Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-AK) said Tuesday that she was “disturbed” to hear that Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) promised President Donald Trump that they would coordinate on the upcoming Senate impeachment trial.
McConnell recently said that there would be “total coordination” between the Senate and White House on the upcoming Senate impeachment trial; this disturbed the Alaska Republican.
She said, “And in fairness, when I heard that I was disturbed. To me, it means that we have to take that step back from being hand in glove with the defense, and so I heard what leader McConnell had said, I happened to think that that has further confused the process.”
Murkowski criticized House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s (D-CA) impeachment as rushed. “Speaker Pelosi was very clear, very direct that her goal was to get this done before Christmas,” she said.
Murkowski was also one of three Senate Republicans not to back a letter sponsored by McConnell and Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Lindsey Graham (R-SC), criticizing the Democrats’ closed-door, secretive impeachment inquiry.
The Alaska senator said that she hopes to see a “full and fair process,” which could be in line with then-President Bill Clinton’s impeachment hearings.
Murkowski said she remains undecided on whether she will to vote to convict Trump or vote to acquit the president. The House Democrats passed articles of impeachment last week, contending that the president obstructed Congress and abused the office of the presidency.
“For me to prejudge and say there’s nothing there or on the other hand, he should be impeached yesterday, that’s wrong, in my view, that’s wrong,” the Alaska Republican said.
Sean Moran is a congressional reporter for Breitbart News. Follow him on Twitter @SeanMoran3.