January 29, 2020

Mitt Romney Has Some Interesting Impeachment Questions

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As the Senate began the question-and-answer portion of Donald Trump’s impeachment trial on Wednesday, Sen. Mitt Romney (R-Utah) revealed what he wanted to ask:

Unlike most of his Republican colleagues, Romney has not decried Trump’s impeachment as a “sham,” but instead has promised to hear the arguments for and against removing the president from office with an “open mind.” Fittingly, these questions certainly don’t sound like they are coming from a Senator who has made made a decision about acquitting Trump. The Utah senator came under fire this week from Trump surrogates for being the first Republican to express interest in hearing testimony from former national security adviser John Bolton, whose forthcoming book’s manuscript suggests he has a lot to say about the president’s role in the Ukraine scandal.

Notably, Romney’s fourth question, directed to the House impeachment managers, asks them to present evidence that “anyone was directed by President Trump to tell the Ukrainians that security assistance was being held upon the condition of an investigation into the Bidens,” which could be an opportunity for Rep. Adam Schiff (D-Calif.) to play back the infamous clip of acting White House chief of staff Mick Mulvaney admitting that Trump was pursuing just such a quid pro quo, or to raise the recent New York Times‘ bombshell report about Bolton’s manuscript. 

At a minimum, Romney’s queries for the House impeachment managers are noteworthy because he was reportedly asked not to ask them any questions at all:

 

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WE CAME UP SHORT.

We just wrapped up a shorter-than-normal, urgent-as-ever fundraising drive and we came up about $45,000 short of our $300,000 goal.

That means we're going to have upwards of $350,000, maybe more, to raise in online donations between now and June 30, when our fiscal year ends and we have to get to break-even. And even though there's zero cushion to miss the mark, we won't be all that in your face about our fundraising again until June.

So we urgently need this specific ask, what you're reading right now, to start bringing in more donations than it ever has. The reality, for these next few months and next few years, is that we have to start finding ways to grow our online supporter base in a big way—and we're optimistic we can keep making real headway by being real with you about this.

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