The Middletown Press (Middletown, CT)
Murphy plays the odds (maybe) and Himes dons cloak and dagger
WASHINGTON — In the nation’s capital, it seems as though impeachment is in the air we breath — if not in the water we drink. But in Connecticut and the rest of the putatively normal world, political figures spent the week plying their trade per usual — well, almost per usual.
With President Donald Trump doubling down on the propriety of his demands that Ukraine (and now China) investigate his political rival, former Vice President Joe Biden (and son, Hunter), lawmakers mostly were out of town for scheduled recess.
Rep. Jim Himes made it back to Washington in time for a closeddoor House intel hearing Friday that featured intelligence community IG Michael Atkinson, who was among those shepherding the legendary whistleblower’s complaint (about Trump’s July 25 phone call to Ukraine’s president).
But for most of the week, Himes was at an undisclosed location. It was an overseas trip as part of his membership on House intel. Very hushhush — but we assume Himes never uttered the words: “I could tell you, but then I’d have to kill you.”
My enterprising colleague Emilie Munson figured it out after seeing media reports from Pakistan talking about his trip there. Evidently Himes and another committee Democrat, Sean Patrick Maloney of New York, were there to check up on Pakistani efforts to curtail use of its remote Afghanistanborder regions as a terrorist sanctuary.
Reps. Rosa DeLauro, Jahana Hayes and Richard Blumenthal had a more pedestrian time of it.
Blumenthal celebrated Rosh Hashana on Monday and his office churned out press releases on Blumenthal consumertype topics: Ecigarettes, a questionable Weight Watcher’s app for kids, and exploitation of drivers by Amazon subcontractors.
Hayes’ press office kept a low profile, but her appearances in her 5th District were ubiquitous and copious on social media. Lots of education stops at places like Naugatuck Valley Community College (a Hayes alma mater) and Wilcox Technical High School in Meriden. Also, there was a visit to Trumpf Inc. in Farmington, which is a real manufacturing enterprise and not some play on the preimmigration Trump family name in Germany, Drumpf.
Murphy also was out of town, but his destination was Las Vegas for two appearances at the MSNBC Gun Safety Forum — timed to coincide with the second anniversary of the horrific massshooting there.
I wonder if by chance he stopped in somewhere to place a bet on Trumpimpeachment likelihood. As of Wednesday, the odds of Trump getting impeached were 1/2 — meaning a $100 bet pays $50, according to the website TMZ. Not in the bettor’s favor, and it’s getting more difficult.
Murphy outlines quid pro quo case
In the “we read so you don’t have to” department, Murphy offered up another Twitter tutorialwebinar on an important public issue. Last time, it took Murphy 11 tweets to explain what was going on with the attack on the Saudi Arabian oil complex (presumably backed by Iran) and why the U.S should steer clear of “this disaster.”
On Thursday, the subject was how President Donald Trump served up a quid pro quo to Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskiy in his famous July 25 call — whether he made it explicit or not.
And guess what? It took Murphy only six tweets to make his case.
The quid pro quo, of course, is Trump conditioning U.S. military aid to Ukraine on Ukraine’s “playing ball” with Trump on investigating Hunter Biden and his dad, former Vice President Joe Biden. Trump also mixes in more Hillary Clinton trash talk.
Trump says Attorney General William Barr and Trump’s personal lawyer, former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani would be in touch.
The vague substance has to do with what Trump sees as “corruption”: Hunter’s service on the board of a gas company with a perhapsnotentirelykosher owner, and Joe’s alleged efforts to protect Hunter by getting the prosecutor fired.
In the call, “Zelenskiy asks for more security aid. Trump doesn’t say yes. Instead he asks for two things, immediately. First help to destroy Clinton. Second, help to destroy Biden. Pretty simple, right?”
Each of Murphy’s subsequent tweets ends in “pretty simple, right?” He goes through how Trump reminds Zelenskiy that the U.S. “does a lot” for Ukraine but the relationship is not “reciprocal.” Murphy ends with Giuliani and Vice President Mike Pence putting icing on the cake, in case it wasn’t clear to Zelenskiy what he was supposed to do.
All that was before texts between the U.S. ambassador in Kiev and the ambassador to the E.U. were released, which pretty much confirmed a quid pro quo