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At a campaign rally in Ohio, President Trump praised the unity of the Republicans on impeachment saying, they “won 196 to nothing in the House.”
Facts First: This claim is absurd. Trump did not win any vote related to impeachment, let alone win “196 to nothing.” In fact, he had decisively lost a key process vote and then the two votes to actually impeach him. He appeared to be referring to the fact that no Republican voted against him on these three occasions, but he wasn’t clear at all that this is what he meant.
The Democratic-controlled House voted 232-196 in October in favor of the Democrats’ proposed rules for the impeachment inquiry. (That is possibly the basis of Trump’s “196” figure in this quote, but the claim that “we won 196 to nothing” remains nonsensical.) The House voted 230-197 and 229-198 in December on the two articles of impeachment.
A handful of protesters interrupted President Trump at the beginning of his Ohio rally tonight.
“Go home to Mommy!” Trump said to the crowd as the protesters were taken out. “Thank you security. Do we love law enforcement by the way?
After a protester was loudly booed out of the audience, Trump resumed talking about the military. He repeated one of his most frequent claims, that he has “taken care of our vets with choice.”
Facts First: The Veterans Choice bill, a bipartisan initiative led by Sen. Bernie Sanders and the late John McCain, was signed into law by former President Barack Obama in 2014. In 2018, Trump signed the VA Mission Act, which expanded and changed the program.
Trump also made two false claims on the environment at his rally tonight.
Facts First: The US has not just “now” become the world’s top energy producer: it took the top spot in 2012, according to the US government’s Energy Information Administration – under the very Obama administration Trump is accusing of perpetrating a “war” on the industry.
The US became the top producer of crude oil in particular during Trump’s tenure. “The United States has been the world’s top producer of natural gas since 2009, when US natural gas production surpassed that of Russia, and it has been the world’s top producer of petroleum hydrocarbons since 2013, when its production exceeded Saudi Arabia’s,” the Energy Information Administration said.
Facts First: By several measures, US air was cleaner under Obama than it has been under Trump.
There were more “unhealthy air days” for sensitive groups in 2018 than in 2016. Additionally, the lowest amount of unhealthy air days – 598 – occurred in 2014 under Obama. You can read more here.
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell rejected House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s demand that he must first unveil the resolution detailing President Trump’s trial procedures before she sends over the articles of impeachment to the Senate.
McConnell added he’s at a loss when the Senate trial will start. “Haven’t heard a thing,” he said, adding that speculation that the trial could start next week is based on the “same thing you’ve been hearing.”
His statement is the latest indication that the ball remains in Pelosi’s court about when she’ll appoint her impeachment managers and send over the articles, which will start the trial.
As she’s criticized the process outlined by McConnell, Pelosi continues to be vague in public and private about her exact plans — but said the articles would be sent sometime “soon.”
House Intelligence Chairman Adam Schiff told CNN that his committee has no plans to hear testimony from former national security adviser John Bolton before President Trump’s impeachment trial in the Senate, arguing there’s “little to be gained” by going that route.
Schiff said they have not had discussions with Bolton or his team since the former White House aide announced that he’d be willing to testify before the Senate if subpoenaed.
With GOP senators resisting calls to bring him in before their chamber, some have suggested that House Democrats should instead compel testimony from Bolton, who previously warned the House Intelligence Committee he’d fight any subpoena in court.
But Schiff said Thursday that Bolton should testify before the Senate — not the House.
Schiff added: “There’s little to be gained by having him testify separately and then have the Senate get the stale records. If we’re doing this rationally and we’re trying to achieve a fair trial, he should testify before the Senate.”
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell has signed onto a resolution from Republican Sen. Josh Hawley to allow for articles of impeachment to be dismissed because House Speaker Nancy Pelosi still has not transmitted them to the Senate.
Hawley introduced to resolution earlier this week on Monday. However, Republicans don’t have the votes to dismiss the articles.
Where things stand: Republicans are now anticipating that Pelosi will in fact send over articles soon.
Sen. John Cornyn said today that Republicans believe the impeachment trial will begin next week. He said articles of impeachment would likely come by the end of the week.
Republican Sen. John Cornyn said today that Republicans believe the impeachment trial will begin next week.
He also speculated that the articles of impeachment would likely come by the end of the week.
Two sources say at a closed meeting in House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s office, she did not tip her hand to her six chairmen — who are investigating President Trump — about her timeline on sending the articles of impeachment to the Senate.
At a separate meeting with her top messengers on impeachment, sources indicated that Pelosi was still insistent on seeing the details of the Senate procedures before sending the articles over.
CNN’s Dana Bash reports they discussed polling on the public backing a fair trial in the Senate.
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi is telling people privately that they should to stay close, signaling, without saying, that she is hoping and planning to move on impeachment articles soon — like in the next 24 hours.
Pelosi understands that vulnerable members in her caucus especially will have a hard time going home again without having sent the articles to the Senate.
Her hope is that this is made easier by Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell actually sending her the outlines of the trial plans, as he said publicly he would.
As she was leaving Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell’s office, Republican Sen. Lisa Murkowski told reporters that it is “frustrating” the articles of impeachment have not been sent over to the Senate.
What we know: House Speaker Nancy Pelosi has yet to formally introduce the articles to the Senate. Asked about the articles today, the California Democrat said, “I’ll send them over when I’m ready. And that will probably be soon.”
