But some GOP senators like Majority Whip John Thune acknowledged the picture being reported is “not a good one.”
If a top U.S. envoy’s testimony about Ukraine is a Capitol Hill bombshell, the Senate appears to be outside the blast zone.
Senate Republicans are largely dodging questions about the substance of William Taylor’s testimony, which rocked the GOP argument that President Donald Trump did not engage in a quid pro quo with the Ukrainian government.
While GOP senators aren’t defending the president’s alleged behavior, many are throwing out a litany of complaints about House Democrats’ procedural handling of the impeachment inquiry and demanding to see more documents and the full transcript of the deposition.
“The way the House is handling it now is like a rolling oppo dump. Every day they take in this testimony and they leak out the pieces that they want,” said Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.), who has reviewed Taylor’s testimony and said he had no reason to doubt the words of the U.S. envoy to Ukraine. “It is a bad process, not just for the president. It’s a bad process for the country.”
Such sentiment may be a sign that the Senate Republicans who will determine whether Trump is removed from office in any impeachment trial aren’t ready to break with him just yet. But it also suggests that Republicans are more comfortable fighting on process grounds rather than substance, given they don’t know what revelations might emerge next.
And some are refusing to play ball at all. Sen. John Cornyn (R-Texas), for example, said he has no plans to review any more daily, hourly or “minute-by-minute” coverage of the impeachment proceedings.
“I don’t know Bill Taylor from Adam. I know you better than I know Bill Taylor. I’ve been busy… doing important things, not participating in a sham process over in the House,” Cornyn said. “The drip drip drip of leaked testimony is producing daily news stories like you’re asking me about it. It’s part of their plan and scheme and I do not approve.”
Cornyn was not alone. Sen. Pat Toomey (R-Pa.), who has rapped the president for pressing the Ukrainian president to investigate former Vice President Joe Biden, said he will “eventually” get around to reading about Taylor’s testimony but hasn’t yet.
Sen. Ron Johnson (R-Wis.), a stark defender of the president, said he too hasn’t reviewed it.
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Republicans gripe about "rigged" hearings after explosive Ukraine testimony https://t.co/GgELHCS2NV
— POLITICO (@politico) October 23, 2019
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