House of Representatives: Democrats in da house!

[GreyhoundFan]

I love Ted LIeu:

 

[47of74]

 

[fraurosena]

It's pretty hard now for big pharma to keep up pretences when AOC has all the facts and isn't afraid to knock you about the head with them.

 

[fraurosena]

The big question is, how will you enforce the subpoena's? And what will you do if that enforcement doesn't lead to the desired effect? You need to think about that now, not when you are confronted with the inevitable: them ignoring your enforcement actions. 

 

[fraurosena]

Hurrah!

Too bad it won't pass in the Senate. Those fragile and insecure R's are too afraid of LGBTQ people. 

[GreyhoundFan]

Wow, one whole repub with a conscience:  "GOP lawmaker says Trump’s conduct meets ‘threshold for impeachment’"

Spoiler

Rep. Justin Amash (R-Mich.), a critic of President Trump who has entertained a run against him in 2020, became the first Republican congressman to say the president “engaged in impeachable conduct” based on the Mueller report.

The Michigan lawmaker, often the lone Trump dissenter on his side of the House aisle, shared his conclusions in a lengthy Twitter thread Saturday after reviewing the full report by special counsel Robert S. Mueller III.

Amash wrote that after reading the 448-page report, he had concluded that not only did Mueller’s team show Trump attempting to obstruct justice, but that Attorney General William P. Barr had “deliberately misrepresented” the findings. He added that “few members of Congress even read Mueller’s report.”

“Contrary to Barr’s portrayal, Mueller’s report reveals that President Trump engaged in specific actions and a pattern of behavior that meet the threshold for impeachment,” Amash wrote.

The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

The president often claims the report shows “no collusion, no obstruction,” though neither is true. Mueller did not establish a conspiracy between the Trump campaign and Russia, which interfered in the 2016 election. Mueller did not rule on the question of obstruction of justice, saying it was something Congress should determine.

Amash wrote that it was partisanship keeping Republicans from exercising their obligation to provide checks and balances.

“When loyalty to a political party or to an individual trumps loyalty to the Constitution, the Rule of Law — the foundation of liberty — crumbles,” he tweeted.

Amash, a libertarian, considers himself a strict constitutionalist and in February was the lone Republican to join a Democratic bill to stop Trump from declaring a national emergency to fund his border wall.

“From the time the president was elected, I was urging them to remain independent and to be willing to push back against the president where they thought he was wrong,” Amash told CNN in March. “They’ve decided to stick with the president time and again, even where they disagree with him privately.”

When Trump’s former personal attorney Michael Cohen testified before a House committee in February, most Republicans dismissed him as a convicted liar. Amash asked Cohen: “What is the truth President Trump is most afraid of people knowing?”

Elected in 2010 during the tea party wave, Amash co-founded the House Freedom Caucus, which at the time devoted itself to issues such as repealing the Affordable Care Act. Since Trump’s election, the group has morphed into a mouthpiece for the president on Capitol Hill.

Despite his frequent critiques of the president — when Trump mocked former congressman Mark Sanford last year after he lost his House race in South Carolina’s Republican primary, Amash called it a “dazzling display of pettiness and insecurity” — Trump has not hit back.

But in June 2017, Dan Scavino, the White House social media director, was reprimanded for violating a law forbidding federal employees from campaigning when he encouraged an Amash primary challenge, tweeting: “@justinamash is a big liability. #TrumpTrain, defeat him in primary.”

The White House and the Justice Department are currently at loggerheads with congressional Democrats over the latter’s desire to do their own vetting of Trump.

Amash’s full-throated condemnation of Barr, Trump and his colleagues could give Democrats more ammunition to continue pursuing their investigations.

 

[fraurosena]

6 hours ago, GreyhoundFan said:

Wow, one whole repub with a conscience:  "GOP lawmaker says Trump’s conduct meets ‘threshold for impeachment’"

  Reveal hidden contents

Rep. Justin Amash (R-Mich.), a critic of President Trump who has entertained a run against him in 2020, became the first Republican congressman to say the president “engaged in impeachable conduct” based on the Mueller report.

The Michigan lawmaker, often the lone Trump dissenter on his side of the House aisle, shared his conclusions in a lengthy Twitter thread Saturday after reviewing the full report by special counsel Robert S. Mueller III.