President Trump is receiving conflicting advice on whether to bring conservative House members onto his defense team for the impeachment trial, multiple sources familiar with the discussions said.
Some of his allies and advisers have pushed the White House to include some combination of Republican Reps. Jim Jordan, Matt Gaetz, Mark Meadows, John Ratcliffe and Mike Johnson to the defense team, believing those staunch Trump supporters could deliver the kind of robust defense the President believes he was denied during the House inquiry.
But top Senate Republicans, including Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, have been advising Trump that bringing on GOP House members could frustrate efforts to keep Republicans as unified as possible during the trial. Trump and McConnell met Wednesday at the White House, and the upcoming trial was one of the subjects raised CNN reported.
Other Trump allies, like House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy, have suggested Trump consider waiting to name any member of Congress to his defense team until House Democrats unveil their managers, who will act as prosecutors in the upcoming trial. They suggested he then pick the Republicans who would be most effective against those specific Democrats.
It’s something Republican senators and White House aides have been grappling with for weeks. And the President’s shifting ideas about the trial and what his team’s strategy have left some lawmakers confused.
Some background: CNN previously reported that Jordan, Ratcliffe and Johnson met with Pat Cipollone — who is expected to lead the President’s defense — at the White House just before Christmas, and the President spent much of his two-week working vacation at Mar-a-Lago polling friends and advisers about who would do the best job representing him at the trial.
With the impeachment impasse ongoing, Republican and Democratic senators told CNN they plan to leave Washington after the last votes today.
The votes are expected at about 2 p.m. ET, but are not scheduled yet.
Republican Sen. Jim Risch, the chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, dug into his pocket to show off the boarding pass for his afternoon flight home.
More context: The GOP senator noted — something CNN reported Wednesday — that even if House Speaker Nancy Pelosi abruptly changes course and sends the impeachment articles to the Senate immediately, trial rules provide time for President Trump and his legal team to be summoned to the Senate. They will be given two days to appear.
That would also give senators time to return to DC if needed.
Sen. Lindsey Graham, a Republican from South Carolina, told reporters today that he thinks the impeachment trial will start next week because “the dam is broken.”
He went on to say that he doesn’t think that House Speaker Nancy Pelosi can sit on the articles of impeachment for another few days.
President Trump weighed in today on former national security adviser John Bolton’s announcement that he is willing to testify in a Senate impeachment trial if subpoenaed, saying he wouldn’t stop it but he’d have to ask his lawyers.
“I always got along with him, he didn’t really get along with some of our people, but that’s really going to be up to the Senate,” Trump said.
“I don’t stop it, no,” Trump said, but added, “I’d have to ask the lawyers.”
He continued: “I would have no problem, other than we have to protect — we have to be able to protect — people can’t go up and say whatever my thoughts are … We don’t want that to be out so we have to protect presidential privilege.”
Asked if he’d like to see witnesses testify at an impeachment trial, Trump said, “I’m going to leave it to the Senate,” before listing off a group of people who he’d like to hear from.
Speaking at an announcement of proposed National Environmental Policy Act regulations at the White House, the President went on to list all of the witnesses he’d like to see during a trial.
That included the whistleblower, House Intelligence Chair Adam Schiff, Hunter Biden, and Joe Biden, “and some others,” including “the informer that never showed up” and the “second whistleblower.”
As she wrapped up her weekly news conference, Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi was asked if she would attend the San Francisco 49ers’ NFL playoff game this weekend.
Some in the briefing room laughed at the remark. Pelosi did not elaborate on what “peril” exactly means.
Tensions between the US and Iran escalated this week following a US airstrike that killed Iran’s top general. The House is expected to vote today on legislation that could restrain Trump’s ability to launch military action against Iran.
Meanwhile, Pelosi is also holding onto the articles of impeachment against President Trump. She has not yet sent them to the Senate, which will hold a trial and determine if he should be removed from office after the articles are formally transmitted.
Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi was just asked if she plans to hold the articles of impeachment “indefinitely.”
Here’s how she responded:
Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi repeated some Democrats’ request that the Senate outline its protocols for the impeachment trial before she formally transmit the articles over.
Pelosi has given no indication for when she could send the articles of impeachment over. Lawmakers close to Pelosi insist they have been given no sense of when she will tee up the vote on the House managers to transmit the articles to the Senate.
“As I said right from the start, we need to see the arena in which we’re sending our managers. Is that too much to ask?” she asked at a news conference today.
Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi will have her weekly news conference at 10:45 a.m. ET. Reporters will likely ask her questions about the articles of impeachment, which the House has approved but not yet sent to the Senate.
Lawmakers close to Pelosi insist they have been given no sense of when Pelosi will tee up the vote on the House managers to transmit the articles to the Senate.
However, in the words of one senior House Democrat: “We’re all working under the assumption it’s coming this week.”
Rep. Adam Smith, a Democrat from Washington state, has walked back his comments about the timing of the articles of impeachment handover.
On CNN’s “New Day” earlier this morning, the chairman of the House Armed Services Committee said he believed it was time to send the articles to the Senate.
“I do believe we should do everything we can to force the Senate to have a fair trial. If the Speaker believes that holding on to the articles for a longer time will help force a fair trial in the Senate, then I wholeheartedly support that decision,” he tweeted now/
Here are his tweets:
Rep. Ben McAdams of Utah, a freshman from a swing district, told CNN: “I think it’s time” to send over the articles.
