Nancy Pelosi: “The President & Sen. McConnell have run out of excuses. They must allow key witnesses to testify, and produce the documents Trump has blocked, so Americans can see the facts for themselves. The Senate cannot be complicit in the President’s cover-up.”
https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/boltons-willingness-to-testify-in-trumps-impeachment-trial-ramps-up-pressure-on-senate-republicans/2020/01/06/f14a4e5a-30b3-11ea-a053-dc6d944ba776_story.html
[…]
At least one Senate Republican, Mitt Romney (Utah), agreed Monday that it was imperative that Bolton testify, while Democrats insisted that Republicans’ refusal to allow him to tell his story would be tantamount to a “coverup.”
[…]
Two moderate Senate Republicans — Susan Collins (Maine) and Lisa Murkowski (Alaska) — have said they’re open to hearing from witnesses. And Romney threw his support behind calling Bolton, increasing the likelihood that moderates may force McConnell’s hand eventually.
“I would like to be able to hear from John Bolton,” the 2012 GOP presidential nominee told reporters. “What the process is to make that happen, I don’t have an answer for you. The leaders are trying to negotiate that process right now. . . . What’s important is that we hear from him.”
Still, the same centrist Republican senators signaled that they were willing to start the trial without a deal for Bolton’s testimony, keeping McConnell in firm control for now as he works to delay any decision on additional witnesses until after House Democrats present their case and the president’s defense team rebuts it.
“There are a number of witnesses that may well be appropriate for the stage three, of which he would certainly be one,” Collins said of Bolton. But she also added: “It’s very difficult to decide [witnesses] until we go through the first two stages.”
[continues]
Romney’s heard of Occam’s Razor. Collins has not.
Rolling Stone has a good article on Lindsey Graham.
With this absolutely killer quote from McCain’s campaign advisor.
damn Jack, that quote nails Lindsey to the tree
But, but, he’s ready for a trial – without witnesses – which he said was essential for a trial when he wanted Monica Lewinsky to embarrass Bill Clinton. Hypocritical prick is what come to mind for me.
lindsey personified
CNBC
The United States has denied a visa to Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif that would have allowed him to attend a United Nations Security Council meeting in New York on Thursday, a U.S. official said.
Monday’s comments by the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, came as tensions escalate between the two countries after the United States killed Iran’s most prominent military commander, Qassem Soleimani, in Baghdad on Friday.
Under the 1947 U.N. “headquarters agreement,” the United States is generally required to allow access to the United Nations for foreign diplomats. But Washington says it can deny visas for “security, terrorism and foreign policy” reasons.
The U.S. State Department declined immediate comment. Iran’s mission to the United Nations said: “We have seen the media reports, but we have not received any official communication from either the U.S. or the U.N. regarding Foreign Minister Zarif’s visa.”
U.N. spokesman Stephane Dujarric declined to comment on the U.S. denial of a visa for Zarif.
Zarif wanted to attend a meeting of the Security Council on Thursday on the topic of upholding the U.N. Charter. The meeting and Zarif’s travel had been planned before the latest flare-up in tensions between Washington and Tehran.
The Security Council meeting would have given Zarif a global spotlight to publicly criticize the United States for killing Soleimani.
Iran’s U.N. envoy, Majid Takht Ravanchi, has described the killing of Soleimani as “an obvious example of State terrorism and, as a criminal act, constitutes a gross violation of the fundamental principles of international law, including, in particular … the Charter of the United Nations.”
Zarif last traveled to New York in September for the annual gathering of world leaders at the United Nations – after the United States sanctioned him for implementing “the reckless agenda of Iran’s Supreme Leader.”
The sanctions block any property or interests Zarif has in the United States, but he said he had none.
Zarif also attended U.N. meetings in April and July. During his July visit, Washington imposed tight travel restrictions on Zarif and diplomats at Iran’s mission to the United Nations, confining them to a small section of New York City.
[continues]
Jack, thanks for sharing that! I’m actively supporting Lindsey’s opponent, Jaime Harrison. He knows what he must do to revive the fervor that served Mr Obama. Craig, do you have contacts in SC that would ‘work’ the Rolling Stone piece?
I do Flatus, and forwarded that article to a bunch of them.
As noted by Greg Sargent at Wapo, Little Marco morphs into a lapdog for SFB
Oh how the weak have fallen.
Craig, many many many thanks!
Looking over at the Dem polling data at RCP. In the past few months very little has changed. Bernie and Biden are within about a point of where they were in August. Buttigieg has picked up a whopping couple of points, Liz, after a stellar run from August to October – when she and Joe went from 13 points apart to within a point – has settled back to more than the 13 point disadvantage she had before her run up. The polls suggest that while we all seem to think that it is a 4 way race, in fact it is a 2 way race barring surprises in the first month of primaries, and if looked at from a national perspective, Bernie! is the only candidate within 15 points of Biden (he stands at 9.5 below). Of course Howard Dean had a great February a few years ago and we see where that went, so place yer bets.
