Tag: Trump-Russia Scandal

Check Out Republicans for the Rule of Law
Escape Your Bubble · Russian Scandal, Emoluments Clause

Check Out Republicans for the Rule of Law

otycd

Check out Republicans for the Rule of Law, an organization of Republicans who believe that Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation should be allowed to run its course, without interference.

 

We at OTYCD imagine you’re kind of fed up with Republicans at this point, given how cravenly they’ve enabled Trump and shirked their duty to check his excesses since the 2016 election.

 

Well, at least some of them are sane and concerned enough to call out their colleagues, at least on the subject of the Mueller probe.

 

Formed in 2018, it released an ad in April 2018 supporting and defending the Mueller investigation:

https://www.washingtonpost.com/video/editorial/republicans-for-the-rule-of-law-reagan-for-the-rule-of-law–campaign-2018/2018/04/11/644a3c84-3d96-11e8-955b-7d2e19b79966_video.html?utm_term=.aa815c735ce3

 

Its directors include Bill Kristol, founder and editor-at-large of The Weekly Standard, and Mona Charen, who took serious flak at the 2018 Conservative Political Action Committee (CPAC) conference when she tried to discuss Trump’s obvious flaws.

 

The rule of law is not a partisan issue, and has never been. We at OTYCD wish a group like Republicans for the Rule of Law wasn’t necessary, but under the circumstances, which grow more dire and ridiculous by equal measures by the day, we are grateful for its existence. We encourage you to check it out.

 

Obligatory warning, with apologies for bonking you all on the head about this fact: Republicans for the Rule of Law is made up of… Republicans. Their members hold  different political beliefs than you do. The leaders of this group will sometimes say things and do things that don’t match your beliefs, and which might piss you off well and thoroughly. That’s ok. Really, it’s OK. You’re being asked to look at what RRL is doing and support what you like, not endorse every last little everything every one of its members do. They understand the danger of Trump, at least as far as the Mueller probe goes–that’s the key thing. One of the reasons this country is so borked right now is we’re fiercely polarized and, in avoiding jerks who disagree with us, we end up avoiding decent people who happen to disagree with us. That’s got to stop if we want to make things better.

 

 

Follow Republicans for the Rule of Law on Twitter:

@ForTheRuleOfLaw

 

 

Like its Facebook page:

https://www.facebook.com/RepublicansRuleofLaw/

Continue the Work of the No One Is Above the Law Protests: Call Your MoCs to Demand Whitaker Recuse and Demand Investigation of Sessions’s Departure
Call Your Members of Congress · Marches and Protests · Russian Scandal, Emoluments Clause · Stand Up for Civilization · Stand Up for Norms

Continue the Work of the No One Is Above the Law Protests: Call Your MoCs to Demand Whitaker Recuse and Demand Investigation of Sessions’s Departure

otycd

Continue the work of the No One Is Above the Law protests: Call your members of Congress (MoCs) to demand that Matthew Whitaker recuse from the Mueller probe, and demand investigation of Sessions’s departure.

 

You got the call and answered it. You were out there at 5 pm local time at your No One Is Above the Law protest site. Thank you.

 

The next step is to carry on the work by calling your MoCs and demanding the following:

 

That acting Attorney General Matthew Whitaker recuse himself from the Mueller probe; and demand investigation of the circumstances of Jeff Sessions’s exit from the Department of Justice (DOJ).

 

Whitaker is problematic on several levels, not least that an office of this level of importance requires the Senate to weigh in. Trump is evidently trying to avoid scrutiny by making him Acting AG. But, in a November 8, 2018 opinion piece for the New York Times, Neal Katyal and George Conway (Kellyanne Conway’s husband, btw), flatly assert that the move is unconstitutional.

 

Key paragraphs:

It means that Mr. Trump’s installation of Matthew Whitaker as acting attorney general of the United States after forcing the resignation of Jeff Sessions is unconstitutional. It’s illegal. And it means that anything Mr. Whitaker does, or tries to do, in that position is invalid.

Much of the commentary about Mr. Whitaker’s appointment has focused on all sorts of technical points about the Vacancies Reform Act and Justice Department succession statutes. But the flaw in the appointment of Mr. Whitaker, who was Mr. Sessions’s chief of staff at the Justice Department, runs much deeper. It defies one of the explicit checks and balances set out in the Constitution, a provision designed to protect us all against the centralization of government power.

If you don’t believe us, then take it from Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas, whom Mr. Trump once called his “favorite” sitting justice. Last year, the Supreme Court examined the question of whether the general counsel of the National Labor Relations Board had been lawfully appointed to his job without Senate confirmation. The Supreme Court held the appointment invalid on a statutory ground.

 

Full article here:

 

Even if it was legal to appoint Whitaker, he has known biases against the Mueller probe, and they are on record. Those stated biases would legally compel him to recuse.

 

But Whitaker says he has no intention to recuse:

https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/national-security/trumps-acting-attorney-general-matt-whitaker-has-no-intention-of-recusing-from-russia-probe-associates-say/2018/11/08/a5bc8d90-e370-11e8-ab2c-b31dcd53ca6b_story.html?utm_term=.7c669d2b9229

 

As for the Sessions thing–the reason we need to ask for an examination of his exit is it appears to be a firing, but we need to clarify what happened. A firing requires elevating Deputy AG Rod Rosenstein to the role Sessions left. The wording of his resignation letter indicates he did not leave of his own volition–ergo, he was fired.

 

Celeste Pewter (@Celeste_Pewter), as always, is on top of it. What follows are her scripts for calling your House Rep and your Senators. Scroll down for word on how you can show your appreciation for Pewter.

 

Before you call, check Celeste’s Twitter feed, in case she’s issued updated scripts. Also, check the social media feeds of your MoCs, to see if they’ve made a statement on either matter. If they have, mention it in your calls.

 

Also! Before you call, check to see if your House Rep or one or both Senators are on their chamber’s Judiciary Committees. If they are, it’s extra-important for you to call.

 

Senate members listed here:

https://www.judiciary.senate.gov/about/members

 

House members listed here:

https://judiciary.house.gov/subcommittee/full-committee/

 

Lastly–why it’s important to call. Going into the streets to protest is important and necessary. Backing those protests up with specific demands for your representatives makes for a one-two punch.

 

Here is the script for your House rep:

 

You can show love for Celeste Pewter in many ways.

 

You can follow her on Twitter: @Celeste_Pewter

 

You can tweet about calling your Senators, using the #ICalledMyReps hashtag.

 

You can follow @ICalledMyReps on Twitter.

 

And you can subscribe to her peerless newsletter, It’s Time to Fight:

http://itstimetofight.weebly.com

 

 

Subscribe to One Thing You Can Do by clicking the button on the upper right of the
page. And tell your friends about the blog!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Attend the No One Is Above The Law Protest Near You Thursday November 8, 5 pm Your Time
Action Alerts · Community Activism · Marches and Protests · Stand Up for Civilization · Stand Up for Norms · Use Your Power, Recruit Friends

Attend the No One Is Above The Law Protest Near You Thursday November 8, 5 pm Your Time

otycd

Attend the No One Is Above the Law protest near you, taking place Thursday, November 8, at 5 pm your time (local time).

