Murphy thinks Republicans may support impeachment
HARTFORD — There will likely be some support among Republicans in the United State Senate for the removal of President Donald J. Trump when an expected impeachment vote this week in the House of Representatives sends the issue to the Senate for trial, U.S. Sen. Chris Murphy predicted on Monday.
Speaking to reporters in the State Capitol, Murphy declined to reveal details of private discussions, and he stressed the need for majority Republicans in the Senate to enact a fair process of reviewatatimewhenthe White House has refused to cooperate with the investigation into the president’s attempt to enlist the political help from highranking officials in Ukraine.
Murphy said he finds it “stunning” that Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky has announced that he is working with the White House to protect Trump.
“If Mitch McConnell doesn’t believe what the president did is impeachable, that’s up to him, but for him to be crowing on national television that he’s going to coordinate every step of this trial with Donald Trump, I think it’s an abdication of his responsibility,” Murphy said.
“I don’t think we can lie down and accept this unprecedented level of obstruction from the White House,” Murphy said. “We don’t have all the facts. We don’t have documents from the White House. We don’t have some of the key players’ testimony. So I don’t know why Republicans would want to render judgment on the president when they haven’t heard all of the evidence.”
Among those he would like to see testify are Chief of Staff Mick Mulvaney, Vice President Mike Pence and John Bolton, the former national security adviser.
“I don’t want a threemonth trial but I also want to make sure that we’re doing our due diligence to make sure that we have a fair trial,” Murphy said. “And to me a fair trial involves trying to get your hands on the evidence that the White House denied the House investigators.”
Murphy, a supporter of impeachment and removal of the president, stressed that Trump should be given the opportunity to prove his innocence.
“From the beginning I have been gravely concerned about what the president has done, and am not sure the country survives if there are absolutely no consequences for his actions,” Murphy said. “My assumption is that he’s withholding those witnesses because he knows they will tell a truth that confirms the facts we have. My assumption is they don’t want to give us documents and emails because they will be further evidence of a vast corruption scheme to try to get Ukraine to interfere in the 2020 election.”
He conceded that the national polling reflects a country closely divided over support and opposition to the president.
“What the president was trying to do here was rig the 2020 election, and to use the massive powers of his office to do it,” Murphy said. “Right now we have to convince our Republican colleagues to join us in a call for witnesses and document production. I think it’s harder for the White House to avoid those calls if they come from Democrats and Republicans. I have been talking with Republicans on trying to join together on some of these requests.”