General Discussion
Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsMcConnell's rules for the impeachment trial are a cover-up wrapped in obstruction
https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2020/1/21/1912928/-McConnell-s-rules-for-the-impeachment-trial-are-a-cover-up-wrapped-in-obstructionUnder the proposal put forward by McConnell, each side has 24 hours to argue the case for and against Trump. On the surface, that matches the rules of Bill Clintons impeachment. However, while in Clintons case those hours unfolded in prime time over the course of a week, McConnell is requiring that the case in the Trump trial be made in just two days. And if that sounds bad, its actually much worse. Chief Justice John Roberts, who will preside over the trial in the Senate, has already informed McConnell that he needs to be at the Supreme Court in the mornings. So each session in the Senate will begin no earlier than 1 in the afternoon.
This means that, even if there was not a single break or a moment of process, each day of hearings will carry on until at least 1 a.m. More likely, House managers would be delivering the case against Trump in the hours more commonly associated with heart attacks and robberies. Forget bills that are passed at midnight; midnight will come in the middle of these hearings.
As appropriate as it may be that Trumps crimes are outlined during the same hours that saw the arrival of Scrooges ghosts, McConnells proposed rules ensure that the case will be conducted with the least possible scrutiny. Its a proposal that extends the cover-up of Trumps extortion scheme directly into the rules of the Senate trial. And the hours in which the case will be conducted are far from the only way in which McConnell has tossed a blanket over Trumps guilt.
Because McConnell does something utterly unique, and arguably unconstitutional, by refusing to take the most basic step of any impeachment: accept the case from the House. Instead, McConnell would require senators to vote on the acceptance of each plank of the House case. This makes it likely that Republicans will simply exclude everything the House has assembled, meaning that those late-night hours are likely to be filled not with discussion of the evidence against Trump, but with Republicans objecting that none of that information is actually in evidence for the Senate trial.
McConnell has crafted a resolution in which the Republican-dominated Senate has to agree on what evidence its going to let in. That doesnt mean just blocking the testimony of additional witnesses; it also means blocking admission of facts learned from witnesses who have already testified before the House. Under these rules, Republicans can literally pick and choose which evidence they accept.
Guilded Lilly
(5,591 posts)Much more than he is the worthless figurehead that stains the Oval Office. It is McConnells loyalty to his own power 𝐇𝐎𝐋𝐃 than protecting the character (lack of) of the wretched man in the presidency.
If they keep the Cretin in office, Republicans can wield more treasonous power.
This is about vile McConnell, not the Cretin.
PRETZEL
(3,245 posts)I kind of got the impression that he is feeling somewhat defeated in his attempts to get the votes he needs to amend the rules as presented.
I heard that Romney's website was updated to indicate that he is in favor of the rules and will vote for them as presented. If Romney goes, there goes the cover for others as well.
I'm still hopeful that Sen. Shumers amendments will pass, namely ones he will be proposing to allow into the record the evidence of the House Managers as well as witness calling.
The first 4 - 6 hours of the trial will determine whether this is a shit show or is there are members of the Senate besides the Democrats who are willing to obey the oath they took.
I hate to say it, but it could very well be over even before it started.