Evidence in Jeffrey Epstein death points to homicide — not suicide: Former NYC medical examiner

Mod: Did certain powerful pedophiles opt for the Putin Solution for that troublesome Jeffrey Epstein? Any suspects come to mind? Consider this your Tattler Halloween special.

Evidence in Jeffrey Epstein death points to homicide — not suicide: Former NYC medical examiner (Raw Story link): A former New York City medical examiner and forensic pathologist says the evidence in the Jeffrey Epstein case points not to suicide – as has been officially declared – but homicide. Epstein, a convicted sex offender, was awaiting trial on federal charges of sex trafficking minors.

Dr. Michael Baden appeared on “Fox & Friends” Wednesday morning to announce the ligature marks on Epstein’s neck are more consistent with homicide.Baden also offered up a list of irregular actions during the time of Epstein’s demise.

Among them, two guards in charge of Epstein were asleep, Baden says. And Epstein’s roommate “was pulled away,” he alleges. Also the video tape was missing, says Baden. Baden also wants to know whose DNA is on the ligatures – the sheets that were used to hang Epstein.

“Baden, who was hired by Epstein’s brother and observed the autopsy, told Fox News its findings are more consistent with homicidal strangulation than suicidal hanging,” Fox News reports. “He noted that the 66-year-old Epstein had two fractures on the left and right sides of his larynx, specifically the thyroid cartilage or Adam’s apple, as well as one fracture on the left hyoid bone above the Adam’s apple, Baden told Fox News.”

“Those three fractures are extremely unusual in suicidal hangings and could occur much more commonly in homicidal strangulation,” says Baden who notes that the federal government should re-open the case.

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Deja Vu Boomers: Voters Over the Age of 65 Remember Nixon—and Want to Impeach Donald Trump

Mod: Those of us old enough to remember the Richard Nixon impeachment have lived through all of this before, and according to new polling dumping Trump is not a big problem for boomers. We're talking old hat here. Donald can talk about "witch hunts" all day long and most of us will just think of Nixon. But aren't folks over 65 supposed to be more Trump sympathetic? No longer. Blame it on Tricky Dick.

Voters Over the Age of 65 Remember Nixon—and Want to Impeach Donald Trump (Fortune link): Two new polls show that President Donald Trump is losing the support of the key demographic groups that propelled him to the White House in 2016: suburban woman, white Americans without college degrees, and now voters over the age of 65.

A new Quinnipiac Poll found the majority of older voters support impeaching and removing Trump from office, the highest support of any age group. The results indicate that the president may be losing the backing of a group that has long been essential to the success of Republicans.

According to the survey, 51% of voters over the age of 65 believe that Trump should be “impeached and removed from office,” compared with 47% of 18 to 34 year-olds. Nearly six in ten voters over the age of 65 support the ongoing impeachment inquiry in general. “Americans over 65 were all around when Nixon got impeached. They know what the process is. It’s not unfamiliar to them,” said Robert Shrum, Director of the Center for the Political Future and the Unruh Institute of Politics at USC.

A New York Times/Siena College poll out last week found that Americans above the age of 65 were the most likely age group to say they were following the discussion around impeachment very closely.

They were also the most likely demographic, at 36%, to say they strongly support impeaching and removing the president from office. “These are a group of people who predominantly lived through Watergate and the Clinton impeachment. They’ve seen this before and they have a more historic view,” said Joe Trippi, a political strategist who ran campaigns for Alabama Senator Doug Jones and 2004 presidential hopeful Howard Dean. “They have more of a sense of history.”

Mod: The rest of this article is found at the link above.

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Army Colonel to testify it was his ‘sacred duty’ to report Trump’s Ukraine call to superiors

Mod: U.S. Lt. Col. Alexander S. Vindman heard it all. Including Trump's treason calls to Ukraine.

Army Colonel to testify it was his ‘sacred duty’ to report Trump’s Ukraine call to superiors (Raw Story link): U.S. Lt. Col. Alexander S. Vindman is to give damning testimony about President Donald Trump’s July 25th phone call with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, The New York Times reported Monday. “Lt. Col. Alexander S. Vindman of the Army, the top Ukraine expert on the National Security Council, twice registered internal objections about how Mr. Trump and his inner circle were treating Ukraine, out of what he called a “sense of duty,” he plans to tell the inquiry, according to a draft of his opening statement obtained by The New York Times,” the newspaper reported.

