Last Friday (January 10, 2020) House Speaker Nancy Pelosi signified that the 3-week standoff in the holding of Donald Trump’s impeachment trial is about to end.
Through a letter sent to her fellow Democrats, she gave particular instructions to House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jerrold Nadler (D-New York), to be prepared in the coming week. Rep. Nadler will take on the responsibility of bringing to the House floor, a resolution that officially transmits the articles of impeachment to the Senate, while also naming House members who will be appointed as the House’s manage in the impeachment trial.
Although, the articles of impeachment were ratified by the House of Representatives before Christmas, Speaker Pelosi did not send them immediately to the Senate. The move sent Repunlican Senators, specifically Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnel in limbo.
McConnel announced that it was his plan to turn the impeachment trial into an open-and-shut case. As it is, the Republican-controlled Senate simply intends to pass a resolution that will outrightly dismiss all impeachment charges against Donald Trump, without having to call on witnesses even for Trump’s defense.
Apparently, much has happened during the 3-week hiatus including the US-Iran conflict that Trump escalated by ordering the killing of top Iranian military official Major General Qasem Soleimani. Certain incidents and developments seem to have made the time ripe for the continuance of the impeahment trial.
Speaker Pelosi said the impeachment trial will proceed, even without securing a detailed plan of how the Senate will move forward once the ball starts rolling in the Senate floor.
Still, the House Speaker harshly criticized Senator MacConnel (R-Kentucky) for his show of total disregard for the oath he has taken in carrying out his duty as an impartial participant to an impeachment trial… to uphold the interest of the American people and not just that of Donald Trump.
Although Speaker Pelosi’s move to hold out was derided by president Trump and his staunch Republican minions in the senate, there are now indications that the impeachment trial might not carry on the way the Senate Majority Leader had strategized.
Some Republicans Intend to Make a Bipartisan Move to Bring in More Witnesses
The Republican Senator of Maine. Susan Collins has come out with a statement delivered via the Bangor Daily News that she has been working with a small group of Republican Senators, to make certain that the impeachment trial will include the presentation of additional witnesses for the benefit of the appointed House managers and the president’s counsel.
Senator Collins emphasized that they have taken an oath to carry out their duties with impartiality and it is important that both sides will receive fair treatment.
President Trump, Senator McConnel and other Republicans who have continuously lambasted the impeachment proceedings as a hoax, can goad and gloat all they want for having the numbers that will see the charges against Trump instantly dismissed. Yet it only takes four (4) Republican Senators to take a bipartisan stance in making sure a fair trial will transpire by hearing more witness testimonies.
Speaker Pelosi calls Senator McConnell’s intention of immediately passing a resolution to dismiss the impeachment charges as a “cover-up.” He and Republican Senators who support McConnel’s vastly unusual behavior, continue to show total disregard for the oath they had taken.