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Republican Senators, White House Map Out Impeachment Trial
Sen. Lindsey Graham told reporters that he wanted to make it clear that a trial couldn't be dismissed before it started. The president has also been making an effort to meet with GOP senators.
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Republican Senators, White House Map Out Impeachment Trial
November 22, 20193:14 PM ET
CLAUDIA GRISALES
As the House appears to wrap up the investigative phase of its impeachment inquiry, a group of Senate Republicans met Thursday with White House officials, including counsel Pat Cipollone, to map out how a potential trial on articles of impeachment of President Trump could play out in the upper chamber.
During an extended phone interview with Fox & Friends on Friday morning, the president said he would like Rep. Adam Schiff, the chair of the House Intelligence Committee, to be called as a witness.
"Frankly, I want a trial," he said.
A day earlier, the White House hosted a group of GOP senators, including Lindsey Graham of South Carolina, Mike Lee of Utah, Ron Johnson of Wisconsin, Ted Cruz of Texas, Tom Cotton of Arkansas and John Kennedy of Louisiana, according to congressional aides. An aide also confirmed that in addition to Cipollone, acting chief of staff Mick Mulvaney, Trump's son-in-law and senior adviser Jared Kushner and White House counselor Kellyanne Conway attended the meeting.
The group discussed how a Senate trial could begin, and how soon it could be dismissed. Separately, a congressional aide confirmed Washington Post reporting that there was also discussion on whether a Senate trial could last just two weeks: "It depends on how long the Democrats want to make their case," the aide said.
Graham, a key Trump ally and chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, told reporters he wanted to make it clear to White House officials that a trial couldn't be dismissed before it started. He also shared that White House officials are still holding out hope that Trump may not get impeached by the House of Representatives.
"I think they were curious as to like 'What are you thinking about?' " when it comes to a possible Senate trial, Graham said. "They think they've got a better than 50/50 (chance) — that maybe this doesn't happen in the House. But I don't know ... so eventually we're going to have to cross that Rubicon."
The Thursday morning meeting was followed by a lunch among Trump and another group of Republican senators, including Mitt Romney of Utah, Shelley Moore Capito of West Virginia, Susan Collins of Maine, Rand Paul of Kentucky and James Lankford of Oklahoma.
The gathering was part of a new, weekly effort by Trump to meet with various groups of Republican senators as the impeachment inquiry picks up steam. The senators said they discussed prescription drugs, proposals to ban flavored vaping products, trade legislation, as well as impeachment.
"I think he's understandably unable to defend himself," Capito said of Trump's impeachment talk. "He feels that whatever has come forward has been exactly what he says, 'useless,' so that was basically it. No surprises."
Romney and Collins remain two of Trump's toughest Republican critics. In return, Trump has called Romney a "pompous ass" on Twitter. Still, Romney said the lunch meeting was cordial.
"Overwhelmingly the meeting was about issues we all raised," he said, later adding, "The president didn't say anything new with regards to that topic [impeachment] that I haven't heard multiple times on TV."
Speaking to reporters, Graham, who attended the morning meeting with Trump, said he doesn't want White House officials to believe there's sufficient ground or enough Senate votes to stop a trial before it even begins. He said such a move, before any evidence is heard, would be inconsistent with what Americans know trials to look like.
"The idea that you would dismiss a trial before they presented a case is a nonstarter," Graham said. He added, "I don't want them (White House officials) to believe there's an ability to dismiss the case before it's heard ... I just think the best thing for the country is to get this done quickly, but it's got to be done in a way that is acceptable to the body."
Some Republicans have highlighted the possibility that a senator could move to dismiss the trial through a procedural motion to cut the effort short. The move harks back to West Virginia Democratic Sen. Robert Byrd, who unsuccessfully moved to dismiss the articles of impeachment against President Bill Clinton in 1999.
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