Senate GOP torn to condemn Trump: ‘There is no love lost’

Privately, Republicans have looked at internal polls showing Trump’s support has plummeted among GOP voters since election day – especially since last week when he incited a violent mob of his supporters to riot in the Capitol, resulting in the deaths of five people, two sources said. But even after he leaves office, he is bound to maintain significant influence over the GOP base, which Republicans facing re-election – and potential main challengers – will be forced to contend with.

Republicans are generally divided into several camps. Some, like Sen. Tom Cotton of Arkansas, oppose the procedure because they say it is constitutionally questionable to condemn a president once he leaves office, a position that many Republicans are required to hold. take.

“I doubt we could even get a trial for a former president, which is what we’re dealing with here,” GOP Senator Kevin Cramer of North Dakota told CNN Thursday.

Others, like Sen. Tim Scott of South Carolina, are likely to line up with many House Republicans who have said the impeachment process will further divide the country.

“An impeachment vote will only lead to more hatred and a deeply fractured nation,” Scott said this week, who will face voters in 2022.

Still, some Republicans say it is essential to put a marker down to make it clear that Congress will not represent future presidents who might follow Trump’s path – and that the president’s actions have crossed a clear line that must never again. be reproduced.

“I think this is one of the biggest actions we should take, and I think it would be appropriate.”

In a statement Thursday, Murkowski said she would “listen carefully” to the arguments before making a decision on her vote, but said the House had acted “quickly, and I believe, appropriately with the impeachment.”

McConnell, for his part, privately told his colleagues he was genuinely undecided and would keep an open mind when listening to arguments presented by House Democratic impeachment officials, according to people familiar with the matter. . He wants to let the passions of the moment calm down and let the trial unfold before taking a position that many believe will be key to influencing the Senate’s GOP votes – and determining whether Trump is convicted.

“There is no difference in the (GOP) conference that there are potentially attackable offenses here,” the first Republican source said. “I think almost everyone believes him.”

Indeed, many continue to strongly criticize Trump’s remarks to his supporters at last week’s rally that preceded the Capitol riot.

“On the contrary, he urged in a very emotional situation, very inappropriate action on the part of people who appear to be his supporters,” said Sen. Mike Rounds, a Republican from South Dakota, after the rioters took over. assault the Capitol.

Republican senators, who are out of Washington until next week, are mostly silent before the trial. More than a dozen GOP Senate offices declined or did not respond to requests for comment Thursday on the House’s approval of an impeachment article, which accused Trump of inciting an insurgency and was backed by 10 House Republicans.

Democrats weigh in on whether to bring in witnesses, plan to argue constitutional merits

House Democrats, recognizing that they need to convince at least 17 Republicans to join the conviction, are starting to build their case internally. Among the questions they are trying to resolve include whether to bring in outside witnesses, including Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger, whose interaction with Trump was cited in the impeachment article after the president pressured the Republican election official to “find” the votes necessary to overturn Joe Biden’s victory in the state.

“We’ll get answers from you as we get answers,” Raskin said Wednesday night when asked if he would look for witnesses in the impeachment trial as he entered the sequel to the impeachment. Speaker of the House, Nancy Pelosi.

Walter Jones, a spokesperson for Georgia’s secretary of state, would not say on Thursday whether Raffensperger or another top election official, Gabriel Sterling, would be ready to testify at the trial.

“Our team is fully focused on the current Georgia General Assembly session at the moment,” Jones told CNN.

Raskin, a constitutional scholar, is expected to claim that there are ample precedents for the Senate to convict a federal official after leaving office – a key case in convincing some GOP senators sitting at the fence since the Trump’s defense team should advocate such action. is unconstitutional.

“Whether or not the Senate has the constitutional power to hold an impeachment trial for a president who is no longer in office is debatable,” said Senator Pat Toomey, a Republican from Pennsylvania who became the one of the GOP’s main critiques of Trump’s post-election rhetoric. . “If the Senate were to proceed to trial, I will again assume my responsibility to consider the arguments of House Directors and lawyers for President Trump.”

There has never been an impeachment trial for a former president, and Trump’s allies have argued that the Senate lacks the constitutional authority to hold a trial for the president after he leaves office. . The Senate has convicted only eight officials in history.

The Constitution, noted Vladeck, states that the judgment of the Senate in impeachment cases includes removal from office as well as “disqualification from holding and enjoying any office of honor, trust or benefit to the States- United”.

“This last clause is the key, because it shows that the Senate has two decisions to make in impeachment cases: First, it must decide whether an officer should be dismissed,” Vladeck wrote. “Then he must decide whether that person should be disqualified from any future federal office. Indeed, of the eight officials that the Senate voted to remove, it subsequently voted in favor of disqualifying only three of them. them – confirming that revocation and disqualification are separate inquiries. “

McConnell, in his statements about the upcoming trial, did not suggest that he thinks it would be unconstitutional or that he would make an effort to stop the trial on these grounds. Yet Republicans, including McConnell, may ultimately be swayed by the arguments and may point to Trump’s status as a former president as a reason not to vote to condemn him.

In a note obtained by CNN setting out the arraignment schedule, McConnell did not consider whether the trial should take place. But he did raise a question that does not yet have a clear answer: Would Chief Justice John Roberts preside as he did for Trump’s first impeachment trial?

“When a sitting president is tried by the Senate, the Constitution requires the chief justice to preside over the trial. The Senate impeachment rules require the Senate to invite the chief justice to attend the Senate and preside over the trial. lawsuit, ”McConnell wrote. “Usually that invitation would go out on January 19. It is unclear, however, whether the Chief Justice will actually preside over the trial after President Trump ceases to be president on January 20.”

Trump sees GOP support erode as Republicans watch primaries

Even as GOP support for Trump has started to deteriorate, many Republicans need to worry about the political ramifications in their country. A GOP source said an internal poll since election day saw Trump slip more than double digits among Republican voters nationwide.

Still, Trump supporters are bound to be a force in the GOP primaries – and the way they vote out of conviction is likely to set the tone for the election cycle.

The landscape is difficult for Republicans in the Senate, when they must defend 20 seats against 14 for the Democrats. Reelection Senate Republicans who find Trump guilty could easily face major Trump-backed challengers. Before the riots, Trump was already demanding a main challenge to Republican No. 2 in the Senate, John Thune of South Dakota, for saying that the president’s efforts to overturn the election would fail.

“You just have to take it in stride,” Thune said, leaving the Capitol on the night of the riots, when asked if he was concerned about a main challenge. “It’s a free country. I suspect we’ll see a lot of this activity in the next few years for some of our members – maybe including me. You just have to play the hand you dealt.”

While Trump has been significantly weakened politically by the fallout from the riots he instigated, it is likely that there will still be a staunch pro-Trump base within the Republican Party after he leaves. Among the cyclists closely watched: Roy Blunt of Missouri, Rob Portman of Ohio and Todd Young of Indiana.

Many are silent on how they might get off.

“I think we have to wait and hear the evidence,” said Alabama Senator Richard Shelby, the 86-year-old veteran Republican who could retire rather than be re-elected in 2022. “And as a juror , I would carefully review the evidence. presented. “