Well this is unexpected! Former adviser Brad Blakeman has called for the impeachment trial against President Trump to be dismissed.
The deputy assistant to President George W. Bush said that House Speaker Nancy Pelosi “has no leverage” by withholding the articles of impeachment from the
“[Senate Majority Leader] Mitch McConnell did not nose his way into the impeachment process in the House and she has no standing to do that in the Senate,” he said on “Fox & Friends” on Thursday morning.
Fox News reports:
The president tore into House Democrats overnight and into the morning over their handling of the impeachment process, calling them "hypocrites" and "liars" for allegedly seeking concessions in the Senate that Republicans were not afforded in the House -- and for hitting pause on impeachment after stressing the national security urgency of it all.
House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jerrold Nadler, D-N.Y., in his committee's impeachment report, stated the president "will remain a threat to national security and the Constitution" if he remains in office – an argument generally used to bolster Democrats’ case for a swift impeachment process.
Trump calls Democrats 'liars' for slowing down impeachment rushVideo
Despite this assessment, the impeachment process has stalled after Pelosi abruptly opted not to deliver articles of impeachment to the Senate, after the House adopted two articles alleging abuse of power and obstruction of Congress for Trump's actions involving Ukraine.
“I think the longer she delays, the worse it gets for them [Democrats] because remember their argument was, this president is such a danger he must be removed for the good of the republic,” Blakeman continued. “If she [Pelosi] doesn’t want to bring the charges to the Senate, then, in fact, he hasn’t been impeached, because the impeachment process means that once the vote is taken in the House it must be filed in the Senate in order for the Senate to take up their responsibility.”
“So, if they don’t consummate their vote by the filing of charges against the president in the Senate, then, in fact, I believe, as many scholars do, that the man has not been impeached,” he added.
Pelosi, D-Calif., said she will not appoint impeachment managers who will represent the House during a Senate trial until the Senate determines the trial's process. McConnell, R-Ky., has publicly rejected a demand from Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., to subpoena additional documents and witnesses, claiming these fact-finding efforts were the House's job. McConnell has also claimed that he cannot do anything until Pelosi sends over the impeachment articles, leaving the two chambers at an “impasse.”
“The first option would be, that after the charges are read in the Senate against the president, his side can make a motion to dismiss, which is a procedural vote that only requires a simple majority of 51 votes and there is no need for a trial because the charges don’t hold up to the constitutional standard,” Blakeman said, “They can have an abbreviated trial. When they’ve heard enough, they can vote or they can have a full trial with many witnesses and prolonged.”
“I don’t think the Democrats want that because six of the jurors, senators, are running against the president themselves, hardly impartial.” He concluded, “They can delay the trial until November 4, the day after the election, and let the American people decide who our next president will be,” Blakeman explained.