The Senate may have a trial of the president right after the first of the year, according to Missouri’s Roy Blunt. But he does not expect it to result in the removal of President Donald Trump.
Missourinet spoke with Sen. Blunt Friday after the House Judiciary Committee voted to approve impeachment articles against the president.
Blunt has said that he will be an impartial juror if the Senate has put Trump on trial. We asked him if that holds true now that Majority Leader Mitch McConnell told Fox News he has made up his mind: “I’m coordinating with the White House counsel. There will be no difference between the president’s position and our position as to how to handle this to the extent that we can.”
Blunt said, “I do think we’re closer and closer to the point where the Senate can reach conclusions. The House is done. There are two articles of impeachment that are about as boiled down as they can possibly be to not very much. The bribery thing they talked about appeared to go away, the obstruction charge is something we’ll deal with.”
Missourinet: “Like McConnell, have you made up your mind?”
Blunt: “The likelihood that 20 Republicans would join every Democrat is pretty slim, and we’ll see. As I predicted for some time, a partisan determination to impeach by the House will almost certainly lead to a largely partisan vote in the Senate which means you would not have the votes you need to get this done.”
LISTEN TO INTERVIEW (3:15)
Blunt says the Senate, in the next few days, will decide on a trial date for after the first of the year.
