President Trump has nothing on his public schedule today until he leaves for a campaign rally in Michigan later this afternoon. But he’s already lashing out at Democrats ahead of today’s impeachment vote.

Said Trump: “Can you believe that I will be impeached today by the Radical Left, Do Nothing Democrats, AND I DID NOTHING WRONG! A terrible Thing. Read the Transcripts. This should never happen to another President again. Say a PRAYER!”

The Daily Show had an amusing take on Trump’s call to “read the transcript.”

New York Times: “Some of the president’s closest advisers were involved in drafting the letter, but they did not include Pat A. Cipollone, the White House counsel who will play a large role in a Senate trial.”

“Instead, Eric Ueland, the director of the Office of Legislative Affairs, led the process, with input from Stephen Miller, the president’s top policy adviser, who often scripts many of Mr. Trump’s public remarks. Michael Williams, an adviser to Mick Mulvaney, the president’s acting chief of staff, also weighed in, and Mr. Ueland’s draft was framed over the last few days.”

Senate Democratic Leader Charles Schumer told CNN that President Trump’s scathing letter to Speaker Nancy Pelosi indicates the president is “obviously under a great deal of duress” as he faces a House impeachment vote.

He added: “But if he thinks he can bully Nancy Pelosi into backing off, he’s with the wrong customer.”

A new Military Times poll of active-duty military personnel finds President Trump with an upside down approval rate of 42% to 50%.

“No, I don’t take any. Zero, to put it mildly.”

— President Trump, when asked by CNN if he takes any responsibility for the fact that he’s about to be impeached.

Politico: “At the heart of the strategy from the Trump campaign and the GOP is a belief that the more Trump and his allies embrace impeachment — framing it as the inevitable outcome of a system run by partisan elites — the more voters beyond the president’s base are likely to gravitate toward that message.”

“They compare the current moment to last year’s scorched-earth fight to appoint Brett Kavanaugh to the Supreme Court.”

Rudy Giuliani told CNN that President Trump has been “very supportive” of his continued efforts to dig up dirt on Democrats in Ukraine, including his most recent trip to the Eastern European country.

Said Giuliani: “We’re on the same page.”

William Webster: “The privilege of being the only American in our history to serve as the director of both the F.B.I. and the C.I.A. gives me a unique perspective and a responsibility to speak out about a dire threat to the rule of law in the country I love. Order protects liberty, and liberty protects order. Today, the integrity of the institutions that protect our civil order is, tragically, under assault from too many people whose job it should be to protect them.”

“The rule of law is the bedrock of American democracy, the principle that protects every American from the abuse of monarchs, despots and tyrants. Every American should demand that our leaders put the rule of law above politics.”

Palm Beach Post: “The president … is expected to spend at least two weeks at Mar-a-Lago with his family for the holidays. Trump made the announcement in a tweet on Dec. 12 in which he also referred to his private club as ‘The Southern White House.’

“The White House has not confirmed the dates of Trump’s trip. He is traveling to Battle Creek, Michigan, on Wednesday – the day the House is scheduled to vote on his impeachment. On Thursday, Democrats have a tentative plan to vote on the trade deal President Trump negotiated with Mexico and Canada to replace NAFTA – leaving Friday open for possible travel to Palm Beach. A Federal Aviation Advisory issued Monday suggests the president will arrive that day.”

Andrew Weissmann, one of former special counsel Robert Mueller‘s top lieutenants, writes for Just Security that President Trump has committed several federal crimes while in office.

“We are surely to learn more about the criminality underlying the impeachment inquiry. And whether or not you believe the current evidence meets the beyond a reasonable doubt standard, because it is clear what the President was up to, that new evidence is sure to be damning. Why else would the President be stonewalling its release? When that new evidence comes to light, Senators who have resisted impeachment now on the ground of lack of evidence may seek to cling to that legal argument, but will look darn foolish in the annals of history, when the documents prove up what we all already know to be true.”

PolitiFact announced that President Trump’s claim that the Ukraine whistleblower was “almost completely wrong” is the “Lie of the Year.”

A new Quinnipiac poll finds President Trump matching his best job approval rating ever, as 43% of registered voters say they approve of the job he is doing, while 52% disapprove.

Said pollster Mary Snow: “A 50-year low unemployment rate coupled with stocks hitting record highs are adding up to a rosy view of the economy and voters feeling optimistic about their own personal finances. That view of a strong economy seems to be helping President Trump match his highest job approval rating since being elected, despite facing becoming the third president in U.S. history to be impeached this week.”