‘SHAM PROPOSAL’

Pelosi: McConnell Lied About Impeachment Trial Rules for Trump

The House speaker said the Senate majority leader lied when he said the impeachment trial will closely follow the 1999 Clinton precedent.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi has accused Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell of lying about his rules for the impeachment trial, and pressing ahead with a “coverup” to protect President Trump. McConnell released the impeachment trial resolution Monday evening, laying the groundwork for the trial that he repeatedly said would follow the precedent of Bill Clinton’s trial in 1999. But there are key differences—it will take place on a much shorter timescale, won’t automatically admit the House’s findings into evidence, and there’s no guarantee the trial will include witnesses. In a statement Tuesday morning, Pelosi said: “For weeks, he has insisted that he will adhere to the rules used during the Clinton impeachment trial... but his proposal rejects the need for witnesses and documents during the trial itself. In contrast, for the Clinton trial, witnesses were deposed and the president provided more than 90,000 documents.” Pelosi went on to say McConnell has designed the process “to hide the truth from the Senate and from the American people, because he knows that the president’s wrongdoing is indefensible and demands removal.”