 

So, we at OTYCD wrote about the if-then protest in the past, when MoveOn.org and friends started planning it.

 

We also urged you to visit the site and write down the details for your local No One Is Above the Law protest site in case a triggering event sends people stampeding toward the site from all over the Internet and the web page goes down.

 

Welp. On Wednesday November 7, with the midterm results not even a day old (and some still trickling in), Trump compelled Attorney General Jeff Sessions to resign and installed an Acting Attorney General, Matthew Whitaker, who had been Sessions’s chief of staff.

 

Read articles on the slo-mo modern spin on the Saturday Night Massacre here (and click these words if you need a refresher on the original Saturday Night Massacre):

 

https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/national-security/attorney-general-jeff-sessions-resigns-at-trumps-request/2018/11/07/d1b7a214-e144-11e8-ab2c-b31dcd53ca6b_story.html?utm_term=.89b91e4aee90

 

https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/with-the-midterms-over-mueller-faces-key-decisions-in-russia-investigation/2018/11/07/7ef2765a-e151-11e8-ab2c-b31dcd53ca6b_story.html?utm_term=.6490220bf6eb

 

 

You can question whether any of this is legal. You can question whether Trump can put Whitaker, who is not Senate-confirmed, into the Acting AG role. You can question whether Whitaker has to recuse himself, given that he is on record as opposing the Mueller investigation, and has made comments about muffling it by starving it of funds.

 

Rampant attack on our democracy? Yep. All that nonsensical fuckery was more than enough for the team behind the No One Is Above the Law if-then protest to pull the trigger on the event.

 

If you haven’t checked out the web page, please do so now, and find out where your nearest protest site is. Note the address down on paper. Google it and plot how you can get there and where you can park. As of November 7, 2018, the page reflected more than 900 events scheduled:

https://act.moveon.org/event/mueller-firing-rapid-response-events/search/

 

You’ll also notice that the organizers didn’t quite follow the standing plan. They chose to set it for 5 pm local time to give folks more time to prepare.

 

We’re now going to reproduce the bit from the page that appears after the logistics:

 

THEN WHAT?

Good question!

These events are only the first step. Our goal with these actions is to create an opportunity for anyone outraged by Trump’s abuse of power to engage immediately in voicing their concern. Together, we will communicate unmistakably that this is not okay and that this act to undermine democracy is not going to be allowed to become a new normal.

But that’s only the first step, and it’s far from the last one.

Congress is the only body with the constitutional power and responsibility to hold a president politically accountable for major violations of the public trust like this. And “we, the people” are their backstop and source of legitimate power.

And what people do next to force Congress to act is up to them!

Certainly, everyone at an event should also call their member of Congress to demand action. And everyone is encouraged to communicate that demand directly at congressional offices.

Beyond that, it’s up to you! It’s a good idea to discuss possible scenarios in advance with the hosts of your event or with your friends to develop other nonviolent ways you would like to compel actions from Congress.

Here’s what groups will be asking Congress to do:

 

CONGRESSIONAL ASKS

  1. Demand members of Congress protect the special counsel’s office, including preserving its files and staff and ensuring it receives the full cooperation of all federal government law enforcement assets.
  2. Demand the creation of a modern-day version of the Senate Select Watergate Committee to investigate all matters involved in the Russia scandals and Trump’s abuse of power and obstruction of justice.
  3. Demand bipartisan hearings in the House Judiciary Committee on obstruction of justice and abuse of power.
    • Some groups will call these the first steps to impeachment hearings; others will not.
    • Impeaching Donald Trump is not a demand shared by all partner organizations. Nor is supporting impeachment a prerequisite to attend these events. But it is a view welcome at events, and you can definitely bring a poster calling for it if that’s your view. We can all be for the three things above if some of us are also for additional things, such as impeachment.
…So this might be a one-off, and it might not be.
Another suggestion from us at OTYCD: After you look up and note your own protest
location, look it up for friends and family who might approach you for help, or those
who you want to approach, in the spirit of making it as easy as possible for them to join.
You might want to go as far as giving them easy-to-follow driving directions and parking
tips.
If you can, offer a car-pool ride to other interested protesters. If you cannot or do not
want to go, but can offer child-care services, that definitely helps, too.
If you can’t go and can’t help others go, follow and boost these hashtags:
#NoOneIsAboveTheLaw
#TrumpIsNotAboveTheLaw
#whitakermustrecuse
During the course of the day, watch the Twitter feed of Celeste Pewter (@Celeste_Pewter).
She is prepping call scripts as we draft this blog post, and she’ll be on top of relevant
breaking news.
Also watch the feeds of Ben Wikler (@BenWikler) and Anna Galland (@annagalland),
both of MoveOn. They will have news about the nationwide protests and other things
you’ll want to know.
Sorry it’s come to this, folks. Sorry it comes so soon after the conclusion of the multi-
month saga that was the lead-up to the 2018 midterms, which took so much out of so
many of us.
We thought we could rest. Hell, most of us planned on taking at least one goddamn
day off. Wednesday. Joke’s on us. (Fuck that guy. Seriously, fuck that guy.)
But we gotta muster. We gotta. We gotta show up in big honking numbers, just like
we did on Tuesday.
Democracy needs us again. It’s just that kind of week. (If you’re not already keeping a
journal, now’s the time to start. Your kids, grandkids, nieblings, and grandnieblings will
want to know what this time was like, and they will want to know what you did to push
back.)
Subscribe to One Thing You Can Do by clicking the button on the upper right of the
page. And tell your friends about the blog!

 

 

Note Where the Nearest Nobody Is Above the Law Rally Takes Place, NOW, Just In Case. If Trump Does Fire Mueller or Rosenstein, Etc., the Server Might Crash
Marches and Protests · Uncategorized

Note Where the Nearest Nobody Is Above the Law Rally Takes Place, NOW, Just In Case. If Trump Does Fire Mueller or Rosenstein, Etc., the Server Might Crash

otycd

ThisOTYCD post originally appeared in May 2018. In the lead-up to the midterms, we’re re-running important posts. Please click on the announcement from Sarah Jane to learn why you’re not seeing timely daily posts.

 

Take a moment and note down the actual address and directions to the site where the Nobody Is Above the Law rally is happening closest to you. Just in case.

 

We hope it won’t be necessary to rally. But if Trump actually fires Special Counsel Robert Mueller, or Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein, or does some other ridiculous thing to undermine the Trump-Russia investigation and thus cause a constitutional crisis, you’ll need to be ready to go to your nearest protest site.

 

As of late April 2018, more than 350,000 people have RSVPed. That’s good! But if Trump does the deed, there’ll be a lot more people than that who’ll be interested in going out to one of the 900-plus protests.

 

Think about it. That 350,000 number represents those who intend to protest and who are comfortable filling out a form and giving their info to MoveOn.org.

 

For every person who’s willing to do that, there are a bunch more who are only willing to do the first of those things.

 

And for every person who intends to protest but who doesn’t want to fill out a form or give their info to MoveOn.org, there’s a bunch more people who will realize they want to protest once the batsignal is hanging in the sky over their heads. (Metaphorically.)

