“I don’t believe I’m leading a wing of the party. Because there’s no wing that’s very large that is aligned with me,”
— Sen. Mitt Romney, quoted by Politico, denying he’s plotting a ‘Never Trump’ coup.
Impeachment Trial Could Hurt Presidential Campaigns
BuzzFeed News: “An impeachment trial would consume every senator’s schedule. Under the Senate’s current rules, all senators must be in session Monday through Saturday, starting at around noon each day. The trial may last several weeks — Bill Clinton’s impeachment trial lasted five — thus taking several candidates off the campaign trail the month before the primaries start.”
“That’s a major problem for the six senators running to be the Democratic nominee for president — Cory Booker, Michael Bennet, Kamala Harris, Amy Klobuchar, Bernie Sanders, and Elizabeth Warren.”
“In theory, the Senate could change its rules and lighten the schedule. But that would require unanimous consent from both Democrats and Republicans, and that’s unlikely.”
New Ad Calls Romney a ‘Democrat Secret Asset’
“The Club for Growth, a conservative advocacy group, is going up with TV ads attacking Sen. Mitt Romney — a preemptive warning shot against fellow Republicans who are considering getting behind impeachment,” Politico reports.
“The 30-second commercial, which will begin running Thursday digitally and on Fox News stations in Utah, portrays Romney as a sunglasses-wearing spy and accuses him of being a ‘Democrat secret asset’ who is ‘plotting to take down President Trump with impeachment.'”
McConnell Plans Quick Impeachment Trial
“Senate Republicans are preparing for a speedy impeachment trial that concludes before the end of the year,” Politico reports.
“Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell told Senate Republicans on Wednesday that he expects Speaker Nancy Pelosi to approve articles of impeachment as early as Thanksgiving… McConnell then surmised that the Senate could deal with the trial by Christmas, concluding the impeachment proceedings before the Democratic presidential primaries begin.”
An Impeachment Loophole
Washingtonian: “The Constitution doesn’t indicate that removal from office requires two-thirds of the Senate. It requires two-thirds of senators present for the proceedings.”
“But suppose … 30 senators … boycott the proceedings—or, when the big day of the vote arrived, mysteriously not show up. With 70 members now present, the number of senators required to convict Trump is no longer 67. It’s 47: exactly the number of seats Democrats and independents currently hold in the Senate.”
Desk 88
Coming soon: Desk 88: Eight Progressive Senators Who Changed America by Sen. Sherrod Brown.
“Since his election to the U.S. Senate in 2006, Ohio’s Sherrod Brown has sat on the Senate floor at a mahogany desk with a proud history. In Desk 88, he tells the story of eight of the Senators who were there before him.”
Desk 88: Eight Progressive Senators Who Changed America
- Sherrod Brown
- Publisher: Farrar, Straus and Giroux
- Hardcover: 368 pages
Trump Allies Worry They Can’t Count on Senate GOP
“Donald Trump made a defiant prediction last week that Senate Republicans will be the bulwark to keep Democrats from ending his presidency,” Politico reports.
“But behind the scenes, Republicans and Trump’s informal circle of advisers are tempering the president’s bravado, expressing concern over whether the president can truly count on a GOP-led Senate to keep him in office.”
Lindsey Graham Tricked By Russian Pranksters
Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) thought he was talking Turkey’s minister of defense in an August call but he was really talking to Russian pranksters, Politico reports.
In the call, Graham was primarily concerned with getting Turkey back into the F-35 program and urging the “defense minister” to refrain from using Russia’s S-400 anti-aircraft weapon system.
But Graham also expressed sympathy for Turkey’s “Kurdish problem” and described the Kurds as a “threat.” Those private comments appear to contradict his public statements this week, in which he criticized Trump’s decision to pull U.S. troops out of northern Syria.
Trump Looks to McConnell to Keep GOP Together
“Even as the White House appears to settle on the legal tactics to stave off Democrats’ impeachment demands, uncertainty and unease over Trump’s messaging approach remains high among his Republican allies, who see the ever-growing inquiry consuming the White House,” CNN reports.
“Trump has offered scant indication he is turning his focus to governing… Instead, the President has spent hours tweeting about the impeachment and lighting up the phone lines of his allies on Capitol Hill — including Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, to whom he’s stressed the importance of Republican unity.”
“In private, Trump is increasingly leaning on the Republican leader in the Senate. In a return to the President’s panicked behavior during the height of the Mueller investigation, Trump is calling McConnell as often as three times a day.”
The Swing Senators on Impeachment
Paul Kane: “Instead of the already vulnerable Republicans, Democrats should focus on a clutch of roughly 10 incumbents with several similar character traits: senior statesmen within their caucus who have either announced their plans to retire or have signaled they are likely to not run for reelection. These GOP senators are at the point in their careers where history’s judgment might mean more to them than the views of today’s conservative activists.”
