Last Night Even Conservative DCCC Chair Cheri Bustos Gave Up Trying To Sabotage An Impeachment Inquiry. And Even 30 Republicans "Would Like To" Impeach Him

Technically, the call for an official impeachment inquiry into Trump's treason is bipartisan, since ex-Republican Jason Amash (I-MI) is adamantly in favor of it. There are still no actual Republican members of Congress on board-- something that will likely hurt the reelection chances of Republicans Brian Fitzpatrick (PA), John Katko (NY), Fred Upton (MI), Chris Smith (NJ), Brian Mast (FL), Lee Zeldin (NY), Rodney Davis (IL), Michael McCaul (TX), Donald Bacon (NE), Elise Stefanik (NY), Peter King (NY), Scott Perry (PA), Vern Buchanan (FL), Steve Chabot (OH), Mario Diaz-Balart (FL), George Holding (NC), Tim Walberg, Chip Roy (TX), Peter Stauber (MN)... This morning, though, the Associated Press reported that Vermont Governor Phil Scott became the first Republican governor to back an impeachment inquiry. At a press conference today he said he wasn’t surprised by the allegations and said it is Congress' "solemn responsibility" to uphold the Constitution.

So far all the House Republicans and even vulnerable Senate Republicans, are holding firm: "Trump is being framed" or something like that. But if even the most timid of Democrats, Andy Kim of New Jersey, and Colin Allred of Texas are coming out for impeachment, there may be Republicans already doing the plus/minus calculations in their heads. But not Lindsey Graham! Boston Globe reporter Liz Goodwin asked Lindsey, South Carolina senator and Trump defender-to-the-death, to describe what he thinks would be "an inappropriate quid pro quo scenario." Lindsey lisped dramatically in that way southern closet cases always do: "Uh, hey pal, you know, you need to like, go after the Bidens or I ain’t gonna give you any money." He insisted Trump had to be "really like, thuggish about it."

Since my list of Democrats opposing impeachment yesterday, these have all changed their positions and now back a formal impeachment inquiry, many of whom were just waiting for the OK from Pelosi:

• Albio Sires (D-NJ)
• Kathy Castor (D-FL)
• Antonio Delgado (D-NY)
• Darren Soto (New Dem-FL)
• Marc Veasey (New Dem-TX)
• Lizzie Fletcher (New Dem-TX)
• Charlie Crist (Blue Dog-FL)
• Rosa DeLauro (D-CT)
• John Larson (D-CT)
• Steny Hoyer (D-MD)
• Donald McEachin (New Dem-VA)
• Steven Horsford (New Dem-NV)
• Susie Lee (New Dem-NV)
• Andy Kim (D-NJ)
• Joseph Morelle (D-NY)
• Susan Davis (New Dem-CA)
• Lois Frankel (D-FL)
• Debbie Wasserman Schultz (New Dem-FL)
• Linda Sanchez (D-CA)
• Ami Bera (New Dem-NY)
• Cindy Axne (New Dem-IA)
• Jahana Hayes (D-CT)
• Joe Courtney (D-CT)
• Jerry McNerney (D-CA)
• Gregory Meeks (New Dem-NY)
• Elijah Cummings (D-MD)
• David Scott (Blue Dog-GA)
• Bobby Scott (D-VA)
• Jim Clyburn (D-SC)
• Dave Loebsack (D-IA)
• Jimmy Panetta (New Dem-CA)
• T.J. Cox (New Dem-CA)
• Jim Costa (Blue Dog-CA)
• Ed Case (Blue Dog-HI)
• Richard Neal (D-MA)
• Mike Thompson (Blue Dog-CA)
• Raul Ruiz (New Dem-CA)
• Susan Wild (New Dem-PA)
• Donna Shalala (D-FL)
• Abby Finkenauer (D-IA
• Peter Visclosky (D-IN)
• Stephen Lynch (New Dem-MA)
• Josh Gottheimer (Blue Dog-NJ)
• Sanford Bishop (Blue Dog-GA)

A few more members will keep announcing for impeachment today and tomorrow. Right now, these are the ones still not convinced-- a combination of political cowards and actual Trump enablers:

