‘Seemingly Loyal’ Republican Senators May Be Setting Impeachment Trap For Donald Trump, Claims GOP Operative
The Democratic-controlled House of Representatives is all but certain to vote to impeach President Donald Trump. The president is guilty of abuse of power and obstruction of Congress, Democrats claim. Once the House votes to impeach Trump, the GOP-controlled Senate will start a trial, which is meant to determine whether the commander-in-chief is guilty of what he is being accused of or not.
The Republican Party has stood by Trump throughout the entirety of the impeachment process, with virtually every single congressional Republican fiercely defending the president against all accusations of wrongdoing. But, things are not as they seem, according to GOP operative Douglas MacKinnon, who revealed in a column penned for The Hill that certain “seemingly loyal” Republican Senators may be setting a trap for Trump.
MacKinnon — who was a writer in the White House for Presidents Ronald Reagan and George H.W. Bush, and served as special assistant for policy and communications at the Pentagon — claims to have heard from “three seasoned Republicans who fear that President Trump and the West Wing are seriously underestimating the potential danger of a Senate trial.”
According to the GOP operative, “private conversations are taking place and a trap may be sprung for the president” in the Senate trial. Reports have long alleged that Senators Mitt Romney of Utah, Susan Collins of Maine, and Lisa Murkowski of Alaska — who are thought to openly dislike Trump — may be willing to vote to convict him, but they are actually not the ones the White House should be worried about.
For Trump to be convicted, 20 GOP lawmakers would have to agree with the 47 Democrats in the Senate. According to MacKinnon, the president and his allies need to pay close attention to senators in purple states, many of whom face formidable Democratic challenges in 2020 and allegedly demean Trump in private.
“Can they resist doing so and vote not to convict?” MacKinnon asked.
“Conventional wisdom says that will be the outcome. But as we all know when it comes to Donald Trump, you can throw conventional wisdom right out the window,” he wrote, arguing that many in Washington — Republicans included — oppose Trump, not because of his allegedly inappropriate contacts with the Ukrainian government, but because he is violating the bipartisan “status quo.”
Citing former United States Ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley’s speech before the American Enterprise Institute, MacKinnon argued that because Trump is “not part of the club,” the Washington “swamp” he famously promised to drain is looking to get rid of him, no matter what it takes.
