The New York Times has a salacious story out how that claims Mitch McConnell is happy that Democrats are trying to impeach Trump because it will make it easier to purge him from the GOP:
Breaking NYT: Mitch McConnell has told associates he believes Trump committed impeachable offenses and that he is pleased that Democrats are moving to impeach him, believing that it will make it easier to purge him from the GOP.https://t.co/kqagCZzx6f
— Kyle Griffin (@kylegriffin1) January 12, 2021
Here’s what the article says:
Senator Mitch McConnell, the Republican leader, has told associates that he believes President Trump committed impeachable offenses and that he is pleased that Democrats are moving to impeach him, believing that it will make it easier to purge him from the party, according to people familiar with his thinking. The House is voting on Wednesday to formally charge Mr. Trump with inciting violence against the country.
Mr. McConnell, Republican of Kentucky, has indicated that he wants to see the specific article of impeachment that the House is set to approve on Wednesday, which is expected to draw support from as many as a dozen Republicans, potentially including Representative Liz Cheney of Wyoming, the party’s No. 3 in the House. But he has made clear in private discussions that he believes now is the moment to move on from the weakened lame duck, whom he blames for causing Republicans to lose the Senate.
That’s it. This is what the salaciously titled article hinges on and it doesn’t explain in any way further the context of the remarks or how they obtained them.
The New York Times also says McCarthy wants to censure Trump and isn’t lobbying his Republican colleagues to oppose impeachment:
At the same time, Representative Kevin McCarthy of California, the minority leader and one of Mr. Trump’s most steadfast allies in Congress, has asked other Republicans whether he should call on Mr. Trump to resign in the aftermath of the riot at the Capitol last week, according to three Republican officials briefed on the conversations.
While Mr. McCarthy has said he is personally opposed to impeachment, he and other party leaders have decided not to formally lobby Republicans to vote “no,” and an aide to Mr. McCarthy said he was open to a measure censuring Mr. Trump for his conduct. In private, Mr. McCarthy reached out to a leading House Democrat to see if the chamber would be willing to pursue a censure vote, though Speaker Nancy Pelosi has ruled it out.
Taken together, the stances of Congress’s two top Republicans — neither of whom has said publicly that Mr. Trump should resign or be impeached — reflected the politically fraught and fast-moving nature of the crisis that the party faces in the wake of last week’s assault by a pro-Trump mob during a session to formalize President-elect Joseph R. Biden Jr.’s electoral victory.
I don’t know whether any of this is true. It honestly sounds plausible, especially with respect to Mitch McConnell. But this could simply be someone’s way of trying to pressure McConnell to support impeachment.
McConnell recently sent a letter to his Republican colleagues in the Senate on how pursuing impeachment now would require unanimous consent, and that any one of them could object and keep the process from occurring until after the 19th.
I’ve checked to see if McConnell has rebutted this on his Twitter account. So far, nothing, but it’s still early.
UPDATE: Fox News is told that McConnell is indeed furious with Trump:
From colleague Mike Emanuel. Fox is told McConnell is furious and "done" with Trump. He hopes that impeachment could help remove Trump from the GOP. McConnell believes Trump lost the GOP its Senate majority.
— Chad Pergram (@ChadPergram) January 12, 2021
Looks like it’s true.