Rand Paul On Impeachment Trial: ‘The Verdict Has Already Been Decided’
In an interview with The Hill published on Thursday, Republican Sen. Rand Paul of Kentucky shared his thoughts about the Senate’s impeachment trial of President Donald Trump.
Not a single Republican will vote to convict the president, according to Paul.
“I really think the verdict has already been decided as well,” he said.
“I don’t think any Republicans are going to vote for impeachment,” the senator added, noting that Democrats did not pick up a single Republican vote in the House, which suggests that the GOP stands firmly with the president.
Just like the Republicans, Democrats have made up their minds, according to Paul, who questioned the purpose of holding a trial, stating that the votes have already been decided.
“I think the votes have been decided. As much as anybody will be pretending to be judicious about this, I don’t think that there’s one senator who hasn’t decided how they’re going to vote,” he said.
As The Hill notes, Paul’s sentiment is shared within the Senate GOP conference. All 53 Republican senators are expected to vote to acquit Trump, and all 45 Democratic senators — and the two independents who caucus with Democrats — are expected to vote to convict him.
According to Paul, even though Republicans have broken with Trump on issues related to war and immigration, not a single GOP senator is expected to vote to convict the president because such a maneuver would come across intense backlash from the electorate.
“I think if you’re pretty much no longer interested in running for office, or no longer interested in getting Republican votes, you might vote to impeach the president,” he said.
Top Senate Republicans have indicated that they have no interest in conducting an impartial trial, with Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell stating that he is “not an impartial juror,” and Senate Judiciary Chairman Lindsey Graham suggesting that the trial needs to end “as quickly as possible.”
House impeachment managers Adam Schiff, Jerry Nadler, Zoe Lofgren, Hakeem Jeffries, Jason Crow, Val Demings and Sylvia Garcia just walked the articles of impeachment to the Senate to formally present them pic.twitter.com/QAu4aXZ9hI
— POLITICO (@politico) January 16, 2020
Republicans have also refused to accommodate Democratic demands for additional witnesses, such as former national security adviser John Bolton. Furthermore, Trump has suggested that he would be willing to use executive privilege to block testimonies.
According to the impeachment articles passed by the Democrat-controlled House of Representatives, Trump committed multiple impeachable offenses when he allegedly pressured the Ukrainian government to launch investigations into his political opponents, including former Vice President Joe Biden.
According to House Democrats, Trump withheld military aid from Ukraine in order to pressure the country’s authorities to do as he says.
