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U.S. Democrats seek to make Republican scandals an election issue

webfact

By webfact
in World News

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webfact Grand Master Member

webfact

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U.S. Democrats seek to make Republican scandals an election issue

By Susan Cornwell and John Whitesides

 

2018-08-22T225257Z_1_LYNXNPEE7L1MP_RTROPTP_4_USA-ELECTION-DEMOCRATS.JPG

FILE PHOTO: Rep. Cheri Bustos speaks at a press conference in Washington, U.S., December 6, 2017. REUTERS/Aaron P. Bernstein/File Photo

 

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Democrats accused congressional Republicans on Wednesday of enabling a growing culture of corruption under U.S. President Donald Trump and planned to use the issue to bolster their push to retake control of Congress in November's elections.

 

The conviction and guilty plea on Tuesday of two former members of Trump's inner circle put a spotlight on the Democratic argument that Republicans have failed to check the excesses of corruption under Trump - but that voters could do it for them.

 

"Washington Republicans are failing to hold themselves accountable to the people for the corruption that has infected the party and has infected the nation’s capital," said U.S. Representative Cheri Bustos, co-chair of the messaging arm of the House of Representatives' Democrats.

 

Some Democrats pounced on the scandals as a way to organise and raise money for November when they are trying to pick up 23 seats in the House and two seats in the Senate to gain majorities in both chambers and blunt Trump's legislative agenda.

 

Democratic National Committee Chairman Tom Perez sent an email asking for donations, saying: "The more Democrats we elect this November, the better we will be able to hold this administration accountable."

 

At the DNC summer meeting in Chicago on Wednesday, Perez told party members the election of Democrats would install "guard rails" against Republican corruption.

 

Bustos said Democrats were seeking to make corruption a "co-equal" issue with driving down healthcare costs, increasing wages through infrastructure projects and providing new and stable leadership.

 

The conviction of former Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort on tax and bank fraud charges and the guilty plea of Trump's former personal lawyer Michael Cohen on tax evasion, bank fraud and campaign finance violations grew out of Special Counsel Robert Mueller's investigation of potential Russian meddling in the 2016 U.S. election and whether the Trump campaign conspired with Moscow to influence the outcome.

 

Russia has denied interfering and Trump has said there was no collusion.

 

Cohen said Trump told him to arrange hush money for two women who said they had affairs with Trump - and reimbursed him with campaign cash.

 

White House press secretary Sarah Sanders said on Wednesday that Cohen's plea deal did not implicate the president in a crime. Trump, who has denied the affairs, has insisted he paid Cohen out of personal funds and that the payments were not intended to benefit his campaign but to resolve a personal matter.

 

"Corruption is a big issue when I go around the district," said Democrat Janet Garrett, who is challenging U.S. Representative Jim Jordan, a conservative Ohio Republican and Trump ally who has called for the impeachment of Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein for his oversight of the Mueller probe.

 

“He’s definitely an enabler of corruption, because he is willing to sacrifice the truth on the altar of self-interest," Garrett said of Jordan, who is fighting his own scandal. He has denied allegations that he knew about sexual harassment of wrestlers at Ohio State University and did nothing about it.

 

DEMOCRATS WILL 'OVERREACH'

Republican congressional leaders avoided criticizing Trump after the outcome of the Manafort and Cohen cases.

 

John Cornyn, the No. 2 Senate Republican, said he expected Democrats would overplay their hand and launch a contentious drive to remove Trump from office.

 

“I have some confidence that our Democratic friends are going to overreach, and this will be all about impeachment," he told reporters in the Capitol.

 

Republican Senator Mike Rounds, who is not up for re-election this year, told reporters it was tough to get the party's message through to voters over the din of the scandals.

 

"We're actually getting our work done in the Senate, and I know that’s not getting a lot of attention, but it will at some point," Rounds said.

 

The Cohen and Manafort news came amid a spiral of corruption charges against Republicans, including an indictment on Tuesday against U.S. Representative Duncan Hunter for allegedly spending campaign money on personal expenses.

 

Hunter, who is seeking re-election in California, denied the allegations and suggested in a statement on Wednesday that it was politically motivated given the timing of the charges so close to the election.

 

The Hunter case followed the recent indictment of U.S. Representative Chris Collins, a Republican who was one of Trump's first supporters, on securities fraud charges involving the use of inside information. Collins also denied wrongdoing but dropped out of his race in New York.

 

Democrats have used the corruption issue successfully before, winning House control in 2006 after financial and sexual scandals involving prominent Republicans. But other issues, such as the unpopularity of Republican President George W. Bush and the Iraq war, were also important that year.

