Late Tuesday (Jan. 19), Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) said Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) should condemn efforts to impeach Trump a second Time as President Donald Trump (R-Ky.) is about to leave office.
“What we need now is for Senator McConnell to make it clear that a second impeachment of Donald Trump after he leaves office would not only be unconstitutional, but would be bad for the country.” Graham said during an online appearance on Fox News’ “Hannity” late Tuesday.
He added that McConnell should “stand up and fight back.
McConnell’s office did not respond to a request for comment.
The House impeached Trump last week on suspicion of sedition. Democrats and some Republicans say Trump’s Jan. 6 speech incited the violence at the U.S. Capitol that day. Trump said his words were “just right”. The timeline shows that the violence at the Capitol began before the end of Trump’s speech.
Graham is the leading voice among Republicans denouncing a new round of impeachment against Trump. He said Tuesday that America “needs to heal,” adding, “A second impeachment of Donald Trump after he leaves office will not heal the country, but will further divide it.”
Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) said last week that a conviction of Trump would destroy the Republican Party if Republican senators supported it.
“If Republicans go along with it, it will destroy the party.” Sen. Paul said, “A third of Republicans will leave the party.”
To convict Trump would require a majority vote in the Senate. The Senate will soon have 50 Republicans and 50 Democrats. The Senate voted to acquit Trump last year in the first impeachment charge against him by Democrats.
McConnell said the Senate will hold an impeachment trial and that he may vote to convict Trump.
In a letter to colleagues last week, McConnell wrote, “While the media is speculating, I have not yet made a final decision on how to vote. I intend to hear the legal arguments when they are presented to the Senate.” McConnell’s office partially made the letter public.
Earlier, he also did not accept pressure from Democrats to begin his impeachment trial on Jan. 13. He said a “fair or serious trial” could not be concluded before Trump leaves office on Jan. 20.
The Senate can’t start the trial anyway until the House files the impeachment papers. Senate President Pro Tempore Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) said Tuesday that the House has not yet done so.
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