Eric Boehlert: McConnell plays the press like a fiddle

[HariSeldon]

2. One curious aspect of McConnell's impeachment trial timeline

Since McConnell has refused to have the Senate come back early, the first effective time at which a trial could start is Jan. 20th at 1:00 PM. At that point, Kamala Harris will be President of the Senate and we do not yet know whether Warnock and Ossoff will be seated yet, but they might be (or it might come a few days later).

In a Senate impeachment trial, the majority controls the procedure. By forcing this delay, McConnell is putting Senate Democrats closer to -- or in -- control of the trial procedure. This is not a gift to Trump.