McConnell rejects Pelosi's demand to release Senate impeachment trial plan
Fox News senior judicial analyst Judge Andrew Napolitano says patience is wearing thin in Washington on the stalled impeachment articles.
Some Democrats are getting fed up with House Speaker Nancy Pelosi withholding articles of impeachment from the Senate, and want to "move on" to a trial, Judge Andrew Napolitano said Thursday.
Pelosi signaled to congressional Democrats late Tuesday that she plans to continue to hold on to articles of impeachment against President Trump -- for now -- demanding that Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., first release the resolution outlining the terms for a Senate trial.
In a letter to colleagues, Pelosi, D-Calif., indicated she would not transmit impeachment articles to the Senate until McConnell moves to “immediately publish” the resolution while accusing him of making “misleading claims” about past impeachment processes to “justify” Republican plans.
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Napolitano, a Fox News senior judicial analyst, said House rules allow Pelosi to potentially "sit on" the impeachment articles until January of 2021, though he believes party leaders will increasingly urge her to end the stalemate.
"I think patience is wearing thin even from some Democrats. Sen. Dianne Feinstein comes to mind. I think somebody is going to start saying to Mrs. Pelosi: 'Let's move on with this,'" he said.
“The longer it goes on, the less urgent it becomes. So if it’s serious and urgent, send them over. If it isn’t, don’t send it over," Feinstein told Politico.
McConnell said Tuesday he has the votes to start an impeachment trial even without an agreement on potential witnesses – once the chamber receives the articles from the House. The vote would kick off "Phase One" of Trump's impeachment trial, while the contentious issue of witnesses would come up after the trial is underway, McConnell said.
Speaking on the Senate floor Wednesday, McConnell said the House cannot "invent a sort of pretrial hostage negotiation" which would allow the House "to run the show over here in the Senate."
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Napolitano said he believes Pelosi and Senate Democrats want a commitment from McConnell that former National Security Adviser John Bolton will testify at the trial. He said Pelosi wants "live, unrehearsed testimony" from Bolton and that Democrats believe it will prompt others to corroborate his story and bolster the impeachment case.
Napolitano agreed that if Democrats wanted to hear from Bolton, he should have been subpoenaed during the House proceedings.
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