Seth Abramson... Breaking News

[pbmus]

https://threadreaderapp.com/thread/1202957657189101568.html

BREAKING NEWS: Some Republican Senators Said to Be Open to Convicting Trump of High Crimes and Misdemeanors and Removing Him From Office

1/ While getting to 67 votes, the number needed for conviction and removal, is another matter, Democrats only need four Republican senators to vote with them to create the historical record of a bipartisan impeachment in which a majority of the Senate voted to convict and remove.

2/ Moreover, if it becomes clear the vote to convict and remove will be bipartisan and represent a majority of the Senate, it theoretically makes it slightly easier for other GOP senators to vote for conviction and removal, though they will still think of their re-election first.

3/ Trump is, as ever, the wild card. If he makes the cataclysmically bad decision to testify himself, which he won't, it'll go so poorly that it could lead to a collapse of support for him. Even GOP senators don't want to watch the president commit perjury over 100 times on TV.

[bluestarone]

1. Good sign!

I see a CRACK developing in the senate rethugs.

[tinrobot]

2. Why they don't toss him over the side is beyond me.

This can't be helping them.

[NightWatcher]

6. They could ask for a quick vote and promise he'd be gone and the world would be finished with him.

He's a National Security nightmare and a terrible person. He's pretty much be guaranteed a prison term as well.

If the right repukes got this moving, they could be the new leaders of their wounded party.

I don't get why they wouldn't kick him out. They can't be loving the negative press.

[lame54]

9. Because he is their only chance of keeping the Whitehouse

[NightWatcher]

10. A smart cookie could spin themselves as the new savior of the party.

If I were a Rubio or a repuke under 60, I'd take the gamble. trump is a loose cannon and no one knows what might come out in October that he has done. He could/will sink the whole party.

[lame54]

11. They'd laugh in Rubio's face...

Rubio would have to convince the Senate to convict and then back his late arrival into the race

Not a chance

[leftieNanner]

24. Maybe not Little Marco

But I bet Mitt and Anne have had some pillow talk about the White House.

[tinrobot]

15. Not so sure of that. Their current candidate is losing and dragging them all down.

A new candidate, perhaps governor not tainted by an impeachment vote, could quickly emerge as a "savior".

If they impeached in Jan/Feb, by November it would be ancient history. Their base has the attention span of a housefly.

[lame54]

16. I didn't say he was a good chance...

He's their only chance

[dixiegrrrrl]

23. Remember, they will have Pence.

And he certainly won't mind moving up, he lives for the chance.

[Buckeyeblue]

22. I think Jeb Bush or Mitt Romney could make a solid challenge

Jeb is clean of Trump. He could run a I'm not him but I have the same ideas campaign. It could change who the best nominee for the Demcrats would be.

[Chakaconcarne]

29. i don't know how they could believe that...

most republicans won't switch to a dem candidate.. they'll vote for any Republican running...

[maryellen99]

20. I think if RBG retires or dies and they get that 3rd SC pick,then they'll wash their hands of him nt

[Wabbajack_]

31. THe republican base loves the jerk

It's as simple as that.

[certainot]

34. the senators are afraid of liimbaugh. he decides how they do in the primaries

all dems have to do is protest and boycott rw radio until it falls apart

his 'base' is smaller than it looks. they love trump because liimbaugh has been making excuses for him since the pres GOP primaries - they're dittoheads.

if lmbaugh turned on him he wouldnt last a minute

[Hermit-The-Prog]

3. Cowardly Donald Trump is too chickenshit to testify

somebody with twitter could spread that around and watch him bellow about it at the tv cameras

[patricia92243]

4. Only four! I didn't realize that. Mitt and Collins are a real possible two.

[DFW]

13. Willard is a maybe. Collins only if she isn't running for re-election

If she wants another term, she gets it with Mitch McTurtle as Republican Leader (as things look now), and she does what he wants, albeit after voicing appropriate "concern."

[Lexee]

5. The upside is about every day, soemthing else happens with Trump.

I mean, Ukraine came out of left field.

We still have a set of two books for a business.

Who knows.

[yellowcanine]

7. Rudy running around Ukraine trying to dig up Biden dirt probably isn't helping.

Proves that failing to remove Trump puts the integrity of the election in peril.

[Wawannabe]

8. #3

They have already seen him commit 1,000s of lies (same as perjury except not under oath) even tho he took the OATH OF THE HIGHEST OFFICE IN THE LAND!!!

[Cartoonist]

12. This caught my eye

in which a majority of the Senate voted to convict and remove.

So Trump wins again with fewer votes.

