Grasping straws
Don’s GOP pals flailing around on defense
Republican pols are going all-out to defend President Trump ahead of key steps this week in the impeachment inquiry in the House of Representatives.
Trump’s GOP supporters lashed out at Democrats Sunday, with one senator going so far as to spew a discredited conspiracy theory saying Ukraine was trying to help Hillary Clinton’s presidential run in 2016.
“I think both Russia and Ukraine meddled in the 2016 election,” Sen. John Kennedy (R-La.) said NBC’s “Meet the Press. “The fact that Russia was so aggressive does not exclude the fact that [Ukraine’s former President Petro] Poroshenko actively worked for Secretary Clinton.”
Called out by “Meet the Press” host Chuck Todd, Kennedy vaguely said, “read the articles,” but did not provide any information to substantiate his crazed claim.
Russia, which aggressively worked to boost Trump in 2016, has propagated the conspiracy theory that Ukraine meddled in U.S. elections, as intelligence officials reportedly briefed senators in recent weeks.
Last week, Kennedy claimed no one could say whether Russia or Ukraine was responsible for hacking the Democratic National Committee’s servers — a crime actually committed by Moscow, according to U.S. intelligence agencies. Kennedy came under fire for his comments and later said he’d misheard the question.
On Sunday, the southern senator also sought to spin the White House’s refusal to cooperate with the impeachment investigation, claiming House Dems haven’t given Trump officials the opportunity to provide evidence.
“Rounds one and two by (House Speaker Nancy) Pelosi and (Intelligence Committee Chairman Adam) Schiff are as rigged as a carnival ring toss and we both know that,” Kennedy said.
On Monday, the House Intelligence Committee is expected to unveil its report on the impeachment investigation, which focuses on Trump’s admitted efforts to pressure Ukraine into smearing former Vice President Joe Biden while the commander-in-chief withheld nearly $400 million in military aid to the Eastern European country.
After the report comes out, the Intelligence Committee will vote on whether to approve the findings, based on a whistleblower complaint against Trump along with the November hearings featuring a range of executive branch officials.
The Intelligence Committee is expected to hold hearings to draft articles of impeachment as soon as Wednesday.
Trump’s allies have blasted Democrats since Pelosi announced the impeachment inquiry on Sept. 24.
On Sunday, Rep. Doug Collins (R-Ga.) repeated calls for Schiff to testify in the impeachment hearing.
“If he chooses not to” testify, he said on “Fox News Sunday,” “then I really question his veracity in what he’s putting in his report.”
Collins also whined about the timetable for the Intelligence Committee’s next steps, saying Republicans aren’t scheduled to get enough time to read the forthcoming report.
“This is a problematic exercise and simply a made-forTV event coming on Wednesday,” Collins said.
Meanwhile, Democratic presidential candidate Amy Klobuchar slammed President Trump’s Ukraine efforts as a “global Watergate.”
“Back then, you had a president in Richard Nixon who was paranoid and he delegated to some people to go break into the headquarters and get into a file cabinet to get dirt on a political opponent,” the Minnesota Dem said Sunday on “Meet the Press.” “That is basically what this president has done on a global basis.”