Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., speaks to reporters about the possibility of a partial government shutdown, at the Capitol in Washington, Tuesday, Dec. 18, 2018. Congress and President Donald Trump continue to bicker over his demand that lawmakers fund a wall along the U.S.-Mexico border, pushing the government to the brink of a partial shutdown at midnight Friday. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)

With articles of impeachment being voted on (and certainly passed) today, it will move to the Senate for the next phase of this fiasco. Contrary to some galaxy brains like Jennifer Rubin, I do not think Pelosi is going to refuse to send the articles over until McConnell agrees to Democrat demands. That would be completely self-defeating, even though there’s no path to a true victory at this point.

That leaves us wondering how things will play out procedurally, but it also leaves another lingering question – Will there be a January surprise coming for impeachment?

Admittedly, while I’ve thought of the possibility, this is spawned by a recent article from Byron York.

Indeed, Schumer and his colleagues have prepared the way to characterize any move to limit the trial’s scope as an effort to hide wrongdoing from the American people. “To engage in a trial without the facts coming out is to engage in a cover-up,” he said Monday.

The bottom line is: Republicans should not believe for one minute that the campaign to remove the president will rely only on the case Democrats have built in the House. Schumer and other party leaders will scramble for new information to throw at the president, and at Republicans, until it is over. The GOP, and the White House, need to be ready.

I think this is correct. We’ve seen this playbook before and it’s going to get run again. Back when I did diaries here at RedState, I wrote a piece speculating that Democrats were going to accuse Kavanaugh of sexual assault based on some vague, leaked materials that came out at the time. Like clockwork, just as it looked like Kavanaugh was going to be confirmed with ease, they pulled the trigger.

Democrats will try that tactic again. In fact, we’ve already seen Adam Schiff make such an attempt in recent days, claiming to have a classified letter that implicates VP Mike Pence. That won’t be the last thing Democrats fling at the wall in hopes that something will stick. Expecting Pelosi, Schiff, Schumer, etc. to call of the dogs after their coming latest defeat is like expecting a shark to not like the taste of seal.

The most likely avenue, which York points out, is digging through the Mueller grand jury materials (which may be inexplicably released if some Obama appointed judge has their way). The other will involve Trump’s finances and taxes. Past that, expect some witnesses who didn’t testify during the impeachment inquiry to eventually be made to testify. That’ll give fresh fodder and ammo to scream Democrats need a do-over.

Here’s the truth. They are never going to stop. They didn’t stop with the Steele Dossier. They didn’t stop with the Mueller investigation. And even after Trump beats this impeachment nonsense, there will be something else. When that crashes and burns, there will be something else. Then as we get into October, there will be yet another “bombshell.” It’s going to happen and Republicans need to be prepared to combat these types of games instead of looking for excuses to fold as some did in 2016.

So far, the party has done an admiral job of pushing back on the ridiculousness of the current impeachment push, but their resolve will be tested again and again as every attempt is made to catapult a Democrat to victory in 2020. Be ready.