It’s very apparent that Congressional Republicans are now seriously concerned that their legislative agenda is getting bogged down in PutinGate. A small number of GOPers are now suggesting some sort of investigation is warranted, and even if they’re intended to be whitewashing windowdressing, all the attendant publicity and procedural mechanics will simply bog down the legislative function of Congress even further.
On top of this, the American IC is furious with Trump, which suggests the steady drip of new revelations about who knew what when will continue. If you believe some of the speculation and rumor-mongering, the intel the IC has on Trump could land him in jail. And if you care to take his tweets at face value, even Chuck Grassley is encouraging whistleblowers in the White House and federal agencies to step forward.
Perhaps worse of all, you see an enraged Democratic base turning out by the collective millions across the country, besieging Republican congresscritters in every venue, and a re-energized Democratic caucus in Congress that’s beginning to straighten up from its customary defensive crouch under its desk and feel its oats again.
So, if you’re a Congressional Republican caucus that sees your dreams of defunding Obamacare and huge tax cuts for the 1% fading away and the unpleasant prospect that the 2018 midterms might not be the cakewalk you were anticipating, what do you do?
You assemble your members on the National Intelligence and Armed Services committee and any other relevant natsec committee and meet with higher-ups in the IC to discuss what information they have. If it’s as bad as some allege, you then visit the White House and lay out two options to Trump:
The carrot: Trump resigns immediately, issuing some boilerplate argle-bargle about “not wanting to be a distraction from the agenda my voters want to see enacted”, in exchange for a DOJ promise not to go after him and a future pardon by Mike Pence for any crimes he might have committed; or
The stick: Trump will be removed under the 25th Amendment as being incapable of carrying out his duties as President, and will be subject to any investigations and possible prosecution as the appropriate authorities decide is warranted, with actual imprisonment being very much on the table.
Is this scenario ridiculously implausible? Perhaps, but how implausible would the current situation have appeared to us even six months ago?
Well if anything, watching a select committee (hopefully with a special prosecutor also on the case) would be ten times more entertaining than watching this Reality TV Presidency. I bet it would get better ratings too.
If Repubs. were smart, they’d agree to that. I recall many long-standing politicians from my youth, who made their bona fides by being a part of that select committee that conducted the Watergate hearings. Many of those pols improved their profiles, and they later became instant stars as a result of that process. It may, I dare say, even bring the two sides closer together in common cause…that being the interests of the country, of course. Imagine that…A first in a very long time should that actually take place. One can dream.
Repubs would be fools not to go that route. If they do it with Rs. completely in charge, without assigning a special prosecutor to look into other aspects of malfeasance, they’re only going to reinforce more partisanship. That’ll leave half the country, if not more, still angry about Russian interference in our democracy and ready to vote the bastards out of office come the midterms…and those people won’t all be Dems.
Its bad enough, most Americans right now feel frustrated, that even with a committee, this might just turn into just another political game where everyone wants to grandstand to avoid having to make the hard choices about Trump and his Russian-loving lackeys. Eventually, they should see, it is going to come down to that anyway. This administration, in less than a month, has subverted and flipped our foreign policy on its head vis a vis Russia. Its been done right out from under us, without our knowledge. It has been one of the most unnerving things about Trump from the beginning.
So who plays Barry Goldwater in this must-see spectacular?
There’s a certain chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee who heard Trump say this about him:
“I like people who weren’t captured.”
If you like to see karma wreak its havoc on assholes—and who doesn’t?—I can’t think of a more appropriate scenario than John McCain himself delivering the ultimatum to Trump.
Trump has been living for years in a bubble world of real estate scams and reality TV. His advisors have almost no relevant experience in government and have lived in their own bubbles of right wing .coms and conspiracy theories.
They are not prepared for what is about to happen. They are about to get hammered by constitutional and legal processes that they cannot control and that will, based on the behavior of Trump and his advisors during the primary and general election campaigns as well as the time since the election, be extremely hostile to the Trump administration. And, on top of that, it appears that Trump et al have really pissed off the intelligence community. That was a big mistake.
If only Lindsay could find the time to sashay down to the local FBI, CIA or NSA office to read the fucking transcript.
The longer Micturition Man pisses all over the country the harder it will eventually be for susPence to govern. This little “adverture” has galvanized the opposition to the GOP: Special Victims Unit more than anything in the last 50 years.
Moreover, it’s all but guaranteed he knew about the Russian contacts. Should there ever be a special prosecutor appointed, he will be swept up with the rest of the garbage. He’s as guilty as the rest of them.
Graham: If Trump Camp Talked With Russia, We Need A Select Committee
With the current makeup of Congress it ain’t gonna happen. As another REPUG stated :‘It Makes No Sense’ For Republicans To Investigate Republicans"…just more of all is a-ok if done by a REPUG.
Never forget that the key to the success of the so-called “select” committee was a guy named Archibald Cox, who was … wait for it … a special prosecutor.
Looking at Josh’s article and particularly the last paragraph about Powerful nations avoiding war. I think Russia knows they are weak, couldn’t get Obama to back down, so have been trying and probably achieved something to blackmail Trump over. Be interesting to see if Graham can uncover it or if it comes out on it’s own because of Trump ineptness. I’m guessing the latter since I don’t think Graham or any of the republicans want to embarrass the party even if Trump needs to be stopped.
at least the current jokers have been so incompetent that they haven’t been able to do any real harm
I think people are underestimating how much damage his appointees can do in four years. And all the stupid millennials (I’m a millennial btw) that decided Trump and Clinton were no different and couldn’t be bothered to go vote? They will be seeing how much damage Justice Gorsuch will do over the next forty years (maybe longer, who knows what medical technology will come up with).
