There has been back-and-forth reporting on whether or not the Mitch McConnell will allow a motion to dismiss in the Trump impeachment rules being unveiled next week.
Breitbart’s Matthew Boyle reported today that “as of now [McConnell is] including in the U.S. Senate impeachment trial rules a ‘kill switch’ that effectively allows for the president’s legal team to seek an immediate verdict or dismissal of the case should Democrats engage in any shenanigans like they did in the House process.”
Let’s hope that is true, since the alternative will look like McConnell caved to Nancy Pelosi’s hateful rhetoric, but let’s also hope the Senate Republicans do not invoke or approve dismissal.
The motion to dismiss is absolutely appropriate. It was allowed in the Bill Clinton impeachment trial, and in the Andrew Johnson trial it should be noted that only three of the 11 charges were brought to a vote.
Nonetheless, it is to be hoped that the president’s attorneys do not request a summary dismissal of the charges. Although anyone who has studied the case knows that the charges have no substance and the process has been unfair, it would nonetheless play into Democrats’ hands if the charges were dismissed. The narrative would become that the GOP Senate majority was just covering up for Trump, and the president would never be vindicated by a not guilty verdict.
Since a dismissal would benefit Democrats politically, I’m not sure I agree with Breitbart or Sen. Josh Hawley, R-Missouri, that the “kill switch” actually provides any leverage against the radical Dem House managers. They win with a dismissal almost as much as with a guilty verdict.
Republicans have to play the long game, and beat back the Democrat coup on the facts. That way, they will ensure President Trump’s re-election, preserve the Senate majority and put the House back in Republican hands next year.
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