“Some Democrats have taken note of this group, including Republicans such as Sens. Lamar Alexander (Tenn.), Richard Burr (N.C.) and Johnny Isakson (Ga.), because their remarks so far on Trump and Ukraine have been very brief or just nonexistent.”
Said Sen. Chris Coons (D-DE): “I am not optimistic so far, but there is lots of silence. It has been unusually quiet. I think most of them are holding their breath.”
Giuliani Says Biden Will Be Called to Testify
Rudy Giuliani said he believes Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Lindsey Graham (R-SC) will call Joe Biden and his son Hunter Biden to testify before his panel about corruption in Ukraine, The Hill reports.
Graham told reporters weeks ago that he had no intention of bringing the Bidens in, but Giuliani said he believed that position had changed amid an escalating Democratic impeachment effort.
Ernst Refuses To Condemn Soliciting Foreign Interference
Three times in a row yesterday, Sen. Joni Ernst (R-IA) dodged questions about whether it’s appropriate for a president to ask a foreign power to investigate a political rival, Iowa Starting Line reports.
Graham Says There’s No Way GOP Convicts Trump
Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) said that he is sending a letter to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) warning that Senate Republicans won’t impeach President Trump over his call with Ukraine, The Hill reports.
Said Graham: “They’re about to destroy the nation for no good reason. And I want Nancy Pelosi to know that Republican senators are not going to impeach this president based on this transcript so she can stop now before she destroys the country.”
Half Support Removing Trump from Office
A new Politico/Morning Consult poll shows that 50% of registered voters surveyed would support the Senate’s removing President Trump from office, while 43% oppose the president’s removal. Seven percent of voters were undecided.
Giuliani to Testify to Senate Judiciary Committee
Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Lindsey Graham (R-SC) said he would allow Rudy Guiliani to come before the panel to “inform the committee of his concerns,” the Wall Street Journal reports.
Tweeted Graham: “Given the House of Representatives’ behavior, it is time for the Senate to inquire about corruption and other improprieties involving Ukraine.”
GOP Canaries in the Impeachment Coal Mine
Gerald Seib: “They are the four Senate Republicans up for re-election next year in swing states, where support for Mr. Trump isn’t as strong as it is in the deep-red states many of their colleagues represent. They are Sens. Martha McSally of Arizona; Cory Gardner of Colorado; Susan Collins of Maine; and Thom Tillis of North Carolina. Comments critical of the president from sometimes-renegade Sens. Mitt Romney of Utah and Ben Sasse of Nebraska are noteworthy, but these four will be far more important leading indicators of GOP sentiments.”
“These four face the toughest re-election races of any Republicans next year. The authoritative Cook Political Report rates the Arizona, Colorado and Maine races as tossups, and the North Carolina race as one that leans Republican. They come from states where opinions of Mr. Trump are deeply divided.”
“Thus, when it comes to rendering judgment on the president, each of these four can be sure they will anger a significant chunk of their constituency no matter what they do.”
Romney Stands Ready to Bring Trump Down
Gabriel Sherman: “According to people close to Romney, he’s firmly decided against primarying Trump, an enterprise he believes to be a sure loser given Trump’s enduring GOP support. Romney has also told people that, as an unsuccessful two-time presidential candidate, he’s the wrong person to take on Trump.”
“Instead, a Romney adviser told me, Romney believes he has more potential power as a senator who will decide Trump’s fate in an impeachment trial… In recent days, Romney has been reaching out privately to key players in the Republican resistance.”
Said the adviser: “He could have tremendous influence in the impeachment process as the lone voice of conscience in the Republican caucus… Romney is the one guy who could bring along Susan Collins, Cory Gardner, Ben Sasse. Romney is the pressure point in the impeachment process. That’s why the things he’s saying are freaking Republicans out.”
The Humiliation of Lindsey Graham
Charlie Sykes: “Graham told himself: by staying close to Trump, he could influence him and prevent horribly bad decisions. Others made the same calculation, but Graham made the uber-tradeoff, because the stakes were so high. What did it matter if he had to endure temporary embarrassments, abase himself on cable television, or even become a political punchline, if he could stop Trump from impulsive decisions regarding Russia or North Korea? Or Syria?”
“The world saw Graham as a craven, cringing Uriah Heep. Graham saw himself as someone who could save the world, or at least the Kurds.”
“Graham calculated: If he didn’t play golf with Trump and indulge his penchant for pillow talk, Trump would be putting and chatting with Rand Paul, listening to the counsels of isolationism, appeasement and international amorality. He was not simply the adult in the room; he was the adult BFF in the room, who would temper Trump’s worst instincts.”
“And then came Trump’s decision. Despite Graham’s compulsive turd-polishing of the last few years, Trump didn’t even consult him before making the decision to abandon the Kurds. Graham, who had given up so much self-respect to prevent just this outcome, was not even in the room. He didn’t even get a text.”
- 1
- 2
- 3
- …
- 95
- Next Page »
