Free Republic

The more concrete the testimony in the impeachment inquiry, the more solidly Republicans are sticking with President Donald Trump. Witness after witness in closed-door House hearings is corroborating the core facts that Democrats say make a strong case against the president. […] Republicans are having none of it. Trump says it’s all just a “witch hunt,” and his supporters agree. “The American people see this for what it is,” said Rep. Jim Jordan of Ohio, the top Republican on the Oversight committee that’s part of the inquiry. “We see it just like the American people do, and we know —...

**SNIP** Lawmakers had already been compiling a fresh package of bills in the aftermath of special counsel Robert Mueller's findings in the Trump-Russia probe. But House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said Democrats are now pushing ahead with votes because it's part of "what the American people elected us to do." **SNIP** Even though the nation’s intelligence agencies said from early 2017 that it was clear Russia tried to influence the 2016 election in favor of Trump, Republicans who led both chambers did not move comprehensive legislation to address the issue. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell has declined to hold a vote...

<p>WASHINGTON (AP) — More Democrats are calling — and more loudly — for impeachment proceedings against President Donald Trump after his latest defiance of Congress by blocking his former White House lawyer from testifying on Tuesday.</p> <p>A growing number of rank-and-file House Democrats, incensed by former counsel Don McGahn’s empty chair in the Judiciary Committee hearing room, are confronting House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and pushing her and other leaders to act. Their impatience is running up against the speaker’s preference for a more methodical approach , including already-unfolding court battles.</p>

WASHINGTON (AP) — One by one, the Republican senators floated their ideas. They were trying to find a way out of a seemingly impossible dilemma: how to support President Donald Trump's U.S.-Mexico border wall without approving the national emergency declaration he invoked to build it. And one by one, during a private lunchtime meeting that ran hot at times, they found no easy answers. As a deadline for voting looms, it's increasingly clear that Republican senators are deeply uncomfortable with Trump's use of executive power to build the wall and desperate to devise a way around the vote. Senators know...

WASHINGTON (AP) — As the first two years of President Donald Trump’s administration close, Republican allies still haven’t figured out how best to influence a leader who takes cues from the forces that swept him to office and seems to fear losing them above all else. Republicans on Capitol Hill and even the president’s closest advisers have been whipsawed over a series of recent actions that show how intently Trump relies on what is sometimes called his gut — an adherence to campaign promises he made that are being reinforced by a constellation of election gurus, Fox News personalities and...

As Nancy Pelosi wrangles votes in her bid for House speaker, another leadership battle is playing out on the Republican side, where Kevin McCarthy faces a challenge from conservative Freedom Caucus co-founder Jim Jordan to lead the new GOP minority. Republicans lost the House majority in this week’s midterm elections, and conservatives are blaming the GOP establishment and angling for changes. McCarthy burned up the phone lines Thursday shoring up his support. And down ballot, the GOP will add a familiar name to the leadership lineup — Rep. Liz Cheney of Wyoming, a daughter of former Vice President Dick Cheney...

Christine Blasey Ford’s lawyers said Wednesday they have given the Senate sworn affidavits from four people who say she told them well before Brett Kavanaugh’s Supreme Court nomination that she had been sexually assaulted when she was much younger. And according to all four, she either named Kavanaugh as the assailant or described the attacker as a “federal judge.” At the U.N., meanwhile, President Donald Trump said on the eve of the Senate Judiciary Committee hearing with Kavanaugh and Ford that Republicans have been “nice” and “respectful” in their treatment of Ford. He described his nominee as “a real gem”...