#and thank you for helping me create Carson and Danny
Note
ship questions for aiden x myles
was going to ask about danny/carson or skylla/grace but i know a lot about them already 😂
pre relationship: 6 & 7
general: 2 , 3 , 8
love: 1 , 2 , 9
domestic: 1 , 5 , 9 , 10
love u
ALIYAH MY BELOVED THANK YOU!!
I’m realizing we talk about ALL of my stories and tv shows ACCEPT for ENMITY so this might be a wild ride handjsjd (was a hoping for a chance to rant about Carson and Danny?.... always, but Aiden and Myles are great too)
Pre relationship
6. if you had told one of them that the other would be their soulmate, what would they think?
If you told Aiden, he’d probably believe it. He was always very drawn to Myles and his magnetic personality. If you told Myles though, he would think you’re crazy, not only because of internalized homophobia, but also because Aiden didn’t know how to express his emotions so Myles thought he hated him.
7. what would their lives be like if they had never met?
Bro... what kind of question 😰 uh, Aiden would definitely never learn how to soften up, he’d be a raging asshole for ever with massive trust issues and a grunge against the world. Myles would probably continue on mostly the same but would always feel like there’s something missing. He probably wouldn’t have come out to himself and he would just feel... incomplete
General
2. do they have an official date and how did it go?
Er well... the world they’re in is set during a massive world war and they’re basically fighting every day to live so dates aren’t really a common occurrence for a long while lol!
BUT! In a modern day au I think their first date would be a little rocky. They’d probably go out to dinner and Aiden would be all quiet and stoic and Myles is thinking “this dude hates me why’d he ask me out a date? Bet he’ll murder me, I should send Malia an SOS text.” But Myles being the social chatty box he is would pry conversations out of Aiden and then as Aiden loosens up, they have a much better time!
3. what was their first kiss like?
Lolol! Uh.... so Myles had just gotten shot in the leg I believe or in the stomach I can’t remember but anyway he got shot by an arrow and Aiden carried him to a run down house and was helping stitch his wound and stuff and it’s very much hurt/comfort realness! And then Aiden being the dumbass he is, takes the moment their in and kisses Myles. The thing is, Myles still doesn’t know he’s gay! So it’s really awkward and such. (King should have asked for consent but we give him the benefit of the doubt, he was raised in the wild)
8. who gets jealous easier?
AIDEN! 1000% AIDEN!!
Love
1. who said I love you first?
Hm.. I haven’t thought that far ahead tbh. My immediate thought would be Myles but given the circumstances that they go through, after being reunited and thinking Myles was dead, Aiden would def say it first
2. what are their primary love languages?
Myles is physical touch while Aidens would be quality time. Aiden def wasn’t use to the physical touch at first and it made him squeamish but Myles is unrelenting so Aiden quickly grew use to it
9. who’s more protective?
Aiden Aiden Aiden Aiden Aiden Aiden Aiden
He’d no joke murder anyone who lays a threatening hand on Myles
Domestic
1. if they get married, who proposes?
Hm, well in the actual world the book is in, marriage isn’t very common, at least not the way we see it anyway, so they wouldn’t get married. But in a modern au, it’d probably be Myles. He’d try and wait for Aiden to do it Bc he heard he bought a ring but Aiden would get SO SO nervous and chicken out every time so Myles would find the ring and just put it on and say “we’re getting married”
5. who’s the stricter parent?
Hm my immediate response is Aiden but only because Myles is such an aloof guy he’d def be the one to make dad jokes and get in trouble with the kids but Aiden isn’t crazy strict either. The small amount of time he remembers with his parents, they were always so strict with him, never letting him leave or do anything and he hated that restriction, so he’d never do that to his own kids.
9. who’s more likely to convince the other to come back to sleep in the morning?
Oh 100% Myles. Aiden, Aka Mr Awake With the Slightest Hint of the Sun, is always looking to be productive while Myles just wants to cuddle
10. who’s the better cook?
Hm.... probably Myles? But also he grew up in a place where his food was prepared for him every meal while as Aiden had to hunt and cook his meals so maybe in that sense Aiden would be the better cook. I could alternatively see him being horrible at it and just not knowing the purpose of eating something with flavor so it can be a toss up!
#thank you Aliyah for always listen to my original story rants#and thank you for helping me create Carson and Danny#bless you#dre’s stories#dre’s ocs#ENMITY#Myles Killian#myles killian#Aiden Zedler#aiden zedler#myden
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RENO, Nev. -- Rep. Mark Amodei was not prepared for the backlash from his fellow Republicans when he said Congress needed to "follow the facts" and look into whether President Donald Trump should be impeached.Newspapers declared he was breaking ranks. Conservative constituents branded him a traitor: "I'm Brutus, and Trump's Julius Caesar," he said. In short order, he was forced to explain himself to the Trump campaign's political director, top House Republicans and the acting White House chief of staff. All had the same question: "What the heck are you doing?"As evidence mounts that Trump engaged in an intensive effort to pressure the leader of Ukraine to investigate a political rival, Amodei is one of a growing number of Republicans who, while not explicitly endorsing the Democrats' impeachment inquiry, are at least indicating an openness to it. None have said Trump should be impeached. But neither are they defending him.It is a politically delicate but increasingly common approach among independent-minded lawmakers like Amodei, who are working to balance their fear of inviting Trump's wrath -- and that of the party base -- with a deep anxiety that there is more to be revealed about the president, some of it potentially indefensible, and the knowledge that history will hold them accountable for their words and actions.In Michigan, Rep. Fred Upton told an audience at the Detroit Economic Club that while he did not support an impeachment inquiry, "there are legitimate questions" about Trump's interactions with Ukraine, and he had no problem with Democrats' efforts to get more information."We need to know what the answers are," he said.In Texas, Rep. Will Hurd -- who is retiring, and therefore perhaps feeling liberated to speak his mind -- has called on the House to investigate the "troubling" allegations against Trump, though he cautioned against a rush to impeachment. In Pennsylvania, Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick said he thinks law enforcement should investigate. In Illinois, Rep. Adam Kinzinger said, "I want to know what happened here."In Maine, Sen. Susan Collins, a Republican whose seat is seen by Democrats as especially vulnerable, also criticized Trump's decision to call on China to investigate a political rival. "It's completely inappropriate," she told the Bangor Daily News on Saturday.And in Utah, Sen. Mitt Romney, who has emerged as a lonely voice criticizing Trump's dealings with Ukraine, and last week called the president's appeal for foreign help investigating the Bidens "wrong and appalling," appears to have company. Before a whistleblower's complaint against Trump was made public, a fellow Utahan, Rep. John Curtis, introduced a resolution calling for the White House to release it, and he has said he is "closely monitoring the formal inquiry."On Saturday, in a warning shot to Republicans who might cross him, Trump lashed out at Romney on Twitter, calling him a "pompous 'ass' who has been fighting me from the beginning" and using the hashtag IMPEACHMITTROMNEY."As they distance themselves from Trump, these Republicans -- some in swing districts in tight reelection races -- are also taking care to distance themselves from Speaker Nancy Pelosi, who they say rushed into the impeachment inquiry. For the most part they are refraining from directly criticizing the president, who has branded the investigation a "witch hunt" and a "hoax."But neither are they adopting the language of their leaders, whose strategy centers on attacking Pelosi, branding the inquiry politically motivated and changing the subject to Biden and his son Hunter, whose work for a Ukrainian energy company fed Trump's accusations of a nefarious web of corruption involving one of his top political foes. More than a dozen House Republicans have remained