Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., walks to the Senate chamber for votes on federal judges as a massive budget pact between House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and President Donald Trump is facing a key vote in the GOP-held Senate later, at the Capitol in Washington, Wednesday, July 31, 2019. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)
As I wrote this morning, Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) wasted precious little time on Wednesday in the midst of the articles impeachment being transmitted to remind Democrats that the sham nature of how they conducted their impeachment inquiry is over now that the Senate is in charge of things.
Sen. Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) followed suit in a Senate floor speech he gave Thursday morning, referencing the celebratory nature of how Democrats conducted themselves Wednesday as one reason why it was a good thing that Senate Republicans had been handed the reins.
In referencing yesterday’s signing spectacle, McConnell went off:
“That took place, Madam President, at a table with a political slogan stuck onto it. And they posed, they posed afterwards for smiling photos.
And the Speaker distributed souvenir pens – souvenir pens – to her own colleagues emblazoned with her golden signature, that literally came in on silver platters. Pens literally came in on silver platters. Golden pens on silver platters. A souvenir to celebrate the moment.
Now, I seem to remember Democrats falling over themselves to say they did not see impeachment as a long-sought political win. House Democrats said over and over they recognized the gravity and the seriousness of this action and of course they had only come to it reluctantly.
Well, nothing says seriousness and sobriety like handing out souvenirs. As though this were a happy bill-signing instead of the gravest process in our Constitution.”
Towards the end of his remarks, McConnell pointed out the Founding Fathers understood that this exact scenario could happen where a political party would use impeachment as a political weapon to oust a president from the opposing party who they didn’t like. “But fortunately,” McConnell stated, “they did something about it. They did not give both the power [to impeach] and the power to remove to the House.”
He concluded by reminding House Democrats that their “hour is over. The Senate’s time is at hand. It’s time for this proud body to honor our founding purpose.”
Watch his full speech below:
This is the 4th day in a row McConnell has spoken at length on the floor of the Senate regarding impeachment and how House Democrats have worn two faces on the issue since they launched their impeachment inquiry back in September.
On Monday, McConnell’s speech focused on how he’d won on the issue of whether or not the House was going to dictate how the Senate was to conduct the trial.
On Tuesday, he continued unloading on House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA), House Intel Chair Adam Schiff (D-CA) and other Democratic House leaders for presenting a case to the Senate that was so weak that they wanted Senators to “go fishing” for more evidence.
In his Wednesday speech, McConnell got to the heart of the matter, suggesting “This isn’t really about Ukraine policy or military assistance money” – because Democrats had been trying to impeach Trump from day one.
Flashback –>> Cocaine Mitch to Dems: Impeachment Is Not a Tool to Be Used for “Relitigating” Elections You Lost
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