Sen. Mitch McConnell said he and Republicans in the upper house will "work closely" with the White House to "coordinate" defense in the coming impeachment trial of President Donald Trump.
So much for the idea that the Senate is an independent body whose responsibility under the Constitution is to decide whether a president should be removed from office.
The House Judiciary Committee approved two articles of impeachment after a 14-hour hearing session on Thursday followed by a 30-minute Friday morning session in which the committee forwarded the issue to the full House for a vote, expected next week.
But already, Senate Republicans, led by McConnell, have apparently decided they will not convict the president of the high crimes and misdemeanors detailed in the two articles of impeachment.
Separately, the president's personal lawyer Rudy Giuliani was seen entering the White House after returning from Ukraine. That country is the subject of allegations that the president solicited foreign help in the coming election.
Never before has the Senate consulted the White House on how to conduct an impeachment trial of a president. Trump will be the third sitting president to be impeached, and likely will also escape conviction and removal from office, as did Andrew Johnson and Bill Clinton.
A House committee approved articles of impeachment against Richard Nixon, but he resigned before the full House could vote on the issue.
At the moment, that's the status of the campaign against Trump, but he's not likely to resign, since he has the full support of Republicans, who control the Senate, as well as the cooperation of McConnell in forming a defense.
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