Netanyahu: “We must attack Iran”
*Trump attacks Iran*
Netanyahu: “We want nothing to do with attacks on Iran”
…that Trump sure is one helluva chess-player!
All this poll watching…. all this speculation. I can’t wait until March 3rd and we have a much clearer picture. I also can’t wait until my phone stops ringing.
For those who speculated on the other thread about Tom Brady becoming a coach…. nope. Coaches work longer hours than the players. Brady is married to one of the most successful super models… and between Tom and Giselle, they could buy a football team. So as a coach… I don’t see it…. as an owner of a team… that I can see.
Player to coach : Tony Dungy
Steve Schmidt is a marvelous and understated humorist. After all, he could have compared li’l lindsey to a remora, a commensal bacterium in trump’s intestine, or a bluebottle on a cow pie. Anywhat, I hope Schmidt’s appreciation is the anodyne that South Carolina needs.
not all looks bad for lizzie according to news&observer:
RALEIGH
With less than two months until North Carolina’s Super Tuesday primary, Democratic presidential candidate Elizabeth Warren announced senior campaign staff in North Carolina the same day she got the endorsement of former candidate Julian Castro.
The Massachusetts senator’s North Carolina campaign now has more than 20 staffers, including those who have worked on the campaigns of former President Barack Obama and N.C. Gov. Roy Cooper. The campaign’s North Carolina headquarters is in downtown Raleigh. It also opened field offices in Durham, Charlotte and Asheville in December.
Warren’s state director Maggie Thompson worked in the Obama administration and Cooper’s campaign. Community organizing director Rayshawn Dyson previously worked on Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand’s presidential campaign as well as for Hillary Clinton and former Georgia gubernatorial candidate Stacey Abrams. Other senior campaign staffers previously worked for Dan McCready’s congressional campaign and the state Democratic Party.
[…]
Castro, a former housing secretary and San Antonio mayor, was one of the first Democratic presidential candidates to visit North Carolina when he marched with workers in downtown Durham this past summer. He was also the only Latino candidate in the Democratic field.
Warren made her first campaign visit to North Carolina in November, bringing out thousands of supporters to a rally at Broughton High School in Raleigh. The next day, she met with the Latino community.
Castro announced his endorsement in a video of him sitting down with Warren and talking with her about their vision of an America “where everyone counts.”
[…]
In a fundraising email to supporters on Monday, Warren said that she and Castro “are fighting side by side to ensure that families in our country today can have the same opportunity to achieve their dreams as ours did.” Castro is campaigning with Warren in New York City this week.
Election Day for North Carolina’s primary is March 3. It’s one of 16 contests that day with about 40% of all delegates at stake, McClatchy previously reported.
XR, Tony was an excellent coach before he became an excellent commentator. Can’t speak much to his brief career as a player, but he was a decent one – particularly as a safety in 1978 (I’ve done some reading since I initially posted this). I love the edit function.
Well, once again Uncle Joe is off on some path which is not exactly what we have been living with for over ten years. Biden said Moscow Mitch will become somewhat cooperative once SFB is out of office. Ignore eight years of Obama’s administration and three years of SFB. This does mean the guy needs to retire and start enjoying life fishing.
Good riddance to bad rubbish – Duncan Hunter. Another crooked Republican whose absence from the House will not be mourned.
BB, I’m guessing Joe “fondly” remembers a more cooperative time when he was still in the Senate and the two parties did work together better than now. Them days are gone. If anyone should retire and go fishing it’s Moscow Mitch – for the good of the country. all this urging Joe to retire is like commanding that water stop being wet and start running uphill. Ain’t happening so long as he’s running ahead of everyone else in the field.
Well, among “likely caucus goers” maybe those are accurate numbers, but I don’t entirely trust polling anymore. Looking at social media followers (granted, some could be phony or following in a negative manner), the energy looks different.
Bernie 4 million followers on IG
Elizabeth Warren 2.2 million
Joe 1.4 million
Mayor Pete 1 million
Amy K 152,000
Now that Castro has thrown his support behind Warren, they may be able to mobilize Hispanic voters.
Mike Bloomberg is still bombarding the airwaves here. Will he be able to buy his way in? By the way, his healthcare ad features a nurse who sounds so much like Amy Klobuchar, I have to stop and look every time it’s on.
Will escalation/war help Mayor Pete’s numbers, since he has a military background?
BiD, no.
Poobah, here’s the title for your next article “The Unfathomable Stupidity of Donald Trump”.
NEW THREAD
Mr Pogo,
Dungy was fun to watch, a very exciting player. He was/is a really decent fellow.