Vindman, the director for European affairs on the National Security Council, attended Zelensky’s inauguration with Energy Secretary Rick Perry, special envoy Kurt Volker and Ambassador to the European Union Gordon Sondland.

“I did not think it was proper to demand that a foreign government investigate a U.S. citizen, and I was worried about the implications for the U.S. government’s support of Ukraine,” Vindman will testify. “I realized that if Ukraine pursued an investigation into the Bidens and Burisma it would likely be interpreted as a partisan play which would undoubtedly result in Ukraine losing the bipartisan support it has thus far maintained.”

Lt Colonel Alexander Vindman is ‘the kind of witness that prosecutors dream about’: Mimi Rocah (Raw Story link): Former Assistant U.S. Attorney Mimi Rocah said Lt. Colonel Alexander Vindman will be a “star witness” when he testifies before Congress.

Vindman, who is on active duty in the U.S. Army and received a Purple Heart for his service in Iraq, is scheduled to testify on Tuesday before the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence, the House Committee on Foreign Affairs, and the House Committee on Oversight and Reform.

He is the director for European affairs on the National Security Council and attended Zelensky’s inauguration with Energy Secretary Rick Perry, special envoy Kurt Volker and Ambassador to the European Union Gordon Sondland, who have become known as “The Three Amigos.”

For analysis, MSNBC’s Brian Williams interviewed Rocah on “The 11th Hour.”

“Counselor, is this what you would call in the law a star witness?” Williams asked. “Absolutely,” Rocah replied. “You know, this is the kind of witness that prosecutors dream about,” she added.

“For a couple of reasons. One, as you pointed out, he’s a first-hand witness,” Rocah explained. “He was on the call. So, amongst other things, he can be questioned about what were those ellipses in the summary, is there more? I don’t want to raise expectations because this call is damning as it is, but there are factual questions that he now gets to be asked.”

“Two, the Republicans can’t make this argument — which I think was a ridiculous argument, anyway — but they can’t make it with him of, well, he doesn’t have any first-hand knowledge,” she noted. “We need to know everything surrounding the call.”

“And finally, he’s — I mean, leave it to Fox News — but he’s active-duty military,” Rocah noted. “We also have a person of impeccable character and that’s a pretty good witness to have.”

Opening statement by Ukraine expert who was on the call with Trump and Zelensky (Raw Story link): Monday evening, The New York Times reported on the expected testimony of Lieutenant Colonel Alexander S. Vindman.

On Tuesday, Vindman is scheduled to testify before he House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence, the House Committee on Foreign Affairs, and the House Committee on Oversight and Reform. The link to Lieutenant Colonel Vindman's statement is here.

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Watch Trump’s face change once he realizes World Series crowd is chanting ‘lock him up’

Mod: I can not believe that Trump's handlers didn't see this coming. Are they really this out of touch? Nothing like a dose of your own medicine.

Watch Trump’s face change once he realizes World Series crowd is chanting ‘lock him up’ (Raw Story link): President Donald Trump, who played baseball in high school, was eager to attend Game 5 of the World Series Sunday, but the Washington, D.C. audience wasn’t happy to have him there.

It was anticipated that Trump would be booed if he was announced. When he arrived, the first pitch was being thrown from the mound, and the president and his crew of Republican lawmakers weren’t announced. But once Trump was announced to the huge crowd, boos erupted as well as chants for “Lock him up!”

The president’s face changed from happy, smiling, and clapping to anger. You can watch in the video below:

Video link here

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Don Trump will not throw out the first pitch at tonight's World Series game because he fears being booed

Oops. Not Donald.

Mod: Trumplethinskin won't be there for the National Anthem either. Instead he is going to sneak in while the game is being played and everyone is distracted. That said, Bill Maher did put it succinctly  "Trump is afraid his tits will jiggle if he throws a pitch." 

Trump intends to uphold tradition of presidents and baseball (Associated Press link): President Donald Trump’s plan to attend Game 5 of the World Series on Sunday will continue a rich tradition of intertwining the American presidency with America’s pastime.

Franklin D. Roosevelt’s limousine drove onto to the field ahead of the 1933 World Series, the last time the nation’s capital hosted the Fall Classic. Congressional hearings on the stock market collapse were postponed so senators could attend the game.

Harry S. Truman tossed out a first pitch from the stands of a regular season game in August 1945, just days after the end of World War II, giving Americans a sense that normalcy was returning after years of global conflict.

George W. Bush wore a bulletproof vest under his jacket when he threw a perfect strike from the Yankee Stadium mound during the 2001 World Series, not 10 miles from where the World Trade Center was attacked a month earlier.

