WH Aides, GOP Lawmakers Having Calls On Impeachment Strategy

bwillator · October 23, 2019, 12:40pm

And when White House aides have no control over what their boss will say or do.

erik_t · October 23, 2019, 12:41pm

I’m old enough to remember "DO NOT CONGRATULATE"

Don’t tell lies for people who aren’t smart enough to remember their own lies. But of course total fools like Kevin McCarthy will do so happily.

cervantes · October 23, 2019, 12:44pm

Or just “Don’t tell lies,” but, of course, you’re right: these are House Republicans we’re talking about, so that by itself would not compute.

schmed · October 23, 2019, 12:45pm

Question for GOP Congressional Boot Lickers contemplating impeachment: what have you got to lose?!

Let’s say they go along with the Dems and impeach the Mango Maniac by New Year’s. How can he exact any real revenge when he’s being booked at Rikers for a nice long vacation? What will the MAGAts do when their Dear Leader doesn’t have access to Twitter - rise up in the Great Lemming Suicide of 2020?

I’m no politician, but I’m not seeing what those GOP cowards are seeing.

steviedee111 · October 23, 2019, 12:46pm

Graham was complaining yesterday about the whistleblower. 27 publicly identified people, with bona fide claims to being in the know insiders, have dropped Trump in the grease. And Graham is harping about the whistleblower.
That shows you how they plan to confront this.

bankerpup · October 23, 2019, 12:48pm

And, if they’re smart, they’re worried about their own hides. If not, as @cervantes pointed out, their advice is less useful than holey toilet paper.

bwillator · October 23, 2019, 12:50pm

Graham was also saying yesterday that the impeachment process is “a lynching, in every sense.” I really wonder whether his cognitive abilities are falling to pieces from a combination of age, declining health, and the stress of having to bend and stretch and twist to support a mad president just because the president was elected under the rubric of Graham’s party.

yellowbeard · October 23, 2019, 12:52pm

No doubt every call, every conversation will be “perfect.”

docd · October 23, 2019, 12:53pm

The few talking points the White House has been pushing center on denigrating Democrats rather than defending Trump’s actions: that the party has been out to get Trump from the beginning, that they are accordingly fast-tracking the impeachment inquiry and that they are ignoring their other work.

bwillator · October 23, 2019, 12:55pm

He’s not going to Rikers. If he’s impeached and convicted, or if he resigns, Pence will pull a Ford and pardon him, saying it’s for the good of the country.

From an AP story on Sept. 9, 1974:

In announcing the pardon, Ford said any move to try the former President might have taken months or years, during which “ugly passions would again be aroused, our people would again be polarized in their opinions, and the credibility of our free institutions of government would again be challenged at home and abroad.”

Even if Trump is booted out, I don’t believe the Senate will have the stomach to get rid of Pence at the same time, even if the House garners the votes to impeach him. Leaving Pence in place is likely to be part of the deal, and he will use reasoning like Ford’s. And Trump will continue to go around stirring up the shit and inflaming voters. So I don’t think they’re entirely wrong to worry about revenge.

schmed · October 23, 2019, 12:59pm

Hence, the trip to Rikers (which is a NYS jail facility) to face NYS corruption and money laundering charges. If he’s no longer president, he can be immediately booked on state charges and held without bail. Pence can’t pardon his state offenses.

mattinpa · October 23, 2019, 1:00pm

President Donald Trump has given his blessing to regular calls between White House aides and some House Republicans to hammer out a response strategy.

I hope it doesn’t come as a health-threatening shock to anyone but I don’t actually see a lot of work for Trump himself in that arrangement.

bwillator · October 23, 2019, 1:01pm

True enough. You’re right. I just think there’s going to be a lot of wheeling and dealing and he won’t ever go to jail. However, I would be happy to be wrong about this.

becca656 · October 23, 2019, 1:02pm

How difficult was that call:

Deny, deflect and deny again.

Debate the process; don’t discuss the content.

Insult the witnesses as hacks.

There’s probably more so let’s watch the GOP talking points today. It’ll be clear after the first two hacks start talking.

seamus42 · October 23, 2019, 1:10pm

AGENDA:

Which sh*thole countries don’t extradite?
Who’s gonna say stuff on TV until the getaway plane is ready?
Who’s got connections there for coke and hookers?
Will there be pool boys?

tsp · October 23, 2019, 1:12pm

According to the Wall Street Journal, the communication was catalyzed by members of the House Freedom Caucus who were deeply perturbed at the lack of White House guidance on how to respond to impeachment developments.

"According to one White House official, members of the Freedom Caucus are growing desperate in their attempts to continue denying reality, and are seeking guidance in that regard from the President. "

salad · October 23, 2019, 1:13pm

In light of the Mulvaney, Pompeo, Giuliani gaffes (just to mention a few), I’m not sure why they’d want any guidance at all from the WH. You’re far better served professing ignorance while equivocating.

tsp · October 23, 2019, 1:18pm

Rest assured, he makes me feel ill for a host of other reasons.

maricaibo · October 23, 2019, 1:19pm

“House Freedom Caucus”

Now THERE’S a contradiction in terms!

lastroth · October 23, 2019, 1:20pm