With the case eventually moving into the GOP-controlled Senate, the sides have flipped positions.
Most Senate Republicans, still dismissive of the House investigation, are pushing for a trial in which no more investigative work is done and a verdict is rendered within two weeks or so. And Democrats are demanding a fair process, asserting that it would be flawed without additional investigative work with more witnesses.
“He doesn’t want a fair trial; he wants a quick and sham trial,” Senate Minority Leader Charles E. Schumer (D-N.Y.) said during a floor speech Monday. In denouncing Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell’s handling of negotiations, Schumer used the phrase “sham trial” three times.
This pivot in tone came to full force Tuesday when McConnell (R-Ky.) declared that Republicans had determined they were ready to start the trial whenever House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) formally sends the articles and the team of House managers to prosecute the case in the Senate.
Once that happens, the trial will begin and Republicans will quickly hold a vote that mirrors the 1999 procedures used for President Bill Clinton’s trial, in which the Senate held off on consideration of witnesses until a few weeks into the case. McConnell brushed aside complaints that the process does not guarantee witnesses.
“What was good enough for President Clinton in an impeachment trial should have been good enough President Trump,” McConnell told reporters after the weekly Republican luncheon.
McConnell, a veteran of parliamentary process fights, is most comfortable whenever he can cite a Democratic precedent. Almost four years ago, when Justice Antonin Scalia died, McConnell unilaterally declared that no nominee would be considered for Scalia’s Supreme Court seat because the 2016 campaign was underway and the new president should make the pick.
Republicans flailed for days afterward trying to explain their blockade, until they discovered video of then-Sen. Joe Biden (D-Del.) declaring in 1992, as chairman of the Judiciary Committee, that no Supreme Court nominee should be considered during a presidential campaign.
Pretty soon, every Republican started citing the “Biden precedent” and held firm.
By Monday, as the Senate returned for the first votes of the year, even the most moderate Republicans had fallen rhetorically in line with McConnell on the impeachment trial.
“I have suggested that we follow the precedent that was established with President Clinton’s impeachment trial,” said Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine), recalling the trial that occurred during her first term. “I thought that worked well.”
With Senate Republicans dug in on impeachment proceedings, some Senate Democrats suggested that the trial start within days so they could try to pressure GOP colleagues to support votes on witnesses and documents in the weeks ahead.
By Tuesday evening, however, after a huddle with her leadership team, Pelosi told colleagues that she still wants more information from McConnell before she will appoint House impeachment managers to prosecute the case.
“She needs to know what the rules are,” Rep. Debbie Dingell (D-Mich.), who attended Pelosi’s leadership meeting, told reporters.
Democrats argue that this pursuit of testimony, particularly from Trump’s former national security adviser John Bolton and acting White House chief of staff Mick Mulvaney, is about following the facts where they lead. Those advisers, whose testimony the president has previously blocked, can provide firsthand accounts about Trump’s actions in relation to Ukraine and the nearly $400 million of security aid that he delayed over the summer.
When they focus on getting at the facts, Democrats feel they are in strong position with voters. They pointed to surveys from six swing states with key Senate races this year in which 70 percent of voters wanted the Senate to “call witnesses who have so far refused to cooperate but who can provide direct, firsthand evidence,” according to the Democratic pollster Geoff Garin.
Sen. Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.), appearing at Schumer’s side Tuesday, gave a forceful defense of how this case was different from the Clinton trial — which came only after a long independent counsel investigation in which every possible witness, including the president, had given testimony under oath.
In today’s case, Trump and his closest aides have yet to provide any testimony or documents. Van Hollen warned that the Clinton trial did eventually end with three witnesses providing depositions.
“Okay, if you want to pattern this after the Clinton trial, remember, in phase two, there were witnesses,” Van Hollen told reporters, referring to those depositions after the initial presentations in the trial.
And Republicans run the risk of putting their political heads in the sand if they refuse to conduct any additional inquiry.
Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) oddly tweeted Monday that senators should consider only the “same testimony & evidence” collected by the House, despite regular criticism of the House probe, which McConnell routinely dismisses as a “slapdash process.”
“Our job is to vote on what the House passed, not to conduct an open ended inquiry,” Rubio wrote.
But revelations could continue to unfold — as some emails and documents have been made public by Freedom of Information lawsuits filed by news organizations — putting Trump closer to the decision-making. Bolton, who clashed with Trump and left the White House amid a public dispute, is writing a book.
Those facts could embarrass senators who voted to block Bolton’s testimony if he reveals damaging information.
That is why, in the House, Pelosi always focused on facts, not process.
In her speech formally starting the impeachment debate, she used the word four times, either citing an “established fact” or a “matter of fact.”
“What we are discussing today is the established fact that the President violated the Constitution,” Pelosi said then.
With the case heading to the Senate, McConnell appears comfortable to dismiss any process complaints so long as he can cite a Democratic precedent.
“What’s good for President Clinton is good for President Trump,” he said Tuesday.