Trump, who has yet to throw out a ceremonial first pitch since taking office, plans to arrive after the Washington Nationals and Houston Astros are underway and leave before the final out, in hopes of making his visit less disruptive to fans, according to Rob Manfred, baseball’s commissioner. Trump mentioned his World Series plan to reporters in the Oval Office on Thursday. But when asked whether he might throw out the first pitch, he said, “I don’t know. They’re going to have to dress me up in a lot of heavy armor,” apparently referring to a bulletproof vest. “I’ll look too heavy. I don’t like that.”

Trump’s White House staff has long tried to shield him from events where he might be loudly booed or heckled, and he rarely ventures out into the heavily Democratic city. (With the exception of his hotel, a Republican-friendly oasis a few blocks from the White House.) “It’ll be loud for Trump but every president gets booed: both Bushes, Reagan, Nixon. When Americans pay for their ticket, most of them buy into the great American tradition to boo whomever they want,” says Smith.

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John Bolton's attorneys consulting with lawmakers about possibly cooperating with the impeachment inquiry

Mod: Johnny B. was there to witness almost all of Trump's recent Ukranian crime wave. If he testifies there won't be much anyone still loyal to Benedict Donald will be able to do except gnash their teeth and wail.

John Bolton's attorneys consulting with lawmakers about possibly cooperating with the impeachment inquiry (CBS News link): Attorneys for former National Security Adviser John Bolton are consulting with lawmakers about possibly cooperating with the impeachment inquiry, CBS News' Paula Reid reports. Bolton was one of the officials on the July 25 phone call between Mr. Trump and Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky, and witnesses have testified that Bolton was so concerned by the efforts to press Ukraine to investigate President Trump's rivals that he called it a "drug deal."

Mr. Trump fired Bolton last month. Mr. Trump tweeted at the time that he asked for Bolton's resignation because Mr. Trump "disagreed strongly with many of his suggestions," although Bolton insisted he resigned.

On October 16, former National Security Council Director for European Affairs Fiona Hill testified in a closed-door meeting. According to The New York Times, Hill said that Bolton was very concerned about the work Rudy Giuliani, Gordon Sondland and Acting White House Chief of Staff Mick Mulvaney were doing. The Times reported that Hill said Bolton told lawmakers "I am not part of whatever drug deal Sondland and Mulvaney are cooking up."

While it's unclear exactly what Bolton was referencing, CBS News reported in September that at least one week before Mr. Trump's call with Zelensky, Mr. Trump instructed Mulvaney to hold off on releasing millions in military aid for Ukraine.

Hundreds of thousands expected to join ‘historic nationwide mobilization’ on eve of Trump impeachment vote (Raw Story link): A coalition of progressive advocacy groups on Friday announced plans for a “historic nationwide mobilization” across the U.S. on the eve of the House’s yet-to-be-scheduled vote on articles of impeachment against President Donald Trump.

Hundreds of thousands of people are expected to take to the streets around the country, said the “Nobody Is Above the Law” coalition, which includes MoveOn, Public Citizen, Indivisible, and Stand Up America, as well as more than a dozen other organizations.

“Protesters will gather in front of the district offices of House members as the lawmakers finalize their positions and at U.S. Senate offices as senators prepare for a likely trial,” the coalition said in a statement. “Protesters will call on their representatives to uphold the Constitution and their oaths of office by supporting Trump’s impeachment.” Nearly 120 events have already been planned in more than 80 cities in anticipation of the House impeachment vote.

Mod: Follow this link to find the event nearest to you.

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Trump Warns Democrats It Would Be “Very Bad” If His Military, Police And Biker Supporters Have To Get “Tough”

Mod: Pantywaist Bonespurs has always led a very sheltered life. But that hasn't stopped Mr. Gold Toilet from fantasizing about having some rough and tough boy friends who want to protect him from those people who say mean things.

Trump Warns Democrats It Would Be “Very Bad” If His Military, Police And Biker Supporters Have To Get “Tough” (Political Tribune link): Donald Trump is nothing more than a big, fat schoolyard bully. His entire presidency relies on fearmongering and scare tactics — either terrifying his base over what will happen to them without him or attempting to frighten his opponents with threats.

Trump proved this fact during an Oval Office interview with the far-right news outlet Breitbart News when he issued a thinly-veiled threat to Democratic party members warning that his base his full of “tough people” who will only use their toughness when provoked to a “certain point.”

