McConnell's speech sets a model that I hope most of the GOP senators will be willing to follow. He does not just use the jurisdictional argument as a cover that allows him to avoid having to level any criticisms at the president. He does not shy away from the merits 1/

He is firm and clear that the president engaged in egregious misconduct while in office that is fully worthy of public condemnation. He appropriately suggests that Trump's behavior was a high crime (though I would have preferred that he had said so more clearly). 2/

If most of the R senators were going to acquit Trump, they should at least go on record with the same forceful denunciation of the actual conduct in question. McConnell's speech shows that there is still a fight to be had for the soul of the GOP. 3/

It might have been nice if McConnell had likewise firmly & directly rejected some of the dubious arguments made by Trump's legal team during the trial. McConnell should put put on record for the future that such bogus claims should cut no ice in a Senate impeachment trial 4/

I hope other senators who voted as he did more clearly vindicate the authority of the Senate as the court of impeachment & reject the 1st Amendment & due process arguments offered by Trump's attorneys 5/

Of course, I think McConnell is wrong on the jurisdictional point, though I appreciate that he at least admits it is a difficult question 6/ https://www.lawfareblog.com/can-former-president-be-impeached-and-convicted

McConnell should be pressed to answer why he did not facilitate an earlier start of the trial so that the article of impeachment could be exhibited in the Senate before Trump's term of office expired (& it would be good to get clarity on what the House was told) 7/

But it would appear that McConnell believes the Senate would lose jurisdiction at the moment of Biden's inauguration, even if the trial had already begun. If so, then the result from his perspective would have been the same no matter what. 8/

Even if the House had moved more quickly (as it should have) & if the Senate had followed the same trial timetable, the Senate would not have reached a verdict before Trump had left office. 9/

I think that exposes a flaw in McConnell's constitutional position on jurisdiction, but regardless it also exposes the problem of the congressional unwillingness to move more quickly when circumstances demand it 10/

Nothing about this process was designed to win a conviction or to remove an imminent threat to the safety of the republic from office. Unfortunately, it was not even designed to fully expose the scope of the president's misconduct. 11/

Hopefully Congress will itself take up the task of publicly investigating the failures that led to the outrage of January 6th & the assault on the institutional authority of Congress itself. But the legislature's recent record is not encouraging. 12/12