 

If you’re a regular reader of OTYCD, you’ve probably become The One In Your Circle Who Knows About Politics. Your friends and family will expect you to know where the Mueller Firing Rapid Response protest is, and how to get there, and where they can park.

 

Do you?

 

At the very least you need to go to the Mueller Firing Rapid Response page, find your protest site, and write down the name of the spot and its street address.

 

Put it on paper. Put it in your phone. Email it to yourself. Heck, do all three.

 

Even better, take some time and teach yourself how to give good, precise directions to the site, and learn what the parking options are.

 

We’re saying this because if Trump does the deed–and remember, we know he’s threatened to do it at least twice and hasn’t carried through–it’s possible that the MoveOn.org site, which is hosting the Mueller Firing Rapid Response page, will be super-slammed in seconds, and it might go down due to the spike in traffic.

 

Be prepared. Plan ahead. Take down the protest site info and put it where you can get it easily.

 

 

Find your Mueller Firing Rapid Response protest site here:

https://act.moveon.org/event/mueller-firing-rapid-response-events/search/

 

 

While you’re at it, review The Plan–what would trigger the protests, and why:

https://act.moveon.org/survey/mueller-firing-rapid-response-plan/?

 

 

And you may as well review the FAQ page, too, and take notes:

https://act.moveon.org/survey/mueller-firing-rapid-response-faq/?

 

 

Subscribe to One Thing You Can Do by clicking the button on the upper right of the page. And tell your friends about the blog!

See This List of Members of the House Freedom Caucus So You Can Vote Them Out in November
Candidates · Choose Your Core Four · Elections · Read, Educate Yourself, Prepare · Russian Scandal, Emoluments Clause · Stand Up for Civilization · Stand Up for Norms · Use Your Power, Recruit Friends

See This List of Members of the House Freedom Caucus So You Can Vote Them Out in November

otycd

ThisOTYCD post originally appeared in June 2018. In the lead-up to the midterms, we’re re-running important posts. Please click on the announcement from Sarah Jane to learn why you’re not seeing timely daily posts.

 

See this list of the current sitting members of the House Freedom Caucus, so you can vote them out in November.

 

The House Freedom Caucus is the most far-right group of Congresspeople within the House Republican Conference. While not everyone in it is thoroughly terrible–Michigan’s Justin Amash is clearly, and refreshingly, possessed of a functioning spine–they engage in shenanigans on the regular.

 

A recent notable beclownment was its drafting of articles of impeachment against Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein in late April 2018.

 

North Carolina Rep Mark Meadows characterized the document as a “last resort” if Rosenstein continued to rebuff requests for information about Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation into Trump’s involvement with Russia.

 

Anyone with a functioning brain realizes the HFC is trying to undermine Rosenstein, Mueller, and the probe. Reporting on the draft simply credits it to the HFC, and only names Meadows specifically in connection with the document.

 

News stories on the matter say nothing about who, exactly, drafted it, so we are left to infer that everyone in the HFC approves of it, even if they might not have personally worked on it.

 

In light of this, we’re devoting this post to listing every current, sitting member of the HFC so you can help vote them out in November 2018. If these folks represent you, you’re probably already well aware of their records. If they don’t, it’s worth learning about them and looking into helping their Democratic opponents. (Every member of the House of Representatives is defending their seats this fall, assuming they’re not retiring.)

 

Several of these names will be familiar from an earlier OTYCD post on eleven House GOP members who called for investigating Andrew McCabe, James Comey, Sally Yates, Hillary Clinton, and assorted Department of Justice personnel for bias. We have repeated information from that post where appropriate.

 

The HRC does not publish or otherwise identify its members. What you see below represents the best list available as of April 2018.

 

 

Justin Amash, representing Michigan’s 3rd District. As stated above, Amash is unusual for displaying consistency as well as a spine. Let’s be clear here–his politics are odious, but he does have that going for him. He also appears to vote more often with the Democrats, but that’s largely a function of him rejecting legislation because it’s not conservative or far-right enough for his tastes. Make of that what you will.

Amash is running for a fifth term. The primary takes place August 7, 2018. He will face one Republican challenger. There are also two Democrats and an Independent in the mix. The Cook Political Report rates the seat as Solid Republican.

 

 

Joe Barton, representing Texas’s 6th District. In November 2017, he announced that he would retire from Congress after a three-decade career in the House of Representatives. This statement came soon after news broke of his involvement in extramarital affairs. It should be said that no one has accused Barton of sexual misconduct or harassment, and the affairs were consensual. Regardless, he felt it best not to run again.

 

Democrat Jana Lynne Sanchez will face Republican Ronald Wright and Libertarian Jason Harper in November. The Cook Political Report rates the seat as Solid Republican.

 

Read OTYCD‘s post on Democrat Jana Lynne Sanchez:

https://onethingyoucando.com/2018/05/26/keep-an-eye-on-jana-lynne-sanchez-who-is-running-for-a-texas-house-seat-in-2018/

 

 

Andy Biggs, representing Arizona’s 5th District. He’s running for his second term. Five Democrats are running in the August 28, 2018 primary. No Republicans have stepped up to challenge Biggs; the filing deadline is May 30. The Cook Political Report rates the seat as Solid Republican.

 

 

Rod Blum, representing Iowa’s 1st District. He’s running for a third term, and he looks especially vulnerable. The 1st was a battleground district in 2016, and Politico has listed the race as one of the top 10 House races to watch in 2018. Four Democrats and a Green Party member will appear in the June 5 primary. The Cook Political Report rates the seat as a Toss-up.

 

 

Dave Brat, representing Virginia’s 7th District. He first gained notoriety for his improbable defeat of the powerful GOP incumbent Eric Cantor. Brat won’t face any Republicans in the primary, but two Democrats and a Whig Party member (yes, you read that right, the Whig Party) will appear in the June 12, 2018 primary. The Cook Political Report rates the seat as Lean Republican.

 

Mo Brooks, representing Alabama’s 5th District. He’s running for his fifth term. The June 5, 2018 primary features one other Republican and a Democrat. The Cook Political Report rates the seat as Solid Republican.

 

Ken Buck, representing Colorado’s 4th District. He’s running for a third term. Two Democrats will meet in the June 26, 2018 primary; he has no Republican challengers. The Cook Political Report rates the seat as Solid Republican.

 

Ted Budd, representing North Carolina’s 13th District. He’s seeking a second term. He will face Democrat Kathy Manning and Libertarian Tom Bailey in November. The Cook Political Report rates the seat as Lean Republican.

 

Warren Davidson, representing Ohio’s 8th District. He won a special election in 2016, won the general later that year, and is running again this fall, where he will compete against Democrat Vanessa Enoch. The Cook Political Report rates the seat as Solid Republican.

 

Ron DeSantis, representing Florida’s 6th District. He’s retiring from his House seat in order to run for governor of Florida. Three Democrats and five Republicans will appear in the August 28, 2018 primary. The filing deadline is May 4. As of September 2017, Nancy Soderberg had the most cash on hand among the Democrats. The Cook Political Report rates the seat as Solid Republican.

 

Scott DesJarlais, representing Tennessee’s 4th District. He’s running for a fifth term. He faces one challenger in the August 2, 2018 primary, which will also have three Democrats and an Independent. The Cook Political Report rates the seat as Solid Republican.