“It’s so terrible what’s happening,” Trump began. “You know, the left plays a tougher game, it’s very funny,” he continued. “I actually think that the people on the right are tougher, but they don’t play it tougher. Okay? I can tell you, I have the support of the police, the support of the military, the support of the Bikers for Trump – I have the tough people, but they don’t play it tough until they go to a certain point, and then it would be very bad, very bad. But the left plays it cuter and tougher,” Trump went on.

His threat garnered disproval and concern from University of Michigan public policy professor, Brendan Nyhan, cofounder of an initiative meant to keep the state of U.S. democracy under surveillance. “This is how an authoritarian talks. Happening right in front of us,” Nyhan posted on his Twitter account.

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When Clowns Attack: Matt Gaetz & his Coalition of the Stupid storm impeachment proceedings to 'demand transparency'

Mod: Apparently certain GOP Congress critters have been watching a little too much Animal House lately. With Moscow Matt Gaetz springing for the vodka and Peruvian marching powder.

Matt Gaetz and his Coalition of the Stupid stormed impeachment proceedings to 'demand transparency' — except that's not what it's really about (The Independent link): It’s a good thing that irony is dead, otherwise Florida Congressman Matt Gaetz would have killed it this morning when he and two dozen Congressional Republicans, including members of the MAGA caucus like Steve King (who’s has a lot of free time since he was kicked off all his committees for his racist comments) and Andy Biggs (who unsuccessfully tried to censure Adam Schiff), stormed the Sensitive Compartmented Information Facility in the basement of the Congressional complex.

Their goal was to “demand transparency”. The irony is that, according to Politico, “more than 45 House Republicans — nearly a quarter of the House GOP conference — already have full access to the depositions via their membership on one of the three committees leading the impeachment inquiry.” Further adding to the irony is that the GOP hasn’t exactly been a bastion of transparency lately. There was Devin’s midnight run. There was the endless obfuscating for the first president since Nixon not to release his tax returns. And there was so much more.

Republicans love to rail against the closed-door policy imposed during this impeachment inquiry, so here’a a note to remember: Since Watergate, impeachment hearings have been held behind closed doors. Clinton’s impeachment was also held behind closed doors. Democrats have not cooked up something new for Trump; this is merely precedent.

Matt Gaetz’s little stunt was never really about transparency, of course. It wasn’t even really about getting in the SCIF with their cellphones and thus compromising its integrity — though perhaps that was an added benefit. And maybe Republicans were happy to delay the testimony of the Pentagon official overseeing Ukraine policy adviser Laura Cooper, since every single day of testimony has brought new allegations of quid pro quo and various other impeachable acts. But that wasn’t the real reason they did it.

No, the real reason Matt Gaetz and “his coalition of the stupid” stormed the SCIF was to try and win the hearts and minds of their Fox News-addicted base. Because impeachment is both a legal and a political process, and these Republicans know that even if Democrats have enough evidence to impeach Trump, getting Republican senators to vote to remove him is all that stands between a President Trump and a President Pence.

Rep. Matt Gaetz (R) Gets Thrown Out of Adults-Only Impeachment Hearing, Avoids Getting a DUI On His Drive Home (Extra Newsfeed link):  Pedestrians beware. Drunk, psychotic, idiot, Matt Gaetz is out there, somewhere… driving around, and he is a menace to us all.

For those of you don’t know who Rep. Matt Gaetz is,… bless you, you must’ve led very charmed lives. The less fortunate of us DO know who Matt Gaetz is. He is the answer to what would happen if Pugsley Addams went into politics and then took peyote,… ALL the peyote… the Earth’s entire supply,… and then hit himself over the head with a mallet until he became astonishingly stupid, idiotic, and unlikable by anybody with human DNA.

He’s also an amateur congressman and a professional drunk driver.

Moscow Matt

Gaetz was arrested for DUI (hence his handsome mug-shot) but his rich and powerful daddy used his influence to make it go away. FUN!

Let’s just all agree that Matt Gaetz is an imbecile of the highest order. I think we can all do that.

Fun Fact! — The other day, serious adults had an impeachment inquiry hearing. A woman, Fiona Hill, Trump’s former adviser to Russia, was there to tell them why we should all be terrified right about now, and how much danger we’re actually in. So, Matt Gaetz lurched into his car, somehow avoided driving the wrong way on the freeway while vomiting, staggered into the hearing and wanted to be a part of it because he’s… special.

