Sen. Lindsey Graham predicted few, if any, Republican senators would vote to convict and remove President Trump from office during a Senate trial.
“I don’t think there’s any appetite in the United States Senate to call a bunch of witnesses that would violate executive privilege,” Graham said Thursday on Fox News. “Chuck Schumer is not trying to be fair to the president. He’s trying to put four or five senators in a political box. This has blown up in their face.”
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House Democrats pushed through two impeachment measures late Wednesday evening, the first on an abuse of power and the other for obstruction of Congress.
The impeachment centers on Trump’s relations with Ukraine and a July 25 phone call during which he pressured the president of Ukraine to investigate Joe Biden. An intelligence community whistleblower reported the incident, sparking the House investigation.
The White House has defied House subpoenas and requests from testimony by key aides with knowledge of the scandal, citing executive privilege.
Trump has described his call with the Ukrainian president as “perfect” and Democrats as “hateful partisans” who are out to get him.
Democrats say Trump’s behavior has compelled them to act.
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi is withholding the articles from the Senate, citing what she says is unlikely to be a fair Senate trial.
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell raised concern among Democrats with comments confirming that he is “not an impartial juror” and assuring Republicans that he and the White House will be in lockstep with one another on a defense strategy.
McConnell, like House Republicans, has called the impeachment articles “weak” and based in partisan disagreement rather than fact.
“If the House case is so weak, why is leader McConnell so afraid of witness and documents,” Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer said Thursday. “We believe the House case is strong. Very strong.”
Last week Schumer, the Senate Minority Leader, formally requested additional witnesses with key information about Trump’s effort to pressure Ukraine to testify in a prospective Senate trial, a motion McConnell denied.
Democrats are banking on moderate Republicans in the Senate to apply pressure on McConnell to not shut down a trial without proper due process for both sides.
Pelosi, meanwhile, has not signaled when she plans to send the articles of impeachment to the upper chamber.
“Nancy Pelosi is refusing to send it to the Senate because the case is falling apart,” Graham responded. ” If you were accused of something you didn’t do, wouldn’t you want to demand your day in court?”
