Jerry Nadler: McConnell Coordinating With Trump Counsel on Impeachment is a ‘Complete Subversion’ of the Constitution

Congressmen Jerry Nadler (D-NY) and Adam Schiff (D-CA) gave a joint interview to ABC’s George Stephanopoulos on Sunday, during which, the House Judiciary Committee chairman slammed Mitch McConnell (R-KY) for how he intends to conduct the Senate’s impeachment trial of President Donald Trump.

As Schiff and Nadler defended the Democrats’ handling of the impeachment push, there was a considerable amount of discussion on whether Republicans are shirking their constitutional duties by refusing to hold Trump accountable for the Ukraine scandal. At one point, Stephanopoulos asked Nadler what he’s going to do about how the Senate majority leader told Fox News that his trial strategy is “I’m coordinating with White House counsel…I’m going to take my cues from the president’s lawyers.”

Nadler answered by noting that the the Constitution requires the Senate to take a pledge of “impartial justice” when they conduct an impeachment trial, “and here you have the Majority Leader of the Senate, and in effect, the floorman and the jury, saying he’s going to work hand and glove with the defense attorney.”

“That’s a violation of the oath they’re about to take, and it’s a complete subversion of the constitutional scheme,” Nadler said. He continued by running through the allegations of the Ukraine scandal saying “the facts are basically uncontroverted” that Trump tried to pressure a foreign government into investigating his political opponents, then tried to cover it up.

“This is a subversion of the constitutional order, a subversion of our democracy, and if he gets away with it, future presidents of either party will be able to really change the nature of our government,” Nadler warned. “This changes the nature of our government. Do we have a constitutional democracy, or do we have a monarchy where the president is unaccountable? That’s what’s at stake here.”

Watch above, via ABC.