Several Republican senators on Sunday discouraged proposals to convict former President Donald Trump in his upcoming indictment.
“Well, first of all, I think the trial is stupid,” Sen said. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., Told Fox News Sunday. “I think it’s counterproductive. We already have a blazing fire in this country and [impeachment is] take a bunch of gasoline and pour it on top of the fire. ‘
Rubio added that he believes Trump is “responsible for something of what happened” during the deadly riots at the Capitol earlier this month, but that he does not believe accusations are the right way to address the issue. He also said it would be ‘arrogant’ to say that Trump should not be re-elected.
“The first chance I will vote to end this trial, I will do because I think it’s bad for America,” he said. “If you want to hold people accountable, there are other ways to do it, especially for president.”
Rubio said accusations would “make it harder to get important things done and it will only continue to fuel this division that has paralyzed the country and turned us into a land of people who hate each other.”
Mike Rounds, RS.D., speaks to NBC’s “Meet the Press” and calls the indictment a point of contention. ‘
“Because I think at the moment that Donald Trump is no longer the president, he is a former president,” Rounds said, adding that he did not believe the accusation of a former president was constitutionally viable and that a trial would take place. take away from other agenda items for the Senate, including the confirmation of President Joe Biden’s cabinet.
A report by the Congressional Research Service released this week notes that although the Constitution does not explicitly state whether a former president can be charged, scholars ‘who have thoroughly examined the question’ have concluded that Congress has the power to extend the prosecution process to officials who are no longer. in the office. “
Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, DN.Y., announced Friday that a trial will begin in early February under an agreement reached between Democrats and Republicans. In order to convict the president, at least 17 Republicans must join all the Democrats. If convicted, the Senate could consider banning Trump from making a future offer for his office.
Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., Who has sharply criticized Trump in the wake of the riot, said he did not decide whether to convict the former president. Meanwhile, Republicans like McConnell or a handful of GOP members of the House who voted in favor of Trump’s conviction have come under heavy backlash from conservatives.
In an interview with ABC’s ‘This Week’, Senator Rand Paul, R-Ky., Refused to say that the election was not stolen from the president – the sentiment that led to the assault on 6 in the first place January. Trump and his allies have been making false allegations for months about widespread voter fraud and other election integrity issues.
Paul promised to investigate the election over the next two years and said he “will not be coerced by liberals in the media who say there is no evidence here and that you are a liar when you talk about election fraud.”
On ‘Meet the Press’, Rounds said he, although he believes ‘the election was fair’, supports the investigation to ‘show it to the American people’.
Sen. Mitt Romney, R-Utah, told CNN’s “State of the Union” that he would decide how to vote in the indictment after the case was presented to him. Romney was the only Republican to vote in favor of Trump’s conviction during his first indictment last year.
He added that he believed it was “fairly clear” that an accusation after the presidency was constitutional and that it was appropriate for Trump to be charged by the House.
“I believe that what is being claimed and what we have seen, what is incitement to rebellion, is an undisputed offense,” he said. “If not, what is it?”
On ‘This Week’, Senator Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn., Cites the 1876 indictment of former war secretary William Belknap – who was tried after resigning – as a precedent for the indictment of ‘ a former official.
“I think we’ll get more and more evidence over the next few weeks – as if it’s not enough that he sent off an angry mob. [the National Mall] to invade the Capitol, not try to stop it, and a police officer is dead, “Klobuchar said.” I do not really know what else you need to know. The facts were there. We had it on the platform during the inauguration, as you could still see the spray paint at the bottom of many of the columns. ‘