silent."It's a matter of following their conscience and saying what they will be happy defending to their children in later years," said Whit Ayres, a Republican strategist, adding, "Some of them are following the rule that if you can't say anything good about your president, you should not say anything at all."These Republicans still account for a small minority of the 197 in the House. But their comments, at a time when polls show public support for the impeachment inquiry is growing, are the first hint at cracks in party unity. They also offer echoes of the path the party took during the impeachment proceedings against Richard M. Nixon, when even the staunchest defenders of the president eventually abandoned him."My sense is that if there were a secret ballot vote on impeachment it would garner significant Republican support," said David Wasserman, who tracks House races for the nonpartisan Cook Political Report, citing "my private conversations with Republican members of Congress who believe he is wildly unfit to be president. "But, Wasserman added, "They can't say that in public, or else their political careers would be torpedoed by one tweet from the Oval Office."Here in Nevada, Amodei, 61, a garrulous former federal prosecutor who led Trump's 2016 campaign in Nevada, is choosing his words carefully.During a candid hourlong conversation that included a tour of his lovingly restored red-and-white Chevy Silverado flatbed truck (model year 1988 -- the same year he switched his party registration from Democrat to Republican), he sounded mystified at the uproar he created. He votes with Trump nearly 99% of the time, but described himself as a "process guy" who believes in congressional oversight."I just think you have to respect the process," he said. "I think you need to be transparent, and you need to tell the truth."He said he was not a fan of Pelosi's process and said she should have put the inquiry up to a vote of the full House. And he lamented that the word "inquiry" has become politically toxic for Republicans -- a lesson he learned after he shared his views with local reporters, one of whom wrote that he backed the House inquiry but was withholding judgment on whether Trump "crossed the legal line."The characterization was accurate, Amodei said, but it sparked an uproar when news media outlets (including The New York Times) called him the first Republican who had broken ranks to support an impeachment investigation. He quickly recalibrated, issuing a statement making clear he did not support Trump's impeachment."I now know 'inquiry' is a special word in the impeachment thesaurus," he said wryly, "which I'm still looking for on Amazon, but I haven't found."Still, anti-Trump voices within the Republican Party have been emboldened by comments like Amodei's. Republicans for the Rule of Law, the main initiative of the conservative anti-Trump group Defending Democracy Together, is spending more than $1 million to run television ads on Fox and MSNBC, calling on Republicans to "demand the facts" about Trump and Ukraine.The campaign began last week with ads in five districts -- including Amodei's, Upton's and Fitzpatrick's -- and will expand this week to target 12 Republican senators and 15 members of the House."Given where they've been, for congressional Republicans to say, 'Well, we need to see all the facts,' is a pretty important step forward," said Bill Kristol, the conservative commentator and a founder of Defending Democracy Together.Polls have shown a steady rise in support for the Democrats' impeachment inquiry, with a majority of Americans approving of it. But sentiment is split along party lines. A recent CBS poll found that nearly 9 in 10 Democrats approved of the inquiry, and two-thirds strongly approved, as compared with just 23% of Republicans."Overwhelmingly, Republicans oppose the impeachment inquiry," said Ayres, the pollster. "They want their Republican elected officials to defend the president and protect him from his many enemies."But for Republicans in swing districts who have tight reelection races, like Fitzpatrick in Pennsylvania, defending Trump at all costs is not an option. In Washington state, for instance, Rep. Jamie Herrera Beutler, who represents a district Democrats have targeted, has echoed Amodei, saying that while there is not yet evidence of impeachable offenses, for the "sake of this nation, we should all follow a process that does not put conclusions before facts."Here in northern Nevada, though, sentiment runs strong in favor of Trump. Amodei's district stretches south from Reno, past the cattle ranches and casinos that line the road to the state capital, Carson City, and into largely rural areas like Douglas County, where members of the local Republican women's club were having their monthly luncheon last week."I think it's a scam and it's a witch hunt, just like Trump says," said Gloria Darrington, 77, expressing the views of many here when she said she believed Democrats were simply continuing a long-running quest to undo the results of the 2016 election."He lives in a very Republican area, and he ought to be listening to his Republicans," Elinor Lindberg, 83, said of Amodei.Amodei, the only Republican in Nevada's congressional delegation, is not in danger of losing his seat to a Democrat. But he is in danger of drawing a Republican primary challenger from the right, and already some well-known Nevada names -- Adam Laxalt, the former attorney general who ran for governor last year, and Danny Tarkanian, a businessman -- are being bandied about.Amodei sounded unworried. He said some Democrats in his district have been thanking him for his open-mindedness."I am a member of the legislative branch -- I defend that institution," he said, adding, "Quite frankly, if you don't believe in the processes of your own institution, what are you doing there?This article originally appeared in The New York Times.(C) 2019 The New York Times Company
from RSSMix.com Mix ID 8870618 https://yhoo.it/31SY40Z
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RENO, Nev. -- Rep. Mark Amodei was not prepared for the backlash from his fellow Republicans when he said Congress needed to "follow the facts" and look into whether President Donald Trump should be impeached.Newspapers declared he was breaking ranks. Conservative constituents branded him a traitor: "I'm Brutus, and Trump's Julius Caesar," he said. In short order, he was forced to explain himself to the Trump campaign's political director, top House Republicans and the acting White House chief of staff. All had the same question: "What the heck are you doing?"As evidence mounts that Trump engaged in an intensive effort to pressure the leader of Ukraine to investigate a political rival, Amodei is one of a growing number of Republicans who, while not explicitly endorsing the Democrats' impeachment inquiry, are at least indicating an openness to it. None have said Trump should be impeached. But neither are they defending him.It is a politically delicate but increasingly common approach among independent-minded lawmakers like Amodei, who are working to balance their fear of inviting Trump's wrath -- and that of the party base -- with a deep anxiety that there is more to be revealed about the president, some of it potentially indefensible, and the knowledge that history will hold them accountable for their words and actions.In Michigan, Rep. Fred Upton told an audience at the Detroit Economic Club that while he did not support an impeachment inquiry, "there are legitimate questions" about Trump's interactions with Ukraine, and he had no problem with Democrats' efforts to get more information."We need to know what the answers are," he said.In Texas, Rep. Will Hurd -- who is retiring, and therefore perhaps feeling liberated to speak his mind -- has called on the House to investigate the "troubling" allegations against Trump, though he cautioned against a rush to impeachment. In Pennsylvania, Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick said he thinks law enforcement should investigate. In Illinois, Rep. Adam Kinzinger said, "I want to know what happened here."In Maine, Sen. Susan Collins, a Republican whose seat is seen by Democrats as especially vulnerable, also criticized Trump's decision to call on China to investigate a political rival. "It's completely inappropriate," she told the Bangor Daily News on Saturday.And in Utah, Sen. Mitt Romney, who has emerged as a lonely voice criticizing Trump's dealings with Ukraine, and last week called the president's appeal for foreign help investigating the Bidens "wrong and appalling," appears to have company. Before a whistleblower's complaint against Trump was made public, a fellow Utahan, Rep. John