With President Donald Trump officially impeached, a trial in the Republican-dominated Senate is expected to commence after the new year, but some Republican senators have signaled that they don't intend to remain impartial.
Among them? Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY).
Senator McConnell has previously said he'd coordinate impeachment strategy with White House lawyers, but the Constitution requires senators to take an oath of impartiality before putting an impeached President on trial—as a new op-ed from McConnell's home state newspaper points out.
The op-ed, by Kent Greenfield of the Courier Journal, says that McConnell is about to break two sacred oaths: the oath he took to uphold the law of the land and the impending oath of impartiality he'll take before adjudicating Donald Trump.
Greenfield writes:
This is not a time for political cynicism or constitutional faithlessness. McConnell's loyalty to Trump should not overwhelm his loyalty to the Constitution. If he fails in this, he is not only violating his Article I oath but his Article VI oath.
He goes on to stress the gravity of impeachment:
'Short of declaring war, the Senate is about to conduct its gravest and most serious constitutional obligation — to exercise the 'sole power to try' impeachments. All senators should take their obligation of faithful impartiality seriously, especially McConnell. History is watching, and it will be a harsh judge.'
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) is currently calling on the Senate to uphold its obligations to a fair trial as well before sending the Senate the articles of impeachment. This includes calls to bring forth first hand witnesses to the White House's dealings with Ukraine—witnesses Trump ordered not to testify before the House.
Americans across the country are skeptical of McConnell's impartiality as well.
Others called for his tenure in the Senate to end with the 2020 election.
You can donate to McConnell's 2020 opponent, Amy McGrath, here.
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