The New York Times reported last night that “The Enemy of The People,” Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, supports the impeachment of Donald Trump because he cost our boy Mitch the control of the U.S. Senate, the only thing in life that he really cares about. McConnell is said to be pleased about impeachment, believing it will be easier to purge Trump from the G.O.P. (excerpts):

Senator Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, the Republican leader, has told associates that he believes President Trump committed impeachable offenses and that he is pleased that Democrats are moving to impeach him, believing that it will make it easier to purge him from the party, according to people familiar with his thinking.

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Mr. McConnell has indicated that he wants to see the specific article of impeachment that the House is set to approve on Wednesday, and hear the eventual arguments in the Senate.

[T]he Senate Republican leader has made clear in private discussions that he believes now is the moment to move on from the weakened lame duck, whom he blames for causing Republicans to lose the Senate.

CNN also reported McConnell believes impeachment push will help rid Trump from the GOP, but has not said if he will vote to convict:

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell has indicated that he believes that impeaching President Donald Trump will make it easier to get rid of the President and Trumpism from the Republican Party, according to a source with knowledge of the matter.

Another person with direct knowledge told CNN there’s a reason McConnell has been silent on impeachment as other Republicans have pushed back: he’s furious about last week’s attack on the US Capitol by the President’s supporters, even more so that Trump has shown no contrition. His silence has been deliberate as he leaves open the option of supporting impeachment.

McConnell has made no commitments on voting to convict Trump, and wants to see the article itself before voting.

Several GOP sources said on Tuesday that if McConnell supports conviction, Trump almost certainly will be convicted by 67 senators in the impeachment trial.

“If Mitch is a yes, he’s done,” said one Senate GOP source who asked not to be named.

The cable jockeys were almost wetting themselves with excitement last night. “If Mitch McConnell is green lighting impeachment, Donald Trump is going to be convicted.”

The cable jockeys this morning were gaslighting America, claiming that Mitch McConnell is an institutionalist who is concerned about preserving the institution of the Senate. Bullshit! The only thing Mitch McConnell is concerned about is preserving his power over the U.S. Senate. His ability to abuse power is his “precious.”

It turns out that Republicans this morning are saying that this reporting comes as a complete surprise to them. Mitch McConnell hasn’t said anything to them, nor revealed how he would vote.

Mitch McConnell has been Trump’s lickspittle lackey for the past for years. I don’t buy this reporting. The proof would be in McConnell agreeing to Sen. Chuck Schumer’s request to invoke a 2004 emergency authority to bring the Senate back into emergency session for an impeachment trial.

Sure as shit, “The Enemy of The People,” Mitch McConnell, does not believe that Trump’s seditious violent insurrection and attempted coup against the United States government last week, and presenting a clear and present danger to the national security of the United States for further acts of seditious violent insurrection against the United States government by domestic terrorists this week through Inauguration Day does not constitute a national emergency worthy of him calling the Senate back into emergency session for an impeachment trial.

Axios reports, McConnell won’t reconvene Senate early for impeachment trial:

Senate GOP Leader Mitch McConnell will not consent to reconvening the Senate on Friday under emergency authorities, delaying the start of President Trump’s likely impeachment trial until Jan. 19 at the earliest, McConnell’s team confirmed to Axios.

Why it matters: If the House votes to impeach Trump for incitement of the Capitol riot on Wednesday, as is expected, the trial will likely not take place until after President-elect Joe Biden takes office on Jan. 20.

Driving the news: McConnell’s team informed Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer’s office on Wednesday that McConnell would not consent to reconvening the Senate immediately under the 2004 emergency authorities.

What we’re hearing: “Even if we started a trial yesterday, there’s not enough time to remove him from office,” a McConnell official tells Axios. [Not true.]

The big picture: Republican sources tell Axios’ Mike Allen that there’s a better than 50-50 chance that McConnell would vote to convict Trump in an impeachment trial [– a trial that McConnell will not expedite under the 2004 emergency authority.]

I have oft repeated in several postings over the years, including this one, The ‘Enemy of The People,’ Mitch McConnell, is the real radical (snippet):

As Dana Milbank wrote, Mitch McConnell, the man who broke America:

By rights, McConnell’s tombstone should say that he presided over the end of the Senate. And I’d add a second line: “He broke America.” No man has done more in recent years to undermine the functioning of U.S. government. His has been the epitome of unprincipled leadership, the triumph of tactics in service of short-term power.

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As Charles Pierce says, There Is No More Loathsome Creature Walking Our Political Landscape Than Mitch McConnell:

He doesn’t have the essential patriotism god gave a snail. He pledges allegiance to his donors, and they get what they want. He’s selling out his country, and he’s doing it in real-time and out in the open. This is worse than McCarthy or McCarran ever were. Mitch McConnell is the the thief of the nation’s soul.

As historian Christopher Browning has written, “If the US has someone whom historians will look back on as the gravedigger of American democracy, it is Mitch McConnell.” The Suffocation of Democracy.

If there is further domestic terrorism and insurrection in the coming days ahead, it will rest squarely on the head of Mitch McConnell and his Sedition Party who have signaled to these domestic terrorists that “it’s no big deal to us.”

The new Democratic controlled Senate as of January 20 should proceed with the impeachment trial, even after Trump is no longer president. There is historical precedent for this for other federal officials subject to impeachment. McConnell cannot simply run out the clock to protect Trump one last time.




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