January 28, 2020

MARK KARLIN, EDITOR OF BUZZFLASH

The Bolton bombshell has been completely ignored by Trump’s handpicked-for-Fox News Legal “Defense Team,” providing continuity to his “alternative fact” reality TV presidency. Only in the “Through the Looking Glass-lighting” world of Trumpism could Ken Starr, Alan Dershowitz and Pam Bondi, among others, be put in the well of the Senate, before the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court and the nation, as credible attorneys making hypocritical and fanciful arguments against impeachment.

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Senator Mitch McConnell (R-KY) has been brazen about his plans, coordinated with White House lawyers and Trump, to conduct a quick trial leading to acquittal before Trump’s State of the Union address on February 4. He has been adamant about not calling witnesses before the acquittal, although he has said there would be a vote on whether or not to allow witnesses, and under what terms, after the presentations by the House Managers and the White House legal team and a question period by the Senators.

Yes, McConnell does not want witnesses to prolong the trial or to perhaps lead to more revelations..However, McConnell is not interested in being minority leader of the Senate, so he also has to worry about protecting the electabiiity of his senators vulnerable in the 2020 elections, including Susan Collins, Jodi Ernst and Cory Gardner.

Given the bombshell Bolton revelations of first hand knowledge of Trump’s extortion scheme, McConnell must now think about how a Senate trial without witnesses might endanger his majority by making GOP Senators up for re-election more vulnerable.

That is why McConnell may now be privately mulling over a witness “trade” with Chuck Schumer and the Democrats. This idea is now being floated by conservative Pennsylvania Senator Pat Toomey.

So why then would McConnell possiboy be now more open, after the Bolton revelations, to witnesses than before. Because he might want his Senators in tight races to be able to say that they took the trial seriously and supported hearing more evidence.

Of course, McConnell has not changed his mind about Trump’s eventual acquittal, but he is also thinking about maintaining a GOP Senate majority.

By allowing for a deal on witnesses, he is giving his threatened Senators an out to tell their constituents that they “seriously” considered the case against Trump and thus making them less vulnerable.

Then, the same mealy-mouthed Senators would say that upon hearing all the evidence, including from witnesses, they will vote for Trump’s acquittal after due consideration.

Trump might not get his acquittal before February 4, but McConnell would, if he gives the go ahead to have witnesses have shored up the chances for the Republicans to retain control of the Senate, while still acquitting Trump. That may not be the way Trump wanted the trial to unfold, and the vote for witnesses may still be lost by the Democrats, but it is the wild card that Bolton has dealt McConnell.