 

Jeff Duncan, representing South Carolina’s 3rd District. He’s running for a fifth term. Two Democrats and a member of the American party will run in the June 12, 2018 primary. The Cook Political Report rates the seat as Solid Republican.

 

Matt Gaetz, representing Florida’s 1st District. He’s running for a second term. Two Democrats and two other Republicans will meet him in the August 28, 2018 primary. The Cook Political Report rates the seat as Solid Republican.

 

Tom Garrett Jr., representing Virginia’s 5th District. He sent mixed signals in late May, saying he wouldn’t run for a second term, and then saying he would. His re-election campaign appears to be on. He will face Democrat Leslie Cockburn, who won the most votes at the May 5, 2018 primary convention. Independent John Harris is running as a write-in candidate. The Cook Political Report rates the seat as Lean Republican.

 

Louie Gohmert, representing Texas’s 1st District. He was first elected to the House in 2004 and is running again. He will face Democrat Shirley McKellar and Libertarian Jeff Callaway in November. The Cook Political Report rates the seat as Solid Republican.

 

Paul A. Gosar, representing Arizona’s 4th District. He is running for a fifth term. Three Democrats and a Green Party member will run in the August 28, 2018 primary. The Cook Political Report rates the seat as Solid Republican.

 

Morgan Griffith, representing Virginia’s 9th District. He’s running for a fifth term. No challenger will meet him in the June 12, 2018 primary, but two Democrats and an Independent will appear. The Cook Political Report rates the seat as Solid Republican.

 

Andy Harris, representing Maryland’s 1st District. He is seeking a fifth term. This is a crowded field. Six Democrats, including Allison Galbraith, two other Republicans, and a Libertarian have committed to the June 26, 2018 primary. The Cook Political Report rates the seat as Solid Republican.

 

See the OTYCD entry on Allison Galbraith:

https://onethingyoucando.com/2018/04/08/support-democrat-allison-galbraith-whos-running-for-a-house-seat-in-maryland/

 

Jody Hice, representing Georgia’s 10th District. He’s running for a third term. The May 22, 2018 primary includes three Democrats, two other Republicans, and an Independent. The Cook Political Report rates the seat as Solid Republican.

 

Jim Jordan, representing Ohio’s 4th District (he’s also co-chair of the HFC). He was first elected to the House in 2006. He will face Democrat Janet Garrett in November. The Cook Political Report rates the seat as Solid Republican.

 

Raúl Labrador, representing Idaho’s 1st District. He is running for governor of Idaho in 2018. Republican Russ Fulcher and Democrat Christina McNeil will face off in November.  The Cook Political Report rates the seat as Solid Republican.

 

Mark Meadows, representing North Carolina’s 11th District (he’s also co-chair of the HFC). He’s seeking a fourth term. He will face Democrat Phillip Price in November. The Cook Political Report rates the seat as Solid Republican.

 

Alex Mooney, representing West Virginia’s 2nd District. He’s running for a third term. He’s competing against Democrat Talley Sergent. The Cook Political Report rates the seat as Solid Republican.

 

Gary Palmer, representing Alabama’s 6th District. Like Mooney, he’s running for a third term. The primary happens June 5, 2018, but Palmer and Democrat Danner Kline are the only ones on the ballot in each case, and there are no candidates from other parties this time around. The Cook Political Report rates the seat as Solid Republican.

 

Steve Pearce, representing New Mexico’s 2nd District. Pearce is in New Mexico’s gubernatorial race, leaving the House seat free in 2018. The primary takes place June 5, 2018, and features two Democrats and four Republicans. The Cook Political Report rates the seat as Lean Republican.

 

Scott Perry, representing Pennsylvania’s 4th District. In February 2018, the state’s Supreme Court threw out the old Congressional district map, deeming it illegally gerrymandered. What was the 4th now covers much of what was the 13th district. Perry does not appear to be running again, and the Democratic incumbent under the old map, Brendan Boyle, is seeking re-election in the 2nd District. Got that?

Democrat Madeleine Dean will face Republican Dan David in November. The Cook Political Report rates the seat as Solid Democratic.

 

Bill Posey, representing Florida’s 8th District. He first won election in 2008 and is running again. The primary is set for August 28, but only Posey and Democrat Sanjay Patel are on it, with no one from the smaller parties in the mix. The Cook Political Report rates the seat as Solid Republican.

 

Mark Sanford, representing South Carolina’s 1st District. If the name sounds familiar, yeah, this was the guy who melted down as governor of South Carolina over extramarital affairs. Remember “hiking the Appalachian Trail”? Yeah, he’s that guy. Anyway, he won the House seat in a special election in 2013 and is running again. He faces two other Republicans in the June 12, 2018 primary. Two Democrats will appear as well. The Cook Political Report rates the seat as Likely Republican.

 

David Schweikert, representing Arizona’s 6th District. He’s seeking a fifth term. The August 28, 2018 primary is crowded on the Democratic side, with five candidates, but clear on the Republican side, with Schweikert the only choice. The Cook Political Report rates the seat as Likely Republican.

 

Randy Weber, representing Texas’s 14th District. He’s hoping for a fourth term, and is facing Democrat Adrienne Bell and Libertarian Don Conley III. The Cook Political Report rates the seat as Solid Republican.

 

See OTYCD‘s post on Adrienne Bell:

https://onethingyoucando.com/2018/05/26/support-adrienne-bells-run-for-the-house-seat-in-texass-14th-district/

 

 

Ted Yoho, representing Florida’s 3rd District. He’s running for a fourth term. Three Democrats will run in the August 28, 2018 primary. The Cook Political Report rates the seat as Solid Republican.

 

 

Choose the Democratic challengers of any of these folks for your Core Four:

https://onethingyoucando.com/2018/04/08/choose-your-core-four-for-2018/

 

 

We relied in part on Ballotpedia to research and fact-check this post.

 

 

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As for cites on the House Freedom Caucus…

 

Read about the HFC’s drafting of articles of impeachment against Rod Rosenstein:

https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/trump-allied-house-conservatives-draft-articles-of-impeachment-against-rosenstein-as-last-resort/2018/04/30/d78af412-4c97-11e8-b725-92c89fe3ca4c_story.html?utm_term=.5a0ab3b10263

http://thehill.com/homenews/administration/384217-impeaching-rosenstein-some-republicans-are-talking-about-it

 

Read the actual articles of impeachment against Rosenstein, obtained by the Washington Post:

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/the-fix/wp/2018/05/01/republicans-highly-political-articles-of-impeachment-against-rod-rosenstein-annotated/?utm_term=.402747613668

 

 

Read a USA Today Op-Ed on how the impeachment effort against Rosenstein represents a violation of ethical rules and an attempt to hobble Mueller’s probe:

https://www.usatoday.com/story/opinion/2018/05/02/impeachment-articles-rosenstein-sabotage-russia-probe-column/572548002/

 

 

Read a CNN story on a Democratic member of the House Judiciary Committee decrying the HFC’s shens:

https://www.cnn.com/2018/05/01/politics/david-cicilline-rod-rosenstein-impeachment-cnntv/index.html

 

 

Read stories about Rod Rosenstein standing firm in the face of the HFC’s threat:

https://www.citizen-times.com/story/news/local/2018/05/02/mark-meadows-rod-rosenstein-extortion-justice-department-mueller/573291002/

 

 

And read some background on the HFC:

http://time.com/4718360/freedom-caucus-donald-trump-what-to-know/

Call Your MoCs to Demand That Trump Withdraw His Invitation to Host Putin In the Fall
Action Alerts · Call Your Members of Congress · Ethics · Russian Scandal, Emoluments Clause · Stand Up for Civilization · Stand Up for Norms

Call Your MoCs to Demand That Trump Withdraw His Invitation to Host Putin In the Fall

otycd

Call your members of Congress (MoCs) to demand that Trump withdraw his invitation to host Vladimir Putin in Washington, D.C., in the fall.

