Given these assaults on fair process and the horrible precedent a purely partisan impeachment would set, it is fair to ask, should the charges that come out of the House be legitimized in any way? Kelly D. Johnston is former secretary of the Senate, a former Senate GOP aide and former staff director for the Senate Republican Policy Committee before that. Under the standing rules of the Senate, the Senate must approve a “Motion to Proceed” to consider the articles. We won’t ever approve a purely partisan Article of Impeachment for trial.”Johnston informed me that when then-Majority Leader Trent Lott (R-Miss.) This process — the refusal by the Senate to approve a “Motion to Proceed” — is how the Senate should flush articles of impeachment from the record as it stands today.

Source: Washington Post November 10, 2019 23:52 UTC