Curtis, introduced a resolution calling for the White House to release it, and he has said he is "closely monitoring the formal inquiry."On Saturday, in a warning shot to Republicans who might cross him, Trump lashed out at Romney on Twitter, calling him a "pompous 'ass' who has been fighting me from the beginning" and using the hashtag IMPEACHMITTROMNEY."As they distance themselves from Trump, these Republicans -- some in swing districts in tight reelection races -- are also taking care to distance themselves from Speaker Nancy Pelosi, who they say rushed into the impeachment inquiry. For the most part they are refraining from directly criticizing the president, who has branded the investigation a "witch hunt" and a "hoax."But neither are they adopting the language of their leaders, whose strategy centers on attacking Pelosi, branding the inquiry politically motivated and changing the subject to Biden and his son Hunter, whose work for a Ukrainian energy company fed Trump's accusations of a nefarious web of corruption involving one of his top political foes. More than a dozen House Republicans have remained silent."It's a matter of following their conscience and saying what they will be happy defending to their children in later years," said Whit Ayres, a Republican strategist, adding, "Some of them are following the rule that if you can't say anything good about your president, you should not say anything at all."These Republicans still account for a small minority of the 197 in the House. But their comments, at a time when polls show public support for the impeachment inquiry is growing, are the first hint at cracks in party unity. They also offer echoes of the path the party took during the impeachment proceedings against Richard M. Nixon, when even the staunchest defenders of the president eventually abandoned him."My sense is that if there were a secret ballot vote on impeachment it would garner significant Republican support," said David Wasserman, who tracks House races for the nonpartisan Cook Political Report, citing "my private conversations with Republican members of Congress who believe he is wildly unfit to be president. "But, Wasserman added, "They can't say that in public, or else their political careers would be torpedoed by one tweet from the Oval Office."Here in Nevada, Amodei, 61, a garrulous former federal prosecutor who led Trump's 2016 campaign in Nevada, is choosing his words carefully.During a candid hourlong conversation that included a tour of his lovingly restored red-and-white Chevy Silverado flatbed truck (model year 1988 -- the same year he switched his party registration from Democrat to Republican), he sounded mystified at the uproar he created. He votes with Trump nearly 99% of the time, but described himself as a "process guy" who believes in congressional oversight."I just think you have to respect the process," he said. "I think you need to be transparent, and you need to tell the truth."He said he was not a fan of Pelosi's process and said she should have put the inquiry up to a vote of the full House. And he lamented that the word "inquiry" has become politically toxic for Republicans -- a lesson he learned after he shared his views with local reporters, one of whom wrote that he backed the House inquiry but was withholding judgment on whether Trump "crossed the legal line."The characterization was accurate, Amodei said, but it sparked an uproar when news media outlets (including The New York Times) called him the first Republican who had broken ranks to support an impeachment investigation. He quickly recalibrated, issuing a statement making clear he did not support Trump's impeachment."I now know 'inquiry' is a special word in the impeachment thesaurus," he said wryly, "which I'm still looking for on Amazon, but I haven't found."Still, anti-Trump voices within the Republican Party have been emboldened by comments like Amodei's. Republicans for the Rule of Law, the main initiative of the conservative anti-Trump group Defending Democracy Together, is spending more than $1 million to run television ads on Fox and MSNBC, calling on Republicans to "demand the facts" about Trump and Ukraine.The campaign began last week with ads in five districts -- including Amodei's, Upton's and Fitzpatrick's -- and will expand this week to target 12 Republican senators and 15 members of the House."Given where they've been, for congressional Republicans to say, 'Well, we need to see all the facts,' is a pretty important step forward," said Bill Kristol, the conservative commentator and a founder of Defending Democracy Together.Polls have shown a steady rise in support for the Democrats' impeachment inquiry, with a majority of Americans approving of it. But sentiment is split along party lines. A recent CBS poll found that nearly 9 in 10 Democrats approved of the inquiry, and two-thirds strongly approved, as compared with just 23% of Republicans."Overwhelmingly, Republicans oppose the impeachment inquiry," said Ayres, the pollster. "They want their Republican elected officials to defend the president and protect him from his many enemies."But for Republicans in swing districts who have tight reelection races, like Fitzpatrick in Pennsylvania, defending Trump at all costs is not an option. In Washington state, for instance, Rep. Jamie Herrera Beutler, who represents a district Democrats have targeted, has echoed Amodei, saying that while there is not yet evidence of impeachable offenses, for the "sake of this nation, we should all follow a process that does not put conclusions before facts."Here in northern Nevada, though, sentiment runs strong in favor of Trump. Amodei's district stretches south from Reno, past the cattle ranches and casinos that line the road to the state capital, Carson City, and into largely rural areas like Douglas County, where members of the local Republican women's club were having their monthly luncheon last week."I think it's a scam and it's a witch hunt, just like Trump says," said Gloria Darrington, 77, expressing the views of many here when she said she believed Democrats were simply continuing a long-running quest to undo the results of the 2016 election."He lives in a very Republican area, and he ought to be listening to his Republicans," Elinor Lindberg, 83, said of Amodei.Amodei, the only Republican in Nevada's congressional delegation, is not in danger of losing his seat to a Democrat. But he is in danger of drawing a Republican primary challenger from the right, and already some well-known Nevada names -- Adam Laxalt, the former attorney general who ran for governor last year, and Danny Tarkanian, a businessman -- are being bandied about.Amodei sounded unworried. He said some Democrats in his district have been thanking him for his open-mindedness."I am a member of the legislative branch -- I defend that institution," he said, adding, "Quite frankly, if you don't believe in the processes of your own institution, what are you doing there?This article originally appeared in The New York Times.(C) 2019 The New York Times Company
from Yahoo News - Latest News & Headlines https://ift.tt/2VhzW5T
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RENO, Nev. -- Rep. Mark Amodei was not prepared for the backlash from his fellow Republicans when he said Congress needed to "follow the facts" and look into whether President Donald Trump should be impeached.Newspapers declared he was breaking ranks. Conservative constituents branded him a traitor: "I'm Brutus, and Trump's Julius Caesar," he said. In short order, he was forced to explain himself to the Trump campaign's political director, top House Republicans and the acting White House chief of staff. All had the same question: "What the heck are you doing?"As evidence mounts that Trump engaged in an intensive effort to pressure the leader of Ukraine to investigate a political rival, Amodei is one of a growing number of Republicans who, while not explicitly endorsing the Democrats' impeachment inquiry, are at least indicating an openness to it. None have said Trump should be impeached. But neither are they defending him.It is a politically delicate but increasingly common approach among independent-minded lawmakers like Amodei, who are working to balance their fear of inviting Trump's wrath -- and that of the party base -- with a deep anxiety that there is more to be revealed about the president, some of it potentially indefensible, and the knowledge that history will hold them accountable for their words and actions.In Michigan, Rep. Fred Upton told an audience at the Detroit Economic Club that while he did not support an impeachment inquiry, "there are legitimate questions" about Trump's interactions with Ukraine, and he had