Trump talks forming Patriot party, MAGA vs. Establishment, is patriot party a good idea, Impeachment

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Donald Trump is reportedly moving forward with his plans to create a 'Patriot Party' to put pressure on Republicans who oppose him and attempt to head off conviction in his second Senate impeachment trial.

Trump has told people that the third-party threat gives him leverage to prevent Republican senators from voting to convict him during the Senate trial next month, people in his orbit told the Washington Post.

Since President Joe Biden took office, Trump has been ensconced at Mar-a-Lago, remaining publicly cryptic about his plans except to tell a reporter on Friday: 'We'll do something, but not just yet.'

But behind closed doors, Trump is already drafting an enemies list of Republicans who opposed his baseless claims of election fraud, instructing aids to prepare primary challenges against them, sources told the Post.

The list is said to include the House's number three Republican, Rep. Liz Cheney of Wyoming, who broke party ranks and voted to impeach Trump over his role in the January 6 Capitol riot. Rep. Tom Rice, a South Carolina Republican, is on the list for the same reason.

Georgia Governor Brian Kemp is also reportedly on the list after provoking Trump's fury for refusing to back his challenge to the state's election results, which were certified for Biden.

Senator Lisa Murkowski, an Alaska Republican who has signaled that she is open to voting to convict Trump, is also said to be a Patriot Party primary target. Kemp and Murkowski are both up for re-election in 2022.

Trump advisers say they plan to recruit opposing primary candidates and commission polling as soon as next week in districts of targeted lawmakers.

To fund his splinter party, Trump has more than $70 million in campaign cash on hand, the sources said.

Though the Trump campaign was essentially tapped out on Election Day, the campaign and several allied groups raised $207 million between November 3 and November 23, fundraising on his push to challenged the election results.

The number is certainly higher by now, but hard numbers won't be disclosed to the Federal Election Commission until January 31.

Much of Trump's fate in the Senate trial will rest in the hands of Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, who has been cagey about his plans but publicly rebuked Trump after the Capitol riot, saying Trump had 'provoked' the mob.

McConnell will have to weigh the exodus of corporate donations away from the GOP in the wake of the riot, against the risk of infuriating and alienating Trump's base by voting to convict.

A vote to convict could split the party, but some see it as the only way to unify Republicans, by banishing Trump to the sidelines and removing the source of the tensest divisions.

A conviction would also allow the Senate to bar Trump from holding federal office again, insuring Republicans would be able to put forward a slate of non-Trump candidates in their 2024 presidential party.