McConnell said in 1999 he would have voted for whatever the House managers wanted
Mitch McConnell said in 1999 he believed the Senate was entitled to witnesses in President Bill Clinton’s impeachment trial and added that he would have voted to give House impeachment managers “whatever” they wanted.
“I would have been prepared to vote for whatever the House managers wanted in terms of putting on their trial. That was not the majority view, but I still think we had a mountain of evidence upon which to make a decision,” McConnell said.
Unlike this time, the impeachment managers in 1999 were from the same party as McConnell. Then, Republicans and Democrats worked on negotiating the rules for the Senate trial, which were set by a 100-0 vote.
McConnell’s 1999 comments deferring to the House managers on impeachment are the latest example of the senator’s prior positions on the Clinton impeachment appearing to conflict with his approach to Trump’s trial.
The President’s legal team and House managers are debating Tuesday a resolution laying out the rules for President Donald Trump’s impeachment trial. Today, the rules are expected to pass on a near party line vote.
McConnell made the comments during an appearance on CNN’s Crossfire in February 1999, near the conclusion of the Senate trial, two days before the final vote on impeachment to convict and remove Clinton.
He was responding to Pennsylvania Republican Sen. Arlen Specter, who said it had been a “sham trial” and “pseudo-trial” because it did not include witnesses. Specter, who later changed parties to become a Democrat, would go on to vote “not proven” on Clinton’s impeachment because of what he said was a lack of evidence presented in the Senate.
“My view was that we were entitled to witnesses,” McConnell said. “I voted for live witnesses myself. I voted for the one live witness the House asked for and I voted to allow the videotaping of the witnesses they asked for. In addition to that, we had as the Democrats continually reminded us, a mountain of evidence in the independent counsel’s report.”
“I think we had enough information to make a decision. I think it was overwhelmingly clear what happened here,” McConnell added, apparently referring to Clinton’s alleged misdeeds. (Clinton was subsequently acquitted.)
McConnell added the Senate rules were done by majority vote, but if he had his way, the Senate would have given House managers whatever they had asked for.
“I assume that Arlen was concerned about the Senate procedures,” McConnell said. “We did that by majority vote. Had my vote prevailed, there would have been live witnesses.”
A McConnell spokesman pointed to statements he made in December 1998 and January 1999, where McConnell said he supported limiting the number of witnesses in the Senate trial. The three trial witnesses in 1999 had already given sworn testimony as part of the Starr Investigation.
“It remains my view that we ought not to, if we end up having to talk to these witnesses, have them on public display in the well of the Senate. I don’t think that’s required. I don’t think we should do it,” McConnell said in a separate appearance on CBS in January 1999, before the trial had concluded.
