Republicans have said Trump's impeachment trial is a 'sham.' And they made it that way before it even began. Republicans have blasted the process surrounding President Donald Trump's Senate impeachment trial, repeatedly referring to it as a partisan "sham." The impeachment trial has been a sham, but only because Republicans made it that way by making it more about loyalty to Trump than discussing the damning allegations against the president. Trump was virtually guaranteed to be acquitted before the trial even began, and by taking the unprecedented move of blocking witnesses Republicans have ensured it will wrap up expeditiously. Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories . Republicans have repeatedly decried President Donald Trump's impeachment trial as a partisan "sham," depicting it as a nakedly political process orchestrated by Democratic leaders who are still upset over the results of the 2016 election. The GOP is right: Trump's impeachment trial has been a proceeding fundamentally driven by partisanship rather than the impartial standards expected of trials. But they're wrong about who made it that way.