a delay.
He had to balance the concerns of Democrats like Sens. Chris Murphy
Christopher (Chris) Scott Murphy Schumer promises to move forward with Trump trial despite setback The Hill’s Morning Report – Biden: Focus on vaccine, virus, travel Tensions rise high after gun incident near House floor MORE (D-Conn.) En Tim Kaine
Timothy (Tim) Michael KaineKaine intends to file an injunction next week to ban Trump from the future office of The Hill’s Morning Report – Dems question hearing; January marks the most deadly pandemic month Bipartisan group discusses Senate rules MORE (D-Va.), Who did not immediately want to begin the indictment to get in the way of President Biden’s cabinet election and work on a COVID-19 relief bill.
McConnell has not asked his colleagues to vote on the Paul motion in any way, and he is not advocating for or against a conviction.
But a third Republican senator, who requested anonymity to discuss behind-the-scenes maneuvers, said the way the debate was played out during the GOP conference was the result of McConnell’s handiwork.
The senator said he considered McConnell’s statement on Jan. 13 that he did not decide how he would vote on an indictment, rather was a warning to Trump not to do anything dumb, such as the rioters. who stormed the Capitol to forgive.
“Even back to the beginning when McConnell sent the message that he was open to voting to condemn, I think it was possibly designed to save the country and deter Trump from doing things that are even more harmful,” he said. the senator said. .
Other GOP senators have said they think McConnell will ‘keep the door open’ to vote for a conviction if additional ‘damning’ information emerges about Trump’s role in storming the crowd on January 6.
It is unclear to what extent McConnell is only responding to changing political winds.
But the IDP senators say it is rare that the senator’s hand has not played to manage the IDP caucus for a long time.
“There’s not much that surprises Mitch,” said the second GOP senator who asked for anonymity.