McConnell proposes delaying impeachment trial until February so Trump team can prepare
Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell is proposing that the Senate give former President Donald Trump's legal team two weeks to prepare for the upcoming impeachment trial once the Senate receives the article and delay its start until mid-February.
McConnell's proposal to Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer throws the timing of the trial further into doubt, though it remains to be seen if Democrats would go along with the plan. House Democrats could still send the impeachment article over to the Senate and start the trial the next day.
Asked if he had heard a response from Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, McConnell told CNN Wednesday, "Not yet but we continue to talk about it."
In a statement, McConnell said he wants to structure the trial so that the ceremonial functions, like the formal reading of the impeachment article, would occur next week on Thursday, January 28. Trump would have another week under McConnell's plan to answer the article by February 4, and the following week Trump's team would submit a pre-trial brief, before the trial would begin. The House would also submit briefs over those two weeks before the trial gets underway in mid-February.
McConnell told Republicans on a conference call Thursday he's in no rush to begin the trial. The Republican leader's point was the House moved quickly on impeachment but the Senate needs time to prepare for a full trial, according to sources on the call.
"At this time of strong political passions, Senate Republicans believe it is absolutely imperative that we do not allow a half-baked process to short-circuit the due process that former President Trump deserves or damage the Senate or the presidency," McConnell said in a statement.
While the decision on when to start the trial is up to Democrats, there are reasons congressional Democrats -- and the Biden White House -- may be amenable to a delay in the trial, as it would give the Senate a chance to confirm more of Biden's Cabinet nominees. Democrats are reviewing McConnell's offer and several aides said Wednesday that waiting may not be a bad idea, because allowing more time would give them the space they need to move Biden's nominees along while still holding Trump accountable.
"I think Democrats will be open to considering a delay that allows former President Trump time to assemble his legal team and his defense for the impeachment trial, if we are making progress on confirming" Biden's nominees, Sen. Chris Coons, a Delaware Democrat, told CNN's Wolf Blitzer on "The Situation Room."
Schumer spokesman Justin Goodman said Thursday, "We received Leader McConnell's proposal that only deals with pre-trial motions late this afternoon. We will review it and discuss it with him."
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said at a news conference Thursday that the House was "ready" to begin the trial but would wait until the Senate was prepared before formally transmitting the impeachment article, the step that would trigger the start of the trial the following day.
"They have now informed us they are ready to receive, the question is other questions about how a trial will proceed, but we are ready," Pelosi said of the Senate.
Asked about a delay to the trial, White House communications director Kate Bedingfield reiterated that the White House will "leave timing mechanics to Senate leadership."
She noted that Biden has spoken previously with both Schumer and McConnell, and it is his hope that Congress can "focus on a Covid package simultaneously."
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https://us.cnn.com/2021/01/21/politics/nancy-pelosi-impeachment-timing/index.html