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So McConnell, like all the rest of them, has resorted to declaring it, in essence, a witch hunt. "House Democrats are finally indulging in their impeachment obsession. Full steam ahead," he said on the floor Tuesday. "I don't think many of us were expecting to witness a clinic in terms of fairness or due process. But even by their own partisan standards, House Democrats have already found new ways to lower the bar."
As McConnell knows extremely well, the House has the sole power to determine how an impeachment process will be conducted. As he knows, the investigation process in the House is like a grand jury process. Evidence and witness testimony are presented, and the panel—in this case House committee members—determines if a high crime or misdemeanor has been committed. That can be done in closed hearings or in open hearings, as the House deems necessary, just as the Constitution prescribes.
McConnell, though, is pretending that the Constitution doesn't provide these powers to his own branch of government. He says the House has "wasted no time throwing fairness and precedent to the wind." Because precedent matters so much to the guy who made up the new rule that a Republican Senate doesn't have to follow the Constitution when it comes to confirming Democratic presidents' Supreme Court nominees. "For all the public hyperventilating over institutional norms that we've heard from House Democrats," he said, "it appears they have no intention of letting norms, precedents or basic due process stand in the way as they seek to cancel out a presidency."
Yes. Him. McConnell. He said that.
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