Now, I wasn’t there, nor do I know anyone who was there directly, so I can only tell you what I absolutely believe happened just using my own basic logic and the laws of probability.

Matt Gaetz fell into the room, accessed the situation, and loudly announced:

“Whoa! I’m really drunk!”

Then he stood up while attempting to keep his pants from falling down and said, “Is it hot in here? Gosh, I am sooo drunk. I’m here to spy for Trump! But I think I’m gonna throw up. Is Fiona Apple here yet?” 

Then, Adam Schiff, a non-intoxicated adult, helpfully informed Matt Gaetz that:

- Gaetz wasn’t a member of the House Oversight or House Intelligence Committees

- Gaetz is an idiot

- This was a closed-door session that doesn’t have an open bar or a place to throw up in.

Mod: More on this clown at the link.

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Our Commander in Chief is a Petulant Little Child, and the Bad Guys of the World Have His Number

Mod: Just a great Rick Wilson article on The Daily Beast site. As Rick puts it, "The humiliations mount, and you can hear the laughter from Pyongyang to Ankara to Tehran. Trump isn’t their boss. He’s their bitch." These are bad days if you still love America.

Our Commander in Chief is a Petulant Little Child, and the Bad Guys of the World Have His Number (The Daily Beast link): Donald Trump’s plan to unravel America’s international influence, moral standing, reputation, alliances, and values wasn’t going fast enough for him, so last week the pudgy toddler in the Oval Office slammed the throttle to the firewall, lit the afterburners, and decided to plunge the jet into the side of Burning Tire Mountain by green-lighting an invasion of Syria to give Turkey, Russia, and Iran a new playground in the Middle East.

But wait, as they say on television, there’s more.

Amid the conflagration of his Trumpot Dome scandal in Ukraine, Trump may have wanted a distraction by letting Turkey run buck wild over the Kurds, but as with all things, his every action makes things worse, not only for himself but for the nation.

We thought he’d capped the week by sending history’s most batshit crazy diplomatic missive to Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.  By now you’ve seen it, and wondered, as they say in the cautious, deliberate language of diplomacy, “What the actual fuck?” America’s collective reaction was, “Is this The Onion? The Babylon Bee? Spy Magazine, reborn?”

Shortly after telling the Turks they were free to invade Syria and kick off their long-desired slaughter of the Kurds, Trump decided to try to put the horse back into the barn with a letter that read like a tour of his id rather than the needed demarche that would, you know, stop the impending slaughter and remake the Middle East into a Russian, Iranian, and Turkish regional hegemony.

When the members of the International Bad Boys Club of strongmen, totalitarians, kleptocrats, bad actors, and extremists heard Trump utter the risible line after ordering American troops to flee Syria—“we’re the boss, remember that!”—you could hear the howling laughter from Pyongyang to Caracas to Beijing to Ankara to Tehran to Manila. Putin, deep in his Moscow lair, just gave his usual sly chuckle. If you wonder which international malefactor wakes up every day and wonders how he got so lucky, it’s Donald’s immediate supervisor.

Lock this slug up.

Dictators and thugs know Trump isn’t the world’s big boss but is instead their bitch. They know Trump is profoundly weak, and he’s made America profoundly vulnerable in turn. They know his big-swinging dick act is for the rubes at home and that this weak, petulant child of a president is easily led by his ego and his wallet, a man subject to even the crudest forms of flattery and seduction. He’s a cheap date, and they know it.

The forces in this world that are anathema to every American value see a shallow, trifling man-child, not an imposing figure imbued with the power of the American presidency and its mighty tools. They know him. He has shown all of them who and what he is, and not one world leader respects or fears what they see.

Mod: The rest of the above article is available at the link.

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Mitt Romney thinks Donald Trump is insane - supports using 25th Amendment

Mod: The 25th Amendment details how a president can be removed for reasons of mental insanity. Mitt needs to be more open about this opinion of his.

Mitt Romney used his secret Twitter account to like a tweet about removing Trump from office via the 25th Amendment (Raw Story link): During the Ukraine scandal, Republican Sen. Mitt Romney of Utah hasn’t been shy about criticizing President Donald Trump for trying to pressure Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky into investigating former Vice President Joe Biden and his son Hunter Biden.

Romney hasn’t actually said that he would vote “guilty” if the U.S. House of Representatives does issue articles of impeachment against Trump and sends the trial to the U.S. Senate, but according to a report by Slate’s Ashley Feinberg, the former Massachusetts governor and 2012 GOP presidential nominee liked a tweet that flirted with the idea of removing Trump from office via the 25th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution.

