The trial of Donald John Trump, President of the United States, begins Tuesday. All 100 members of the Senate have been sworn in, pledging to be fair and impartial in the matter before them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
That may last through Chief Justice Roberts\u2019 formal call to order. But after that \u2014all bets are off.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Majority Leader Mitch McConnell\u2019s goal is to have the trial as over as quickly as possible with an overwhelming \u201cexoneration\u201d for the President. Anything that gets in the way of that goal, including the truth, is expendable.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
McConnell is even considering sandwiching 48 hours of presentations, split evenly between the House Managers and The President\u2019s defense team, into four days. That\u2019s twelve hours a day of speeches. That might seem a laudable goal: Senators working hard sitting in silent \u201cjurydom\u201d from 1 pm to 1 am. But it\u2019s not about work – it\u2019s about burying the discussion from the American people.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
A more traditional schedule, 1 pm to 9 pm for six days would allow millions more citizens to see what\u2019s going on. Sure some will make the midnight show anyway – but most would be left out. For McConnell that\u2019s all to the good.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Less public exposure means less public pressure on his vulnerable members: Gardner of Colorado, Collins of Maine, McSally from Arizona. And even less pressure for McConnell from Kentucky, who is facing the strongest opponent in his career, and one of the lowest approval ratings in the country.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
For the House Managers public pressure is what it\u2019s all about. Public pressure on wavering Republicans to consider hearing witnesses: John Bolton, Mick Mulvaney and the OMB executives who were told to hold the Ukraine money. Those witnesses would allow the American people to hear directly what the President did. Even if it doesn\u2019t convince twenty Republican Senators to remove, the number needed to crossover – it will give the American citizens more information for their vote in November.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But McConnell\u2019s goal is to hear less, see less, and wrap up the trial as soon as possible.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And don\u2019t hang your hopes on John Roberts for a fair trial. He is dedicated to procedural fairness \u2014 but he\u2019s also dedicated to his mentor, Bill Rehnquist\u2019s words from when he presided at the Clinton impeachment: \u201cI did very little and I did it very well.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Roberts will certainly stay in his lane.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So it\u2019s process tomorrow, and the House Managers for the next two or three days. Then the President\u2019s team gets the same amount.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So sometime next week we will reach the crisis: can the House Managers call witnesses? If so, will the President\u2019s team? And if witnesses are allowed will the President try to blanket them with \u201cexecutive privilege\u201d? Will the Chief Justice and Senate allow him to get away with it?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Odds are we\u2019ll never get to hear witnesses, or at least that\u2019s what the majority of Senate Republicans want us to believe. If they have their way, the coverup will begin.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"