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Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell called the impeachment of President Trump a "charade" and "political exercise" on "Fox and Friends" on Monday, but added that Senate Republicans "haven't ruled out witnesses" for Trump's upcoming trial.
The big picture: Speaker Nancy Pelosi is withholding delivering the House's approved articles of impeachment until McConnell and Senate leadership determine the rules for the trial.
What he's saying: "[Pelosi] apparently believes that she can tell us how to run the trial."
- "Do you think Chuck Schumer is impartial? Do you think Elizabeth Warren is impartial? Bernie Sanders is impartial? So let's quit the charade. This is a political exercise. ... All I'm asking of Schumer is that we treat Trump the same way we treated [President Bill] Clinton."
- "Look, we’re at an impasse. We can’t do anything until the speaker sends the papers over, so everybody enjoy the holidays."
Go deeper: 99% of the Trump campaign's TV ads this year discussed impeachment