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Graham Says Lara Trump Big Winner from Impeachment

February 14, 2021 at 3:15 pm EST By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) predicted Lara Trump will benefit from his second acquittal in an impeachment trial this weekend, The Hill reports.

Said Graham: “The biggest winner of this whole impeachment trial is Lara Trump. My dear friend Richard Burr, who I like and have been friends to a long time, just made Lara Trump almost the certain nominee for the Senate seat in North Carolina to replace him if she runs, and I certainly will be behind her because she represents the future of the Republican Party.”

Graham Says McConnell Speech Could Haunt GOP

February 14, 2021 at 2:07 pm EST By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) said Sunday he thought Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell’s speech blasting former President Donald Trump would be used against Republicans in campaign ads in 2022 when the party fights to reclaim the Senate, USA Today reports.

Said Graham: “He got a load off his chest, obviously, but unfortunately he put a load on the back of Republicans. That speech you will see in 2022 campaigns.”

Biden Aide Feels Heat from All Sides

February 14, 2021 at 1:00 pm EST By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

Bloomberg: “As President Joe Biden seeks to address racial inequities across the U.S., he’s turned to former congressman Cedric Richmond to help keep a promise to end discriminatory practices ranging from housing to voting rights — a task complicated by the risk of alienating Republicans whose support is needed on key legislative priorities.”

Adam Schiff Ponders Life After Trump

February 14, 2021 at 12:24 pm EST By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

Politico: “Even if the California attorney general job doesn’t pan out, several options remain for Schiff, including securing a spot in House leadership when Pelosi and her top deputies finally leave in the coming years. He is frequently mentioned as a possible candidate for speaker, but it could be a messy battle against Rep. Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY) who is considered the frontrunner for the job.”

“There’s also his massive war chest — Schiff raised a staggering $41 million last election cycle, with a significant chunk still remaining… Those reserves could easily be deployed for Schiff to campaign for senator or governor … Allies of the 60-year-old, who’s served in the House for two decades, insist he’s committed to his job leading the Intelligence panel.”

Why Biden Will Keep Using Trump as a Foil

February 14, 2021 at 11:54 am EST By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

Politico: “Biden and his aides will continue to use Trump as a foil for the ‘foreseeable future’ as they seek to contrast the two presidents’ policies to build support for the White House’s agenda.”

“Biden’s team learned a lesson from 2009, when President Barack Obama and Biden, then vice president, came to believe that they’d failed to defend their policies forcefully enough against criticisms from Republicans, including former Vice President Dick Cheney. Those criticisms, they believe, contributed to Democrats’ enormous losses in the 2010 midterm elections.”

Trump Towers Over Republicans

February 14, 2021 at 11:45 am EST By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

Playbook: “Forty-three Senate Republicans voted to acquit Trump, but few defended him when they announced their votes. Instead, they cited process arguments and said impeaching an ex-president is unconstitutional, which even many conservative attorneys dispute. In short, GOP senators passed up an opportunity to put Trump away for good because their base still loves him — and they fear the base. Will they regret this in a few months or years?”

Extra Bonus Quote of the Day

February 14, 2021 at 11:42 am EST By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

“It could be First Amendment, it could be bill of attainder, it could be due process. I mean all of them are nonsense. I thought that I successfully demolished them at the trial but, you know, there’s no reasoning with people who basically are, you know, acting like members of a religious cult and when they leave office should be selling flowers at Dulles Airport.”

— Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-MD), lead impeachment manager, in an interview on Meet the Press.

Coons Blames McConnell for Trump Acquittal

February 14, 2021 at 11:39 am EST By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

Sen. Chris Coons (D-DE) blamed Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) on ABC News for former President Trump’s acquittal in his second Senate impeachment trial.

Said Coons: “Once Mitch McConnell made it clear he intended to acquit, even despite the compelling evidence, what the House managers needed wasn’t more witnesses or more evidence, what we all needed was more Republican courage.”

He added: “I’m fairly certain there would have been a vote to convict with a secret ballot.”

Senate Map Shift Helped Trump Win Acquittal

February 14, 2021 at 11:34 am EST By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

“Donald Trump’s second impeachment trial followed a very predictable partisan path in the U.S. Senate last week, with Democrats voting to convict and most Republicans voting to acquit. There is a long list of reasons behind that breakdown, but one of them is the increasingly tidy alignment between the Senate and the presidential partisan maps,” NBC News reports.

“It used to be that many states featured divided Senate delegations, and that presidents won the vote in states represented by the opposite party in Congress’ upper chamber. But that pattern has been in decline for decades now. And it’s advanced to the point where today, in 2021, the presidential election and Senate maps look remarkably similar.”

Bonus Quote of the Day

February 14, 2021 at 11:25 am EST By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

“What we needed was not more witnesses, but more Senators with spines.”

— Rep. Stacey Plaskett, on MSNBC.