 

We at OTYCD hesitated to devote a post to this issue. We know Trump won’t withdraw the invitation. We know that any suggestion that he should withdraw will probably nudge him to double down.

 

This request is not aimed at Trump. It’s aimed at the sane people who surround him and support him, and who make government work.

 

If we, the constituents, don’t actually raise a ruckus with our electeds, they’ll convince themselves it’s not a big deal, and not worth their attention.

 

This president is not normal. We’re already normalizing too many things, some out of simple exhaustion.

 

Our sample script is below, but we are going to reference @Celeste_pewter’s post-Helsinki talking points in that script, to give it more shape and direction beyond ‘this proposed meeting is dangerous bullshit and should not happen.’

 

Sample script: “Dear (Senator/House Rep Lastname,) I’m (Firstname Lastname from
town, zip code.) I am calling to object to Trump’s announcement that he wants to host
Vladimir Putin in Washington this fall. This is ridiculously unwise, given what happened
in Helsinki, and no good can come of it. None. I realize you don’t have much power to
actually stop Trump from doing this, but I wanted you to know that this constituent
objects, and wants you to let your colleagues know that I object, and I want you to do
everything in your power to push back against this meeting. Some good ways to do that
would be moving forward with acts that punish and restrain Trump for his actions in
Helsinki. I’d like to see a bipartisan effort to impose a new round of even-tougher
sanctions on Russia. I want you to pass legislation that would protect Special Counsel
Robert Mueller’s investigation, and protect Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein,

who has also come under attack by Trump’s minions. I want you to continue to push

to obtain the transcript of the one-on-one meeting between Trump and Putin. And I

would like Congress to formally rebuke Trump on the record, through a censure or
otherwise. Thank you.”

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Call Your House Rep and Demand Devin Nunes’s Removal as Chair of the House Committee on Intelligence
Action Alerts · Call Your House Rep · Russian Scandal, Emoluments Clause · Stand Up for Civilization · Stand Up for Norms

Call Your House Rep and Demand Devin Nunes’s Removal as Chair of the House Committee on Intelligence

otycd

Call your House Rep and demand Devin Nunes’s removal from his post as Chair of the House of Representatives’s Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence.

 

Yep, we’re making an exception to our rule on issuing one thing you can do, per day, to push back against Trump. We need to get news out about the next Families Belong Together protest, but this needs attention, too, and it needs it today.

 

Devin Nunes, who represents the 22nd District of California, has been a goddamn menace on the House Committee on Intelligence since Trump’s election. He’s seemingly made it his business to personally defend Trump instead of serving the American people.

 

He should have been removed from the chairmanship of the committee ages ago. Paul Ryan, Speaker of the House, has consistently refused to do so.

 

With the Department of Justice’s (DOJ) July 21, 2018 release of the FISA documents relating to Carter Page, it is abundantly clear that Nunes absolutely, positively has to GO. The fact that Trump went on a tweetstorm about this on Sunday claiming that the DOJ and FBI ‘misled the courts’ makes it still more urgent.

 

While the documents are heavily redacted, every single knowledgable commenter on Twitter agrees that Nunes was stone cold wrong in his representations of what these documents contained, and his Democratic colleague, Adam Schiff, was correct.

 

Here is a selection of Twitter comments to that effect.

 

Caroline O (@RVAWonk):

An important takeaway from the Carter Page FISA documents released today: They prove without a shadow of a doubt that lied about the FISA warrant to try to discredit the Russia probe. And they also prove that told the truth.

 

Example: Nunes claimed the FBI cited a Sept. 2016 Yahoo News article to corroborate the Steele dossier. Schiff said no, the FBI cited the article to inform the court of Carter Page’s public denial of his Moscow meeting. (L) Today’s FISA docs show Schiff’s account is correct. (R) [She included a screen grab which we can’t reproduce.]

 

Devin Nunes won’t admit that he lied about Carter Page’s FISA warrant to undermine an ongoing investigation — but what about the rest of the GOP-led House intel committee, which largely went along with the Nunes memo? And what about , who could remove Nunes tomorrow?

 

Defending the Nunes memo in Feb, said: “This is about FISA abuse and…holding our govt accountable…and conducting oversight over the executive branch which…has been given great power over us at citizens. We need to make sure that that power is used correctly.” [She linked to a video of Ryan saying precisely this.]

 

So if cares about accountability & oversight, what’s he going to do to hold accountable for using his position as HPSCI chairman to lie to the American people, corrupt the oversight process, & undermine a federal investigation?

 

 

 

Julian Sanchez, another who is well-regarded in this realm and who tweets as @normative, said:

 

There’s a full page of discussion of Steele being hired to conduct political oppo research, and why the FBI regards his reporting as reliable anyway. Makes the Nunes claim that they tried to hoodwink the FISC about this look even more ridiculous.

 

It’s absolutely insane Nunes tried to claim FBI hid this information from the FISC. All this immediately follows the first mention of Steele (aka “Source 1”). [This is followed by a screen grab that we can’t reproduce.]

 

Also quite clear that, contrary to Nunes’ claims, the FBI was NOT using Michael Isikoff’s Yahoo News article as independent confirmation of Steele’s reporting, but as a source for Page’s denials he was working for Russia. [This is followed by a screen grab that we can’t reproduce.]

 

What this does make clear beyond any serious doubt is the brazen dishonesty of the Nunes memo. It is impossible to imagine a reasonable person reading this document and then making the claims in that memo in good faith.

 

 

 

 

The expert who tweets under the @pwnallthethings handle, in analyzing the Carter Page FISA documents, said:

 

It’s honestly kind of amazing that *every single one* of the assertions about inadequacies
about the FISA application by Nunes are just directly refuted by the FISA application.
Utterly dishonest in its entirety.
Worth noting, for the record, that it was Rep. Trey Gowdy who went and read the FISA
application for the HPSCI majority when compiling the Nunes memo. So he has a lot to
answer for here.
Carrie Cordero (@carriecordero), a law professor, CNN analyst, and contributing editor to the Lawfare blog tweeted:
Let me be crystal clear: the Chairman of the House intelligence committee, Devin Nunes, set in motion a chain of events based on a bogus & politicized charge against DOJ’s use of
, that just upended 40 years of FISA practice that protected the nation’s secrets.
You can be for , and likewise lament that this case, for these reasons, is
the one that busted the system and will have profound consequences for protecting
national security information in cases involving going forward.

