The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
GOP senators may acknowledge quid pro quo
But any Republican shift may complicate Trump’s message.
WASHINGTON — A growing number of Senate Republicans are ready to acknowledge President Donald Trump used U.S. military aid as leverage to force Ukraine to investigate former Vice President Joe Biden and his family as the president repeatedly denies a quid pro quo.
What’s happening
In this shift in strategy to defend Trump, these Republicans are saying the president’s action was not illegal and does not rise to the level of an impeachable offense as the Democratic-led House moves forward with the open phase of its probe.
But the shift among Senate Republicans could complicate the message coming from Trump as he fights the claim he had withheld U.S. aid from Ukraine to pressure it to dig up dirt on a political rival, even as an increasing number of Republicans wonder how long they can continue to argue no quid pro quo was at play in the matter.
The pivot was the main topic during a private Senate GOP lunch Wednesday, according to multiple people familiar with the session who spoke on the condition of anonymity to describe the meeting. Sen. John Neely Kennedy, R-La., argued there may have been a quid pro quo but said the U.S. government often attaches conditions to foreign aid and nothing was amiss in Trump’s doing so in the case of aid to Ukraine, these individuals said.
“To me, this entire issue is going to come down to: Why did the president ask for an investigation?” Kennedy, who worked as a lawyer, said in an interview. “To me, it all turns on intent, motive. ... Did the president have a culpable state of mind? ... Based on the evidence that I see, that I’ve been allowed to see, the president does not have a culpable state of mind.”
One senior Republican aide cautioned that acknowledging a quid pro quo is unlikely as a strategy for the Senate GOP, even if some conservatives like the idea.
Why it matters
The discussion underscores the dilemma for congressional Republicans as a cadre of current and former Trump administration officials paint a consistent picture of a president willing to use foreign policy to undercut a potential domestic political adversary.
On Thursday, Trump appointee and longtime Republican aide-turned-National Security Council adviser Tim Morrison became the latest official to testify that nearly $400 million of congres-sionally appropriated military aid for Ukraine was frozen to increase pressure on President Volodymyr Zelenskiy to investigate Biden, a 2020 presidential contender.
And with the House Democrats voting Thursday to open the closed-door impeachment investigation, undermining the GOP’s complaints about a secretive process, Republicans are seeking a new strategy and talking points to defend the president.
Meanwhile, the president has frustrated Senate Republicans by seeming to change his messaging strategy every day rather than present a coherent defense of hisactions, said multiple Senate GOP officials who spoke on the condition of anonymity to comment frankly.
The willingness of some Senate Republicans to acknowledge a quid pro quo while dismissing the offense comes just two weeks after acting White House chief of staff Mick Mulvaney had to walk back a similar assertion. Mulvaney argued in a long-winded news conference Oct. 17 that quid pro quos are a common feature of foreign policy and the media should “get over it.” Congressional Republicans balked, forc ing Mulvaney to retreat.
What’s next
The Senate lunch, according to those in attendance, also focused on how best to rally to Trump’s defense if he is impeached. Under the constitutional process, the Senate would hold a trial, with conviction requiring the votes of two-thirds of the senators present.
While some Senate Republicans have argued for a quick trial, most other senators believe that moving quickly could backfire. Senate Republicans, especially those up for reelection next year in Democratic-leaning or swing states, could face criticism that they did not take the charges seriously.