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Senate GOP torn over convicting Trump: 'There's no love lost'

https://www.cnn.com/2021/01/14/politics/mitch-mcconnell-republican-senator-plans/index.html


So many Senate Republicans, including Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, there's no question in their minds: President Donald Trump committed impeachable offenses.

But getting McConnell and at least 16 other Republicans to convict Trump after he's left office is another question entirely.
"There is no love lost within the Senate Republican Conference for Trump," said one GOP source familiar with internal discussions. "Everybody is ready for this to end. But there is a really open question about how many people will vote to convict him after his term will have expired."
Several senior GOP sources told CNN on Thursday that many Republicans are torn over whether Trump's actions warrant the unprecedented step of prohibiting him from ever serving in office again after he leaves the White House next week.
Republicans say it will ultimately be up to a combination of factors -- the case built by House impeachment managers, whether new information comes out about Trump and the deadly Capitol riot and whether emotions are still raw when it comes time to vote -- to determine whether Republicans will break ranks and end Trump's political career for good.
Privately, Republicans have reviewed internal polling showing Trump's support cratering among GOP voters since Election Day -- especially since last week when he incited a violent mob of his supporters to riot in the Capitol leading to the deaths of five people, two sources said. But even after he leaves office, he is bound to still maintain significant sway with the GOP base, something Republicans facing reelection -- and potential primary challengers -- will be forced to confront.
Republicans are by and large split into several camps. Some, like Arkansas Sen. Tom Cotton, oppose the proceedings because, they argue, it's constitutionally dubious to convict a President once he leaves office, a position many Republicans are bound to take.
"I doubt we can even have a trial for a former President, which is what we are dealing with here," GOP Sen. Kevin Cramer of North Dakota told CNN on Thursday.
Others, such as Sen. Tim Scott of South Carolina, are likely to align with many House Republicans who said that the impeachment proceedings will further divide the country.
"An impeachment vote will only lead to more hate and a deeply fractured nation," Scott, who is facing voters in 2022, said this week.
Yet, some Republicans say that it's critical to lay down a marker to make clear that Congress will not stand for future presidents who may follow Trump's path -- and that the President's actions crossed a clear line that must never be replicated again.
"I believe that this President has committed an impeachable offense," Alaska Sen. Lisa Murkowski told Alaska television station KTUU on Wednesday, adding that it would be "appropriate" for the Senate to bar him from holding office again.





Murkowski Is Latest G.O.P. Senator to Signal Possible Support for Convicting Trump

https://www.nytimes.com/live/2021/01/14/us/impeachment-trump#murkowski-trump

Ms. Murkowski said the second impeachment of Mr. Trump stood “in stark contrast” to the first, which she and virtually every other Republican opposed. She said Mr. Trump had perpetuated “false rhetoric that the election was stolen and rigged” and launched a “pressure campaign against his own vice president, urging him to take actions that he had no authority to do.”

“On the day of the riots, President Trump’s words incited violence, which led to the injury and deaths of Americans — including a Capitol Police officer — the desecration of the Capitol, and briefly interfered with the government’s ability to ensure a peaceful transfer of power,” Ms. Murkowski said.

Her remarks came the day after the House — with support from 10 Republicans — impeached the president on a single charge of “incitement of insurrection,” and as Republicans faced the prospect of a trial that could begin as soon as next week.