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Another person with first-hand knowledge told CNN there was a reason McConnell remained silent on impeachment as other Republicans pushed him back: he is furious at last week’s attack against the U.S. Capitol by supporters of the president, especially since Trump showed no contrition. His silence was deliberate because he leaves open the possibility of supporting the impeachment.
McConnell made no commitment to vote to condemn Trump and wants to see the article himself before voting. This is in stark contrast to the president’s first impeachment when McConnell has repeatedly spoken out against Democrats’ intentions to hold Trump responsible for a campaign to pressure the Ukrainian government to investigate Joe Biden and his family.
McConnell has regularly moved his lecture away from Trump for weeks. While he knows they’re not all there with him, the Kentucky Republican believes the party needs to move on.
The relationship between the Senate majority leader and the president – the two most powerful men in the Republican Party – has essentially collapsed, multiple sources told CNN.
A source familiar with the relationship between the two men told CNN that McConnell was furious with Trump. The source said McConnell “hates” Trump for what he did last week in the aftermath of the attacks on Capitol Hill that killed at least five people, including a Capitol Hill police officer.
Trump and McConnell still have not spoken to each other since the riot last Wednesday, a separate source familiar with the matter confirmed to CNN. Another source said the two have not spoken since McConnell’s speech recognizing Biden as president-elect in December.
McConnell was unable to call Trump on the phone when he refused to sign the stimulus bill during Christmas week, a third source told CNN. McConnell has since told others in the wake of the Stimulus Circus that he will no longer talk to Trump.
McConnell is also in talks with the president-elect on how the House should handle an impeachment trial against Trump.
Biden isn’t trying to stop the impeachment process, but he tries to stop them from consuming his agenda and eclipsing the early days of his presidency. CNN learned that Biden called McConnell on Monday to discuss the possibility of a “fork in the road” – to proceed with impeachment proceedings while confirming his candidates and approving a broad Covid relief package.
The two men spoke candidly about a possible Trump impeachment trial, people familiar with the call said, as they both noted it would be very different from the trial they attended in 1999 for the president of the Bill Clinton era.
McConnell told Biden that the Senate MP should decide whether the Senate can work on legislative matters other than impeachment, people familiar with the call said, adding that McConnell had not expressed his own point of view.
Biden raised the idea publicly on Monday as he received his second Covid-19 vaccine, saying he spoke to lawmakers. He did not reveal that McConnell was among them.
The New York Times first reported on the Biden-McConnell call.
This story is breaking and will be updated.
CNN’s Devan Cole contributed to this story.
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