GOP Leadership Memo Suggests Senate Cannot Block Trial If House Votes To Impeach Trump

[ffr]

Source: Huffington Post

The Republican leadership issued a memo Saturday clarifying that the Senate must take action if the House of Representatives approves articles of impeachment against President Donald Trump. The statement came in response to concerns that the Senate could simply refuse to hold a trial.

“There is no way we could somehow bar the doors and prevent the managers from presenting the articles to the Senate,” stated the memo, which was obtained by HuffPost. “The rules of impeachment are clear on this point.”

Read more: https://www.huffpost.com/entry/impeachment-memo-donald-trump-gop-leadership-senate-trial_n_5d8fd6d6e4b0019647a9a22c

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Keep the pressure on for the anti-American rethugs to do their constitutional duty. McConnell has bent before under pressure.

[cstanleytech]

1. My bet is they will try to put on a show and have x number of Republican Senators vote to convict

but it will only be the ones that they judge are most vulnerable to a Democratic challenger.
However they will make sure it will fail even if by one vote so at to keep Trump in office but either way its a win for us because it will put them on the record plus it will rightly damage them severely with moderate and independent voters.

[Dan]

24. Problem for any GOP Senator

Voting against Impeachment - is explaining that vote to their voters. Some Americans may be slow, some may be stupid, and some may be evil/corrupt, but I have to believe that the majority of Americans are decent believing in fair play.

For a GOP Senator - how do you sell to their voters - that asking a foreign government to interfere in our elections is a good thing and what we want from the President?

[PSPS]

2. And if convicted, trump cannot be pardoned

[cstanleytech]

6. Slim odd of them actually convicting him though I am willing to bet they will put on a show of

considering it by having some of their people vote to do so but they will make sure the vote falls short of them number needed.
After all they do not want to piss off Trumps base of morons but neither do they want to alienate to many independents that might vote for them.

[napi21]

3. I'm glad to hear this. Yesterday I heard different people state they could ignore what

the House did, and another state the opposite. I'm really happy they don't have the option to ignore it. I WANT to see which Pubs still stick with the criminal and which ones don't.

[dweller]

4. the House needs to pace this

so that enough news comes out, public is made aware over and over,
new news comes out that adds to the disgrace and turns public awareness till it washes over ... keep STBI flailing and fearful...
don't make it by next Tuesday, or next week, or even next month, but drag it with more and more atrocities coming out, and investigated to the point of public outcry, and tooo late to replace the tooo late repug replacement ...
Impeach him, and ride a blue wave into the shore...

✌🏼

[ffr]

5. History tells us it'll be the WH that'll drag this out.

If they can, they'll make a mockery of the process and the public will throw up their hands. But if they (Dems) can force the pace, bending it to their will, this is a loser for tRump and his cabal.

Here's why, tRump lies. No secret there. What works against a liar, time. Pelosi is right: blitzkrieg. No secret about it. Keep tRump and his messaging on its heels, unable to make up lies quick enough to battle the facts. He'll be fighting a double edged sword, battling almost new nightly revelations coming out of the testimony and an increasingly hostile public opinion of a liar, cheat, thief, mob boss, grifter.

[onetexan]

8. Theres no denying the facts that have been uncovered, though Dumpster & his enabkers

Will make light of it and try to change the narrative by saying "look over there" @Hillary or Biden or obama. Thetes also no chance of changing his rabid base either. However, for the majority of Dems, mod-repubs & women impeachment is a must given the gravity of the crimes. We see this in the polls that continue to rise in support of it.

[Cha]

7. Brilliant!

[DFW]

9. Keep in mind--it's not the outcome of the trial that McTurtle is desperate to prevent

That is a foregone conclusion: Trump is not convicted and not removed from office. There just aren't twenty Republican Senators willing to vote against Trump, even if the evening news showed him biting the ears off of babies on national TV.

What McTurtle wants to prevent is a few weeks of hearings/trial, with hot and cold flowing evidence showing Republicans to be crooked, selfish traitorous pieces of shit, on world-wide TV less than a year before the election. There will be a LOT of footage to be replayed--and replayed and replayed and replayed.

Only members of McTurtle's own party (at his behest) will be ignoring or trying to play down every bit of it, and that doesn't make them look too good, either.

Their fanatic base will swallow it, but the swing voters will realize what they are hearing and seeing, and I don't know if their voting machines can be programmed to flip every vote entered. Fox Noise will even be wavering the moment they are sure that the next president will be a Democrat that might not even allow their White House press credentials to be renewed. No Democrat will forget what the Trump Republicans claimed were legitimate political tactics, even if we don't end up stooping to their level on every issue.

