“President Trump lashed out again Tuesday at House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and other Democrats involved in his impeachment after a teleconference in which he exchanged holiday greetings with members of the military stationed around the globe,” the Washington Post reports.

Said Trump: “She hates the Republican Party. She hates all of the people who voted for me and the Republican Party… She’s doing a tremendous disservice to the country.”

“Speaking to reporters who had just witnessed his teleconference from his Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida, Trump aired an array of grievances about the impeachment process, claiming that Democrats ‘had no evidence at all’ about misconduct in his dealings with Ukraine and that he is ‘in a very good position’ as he faces a trial in the Senate.”

“If they think I committed a crime, they’re out of their minds. I’ve been doing this for 50 years. I know how not to commit crimes.”

— Rudy Giuliani, in an interview with New York Magazine, on being investigated by the Southern District of New York.

NBC News: “Even as President Trump awaits a trial in the Senate, his personal attorney Rudy Giuliani is moving full speed ahead with new allegations against Joe Biden and the former ambassador to Ukraine, Marie Yovanovitch, the very individuals targeted by Trump in events that triggered his impeachment.”

“In recent weeks, Giuliani — himself under federal investigation for his Ukraine activities — has cryptically teased what he calls new ‘proof’ buttressing charges about Biden and purported corruption during the Obama administration, attempting to flip the script by contending that Democrats — not the president — are the ones guilty of obstruction and collusion with a foreign power to influence elections.”

Politico: “Friends of the president noted just how content he seemed in the glamorous getaway town of Palm Beach he now calls home, away from it all and back at his Mar-a-Lago resort — what’s described to be like a personal ‘Cheers bar,’ where Trump knows everybody’s name.”

“For aides, Mar-a-Lago can sometimes be a headache, as there is less control over who gets face time with the president and who might be able to whisper an idea in his ear. But that’s the way Trump likes to be, unfettered and able to do what he loves best — playing host, golfing with friends, watching television and working away from the confines of the West Wing.”

Olivia Nuzzi met Rudy Giuliani for drinks:

“Over a sweater, he wore a navy-blue suit, the fly of the pants unzipped. He accessorized with an American-flag lapel pin, American-flag woven wallet, a diamond-encrusted pinky ring, and a diamond-encrusted Yankees World Series ring (about which an innocent question resulted in a 15-minute rant about ‘fucking Wayne Barrett,’ a journalist who manages to enrage Giuliani even in death).”

“In addition to being the president’s free personal attorney, Giuliani, who is 75, is an informal White House cybersecurity adviser and a high-priced cyber-security contractor. In one hand, he clutched three phones of varying sizes. Two of the devices were unlocked, their screens revealing open tabs and a barrage of banner notifications as they knocked into each other and reacted to Giuliani’s grip. He accidentally activated Siri, who said she didn’t understand his command. ‘She never understands me,’ he said. He sighed and poked at the device, attempting to quiet her.”

“Giuliani is quick to announce that he knows ‘every block of this city,’ but he lives on the Upper East Side and doesn’t linger much across or below the park. When I asked him to bring me somewhere he likes to hang out, he quickly directed his bodyguard to the Mark, a five-star hotel on East 77th Street. Always a creature of habit, Giuliani is extra-aware of where he’s welcome these days. He says that ‘because of what’s happened’ his circle is tightening, that he doesn’t trust anyone anymore.”

“A former Navy Seal controversially granted clemency for war crimes by Donald Trump last month was photographed with the president in Florida over the weekend, and handed over a gift to thank him for reversing his demotion,” The Guardian reports.

Palm Beach Post: “A Palm Beach County trailer park could be the site of a future Donald J. Trump presidential library. That’s the vision of James Arena, a real estate broker and resident of Briny Breezes, the 43-acre coastal town just south of Boynton Beach that’s made up entirely of a mobile home park…”

“Arena said he has the ball rolling by reaching out to his friend, rapper and Palm Beach County resident Vanilla Ice.”

“I worry the president will think he’s got a lot more room to roam because he beat impeachment once, he can beat it anytime.”

— Former White House press secretary Ari Fleischer, quoted by Politico.

President Trump complained about Speaker Nancy Pelosi refusing to immediately send articles of impeachment to the U.S. Senate.

Said Trump: “Pelosi gives us the most unfair trial in the history of the U.S. Congress, and now she is crying for fairness in the Senate, and breaking all rules while doing so. She lost Congress once, she will do it again!””

“Democrats have spent the last three months trying to rein in what they see as President Trump’s flagrant and latest abuse of power,” Politico reports.

“But they concede it’s not likely to work. The president, they say, is not going to change. Not because of a legacy-tarring rebuke. Not because of an expected impeachment acquittal. And, in their eyes, he may even get worse. Democrats are expecting a post-impeachment Trump who is unburdened, feeling immune from penalty — exactly how they feel he’s always behaved.”

Ramesh Ponnuru writing in National Review:

“The Constitution provides for impeachment and removal to protect us from officials, including presidents, who are unable or unwilling to distinguish between the common good that government is supposed to serve and their own narrow interests. Though he has done some good things in office, Trump is just such a president. Congress should act accordingly.”

“Monica Crowley, the Treasury Department’s assistant secretary for public affairs, committed ‘localized instances of plagiarism’ in her 2000 Ph.D. dissertation, Columbia University found in an investigation that ultimately concluded she did not commit research misconduct,” the New York Times reports.

New York Times: “Mr. Trump has made a habit of injecting his own words into the comments of people he sees on television and then publishing them as direct quotes on Twitter, where he has more than 67 million followers. In some instances, he simply omits a part of the quote he doesn’t like.”

“More often than not, the allies who Mr. Trump misquotes do little to publicly contradict him. Sometimes a lawmaker’s office will simply point reporters to the transcript when asked about the disconnect. They rarely call out Mr. Trump for spreading falsehoods or altering the meaning of their words.”

Carl Bernstein on CNN:

“There are Republicans who have a feeling that this impeachment process thus far… represents a time bomb, that this is not over, None of us knows where this is going. The impact of this continues into the election, into the campaign, and there is a tremendous amount of information out there that journalists are working on, that we do not know about yet.”

“The Ukraine allegations and the clues provided by what occurred are a road map for all kinds of investigators in the coming months. And I believe — and I’ve talked to some people — that there are people in the Senate who understand that this might be a time bomb. That there is time remaining until the election. Obviously, to the trial, too. I’m not saying that necessarily it is going to be a time bomb that explodes, but I think there’s a real possibility of it…”

Former National Security Adviser John Bolton, who referred to the White House pressure campaign on Ukraine as a “drug deal,” declined to comment about impeachment during an interview with NPR.

Said Bolton: “There’s obviously a lot swirling around in that department, including some litigation that could affect my status, so I think although I have a lot to say on the subject, the prudent course for me is just to decline to comment at this point.”