Over the weekend, Feinberg tweeted that she “may have found Mitt Romney’s secret Twitter account” which appeared to “like” an October 7 Jeff Greenfield tweet about “reassessing” the 25th Amendment.

The account in question, @qaws9876, belongs to “Pierre Delecto,” and the Utah senator on Sunday confirmed the account was his, telling the Atlantic’s McKay Coppins, “C’est moi” — which in French, means “That is me” or “It is me.”

Law & Crime’s Alberto Luperon stresses that merely liking Greenfield’s tweet doesn’t necessarily mean that that Romney is “serious about the idea of removing the president from office via the 25th Amendment.” But Luperon notes that likes and tweets by @qaws9876 “display a disapproval of the president.”

As of October 21, the “Pierre Delecto” account had been made private.

 video link here

Donald Trump Flips off Female Astronaut After She Fact Checks Him During Press Conference (Pop Culture link): President Donald Trump is feeling some heat at the moment, after he seemingly flipped off a female astronaut when she fact checked him during a press conference. The moment was captured by C-Span cameras as Trump was speaking over the phone with astronauts Christina Koch and Jessica Meir during their "All Woman Spacewalk."

Trump referred to the occasion as "the first time for a woman outside the Space Station," but Meir subtly corrected him by saying that there have been other women to spacewalk, but this is the first time that more than one woman has done a spacewalk on a ship at the same time. Trump then used his middle finger to scratch his head, and the action is being perceived as a rude gesture toward Meir.

Mod: All hell breaks loose in the Mideast. Trump visits a high end handbag factory.

Louis Vuitton Director Slams Trump As 'Joke' After Visit To Brand's Texas Workshop (Yahoo! link): Louis Vuitton creative director Nicolas Ghesquière had a few choice words for President Donald Trump on Instagram mere days after the president appeared at the opening of a new Louis Vuitton factory in Texas.

On Sunday, the French fashion designer, who has been Vuitton’s creative director since 2013, posted an image of the cover of the 1984 song “High Energy” by Evelyn Thomas alongside these words: “Standing against any political action. I am a fashion designer refusing this association.”

Ghesquière ended the post with the hashtags “#trumpisajoke” and “#homophobia.”

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Fox's Wallace says 'well-connected' Republican told him there's a 20 percent chance GOP will vote to impeach

Mod: Apparently there is enough concern amongst Republicans in Washington about Trump that conviction on impeachment in the Senate is seen as a statistical possibility. Even on Fox News.

Fox's Wallace says 'well-connected' Republican told him there's a 20 percent chance GOP will vote for impeachment (The Hill link): Fox's Chris Wallace said a "well-connected" Washington Republican told him that there's a 20 percent chance enough Republicans will vote to remove President Trump from office in an impeachment trial in the Senate. Wallace mentioned his source's comments during an interview with acting White House chief of staff Mick Mulvaney on "Fox News Sunday."

Wallace cited an overwhelming House vote criticizing the president's policies in Syria and an op-ed by Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) slamming Trump's decision to withdraw troops from that country.

He then said he had "talked to a very well-connected Republican in Washington, someone whose name you would know well, who says that if the House votes to impeach and it gets to a trial in the Senate, there's now a 20 percent chance enough Republicans would vote with Democrats to impeach the president."

"That’s just absurd," Mulvaney said. "The comment about the 20 percent is just a person who clearly doesn't know what they're talking about."

The acting chief of staff added that Trump knew his decision to withdraw troops from Syria would be controversial and wouldn't be "politically popular." "The president is extraordinarily popular at home," Mulvaney said, emphasizing his likability in swing states.

Mod: Mulvaney needs to share what he bases that popularity observation upon. Maybe he's been listening to Donald too much? 

Latest impeachment polling paints a bleak picture for Trump (MSNBC link): About a week ago, Donald Trump published a tweet that claimed, “Only 25 percent want the President Impeached, which is pretty low considering the volume of Fake News coverage, but pretty high considering the fact that I did NOTHING wrong.”

Each of the claims in the tweet was absurd, but it was the specific polling statistic that stood out: the president wants the public to know that impeachment currently polls at only 25%.

If that were true, it’d create a difficult political dynamic on Capitol Hill. Except, it’s not at all true. Trump has a curious habit of simply making up numbers in his mind, pretending they’re real, and asking everyone to play along, but in this case, public support for impeachment is roughly double what the Republican said it was.

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