Republican Senators push resolution against Trump's impeachment

Top Republican Senator Lindsey Graham introduced a resolution on October 24, in order to discredit the impeachment process against US President Donald Trump. The resolution was signed by 44 out of 53 Republican party leaders, including Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell. The resolution called the process unfair but remained silent about Trump's dealings with Ukraine. 

Due process of impeachment

Graham reportedly said that he wasn't saying that Trump had nothing wrong. He added that he thought that the way they were going was really dangerous for the country. Graham urged the Congress to change it's course while they could in the House. The Senator complained about the lack of accessibility to those who accused Trump of questionable dealings. 

Graham argued during his press conference that "instead of the Judiciary looking at a potential impeachable offense, they've created a process with the Intel committee that's behind closed doors, doesn't provide access to the President's accuser, shuts Republicans out for all practical purposes and is an unworthy substitute for the way you need to do it."

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Comparing earlier impeachment processes

Graham was at the news conference with a presentation around former US President Bill Clinton’s impeachment process. The Senator said that he was present during the impeachment inquiry vote on the floor of the house in 1998. He said that several rights were given to Clinton during the impeachment process including ‘members can see evidence’, ‘President’s counsel can attend’, allowed to challenge evidence and ‘minority given subpoena power’. “These were the rights given to President Clinton, his team and members of the minority. None of this exists today,” said Graham.

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The Republican Senator opined that a secret proceeding behind closed doors denies due process. He called for a consistent process in line with set precedents. “We’re not telling the House you can’t impeach the president. What we’re telling the House, 41 of us that there’s a right way to do it and a wrong way to do it,” said Graham.

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