Government watchdog group Public Citizen has filed a formal complaint with the Senate Ethics Committee against Senator Mitch McConnell.
In an announcement on their web site, the group states that they filed the complaint on Monday, January 13. The complaint requests that the Ethics Committee investigate recent public statements by McConnell regarding his intent to be impartial (or not) in the Senate trial of President Trump, and whether those statements violate both McConnell’s oath to uphold the Constitution AND the Senate rules requiring impartiality.
Finally, the complaint asks the Ethics Committee to decide whether or not McConnell should recuse himself from the impeachment proceedings.
From the announcement:
“The public declarations by Senator McConnell that his role in the impeachment process is to coordinate with the White House and thereby make a mockery of the trial directly contradict his oath of impartiality,” said Robert Weissman, president of Public Citizen. “This is not about whether McConnell has views on Trump’s guilt or whether he has reached a conclusion based on the available evidence. It’s about whether he will design a process that aims to render impartial justice. He has made clear he has no intention of doing so.”
“We understand that senators are partisan politicians and have very clear opinions on whether Trump has committed impeachable offenses stemming from what they heard in the House process,” said Lisa Gilbert, vice president of legislative affairs for Public Citizen.
“Today’s ethics complaint reflects the distinct issue raised by McConnell’s actions to rebuke his oath of impartiality and coordinate the rules of the impeachment trial with the White House.”
You can read the entire complaint on the Public Citizen site.
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