阿拉斯加共和党参议员莉萨·穆尔科斯基说，在听到参议院多数党领袖米奇·麦康奈尔和其他共和党高级参议员正在与白宫协调即将到来的弹劾审判后，她感到“不安”。
穆尔科斯基之前一直对众议院弹劾调查的党派性质持批评态度，现在正与麦康奈尔和南卡罗莱纳州参议员林赛·格雷厄姆(Lindsey Graham)展开较量，因为他们都声称美国参议院和唐纳德·特朗普总统将在自己的弹劾审判上进行“全面协调”。
阿拉斯加共和党参议员告诉当地安克雷奇电视台本周的新闻报道称，麦康奈尔的言论进一步“混淆”了弹劾程序，使共和党参议员似乎完全站在特朗普一边。在本月早些时候接受福克斯新闻主持人肖恩·哈尼蒂采访时，麦康奈尔说，“我在此期间所做的一切，都是与白宫法律顾问协调的。总统的立场和我们在如何处理这个问题上的立场没有区别。”
“公平地说，有这么多的不确定性，”穆考斯基周二告诉KTUU电视台，然后引用了麦康奈尔白宫的总体“协调”意见。“公平地说，当我听说我被打扰了。对我来说，这意味着我们必须从与辩方的密切合作中后退一步，所以我听到了麦康奈尔的话，我碰巧认为这进一步混淆了整个过程。”
格雷厄姆重复了麦康奈尔的观点协调意见他在12月14日告诉美国有线电视新闻网国际记者，他无意“试图成为一名公正的陪审员”
这位阿拉斯加共和党参议员说，她仍未决定审判时她将如何投票——她说这应该是参议院所有成员的期望。“对我来说，预先判断并说那里什么也没有，或者从另一方面来说，他应该在昨天被弹劾，这是错误的，在我看来，这是错误的。”
她呼吁建立一个“全面和公平的程序”，这可能会将前总统比尔·克林顿的弹劾听证会和审判作为特朗普诉讼的模板。
穆尔科斯基是参议院能源和自然资源委员会以及拨款委员会的成员，他此前也批评了众议院民主党领导的弹劾调查。她表示，众议院议员仓促推进了这一进程，尚未解决的问题——包括前国家安全顾问约翰·博尔顿等关键证人能否出庭作证——目前正在移交参议院。
“我们将如何对待证人还有待观察，”她补充道。本月早些时候，她讨论了自己对众议院弹劾调查纯粹基于最终票数的党派性的抱怨——没有共和党人投票赞成弹劾条款。
“我认为，很少甚至没有努力尝试与委员会中的共和党众议院成员合作，或者达成某种交战规则。”她告诉我这安克雷奇每日新闻本月早些时候。"因此，这使得这看起来比其他情况下更具党派性."
10月2日，莉萨·穆尔科斯基参议员(共和党-阿拉斯加州)(中)在华盛顿特区美国国会大厦参加每周一次的参议院共和党政策午餐会时，与记者进行了交谈
GOP SENATOR 'DISTURBED' MITCH MCCONNELL COORDINATING IMPEACHMENT TRIAL WITH TRUMP, DEMANDS 'FAIR PROCESS'
Alaska Republican Senator Lisa Murkowski said she was "disturbed" after hearing Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell and other top GOP senators were coordinating the impending impeachment trial with the White House.
Murkowski, who has previously been critical of the partisan nature of the House impeachment inquiry, is now taking on McConnell and South Carolina Senator Lindsey Graham for both claiming there would be "total coordination" between the U.S. Senate and President Donald Trump over his own impeachment trial.
The Alaska GOP senator told the local Anchorage KTUU-TV news station this week that McConnell's comments have further "confused" the impeachment process and made it appear Republican senators are completely on the side of Trump's defense. In an interview with Fox News host Sean Hannity earlier this month, McConnell said, "Everything I do during this, I'm coordinating with White House counsel. There'll be no difference between the president's position and our position as to how to handle this."
"It is fair to say that there is so much uncertainty," Murkowski told KTUU-TV Tuesday, then referencing McConnell's total "coordination" White House comments. "And in fairness, when I heard that I was disturbed. To me it means that we have to take that step back from being hand in glove with the defense, and so I heard what leader McConnell had said, I happened to think that that has further confused the process."
Graham echoed McConnell's coordination comments, telling a CNN International reporter on December 14 he had no intention of "trying to be a fair juror."
The Alaska GOP senator said she is still undecided about how she will vote when the trial takes place - something she said should be expected of all fellow members of the Senate. "For me to prejudge and say there's nothing there or on the other hand, he should be impeached yesterday, that's wrong, in my view, that's wrong."
She called for a "full and fair process" which potentially uses former President Bill Clinton's impeachment hearings and trial as a template for Trump's proceedings.
Murkowski, who serves on the Senate Energy and Naturals Resources Committee as well as the Committee on Appropriations, also previously criticized the House Democrat-led impeachment investigation earlier this month. She said House lawmakers rushed the process and that problems which were left unresolved - including whether key witnesses such as former national security adviser John Bolton can be brought forward to testify - are now being passed over to the Senate.
"How we will deal with witnesses remains to be seen," she added. Earlier this month she discussed her complaints about how the House impeachment investigation was purely partisan based upon final vote counts - no Republicans voted in favor of either article of impeachment.
"There has been little to no, I think, efforts to try to work with either the Republican House members on the committees, or to kind of come to some terms of rules of engagement," she toldthe Anchorage Daily News earlier this month. "And so it has made this appear even more partisan than perhaps it might have otherwise."
Senator Lisa Murkowski (Republican - Alaska) (center) talks with reporters as she heads for the weekly Senate Republican policy luncheon at the U.S. Capitol on October 2 in Washington, D.C.