Amash wrote that after reading the 448-page report, he had concluded that not only did Mueller’s team show Trump attempting to obstruct justice, but that Attorney General William P. Barr had “deliberately misrepresented” the findings. He added that “few members of Congress even read Mueller’s report.”

“Contrary to Barr’s portrayal, Mueller’s report reveals that President Trump engaged in specific actions and a pattern of behavior that meet the threshold for impeachment,” Amash wrote.

The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

The president often claims the report shows “no collusion, no obstruction,” though neither is true. Mueller did not establish a conspiracy between the Trump campaign and Russia, which interfered in the 2016 election. Mueller did not rule on the question of obstruction of justice, saying it was something Congress should determine.

Amash wrote that it was partisanship keeping Republicans from exercising their obligation to provide checks and balances.

“When loyalty to a political party or to an individual trumps loyalty to the Constitution, the Rule of Law — the foundation of liberty — crumbles,” he tweeted.

Amash, a libertarian, considers himself a strict constitutionalist and in February was the lone Republican to join a Democratic bill to stop Trump from declaring a national emergency to fund his border wall.

“From the time the president was elected, I was urging them to remain independent and to be willing to push back against the president where they thought he was wrong,” Amash told CNN in March. “They’ve decided to stick with the president time and again, even where they disagree with him privately.”

When Trump’s former personal attorney Michael Cohen testified before a House committee in February, most Republicans dismissed him as a convicted liar. Amash asked Cohen: “What is the truth President Trump is most afraid of people knowing?”

Elected in 2010 during the tea party wave, Amash co-founded the House Freedom Caucus, which at the time devoted itself to issues such as repealing the Affordable Care Act. Since Trump’s election, the group has morphed into a mouthpiece for the president on Capitol Hill.

Despite his frequent critiques of the president — when Trump mocked former congressman Mark Sanford last year after he lost his House race in South Carolina’s Republican primary, Amash called it a “dazzling display of pettiness and insecurity” — Trump has not hit back.

But in June 2017, Dan Scavino, the White House social media director, was reprimanded for violating a law forbidding federal employees from campaigning when he encouraged an Amash primary challenge, tweeting: “@justinamash is a big liability. #TrumpTrain, defeat him in primary.”

The White House and the Justice Department are currently at loggerheads with congressional Democrats over the latter’s desire to do their own vetting of Trump.

Amash’s full-throated condemnation of Barr, Trump and his colleagues could give Democrats more ammunition to continue pursuing their investigations.

 

Darn it, I thought he was a Senator. I was imagining McConnell's head exploding...

[fraurosena]

House committee chairmen demand investigation into Russian oligarch’s $200 million investment in McConnell’s Kentucky

Quote

Top Democrats on Thursday demanded a formal review of a major Kentucky investment by a company controlled by a Russian oligarch linked to Vladimir Putin.

“Democratic lawmakers called on the Trump administration on Thursday to review an investment in Kentucky by a Russian aluminum company that they say has raised concerns about Russian influence on the economy and national security of the United States,” The New York Times reports. “The Russian aluminum company, Rusal, announced on Thursday that its board had approved a $200 million investment in a planned aluminum plant in Ashland, Ky., in partnership with Braidy Industries, a private company based there.”

Kentucky is represented by Republican Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell. The investment announcement came only four months after the Trump administration lifted sanctions on Rusal and EN+, its parent company.

“The sanctions had been imposed last year because the companies were owned and controlled by the influential Russian oligarch Oleg V. Deripaska, a Kremlin ally who the Treasury Department accused of aiding Russia’s “malign activity” around the world,” The Times reminded.

Democrats sent a letter demanding a review, that was signed by Oversight Committee Chair Elijah Cummings, Intelligence Committee Chair Adam Schiff and Foreign Affairs Committee Chair Eliot Engel.

“Given that EN+ is a company substantially owned by individuals and entities with close ties to the Russian government, we believe the proposed transaction warrants immediate review by the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States,” the lawmakers wrote.

 

 

Can Senators be impeached?

[fraurosena]

The question is, will 10 million voters be enough to finally give the overly cautious Dems an incentive to start impeachment procedures?

Petitions with 10 million signatures to impeach Trump delivered to Congress

Quote

National advocacy groups on Thursday delivered to Congress multiple petitions of what they said contained 10 million signatures from people who support the impeachment of President Donald Trump.

