WASHINGTON — It’s a Capitol Hill cold war.
A chilly silence has enveloped the Capitol — with senators on either side of the political aisle telling The Post there has been very little communication between Democrats and Republicans behind closed doors during President Trump’s impeachment trial.
Delaware Sen. Chris Coons, a Democrat, lamented that the parties appeared entrenched in their two camps and said there had been “strikingly little” late-night texts or phone calls to debate calling additional witnesses or introducing new documents as evidence.
“I understand that on the floor we’ve got, you know, TV cameras and the attention of our wonderful press corps, but my colleagues know how to reach out,” Coons said late Wednesday, after the first day of the House Democrats’ opening arguments.
“I’m struck at how little there’s been. In comparable moments in the last year or two that are intense, I’ve gotten quite a few late-night texts, emails or phone calls. I’m getting very little.”
Coons notably worked with now-retired GOP Sen. Jeff Flake of Arizona in 2018 to call for the FBI to investigate sexual assault allegations against then-Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh.
And Republican lawmakers Thursday had a similar take on the cold war.
Sen. Mike Braun (R-Ind.) said there has been “no discussion with me and any Democrats,” even though “I’m looking for anything that I didn’t hear” in House proceedings.
Sen. Mike Rounds (R-S.D.) also said “No” and shook his head when asked if there had been outreach between members of opposing parties.
“I’ve had very little interaction with my Republican colleagues on a deep level,” Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.) told The Post on Thursday.
When asked if this was normal, Blumenthal replied: “There’s nothing normal about impeachment.”
“Generally we’d have more interaction but we’ve been pretty much chained to our desks. There has not been a lot of substantive interaction,” he said.
Last week, The Post reported that moderate Republican Mitt Romney had been engaged in repeated discussions with Senate Democratic leadership.
But a spokeswoman for the Utah senator quickly shot down the rumor, claiming it was “100 percent fake news.”
