As House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jerry Nadler, D-N.Y., abruptly wrapped up an all-day marathon hearing close to midnight on Wednesday, postponing votes on the articles of impeachment matter until Friday morning, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell has said that there is “no chance” that President Trump will be removed from office, once the matter goes to trial in the upper chamber.

Speaking to Fox’s Sean Hannity, McConnell said he even thought that could be some Democratic senators who would side with the GOP and vote to acquit the president.

“There is no chance the president is going to be removed from office. My hope is there won’t be a single Republican who votes for either of these articles of impeachment. And Sean, it wouldn’t surprise me if we got one or two Democrats.”

The remarks came as lawmakers on the House Judiciary Committee held a heated markup session on two articles of impeachment related to Trump’s demand that the leader of Ukraine announces the opening of an investigation into a political rival, former Vice President Joe Biden, and his son Hunter. One article focuses on abuse of power and the other on obstruction of Congress.

When the shelved vote takes place Friday morning, and the articles will likely pass on a party-line vote — the full House will vote on the articles next week, and, if passed, the Senate will hold a trial on the case against Trump in January.

Despite a nearly three-month investigation in the House, in which a parade of current and former administration officials voiced concern over Trump’s actions, McConnell said he doubted the merits of the Democrats’ evidence against Trump.

“The case is so darn weak coming over from the House,” he said.

The majority leader said that he has been coordinating with Trump’s legal team throughout the impeachment process, an arrangement that would continue if the Senate begins a trial. It would take a two-thirds vote in the Senate to remove Trump from office, but the GOP holds a 53-47 majority, meaning at least 20 Republican senators would have to join every Democrat in voting to remove the president.

Such a result is about as likely as me inheriting a million dollars from a Nigerian prince!

McConnell also signaled that he hopes the impeachment process in the Senate will be “shorter” rather than a drawn-out effort that could detract from the 2020 election.