[Hotler]

15. I agree, but this concerns me....

"the next president will be a Democrat that might not even allow their White House press credentials to be renewed. No Democrat will forget what the Trump Republicans claimed were legitimate political tactics,"

I'm concerned our leaders will go back to playing nice after the elections.

[DFW]

17. They will come out with nice words

I hope they follow Teddy Roosevelt: "Speak softly, but carry a big stick."

[paleotn]

10. Well, yea. Thanks for stating the obvious, Rethugs.

Otherwise we're back in constitutional crises city.

[DeminPennswoods]

11. Rs can get the same rw judiciary nominations and regressive

social and economic policies under a president Pence with more competence and a whole lot less drama. The GOP evangelical base will love Pence, too, since he's exactly the same publicly devout hypocrit as they are.

That's assuming Pence isn't dragged into the scandal, too.

TBH, there is little reason for Senate Rs to stand behind Trump unless they have an urge to be wiped out next Nov.

[bucolic_frolic]

12. Instant voice vote

and if we present multiple articles of impeachment, rotating bunches of GOP senators will cover their sorry derrieres by voting for one, and rejecting the rest ... such that none will pass. That's why I think we should go with one article, court challenge the non-indictment DOJ ruling, and see where the chips fall. Sounds to me like Ukraine will as time rolls by be the tip of the dealmaking iceberg involving elections and many other things. If it fails this year or in 2020, other things may well pop up by 2021 when hopefully we'll have a Senate majority.

[marble falls]

13. There's going to be an impeachment. There's movement in the Senate.

[turbinetree]

16. So for them to even toy with the idea that they don't have to hear the articles being presented

to them says a lot of there principles...................they are just like sitting on a toilet having a constipation moment and trying to even think or come up with some plan of how to flush the Constitution down the toilet speaks volumes of there principles.
They still have that deafening sound coming from their side................after all they, McConnell and Grassley and others put some asshole(s) on the bench, and just said fuck advise and consent rule of law ...................why not articles of impeachment.............the only reason why there is pressure is that since they have been enabling this traitor for over 2 & 1/2 years and he has been admitting it, and because they did nothing but shred principles, the rule of law and put party over country, from day one...................

[Buckeyeblue]

18. I think they'll double-cross him and vote to convict

They aren't really out anything. It will give them plenty of time to run someone in 2020. And they can claim that they are the party of integrity for getting rid of Trump.

Trump will be stunned because up until the last minute they will be lying to him that he is safe.

[patphil]

19. Of course what will actually go down in the Senate is dependent on what the articles say.

In any event, it would take at least 20 Republicans to go along with 46 Democrats and Bernie to remove the President.
It's not that likely to happen. Very few of the 22 Republicans up for Senate election in 2020 probably would vote to remove Trump. Maybe a couple of the retirees would.

Of the 30 remaining Republicans, it would take a whole lot of them to magically find a backbone, a patriotic sense of duty to the Constitution, and the honor and integrity needed to vote to remove Trump.
It's going to take a whole lot of smoking guns to do this.
Personally I would like to see the "trial" begin in January and conclude in February.
I want it close to the primary season so it will be fresh in the minds of the voters.
If by some crazy circumstance Trump is found guilty and removed from office, it will be very hard on Republican candidates...sort of like negotiating a mine field.
But, if the evidence is compelling, and the Republicans vote to acquit, it could even be worse.
Regardless of the outcome, it's going to be a rough time ahead for the nation.

Patrick Phillips

[Midnight Writer]

20. GOP Senate is getting out ahead of RW media, which is already floating the Senate rejection theme.

[Brainfodder]

21. They are up to something, trying way too hard to get it going NOW?

Feels like a trap to just shut it down ASAP?

[beachbumbob]

22. I beg to disagree, nothing in constitution mandates a trial and nothing

in senate rules prevents the senate with a simple majority vote to delay a trial. The GOP memo is all about the political act of not holding a trial. The fact is, a trial can simply be delayed..with same zeal as McConnel did with not allowing Garland hearings.

[Cosmocat]

27. Yep

Hes going to do the same thing, say you cant have impeachment proceedings when the potus is running for reelection.

[kirby]

23. BS. 'The rules are clear'

The rules can be changed. McConnell will use the nuclear option to change Senate rules with 51 votes. Done. Just like he did for Gorsuch, like he did for lower level juducial/agency nominess. Rules and precedent mean nothing to this group.

[onenote]

25. Except I doubt he could get 51 votes to change the rules.

[beachbumbob]

28. It will be easy as NO GOP senator wants to risk having a trial or give a vote

no matter GOO does, its bad for them, The best case is NO trial, period

[regnaD kciN]

26. McConnell will only try to delay it...

...if the damage to his side in the Senate will be greater by having them cast votes than by blocking a trial. And I think ignoring an impeachment (especially after having publicly announce they can't) may be even worse for them.