WA Sen. Patty Murray: Senate ‘must allow a fair trial’ for impeachment

As the U.S. House of Representatives gathers to vote on sending its articles of impeachment to the Senate, Washington Sen. Patty Murray is urging her colleagues to conduct a thorough and impartial trial.

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“[Senate Majority] Leader [Mitch] McConnell must allow a fair trial,” Murray said Wednesday. “Each Senator here has to consider the strong case the House has put forward as a citizen and a patriot, not a partisan.”

While Senators are required to take an oath that affirms they “will do impartial justice according to the Constitution and laws” during an impeachment trial, Republicans have already threatened to defy that directive.

Senate Leader Mitch McConnell has noted that he “is not an impartial juror,” and has been coordinating with the White House on its defense strategy. South Carolina Sen. Lindsey Graham has similarly stated he is “not trying to pretend to be a fair juror.”

Despite all that, Murray’s call to her fellow Senators was clear.

“I hope each Senator considers their responsibility to our democracy, remember the oath they took when they came here to Congress, and does their part to ensure that this trial is fair and honest,” she declared.

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Wednesday’s vote in the House of Representatives will soon put that to the test, where we’ll soon see firsthand how both Democrats and Republicans plan to deal with just the third impeachment trial in our nation’s history.

“The House conducted a careful and thorough investigation, it gathered an enormous amount of evidence, and the gravity of the resulting charges against the president are very serious,” said Sen. Murray.

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