 

 

Rather than a tweetstorm, expert David Kris wrote a piece for the Lawfare blog on the documents. Key quote from that post:

 

The Nunes memo accused the FBI of dishonesty in failing to disclose information about Steele, but in fact the Nunes memo itself was dishonest in failing to disclose what the FBI disclosed. I said then, and I still believe, that the “Nunes memo was dishonest. And if it is allowed to stand, we risk significant collateral damage to essential elements of our democracy.”

Now we have some additional information in the form of the redacted FISA applications themselves, and the Nunes memo looks even worse. In my earlier post, I observed that the FBI’s disclosures about Steele were contained in a footnote, but argued that this did not detract from their sufficiency: “As someone who has read and approved many FISA applications and dealt extensively with the FISA Court, I will anticipate and reject a claim that the disclosure was somehow insufficient because it appeared in a footnote; in my experience, the court reads the footnotes.” Now we can see that the footnote disclosing Steele’s possible bias takes up more than a full page in the applications, so there is literally no way the FISA Court could have missed it. The FBI gave the court enough information to evaluate Steele’s credibility.

 

Full David Kris post is here:

https://www.lawfareblog.com/what-make-carter-page-fisa-applications

 

 

So! We at OTYCD are asking you to call your House Rep and demand Nunes’s removal as chair of the House Intelligence committee.

 

Before you call, check the links below that show the full list of members of the committee. Is your House Rep one of them? If so, it’s extra-important that you call.

 

 

Majority members of the committee (all Republican):

https://intelligence.house.gov/about/hpsci-majority-members.htm

 

 

Minority members of the committee (all Democrats):

https://intelligence.house.gov/about/hpsci-minority-members.htm

 

 

Also, if your House Rep is Speaker Paul Ryan? Super-extra-mega-important for you to call.

 

 

Sample script: “Dear House Rep [Lastname], I am [Firstname Lastname from town, zip code]. I am calling to urge you and your colleagues to remove Devin Nunes as chair of the House Intelligence Committee. He has been unbelievably irresponsible with his power since Trump was elected, and on Saturday, we got proof of just how irresponsible he was. Every responsible intelligence expert who comments publicly agree that he misrepresented the Carter Page FISA documents. Some accuse him of ‘brazen dishonesty.’ Others accuse him of misusing his power and undermining national security to serve a political end. Regardless, it is long past time to remove him from his position on that sensitive committee before he can do even more damage. I urge you to urge your colleagues to prevail upon Speaker Ryan and do the right thing at long last.”

 

 

Once you’ve done that, please support Andrew Janz, the Democrat who’s running against Nunes and hopes to take his seat. Donate to his campaign, phone-bank for him, canvass for him, follow him on social media–anything helps.

 

See the OTYCD post on Andrew Janz and his campaign:

https://onethingyoucando.com/2018/06/09/keep-an-eye-on-andrew-janz-whos-running-for-devin-nuness-house-seat/

 

 

Read the NYT story on the document release:

 

Here’s a July 22, 2018 CNN article that cites Trump claiming the docs show the DOJ and FBI ‘misled the courts’ (they didn’t):

https://www.cnn.com/2018/07/22/politics/donald-trump-fisa-tweet/index.html?utm_term=image&utm_source=twCNNp&utm_medium=social&utm_content=2018-07-22T14%3A04%3A58

 

 

 

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page or checking the About & Subscribe page. And tell your friends about the blog!

 

 

Call Your MoCs and Leave No Doubt In Their Minds About How You Feel About Trump’s Press Conference in Helsinki
Action Alerts · Call Your Members of Congress · Marches and Protests · Russian Scandal, Emoluments Clause

Call Your MoCs and Leave No Doubt In Their Minds About How You Feel About Trump’s Press Conference in Helsinki

otycd4 Comments

Call your MoCs and leave no doubt in their minds–none whatsoever–how you feel about Trump’s treasonous performance in Helsinki.

 

Holy shit. I mean, holy shit. HOLY SHIT.

 

Everyone was braced for the Helsinki meeting to be bad. But, HOLY SHIT.

 

HO

 

LEE

 

SHIT

 

!

 

Yeah, it’s every bit as bad as it looked and sounded and seemed. And yet, it’s hard to find the words to describe what we all saw.

 

How about we should start with the transcript and the video of the press conference, assuming you can bear to watch. It comes care of Boing Boing:

https://boingboing.net/2018/07/16/trump-putin-helsinki.html

 

 

Here’s a selection of reactions on Twitter:

 

John O. Brennan (@JohnBrennan), director of the CIA from 2013 to 2017:

Donald Trump’s press conference performance in Helsinki rises to & exceeds the threshold of “high crimes & misdemeanors.” It was nothing short of treasonous. Not only were Trump’s comments imbecilic, he is wholly in the pocket of Putin. Republican Patriots: Where are you???

 

 

Rick Wilson (@TheRickWilson), Republican strategist and author of the upcoming Everything Trump Touches Dies:

He’s bad at being President. He’s bad at being a patriot. He’s bad at being an America. He’s owned. He might as well be wearing a dog collar and looking up at Putin for Donnie Snacks.

Putin is to Donald Trump as Donald Trump is to a single-celled life form. He’s played Trump like a fiddle. This is a disaster for America.

I’m starting to think the pee tape isn’t just real, but it’s spectacular.

If you needed any other evidence that this President is completely owned, you just got it.

Let me tell you, if Barack Obama had said the crap Trump said today there would already be 10, 000 hypercaustic elected Republican press releases, Facebook posts, and tweets. There would be a hundred calls for impeachment by close of business today.

Press secretary for a pro-Trump Senator: “FML. Can I come play for Team America now?”

 

 

Tom Nichols (@RadioFreeTom), Republican and author of The Death of Expertise:

This is worse than I expected. And my expectations were already rock bottom.

Holy crap. This is an abomination.

Putin is completely in command of this situation. He’s basically told Trump to go piss up a rope about the GRU guys [he means the 12 Russians who were indicted on July 13, 2018]. (“You want investigations? Sure. I’ll look into it. Give me Bill Browder.”) Trump, meanwhile, is babbling “no collusion.”

I dare any of Trump’s enablers and apologists to defend what we just saw.

I expect nothing from the House. But other GOPers who don’t oppose this are dead to me. This could be what finally drives me out of the party — I’m sure to the relief of the Putin Bloc who will stay. If you @ me about quitting, I’ll block you. I don’t need your advice on that.

 

 

Steve Schmidt (@SteveSchmidtSES), a high-ranking Republican who worked for past presidential campaigns, and who recently left the party:

No American President has ever disgraced himself, the Presidency and the United Stated like Trump did today. The video will endure as a monument to stupidity, arrogance and idiocy throughout the ages. Trump beclowned himself and made the world much more dangerous. What a fool.

