Tennessee Republican Sen. Lamar Alexander said he has yet to make a decision on whether President Donald Trump should be impeached.
Alexander has been hesitant to weigh in on how he’d vote during the expected impeachment trial in the Senate. Talking to reporters in Nashville on Friday, Alexander reiterated his thoughts on the inquiry.
“The president’s telephone call was inappropriate, but that impeachment would be a mistake, especially when you have an election to pick the president just around the corner,” Alexander said. “But if the house does send those articles of impeachment, we have a constitutional responsibility to hear the case, and I’m prepared to do that.”
Alexander said senators are jurors and that it would be inappropriate for him to speculate without reviewing the evidence.
“I think my responsibility is to wait for the articles for impeachment to come from the House — if they do — and then listen to the arguments and listen to the evidence and make my decision,” Alexander said.
When asked about whether he thought it was inappropriate for Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnel to say he was coordinating with the White House the impeachment trial, Alexander said “that’s between the leader and the White House.”
On Friday morning, the House Judiciary Committee voted along party lines to move the two articles of impeachment regarding abuse of power and obstruction of Congress to a full vote on the House.
According to NPR, that vote will happen on Dec. 18.
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