‘We can be the loyal opposition to the end…’
(Ben Sellers, Liberty Headlines) One of the most steadfast and partisan Democrats in the U.S. Senate broke with the party line to call her House counterparts to task for failing to do their homework prior to the ongoing impeachment trial.
Sen. Mazie Hirono, D-Hawaii, insisted that it was unfair of Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell to follow the impeachment standards established during Bill Clinton‘s 1999 trial since the two were incomparable.
That’s because the House Democrats failed to adequately prepare their case, she acknowledged in an interview with CNN, as reported by Mediaite.
“[I]f we’re following the Clinton precedent, there would have been all of the discovery done at the House level and that’s not what is happening at all,” she said.
Hirono claimed that it was the fault of the president for challenging House efforts to solicit testimony from top staff members, despite the fact that presidents—including Clinton—waged similar court challenges during the investigative process.
Democrats have openly acknowledged that they declined to pursue similar court challenges and ultimately withdrew subpoenas because they were in a rush to impeach prior to the 2020 election.
McConnell and others have rejected the notion that the Democrats should now get a do-over in their investigative efforts during the trial phase of the partisan impeachment.
Despite the fact that House Democrats severely limited the president’s due-process rights and the input of the opposition party during their investigation, Hirono expressed outrage that Democrats would not receive a carte blanche to do the same in the Senate.
“They want to trickle out the—and limit as much as possible anything that any witness that we want can testify to,” she claimed. “So, that is their whole modus operandi, to limit the information that is produced for our consideration and to the American public.”
But Hirono promised left-wing CNN correspondents Wolf Blitzer and Jake Tapper that Democrats would punish their fellow senators and viewers in the American public by continuing to introduce defeated amendments that would drag out the trial, with each requiring hours of debate before a roll-call vote.
Senate Minority Leader Charles Schumer proposed more than 10 such amendments at the commencement of the trial on Tuesday, although they were defeated by a party-line vote, 53-47.
“[O]ur option is to continue to offer an amendment to the McConnell process,” Hirono said. “And also, during the trial, the House managers will be able to propose motions. So there will be votes. Anytime either side calls for witnesses, there will be votes. That’s what we’re going to do.”
Hirono continued that Democrats—despite having taken an oath of impartiality last week, would “be the loyal opposition to the end.”