In an interview on Fox News Mitch McConnell, the Republican leader to the US Senate who will be overseeing the impeachment trial of Donald J. Trump, said the following
“There will be no difference between the president’s position and our position as to how to handle this to the extent that we can. We will be working through this process, hopefully in a fairly short period of time, in total coordination with the White House counsel’s office and the people who are representing the president. There’s no chance the president is going to be removed from office, because the case is so darn weak,”
If we were to compare the impeachment process to that criminal proceeding, the House of Representative would be the grand jury in the representatives determine whether there is sufficient evidence of wrongdoing to bring the defendant to trial. The major difference being that in a grand jury proceeding only the prosecutor is present and the grand jury never hears from the defense. In like manner a vote for impeachment is equivalent to a grand jury indictment.
The similarities continue in that in the impeachment proceeding the trial is held in the US Senate and the 100 senators are the jury. Technically the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court is the judge, but as a practical matter the leader of the majority party runs the trial determining, with the consent of his/her majority caucuses (which is usually a given), how the trial will proceed, what witnesses will be called, etc. In this position the majority leader is the equivalent to the foreman of the jury with many of the powers of a judge in a criminal case.
It follows in this case, Mitch McConnell, the foreman of the jury who also has many prerogatives of the judge in a criminal case, is blatantly bragging that he is coordinating with the defendant and his lawyers on how the trial will be run, what witnesses will be called, etc. And he is doing so before the trial starts, before there is even a bill of impeachment. We should also note that he is apparently not coordinating with the leaders in the House who will act as the prosecutors in the trial and present the case against the president.
In addition, McConnell, the foreman of the Senate Jury, has also revealed that he has already made up his mind to vote “not guilty” before the first shred of evidence is presented.
Based on McConnell’s own words and your personal view of justice, does his behavior strike you as fair? The impeachment trial of a President the United States is an extremely serious matter which should be handled the utmost propriety and sense of justice. McConnell doesn’t even do us the courtesy of pretending to be capable of assuming the awesome responsibly that falls to him.
Cajun 12/13/2019