Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell told reporters the closed-door impeachment proceedings in the House have not produced evidence that would sway enough Republican senators to convict President Trump if he is impeached.
“How long it goes on just depends on how long the Senate wants to spend on it,” McConnell said Tuesday when asked about the length of a potential Senate trial. “I will say I’m pretty sure how it is likely to end. If it were today, I don’t think there is any question it would not lead to a removal.”
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House Democrats have been conducting impeachment proceedings in a closed-door format for several weeks. On Monday, Democrats began releasing transcripts of witness depositions.
Most Republicans have remained steadfast in their opposition to the House impeachment process, which they say has been secretive, partisan, and was never sanctioned by a formal House vote.
Republicans control 53 Senate votes. If the House sends articles of impeachment to the Senate, it would require 67 votes to convict Trump and remove him from office.
Democrats accuse Trump of abusing his office for political gain by trying to force Ukraine to investigate his chief political rival, former Vice President Joe Biden. Democrats also accuse Trump of obstructing Congress for refusing to provide documents and allow administration officials to testify.
Senate Republicans, McConnell said, don’t view the president’s actions as impeachable and said the duration of a Senate trial hinges on Democrats and “how long … the presidential candidates want to be here on the floor of the Senate instead of Iowa and New Hampshire and all the related issues that may be going on at the same time.”
The Iowa Democratic caucuses and New Hampshire primary take place in February.
Five Senate Democrats are running for the party’s presidential nomination.
A Senate trial would require them to be present in the chamber every day except Sunday.
“It’s very difficult to ascertain how long this will take,” McConnell said. “I’d be surprised if it didn’t end the way the two previous ones did, with the president not being removed from office.”
