Republican Senator Bill Cassidy on Sunday compared the impeachment trial against former President Trump to a Soviet “show trial” – but said he will keep an open mind during the Senate trial this week.
“There was no trial. If it had happened in the Soviet Union, you would have called it a show trial, ” the Louisiana senator said on NBC’s Meet the Press.
The Louisiana Republican said the House’s vote to impeach Trump a second time for “inciting insurrection” was not a process worthy of American democracy. Cassidy and 44 other Republicans voted to dismiss the upcoming trial on constitutional grounds.
“It was called two hours before, there was no debate or no explanation from either side. It was a vote based on a moment in time, ”said Cassidy.
Let’s face it, Parliament did an incredibly bad job before the impeachment vote took place. The president was not there, he was not counseled, they were not collecting evidence, in five hours they more or less judged and boom he is being impeached. “
When asked if his vote on Tuesday’s Senate trial will be pre-determined, Cassidy said he will review the evidence.
‘No, I do not know that. I think it depends on what’s being presented, ”he told host Chuck Todd. “We will now hopefully have presentations from both sides and we will consider the evidence as impartial judges.”
Democrats claim then-President Trump is responsible for the violence in the Capitol on January 6. If the Senate condemns him – an outcome that would require two-thirds of the vote – Trump could be barred from ever holding office again.
Trump’s lawyers have argued that he cannot be impeached because he is no longer in office.
The trial in the Senate will start on Tuesday.