Sen. Josh Hawley (R-MO), a lawyer, makes an excellent point.
On Thursday afternoon, he posted the following tweet:
On Thursday afternoon, he posted the following tweet:
Dems said impeachment was URGENT. Now they don’t want to have a trial, because they have no evidence. In real world, if prosecution doesn’t proceed with case, it gets dismissed. So on Monday, I will introduce measure to dismiss this bogus impeachment for lack of prosecution. This will expose Dems’ circus for what it is: a fake impeachment, abuse of the Constitution, based on no evidence. If Dems won’t proceed with trial, bogus articles should be dismissed and @realDonaldTrump fully cleared.
Hawley is the junior Senator from Missouri. In 2018, he defeated two-term Democratic incumbent Claire McCaskill to win his seat. Prior to entering the Senate, Hawley served as Missouri’s Attorney General.
Hawley certainly has a point when it comes to urgency. Pelosi stressed how critical it was to remove this dangerous man from office as soon as possible. She railed that he was trampling the Constitution and threatening our national security. Now, after their rush to impeach the President, Pelosi won’t say when, or even if, she’ll deliver the articles of impeachment or her list of house managers to the Senate.
I also agree with Hawley that Pelosi is hyperaware she has no evidence the President has committed a high crime or even a misdemeanor. The impeachment has no basis. It is fraudulent. Because they have put President Trump and the country through an unwarranted and needless impeachment for no other reason than their burning hatred for this brash, uncouth outsider they don’t feel belongs in the White House, it is Pelosi, Schiff and Nadler who have abused their power.
If Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell has the 51 votes necessary to dismiss this farce, this would be an excellent plan. Americans should not allow House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, the grande dame of politics, to hold us hostage any longer than need be.
By now, she knows McConnell isn’t going to acquiesce to her demands. Especially after he watched her preside over one of the most partisan and just plain old ridiculous political performances ever witnessed in American history. Pelosi also knows that the possibility of convincing 67 Senators that the President deserves to be removed from office is close to zero. Maybe her inaction is her way of ending this debacle while saving face. No one knows what goes through her mind, but it appeared to me anyway that had this been entirely her decision, she wouldn’t have gone through with it. I believe she was pushed into it.
Anyway, if a vote to dismiss is held, and the Republicans come up short, it could end up being a huge embarrassment. McConnell can only afford to lose two Republican votes and there are several Senators whose votes cannot be counted on. Sens. Lisa Murkowski (AK), Susan Collins (ME) and the bitter Mitt Romney (UT) spring to mind.
McConnell might be able to bring Collins on board. She faces a tough reelection battle in November and will need all the support she can get. Also, Collins did come through for Kavanaugh – after great deliberation. But McConnell only has two votes to lose.
Although Trump has said on several occasions that he would like to put the Democrats on trial, the immediate “motion to dismiss” seemed to be the preferred strategy for many GOP Senators including McConnell and Lindsey Graham (SC) several weeks ago.
We’ll see what happens on Monday.
Tribe reacted to Hawley’s plan by claiming neither Senate rules nor the Constitution “permit” any such move. Hawley debunks Tribe’s remarks.