They delivered the signatures to Rep. Rashida Tlaib, D-Mich., who has introduced a bill that would direct the House Judiciary Committee to investigate whether Trump committed impeachable offenses — an issue that has been heating up among congressional Democrats and presidential contenders.

MoveOn spearheaded the effort that included groups such as Need to Impeach, CREDO and the organizers behind the annual Women's March.

[video]

"This is incredible because this is how movements start," Tlaib told supporters rallying for impeachment next to the Capitol building. "We cannot set a precedent and allow the rule of law to be eroded, allow our democracy to continue to be corrupted by this president."

Tlaib, who came under fire in January for saying Democrats are "gonna impeach the motherf---er," said Thursday that impeachment of Trump is not only about special counsel Robert Mueller's report, but about his administration's policies.

The petition containing the signatures was delivered to Tlaib on a flash drive.

"We will not avoid impeachment and we will not avoid it because my dear friends, there comes a time in the history of your country where you have to take a stand," said Rep. Al Green, D-Texas, who joined Tlaib at the event, and who has formally introduced articles of impeachment against Trump.

Tlaib’s impeachment-related measure has seven co-sponsors, most of whom signed on after the release of the redacted Mueller report late last month, including Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y.

Meanwhile, Democratic leaders remain cautious about impeachment proceedings. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., said Thursday, "This is very methodical. It's very Constitution-based, it's very law-based, it's very factually based. It's not about pressure — it's about patriotism."

 

 

[AmazonGrace]

 

[fraurosena]

The transcripts of Michael Cohen's testimony to the House earlier this year have been released. A link to the documents is embedded in the article below.

House panel releases Michael Cohen's closed-door testimony

Quote

Newly released, closed-door transcripts reveal that Michael Cohen alleged President Trump's attorney Jay Sekulow had instructed him to lie about negotiations over Trump Tower Moscow.

Details: 

Cohen, Trump's former political fixer, alleged he had been encouraged to say that negotiations to build a Trump Tower in Moscow ended in January 2016. Cohen later confessed these conversations persisted into June 2016, after it was clear Trump would be the Republican nominee.

Cohen also told the Intelligence Committee that lawyers with ties to Trump floated a possible pardon during the federal investigations in hopes that Cohen would remain loyal. Lawyers for Trump have adamantly denied this claim.

House Intelligence Committee chairman Adam Schiff (D-Calif.) announced the committee voted 12-7 to release Cohen's closed-door testimony from early 2019 to the public.

What they're saying:

"To be clear: Mr. Trump knew of and directed the Trump Moscow negotiations throughout the campaign and lied about it. He lied about it because he never expected to win the election. He also lied about it because he stood to make hundreds of millions of dollars on the Moscow real estate project,"

— Michael Cohen told the House Oversight Committee

“We’re trying to find out whether anyone participated in the false testimony that Cohen gave to this committee,” Schiff said, per the Washington Post.

In response to the allegations, Sekulow said Monday evening that Cohen is not trustworthy, per NBC News.

Lanny Davis, Cohen's attorney, said:

"While we were not consulted, we applaud Chairman Schiff for making the transcripts of Michael Cohen's House Intelligence Committee testimony public. Transparency and the truth are Donald Trump's worst nightmares.

Michael Cohen lied only once and that was to Congress — specifically for the benefit (and in accordance with the directives) of Donald Trump to cover for Trump's repeated public lies during the 2016 campaign of no Russia deals or contacts.

To anyone who questions the veracity of Michael Cohen's testimony, I ask: 'Will you testify under oath?'"

[transcript]

 

 

[Howl]

On 5/19/2019 at 8:55 AM, fraurosena said:

House committee chairmen demand investigation into Russian oligarch’s $200 million investment in McConnell’s Kentucky

My concern right now, and I don't think it's an unfounded one, is that we're passed a threshold where we're so exhausted by the relentless avalanche of Russian active measures and the magnitude of blatantly corrupt Russian influence on this administration that we seem too exhausted to fight it. 

A corrupt Putin mobligarch throwing $$$ into an aluminum plant in Mitch McConnell's state IS blatant corruption.  And let me be clear: in the overall scheme of Russian influence and mobligarch money, $200 million is chump change. 

And Mitch McConnell? #FuckThatGuy    I consider him THE most dangerous and corrupt politician in our time. 

