McConnell says Trump ‘fed lies’ to mob
WASHINGTON — Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell on Tuesday explicitly blamed President Donald Trump for the deadly riot at the Capitol, saying the mob was “fed lies” and that the president and others “provoked” those intent on overturning Democrat Joe Biden’s election.
Ahead of Mr. Trump’s historic second impeachment trial, Mr. McConnell’s remarks were his most severe and public rebuke of the outgoing president. He is setting a tone as Republicans weigh whether to convict Mr. Trump on the impeachment charge that will soon be sent over from the House: “incitement of insurrection.”
“The mob was fed lies,” Mr. McConnell said. “They were provoked by the president and other powerful people, and they tried to use fear
and violence to stop a specific proceeding of the first branch of the federal government which they did not like.”
The Republican leader vowed a “safe and successful” inauguration of Mr.
Biden on Wednesday at the Capitol, where final preparations were underway amid heavy security.
“The inauguration of a new president and the start of a new administration always brings a flurry of activity to our nation’s government,” Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer said in remarks on the Senate floor Tuesday morning. “But rarely has so much piled up for the Senate as during this particular transition.”
Making the case for Mr. Trump’s conviction, Mr. Schumer said the Senate needs to set a precedent that the “severest offense ever committed by a president would be met by the severest remedy provided by the Constitution — impeachment,” and disbarment from future office.
Mr. McConnell and Mr. Schumer conferred later Tuesday about how to balance the trial with other business and how to organize the evenly divided chamber, a process that could slow all of the Senate’s business and delay the impeachment proceedings.
There were signs of an early impasse. Mr. McConnell expressed to Mr. Schumer “his long-held view that the crucial, longstanding, and bipartisan Senate rules concerning the legislative filibuster remain intact, specifically during the power share for the next two years,” according to spokesman Doug Andres. Eliminating the Senate filibuster, a procedural move that requires a higher bar for legislation to pass, has been a priority for Democrats who will now control the House, Senate and White House.
But a spokesman for Mr. Schumer, Justin Goodman, said the Democratic leader “expressed that the fairest, most reasonable and easiest path forward” was to adopt an agreement similar to a 2001 consensus between the parties, the last time the Senate was evenly divided, without “extraneous changes from either side.”