Tweets Of The Day -- Republicans Shrug Off Trump Crimes (UPDATED)

The rot of the Republican Party in clear view:

GRASSLEY dismisses the SDNY court filings implicating POTUS.

“As long as Cohen’s a liar I shouldn’t give much credibility to what he says,” senator tells reporters.

Told that it’s prosecutors alleging it, Grassley replies: “He got his information from a liar.”

— Sahil Kapur (@sahilkapur) December 10, 2018

Republican senators react to U.S. prosecutors implicating the president in a crime 👇

THUNE: “We just don’t have the full picture yet.”

CAPITO: “We’ll just have to wait and see where it lands.”

PORTMAN: “I don’t know the details of it... We’ve just got to see where it goes.”

— Sahil Kapur (@sahilkapur) December 10, 2018

Hatch dismisses allegations of Trump crimes over hush money.
Asked if he had any concerns, Hatch said: “The Democrats will do anything to hurt this president.” Told it was alleged by SDNY, Hatch told me: “Okay but I don’t care; all I can say is he’s doing a good job as President”

— Manu Raju (@mkraju) December 10, 2018

UPDATE:  The Republican party- before- country hacks like those above might want to read the letter in today's WaPo by 44 former Democratic and Republican senators basically telling them to grow a spine.

Tweets Of The Day - The Unconscionable Sens. Grassley And Graham

The Fusion GPS transcript should make it clear how unconscionable @LindseyGrahamSC and @ChuckGrassley 's attempt to smear Steele for political reasons is.

— Elizabeth Spiers (@espiers) January 9, 2018

If it turns out true, that in the end Russia investigation started from a Trump campaign whistleblower, a tip from the Aussies and later 3rd source a dossier pushed by McCain, @GOP will be forever sullied for going after Mueller to protect Trump https://t.co/FHu1pMEAc8

— Clint Watts (@selectedwisdom) January 9, 2018

Wow. @ChuckGrassley, who has worked hard to undermine efforts to determine the extent of Russia’s efforts to undermine democracy, says releasing the transcript of testimony “undermines the integrity” of his investigation. Translation: he can’t keep lying and threatening witnesses

— Kurt Eichenwald (@kurteichenwald) January 9, 2018

I’m ready to confirm that Grassley was flat-out lying about Simpson’s testimony. https://t.co/9hxQNC8JUQ

— Laurence Tribe (@tribelaw) January 9, 2018

BREAKING NEWS: Sen Grassley is still an enabler and providing cover https://t.co/qHLYhTIhNk

— Chris Meloni (@Chris_Meloni) January 9, 2018

Bottom line: Grassley lied, slimed Simpson, joined with Graham unconscionably and unilaterally to slime and destroy Steele. Beyond shameful. https://t.co/zlx3JNYvwF

— Norman Ornstein (@NormOrnstein) January 10, 2018

Now that Feinstein has forced this into the open, it makes it:

1. Very clear why her Republican colleagues were suppressing it.

2. Very shameful that her Republican colleagues were suppressing it. They knew the dossier story taking over Fox was a lie. https://t.co/B7WZRis8RG

— Ezra Klein (@ezraklein) January 9, 2018

Who's Obstructing Justice Now? (A Continuing Republican Saga)

(Photo: Alex Wong/ Getty Images)

Why, look, it's the Desiccated Corncob and Huckleberry:

More than a year after Republican leaders promised to investigate Russian interference in the presidential election, two influential Republicans on Friday made the first known congressional criminal referral in connection with the meddling — against one of the people who sought to expose it. 

Senator Charles E. Grassley of Iowa, chairman of the Judiciary Committee, and Senator Lindsey Graham of South Carolina, a senior committee member, told the Justice Department they had reason to believe that a former British spy, Christopher Steele, lied to federal authorities about his contacts with reporters regarding information in the dossier, and they urged the department to investigate. 

Not sure what the Russians had on Grassley that they turned over to Putin puppet Donald "Rump" Trump, but we're imagining their kompromat on Graham involved sumpin' sumpin' on the down- low. Or, it could just be these are the party- before- country careerist weasels we always knew they were.

File this under "Why Democrats need to take back the Senate in 2018."

BONUS:  Connecticut Democratic Sen. Richard Blumenthal issued this statement in response --

“Sadly, the first major action taken by the Republican majority on the Judiciary Committee seems to be aimed at someone who reported wrongdoing, rather than committed it. This action was taken without any bipartisan cooperation, or even consultation. These vaguely stated, secret allegations seem designed more to distract attention from the priority issues for investigation, and discredit the FBI and other law enforcement,” Blumenthal said. 

