Lazy, bored Republicans make mockery of Senate trial by leaving and falling asleep
Republicans aren’t even trying to hide the fact that they intend to let Donald Trump off the hook for impeachment regardless of guilt. They have been stonewalling Democrats on admitting new witnesses and documents regarding Trump’s corrupt Ukraine scheme and can’t seem to muster even a superficial interest in uncovering the truth. Partisanship reigns supreme in the GOP and patriotism is nowhere to be seen.
The Republican apathy has apparently gotten so bad that GOP senators are now violating trial rules by simply getting up and leaving the impeachment chamber to congregate in the cloakroom. As journalist David Shuster pointed out, jurors (which is what senators serve as during an impeachment trial) are forbidden from leaving during court proceedings. This holds true at a state, local, and federal level and is especially crucial during the trial of the President of the United States.
Add your name to tell McConnell to allow impeachment witnesses. We demand Trump get a fair trial!
It could not be made any clearer how little Republicans care about upholding their oaths to the Constitution. They can’t even be bothered to do the very bare minimum for their jobs: actually showing up and staying. They know that Senate Majority Mitch McConnell, whose only interest is shielding Trump and maintaining a GOP stranglehold over the Oval Office, won’t bother to hold them accountable in any sense. As long as they show up at the end of it and vote along the party line to acquit Trump, McConnell will be happy.
It's not just against senate trial rules. No jurors, in any local, state, or federal trial, are allowed to leave live proceedings/arguments/testimony for any period of time. They can ask/receive a break. But the judge must stop the proceedings. #SenateTrial #Rules https://t.co/XTCtGAPqhI
— David Shuster (@DavidShuster) January 22, 2020
New York Daily News’s Michael McAuliff counted 21 empty Republican seats and only 2 missing Democrats. He added that some of the seats were empty because the senators in question were “stretching their legs” but most had left the chamber.
Just counted 21 empty seats on the GOP side of the Senate, 2 on the Dem side, a couple hours into Schiff's presentation. Some are just stretching their legs, but most are not in the chamber. Some of them have been out of there for a while.
— Michael McAuliff (@mmcauliff) January 22, 2020
Perhaps worse still, some Republicans stayed but failed to stay awake. NBC News’s Leigh Ann Caldwell reports that Senator Jim Inhofe (R-OK) fell asleep barely thirty minutes into today’s sessions. Senator Todd Young (R-IN) “subtly nudged” him which managed to wake Inhofe up. Quite frankly, you can’t make this stuff up.
Republicans are rubbing their gross apathy in the faces of the American public at every turn. They’re sleepwalking (and sleeping) their way through this impeachment because they never intended to take it seriously. They’ll all fall in line behind Trump and a message will be sent to this and future generations that the president can hold himself above the law. The only solution left for our Republic is to vote in a wave of Democrats in November.
.@JimInhofe is the first casualty to sleep, not even 30 minutes after the day begins. His seat neighbor, @SenToddYoung, subtly nudged Inhofe’s forearm, which woke him up. Todd then leaned over and whispered something to Inhofe and Inhofe nodded.
— Leigh Ann Caldwell (@LACaldwellDC) January 22, 2020
To see what a public servant actually doing their job looks like, watch some of the remarks made by impeachment manager Rep. Adam Schiff’s (D-CA) today.
Americans want a fair trial.
They want to believe their government is still capable of rising to the occasion.
They want to believe we can rise above party, to do what’s best for our country.
Sadly, a great many Americans doubt this is still possible.
Let's prove them wrong. pic.twitter.com/VGor4FSQdS
— Adam Schiff (@RepAdamSchiff) January 21, 2020
This is a staff report from former Occupy Democrats Editor in Chief Colin Taylor or contributor Rob Haffney.