With the Senate impeachment trial of President Donald Trump moving into its fourth day, GOP senators are being threatened with violence if they dare break with the president and cast a vote that isn’t favorable to him, according to CBS News:
In opening statements, House managers examined the debunked conspiracy theories invoked by Pres. Trump.
A @POTUS confidant tells CBS News that GOP senators were warned: “vote against the president & your head will be on a pike.”
Here’s @nancycordes https://t.co/LV1Y6QveIh pic.twitter.com/tLB9EpoWr8
— CBS Evening News (@CBSEveningNews) January 23, 2020
The Daily Mail notes that it’s unclear if the violent warning was issued directly by the White House or came from Republican leaders in the U.S. Senate.
As of yet, no Republicans have defied the administration on a series of procedural and amendment votes which called for issuing subpoenas for documents and witness testimony.
The fear, it seems is that one or more GOP senators might agree to cross over and cast a vote to convict Trump, knowing that not enough of their Republican colleagues would do the same, thereby assuring the president remains in office. However, if even one Republican does vote with the Democrats, it could be humiliating for Trump, who has repeatedly tried to paint his impeachment as a partisan exercise designed to overturn the results of the 2016 election.
Senator Mitt Romney (R-UT) is seen as the most likely to vote to convict Trump, but there are also worries about vulnerable Republicans facing difficult reelection contests in November. Those include Susan Collins of Maine and Cory Gardner of Colorado.
Trump spent part of Friday morning complaining that his attorneys won’t begin presenting their defense of him in the Senate trial until Saturday, which he called “Death Valley” for television:
After having been treated unbelievably unfairly in the House, and then having to endure hour after hour of lies, fraud & deception by Shifty Schiff, Cryin’ Chuck Schumer & their crew, looks like my lawyers will be forced to start on Saturday, which is called Death Valley in T.V.
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 24, 2020
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