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A NOTE FROM FRED
Key House Republicans are out to sabotage Mueller’s Russia investigation at any cost.
Representatives Mark Meadows (R-NC) and Jim Jordan (R-OH), leaders of the House Freedom Caucus, have gone so far as to threaten to impeach Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein if he did not turn over DOJ documents dealing with the investigation.
House Intelligence Committee Chair Devin Nunes (R-CA) similarly has threatened Rosenstein with impeachment.
These are thug-like tactics being carried out by irresponsible House Members acting as agents of President Trump in order to provide phony cover if Trump decides to fire Rosenstein and/or Mueller.
We have seen this movie before.
In the last Congress, Meadows and Jordan tried to impeach IRS Commissioner John Koskinen with absolutely no basis at all for their actions. The House overwhelmingly rejected this effort by a vote of 342-72.
Today, Meadows and Jordan, joined by Nunes, are again abusing their office to threaten to impeach Rosenstein and to wrongly attempt to inject themselves into an Executive Branch criminal investigation they have no business going near.
Like President Trump, Meadows, Jordan, and Nunes have shown disdain for the rule of law, disdain for our law enforcement system, and disdain for our constitutional system of government.
In the 229 years we have lived under the Constitution, the House has exercised its power to impeach only once in a case involving an Executive Branch official other than the President. That occurred in 1876.
This is because House Members throughout history have recognized that the impeachment power was not placed in the Constitution to be used for political, partisan, or ideological purposes.
Apparently nobody told Representatives Meadows, Jordan, and Nunes about this. They have discredited the House with their improper conduct, and they need to be held accountable by their House colleagues.
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MUST READS
D21 NEWS
D21 & Watchdog Groups Urge Congress To Pass Bipartisan Legislation To Protect Mueller; Warn That Firing Rosenstein Crosses A Red Line
In a letter to Congress organized by D21 and signed by 15 other groups and experts, we wrote: “President Trump has repeatedly shown his utter disdain for the rule of law and for our constitutional system of checks and balances. Congress must act immediately to protect the independent Special Counsel investigation if the President fires Special Counsel Mueller or Deputy Attorney General Rosenstein.” Read more
“TRUMP & FRIENDS”
Trump, A Reluctant Hawk, Has Battled His Top Aides On Russia And Lost, via The Washington Post. Read more
More Than One-Fifth Of The Trump Campaign’s Spending This Year Has Been On Legal Fees, via Buzzfeed. Read more
Trump Allies Worry Cohen Will Flip, via Politico. Read more
The Company Trump’s Lawyer Michael Cohen Kept
“Many of the people who crossed paths with Cohen ... were disciplined, disbarred, accused, or convicted of crimes. Cohen, 51, has always emerged unscathed — until now,” via ProPublica. Read more
A Brief History Of Michael Cohen’s Criminal Ties, via Rolling Stone. Read more
Fox News’ Sean Hannity’s Rising Role In Trump’s World: “He Basically Has A Desk In The Place,” via The Washington Post. Read more
Ethics Probe Into National Labor Relations Board Member William Emanuel’s Conflicts Has Lawyers’ Attention
D21’s Fred Wertheimer: Ethics rules “are meant to address an actual conflict and the appearance of a conflict. This is a problem that is endemic to this administration and it certainly appears to be a problem for Mr. Emanuel that to date he has refused to recognize,” via Bloomberg BNA. Read more
UN Ambassador Haley Sets A Red Line For Trump
“Haley has done what none of her colleagues in President Donald Trump’s Cabinet have before: successfully telegraphed to her boss that she will not quietly suffer his public humiliations,” via Politico. Read more
EPA’s Scott Pruitt Has Become Ridiculous
“Mr. Pruitt is not just an industry lap dog but also an arrogant and vengeful bully and small-time grifter, bent on chiseling the taxpayer to suit his lifestyle and warm his ego. Any other president would have fired him,” via The New York Times editorial board. Read more
Interior Sec’y Zinke Is Opening Up Public Lands. Just Not In His Home State, via The New York Times. Read more
White House Hypes North Korea Trip To Boost Pompeo’s Image As A Diplomat, via Politico. Read more
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FACT OF THE WEEK
“The Art Of The (Self) Deal”
Since 2015, President Trump’s campaign has spent about $13.4M at Trump businesses, the RNC has spent more than $717,000, and Trump Victory, their joint fundraising committee, has spent $595,000.
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#PROTECTMUELLER & #PROTECTROSENSTEIN
Trump Allies Press Dep’y AG Rosenstein In Private Meeting In Latest Sign Of Tensions, via The Washington Post. Read more
Trump Sours On Talking With Mueller After FBI Raid Of Lawyer’s Office, via The Washington Post. Read more
McConnell: I Won't Put Legislation To Protect Mueller On Senate Floor, via CNN. Read more
Six Takeaways From Trump’s Threats Against Rosenstein
“Rosenstein is not being persecuted for his vices. If Trump fires him, it will be for his virtues,” via Lawfare. Read more
The Man Who Could Fire Mueller
If Deputy AG Rod Rosenstein is fired, the next person in line to oversee the Special Counsel investigation is Solicitor General Noel Francisco, “who happens to have an ax to grind against the FBI,” via Politico. Read more
Hundreds Of Ex-DOJ Officials Urge Congress To “Forcefully Respond” If Trump Fires Mueller, via The Washington Post. Read more
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QUOTE OF THE WEEK
Paul Ryan Explains The Important Job Of Being House Speaker …
“I have shattered every fundraising record any speaker has ever set. I came into this job of speaker with a goal to raise $20 million? I doubled it to $40 million. … So there is nobody who’s come close to being able to raise the kind of funds I have and still can raise for this majority.”
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MIDTERMS: COMING SOON TO A VOTING BOOTH NEAR YOU
Kobach Helped Lead Trump’s Election Panel. A Judge Just Found Him In Contempt In A Voter ID Case, via The Washington Post. Read more
GOP Fears Political Risk In Senate Races As House Moves To Extend Tax Cuts
December’s tax overhaul “has not become the campaign booster Republicans said it would be,” via The Washington Post. Read more
After Ryan’s Exit, Big-Money GOP Donors Turn To Senate
A GOP operative who is close with the Senate Majority Leader: “McConnell, in the last few days, has said, ‘The House is lost, we have to hold the Senate,’” via New York Magazine. Read more
Challenger Democrats Are Outraising GOP Incumbents In House Races, via Open Secrets. Read more
GOP Devotes $250M To Midterm Strategy: Keep House Majority, via Associated Press. Read more
She Has Her Eye On 2020. But First Sen. Kamala Harris Is Lending A Hand To All Democratic Senators Up This Year, via The Sacramento Bee. Read more
Two Rogue Billionaires – One On The Right, One On The Left – Are The Biggest Political Spenders In 2018, via The New York Times. Read more
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