With the U.S. House of Representatives having indicted President Donald Trump for two articles of impeachment — one for abuse of power, the other for obstruction of Congress — the U.S. Senate is preparing for a trial. But House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, fearing that Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell will not evaluate the evidence fairly, is holding onto the two articles for now. And according to Democratic Ohio Sen. Sherrod Brown, there is “increasing talk” that McConnell should “recuse himself” from a trial.
The 67-year-old Brown, during an appearance on MSNBC earlier this week, asserted that McConnell’s recent comments show that he has “no respect for the institution.” The Senate majority leader and Kentucky Republican has made it clear that he is “not an impartial juror” where Trump’s impeachment is concerned. And McConnell has said that he will coordinate with Trump on his Senate trial defense, which McConnell’s critics have likened to the foreman of a jury coordinating with a defendant.
McConnell, earlier this week, told reporters, “I think it’s pretty safe to say (that) in a partisan exercise like this, people sort of sign up with their own side. I think we’re going to get an almost entirely partisan impeachment. I would anticipate an almost entirely partisan outcome in the Senate as well.”
Comments like that are what has Brown concerned. The Ohio senator, who was elected to a third term in the 2018 midterms, told MSNBC, “There is increasing talk that he should recuse himself from this trial, when we are supposed to sit there and judge the evidence.”
Brown stressed that although he has his own political views, he wants to weigh all the evidence — including evidence presented by Trump’s defenders and allies — whereas McConnell is flaunting the fact that he already has his mind made up. And if the witnesses in a Senate trial include Acting White House Chief of Staff Mick Mulvaney or former National Security Adviser John Bolton, he wants to hear what they have to say.
“All of us should be open,” Brown told MSNBC. “Maybe Trump will bring witnesses. Maybe he’ll bring Mulvaney. Maybe he’ll bring Bolton forward, and maybe he’ll change our minds.”