no problem with Democrats' efforts to get more information."We need to know what the answers are," he said.In Texas, Rep. Will Hurd -- who is retiring, and therefore perhaps feeling liberated to speak his mind -- has called on the House to investigate the "troubling" allegations against Trump, though he cautioned against a rush to impeachment. In Pennsylvania, Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick said he thinks law enforcement should investigate. In Illinois, Rep. Adam Kinzinger said, "I want to know what happened here."In Maine, Sen. Susan Collins, a Republican whose seat is seen by Democrats as especially vulnerable, also criticized Trump's decision to call on China to investigate a political rival. "It's completely inappropriate," she told the Bangor Daily News on Saturday.And in Utah, Sen. Mitt Romney, who has emerged as a lonely voice criticizing Trump's dealings with Ukraine, and last week called the president's appeal for foreign help investigating the Bidens "wrong and appalling," appears to have company. Before a whistleblower's complaint against Trump was made public, a fellow Utahan, Rep. John Curtis, introduced a resolution calling for the White House to release it, and he has said he is "closely monitoring the formal inquiry."On Saturday, in a warning shot to Republicans who might cross him, Trump lashed out at Romney on Twitter, calling him a "pompous 'ass' who has been fighting me from the beginning" and using the hashtag IMPEACHMITTROMNEY."As they distance themselves from Trump, these Republicans -- some in swing districts in tight reelection races -- are also taking care to distance themselves from Speaker Nancy Pelosi, who they say rushed into the impeachment inquiry. For the most part they are refraining from directly criticizing the president, who has branded the investigation a "witch hunt" and a "hoax."But neither are they adopting the language of their leaders, whose strategy centers on attacking Pelosi, branding the inquiry politically motivated and changing the subject to Biden and his son Hunter, whose work for a Ukrainian energy company fed Trump's accusations of a nefarious web of corruption involving one of his top political foes. More than a dozen House Republicans have remained silent."It's a matter of following their conscience and saying what they will be happy defending to their children in later years," said Whit Ayres, a Republican strategist, adding, "Some of them are following the rule that if you can't say anything good about your president, you should not say anything at all."These Republicans still account for a small minority of the 197 in the House. But their comments, at a time when polls show public support for the impeachment inquiry is growing, are the first hint at cracks in party unity. They also offer echoes of the path the party took during the impeachment proceedings against Richard M. Nixon, when even the staunchest defenders of the president eventually abandoned him."My sense is that if there were a secret ballot vote on impeachment it would garner significant Republican support," said David Wasserman, who tracks House races for the nonpartisan Cook Political Report, citing "my private conversations with Republican members of Congress who believe he is wildly unfit to be president. "But, Wasserman added, "They can't say that in public, or else their political careers would be torpedoed by one tweet from the Oval Office."Here in Nevada, Amodei, 61, a garrulous former federal prosecutor who led Trump's 2016 campaign in Nevada, is choosing his words carefully.During a candid hourlong conversation that included a tour of his lovingly restored red-and-white Chevy Silverado flatbed truck (model year 1988 -- the same year he switched his party registration from Democrat to Republican), he sounded mystified at the uproar he created. He votes with Trump nearly 99% of the time, but described himself as a "process guy" who believes in congressional oversight."I just think you have to respect the process," he said. "I think you need to be transparent, and you need to tell the truth."He said he was not a fan of Pelosi's process and said she should have put the inquiry up to a vote of the full House. And he lamented that the word "inquiry" has become politically toxic for Republicans -- a lesson he learned after he shared his views with local reporters, one of whom wrote that he backed the House inquiry but was withholding judgment on whether Trump "crossed the legal line."The characterization was accurate, Amodei said, but it sparked an uproar when news media outlets (including The New York Times) called him the first Republican who had broken ranks to support an impeachment investigation. He quickly recalibrated, issuing a statement making clear he did not support Trump's impeachment."I now know 'inquiry' is a special word in the impeachment thesaurus," he said wryly, "which I'm still looking for on Amazon, but I haven't found."Still, anti-Trump voices within the Republican Party have been emboldened by comments like Amodei's. Republicans for the Rule of Law, the main initiative of the conservative anti-Trump group Defending Democracy Together, is spending more than $1 million to run television ads on Fox and MSNBC, calling on Republicans to "demand the facts" about Trump and Ukraine.The campaign began last week with ads in five districts -- including Amodei's, Upton's and Fitzpatrick's -- and will expand this week to target 12 Republican senators and 15 members of the House."Given where they've been, for congressional Republicans to say, 'Well, we need to see all the facts,' is a pretty important step forward," said Bill Kristol, the conservative commentator and a founder of Defending Democracy Together.Polls have shown a steady rise in support for the Democrats' impeachment inquiry, with a majority of Americans approving of it. But sentiment is split along party lines. A recent CBS poll found that nearly 9 in 10 Democrats approved of the inquiry, and two-thirds strongly approved, as compared with just 23% of Republicans."Overwhelmingly, Republicans oppose the impeachment inquiry," said Ayres, the pollster. "They want their Republican elected officials to defend the president and protect him from his many enemies."But for Republicans in swing districts who have tight reelection races, like Fitzpatrick in Pennsylvania, defending Trump at all costs is not an option. In Washington state, for instance, Rep. Jamie Herrera Beutler, who represents a district Democrats have targeted, has echoed Amodei, saying that while there is not yet evidence of impeachable offenses, for the "sake of this nation, we should all follow a process that does not put conclusions before facts."Here in northern Nevada, though, sentiment runs strong in favor of Trump. Amodei's district stretches south from Reno, past the cattle ranches and casinos that line the road to the state capital, Carson City, and into largely rural areas like Douglas County, where members of the local Republican women's club were having their monthly luncheon last week."I think it's a scam and it's a witch hunt, just like Trump says," said Gloria Darrington, 77, expressing the views of many here when she said she believed Democrats were simply continuing a long-running quest to undo the results of the 2016 election."He lives in a very Republican area, and he ought to be listening to his Republicans," Elinor Lindberg, 83, said of Amodei.Amodei, the only Republican in Nevada's congressional delegation, is not in danger of losing his seat to a Democrat. But he is in danger of drawing a Republican primary challenger from the right, and already some well-known Nevada names -- Adam Laxalt, the former attorney general who ran for governor last year, and Danny Tarkanian, a businessman -- are being bandied about.Amodei sounded unworried. He said some Democrats in his district have been thanking him for his open-mindedness."I am a member of the legislative branch -- I defend that institution," he said, adding, "Quite frankly, if you don't believe in the processes of your own institution, what are you doing there?This article originally appeared in The New York Times.(C) 2019 The New York Times Company
from Yahoo News - Latest News & Headlines https://ift.tt/2VhzW5T
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Link