[leftieNanner]

25. If the Senate votes to remove him

They can also pass a resolution that bars him from running for any government office ever again. Rachel talked about the impeachment and removal of that Federal Judge in 2010. (Adam Schiff was the prosecutor for the trial in the Senate.) After they voted, nearly unanimously to remove the judge, they passed just such a resolution.

[DFW]

14. Only one way that 20 Republicans vote to convict and remove

If every Republican Senator sees themselves losing re-election UNLESS they vote to remove, then they will vote to remove.

How likely is that? I think Godot will show up first.

[leftieNanner]

26. Or Guffman

[sdfernando]

27. It doesn't have to be 20 repuke Senators that vote to remove.

It all depends on how many are there when the vote is taken.

Article I, Section 3, Clauses 6 and 7 provides:

The Senate shall have the sole Power to try all Impeachments. When sitting for that Purpose, they shall be on Oath or Affirmation. When the President of the United States is tried, the Chief Justice shall preside: And no Person shall be convicted without the Concurrence of two-thirds of the Members present.

Judgment in Cases of Impeachment shall not extend further than to removal from Office, and disqualification to hold and enjoy any Office of honor, Trust or Profit under the United States; but the Party convicted shall nevertheless be liable and subject to Indictment, Trial, Judgment and Punishment, according to Law.

A lot of repuke Senators could just decide not to show up for the vote.

[FM123]

30. Yep, all they need is a quorum (51) to vote. The cowards could just stay home....

Remember when former Senator Jeff Flake said that if a vote could be held in secret, 30 to 35 GOP Senators would vote to convict? (They only need 20 to do so.) Well, here’s a way they could “vote with their feet” as it were:

But suppose those 30 senators were seeking a way, as Flake suggested, to remove Trump while avoiding the rage of his base. They might boycott the proceedings—or, when the big day of the vote arrived, mysteriously not show up. With 70 members now present, the number of senators required to convict Trump is no longer 67. It’s 47: exactly the number of seats Democrats and independents currently hold in the Senate.

https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2019/10/12/1891991/-How-the-GOP-Can-Convict-Trump-without-Voting-Him-Out

[DFW]

39. If 30 Republican Senators all have dentist appointments at the time the vote is scheduled

And they all keep them, I hope the next Congress will pass a bill authorizing a bronze statue in Washington of a dentist treating a patient with the words "open wider, please" on the bronze plaque below.

[busterbrown]

28. Not as unlikely

as my Giants winning the Super Bowl

[DFW]

38. I have to defer to your knowledge there

I don't follow American Football.

[Andy823]

17. All of the republican Senators

Who have received money from trump, and in form or another, should be disqualified from the jury. Many have been having private meetings with trump bribing them with access to his donors, and some have also taken money from Russian sources, know or unknown to them.

Anyone beholding to trump in anyway whatsoever, should not be allowed to vote as to his guilt.

I know it won't happen, but it should since it's illegal to bribe a jury in the public sector, it should be the same in an impeachment trial.

[stopdiggin]

18. I think the premise that a couple R senators

changes the optics enough that this will then be considered a "bipartisan" action is just plain false. The narrative is still "a near part line vote."

Them's the cards as are dealt. The rest is wishful thinking.

[Calista241]

19. I don't think it's a guarantee Joe Manchin or Kyrsten Sinema support impeachment either.

So before we declare victory, let's shore up our own voting block.

[Cosmocat]

33. Yep

NM

[gratuitous]

21. Keep. The. Pressure. On.

Can't hurt, might help. Let's squeeze these bastards; they've been far too comfortable selling out the country. We need to make it uncomfortable for them.

[Tiggeroshii]

32. I'm more interested in the 4 GOP senators that will vote with dems when the rules are

Established for the trial.

[Wednesdays]

35. I don't understand where the magic number of four comes from

Four Repug senators, that is. Do the math.

[mopinko]

36. they dont need 67 votes.

only 2/3 of those present assuming a quorum.
they can sick out.

[nitpicker]

37. IMO, "safe seaters" are protecting their committee assignments

https://www.senate.gov/artandhistory/history/common/briefing/Committees.htm

(snip)
The committee assignment process in the Senate is guided by Senate rules along with party rules and practices. Most new members arrive at the Senate with a "wish list" of committee assignments. They recognize that appointment to committees with a special impact on the interests of their states and regions can promote their own legislative effectiveness. For Senate party leaders, the committee appointment process offers a means of promoting party discipline through the granting or withholding of desired assignments.
(snip)

In the practice of recent years, party conferences convene before the start of each new Congress to elect leaders and determine committee assignments. Each party conference appoints a "committee on committees" to prepare a roster of members it wishes named to the party's specifically allotted committee seats. The percentage of a party's representation within the Senate determines the percentage of seats it will gain on each committee, although exact numbers are subject to negotiation between party floor leaders.
(snip)