Trump may discredit an impeachment trial designed to acquit him

“There’s a clear understanding at the White House and among Senate Republicans that they want the same thing: to get it done as quickly as possible because it’s been distracting from the policy accomplishments that they’ve been achieving together,” said Ron Bonjean, a former Senate leadership aide who is in contact with White House officials.

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But Trump’s own treatment of his trial so far — his Twitter rants, his public statements and his appointment of a television dramedy cast of lawyers to represent him — suggests deep trepidation on his part about the prospect of cutting his losses so far and walking away with the win of a quiet acquittal. Instead, he appears to be spoiling for the kind of high-profile fight — a trash-talking, institution-bashing, circus-like demonstration of raw muscle — that threatens to expose the inequity of a politically driven trial controlled by his own party.

One tension point is that Republican senators in tight re-election races want as little attention to the trial as possible, because it inherently challenges their ability to stoke their political bases while attracting crossover votes from Democrats. Meanwhile, Trump typically sees his best political tactic as raising the stakes of any confrontation with adversaries.

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