RENO, Nev. -- Rep. Mark Amodei was not prepared for the backlash from his fellow Republicans when he said Congress needed to "follow the facts" and look into whether President Donald Trump should be impeached.Newspapers declared he was breaking ranks. Conservative constituents branded him a traitor: "I'm Brutus, and Trump's Julius Caesar," he said. In short order, he was forced to explain himself to the Trump campaign's political director, top House Republicans and the acting White House chief of staff. All had the same question: "What the heck are you doing?"As evidence mounts that Trump engaged in an intensive effort to pressure the leader of Ukraine to investigate a political rival, Amodei is one of a growing number of Republicans who, while not explicitly endorsing the Democrats' impeachment inquiry, are at least indicating an openness to it. None have said Trump should be impeached. But neither are they defending him.It is a politically delicate but increasingly common approach among independent-minded lawmakers like Amodei, who are working to balance their fear of inviting Trump's wrath -- and that of the party base -- with a deep anxiety that there is more to be revealed about the president, some of it potentially indefensible, and the knowledge that history will hold them accountable for their words and actions.In Michigan, Rep. Fred Upton told an audience at the Detroit Economic Club that while he did not support an impeachment inquiry, "there are legitimate questions" about Trump's interactions with Ukraine, and he had no problem with Democrats' efforts to get more information."We need to know what the answers are," he said.In Texas, Rep. Will Hurd -- who is retiring, and therefore perhaps feeling liberated to speak his mind -- has called on the House to investigate the "troubling" allegations against Trump, though he cautioned against a rush to impeachment. In Pennsylvania, Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick said he thinks law enforcement should investigate. In Illinois, Rep. Adam Kinzinger said, "I want to know what happened here."In Maine, Sen. Susan Collins, a Republican whose seat is seen by Democrats as especially vulnerable, also criticized Trump's decision to call on China to investigate a political rival. "It's completely inappropriate," she told the Bangor Daily News on Saturday.And in Utah, Sen. Mitt Romney, who has emerged as a lonely voice criticizing Trump's dealings with Ukraine, and last week called the president's appeal for foreign help investigating the Bidens "wrong and appalling," appears to have company. Before a whistleblower's complaint against Trump was made public, a fellow Utahan, Rep. John Curtis, introduced a resolution calling for the White House to release it, and he has said he is "closely monitoring the formal inquiry."On Saturday, in a warning shot to Republicans who might cross him, Trump lashed out at Romney on Twitter, calling him a "pompous 'ass' who has been fighting me from the beginning" and using the hashtag IMPEACHMITTROMNEY."As they distance themselves from Trump, these Republicans -- some in swing districts in tight reelection races -- are also taking care to distance themselves from Speaker Nancy Pelosi, who they say rushed into the impeachment inquiry. For the most part they are refraining from directly criticizing the president, who has branded the investigation a "witch hunt" and a "hoax."But neither are they adopting the language of their leaders, whose strategy centers on attacking Pelosi, branding the inquiry politically motivated and changing the subject to Biden and his son Hunter, whose work for a Ukrainian energy company fed Trump's accusations of a nefarious web of corruption involving one of his top political foes. More than a dozen House Republicans have remained silent."It's a matter of following their conscience and saying what they will be happy defending to their children in later years," said Whit Ayres, a Republican strategist, adding, "Some of them are following the rule that if you can't say anything good about your president, you should not say anything at all."These Republicans still account for a small minority of the 197 in the House. But their comments, at a time when polls show public support for the impeachment inquiry is growing, are the first hint at cracks in party unity. They also offer echoes of the path the party took during the impeachment proceedings against Richard M. Nixon, when even the staunchest defenders of the president eventually abandoned him."My sense is that if there were a secret ballot vote on impeachment it would garner significant Republican support," said David Wasserman, who tracks House races for the nonpartisan Cook Political Report, citing "my private conversations with Republican members of Congress who believe he is wildly unfit to be president. "But, Wasserman added, "They can't say that in public, or else their political careers would be torpedoed by one tweet from the Oval Office."Here in Nevada, Amodei, 61, a garrulous former federal prosecutor who led Trump's 2016 campaign in Nevada, is choosing his words carefully.During a candid hourlong conversation that included a tour of his lovingly restored red-and-white Chevy Silverado flatbed truck (model year 1988 -- the same year he switched his party registration from Democrat to Republican), he sounded mystified at the uproar he created. He votes with Trump nearly 99% of the time, but described himself as a "process guy" who believes in congressional oversight."I just think you have to respect the process," he said. "I think you need to be transparent, and you need to tell the truth."He said he was not a fan of Pelosi's process and said she should have put the inquiry up to a vote of the full House. And he lamented that the word "inquiry" has become politically toxic for Republicans -- a lesson he learned after he shared his views with local reporters, one of whom wrote that he backed the House inquiry but was withholding judgment on whether Trump "crossed the legal line."The characterization was accurate, Amodei said, but it sparked an uproar when news media outlets (including The New York Times) called him the first Republican who had broken ranks to support an impeachment investigation. He quickly recalibrated, issuing a statement making clear he did not support Trump's impeachment."I now know 'inquiry' is a special word in the impeachment thesaurus," he said wryly, "which I'm still looking for on Amazon, but I haven't found."Still, anti-Trump voices within the Republican Party have been emboldened by comments like Amodei's. Republicans for the Rule of Law, the main initiative of the conservative anti-Trump group Defending Democracy Together, is spending more than $1 million to run television ads on Fox and MSNBC, calling on Republicans to "demand the facts" about Trump and Ukraine.The campaign began last week with ads in five districts -- including Amodei's, Upton's and Fitzpatrick's -- and will expand this week to target 12 Republican senators and 15 members of the House."Given where they've been, for congressional Republicans to say, 'Well, we need to see all the facts,' is a pretty important step forward," said Bill Kristol, the conservative commentator and a founder of Defending Democracy Together.Polls have shown a steady rise in support for the Democrats' impeachment inquiry, with a majority of Americans approving of it. But sentiment is split along party lines. A recent CBS poll found that nearly 9 in 10 Democrats approved of the inquiry, and two-thirds strongly approved, as compared with just 23% of Republicans."Overwhelmingly, Republicans oppose the impeachment inquiry," said Ayres, the pollster. "They want their Republican elected officials to defend the president and protect him from his many enemies."But for Republicans in swing districts who have tight reelection races, like Fitzpatrick in Pennsylvania, defending Trump at all costs is not an option. In Washington state, for instance, Rep. Jamie Herrera Beutler, who represents a district Democrats have targeted, has echoed Amodei, saying that while there is not yet evidence of impeachable offenses, for the "sake of this nation, we should all follow a process that does not put conclusions before facts."Here in northern Nevada, though, sentiment runs strong in favor of Trump. Amodei's district stretches south from Reno, past the cattle ranches and casinos that line the road to the state capital, Carson City, and into largely rural areas like Douglas County, where members of the local Republican women's club were having their monthly luncheon last week."I think it's a scam and it's a witch hunt, just like Trump says," said Gloria Darrington, 77, expressing the views of many here when she said she believed Democrats were simply continuing a long-running quest to undo the results of the 2016 election."He lives in a very Republican area, and he ought to be listening to his Republicans," Elinor Lindberg, 83, said of Amodei.Amodei, the only Republican in Nevada's congressional delegation, is not in danger of losing his seat to a Democrat. But he is in danger of drawing a Republican primary challenger from the right, and already some well-known Nevada names -- Adam Laxalt, the former attorney general who ran for governor last year, and Danny Tarkanian, a businessman -- are being bandied about.Amodei sounded unworried. He said some Democrats in his district have been thanking him for his open-mindedness."I am a member of the legislative branch -- I defend that institution," he said, adding, "Quite frankly, if you don't believe in the processes of your own institution, what are you doing there?This article originally appeared in The New York Times.(C) 2019 The New York Times Company
