impeachment

Trump Gives House Republicans a Participation Trophy, Naming Them As ‘Adjunct’ Trial Team

Doug Collins won’t get to fight for Trump in the Senate but will be there for his warrior king in spirit. Photo: Patrick Semansky/Getty Images

One of the more comic interludes in the Trump impeachment saga was the lobbying effort by some of the House Republicans who were prominent in their chamber’s proceedings to continue their ranting and conspiracy theorizing as members of the president’s defense team during the Senate trial. This did not go over well with Mitch McConnell and other Republican senators, as I noted at the time:

Even though Republicans in both chambers are valiantly seeking to protect their warrior-king POTUS from the effort to remove him from office, the last thing senators want is a bunch of snot-nosed House members cutting wild capers and embarrassing their party with risible tales of almighty Ukraine seeking to install Hillary Clinton in the White House over the objections of the American people, who see through this Democrat socialist coup.

McConnell managed to put the kibosh on this bad idea, but according to the Washington Post, Trump’s little friends in the House have been given a consolation prize:

The White House announced late Monday that eight of the president’s most ardent House Republican defenders would join the impeachment team in an adjunct capacity to “help expeditiously end this brazen political vendetta.”


One of them, Rep. Douglas A. Collins (Ga.), went on the offense Tuesday morning against Democrats, claiming their characterization of McConnell’s proposed trial rules as a “coverup” amounts to the “height of a temper tantrum …”

Without question, Doug Collins knows a lot about temper tantrums. But I digress:

The other GOP lawmakers aiding Trump are Reps. Mike Johnson (La.), Jim Jordan (Ohio), Debbie Lesko (Ariz.), Mark Meadows (N.C.), John Ratcliffe (Tex.), Elise Stefanik (N.Y.) and Lee Zeldin (N.Y.).

It is unclear whether the “adjunct” designation comes with a certificate suitable for framing. But at least one member of this group is still fantasizing about the possibility of bringing of special House crazy into the staid upper chamber:

[John] Ratcliffe … did not rule out that he and other House members helping Trump’s legal team could make arguments on the floor. While the plan is for them not to appear, “you never know what’s going to happen during a trial,” he said.

Lord help us, that’s true.

Trump Gives House GOPers an Impeachment Participation Trophy