Mitch McConnell is playing with fire

| 6:30 pm EST January 22, 2021
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Mitch McConnell is still giving oxygen to ridiculous claims that it would be unconstitutional to complete the impeachment trial of a former president after his term has ended.

Ignoring the fact that lawmakers were direct victims of the carnage of the insurrection, witnessing it with their own eyes, McConnell said “this impeachment began with an unprecedentedly fast and minimal process over in the House. The sequel cannot be an insufficient senate process that denies former President Trump his due process or damages the Senate or the presidency itself. Senate Republicans strongly believe we need a full and fair process where the former president can mount a defense and the Senate can properly consider the factual, legal, and constitutional questions at stake.”

He should be very careful about advancing that last constitutionality argument.

Let’s assume for the moment that Mitch manages the impossible and gets the Senate trial ruled unconstitutional on the grounds that it is somehow moot. It doesn’t erase the impeachment by the House. So when 2024 rolls around and Individual-1 dreams of regaining the White House, the very first order of business in his new Senate would be to conduct his long overdue trial.

Carrying the dementia further, even if Crossfire Hurricane is acquitted in a Senate trial this year, his defenders are laying the legal groundwork and political cover for Democrats to argue that any acquittal itself was unconstitutional. If we chose to play as fast-and-loose with the law as they are, we could take a second bite at the apple, should he ever seek to hold public office again in the future.

It defies logic that Mitch is still trying to fish the fat out of the fire, but it will only land back in the frying pan.