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RENO, Nev. -- Rep. Mark Amodei was not prepared for the backlash from his fellow Republicans when he said Congress needed to "follow the facts" and look into whether President Donald Trump should be impeached.Newspapers declared he was breaking ranks. Conservative constituents branded him a traitor: "I'm Brutus, and Trump's Julius Caesar," he said. In short order, he was forced to explain himself to the Trump campaign's political director, top House Republicans and the acting White House chief of staff. All had the same question: "What the heck are you doing?"As evidence mounts that Trump engaged in an intensive effort to pressure the leader of Ukraine to investigate a political rival, Amodei is one of a growing number of Republicans who, while not explicitly endorsing the Democrats' impeachment inquiry, are at least indicating an openness to it. None have said Trump should be impeached. But neither are they defending him.It is a politically delicate but increasingly common approach among independent-minded lawmakers like Amodei, who are working to balance their fear of inviting Trump's wrath -- and that of the party base -- with a deep anxiety that there is more to be revealed about the president, some of it potentially indefensible, and the knowledge that history will hold them accountable for their words and actions.In Michigan, Rep. Fred Upton told an audience at the Detroit Economic Club that while he did not support an impeachment inquiry, "there are legitimate questions" about Trump's interactions with Ukraine, and he had no problem with Democrats' efforts to get more information."We need to know what the answers are," he said.In Texas, Rep. Will Hurd -- who is retiring, and therefore perhaps feeling liberated to speak his mind -- has called on the House to investigate the "troubling" allegations against Trump, though he cautioned against a rush to impeachment. In Pennsylvania, Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick said he thinks law enforcement should investigate. In Illinois, Rep. Adam Kinzinger said, "I want to know what happened here."In Maine, Sen. Susan Collins, a Republican whose seat is seen by Democrats as especially vulnerable, also criticized Trump's decision to call on China to investigate a political rival. "It's completely inappropriate," she told the Bangor Daily News on Saturday.And in Utah, Sen. Mitt Romney, who has emerged as a lonely voice criticizing Trump's dealings with Ukraine, and last week called the president's appeal for foreign help investigating the Bidens "wrong and appalling," appears to have company. Before a whistleblower's complaint against Trump was made public, a fellow Utahan, Rep. John Curtis, introduced a resolution calling for the White House to release it, and he has said he is "closely monitoring the formal inquiry."On Saturday, in a warning shot to Republicans who might cross him, Trump lashed out at Romney on Twitter, calling him a "pompous 'ass' who has been fighting me from the beginning" and using the hashtag IMPEACHMITTROMNEY."As they distance themselves from Trump, these Republicans -- some in swing districts in tight reelection races -- are also taking care to distance themselves from Speaker Nancy Pelosi, who they say rushed into the impeachment inquiry. For the most part they are refraining from directly criticizing the president, who has branded the investigation a "witch hunt" and a "hoax."But neither are they adopting the language of their leaders, whose strategy centers on attacking Pelosi, branding the inquiry politically motivated and changing the subject to Biden and his son Hunter, whose work for a Ukrainian energy company fed Trump's accusations of a nefarious web of corruption involving one of his top political foes. More than a dozen House Republicans have remained silent."It's a matter of following their conscience and saying what they will be happy defending to their children in later years," said Whit Ayres, a Republican strategist, adding, "Some of them are following the rule that if you can't say anything good about your president, you should not say anything at all."These Republicans still account for a small minority of the 197 in the House. But their comments, at a time when polls show public support for the impeachment inquiry is growing, are the first hint at cracks in party unity. They also offer echoes of the path the party took during the impeachment proceedings against Richard M. Nixon, when even the staunchest defenders of the president eventually abandoned him."My sense is that if there were a secret ballot vote on impeachment it would garner significant Republican support," said David Wasserman, who tracks House races for the nonpartisan Cook Political Report, citing "my private conversations with Republican members of Congress who believe he is wildly unfit to be president. "But, Wasserman added, "They can't say that in public, or else their political careers would be torpedoed by one tweet from the Oval Office."Here in Nevada, Amodei, 61, a garrulous former federal prosecutor who led Trump's 2016 campaign in Nevada, is choosing his words carefully.During a candid hourlong conversation that included a tour of his lovingly restored red-and-white Chevy Silverado flatbed truck (model year 1988 -- the same year he switched his party registration from Democrat to Republican), he sounded mystified at the uproar he created. He votes with Trump nearly 99% of the time, but described himself as a "process guy" who believes in congressional oversight."I just think you have to respect the process," he said. "I think you need to be transparent, and you need to tell the truth."He said he was not a fan of Pelosi's process and said she should have put the inquiry up to a vote of the full House. And he lamented that the word "inquiry" has become politically toxic for Republicans -- a lesson he learned after he shared his views with local reporters, one of whom wrote that he backed the House inquiry but was withholding judgment on whether Trump "crossed the legal line."The characterization was accurate, Amodei said, but it sparked an uproar when news media outlets (including The New York Times) called him the first Republican who had broken ranks to support an impeachment investigation. He quickly recalibrated, issuing a statement making clear he did not support Trump's impeachment."I now know 'inquiry' is a special word in the impeachment thesaurus," he said wryly, "which I'm still looking for on Amazon, but I haven't found."Still, anti-Trump voices within the Republican Party have been emboldened by comments like Amodei's. Republicans for the Rule of Law, the main initiative of the conservative anti-Trump group Defending Democracy Together, is spending more than $1 million to run television ads on Fox and MSNBC, calling on Republicans to "demand the facts" about Trump and Ukraine.The campaign began last week with ads in five districts -- including Amodei's, Upton's and Fitzpatrick's -- and will expand this week to target 12 Republican senators and 15 members of the House."Given where they've been, for congressional Republicans to say, 'Well, we need to see all the facts,' is a pretty important step forward," said Bill Kristol, the conservative commentator and a founder of Defending Democracy Together.Polls have shown a steady rise in support for the Democrats' impeachment inquiry, with a majority of Americans approving of it. But sentiment is split along party lines. A recent CBS poll found that nearly 9 in 10 Democrats approved of the inquiry, and two-thirds strongly approved, as compared with just 23% of Republicans."Overwhelmingly, Republicans oppose the impeachment inquiry," said Ayres, the pollster. "They want their Republican elected officials to defend the president and protect him from his many enemies."But for Republicans in swing districts who have tight reelection races, like Fitzpatrick in Pennsylvania, defending Trump at all costs is not an option. In Washington state, for instance, Rep. Jamie Herrera Beutler, who represents a district Democrats have targeted, has