Senate Intelligence Committee Chairman Richard Burr (R-NC) said on Monday that an impeachment trial in the Senate could last anywhere from six to eight weeks.
Burr made the remarks at a Wake Forest University event on Monday alongside Vice Senate Intel Chair Mark Warner (D-VA).
“I’m not going to make a statement about what the outcome is, because the likelihood is, he and I are going to be jurors,” Burr stated, predicting that the sessions will take place six days a week for six hours per day:
Let me tell you what that means. It means the day we take it up, we go into session six days a week, from 12:30 until 6:30. Can’t say anything. The House are the prosecutors. The president’s lawyers are the defense attorneys. They hash it out. The chief justice of the Supreme Court comes in and he rules.
He continued, noting the role of the Senate is to “basically hear the case, and then we have to come to a verdict.”
“That will probably be six or eight weeks of process,” he added. “And at the end of the day, will there be more than what the American people know today? I don’t know.”
Impeachment scheduling alert: Senate Intel Chairman Richard Burr says trial will last for "6 to 8 weeks." It will run for 6 days a week, from 12:30 to 6:30 p.m., a big chunk of time for senators also running for president hoping to be in IA, NH or anywhere but DC in Dec/Jan/Feb.
— Jeff Zeleny (@jeffzeleny) November 12, 2019
Burr’s remarks were reported on the eve of Wednesday’s public impeachment hearings in the House.
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) last month warned Republican lawmakers to gear up for a possible trial in the Senate but stated last week that, if the trial were to happen at the time of his comments, Trump would be vindicated.
“I will say I’m pretty sure how it’s likely to end,” McConnell told reporters. “If it were today, I don’t think there’s any question — it would not lead to a removal.”
“So the question is how long does the Senate want to take? How long do the presidential candidates want to be here on the floor of the Senate instead of in Iowa and New Hampshire?” he asked.
“At some point, it looks to me like they’re going to send it over to the Senate,” he added. “As you all know, that means we have to take it up.”
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