Edited May 21, 2019 by Howl

[GreyhoundFan]

I'm not normally a fan of Amash, but I hope he keeps showing he has a conscience:

 

[GreyhoundFan]

I guess Milk Dud is trying to translate his financial documents from Russian into English:

 

[smittykins]

“Milk Dud” 

[GreyhoundFan]

7 minutes ago, smittykins said:

“Milk Dud” 

Both the Devin Nunes' Cow and Devin Nunes' Alt-Mom accounts have been calling him Milk Dud for a while. It never fails to make me laugh.

[fraurosena]

Reading the tweet that DOJ -- which at the moment is synonymous with Barr himself -- is willing to offer ' a review of Mueller report materials' to the committee in order to avoid enforcement actions, makes me laugh. A review? That implies the committee will only get to look at them, and the materials won't actually be handed over. And would those materials actually amount to something? Somehow I don't think so.

Reading the article linked in the tweet I had to revise my view somewhat. Because if you read carefully, you see that what DOJ is offering isn't really something new. What they are saying now is that the materials they were willing to let the committee see will be withheld if they don't stop the enforcement actions. Essentially, they're trying to bribe the committee. Not surprising from this corrupt administration.

From the article:

"The Department has already begun the process of identifying, locating and reviewing the materials potentially responsive to the categories of documents," Assistant Attorney General Stephen Boyd wrote Tuesday, "a process that will not continue should the Committee take the unnecessary and unproductive step of moving to hold the Attorney General in contempt."

I hope Adam Schiff sees through Barr's ploy, and sets his enforcement into action. It's about time somebody really felt the consequences of their actions.

Quote

The Justice Department is trying to stave off an "enforcement action" against Attorney General William Barr this week, making a rare offer to have the House Intelligence Committee review materials from special counsel Robert Mueller's report if House Intelligence Chairman Adam Schiff agrees to back down.

Last week Schiff said that he would hold a business meeting Wednesday to take an unspecified action against the Justice Department for not providing the committee documents related to Volume I of Mueller's report on links between the Trump campaign and the Russian government.

The Justice Department had previously offered to show all committee members a less redacted version of the Mueller report, but now says it's continuing to review the initial tranche of 12 categories of documents Schiff wants, and will make them available "in relatively short order," according to a letter obtained by CNN.

"The Department has already begun the process of identifying, locating and reviewing the materials potentially responsive to the categories of documents," Assistant Attorney General Stephen Boyd wrote Tuesday, "a process that will not continue should the Committee take the unnecessary and unproductive step of moving to hold the Attorney General in contempt."

Boyd's letter also confirms that last week's offer of having all members of the House Intelligence Committee review the less redacted version of the Mueller report remains on the table -- and it now extends to the Senate Intelligence Committee.

CNN has reached out to Schiff's office for comment.

 

[Howl]

Ted Lieu is PISSED right now and calling Barr a "partisan hack" (and with good reason. 

 

[GreyhoundFan]

"Pelosi goads Trump into another temper tantrum"

Spoiler

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) has done it before. Earlier this year, she called President Trump’s bluff, held tough and forced him to reopen the government after he shut it down over the wall. She has a knack for making Trump look especially peevish. So it was on Wednesday:

President Trump abruptly ended a meeting with Democratic leaders on Wednesday, saying he was unable to work with them on legislation following comments by House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) that he was “engaged in a coverup.”

Trump made an unscheduled appearance in the Rose Garden shortly afterward and in a meandering 10-minute address said he had left the meeting with Pelosi and Senate Minority Leader Charles E. Schumer (D-N.Y.) at which they were supposed to talk about working together on a $2 trillion infrastructure plan.

Trump was apparently aggrieved that Pelosi accused him of conducting a coverup. The man who paid off Stormy Daniels to keep his extramarital affair quiet during the campaign insisted that “I don’t do coverups.”

Trump’s fit amounts to saying “I will NOT do my job so long as Congress is doing its job!” That’s what this amounts to, a confession of sorts that his legal stonewall strategy may not be sufficient and that his personal vulnerability is so great that he is unable to do his job. That would seem, well, grounds for impeachment. But while impeachment is unpopular, a president refusing to do things he promised to help voters because he is under investigation is even more unpopular.

