Senate Television/AP
As the impeachment trial of Donald Trump has progressed, Sen. Majority Leader Mitch McConnell has wasted no time trying to cash in on it. The Kentucky senator, who is up for reelection this year in the Trump-friendly state, blasted out two fundraising emails this week, asking supporter for help in “standing up to the corrupt Democrats” and promising to bring the trial to a close.
“This has been the most unfair impeachment in American history, but thanks to your Republican Majority, this impeachment circus will stop in the Senate,” an email sent Thursday by McConnell’s campaign read. It asked his supporters to donate anywhere from $10 to $250 to “join our fight.” Another email, sent out on Monday, asked readers to donate up to $500 to “fight back against Nancy Pelosi and this rushed impeachment process.” McConnell promised: “I won’t let the Democrats’ partisan impeachment games go on any longer.”
From the outset, McConnell has indicated that he would do everything in his power to ensure that Trump’s trial would not, in fact, be fair. Early on, he led Republicans in blocking efforts to subpoena documents and witnesses, including former national security adviser John Bolton and White House chief of staff Mick Mulvaney. A week later, the New York Times revealed that Bolton, in a draft of his forthcoming book, alleged that Trump had told him he wanted withhold military aid from Ukraine until that country agreed to help investigate the Bidens. Still, McConnell didn’t budge, setting the stage for another vote, expected Friday, on whether to allow witnesses. That vote that is widely expected to fail.
All the while, McConnell’s reelection campaign has been sending out emails calling the process “despicable” and saying that he’d “rather be fighting to confirm judges to our nation’s courts and lower taxes.”
