In an interview with CNN at the Doha Forum in Qatar, Lindsay Graham said "I am trying to give a pretty clear signal I have made up my mind. I'm not trying to pretend to be a fair juror here". In an interview with Fox News, senate majority leader Mitch McConnell said "Everything I do during this, I’m coordinating with White House Counsel."
I'm still doing a lot of reading about what is involved in an impeachment trial (as I'm an Australian, and this is very interesting to me), but the main question I have is:
If someone in the senate says "I'm not going to bother looking at the evidence, I'm just going to vote against impeachment", or if someone else says "I'm working directly with the president to ensure we both get the outcome we want", is that illegal? Are there any repercussions for that?
If I were on trial and I said "I spoke with the jury beforehand to get the outcome we both want", I'd probably be in a lot of trouble. Likewise, if I were a juror and announced before the trial "I don't care about the evidence, I've decided they're already guilty / innocent", I'd also be in a lot of trouble.
Are there similar repercussions for members of the senate? Or is an impeachment trial completely different from your everyday trial?