 

"Democratic candidates already have been running on ethics, public service and independent leadership," said a Democratic strategist who works with candidates in battleground districts. "This just strengthens their case."

 

(Reporting by Susan Cornwell and John Whitesides; Additional reporting by Amanda Becker in Washington and Tim Reid in Chicago; Editing by Colleen Jenkins and Peter Cooney)

 
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-- © Copyright Reuters 2018-08-23
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BuaBS Senior Member

BuaBS

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Isn't that with every election ? The focus on the Clinton scandals got Trump elected. Now the shoe is on the other foot again , only with the full backing of the MSM (again) and muting every conservative outlet .

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Bluespunk Star Member

Bluespunk

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5 hours ago, webfact said:

Hunter, who is seeking re-election in California, denied the allegations and suggested in a statement on Wednesday that it was politically motivated given the timing of the charges so close to the election.

Yeah right...lock him up. 

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alocacoc Gold Member

alocacoc

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13 minutes ago, Quidio said:

It would be nice if the US reaches the point where the government is actually getting something done, rather than just dealing with scandals.   

Yes, shut down the DNC. That's a start.

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Credo Ruby Member

Credo

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2 minutes ago, alocacoc said:

Yes, shut down the DNC. That's a start.

What?   And continue to fill the void with the oozing, toxic effluence of the Republican party?   The party that is doing nothing as well, except, undoing any progress, denying the interference in elections, supporting White supremacy etc., etc.?   

 

I'd be really careful about trying to defend them when it comes to legal problems, indictments and convictions.   

 

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alocacoc Gold Member

alocacoc

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4 minutes ago, Credo said:

What?   And continue to fill the void with the oozing, toxic effluence of the Republican party?   The party that is doing nothing as well, except, undoing any progress, denying the interference in elections, supporting White supremacy etc., etc.?   

 

I'd be really careful about trying to defend them when it comes to legal problems, indictments and convictions.   

 

Supporting White supremacy? That's not even funny anymore.

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alocacoc Gold Member

alocacoc

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1 minute ago, Credo said:

Well here's a nice long list of them:

 

Arthur Jones:  Arthur Jones, a longtime neo-Nazi, is poised to be the Republican nominee for a seat in Congress representing parts of Chicago and its suburbs.

Paul Nehlen is running to replace House Speaker Paul Ryan (R-Wis.).

 

Sean Donahue is running to replace Rep. Lou Barletta (R-Pa.),

 

Former Rep. Tom Tancredo (R-Colo.)

 

Joe Arpaio, the former Arizona sheriff pardoned by Trump after a conviction for criminal contempt, is running for U.S. Senate in Arizona. He gained national notoriety for terrorizing Maricopa County’s Latino population.

 

Rep. Steve King (R-Iowa) is an eight-term congressman up for re-election this year.  

 

And there are a lots more:

 

https://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/white-supremacists-running-for-office-2018_us_5a7da926e4b0c6726e1285c1

 

Your source is even worse than CNN.

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Credo Ruby Member

Credo

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16 minutes ago, alocacoc said:

Supporting White supremacy? That's not even funny anymore.

Well here's a nice long list of them:

 

Arthur Jones:  Arthur Jones, a longtime neo-Nazi, is poised to be the Republican nominee for a seat in Congress representing parts of Chicago and its suburbs.

Paul Nehlen is running to replace House Speaker Paul Ryan (R-Wis.).

 

Sean Donahue is running to replace Rep. Lou Barletta (R-Pa.),

 

Former Rep. Tom Tancredo (R-Colo.)

 

Joe Arpaio, the former Arizona sheriff pardoned by Trump after a conviction for criminal contempt, is running for U.S. Senate in Arizona. He gained national notoriety for terrorizing Maricopa County’s Latino population.

 

Rep. Steve King (R-Iowa) is an eight-term congressman up for re-election this year.  

 

And there are a lots more:

 

https://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/white-supremacists-running-for-office-2018_us_5a7da926e4b0c6726e1285c1

 

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bendejo Ruby Member

bendejo

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On 8/23/2018 at 10:27 AM, Credo said:

What?   And continue to fill the void with the oozing, toxic effluence of the Republican party?   The party that is doing nothing as well, except, undoing any progress, denying the interference in elections, supporting White supremacy etc., etc.?    

 

I'd be really careful about trying to defend them when it comes to legal problems, indictments and convictions.   

 

 

What I'm saying here has nothing to do with the current administration.  Things are just too scatterbrained to take seriously.