 

 

Ethics expert Walter Shaub (@WaltShaub):

Literal collusion caught on video today: “[I]n refusing to acknowledge the plain facts about Russia’s behavior, while trashing his own country’s justice system, Mr. Trump in fact was openly colluding with the criminal leader of a hostile power.” [Then he linked to this Washington Post story:]

https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/global-opinions/trump-just-put-russia-first/2018/07/16/8391f9aa-8914-11e8-a345-a1bf7847b375_story.html?utm_term=.efed2afa8562

 

 

Sally Yates (@SallyQYates), who tried to alert the administration about the dangers Michael Flynn posed and got fired in early 2017 for her trouble:

Our President today not only chose a tyrant over his own Intel community, he chose Russia’s interests over the country he is sworn to protect. All Americans should raise their voices. Let the world know what we stand for.

 

 

Maria Spinella (@mariaspinella) of CNN:

Chuck Hagel to his former colleagues on “now is the time…now is the time the congress of the United States must step up and step into this…this is serious”

 

 

Michael Cohen (@speechboy71), columnist for the Boston Globe:

That was a treasonous performance. Any Republican who doesn’t immediately condemn Trump’s words – and begin the process of impeachment – is complicit

Every journalist in America needs to have their hair on fire over what just happened in Helsinki. This is a grave political crisis.

 

 

Pedro da Costa (@pdacosta), senior correspondent at Business Insider:

It’s not a summit, it’s a crime scene.

 

 

Scott Gilmore (@Scott_Gilmore), editor-at-large for MacLeans:

Trump is in Air Force One right now, it’s only 9pm Helsinki time. He is likely watching the reaction. An almost universal condemnation, even among GOP politicians. Even he must realize he has stumbled into uncharted territory. How will he react?

 

 

Jon Favreau (@jonfavs) of Crooked Media:

This is just a really sad day for the United States.

 

 

With the exception of ailing Arizona Senator John McCain (his statement is the pinned tweet on the @SenJohnMcCain Twitter page), sitting GOP Congressfolk have been way too mealy-mouthed about this. So mealy-mouthed that it’s not worth including any of their responses here (though McCain’s is good and it’s a shame he can’t do more, but he has a particularly nasty brain cancer, so…)

 

By the time you see this post you may well have already called your MoCs.

 

If you sat there unable to do much more than absorb and pick your jaw up off the floor, well, your window to call is open. And hey, this is bad enough that it’s worth calling again  about.

 

Celeste Pewter (@Celeste_pewter) was quicker on the draw than us. We are reproducing her sample script, which encourages you to ask your members of Congress (MoCs) to do more than issue sternly worded statements.

 

A few points we at OTYCD want to add:

 

Before you call, check the social media feeds for each of your MoCs to see what they’ve said about Helsinki. Be ready to quote what you like or don’t like. If one of your MoCs hasn’t said anything yet, point that out and ask when they will.

 

Call all three of your MoCs about this, but remember–House members and Senators have different powers, some of which don’t overlap.

 

Sure, be more passionate and forceful than what you see here but please, don’t actually yell, and don’t use abusive language. It’s July. Odds are interns are answering the phones. They’re just as pissed as you are. If you think you’re going to lose it, write down what you want to say and rehearse it until you can say it while keeping control.

 

Notice that Pewter does not use the I-word in this script. This is wise, because we’d need 67 Senators to succeed with an impeachment effort, and even now, it’s unclear if we’d have that.

 

When you call your Senators, you can urge them to urge GOP Majority Leader Mitch McConnell to advance the bill that protects Special Counsel Robert Mueller. He’s been sitting on it. He never should have sat on it. Time to tell him to quit that shit, and to add protections for Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein, too.

 

Charlie Pierce of Esquire suggested it’s time for at least three GOP Senators to stop caucusing with their party, to underline how serious this is. Key quote:

Three Republican senators moving across the aisle shuts everything down. It defangs Mitch McConnell. It would take considerable political courage for Sasse to do this, since he still has political ambitions, but Bob Corker and Jeff Flake both have announced their retirements, and they both have been quite critical about the administration’s antics. Those two literally have nothing to lose. Again, if there’s another constitutional method by which immediately to throw the brakes on the crazy train, I’m wide open to hearing it.

Full article is here:

https://www.esquire.com/news-politics/politics/a22165304/donald-trump-press-conference-vladimir-putin-renegade-presidency/

 

If you are represented in the Senate by Corker, Flake, Sasse, Murkowski, Collins, McCain, or Graham, it’s worth asking them to do this.

 

If you have GOP Senators, it’s still worth it. Even if there’s no chance they’ll step away, the fact that constituents are calling to ask for it shows them how serious this is and how angry people are.

 

Lastly, there were spontaneous protests last night at Lafayette Park in Washington, D.C., and there will be another there tonight (July 17, 2018) at 7 pm EST. If you live in or near the city, please consider going.

 

Here’s the script. Scroll down for ways to support Celeste Pewter and her work.

 

 

 

Here are additional ways to support Celeste Pewter, author of the black-backgrounded script above.

 

You can follow her on Twitter:

@Celeste_Pewter

 

You can call your Members of Congress (MoCs) and tweet about your experience using the #ICalledMyReps hashtag.

 

You can check out The Road to 2018, an organization she’s involved with that defends and promotes vulnerable Democratic Senators. See our post on it:

https://onethingyoucando.com/2018/02/25/support-the-road-to-2018-which-defends-democratic-senators/

 

Subscribe to her peerless newsletter, It’s Time to Fight:

http://itstimetofight.weebly.com

 

Subscribe to One Thing You Can Do by clicking the button on the upper right of the page or checking the About & Subscribe page. And tell your friends about the blog!

 

Call Your House Rep and Demand That They Do Everything They Can to Stop The Push to Impeach Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein
Action Alerts · Call Your House Rep · Marches and Protests · Russian Scandal, Emoluments Clause · Stand Up for Civilization · Stand Up for Norms

Call Your House Rep and Demand That They Do Everything They Can to Stop The Push to Impeach Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein

otycd

Call your House Rep and demand that he or she does everything they can to stop the push to impeach Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein. 

 

Surely you saw or heard tell of the ridiculous hearing that the House Judiciary Committee did with fired FBI agent Peter Strozk on Thursday. Strozk (pronounced ‘Struck’) was the guy who sent thousands of texts back and forth with FBI lawyer Lisa Page while working on investigations into Hillary Clinton’s emails and Russia’s potential interference in the 2016 presidential elections.

 

Strozk had, and has, a good reputation within the FBI. Conservatives seeking to attack the Trump-Russia investigation fixed on his texts and claimed some of them showed bias against the president. In a show of caution, Mueller removed Strozk from the Russia investigation once he learned about the texts. (This happened around December 2017).

 

Anyway. We mention the July 12, 2018 Strozk hearing because it happened a day before the Department of Justice announced twelve more indictments in the Trump-Russia probe. These target, by name, Russian hackers who worked for the military and who interfered with the 2016 presidential election.

 

If you want to refresh yourself on that news, read this Washington Post piece:

https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/national-security/rod-rosenstein-expected-to-announce-new-indictment-by-mueller/2018/07/13/bc565582-86a9-11e8-8553-a3ce89036c78_story.html?utm_term=.6e0cff0021da

 

 

The larger point: The timing of the Strozk hearing could have been a desperate attempt to damage Mueller’s investigation before the new indictments went public on July 13, 2018.

 

We also know that Rosenstein briefed Trump about the coming indictments earlier in the week of July 9, before he departed for the U.K. Trump nevertheless continued to call the investigation “rigged” and a “witch hunt” on the day the news broke.