In her comments to the media after Trump stalked out, Pelosi observed that maybe it was “lack of confidence on his part” that caused him to short-circuit infrastructure talks. “He just took a pass and it just makes me wonder why he did that,” she said. “In any event, I pray for the president of the United States. And I pray for the United States of America.” She certainly knows how to rub it in.

However, she was not done. Appearing shortly afterward at the Center for American Progress Ideas Conference, she recounted, “In an orchestrated, almost to an ‘oh, poor baby’ point of view. . . . [Trump] came into the room and said that I said that he was engaged in a coverup.” She continued, “It’s really sad.” As she put it, it was all “very, very, very strange.” For good measure, she added, "This president is obstructing justice and he’s engaged in a coverup. And that could be an impeachable offense.”

Whether Pelosi intended this result or not, her ability to treat Trump as a spoiled child and provoke even more self-destructive behavior has several positive benefits for Democrats in this context. First, it puts the blame for not accomplishing anything on infrastructure — or anything else — squarely on Trump’s shoulders. Second, he makes it nearly impossible for incumbent Republicans to run in 2020 on any record of accomplishment. The GOP will rightfully be called the do-nothing party. (Well, in fairness they do plenty — excusing Trump, enabling Trump, ignoring Trump’s wrongdoing, etc.) Third, it’s a preposterous position — what else will he refuse to do? — for someone who will be running for reelection in 2020. Fourth, more than anything, he has shown how panicked he is about investigations, thereby giving Pelosi the ability to talk to frustrated members of her caucus who want to start on impeachment the perfect comeback: We’ve got him on the run. Fifth, if they ever do get around to impeachment, Democrats can add another count against him: Refuses to do his job while lawful investigations are going on.

All in all, Pelosi once again demonstrated that the best person to deal with a weak narcissist prone to temper tantrums is a mother and grandmother.

Poor baby doesn't like having adults calling him out on his behavior.

[Dandruff]

7 hours ago, GreyhoundFan said:

Poor baby doesn't like having adults calling him out on his behavior.

I think he may have tantrummed himself into another corner, so the Dems should keep reminding him that the investigations are continuing and ask him if he's able to work.  If he is, it looks like he contradicted himself.  If he isn't, it's time to quit or be removed.

[Howl]

Apparently, according to twitter, Maxine Waters requested documents from Deutsche Bank and one other financial entity and they have been providing those documents to her on the down low. 

Deutsche Bank is not looking good; they've noted that, oopsie, the software that flags potentially illegal transactions has had a "glitch" for, I shit you not, 10 years.  As many have noted, that's called a feature, not a bug.  

Also, someone leaked a legal memo from Treasury that confirms that the IRS knows that it has a legal obligation to tender Trump's requested taxes to Congress.   

Interesting times. 

[Howl]

On 5/21/2019 at 12:43 PM, GreyhoundFan said:

I'm not normally a fan of Amash, but I hope he keeps showing he has a conscience:

Here's a unroll of Justin Amash's latest twitter thread re: the Mueller Report.  He fillets Trump in the most brutal way by dissecting the malfeasance one item at a time.  Just click on the text below to open the unroll

Mueller’s report describes a consistent effort by the president to use his office to obstruct or otherwise corruptly impede the Russian election interference investigation because it put his interests at risk.

Who the heck knew it would be a Libertarian with some astoundingly noxious beliefs who would come to the fore with brutal clarity to undermine this shit show. 

If Trump were smart, he'd never tweet or mention Amash ever.  Trump's tweets send people Amash's way to see what's up and then they find out.  

However, we all know Trump's got zilch for impulse control and can't, simply cannot, STFU. 

 

Edited May 23, 2019 by Howl

[GreyhoundFan]

"Why Pelosi is so good at infuriating Trump"

Spoiler

Something about Nancy Pelosi just gets under Donald Trump's skin.

On Wednesday, for the third time in barely six months, a meeting between the president, the speaker and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer blew up in spectacular fashion.

And in each case, Trump handed Pelosi a huge gift, a priceless moment that helped unify the Democratic Caucus behind her at a crucial time.

“She’s smarter than him, and she’s tougher than him, and I think that bothers him,” said Rep. Dan Kildee (D-Mich.), a Pelosi ally. “It's hard to get inside that head of his and figure out what drives him, other than an oversized ego and an undersized sense of ethics.”