Would Pence be even worse? Maybe…But people didn’t vote for Pence, and the stain of an impeachment would be all over him for the rest of his tenure. He chose to take the VP nom.
But we’re getting ahead of ourselves. We won’t see an impeachment until the GOP grows a conscience AND a backbone, or until the Dems take over.
Same day Democratic Senate heavy hitters uttered the words “special prosecutor.” Day 26, and we’re already getting calls for special prosecutors and joint select committees from both sides of the aisles.
At the risk of belaboring a point I’ve made before, McConnell was among the very first to realize where this was going and that he might well end up under the tracks himself given his critical role in keeping it from coming out before the election and, he has a little strategy tree:
Pooh-pooh it to death and minimize it. If that fails,
Steer any investigation into the intelligence committees, where he and Ryan sit ex officio, whose proceedings are mostly secret, with prison on the table for leakers, and which are run by partisan hacks. If that fails,
Try to break it up into tiny pieces and give each little piece to a different subcommittee. If that fails,
Steer it into a Blue Ribbon Bipartisany Bipartisan Nonpartisan Expert Nonpartisan Investigatory Commission , load it up with partisan hacks who can be counted on to issue an exculpatory separate report (whether minority or majority) dissenting from the findings of the others and count on that to muddle the message and findings into toothlessness. If, and only if, that fails,
Reluctantly acceded to the creation of a joint select committee, pretend it’s your idea and prepare to throw Trump and everyone in DC, if necessary, under the wheels. The problem here, however, it that joint select committees tend to lead, almost automatically, to the appointment of special counsels, which is, the one thing he, at all costs, wants to avoid.
Option One failed the first week. Option Two is failing. Option Three was in process but was overcome by the rush of events. But Option Four, that still has real promise. Which is why you already have Lindsay here trying to short circuit it before it happens.
I can’t stand Graham or his BFF, but the one thing I’ll give them is that they genuinely have the ass for Putin, they perceive Putin as behind the spread of a new wave of authoritarianism and they see Trump’s election as part Putin’s plan to destroy democracy around the world. And I tend to agree with them, except for the part where I don’t think either of them actually cares about democracy except at the symbolic level.
Edit: @JoshMarshall makes a point that rather importantly defines the difference between McLindsay’s view of Russia and mine. While we may sound like we agree on many things, and may actually agree, Graham and McCain’s view of Russia is, to use Josh’s words, “crankish and politicized.” As Josh notes, Russia is a declining power not an ascendant one. That’s what makes them dangerous. They are a power in decline, a nation whose GDP has shrunk below that of three U.S. states and several middle-sized European nations that is possessed of the MIC and intelligence capabilities of a superpower. That’s the real danger. And it’s that latter part that adds to the danger, because their superpower intelligence apparatus gives them an ability to spread political chaos, subvert democracy and push an authoritarian ideological agenda in other nations far in excess of their actual importance.
Why should the corrupt campaign that brought us Trump AND Pence leave us with Pence as President? It was one ticket. If the ticket was corrupt enough to get rid of Trump, Pence should go too.
And the result should NOT be the normal Presidential succession. They should invalidate Electoral College votes cast for that ticket, and then see who wins from the remaining candidates.
It would be highly entertaining to watch that play out.
Pence and the requisite majority of the principal officers of the executive departments declare DT is unable to discharge the powers and duties of the presidency. DT then transmits his written declaration that no inability exists and resumes the powers and duties of the presidency. Pence et al then file their written declaration that DT really is unable to discharge the powers and duties of the presidency. Enter the House and Senate to settle the argument by a 2/3 majority vote.
At least the 25th Amendment sets a short time frame for it all to play out.
And Lady Lindsey will serve tea and some of those delightful little cakes.
FERGAWDSAKES Graham - the entire US intelligence community has already told you they did!
@bluestatedon: “besieging Republican congresscritters in every venue” - how do we do this with a freshman from a red district who doesn’t sit on any committees that have anything to do with this and seems to enjoy a 45 up his ass?
@ncsteve: “their superpower intelligence apparatus gives them an ability to spread political chaos, subvert democracy and push an authoritarian ideological agenda in other nations far in excess of their actual importance” Not to mention their export of Russian assets to their own pockets, the guy in charge comes straight from that intelligence community, and there is no one on the horizon who can stop him.
Your strategy tree has certainly been playing out, if in a foreshortened by circumstances way. There’s one thing I’m not clear on, though, which is exactly how McConnell could be criminally liable for his obstructionism. He’s obviously been trying to keep this under control from the beginning, as morally bankrupt as that might be, and politically it would make sense. I just don’t get exactly how his refusal to be part of a bipartisan condemnation of the meddling before the election is a problem legally in itself, barring some further evidence he was withholding knowledge of criminal activity or obstructing justice in some way.
Also curious about your view of this fun Raw Story piece provocatively headlined “He will die in jail” saying an even-more-pissed IC is ready to take it up a notch.
