Sen. Mike Braun (R-IN) told Breitbart News during a press conference Tuesday as many as three Democrat senators could vote to clear President Donald Trump of any wrongdoing during a potential Senate impeachment trial.
Many establishment media outlets have speculated over whether some Senate Republicans could flip and vote to convict President Donald Trump during a Senate impeachment trial; however, there remains a distinct possibility many red state Senate Democrats could vote to clear Trump.
Breitbart News’ Matthew Boyle reported Monday that Sen. Joe Manchin (D-WV) has yet to make up his mind on whether he would vote to convict Trump in the Senate. Sens. Doug Jones (D-AL), Kyrsten (D-AZ), Gary Peters (D-MI), and Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH) did not answer whether they intend to convict Trump.
This means the Senate impeachment trial could create a situation where a group of bipartisan lawmakers could clear President Trump during the Senate impeachment trial.
Sen. Braun told Breitbart News during a press conference call Monday he believes as many as three Democrat senators could vote to clear Trump during a Senate impeachment trial, red state Democrats such as Sens. Jones, Sinema, and Manchin. Braun also said that there is a strong amount of “solidarity” in the Republican conference in their opposition to impeachment.
The Hoosier conservative said:
I think that all three of them, with the emphasis on the first two you mentioned–Alabama was one of the most conservative states in the country, West Virginia, Trump carried the state by 42 points.
Kyrsten Sinema has shown some independence in terms of not going in lockstep with Chuck Schumer on everything, so I think there’s a good chance one, two, or maybe three of them, can’t see any beyond that, and on the other hand, I think with what we see over the last couple weeks, there’s been more solidarity within the Republican conference to where some senators that were discussed as maybe wavering probably see it in the same lense that most of us do, as inappropriate maybe on some of this stuff, impeachable no, nothing new has come to the forefront, really since all the tidbits were leaked out since it was behind closed doors.
Sen. Braun’s contention echoes similar sentiments espoused by other Democrats.
The New York Times reported in early November that Democrats remain concerned that Sens. Manchin and Sinema could vote against convicting Trump during a Senate impeachment trial. The Times noted that this would mean that at least 22 Senate Republicans would have to vote to convict Trump during the impeachment trial to reach the 67-vote threshold to remove Trump from office.
“Democrats say there is a strong likelihood that neither Mr. Manchin nor Senator Kyrsten Sinema, Democrat of Arizona, would vote to convict Mr. Trump, meaning at least 22 Republicans would then have to defect to reach the 67-vote threshold for removal from office,” the Times wrote.
Sean Moran is a congressional reporter for Breitbart News. Follow him on Twitter @SeanMoran3.
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