Rather than pass the Articles of Impeachment over to the Senate to carry out the trial, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi had decided to hold them for leverage.
If Pelosi thinks she is going to get under House Majority Leader Mitch McConnell’s (R-KY) skin by doing so, she has another thing coming.
Can’t Bother Mitch
With the Democrats holding the articles in an effort to get McConnell to break to their will, McConnell has no problem letting this drag out as long as Dems want to play this game.
McConnell stated, “It’s beyond me how the speaker and Democratic leader in the Senate think withholding the articles of impeachment and not sending them over gives them leverage.
“Frankly, I’m not anxious to have the trial.”
McConnell would go on to add, “If she thinks her case is so weak she doesn’t want to send it over, throw me into that briar patch.”
That was Mitch’s way of nicely saying take your articles of impeachment and stick them where the sun doesn’t shine.
Why Hold the Articles?
So, what advantage does Pelosi gain by holding the articles?
In reality, none.
What we are seeing is some high-quality political theater.
A president is not technically impeached until the Senate trial has concluded and he or she has been deemed guilty.
All Pelosi is doing at this point is depriving Trump of being acquitted.
Pelosi is making it sound as though she has a choice in how the Senate conducts its trial, but she does not.
Scholars have even been chiming in as of late stating that the Senate does not technically need the articles to be transmitted to conduct its trial, but not being a legal expert in this matter, I can’t say as to whether that is true or not.
Over the next few weeks, we are going to hear Democrats talk a lot about ensuring a “fair trial” and comparisons of a Trump rally to the Senate impeachment trial, but that is nothing more than more political theater.
Everyone in this country saw how the Democrats ramrodded the impeachment through in the House, so what reason do Senate Republicans have for legitimizing that sham?
The answer, of course, is they have none.
