Aaron Rupar
@atrupar

Pelosi hits Trump for "trying to discredit the triumph of the Obama administration on the economy" during SOTU, noting that Obama cut the unemployment rate in half during his term.

"So President Trump did not inherent a mess -- he inherited a momentum," Pelosi says.

https://twitter.com/atrupar/status/1225454143516692480

The finale of President Donald Trump’s impeachment trial brought joy to Republicans and frustration to Democrats. In Kyiv, there was another sentiment: relief.

“We are glad it’s done,” said Igor Novikov, an adviser to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky. “If we could choose, this thing wouldn’t have happened. It would have been building the relationship rather than trying to save it from something very political, very loud.”

***

“It definitely was stressful,” Novikov said. “It was literally 24/7 of reading the news, analyzing the news, talking to people, and strategic sessions in the middle of the night. The key to this—and I think we succeeded—was to be on top of the situation.”

The process brought near-disasters and surreal moments. Before Trump’s now-infamous July 25 call with Zelensky, Novikov said one member of Zelensky’s team urged him to offer Trump the opportunity to build a Trump Tower in Kyiv. A similar effort by Russian nationals during the 2016 campaign became a key focus of Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s probe of Russian influence on that race.

“Imagine if that were also part of that call,” Novikov said of a Trump Tower Kyiv pitch. “Can you just imagine how that would have played out?”

https://www.thedailybeast.com/zelensky-adviser-igor-novikov-says-trump-impeachment-definitely-was-stressful?source=articles&via=rss

Donald J. Trump
@realDonaldTrump

Had failed presidential candidate @MittRomney devoted the same energy and anger to defeating a faltering Barack Obama as he sanctimoniously does to me, he could have won the election. Read the Transcripts!

12:22 AM · Feb 6, 2020·Twitter for iPhone

https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/1225288731235700737

In Private, Republicans Admit They Acquitted Trump Out of Fear

One journalist remarked to me, “How in the world can these senators walk around here upright when they have no backbone?”

By Sherrod Brown
Mr. Brown is a Democratic senator from Ohio.

Feb. 5, 2020



https://www.nytimes.com/2020/02/05/opinion/trump-senate-acquittal-impeachment.html

History has indeed taught us that when it comes to the instincts that drive us, fear has no rival. As the lead House impeachment manager, Representative Adam Schiff, has noted, Robert Kennedy spoke of how “moral courage is a rarer commodity than bravery in battle.”

Playing on that fear, the Senate majority leader, Mitch McConnell, sought a quick impeachment trial for President Trump with as little attention to it as possible. Reporters, who usually roam the Capitol freely, have been cordoned off like cattle in select areas. Mr. McConnell ordered limited camera views in the Senate chamber so only presenters — not absent senators — could be spotted.

***

Late in the evening on day four of the trial I saw it, just 10 feet across the aisle from my seat at Desk 88, when Mr. Schiff told the Senate: “CBS News reported last night that a Trump confidant said that Republican senators were warned, ‘Vote against the president and your head will be on a pike.’” The response from Republicans was immediate and furious. Several groaned and protested and muttered, “Not true.” But pike or no pike, Mr. Schiff had clearly struck a nerve. (In the words of Lizzo: truth hurts.)

Of course, the Republican senators who have covered for Mr. Trump love what he delivers for them. But Vice President Mike Pence would give them the same judges, the same tax cuts, the same attacks on workers’ rights and the environment. So that’s not really the reason for their united chorus of “not guilty.”

Donald J. Trump
@realDonaldTrump

I will be making a public statement tomorrow at 12:00pm from the @WhiteHouse to discuss our Country’s VICTORY on the Impeachment Hoax!

5:07 PM · Feb 5, 2020·Twitter for iPhone

https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/1225179058000089090