WASHINGTON — A myriad of conservative voices are warning Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell against doing anything to facilitate a conviction of former President Donald Trump in an impeachment trial that he’s proposing begin next month.
“He has to keep the Republican caucus in line and make sure as few Republicans vote for impeachment as possible,” said Terry Schilling, executive director of the American Principles Project, a northern Virginia-based conservative group that boasts 300,000 national members. “(Impeachment) will deeply divide Republican officeholders and it will infuriate the base.”
McConnell, who this week directly blamed Trump for provoking the mob that stormed the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, is not pressuring his Republican caucus members to vote one way or the other in an impeachment trial, according to a Senate aide. Instead, the Kentuckian has framed the choice as a “vote of conscience,” leaving open the option to vote to convict Trump himself.
