Former Trump officials are lobbying Mitch McConnell to convict him at impeachment trial: CNN

Several influential Republicans around Washington D.C., including some former Trump administration officials, are reportedly lobbying Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-KY) to convict former President Donald Trump at his second impeachment trial.

Sources tell CNN's Michael Warren and Jamie Gangel that former members of Trump's own administration are telling McConnell that they don't want to see their former boss run for office ever again.

Although McConnell would also like to see Trump permanently leave the political scene in the wake of this month's deadly riots at the United States Capitol building, he's not yet sure whether convicting the president is the best way to finish the job.

"Mitch said to me he wants Trump gone," one GOP member of Congress claimed. "It is in his political interest to have him gone. It is in the GOP interest to have him gone. The question is, do we get there?"

Although the odds of Trump getting convicted are still slim, one GOP source tells Warren and Gangel that the party believes it cannot survive long term unless it takes Trump totally out of the picture.

"Trump created a cult of personality that is hard to dismantle," said a former GOP official. "Conviction could do that."