White House working to feature Trump’s House allies in impeachment trial
The White House is actively exploring a way to give President Donald Trump’s staunchest House allies a public role in the upcoming Senate impeachment trial, according to five sources familiar with the matter, as the president looks to mount an aggressive defense in the upper chamber.
One idea under consideration is to allow a collection of House Republicans — who would be fresh off defending Trump in the House — to present a minority report on the Ukraine affair and make their case on the Senate floor, similar to the role Democratic impeachment managers are expected to play in the trial. The idea has been under discussion for several weeks, according to one GOP member familiar with the talks.
Some of the names in the mix include Reps. Jim Jordan of Ohio and Mark Meadows of North Carolina, two of Trump‘s closest allies, as well as Rep. John Ratcliffe of Texas, a former prosecutor who sits on both the House Judiciary and Intelligence committees.
But that would probably depend on a yet-to-be-decided Senate rules package that will set ground rules for the trial, and it’s unclear whether enough Senate Republicans would be willing to elevate Trump’s fiercest attack dogs to a high-profile role in the proceedings. Many GOP senators have already rebuffed calls from Trump and his allies to haul in controversial witnesses, worried that the trial will become a circus in the usually buttoned-up Senate.
Another idea is to tap House members for Trump’s defense team. White House counsel Pat Cipollone is expected to take the lead in the trial, but a person who is close to the president said Trump was still considering who else he wants to add to the team, which could include members of Congress or others outside the White House.
Another former Trump adviser who remains close to the White House said Trump wanted to include Jordan and others in his defense, but it’s still unclear what role they would take.
During the trial, senators will be limited in what they can say during the proceedings — only Trump’s defense team and the House Democrats’ impeachment managers will be allowed to substantively debate on the floor. So carving out a role for Trump’s top defenders, many of whom have participated in the hearings and closed-door depositions with impeachment witnesses, could be another way to shore up Trump’s public defense — which might be especially appealing to the optics-obsessed president.
“There’s a lot of discussion going on about that, which is probably a good thing,” said Rep. Mike Johnson (R-La.), a member of the House Judiciary Committee. “Probably some of that will be decided over the weekend.”
Ratcliffe declined to say whether he had been approached about playing a role in the Senate trial and whether he would accept it, if asked. But he did acknowledge that “people have talked about whether there’s a role” for House Republicans to play.
“I think there are people talking to [Trump] about that. But I don’t know what that is,” he said.
Majority Leader Mitch McConnell has said the Senate GOP will coordinate closely with the White House when it comes to an impeachment strategy. The Kentucky Republican huddled with Cipplone and Eric Ueland, the White House legislative affairs director, just last week. And Meadows, who had a hand in the House GOP’s impeachment defense strategy, was also spotted walking into McConnell’s office last week.
Trump had been fuming both privately and publicly for weeks that Republicans weren’t doing enough to defend him. But that changed after the hearings by the House Intelligence and Judiciary committees began, according to several people familiar with the situation. He was placated with defenses from House members, including from Jordan, Meadows, Rep. Devin Nunes of California, Rep. Doug Collins of Georgia and Rep. Elise Stefanik of New York at hearings and on television.
