In about two weeks, senators will hear the second impeachment trial of former President Donald Trump.
“We have never had one where a private citizen who used to be President was tried in the Senate. Never happened before, and a lot of questions about the constitutionality of that process, and to me, it’s not only a question of can we do it, but should we do it, and what kind of precedent this sets? Because if we can try a former president then that means that when republicans get in charge, then we can go back and try a former democratic president. That strikes me as a very bad path to head down, and I think from a sort of a prudential or a wisdom point of view that that’s not a good way to go,” said U.S. Sen. John Cornyn (R-TX).
We asked Sen. Cornyn if he had made up his mind on his vote.
“Well, you know I was a judge for 13 years. I never want to make up my mind before I hear what the presentation is by the impeachment managers. The other thing is they haven’t produced any sworn testimony which they did in the first trial,” Cornyn said, adding later, “ I am going to wait and see what they present, but they are going to have to answer some of the questions, some of which I previewed with you."
As the senators get ready for the impeachment trial, they are also grappling with the COVID-19 crisis. Texans are scrambling to get the vaccine. Sen. Cornyn believes that should be the focus of the next relief bill.
“There has been great progress made. A million or so vaccinations occurring daily, but we need to do more. This is as you can imagine a huge logistical challenge. But I was really glad to see the governor and the state leadership turn to some of these mega vaccination sites. I think the idea of parceling out the vaccines to individual health care providers is just not a way to get as many people vaccinated as soon as possible, so that is where I think the next COVID-19 bill should focused on, is getting shots in arms. What else do we need to do to make that happen,“ said Sen. Cornyn.
The Biden administration talks about immigration being a top priority. Texas successfully challenged one of the president's executive orders on that. We asked where there could be consensus. Cornyn believes DACA.
Local
The latest news from around North Texas.
“I am ready to act on that and come up with a stable future for these young people who have done nothing wrong. They came as children, and I think that is a good place to start,” Cornyn said.
You can see the rest of the interview Sunday morning on Lone Star Politics.
