On impeachment, Rick Scott poses questions about Democrats, none about Donald Trump

Florida’s junior Republican Sen. Rick Scott on Wednesday publicly released his list of questions for the impeachment trial of President Donald Trump with most exploring what Democrats did or did not do, and none exploring what Trump did or did not do.

All 100 Senators had to submit questions in writing. At the direction of Chief Justice John Roberts, the Senate began reading the questions at 1 p.m. Wednesday, with Trump’s defense attorneys and the Democratic House impeachment managers offering answers. This is to go on for up to 16 hours across Wednesday and Thursday.

Scott’s questions, as released by his office, include two about former Vice President Joe Biden; one seeking information about the whistleblower whose complaint led Democrats to investigate last year; three about the conduct of Democratic House managers who’ve prosecuted the case against Trump; and one rhetorical question about whether the whole impeachment process is nothing more than a partisan attempt to interfere with the 2020 election.

It’s not known when the Senators’ questions might come up on the Senate floor. Nor is it certain if all Senators’ questions will be posed.

Scott has offered strong commitments of support for Trump, and condemnation for the impeachment process as “nothing but partisan politics.” His questions appear to reflect that viewpoint.

Scott offered four questions to be posed to the Democrats:

— Do the House managers have any evidence to back up claims that Joe Biden’s threat to withhold $1 billion in U.S. financial aid from Ukraine unless the country fired its prosecutor general was a valid act of U.S. foreign policy and not an act intended to personally benefit his son?

— How much evidence is sufficient to develop probable cause to at least initiate an investigation of a prior elected official’s conduct, given what we know about former Vice President Joe Biden’s actions?

— Why has the Senate been denied access to the transcript of Inspector General Michael Atkinson’s testimony before the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence relating to the whistleblower and the original complaint?

— How does [House manager] Jerry Nadler square his current assertion that this impeachment is a legitimate, nonpartisan action — during which not a single vote of bipartisan support was received — with his prior declaration that, “there must never be a narrowly voted impeachment or an impeachment substantially supported by one of our major political parties and largely opposed by the other.  Such an impeachment would lack legitimacy, would produce divisiveness and bitterness in our politics for years to come, and would call into question the very legitimacy of our political institution”?

Scott offered three questions to Trump’s defense lawyers:

— Do the House managers bear the burden of proof demonstrating to the Senate clear and convincing evidence that we should remove a sitting President from office? Or does the President bear the burden of demonstrating why he should not be removed from office?

— Do the House managers have the same duty to be truthful to the Senate during the impeachment trial as in an American court of law? Are they required to disclose potentially exculpatory information and evidence? Are they required to avoid mischaracterizing evidence, or are they free to lie?

— How can an impeachment undertaken without a single vote of bipartisan support at any point be viewed as anything other than a purely partisan attempt to interfere with the 2020 election and the rights of the American people to vote for the President?