Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) is unashamed of coordinating the details of President Donald Trump’s impeachment trial with… President Donald Trump.
Amid reports that McConnell could pursue a rapid trial that quickly lets Trump off the hook, the leader told Fox News’ Sean Hannity on Thursday that Senate Republicans will be working in “total coordination with the White House counsel.”
That drew quick criticism from Democrats like Rep. Val Demings (D-FL), who accused McConnell of sabotaging the trial.
Speaking to reporters Friday, McConnell was unapologetic.
“It was done during the Clinton impeachment as well,” he said. “Not surprisingly, President Clinton and the Democrats in the Senate were coordinated in strategy. We’re on the same side.”
McConnell said he’d read that Tom Daschle, the Democratic minority leader during Clinton’s trial, had coordinated with Clinton’s White House.
And while Daschle has acknowledged that his staff was in touch with the White House during the Clinton impeachment trial, McConnell glossed over some key differences between then and now — the Republicans controlled the Senate then, and the rules for the Senate impeachment procedure were approved unanimously, 100 votes to zero.
Such unanimity appears less likely this time. McConnell has not yet spoken with Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) about the parameters of the trial, the New York Times reported Friday.
Watch below via MSNBC:
McConnell on coordinating impeachment with the White House: "We're on the same side." pic.twitter.com/yA2E18vONi
— Matt Shuham (@mattshuham) December 14, 2019
H/t RawStory.