 

A few years before the 2015-2016 campaign, Bernie was being interviewed (I think by Bill Maher) and was asked about members of Congress who "took money," implying $$ for favors.  Bernie said "ALL Republicans take money."  And the Dems? "About 40%" he replied.  I think some members of that 40% club are pretty obvious.

I have the impression the GOP politicians are paid to get things done, and the Dems are paid to not get in the way.  You have to admit that when it comes to moving things through Congress the GOP is the freakin' Wehrmacht.  The President of the US the most powerful man in the world, what does that make Mitch McConnell?  As for raising money EVERY GOP member of Congress MUST do time on the phone, raising money.  The RNC has an office across the street, and on certain days someone will be waiting for them to bring them back to the office to do phone time.  I read of a GOP representative who so hated being forced to beg for money in this way that he didn't run for a 2nd term.

I'm all for the "new breed" taking over the Dems.  I want Liz Warren in Mitch McConnell's job. 

Is a schumer the German word for "man who sits with his thumb in his rectum"?

 

 

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Credo Ruby Member

Credo

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One can only hope that the Democrats stay focused.   It's hard with so many failures on the part of this administration.

 

His trade war is showing little to no success and may be causing more harm than good.

 

His foreign policy is an epic disaster, from alienating most of the allies to dangerous game with Iran and an epic failure with North Korea.   As a matter of fact, Pompeo won't be making his scheduled trip to NK because of lack of progress.

Trump asks Pompeo not to go to North Korea citing lack of progress on denuclearization

https://www.yahoo.com/gma/trump-asks-pompeo-not-north-korea-citing-lack-175515398.html

 

As far as the scandals go, it's hard to figure out which ones to focus on there are so many.   

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bendejo Ruby Member

bendejo

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2 minutes ago, Credo said:

One can only hope that the Democrats stay focused.   It's hard with so many failures on the part of this administration.

 

His trade war is showing little to no success and may be causing more harm than good.

 

His foreign policy is an epic disaster, from alienating most of the allies to dangerous game with Iran and an epic failure with North Korea.   As a matter of fact, Pompeo won't be making his scheduled trip to NK because of lack of progress.

Trump asks Pompeo not to go to North Korea citing lack of progress on denuclearization

https://www.yahoo.com/gma/trump-asks-pompeo-not-north-korea-citing-lack-175515398.html

 

As far as the scandals go, it's hard to figure out which ones to focus on there are so many.   

 

Can't help thinking the cancellation has something to do with:

https://www.politico.com/story/2018/08/23/us-south-korea-military-exercises-suspension-repercussions-794920

 

I would guess the Pentagon, and the military in general, are not happy with this.

On the other hand, maybe DT is in life jacket mode, too busy trying to protect his ass to deal with silly distractions like foreign relations and other POTUS nonsense. 

Let's see what happens if eventually DT is a free citizen again, and a few years from now his Organization is developing a luxury resort in what is nowadays called North Korea, a project that has its genesis in the 2016 Singapore meeting -- he said so himself, check the press conference he gave afterward.  My guess is DT tried to cut a deal for some sort of rights, trading it for calling off the military exercises.  When DT said he was cutting them was because "they were too expensive" and several other excuses he was obviously lying.

 

 

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sirineou Star Member

sirineou

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On 8/23/2018 at 1:50 PM, Credo said:

Well here's a nice long list of them:

 

Arthur Jones:  Arthur Jones, a longtime neo-Nazi, is poised to be the Republican nominee for a seat in Congress representing parts of Chicago and its suburbs.

Paul Nehlen is running to replace House Speaker Paul Ryan (R-Wis.).

 

Sean Donahue is running to replace Rep. Lou Barletta (R-Pa.),

 

Former Rep. Tom Tancredo (R-Colo.)

 

Joe Arpaio, the former Arizona sheriff pardoned by Trump after a conviction for criminal contempt, is running for U.S. Senate in Arizona. He gained national notoriety for terrorizing Maricopa County’s Latino population.

 

Rep. Steve King (R-Iowa) is an eight-term congressman up for re-election this year.  

 

And there are a lots more:

 

https://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/white-supremacists-running-for-office-2018_us_5a7da926e4b0c6726e1285c1

 

The Problem for the republicans is that before someone can be elected to office ,they first have to win the primary and be nominated.

  In the primary elections only a small percentage of people  vote, and the ones that show up are usually the ones that are motivated,   the hard core base.

 Consequently , republican politics being what they are, will IMO , as is also reflected in the above list, produce increasingly  fringe candidates.  

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