Rand Paul warns one third of Republican lawmakers will leave the party

Senator Rand Paul (R-KY) declared that roughly 'a third' of all Republicans would leave the party if GOP senators team up with Democrats to impeach President Donald Trump as the lame duck president seeks to punish the 10 Republican representatives that voted for impeachment.

Speaking with Fox News host Laura Ingraham Friday, Paul claimed that efforts to impeach Trump after he incited the mob last week were 'purely a partisan thing.'

'I didn't agree with the fight that happened last week, and I voted against overturning the election,' Paul said.

'But at the same time, the impeachment is a wrongheaded, partisan notion. But if Republicans go along with it, it will destroy the party. A third of the Republicans will leave the party.'

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell told his Republican colleagues President Trump's impeachment trial will be a 'vote of conscience' – an absence of pressure that effectively allows them to vote guilty.

McConnell has already communicated that he himself has not made up his mind on whether to convict Trump – following reports of his fury after a MAGA mob ransacked the Capitol, with one crowd of invaders stopped steps from McConnell's leadership office.

'His message to me was this would clearly be a vote of conscience,' North Dakota Republican Sen. Kevin Cramer said. 'He's always been respectful of members that way.'

House leaders also called the House impeachment vote this week a 'vote of conscience' – and 10 Republicans including Conference Chair Rep. Liz Cheney joined Democrats, with 232 voting to impeach Trump.

In the Senate, Democrats would need at least 17 and possibly 18 Republicans to convict – putting individual senators to weigh their feelings as well as the views of some of their angry constituents - or some to simply not turn up at all; conviction is by a two-thirds majority of those who vote.

The dissention among the Republican Party is so intense that Trump and his loyal followers are already gearing up to challenge those who dare side with impeachment efforts.

Just moments after he became the first president in U. S. history to be impeached twice, Trump summoned his advisers and demanded that they provide intel on the 10 Republicans who voted against him.

The lame duck president wanted to know if he had ever done anything for any of the politicians who voted in favor of impeachment, sources familiar with the matter told the Wall Street Journal.

Trump and his loyalist have slammed those willing to turn on the president, selecting members of the far-right to potentially contest the various individuals in their primaries in two years.

Trump has specifically targeted two prominent GOP leaders: John Thune, a South Dakota Senator and the second highest ranking Senate Republican, and Representative Liz Cheney (R-WY), the third-ranking House Republican.

'I suspect we will see a lot of that activity in the next couple of years out there f... (Read more)

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