https://thehill.com/homenews/senate/473016-senate-gop-white-house-lawyer-huddle-on-impeachment
Well, gosh, how many times do you hear of the jurors conferring with the defendant’s attorneys about how to defend the defendant? It sure seems like the Republicans do not care about anything more than staying in power – dern the law, democracy, abuse of power, etc. do what you have to do to make sure the Republican team wins.
So much for the three branches of government. Why bother spending the money (it is not theirs, ya know, so what do they care?), just go to a vote and proceed otherwise.
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© UPI Photo
President Trump’s legal defense team is gearing up for an expected Senate impeachment trial, meeting with Republican senators Wednesday to complain about the House process and go over the procedural rules of the next phase.
White House counsel Pat Cipollone met with the entire Senate GOP conference over lunch Wednesday to discuss strategy for the upcoming Senate impeachment trial in an effort to shore up the president’s legal and political defenses ahead of what could be a lengthy process.
Republican lawmakers familiar with the preparations for Trump’s Senate trial describe Cipollone as the “quarterback” in charge of the legal strategy, even while Trump himself has handled much of the political and communications strategy.
The lunch meeting, hosted by Senate Republican Steering Committee Chairman Mike Lee (R-Utah), gave the White House counsel a chance to gauge support for Trump within the conference and get a better feel for how a trial might play out.
Cipollone spent much of the meeting criticizing the House impeachment process and the Democrats’ case that Trump abused his power by pressing Ukraine to investigate Joe Biden.
“He said a number of times, ‘We don’t think there’s any reason the House should send this to the Senate,’” said Sen. Roy Blunt (R-Mo.) when asked about the White House counsel’s message to Republican senators.
Blunt said if the House passes articles of impeachment, Senate leaders will look at the calendar and assess if there’s a chance to strike a bipartisan deal to set the rules of the trial.
If Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) and Democratic Leader Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.) fail to reach a deal, McConnell will try to muster 51 votes within his conference to pass a partisan rules package.
Cipollone and GOP lawmakers discussed the possibility of calling witnesses to the Senate floor, something that would require 51 votes to approve. But GOP senators say Cipollone did not float any specific names of potential witnesses, such as Hunter Biden or the anonymous whistleblower.
Nor did the White House counsel express a preference for the length of the Senate trial, indicating only that Trump wants a chance to offer a defense.
“He should have had that privilege in the House but he wants to have that day in court and he’ll get it on this side,” Sen. David Perdue (R-Ga.) said of Trump.
Perdue said he would fully support Cipollone’s efforts to bring additional witnesses to the floor.
The Senate released its legislative calendar for 2020 during the meeting. The chamber has left the entire month of January unscheduled in case the trial runs for several weeks.”
write in David Brockert to replace Sen. Ron Johnson 