Democratic House Majority Whip Rep. James Clyburn told CNN, if it were up to him, he would withhold articles of impeachment from the Senate indefinitely. Clyburn said he would only send the articles of impeachment to the Senate for if Democrat’s were promised a “fair” trial.

By “fair trial,” Clyburn means allowing new witnesses and deliberation to take place in the Senate. But, deliberations and witness testimony is a job meant for the House of Representatives. Clearly, Rep. Adam Schiff and House Democrats bungled their hearings and concluded with extremely weak articles of impeachment they know will get zero bipartisan support. Now, they want more witnesses called because they didn’t do their job well their first time.

“Why the delay Congressman?” CNN anchor John Berman asked.

“Well the delay is made necessary because the Majority Leader of the Senate has made it very clear that he is not going to be impartial, he is not going to be fair. He will collude, if you please, with the White House, at least the White Houses’s attorneys, in order to decide how he will go forward,” Clyburn said.

“How long are you willing to wait?” Berman asked.

“As long as it takes. Even if [Mitch McConnell] doesn’t come around to committing to a fair trial, keep those articles here, so, keep them as long as it takes,” Clyburn said.

“Are you suggesting it’s possible you will never transmit the articles of impeachment [to the Senate]?” Berman asked.

“If it were me, yes, that’s what I’m saying,” Clyburn said.

Suddenly, the Democrats’s strategy to impeach Trump looks like obstructing the process of impeaching Trump. As Sean Davis and Mollie Hemingway wrote, “Preventing people from wasting their time on something that they don’t want to waste their time on is not a victory.”

.@johnberman: “Are you suggesting it's possible you will never transmit the articles of impeachment [to the Senate]?” Rep. Clyburn: “If it were me, yes, that's what I'm saying.” https://t.co/fpW0Jcup3o pic.twitter.com/VcU8vFh2f9 — New Day (@NewDay) December 19, 2019

Later in the interview, Clyburn said that the Senate should give Trump a fair trial, then proceed to hang him.

“Let’s give him a fair trial, and hang him,” Clyburn said.

THIS IS SICK Listen to what Majority Whip James Clyburn just said about Trump: "Let's give him a fair trial, and hang him". pic.twitter.com/HTiCne7Q7C — Benny (@bennyjohnson) December 19, 2019

Not only has the House Majority Whip said he wants to withhold articles of impeachment until the outcome is pre-determined in the Democrats favor, he’s now using incendiary language to do so.

Clyburn didn’t say “convict,” or “remove,” he said “hang him.” This is Democrats vocalizing what Republicans already know — Democrats want a quid pro quo before they send the passed articles of impeachment to the Senate. Even if it means avoiding their Constitutional duties.