Republican Sen. Susan Collins criticized Democrats in the Senate as well as GOP Majority Leader Mitch McConnell for predetermining their votes on the pending impeachment trial of President Donald Trump.
“It is inappropriate, in my judgment, for senators on either side of the aisle to prejudge the evidence before they have heard what is presented to us, because the each of us will take an oath, an oath that I take very seriously to render impartial justice,” Collins said in an interview with Maine Public Radio on Monday.
The Maine lawmaker’s comments came after fellow moderate Republican from Alaska, Sen. Lisa Murkowski, voiced her own reservations about McConnell’s declaration that he was in lockstep with the White House to set the trial procedures. Murkowski said she was “disturbed,” and that it “further confused the process.”
“Everything I do during this I’m coordinating with the White House counsel,” McConnell said earlier in December, before the House had cast its vote. “There will be no difference between the president’s position and our position as to how to handle this, to the extent that we can.”
“We know how it’s going to end. There’s no chance the president’s going to be removed from office,” he also said.
Collins, who faces a tough reelection for her fifth term, said her position during the impeachment trial would be as an impartial juror, and slammed senators from both sides of the aisle for indicating they would not do the same.
“I have heard Democrats like Elizabeth Warren saying that the president should be impeached, found guilty and removed from office. I’ve heard the Senate majority leader saying that he’s taking his cues from the White House,” Collins said. “There are senators on both sides of the aisle, who, to me, are not giving the appearance of, and the reality of judging this in an impartial way.”
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Collins, like Murkowski, criticized House Democrats for impeaching Trump without going through court proceedings to enforce subpoenas that the White House was blocking. The House voted to impeach Trump on two articles of impeachment over his dealings with Ukraine: abuse of power and obstruction of Congress.
“I am open to witnesses,” Collins said, breaking from what some Republicans in the Senate have indicated. “I think it’s premature to decide who should be called until we see the evidence that is presented and get the answers to the questions that we senators can submit through the Chief Justice to both sides.”
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s decision to hold the articles of impeachment in the House also “seems like an odd way to operate,” Collins said.
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Collins, one of the senators who was also present for former President Bill Clinton’s impeachment proceedings, said the “precedent established by the trial for President Clinton is one that our leaders should take a hard look at,” specifically pointing to a bipartisan negotiation on trial terms.
“I can’t imagine anything like that happening today, regrettably,” Collins said.
Source Article from https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/2019/12/31/impeachment-republican-sen-susan-collins-criticizes-mitch-mcconnell-dems-prejudging-impeachment-tria/2783719001/
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