Lawmakers React As Trump Senate Impeachment Trial Gets Timetable

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Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, called a post-presidency Senate trial for Trump «vindictive.

J. Scott Applewhite/AP

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J. Scott Applewhite/AP

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«The President was impeached in the House from start to finish in less than 60 hours without one witness being called and without a lawyer, Graham tweeted. «This will not happen in the Senate.

Earlier this week in an interview with Fox News, Graham warned his fellow Republicans that if they «erased Trump from the party, they were «going to get erased.

Ten House Republicans voted with Democrats to impeach Trump on Jan. 13, including House Republican Conference Chair Liz Cheney of Wyoming.

House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy of California said he had «concerns about Cheney’s vote. «She never told me ahead of time, he reportedly told Greta Van Susteren in an interview airing Sunday. «I support her, but I do think she has a lot of questions she has to answer to the conference, he added.

Some Democrats expressed concern that the timing of the trial could hold back President Biden’s agenda.

«I want to focus as much attention right now on the Biden agenda as possible and minimize the attention on anything other than the Biden agenda, said Sen. Tim Kaine of Virginia.

Kaine is among a group of Democrats seeking to use the 14th Amendment — which bars federal officials from holding office again if they incite rebellion or insurrection — to forbid another presidential run by Trump. According to The Washington Post, the idea would involve passing a resolution finding Trump violated the amendment.

A parallel effort by Democrats is underway to investigate Sens. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, and Josh Hawley, R-Mo., for contributing to the insurrection.

This week, a handful of Democrats filed a Senate ethics complaint over the senators’ objection to certifying the presidential vote. The complaint asserts that Cruz’s and Hawley’s objections «lent legitimacy to the mob that stormed the Capitol building.

Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse, D-R.I., one of the senators behind the complaint, spoke to NPR’s Weekend Edition on Saturday.

«What they were saying encouraged them and gave aid and comfort to those who had a completely false belief that the election had been rigged and stolen, Whitehouse said. «I don’t believe that either Senator Cruz or Hawley actually believed themselves that the election was rigged or stolen, so I don’t know quite why they were saying those things.

Hawley and Cruz have defended their objections as responses to what they saw as voting irregularities in states that went to Biden. Neither have provided evidence to support their claims.