• Colin Allred (New Dem-TX)
• Anthony Brindisi (Blue Dog-NY)
• Cheri Bustos (New Dem-IL)
• Joe Cunningham (Blue Dog-SC)
• Henry Cuellar (Blue Dog-TX)
• Sharice Davids (New Dem-KS)
• Tulsi Gabbard (D-HI)
• Jared Golden (D-ME)
• Vicente González (Blue Dog-TX)
• Kendra Horn (Blue Dog-OK)
• Ron Kind (New Dem-WI)
• Conor Lamb (D-PA)
• Al Lawson (New Dem-FL)
• Dan Lipinski (Blue Dog-IL)
• Ben McAdams (Blue Dog-UT)
• Stephanie Murphy (Blue Dog-FL)
• Tom O'Halleran (Blue Dog-AZ)
• Collin Peterson (Blue Dog-MN)
• Max Rose (Blue Dog-NY)
• Kurt Schrader (Blue Dog-OR)
• Terri Sewell (New Dem-AL)
• Xochitl Torres Small (Blue Dog-NM)
• Jeff Van Drew (Blue Dog-NJ)
• Frederica Wilson (D-FL)

People who guessed Van Drew.. seem to be onto something

Meanwhile-- and seemingly unrelated-- it's worth noting that yesterday 11 Republicans voted with the Democrats to end the bogus national emergency that he declared in February as an excuse for stealing congressionally allocated money from the Pentagon to build his vanity wall. It passed 54-41 but will be vetoed by Trump. Below are the 11 Republicans who voted against Trump. You'll note super-endangered Colorado Republican Cory Gardner was not among them. He voted with Trump... again. I spoke with Gardner's most formidable opponent, Andrew Romanoff, who told me that "The real emergency here is that Cory Gardner-- like most of his GOP colleagues-- has done nothing to counter a corrupt and lawless president. A handful of Republicans have stood up to Donald Trump as he disregards the Constitution and diverts public funds to fulfill a political promise. Cory Gardner, who campaigned as a 'new kind of Republican,' has proven to be anything but." The other senatorial Cory had a few words for Gardner and Republican lapdogs like him:

• Lamar Alexander (R-TN)
• Roy Blunt (R-MO)
• Susan Collins (R-ME)
• Mike Lee (R-UT)
• Jerry Moran (R-KS)
• Lisa Murkowski (R-AK)
• Rand Paul (R-KY)
• Rob Portman (R-OH)
• Mitt Romney (R-UT)
• Pat Toomey (R-PA)
• Roger Wicker (R-MS)

Not enough to impeach. But... Robert Costa of the Washington Post noted that "several" of the Senate's usual Trump enablers were stunned yesterday and questioned the White House’s judgment after it released a rough transcript of President Trump’s call with the Ukraine president that showed Trump offering the help of the U.S. attorney general to investigate Joe Biden. One Senate Republican, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to speak candidly, said the transcript’s release was a 'huge mistake' that the GOP now has to confront, even as they argue that House Democrats are overreaching with their impeachment effort." He reported that one of the top Senate staffers, likely someone in Moscow Mitch's office was expecting yesterday's closed-door lunch to be "tense as Republicans react to the transcript and debate their next step."

Mitt Romney, no fan of Trump's-- ok, no one hates Trump's guts more than Romney-- said he finds the transcript "troubling in the extreme. It’s deeply troubling. Clearly what we’ve seen from the transcript itself is deeply troubling." He seemed to even encourage the impeachment inquiry: "There’s a process the House is pursuing. The Senate is also looking at the testimony of the whistleblower." Ben Sasse (NE), another anti-Trump Republican who generally keeps his mouth shut, "In general terms, American elections should be for Americans. And the idea that we would have foreign nation-states coming into the American electoral process, or the information surrounding an election, is really, really bad." Yes, really, really. A Republican strategist, Mike Murphy told Andrea Mitchell on MSNBC that a Republican senator told him "if it was a secret vote, 30 Republican senators would vote to impeach Trump."

Approached by the media, Maine Republican Susan Collins was not budging from her comfort zone: "If there are articles of impeachment I would be a juror just as I was in the trial for President Clinton, and as a juror I think it’s inappropriate for me to reach conclusions about evidence or to comment on the proceedings in the House." Bernie was less reticent. This is the statement he sent out to his supporters yesterday:

Gregg Miller, Shane Harris and Karoun Demirjian reported the about the cherry on Trump's cake: Joseph Maguire, Trump's hand-picked Acting Director of National Intelligence "threatened to resign over concerns that the White House might attempt to force him to stonewall Congress when he testifies Thursday about an explosive whistleblower complaint about the president. The revelation reflects the extraordinary tensions between the White House and the nation’s highest-ranking intelligence official over a matter that has triggered impeachment proceedings against President Trump." He warned the White House that "he was not willing to withhold information from Congress."

Republicans don't care what Schiff has to say-- especially Senate Republicans. After all he's only the House Intelligence Committee Chair. Why should they care; they're senators and someone might pick them to be president or vice president someday! Here are ten of them telling reporters their take-- or something-- on the whistleblower thing: