Dear Friend,

Donald Trump has just been impeached -- and Mitch McConnell is determined to keep him in office.

McConnell is supposed to be an impartial juror, but nobody will be surprised to hear he and Trump's own White House counsel are collaborating to help Trump avoid conviction in the Senate. A key part of their cover-up: McConnell just announced that he won't allow a single witness to be called.^1,2

How can we overcome this? We have leverage. McConnell can only act if his fellow Senators agree. And he claims to want a bipartisan agreement on trial rules.³ That gives Democrats power, and they're already demanding he call witnesses. Pelosi is also holding off on sending Articles of Impeachment to the Senate. Can you help mobilize grassroots pressure on Senators right now?

Sign the petition: Tell Senators to stop Mitch McConnell's cover-up for Donald Trump.

Progressive leaders in the Senate are already raising the alarm and organizing to stop McConnell. Senator Jeff Merkley of Oregon just said this last night:

"I am profoundly disturbed that the Majority Leader [McConnell] has already said that rather than conduct a fair trial, he is working alongside the White House to enact a party-wide cover-up."⁴

McConnell is being hypocritical again. 20 years ago, he argued -- successfully -- for including witnesses in Bill Clinton's impeachment trial:

"There have been 15 impeachments in the history of the country. Two of them were cut short by resignations. In the other 13 impeachments there were witnesses," he told CNN's Larry King Live on January 28, 1999, as the Clinton trial played out in the Senate. The number included judges who were charged with impeachment.

"It's not unusual to have a witness in a trial. It's certainly not unusual to have witness in an impeachment trial," McConnell said at the time.⁵

Many Senators are ready to fight to ensure the Senate conducts a real trial, not a cover-up. But they need to hear from you right now. Can you send an urgent message in this historic moment?

Add your name: Tell Senators to stand up to Mitch McConnell and have a real trial of Donald Trump.

Thanks for standing with us.

Robert Cruickshank,
Demand Progress

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Sources:
1. Common Dreams, "'He Is Planning to Rig the Impeachment Trial': McConnell Vows 'Total Coordination' With Trump on Senate Process,” December 13, 2019.
2. The Epoch Times, "Republicans Consider Calling Zero Witnesses in Possible Trump Impeachment Trial," December 11, 2019.
3. ABC News, "McConnell says he wants bipartisan agreement ahead of Senate trial," December 18, 2019.
4. Sen. Jeff Merkley on Twitter, December 18, 2019.
5. CNN, "McConnell opposes impeachment witnesses now -- but supported them during Clinton trial," December 16, 2019.

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