Vulnerable GOP Senators Back Trump Cover-Up As New Data Shows Americans Across Party Lines Want a Fair Hearing

McConnell: “I Am Not An Impartial Juror… I’m Not Impartial At All.”

“Bipartisan Majorities, Including Almost 2 in 3 Republicans” Support a Fair Hearing But Senate Republicans Continue to Enable McConnell’s Partisan Cover-Up

Despite new data that shows Americans of all political affiliations – including bipartisan majorities and two out of three Republicans – want a fair hearing of the facts on President Trump’s abuse of power, Mitch McConnell and Senate Republicans are pushing a cover-up that puts party politics ahead of the country, and undermines claims incumbents made to be impartial jurors. 

• Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell already pledged to cover for Trump, promising that there will be “no difference between the president’s position and our position,” and stating definitively that he is “not impartial at all,” regardless of his obligation under the Constitution.

• Senator Cory Gardner has dodged the basic question of whether it’s wrong for a president to ask a foreign government to investigate a political opponent 19 times. He “has already called the impeachment inquiry a ‘total circus’” and “also voted for a Senate resolution condemning the inquiry.”

• Senator Joni Ernst has said there’s no need for witnesses.

• Unelected Senator Martha McSally — who still won’t rule out accepting illegal help from a foreign government in her election — caved on her promise to be a “juror,” echoing McConnell’s strategy on Senate Republican plans to work “closely with the White House.” As Arizona Republic columnist EJ Montini wrote, “You didn’t expect anything different, did you?”

• Senator Thom Tillis has given up on any appearance of independence from the White House and dismissed the process as a “circus.”

• Senator Susan Collins in 1999 “call[ed] for ‘more evidence’ and ‘witnesses,’ in order to ‘get to the truth,’ and to fulfill the Senate’s ‘duty to do impartial justice.’” Now, despite her disappointment, she has declined to say what measures she thinks the Senate should take to ensure a fair hearing of the facts

“McConnell is taking his cues from the White House lawyers, and Republican Senators are taking their cues from him to allow a cover-up rather than a fair trial,” said DSCC spokesperson Stewart Boss. “For months, vulnerable Republican incumbents have dodged and refused to even answer basic questions about foreign interference in our elections but now they are squarely focused on falling in line with McConnell and the Trump administration.”

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