Sen. Mike Braun complimented Democrats on making their case so far in President Trump’s impeachment trial and argued that the process “ought to be instructive” to the president’s future behavior.
Joining NBC’s Meet the Press on Sunday, the Indiana Republican gave his thoughts on the Senate impeachment trial, which began with 24 hours of opening arguments from the House impeachment managers followed by two hours of defense from Trump’s legal team.
“Here, the case so far, and I’ll give them credit, they put together a broad, comprehensive case, but it was circumstantial in nature,” he said. “And then you say, ‘Well, you’re splitting hairs,’ but this is a political process. It begs a question of all of us as jurors, you know, and none of us would be there in a normal trial.”
WATCH: Sen. Mike Braun (R-Ind.) gives Democrats “credit,” says they put together a “broad, comprehensive case but it was circumstantial in nature.” #MTP #IfItsSunday pic.twitter.com/AK1lyv8bYF
— Meet the Press (@MeetThePress) January 26, 2020
Later in the interview, Braun noted that he believed the impeachment trial should serve as a warning that Trump “be careful” about his conduct in the future.
“This ought to be instructive to anyone here that if you’re pushing the envelope or doing things that may not feel right, let alone be right, you better be careful,” he said. “Hopefully, it’ll be instructive … I think he’ll put two and two together. In this case, he was taken to the carpet.”
When asked if he feels the president regrets his conduct toward Ukraine, Braun said: “I think he’ll be instructed by what has occurred here, and certainly any individual would want to avoid whatever might need to be modified to go through this again. Because the threat is already been out there, that we may find something else to impeach on, which I think is a mistake.”
WATCH: Sen. Mike Braun (R-Ind.) says the impeachment trial “ought to be instructive” to President Trump’s behavior in the future. #MTP #IfItsSunday @SenatorBraun: President Trump “was taken to the carpet” pic.twitter.com/NCxGXsiCcj
— Meet the Press (@MeetThePress) January 26, 2020
The House impeached Trump in December for abuse of power and obstruction of Congress after his July 25, 2019, phone call with the president of Ukraine, during which he pressed the foreign leader to investigate former Vice President Joe Biden and his son Hunter. Around the same time, crucial military aid to the country was withheld. The president’s Senate impeachment trial began last week.
