If Republicans want to adopt Clinton impeachment rules -- here's what they should do next: Ex-Clinton aide

Republicans were surprisingly on message this week when asked about how the Senate should proceed with the impeachment trial for President Donald Trump. They all supported the "Clinton" rules for impeachment. The problem, however, is they're neglecting a lot of steps if they want to go that route.

In a CNN interview, former President Bill Clinton's press secretary Joe Lockhart explained that what Republicans are leaving out is that the case in the 1990s had an independent counsel, a grand jury, every document requested of the White House was released, every witness called was allowed and so much more.

"What they don't want to say to finish the sentence is that everyone involved in the Clinton affair had been to the grand jury. Every document had been produced. All of this was in a 2,500-page report by the independent counsel. So, the facts were known to everyone. It was just a political question of whether it was worth removing the president from office for that. This is very different. This is we haven't seen the documents that senators haven't heard from the witnesses. So, on the face of it, it's not a fair comparison," Lockhart said.

At that point, Clinton had also apologized for what he'd done to the country; something Trump will likely never do.

"The president had apologized multiple times," recalled Lockhart. "But that was probably the most profound moment because he talked about putting a burden on the country. He recognized that even though he had been acquitted politically, he had not only made a mistake, but he had put the country through something. It's very, very different than how Trump has handled it up till now. We have never seen contrition from president trump. You know, it would go a long way, I think, with the American public. But everyone who knows him says, don't hold your breath."

If the GOP intends to hold a proceeding based on the Clinton rules, the case should return to the House, documents should be produced by the White House, and witnesses should no longer be blocked by the president.

Once that is done, the Senate could hold their vote.

Watch Lockhart's interview below: