When Congress returns from its holiday break, attention will again turn to the parameters for the Senate trial set up by the impeachment of President Donald Trump. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) has delayed actually transmitting the impeachment case to the Senate for that trial while advocating for fairness provisions, and this weekend, prominent Democratic Congressman Joe Kennedy III (Mass.) launched a strong public defense of Pelosi’s actions. In contrast to the president’s supporters who have claimed the delay is either illegal or evidence of a weak case, Kennedy made clear that Pelosi is working for the fairness that the president and his allies have flatly and explicitly refused to participate in.
Points of contention surrounding the fairness or lack thereof in a Senate trial have included the question of whether witnesses will be called and evidence will be presented. Republicans like Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Lindsey Graham (S.C.) have demanded a speedy trial. Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (Ky.) himself has also derided the idea of calling witnesses, asserting that would turn the trial into a “fishing expedition.”
Kennedy commented:
‘I think the Speaker should do whatever is necessary to ensure a fair trial in the United States Senate. Look, this is about an impeachment proceeding for the president of the United States. There is literally nothing more consequential that Congress, both the House and Senate can engage in, and you’ve got a Senate Majority Leader that has already said in Mr. McConnell that they’re working hand-in-glove with the White House to ensure that this process is essentially cooked.’
It’s true — McConnell has proudly and publicly insisted that he will be in total coordination with the White House when dealing with the impeachment trial. Normally, the targets of a judicial investigation don’t “coordinate” with the figures who are supposed to fill the roles of judge and/or jury for their case — but here we are! Republicans evidently are unconcerned.
Kennedy continued:
‘I think the Speaker is doing everything she can to ensure that there is as fair and open and transparent a process as there can be, particularly given the weight of the evidence that came out during the House investigation and impeachment proceedings. She should do everything that we can to ensure that that process is as accurate as fair as can be.’
Check it out:
"I think the Speaker is doing everything she can to ensure that there is as fair and open and transparent a process as there can be, particularly given the weight of the evidence" Rep. Joe Kennedy says of Pelosi's decision to hold the articles of impeachment #CNNSOTU pic.twitter.com/XAmHYSMMsP
— CNN Politics (@CNNPolitics) December 29, 2019
Kennedy’s comments definitely suggest that there’s not exactly some kind of Democratic capitulation to Republican demands on the horizon. Democrats have demanded to hear from witnesses like acting White House chief of staff Mick Mulvaney and former Trump national security adviser John Bolton, both of whom have firsthand perspective on the president’s plot to get Ukraine to investigate his domestic political opponents but whose already long demanded testimonies have been blocked by the White House.
This weekend on CNN, Trump ally Sen. John Kennedy (R-La.) said that he expects the president to claim executive privilege again during any trial proceedings, although Trump has long stretched that concept beyond its original boundaries. Still — he and his allies are continuing with their campaign of total obstruction.
