Mitch McConnell

After stepping down from Republican leadership, McConnell voted against several major Donald Trump nominees, including Pete Hegseth for the Pentagon, Tulsi Gabbard for intelligence and Robert F. Kennedy Jr. for Health. These votes made him one of the few Republican senators regularly to oppose certain presidential choices.

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Directly implicated

In March 2024, McConnell endorsed Donald Trump's presidential candidacy, despite having publicly attributed practical and moral responsibility for the Capitol attack to Trump after 6 January. The rapprochement was portrayed as a dramatic reversal in their relationship.

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Political responsibility

McConnell stopped speaking and remained silent for many seconds on two occasions in front of journalists, in July and August 2023, prompting nationwide questions about his health and ability to continue leading Senate Republicans.

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Directly implicated

Following the failure of federal voting rights proposals, McConnell said that African American voter turnout was comparable to that of "Americans", wording immediately criticised for implicitly excluding black people from the category of Americans.

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Personally implicated

During Donald Trump's second impeachment trial, McConnell voted to acquit, principally on the grounds that he considered the Senate lacked jurisdiction to convict a former president. Immediately afterwards, however, he declared that Trump was "practically and morally responsible" for provoking the events of 6 January.

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Personally implicated

As Senate Majority Leader, McConnell refused in 2016 to arrange hearings or a vote on Merrick Garland, Barack Obama's Supreme Court nominee, citing the forthcoming presidential election. In 2020, by contrast, he arranged Amy Coney Barrett's confirmation just days before the election.

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Directly implicated

McConnell blocked or refused to advance several Democratic bills on election security and protection against foreign interference, prompting accusations of inaction following Russian interference in 2016. In September 2019, he ultimately supported an additional 250 million dollars for election security.

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Directly implicated

Former television host Jon Stewart and 9/11 first responders accused McConnell of failing to act quickly enough to secure the long-term future of the victims' compensation fund. McConnell replied that he did not understand why Stewart was "all bent out of shape" and assured him the Senate would address the legislation.

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Directly implicated

Ahead of the 2010 midterm elections, McConnell declared that "the single most important thing" Republicans wanted to achieve was making Barack Obama a one-term president. For his critics, the statement became emblematic evidence of a strategy of partisan obstruction.

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Personally implicated

Mitch McConnell was the principal political plaintiff in the constitutional challenge to the Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act, known as the McCain-Feingold Act, which restricted, among other things, political financing through parties and certain election advertisements. The Supreme Court upheld many of the legislation's central provisions in 2003.

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Protagonist is the complainant