“A very large portion of my party really doesn’t believe in the Constitution,” Republican Senator Mitt Romney told biographer McCay Coppins after the deadly June 1 domestic terrorist attack.
Leaving aside the harrowing descriptions of the terror Romney and other senators experienced as Trump supporters attacked law enforcement and broke down doors to reach them in an attempt to stop the certification of the 2020 election, in the upcoming Atlantic excerpt biography Romney: a reckoningRomney has laid out several reasons why he believes much of his party does not believe in the Constitution.
Previously I delved into the the creeping authoritarianism that the Republican worried about in terms of the political terrorism that now shapes his party’s votesand this overruling of the fundamental principles of the Constitution is the other crucial element that contributes to achieving democratic backsliding.
In an absolutely convincing way extract, we learn how Senator Mitch McConnell led his party down the path to ignoring their constitutional duty during former President Donald Trump’s first impeachment trial because he tried to extort Ukraine to dirt on his political opponent, then Vice President, now President Joe Biden.
Instead, McConnell told Republicans to protect their political power at all costs, suggesting that if Puerto Rico and DC were turned into states that gained representation, Democrats would have a permanent majority, essentially arguing is that if The People were represented accurately and fairly, Republicans would not be in the majority.
McConnell’s stance against serving as impartial jurors included asking the Utah Republican to vote to end the trial before even hearing the completion of opening arguments.
At a private meeting, McConnell urged Romney to “vote to end the trial once opening arguments were completed,” saying a lengthy trial would endanger vulnerable Republicans.
“McConnell didn’t bother to defend Trump’s actions. Instead, he argued that protecting the Republican Senate majority was a matter of vital national interest. He predicted that Trump would lose re-election and painted an apocalyptic picture of what would happen if Democrats took control of Congress: they would turn Puerto Rico and DC into states, creating a permanent majority in the Senate; they would ram through left-wing legislation like Medicare for All and the Green New Deal. Romney said he couldn’t make any promises about his vote. (McConnell declined to comment for this conversation.)”
The next meeting of their Republican caucus included a visit from Vice President Mike Pence, who explained Trump’s defense strategy to the senators charged with acting as an impartial jury.
McConnell upped the ante at the next meeting, telling Republicans not to treat the impeachment trial as a trial at all. Instead, they should view it as a political process. That is, they should not adhere to the Constitution, but rather do what keeps their party and themselves in power:
“At the next meeting, McConnell told his colleagues to understand that the upcoming trial was not a real trial at all. “This is a political process,” he said – so it was appropriate that they behaved like politicians. “If impeachment is a partisan political process, it might as well be removed from the Constitution,” Romney muttered to Ted Cruz and Mike Lee, who sat next to him. The senators politely ignored him.”
The concept of the Senate trial being “just a political trial” has taken over the television airwaves, even if it is not accurate, as Senator Romney discovered from his own investigation. Ee Boston Globe summarized (my bold text): “It is no surprise, then, that when senators “attempt impeachment,” the Constitution requires an “oath or affirmation” separate from the oath or affirmation they take as senators. The standard oath of office is to support and defend the Constitution. The impeachment oath is to “dispense impartial justice under the Constitution and laws,” just like jurors.
While much of the Constitution lends itself to interpretation, the concept of impartial justice is not a matter of “debate” and not a “political process.” It is perhaps the opposite of a political process.
However, McConnell knew that Trump was “transfixed” by the evidence and even McConnell didn’t buy Trump’s apparent defense that he was investigating corruption by the Bidens (this part can’t be emphasized too loudly as Republicans are now trying to pull off an impeachment to make). President Biden on the same accusations without evidence or even a hint of suggestion):
During a break in the proceedings, after the impeachment managers completed their presentation, Romney walked past McConnell. “They got him,” the Senate majority leader said.
Romney, surprised by McConnell’s candor, responded cautiously: “Well, the defense will say Trump was just investigating the Bidens’ corruption.”
“If you believe that,” McConnell replied, “I have a bridge I can sell you.”
This is yet another warning bell, coming from a distinguished, if often lame, old-school Republican. Romney’s own internal struggle with Trump’s actions is so troubling that he, like his wife Ann, seemed unfazed when he went to acquit Trump. Maybe being involved in politics for decades does this to people; they reach a point where they can no longer see outside the fishbowl. But Romney keeps pushing himself until he ends up where his conscience takes him, ultimately where he questions his own role in creating a safe haven from his party’s authoritarian pressures.
Ultimately, Romney focused on his own legacy and what he wanted his children and grandchildren to get from his work, a focus he was able to acquire naturally through his father. Romney was captured far too often by his own wealth and privilege, and perhaps this contributed to his blindness about where his party was going, but no one can say he didn’t rise up once he understood where they were going. He risked his own life and that of his family to do the right thing.
Romney rebelled against the autocrats who rejected the Constitution in favor of naked power grabs. That will be his legacy, along with his eerie warnings about the inner workings of his party.