 

See a Business Insider piece that confirms that Rosenstein briefed the president about the coming indictments:

http://www.businessinsider.com/trump-briefed-mueller-indictments-russian-hackers-2018-7

 

 

So! After all that happened, some House Republicans started making noise about impeaching Rosenstein.

 

According to a Politico story published that fateful Friday, House Freedom Caucus Chairman Mark Meadows apparently had the impeachment document in hand, on the floor of the chamber, as Rosenstein was giving the press conference about the indictments.

 

Evidently, a group of House Republicans have been plotting for weeks to impeach Rosenstein. They could file the document as early as Monday, July 16. They could also go with the less serious step of trying to hold Rosenstein in contempt of Congress.

 

Here’s the larger point: The Politico article says the group doesn’t yet have enough support from fellow House members to take these actions. It also notes that their mutterings make the chamber’s leadership uneasy. See these key paragraphs:

 

“It is unclear how much support conservatives will have in their effort. Rosenstein has become a punching bag for Trump and his allies as they vent frustration over the Russia investigation. Since Attorney General Jeff Sessions recused himself, Rosenstein has overseen the Mueller probe, which is also examining potential obstruction of justice charges against the president.

But House GOP leaders like Speaker Paul Ryan have clearly been uncomfortable with the notion of going after Rosenstein. It’s unlikely that will change anytime soon, especially so soon after the latest indictments. Ryan’s office was not immediately available for comment.”

 

Full Politico article is here:

https://www.politico.com/story/2018/07/13/house-republicans-rod-rosenstein-impeachment-719816

 

This is where you come in.

 

Yes, it’s a weekend, and your House Rep’s offices will be closed.

 

We are recommending you call your House Rep anyway and leave a voice mail message.

 

You can also choose to wait until Monday to call about this, but we at OTYCD wanted to get this post out before then in case those House members move to impeach on Monday.

 

Now, can these House members succeed in impeaching Rosenstein? Probably not. They would need a House majority to vote in favor.

 

That’s why you should make calling a priority. A firm pushback from their own constituents should strengthen their resolve.

 

Scripts follow. Scroll down for more discussion of why impeaching Rosenstein probably won’t happen, and how you can push back against the twerps in the House who are pursuing this clownish nonsense.

 

“Dear House Rep [Lastname,] I am [Firstname Lastname from town, zip code.] I am calling to ask you to oppose any attempts by your colleagues to impeach Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein or hold him in contempt of Congress. Many of the same people who made fools of themselves at the Strozk [pronounced ‘Struck’] hearing on Thursday are trying to hobble Rosenstein. Like Thursday’s hearings, targeting Rosenstein is a politically motivated attempt to undermine Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 election and Trump’s Russian connections. Nothing more. Mueller and Rosenstein both must be left alone to do their jobs. I am asking you to firmly and publicly rebuke any attempts by this small group of House Republicans to besmirch Rosenstein without cause. Thank you for listening.”

 

 

An April 2018 story in USA Today considered the notion that the House might succeed in impeaching Rosenstein, and generally threw cold water on it. The article gives a good overview of what has to happen for the motion to succeed, and explains how rarely such impeachments happen.

https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/2018/04/29/can-trump-allies-really-impeach-deputy-ag-rod-rosenstein/550442002/

 

 

While we at OTYCD do not have a full list of the people who are trying to impeach Rosenstein or hold him in contempt of Congress, we’re betting there’s a lot of overlap with the membership of the House Freedom Caucus.

 

All members of the House of Representatives are up for re-election this year. See this OTYCD article to learn who is in the House Freedom Caucus so you can help vote them out in November:

https://onethingyoucando.com/2018/06/04/see-this-list-of-members-of-the-house-freedom-caucus-so-you-can-vote-them-out-in-november/

 

 

This is also a good time to remind you about the plans for mass protest if Trump provokes a constitutional crisis over the Trump-Russia probe.

 

If the House GOP actually gets anywhere with impeaching Rosenstein or holding him in contempt of Congress, that could trigger the mass protest plan. Here is the OTYCD post about the protest:

https://onethingyoucando.com/2018/04/12/prepare-for-a-rapid-response-in-case-trump-fires-special-counsel-bob-mueller/

 

 

Here also is a reminder to check the website and note where your local protest venue is in case things go to hell and take that website’s servers with them:

https://onethingyoucando.com/2018/05/01/note-where-the-nearest-nobody-is-above-the-law-rally-takes-place-now-just-in-case-if-trump-does-fire-mueller-or-rosenstein-etc-the-server-might-crash/

 

 

Subscribe to One Thing You Can Do by clicking the button on the upper right of the page. And tell your friends about the blog!

 

 

 

 

Call Your MoCs and Demand That Trump Cancel His One-on-One Helsinki Meeting With Putin
Action Alerts · Call Your Members of Congress · Russian Scandal, Emoluments Clause · Use Your Power, Recruit Friends

Call Your MoCs and Demand That Trump Cancel His One-on-One Helsinki Meeting With Putin

otycd

Call your MoCs and demand that Trump cancel his one-on-one meeting in Helsinki with Vladimir Putin, which is set for Monday July 16, 2018.

 

Normally we at OTYCD don’t ask you to call your MoCs on weekends. We do this because we often ask you to call them during the week. Also, while you can call your MoCs on the weekends, their offices might not be staffed. You can, and should, leave a voicemail, but calling on weekdays raises the odds of getting a live person.

 

We’re making an exception to support the #CancelHelsinki movement.

 

Folks had been pushing to get Trump to pull out of the one-on-one meeting with Putin in Helsinki, Finland, because Trump says it’d be just him and the Russian–no interpreters, no note-takers, no other witnesses.

 

This is an Exceptionally Bad Idea.

 

This is an Even Worse Idea in the wake of the Friday announcement by the Department of Justice (DOJ), indicting twelve Russian hackers for interfering with the 2016 presidential election by hacking the computer networks of the Democratic National Committee and Hillary Clinton’s campaign.

 

If you want to refresh yourself on the news, read this Washington Post piece:

https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/national-security/rod-rosenstein-expected-to-announce-new-indictment-by-mueller/2018/07/13/bc565582-86a9-11e8-8553-a3ce89036c78_story.html?utm_term=.6e0cff0021da

 

The larger point: The meeting is set for Monday. If you’re going to meaningfully oppose it, you need to call over the weekend.

 

You won’t be shocked to learn that Celeste Pewter (@Celeste_pewter) is already on it. She’s composed a script which we will reproduce below. Scroll down to learn how to support her and her work (which you should, early and often).

 

Here are additional ways to support Celeste Pewter, author of the black-backgrounded script above.

 

You can follow her on Twitter:

@Celeste_Pewter

 

You can call your Members of Congress (MoCs) and tweet about your experience using the #ICalledMyReps hashtag.

 

You can check out The Road to 2018, an organization she’s involved with that defends and promotes vulnerable Democratic Senators. See our post on it:

https://onethingyoucando.com/2018/02/25/support-the-road-to-2018-which-defends-democratic-senators/

 

Subscribe to her peerless newsletter, It’s Time to Fight:

http://itstimetofight.weebly.com

 

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