GOP Sen. Defends McConnell’s Alliance With WH On Impeachment: ‘The Senate Is Not Really A Jury’

Sen. John Kennedy (R-LA) during a meeting with St. Petersburg Governor Georgy Poltavchenko on July 2, 2018. (Photo by Alexander DemianchukTASS via Getty Images)
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On Sunday, Sen. John Kennedy (R-LA) backed Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY)’s blatant coordination with White House lawyers on the impending impeachment trial of President Donald Trump.

“It’s not a criminal trial. The Senate is not really a jury,” Kennedy told CNN’s “State of the Union” host Jake Tapper. “It’s both jury and judge.”

The Republican senator said that McConnell, who bragged about being “on the same side” as the White House even before the trial begins, is “entitled to his opinion and his approach.”

Kennedy also argued that “not all crimes are impeachable offenses.”

“There are no rules here,” he said of the Senate impeachment trial process. “For example, what’s an impeachable offense? I think the precedent that shows that not all impeachable offenses are crimes, but it also shows that not all crimes are impeachable offenses.”

McConnell’s alliance with the White House on impeachment has drawn criticism from Democrats, who accuse the GOP leader of violating the Senate’s constitutional oath to carry out impeachment trials with “impartial justice.”

One Republican, Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-AL), said she was “disturbed” by McConnell’s anti-impeachment strategy last week.

Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-CT) told reporters that besides Murkowski, ten other GOP senators privately had “very severe misgivings” about McConnell’s actions.

Watch Kennedy below:

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Notable Replies

  1. Read your Constitution, Goober…

  2. " I mean, what really is a crime when you come to think of it? Who can say? Is it sending government contracts your friends way and making a healthy monetary kickback? Absolutely not. But what about the government stealing some of your income and calling it a tax? Now that might be a crime, but we’re looking into it."

  3. Avatar for pshah pshah says:

    It must suck to be this dumb.

    “It’s not a criminal trial. The Senate is not really a jury,” Kennedy told CNN’s “State of the Union” host Jake Tapper. “It’s both jury and judge.”

    So it’s a jury and judge…and it’s okay to coordinate with the defendant? What a waste of a top-notch education.

  4. We are judge and jury and therefore we don’t need to even pretend to impartial. Who would want to stand before a judge or jury that wasn’t willing to declare their verdict before the trial?

    GOP logic is great. It doesn’t matter that it is direct contradiction of the oath by any measure. It doesn’t matter that the “defense” he offers just makes it worse. As long as he is on the TV and making noise it’s a positive for their side. And there seems to be a solid 40% of the country that laps it right up.

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