Mitch McConnell has already described, with zero ambiguity, how he plans to oversee next month’s likely Senate impeachment trial. “Everything I do during this,” he told Fox News last week, “I will be coordinating with White House counsel.” He added that there will be “no difference between the president’s position and our position as to how to handle this.”

As he pushes the solidarity narrative in public, McConnell is also reportedly working Donald Trump in private, bringing the president around to the idea of a quick trial. Initially, Trump “genuinely wanted a long trial with all the witnesses to push back,” a source who’s discussed the matter with him told Axios. “Now he thinks we’re winning. He’s been talked into being a lot more comfortable with what the Senate wanted all along, which is a short trial and no witnesses.”

As the White House readies its defense—a process that has reportedly involved Trump asking around for names of lawyers who aren’t White House counsel Pat Cipollone, citing his “lack of TV experience”—Democrats are beginning their campaign for a version of the Senate trial they would find palatable. On Sunday, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer sent a letter to McConnell laying out his vision for a “solemn” process that “not only hears all of the evidence and adjudicates the case fairly,” but “[passes] the fairness test with the American people.”

In the proposal, Schumer called on the Republican majority to compel the testimonies of several administration officials familiar with the president’s conduct related to Ukraine, including White House Chief of Staff Mick Mulvaney, who this fall acknowledged Trump’s pressure campaign on Kiev and told critics to “get over it,” and former national security adviser John Bolton, who other administration officials testified had vehemently opposed the scheme. Schumer also called on the Senate to subpoena documents related to the administration’s decision to withhold military aid to Ukraine, which Trump apparently dangled over Volodymyr Zelensky to force investigations into Joe Biden and a debunked conspiracy theory about the 2016 election. “Conducting the trial according to this plan will...demonstrate that the Senate can put aside partisan concerns and fulfill its constitutional duty,” Schumer wrote.

Such a proposal, of course, is little more than wishful thinking. In addition to McConnell’s comments, over the weekend Senator Lindsey Graham came out and said what was virtually assumed. “I am trying to give a pretty clear signal I have made up my mind,” he told CNN. “I’m not trying to pretend to be a fair juror here.” Democrats are betting this attitude will turn off the American public. “It isn’t just the president who’s on trial in an impeachment proceeding,” Democrat Dick Durbin told CBS Face the Nation on Sunday, calling on McConnell to meet with Schumer to craft a fair process. “The Senate is on trial, and we have a constitutional responsibility.” But ultimately, even the appearance of bipartisanship may not be enough to move voters, who are may be sick of the whole thing.

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