Republicans may react
Senator Mitch McConnell (R., Ky.) on Tuesday said he doesn’t have the votes to block a resolution to allow witnesses in the Senate impeachment trial, according to multiple reports.
McConnell made the admission in talks with Senate Republicans after President Trump’s defense team concluded its arguments.
If the Senate votes to summon witnesses, Democrats will likely attempt to call on former White House national security adviser John Bolton to give testimony in the trial…
Republicans may react to a subpoena of Bolton by summoning Hunter Biden and the government whistleblower, whose complaint sparked the impeachment inquiry, to testify.
Why yes, likely they will.
I still imagine a scenario in which several of them say to themselves “Oh fuck this shit” and give it up. I’m sure being a Senator is lots of fun and I know it’s very lucrative, what with all the lobbying choices available upon retirement or losing an election, but even so there’s a limit to what people can stomach. Trump is bound to be ruining most of the fun, and the lobbying gigs will still be there.
Their big response as of now is to say “Well then we’ll subpoena Hunter Biden so ha!” Which…ok, go ahead. What’s their point? His taking that job was grotesque, Joe Biden’s failure to tell him not to was grotesque, but that doesn’t change anything about what Trump has done.
Also, Hunter Biden shouldn’t have taken that job, but that goes times a billion for Trump, let alone his gruesome children and fixers and pretend lawyers.
Any Senator who votes to call Hunter Biden better make damn sure that none of their children/spouses/mistresses have taken questionable jobs. I think there could be some very interesting stories to be written!
It’s too late for that now. That’s why the Jeff Flakes of Congress got out when they did. But you’re talking about votes that are coming up this week. And if you don’t toe the line, don’t be too sure about those lobbying gigs — it’s Trump’s party now. Hell, they’re ready to turn on John Bolton just for telling the truth.
What’s funny is that a normal administration might tell McConnell to cut some deals — let (e.g.) Susan Collins loose to defect on one vote, Murkowiski on another, Cory Gardner on another, etc. Enough to let these endangered incumbents claim they showed some independence, while never actually being in danger of losing a vote. But Trump won’t allow that — any contrary vote will be seen as a betrayal that requires maximum retribution.
The party doesn’t control who gets lobbying gigs though does it? Surely it’s the corporations that do.
Right, but the entire point of hiring a former GOP senator for your lobbying firm or corporate board is that they have good relationships on the Hill and in the Administration. If Trump is tweeting about how you were a traitor and he drove you out of office, you’re not looking like a well-connected person. Your former Senate colleagues may like you personally but don’t want to be seen talking with you, and executive branch staffers know the boss hates you and would go berserk if they did you a favor.
I know it’s obvious, but:
“… doesn’t have the votes to block a resolution …”
Yes, let’s make it perfectly obvious that the goal is to block the resolution, and that we’ve failed to achieve that goal. Let’s not give any indication that people should vote in the best interests of the nation. Let’s frame it only as a party discipline issue. I know he pulls this crap all the time, but this caught my attention.
I find the central premise of this whole thing so depressing. The premise being that if Trump can smear Hunter Biden, that will poison people against Joe Biden. Maybe that’s accurate, but it’s still depressing. We’re going to impugn the father’s integrity because he didn’t prevent his adult son from doing something sketchy? And that will be the centerpiece of a campaign against the father? Ugh.
Poor Republicans. If only they’d had control of one or the other Houses of Congress back in 2015 when Hunter Biden was working for Burisma, they could’ve investigated this back then and no doubt found all kinds of corruption.