Daily US Times: As the House prepares to send articles of impeachment against now-former president Donald Trump to the Senate on Monday, CNN reported that dozens of influential Republicans around Washington — including some Trump administration officials — have been quietly lobbying Republican members of Congress to impeach and convict Mr Trump. The effort is not coordinated but reflects a wider battle inside the Republican Party between those loyal to the former President and those who want to sever ties and ensure he can never run for President again.
The lobbying started in the House, the lower chamber of Congress, after the January 6 attack on the Capitol and in the days leading up to impeachment. But it is now more focused on Senator Mitch McConnell, the powerful minority leader who has signaled he may support convicting Trump.
CNN reported citing one Republican member of Congress: “Mitch said to me he wants Trump gone. It is in his political interest to have him gone. It is in the GOP interest to have him gone. The question is, do we get there?”
McConnell had proposed delaying the impeachment trial until February. It will be delayed until next month under an agreement reached between Senate Democrats and Republicans. It would take 17 Republican Senators to join all 50 Democrats in order to convict. While the bar is high, some Republican sources think there is more of an appetite to punish the former President than is publicly apparent.
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