Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) is telling his colleagues that he has not made up his mind on whether he will vote to convict President Donald Trump for allegedly inciting a mob of violent rioters to storm the U.S. Capitol.
In a letter to his Republican colleagues, a portion of which was released to the press, McConnell said, “While the press has been full of speculation, I have not made a final decision on how I will vote.”
“I intend to listen to the legal arguments when they are presented to the Senate,” he added.
McConnell: “while the press has been full of speculation, I have not made a final decision on how I will vote and I intend to listen to the legal arguments when they are presented to the Senate.”
— Jim Acosta (@Acosta) January 13, 2021
McConnell’s comments come after Axios reported that there is a “better than 50-50 chance” the Kentucky senator would vote to convict Trump on a charge of incitement of insurrection.
Additionally, The New York Times reported that McConnell “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.”
The House made history on Wednesday when it voted to 232-197 to impeach Trump — the first time a U.S. president has been impeached twice.
McConnell is not the only member of Republican leadership to reportedly support the impeachment push.
Rep. Liz Cheney (R-Wyo.), the House Republican Conference Chair and third highest-ranking Republican in the chamber, announced she would vote to impeach Trump, as IJR reported.
“The President of the United States summoned this mob, assembled the mob, and lit the flame of this attack. Everything that followed was his doing,” she said in a statement.
She added, “None of this would have happened without the President. The President could have immediately and forcefully intervened to stop the violence. He did not. There has never been a greater betrayal by a President of the United States of his office and his oath to the Constitution.”
While House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) said he did not support the impeachment push, he did not lobby his colleagues to vote “no.”
Ultimately, 10 House Republicans voted in favor of impeaching Trump.
The article of impeachment will now go to the Senate, where lawmakers will vote on whether or not to convict Trump.