“One point of indisputable fact is that the FBI’s investigation of Russian interference in our election – and Trump campaign collaboration with it – was triggered by information completely independent from the dossier or Christopher Steele or Fusion GPS. This disappointing step seems to deflect from the genuinely urgent and critical topics of our Committee’s inquiry: Russian meddling in our democracy, Trump campaign collusion with it, and possible obstruction of justice.” 

BONUS II:  Kerry Eleveld has a comprehensive accounting of all the Republican f*ckery on this to date.

(Photo: Graham and Grassley getting marching orders from Rump.)

Letters We Wish We'd Written Dept. - Who Gets To Choose?

In today's once great Washington Post Bezos Bugle:

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell and Sen. Charles E. Grassley showed that congressional Republicans live in a bubble. They argued for a delay in appointing a Supreme Court justice, justifying their stance by referencing the 2014 election: “It is today the American people, rather than a lame-duck president whose priorities and policies they just rejected in the most-recent national election, who should be afforded the opportunity to replace Justice Scalia.”

I don’t recall any candidate running for a national office in 2014. The most consequential elections in 2014 were for senators, representatives and governors. The most recent election in which someone was running for a national office was in 2012, an election in which President Obama trounced his competition. The people spoke, and they spoke loudly. While people can make national statements with their votes in statewide elections, Mr. McConnell and Mr. Grassley neglected to mention that voter turnout in 2014 was the lowest in 70 years, at 36 percent, whereas turnout in the 2012 election was 58 percent. Which election gets closer to a national endorsement or rejection of Mr. Obama’s policies?

The question of whether Americans should get a chance to weigh in on a Supreme Court nominee was already answered, and overwhelmingly so, in 2012.

Doug Parsons, Takoma Park

Such are the b.s. "arguments" being mustered by Republicans like Sen. Mitch "Missy" McConnell to justify delaying President Obama a Supreme Court appointment.  It's time to change course for a Court that's had a conservative Republican majority since 1971 and, given Republican obstructionism, the 2016 election (Presidential and Senate) may be the last, best opportunity for a long time for progressives to get that done.

UPDATE:  One Fly directs us in his comment to a blog post containing a rather ironic quote from the writings of one Mitch McConnell circa 1970.  Seems he's on the same page as St. Ronnie of Hollywood.  LOL.

Go Nuclear on Judicial Nominees

David Weigel reports on the looming fight on judicial nominees, starting with a crucial D.C. Circuit Court vacancy:

Later this week it's likely that Democrats will file for cloture on the nomination of attorney Patricia Millett for a judgeship on the D.C. Circuit. It is likely that Republicans will oppose this. As Sahil Kapur explained in August, when the Senate Judiciary Committee gave Millett a partisan 10–8 recommendation, Republicans have coalesced around Iowa Sen. Chuck Grassley's idea to shrink the D.C. Circuit, stamping in place (for now) a conservative majority. You know, like the majority that ruled against Obama's recess appointments.

"It is clear that the President wants to pack the court with individuals whom he believes will rubber-stamp his agenda," Grassley said in September. "When a President seeks to fill a court with ideological allies for the purpose of reversing certain policy outcomes, that is packing the court."

Did you catch that, right there?  "Pack the court..."   The Rethuglicans are up on their Orwell, we see.

In their desperation to hold onto a right-wing majority on the powerful D.C. Circuit Court, Rethuglicans, led by that sphincter-faced Sen. "Up" Chuck Grassley from Iowa, are saying that filling vacancies now represents "court packing."  In response, we fervently hope that Sen. Reid goes straight to the "nuclear option" on this and any other attempt to play games with the legitimate filling of court vacancies.  Shut down any potential filibuster and get an up or down vote.

These obstructionist reactionaries will never recognize the legitimacy of Democratic governance.  The only elections whose results matter to them are the ones they win.  Screw them (again).

BONUS:  Charles Pierce weighs in.

Quote of the Week - Hypocrisy Division

"You can. Just go work for the federal government." -- Iowa Rethug Sen. Charles "My Assley Is" Grassley, responding last Tuesday to a constituent's question about health insurance at a town hall meeting in Waukon, IA. The constituent had asked Assley "...[H]ow come I can't have the same thing you have?" Assley is opposed to a "public option" in health care insurance that, in essence, is what Assley has as a U.S. Senator. It's the old Rethug philosophy of I've got mine, you get yours, with a little extra noblesse thrown in. So, Assley is not just a hypocrite, he's a smug hypocrite.

(Photo: Sen. Grassley, Man of the People)