[Lemon:] CNN cameras caught Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell leaving the White House earlier today and sources say he was there to discuss the upcoming impeachment trial with the president. That after McConnell made it clear in remarks on the Senate floor this morning that he is not interested in changing course. Let's discuss now with John Dean, a former Nixon White House counsel. Good evening, sir. Happy New Year. I haven't seen not you since the New Year. Good to have you on.
[John Dean, Cnn Contributor, Former Nixon White House Counsel:] Thank you, Don.
[Lemon:] You were one of the first people to suggest that House Speaker Nancy Pelosi hold the articles of impeachment. I remember you do it here on the show, hold it from the Senate. We have seen this play out and the standoff continues. You say the speaker still has the upper hand. Why do you say that?
[Dean:] Well, I think she could hold them right up and take them to the election if she wanted to. She doesn't have there's nothing in the rules that says she has to send those over, particularly when you're seeing the kind of behavior that she's confronted with in the Senate, which is just asking the House to be subject to a steam roller and they represent the American people. So I think her moves are very smart right now.
[Lemon:] You think that's going to last, though, John? Because there are three Democratic senators, Angus king who is an independent, but caucus is with the Democrats. There is Chris Murphy and then there is Richard Blumenthal as well. They're saying it is time for the trial to begin. Has Pelosi's tactic run its course? No?
[Dean:] Well, I think she still has all the options. She could, for example, announce publicly that she is not sending the articles to the Senate until after the election. And that way, she'd make them an election issue in many states where Republicans are running and wouldn't want those to be an issue. Secondly, she can say, I'm sending them to the Senate, but I'm sending them with the heads up that if the Senate doesn't give a fair trial, the House of Representatives is going to go to the Supreme Court and take these under judicial review. Now, there is a friend of mine who has got a piece coming out in the Washington Post tomorrow, Cleveland attorney Jim Robenalt, has dug out some of the case law. And Walter Nixon, when he was impeached, went to the court and took it all the way to the Supreme Court. The Supreme Court ruled against him 9-0 on whether or not they had been proper in having the hearing before a small committee instead of the full Senate and then taking his impeachment to the full Senate. But they did, they offered some language that said, a Senate trial must be, in essence, fair. It can't be a coin flip. It can't be something that judges would find unreasonable. So there is some language in the case law that shows where the Supreme Court might go on this and that they might take such a case.
[Lemon:] Interesting. You heard Mitch McConnell saying that they think they have the votes, and so he doesn't really care. And so he's going to start the trial even if Nancy Pelosi doesn't bring the articles.
[Dean:] He does have the votes. He's probably always had them or may have had some on the fence that didn't want to commit. And this is the sort of thing Mitch McConnell does. He does not play by the rules. Rather, he makes the rules. And that's what Nancy is up against. That's why as soon as she releases the articles to him, she has lost some degree of control over them. Ultimately, as I say, I believe she would have standing to go to the high court if it was really an abysmal undertaking and no witnesses were permitted when they were clearly called for and things like that. But that's not the strongest case. The strongest case is taking it to the voters and saying, listen, the Senate is not going to do this properly. Therefore, we don't want to go there. We want the voters to decide this issue.
[Lemon:] John Dean, thank you so much. Appreciate your time.
[Dean:] Thank you, Don.
[Lemon:] Prince Harry, Meghan Markle, well, they say they're stepping back from their royal duties and it seems to have come to a shock as a shock to everyone, including the queen. All the details, next.