Trump doesn’t have a condescending nickname for the speaker as he does for other Democrats. He even appears to have a grudging respect for Pelosi, the first woman to serve as House speaker. He treats her as a peer who commands her chamber with a firm hand, and he knows she can deliver on votes, and that she is willing to call any bluff at any time.

The latest episode of “Trump vs. Pelosi” featured Trump storming out of a planned White House meeting with Pelosi, Schumer and other top Democrats over a proposed $2 trillion infrastructure package.

It was just the type of explosion that allows Democrats to portray the president as unreliable, tempestuous and impossible to negotiate with. And Trump's refusal to cut any deals with Democrats while they engage in oversight — something every president has to live with — backs up what Democrats have said since the 2016 campaign: Trump is only out for Trump, not the American public.

“Guess what? He behaves like a child. This is what we have in the White House now,” said Sen. Chris Murphy (D-Conn.), who served under Pelosi in the House. “I’m used to it. I’m not expecting a grown-up any longer. I’m not expecting him to grow into the role.”

And for Pelosi, the timing is perfect. As the drumbeat for impeachment grows within her caucus, she can argue that what they’re doing is already working. Trump clearly doesn’t know how to respond to the barrage of Democratic investigations; they’re winning in the courts and he’s throwing fits. So why bother with impeachment, especially when Democrats know that a GOP-run Senate isn’t going to remove him from office?

Meanwhile, the Trump-Pelosi confrontations are getting to be recurring spectacles, and even Republicans know it hurts the president's image.

"It's a disaster," said a senior Republican who requested anonymity. "It plays right into her hands."

Last December, Trump clashed with Schumer and Pelosi over his border wall in front of TV cameras. Then during talks to end the ensuing government shutdown in January, Trump slammed his hand on the table and walked out when Pelosi refused to yield on funding for the wall.

“It seems like anytime she strikes a nerve... he freaks out,” said Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz (D-Fla.). “I think he realizes the walls are closing in on him."

Wednesday’s blow-up also has very real implications for the president's near-term agenda.

Democrats and Republicans were nearing a two-year budget deal with the White House; Pelosi and Schumer had been in general agreement with Trump on the need to do infrastructure; and the president was beginning an urgent campaign to get his new trade agreement through Congress. All these efforts could be stalled if Trump follows through on his threat to refuse any deal-making — which would only damage the president's reelection campaign.

Still, the collapse of yet another infrastructure week wasn’t a complete surprise.

It was clear by Tuesday night that Trump was having second thoughts about the gathering, which grew out of a surprisingly cordial White House meeting several weeks ago in which the president rebuffed some of his own advisers to set a massive, $2 trillion goal with Democrats.

Trump warned in a letter that night that he would do an infrastructure deal only if Congress first passed the new North American free trade agreement he negotiated with Mexico and Canada. Pelosi and other Democrats have serious concerns about the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement, or USMCA, so they were already wary about a potential Trump ambush as they headed to the White House on Wednesday.

Republicans, who were excluded from the infrastructure talks, have been playing down Trump and Democratic leaders’ bipartisan aspirations for weeks.

“Meetings that don’t include the leadership of both parties are unlikely to go anywhere but take a negative turn,” said Sen. Roy Blunt (R-Mo.).

But what actually set off Trump on Wednesday was a comment from Pelosi earlier in the day. Coming out of a closed-door session with fellow Democrats in which she argued against beginning an impeachment inquiry against Trump, Pelosi said the president “is engaged in a cover-up” of improper behavior.

That was all the president needed to torpedo the Cabinet Room session. An angry Trump accused Pelosi of saying “horrible, horrible things” and being “disrespectful,” then stormed out of the room for a Rose Garden news conference.

“It is the nature of this president’s temperament to blow up with frequency. And perhaps Nancy and Chuck are catalysts of that from time to time,” said Senate Minority Whip Dick Durbin (D-Ill.), who was present for Wednesday's drama.

After Trump said he wouldn't discuss infrastructure or any other legislative priorities until the investigations ended, the meeting ended with a pointed exchange between Pelosi and White House counselor Kellyanne Conway, according to two people familiar with the meeting.

Conway asked the speaker to respond to Trump, who had already left the room.

“I’m responding to the president, not staff,” Pelosi said.

Conway countered sarcastically: “That’s really pro-woman of you.”

