Judiciary Dem Says 5 to 10 GOP Sens With ‘Misgivings’ May ‘Draw the Line’ at Coordinating With Trump on His Trial

Democratic Connecticut Senator Richard Blumenthal says as many as 10 Republican senators he’s spoken to have expressed “severe misgivings” about Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell’s handling of President Donald Trump’s impeachment trial, and “would draw the line” at “denying a full, fair proceeding.”

Senator Blumenthal, a member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, briefed reporters Thursday at the Connecticut State Capitol in Hartford on federal assistance for elections cybersecurity, where he was asked about the impending impeachment trial.

Following the briefing, a reporter asked Blumenthal “Do you have any confidence that this is going to be a fair trial in the Senate?”

Blumenthal brought up the on-the-record remark from Republican Sen. Lisa Murkowski this week that she was “disturbed” by McConnell’s coordination with Trump’s White House. “My hope is that some of my Republican colleagues will have the same misgivings,” he said.

“I believe Senator Murkowski is saying what a lot of my Republican colleagues are thinking, in fact, saying privately,” Blumenthal continued. “Which is: this proceeding has to be credible, fair, and honest, and so far Mitch McConnell is sabotaging this proceeding by saying he won’t be impartial, he will do the president’s bidding, in no trial does the defendant have the say about how the trial is going to be conducted.”

He reiterated that “a number of my Republican colleagues are thinking and saying privately what Lisa Murkowski said publicly yesterday, which is that Mitch McConnell saying that he won’t be impartial, that he will coordinate with the White House, in effect puts Donald Trump in charge of the Senate trial, and that would be devastating to its credibility and the confidence of the American people, and we will continue to push for rules that give us witnesses and documents.”

Blumenthal was asked what sort of pressure McConnell would be under if some Republicans broke with him, and Blumenthal said “There will be a lot of pressure on Mitch McConnell because he needs 51 votes if he is going to deny witnesses and documents during this trial.”

“If he is going to take cues from the White House and coordinate, in effect put Donald Trump in charge of his own trial, he will need 51 votes, and I believe my Republican colleagues would draw the line,” Blumenthal continued, and added “I’ve talked to anywhere from 5 to 10 of my colleagues who have very severe misgivings about the direction that Mitch McConnell is going, in denying a full, fair proceeding with witnesses and documents. My hope is that they will say publicly what Senator Murkowski did, and really hold Mitch McConnell accountable.”

Watch the clip above, via Connecticut Network.

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