George Conway says Senate GOP knows Trump is ‘guilty’: ‘What are they afraid of?’

George Conway, a conservative lawyer and husband to White House counselor Kellyanne Conway, on Wednesday denounced Senate Republicans for blocking new witnesses and documents from the opening stage of the impeachment trial, claiming that the GOP didn’t want to see additional evidence because they know President Trump is “guilty.”

“What are they afraid of?” George Conway, an outspoken Trump critic, said while making an appearance on CNN. “They’re going to hear evidence they won’t like? That’s the thing that I find most disturbing about it, is they don’t want to hear the evidence because they know the truth. They know he’s guilty. And they don’t want to hear the evidence because they don’t want the American public to see it too.”

Conway’s comments followed a day in which Senate Republicans tabled several Democratic amendments that would have compelled the White House to turn over documents related to delayed Ukrainian military aid. The Senate passed an organizing resolution that stipulates that new witnesses and documents will be considered after opening arguments and a 16-hour question and answer period for senators. 

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) contended that all the documents and witness requests that Democrats put forward “could be dealt with at the appropriate time.” But Democrats have raised fears that the upper chamber could take part in a “cover-up” by denying evidence. 

They have specifically called for former national security adviser John Bolton and acting White House chief of staff Mick Mulvaney to testify in the trial. 

Conservative lawyer George Conway on GOP treatment of the impeachment trial: “What are they afraid of? …That’s the thing that I find most disturbing about it, is they don’t want to hear the evidence because they know the truth. They know he’s guilty.” https://t.co/IGr2Hy8bff pic.twitter.com/1c4WJ3Iyta

— CNN (@CNN) January 22, 2020

Conway said the trial would serve as a moment of “reckoning” for the Republican Party. 

“This is a moment of reckoning, not just for the country and for the rule of law and the Constitution, it’s a very specific day of reckoning for the Republican senators and the Republican Party in general,” he said. “Are they going to stand for lies instead of truth? Are they going to stand for gaslighting instead of reality? Are they going to do the bidding of this one man? That’s what this is about.”

The House in December voted to impeach Trump for abuse of power and obstruction of Congress following an inquiry into his alleged dealings with Ukraine. Trump is accused of using nearly $400 million in military aid and a White House meeting as leverage in his push for Ukraine to announce investigations of his political rivals. 

Conway, who is now serving as an adviser to The Lincoln Project, an anti-Trump super PAC, wrote in December that Trump’s “boundlessly self-centered bent” made it “inevitable” that he would be impeached.