Republican Senator Lisa Murkowski 'Disturbed' By McConnell-White House Impeachment Coordination

Alaska Senator Lisa Murkowski is taking issue with some of Majority Leader Mitch McConnell’s comments and actions regarding the impending Senate impeachment trial, specifically his apparent coordination with the Trump Administration to set terms and rules for the proceedings. The veteran Senator, who has become one of the GOP’s most prominent moderate voices, said she is “disturbed” by McConnell’s actions, and that he had “confused the process” by acting in coordination with the White House.

"To me, it means that we have to take that step back from being hand in glove with the defense, and so I heard what Leader McConnell had said, I happened to think that that has further confused the process," Murkowski told KTUU, a CNN affiliate.

McConnell and the White House counsel Pat Cipollone agreed to coordinate impeachment trial plans in a closed-door meeting, but had yet to finalize details. The meeting occurred a day after the house officially voted to impeach the Trump along party lines, CNN reported.

Murkowski’s comments come at a time when solidarity among senate Republicans is more important than ever. While there has been no apparent sign of dissension among GOP lawmakers in the House or Senate, all eyes are on Murkowski and a few other moderate Republicans, including Maine Senator Susan Collins, who Trump recently backed for reelection via tweet.

Murkowski has been more critical of the President than other GOP lawmakers and has been known to break with the administration on key policy issues. She made things particularly difficult for the administration when she opposed the nomination of Justice Brett Kavanaugh to the Supreme Court.

In a sign that could be encouraging to the party, Murkowski was also critical of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s handling of the impeachment process. "If the House truly believes that they had information that was going to be important, they subpoena them, and if they ignore the subpoena as they did at the direction of the White House, then that next step is to go to the courts,” Murkowski said.