Raskin Says Trump Guilty In Court of Public Opinion

February 14, 2021 at 11:20 am EST By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-MD) criticized Republicans like Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell for “trying to have it both ways” by voting to acquit former President Donald Trump on charges he incited last month’s attack on the Capitol, arguing that history will deem the president responsible nonetheless, NBC News reports.

Said Raskin: “We successfully prosecuted him and convicted him in the court of public opinion and the court of history.”

He added: “He’s obviously a major political problem for the Republican Party, and as long as he’s out there attempting to wage war on American constitutional democracy, he’s a problem for all of us.”

McConnell Gently Tries to Wriggle Free from Trump

February 14, 2021 at 7:58 am EST By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

Walter Shapiro: “The most intriguing—if typically cynical—performance was Senate GOP leader Mitch McConnell’s. After voting to acquit Trump on dubious constitutional grounds, McConnell then delivered a searing Senate speech. Referring to January 6, McConnell said, ‘There is no question—none—that President Trump is practically and morally responsible for provoking the events of the day.'”

“Of course, McConnell is partly responsible for aiding and abetting Trump for four years. But it is telling that at a moment of Trumpian triumph, he chose to speak in a way designed to defuse the skyrockets at Mar-a-Lago. McConnell’s calculus—and never doubt his abilities at political math—is that the benefits of breaking with Trump far outweigh the price of continued fealty. That and the 7 Republican votes for conviction are the sole bright spots on a dispiriting Saturday.”

Axios: McConnell’s two-step portends challenge for Biden and Schumer.

Quote of the Day

February 14, 2021 at 7:50 am EST By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

“The jury is ready to vote. People want to get home for Valentine‘s Day.”

— Sen. Chris Coons (D-DE), quoted by Politico, urging the House managers to accept a deal for no witnesses at Donald Trump’s impeachment trial.

The Danger of Domestic Fanaticisms

February 14, 2021 at 7:24 am EST By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

George Will: “The first of this century’s national traumas is denoted by two numbers: 9/11. One purpose of, and a sufficient justification for, the second impeachment of the 45th president was to inscribe this century’s second trauma in the nation’s memory as: 1/6.”

“Although not nearly as tragic as 9/11 in lives lost and radiating policy consequences, 1/6 should become, as its implications percolate into the national consciousness, even more unsettling. Long before 9/11, Americans knew that foreign fanaticisms were perennial dangers. After 1/6, Americans know what their Constitution’s Framers knew: In any democracy, domestic fanaticisms always are, potentially, rank weeds that flourish when fertilized by persons who are as unscrupulous as they are prominent.”

Trump Still Lost

February 13, 2021 at 10:48 pm EST By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

David Frum: “If you looked to the U.S. Senate for a full measure of accountability, you did not receive it, of course. Donald Trump, the twice-impeached president, is also a twice-acquitted president. He lives in a palace on the sea, supported by unconstitutional emoluments from foreign governments, unethical payments from the U.S. Treasury to his businesses, and gullible donations from the suckers he duped. Almost half a million are dead from the plague he promised would go away by itself, even as he received the benefit of miracle treatments available only to the most favored few.”

“But if justice failed, democratic self-preservation is working. Trump lost the presidency, and that loss held despite all his attacks on the vote and the counting of the vote. His party split against him on this second round of impeachable offenses. He has lost his immunity to civil suit and his impunity against federal indictment. The world is crashing down upon his head.”

“The impeachment did not prevail. But Trump still lost.”

Impeachment Trial Sharpens GOP Divides

February 13, 2021 at 9:22 pm EST By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

Wall Street Journal: “The dramatic conclusion of former President Donald Trump’s second impeachment trial laid bare deep philosophical rifts between Republicans, as GOP senators splintered not only over the question of Mr. Trump’s guilt, but also the future of their party and Mr. Trump’s role in it.”

New York Times: “The vote stands as a pivotal moment for the party Mr. Trump molded into a cult of personality, one likely to leave a deep blemish in the historical record. Now that Republicans have passed up an opportunity to banish him through impeachment, it is not clear when — or how — they might go about transforming their party into something other than a vessel for a semiretired demagogue who was repudiated by a majority of voters.”

“Defeated by President Biden, stripped of his social-media megaphone, impeached again by the House of Representatives and accused of betraying his oath by a handful of Republican dissenters, Mr. Trump nonetheless remains the dominant force in right-wing politics. Even offline and off camera at his Palm Beach estate, and offering only a feeble impeachment defense through his legal team in Washington, the former president continues to command unmatched admiration from conservative voters.”

Associated Press: Trump remains dominant force in GOP following acquittal.

White House Press Aide Resigns

February 13, 2021 at 7:46 pm EST By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

White House spokesman TJ Ducklo has resigned after a recent report that he threatened a reporter who was investigating his relationship with another journalist, Bloomberg reports.

Cassidy Censured for His Impeachment Vote

February 13, 2021 at 6:58 pm EST By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

The Louisiana Republican Party unanimously censured Sen. Bill Cassidy (R-LA) for voting to convict former President Donald Trump in his impeachment trial, the Baton Rouge Advocate reports.