Out in the Rose Garden, Trump railed against special counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation, then took a shot at Pelosi. “This whole thing was a take-down attempt of the president of the United States,” Trump declared.

"I don't do cover-ups," Trump added.

Pelosi punched back when she returned to Capitol Hill, saying she prays for Trump and the entire country.

“For some reason, maybe it was lack of confidence on his part that he couldn’t match the greatness of the challenge we have… he just took a pass,” Pelosi said at a news conference.

Trump’s Republican allies, meanwhile, quickly fell in line behind the president, at least publicly, in the latest sign that Pelosi’s probes have zero support on the other side of the Capitol.

“Ridiculous. To accuse the president of the United States of a cover-up is absolutely inappropriate,” said Sen. David Perdue of Georgia.

“The president’s just tired of getting verbally assaulted every day. … To have her continue that kind of slander is probably hard to take,” said Texas Sen. John Cornyn.

Pelosi, though, knows that Trump can rail against her on TV and Twitter, but he still needs her to do anything important, including keeping the federal government open or raising the nation’s debt limit.

On Tuesday, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell had urged a speedy conclusion to budget negotiations, perhaps in an acknowledgment of how critical it was to seize the bipartisan moment given the up-and-down nature of Trump’s relationship with Democrats.

Now some on Capitol Hill worry that the president will disengage from spending negotiations, too, since House Democrats have no intention of breaking off their investigations.

“Whether he likes it or not, sequestration is coming roaring back. We have a debt ceiling we’ve got to raise. And we have a budget deal we’ve got to reach. Or we face a real risk,” said Sen. Chris Coons (D-Del.) “Robust congressional oversight is part of the structure and history of our country. And he’s going to have to answer some questions.”

I love that she ticked off K-Con as well as Donnie Dumbass. It was a two-fer.

[GreyhoundFan]

"DeVos family ends financial support for Rep. Amash"

Spoiler

The wealthy DeVos family said through a spokesman Wednesday it was cutting off financial support for Rep. Justin Amash (R-Mich.), the fifth-term congressman who this week called President Trump’s behavior “impeachable.”

The Michigan-based family, which made its fortune running Amway, decided to stop donating to Amash before his most recent comments about the president, DeVos family spokesman Nick Wasmiller said in a statement.

“Family members have expressed increasing concerns about a lack of representation for their district, the Third Congressional, and I would say an inability to advance efforts connected to important policy matters,” he said.

The news was first reported by the Detroit News.

Throughout Trump’s presidency, Amash has consistently spoken out against him and his policies. On Saturday, Amash shared on Twitter his thoughts about the findings of special counsel Robert S. Mueller III’s Russia investigation, and concluded that Attorney General William P. Barr was being untruthful, that Trump had engaged in impeachable conduct, and that his fellow Republicans were turning a blind eye because of partisanship.

The DeVos spokesman said he was not speaking for Education Secretary Betsy DeVos, who married into the family.

DeVos family members are megadonors to the Republican Party. Amash, who was not at risk of losing his seat, received $16,200 from them in 2018. They also gave $1 million to the Freedom Partners Action Fund, a super PAC aligned with Amash’s ideology. Amash was a founding member of the House Freedom Caucus, though he has fractured from the group over his public critiques of Trump.

The loss of a major donor could sting in 2020, when Amash will face his first primary challenge since 2014. State Rep. James Lower, who supports the president, launched his bid soon after Amash backed impeaching Trump.

Amash, the only congressional Republican to take this stance, has not ruled out running for president in 2020, probably as a third-party candidate on the Libertarian ticket.

The congressman, who has kept a relatively low profile since his tweets about Trump, told CNN Wednesday he had no reaction to the loss of the DeVos family support.

Amash said he’s mostly avoided media interviews this week because he wanted to present his reasoning “in the most clear-cut, sober way possible.”

But he has been speaking to school children visiting the Capitol about it.

“Don’t let people convince you that principles only matter when the outcome is in your favor,” Amash told a group of eighth graders, CNN reported. “Principles matter especially, and really only, when the outcome is not in your favor.”

I guess they have to find a complete nutjob to fund.

[fraurosena]

Sorry, the presidunce is too busy boasting about his stable genius to answer your letter, let alone invite you over.

 

Edited May 24, 2019 by fraurosena