echoed Amodei, saying that while there is not yet evidence of impeachable offenses, for the "sake of this nation, we should all follow a process that does not put conclusions before facts."Here in northern Nevada, though, sentiment runs strong in favor of Trump. Amodei's district stretches south from Reno, past the cattle ranches and casinos that line the road to the state capital, Carson City, and into largely rural areas like Douglas County, where members of the local Republican women's club were having their monthly luncheon last week."I think it's a scam and it's a witch hunt, just like Trump says," said Gloria Darrington, 77, expressing the views of many here when she said she believed Democrats were simply continuing a long-running quest to undo the results of the 2016 election."He lives in a very Republican area, and he ought to be listening to his Republicans," Elinor Lindberg, 83, said of Amodei.Amodei, the only Republican in Nevada's congressional delegation, is not in danger of losing his seat to a Democrat. But he is in danger of drawing a Republican primary challenger from the right, and already some well-known Nevada names -- Adam Laxalt, the former attorney general who ran for governor last year, and Danny Tarkanian, a businessman -- are being bandied about.Amodei sounded unworried. He said some Democrats in his district have been thanking him for his open-mindedness."I am a member of the legislative branch -- I defend that institution," he said, adding, "Quite frankly, if you don't believe in the processes of your own institution, what are you doing there?This article originally appeared in The New York Times.(C) 2019 The New York Times Company
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As Evidence Mounts Against President, Some Republicans Keep a Careful Distance
RENO, Nev. -- Rep. Mark Amodei was not prepared for the backlash from his fellow Republicans when he said Congress needed to "follow the facts" and look into whether President Donald Trump should be impeached.Newspapers declared he was breaking ranks. Conservative constituents branded him a traitor: "I'm Brutus, and Trump's Julius Caesar," he said. In short order, he was forced to explain himself to the Trump campaign's political director, top House Republicans and the acting White House chief of staff. All had the same question: "What the heck are you doing?"As evidence mounts that Trump engaged in an intensive effort to pressure the leader of Ukraine to investigate a political rival, Amodei is one of a growing number of Republicans who, while not explicitly endorsing the Democrats' impeachment inquiry, are at least indicating an openness to it. None have said Trump should be impeached. But neither are they defending him.It is a politically delicate but increasingly common approach among independent-minded lawmakers like Amodei, who are working to balance their fear of inviting Trump's wrath -- and that of the party base -- with a deep anxiety that there is more to be revealed about the president, some of it potentially indefensible, and the knowledge that history will hold them accountable for their words and actions.In Michigan, Rep. Fred Upton told an audience at the Detroit Economic Club that while he did not support an impeachment inquiry, "there are legitimate questions" about Trump's interactions with Ukraine, and he had no problem with Democrats' efforts to get more information."We need to know what the answers are," he said.In Texas, Rep. Will Hurd -- who is retiring, and therefore perhaps feeling liberated to speak his mind -- has called on the House to investigate the "troubling" allegations against Trump, though he cautioned against a rush to impeachment. In Pennsylvania, Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick said he thinks law enforcement should investigate. In Illinois, Rep. Adam Kinzinger said, "I want to know what happened here."In Maine, Sen. Susan Collins, a Republican whose seat is seen by Democrats as especially vulnerable, also criticized Trump's decision to call on China to investigate a political rival. "It's completely inappropriate," she told the Bangor Daily News on Saturday.And in Utah, Sen. Mitt Romney, who has emerged as a lonely voice criticizing Trump's dealings with Ukraine, and last week called the president's appeal for foreign help investigating the Bidens "wrong and appalling," appears to have company. Before a whistleblower's complaint against Trump was made public, a fellow Utahan, Rep. John Curtis, introduced a resolution calling for the White House to release it, and he has said he is "closely monitoring the formal inquiry."On Saturday, in a warning shot to Republicans who might cross him, Trump lashed out at Romney on Twitter, calling him a "pompous 'ass' who has been fighting me from the beginning" and using the hashtag IMPEACHMITTROMNEY."As they distance themselves from Trump, these Republicans -- some in swing districts in tight reelection races -- are also taking care to distance themselves from Speaker Nancy Pelosi, who they say rushed into the impeachment inquiry. For the most part they are refraining from directly criticizing the president, who has branded the investigation a "witch hunt" and a "hoax."But neither are they adopting the language of their leaders, whose strategy centers on attacking Pelosi, branding the inquiry politically motivated and changing the subject to Biden and his son Hunter, whose work for a Ukrainian energy company fed Trump's accusations of a nefarious web of corruption involving one of his top political foes. More than a dozen House Republicans have remained silent."It's a matter of following their conscience and saying what they will be happy defending to their children in later years," said Whit Ayres, a Republican strategist, adding, "Some of them are following the rule that if you can't say anything good about your president, you should not say anything at all."These Republicans still account for a small minority of the 197 in the House. But their comments, at a time when polls show public support for the impeachment inquiry is growing, are the first hint at cracks in party unity. They also offer echoes of the path the party took during the impeachment proceedings against Richard M. Nixon, when even the staunchest defenders of the president eventually abandoned him."My sense is that if there were a secret ballot vote on impeachment it would garner significant Republican support," said David Wasserman, who tracks House races for the nonpartisan Cook Political Report, citing "my private conversations with Republican members of Congress who believe he is wildly unfit to be president. "But, Wasserman added, "They can't say that in public, or else their political careers would be torpedoed by one tweet from the Oval Office."Here in Nevada, Amodei, 61, a garrulous former federal prosecutor who led Trump's 2016 campaign in Nevada, is choosing his words carefully.During a candid hourlong conversation that included a tour of his lovingly restored red-and-white Chevy Silverado flatbed truck (model year 1988 -- the same year he switched his party registration from Democrat to Republican), he sounded mystified at the uproar he created. He votes with Trump nearly 99% of the time, but described himself as a "process guy" who believes in congressional oversight."I just think you have to respect the process," he said. "I think you need to be transparent, and you need to tell the truth."He said he was not a fan of Pelosi's process and said she should have put the inquiry up to a vote of the full House. And he lamented that the word "inquiry" has become politically toxic for Republicans -- a lesson he learned after he shared his views with local reporters, one of whom wrote that he backed the House inquiry but was withholding judgment on whether Trump "crossed the legal line."The characterization was accurate, Amodei said, but it sparked an uproar when news media outlets (including The New York Times) called him the first Republican who had broken ranks to support an impeachment investigation. He quickly recalibrated, issuing a statement making clear he did not support Trump's impeachment."I now know 'inquiry' is a special word in the impeachment thesaurus," he said wryly, "which I'm still looking for on Amazon, but I haven't found."Still, anti-Trump voices within the Republican Party have been emboldened by comments like Amodei's. Republicans for the Rule of Law, the main initiative of the conservative anti-Trump group Defending Democracy Together, is spending more than $1 million to run television ads on Fox and MSNBC, calling on Republicans to "demand the facts" about Trump and Ukraine.The campaign began last week with ads in five districts -- including Amodei's, Upton's and Fitzpatrick's -- and will expand this week to target 12 Republican senators and 15 members of the House."Given where they've been, for congressional Republicans to say, 'Well, we need to see all the facts,' is a pretty important step forward," said Bill Kristol, the conservative commentator and a founder of Defending Democracy Together.Polls have shown a steady rise in support for the Democrats' impeachment inquiry, with a majority of Americans approving of it. But sentiment is split along party lines. A recent CBS poll found that nearly 9 in 10 Democrats approved of the inquiry, and two-thirds strongly approved, as compared with just 23% of Republicans."Overwhelmingly, Republicans oppose the impeachment inquiry," said Ayres, the pollster. "They want their Republican elected officials to defend the president and protect him from his many enemies."But for Republicans in swing districts who have tight reelection races, like Fitzpatrick in Pennsylvania, defending Trump at all costs is not an option. In Washington state, for instance, Rep. Jamie Herrera Beutler, who represents a district Democrats have targeted, has echoed Amodei, saying that while there is not yet evidence of impeachable offenses, for the "sake of this nation, we should all follow a process that does not put conclusions before facts."Here in northern Nevada, though, sentiment runs strong in favor of Trump. Amodei's district stretches south from Reno, past the cattle ranches and casinos that line the road to the state capital, Carson City, and into largely rural areas like Douglas County, where members of the local Republican women's club were having their monthly luncheon last week."I think it's a scam and it's a witch hunt, just like Trump says," said Gloria Darrington, 77, expressing the views of many here when she said she believed Democrats were simply continuing a long-running quest to undo the results of the 2016 election."He lives in a very Republican area, and he ought to be listening to his Republicans," Elinor Lindberg, 83, said of Amodei.Amodei, the only Republican in Nevada's congressional delegation, is not in danger of losing his seat to a Democrat. But he is in danger of drawing a Republican primary challenger from the right, and already some well-known Nevada names -- Adam Laxalt, the former attorney general who ran for governor last year, and Danny Tarkanian, a businessman -- are being bandied about.Amodei sounded unworried. He said some Democrats in his district have been thanking him for his open-mindedness."I am a member of the legislative branch -- I defend that institution," he said, adding, "Quite frankly, if you don't believe in the processes of your own institution, what are you doing there?This article originally appeared in The New York Times.(C) 2019 The New York Times Company
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RENO, Nev. -- Rep. Mark Amodei was not prepared for the backlash from his fellow Republicans when he said Congress needed to "follow the facts" and look into whether President Donald Trump should be impeached.Newspapers declared he was breaking ranks. Conservative constituents branded him a traitor: "I'm Brutus, and Trump's Julius Caesar," he said. In short order, he was forced to explain himself to the Trump campaign's political director, top House Republicans and the acting White House chief of staff. All had the same question: "What the heck are you doing?"As evidence mounts that Trump engaged in an intensive effort to pressure the leader of Ukraine to investigate a political rival, Amodei is one of a growing number of Republicans who, while not explicitly endorsing the Democrats' impeachment inquiry, are at least indicating an openness to it. None have said Trump should be impeached. But neither are they defending him.It is a politically delicate but increasingly common approach among independent-minded lawmakers like Amodei, who are working to balance their fear of inviting Trump's wrath -- and that of the party base -- with a deep anxiety that there is more to be revealed about the president, some of it potentially indefensible, and the knowledge that history will hold them accountable for their words and actions.In Michigan, Rep. Fred Upton told an audience at the Detroit Economic Club that while he did not support an impeachment inquiry, "there are legitimate questions" about Trump's interactions with Ukraine, and he had no problem with Democrats' efforts to get more information."We need to know what the answers are," he said.In Texas, Rep. Will Hurd -- who is retiring, and therefore perhaps feeling liberated to speak his mind -- has called on the House to investigate the "troubling" allegations against Trump, though he cautioned against a rush to impeachment. In Pennsylvania, Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick said he thinks law enforcement should investigate. In Illinois, Rep. Adam Kinzinger said, "I want to know what happened here."In Maine, Sen. Susan Collins, a Republican whose seat is seen by Democrats as especially vulnerable, also criticized Trump's decision to call on China to investigate a political rival. "It's completely inappropriate," she told the Bangor Daily News on Saturday.And in Utah, Sen. Mitt Romney, who has emerged as a lonely voice criticizing Trump's dealings with Ukraine, and last week called the president's appeal for foreign help investigating the Bidens "wrong and appalling," appears to have company. Before a whistleblower's complaint against Trump was made public, a fellow Utahan, Rep. John Curtis, introduced a resolution calling for the White House to release it, and he has said he is "closely monitoring the formal inquiry."On Saturday, in a warning shot to Republicans who might cross him, Trump lashed out at Romney on Twitter, calling him a "pompous 'ass' who has been fighting me from the beginning" and using the hashtag IMPEACHMITTROMNEY."As they distance themselves from Trump, these Republicans -- some in swing districts in tight reelection races -- are also taking care to distance themselves from Speaker Nancy Pelosi, who they say rushed into the impeachment inquiry. For the most part they are refraining from directly criticizing the president, who has branded the investigation a "witch hunt" and a "hoax."But neither are they adopting the language of their leaders, whose strategy centers on attacking Pelosi, branding the inquiry politically motivated and changing the subject to Biden and his son Hunter, whose work for a Ukrainian energy company fed Trump's accusations of a nefarious web of corruption involving one of his top political foes. More than a dozen House Republicans have remained silent."It's a matter of following their conscience and saying what they will be happy defending to their children in later years," said Whit Ayres, a Republican strategist, adding, "Some of them are following the rule that if you can't say anything good about your president, you should not say anything at all."These Republicans still account for a small minority of the 197 in the House. But their comments, at a time when polls show public support for the impeachment inquiry is growing, are the first hint at cracks in party unity. They also offer echoes of the path the party took during the impeachment proceedings against Richard M. Nixon, when even the staunchest defenders of the president eventually abandoned him."My sense is that if there were a secret ballot vote on impeachment it would garner significant Republican support," said David Wasserman, who tracks House races for the nonpartisan Cook Political Report, citing "my private conversations with Republican members of Congress who believe he is wildly unfit to be president. "But, Wasserman added, "They can't say that in public, or else their political careers would be torpedoed by one tweet from the Oval Office."Here in Nevada, Amodei, 61, a garrulous former federal prosecutor who led Trump's 2016 campaign in Nevada, is choosing his words carefully.During a candid hourlong conversation that included a tour of his lovingly restored red-and-white Chevy Silverado flatbed truck (model year 1988 -- the same year he switched his party registration from Democrat to Republican), he sounded mystified at the uproar he created. He votes with Trump nearly 99% of the time, but described himself as a "process guy" who believes in congressional oversight."I just think you have to respect the process," he said. "I think you need to be transparent, and you need to tell the truth."He said he was not a fan of Pelosi's process and said she should have put the inquiry up to a vote of the full House. And he lamented that the word "inquiry" has become politically toxic for Republicans -- a lesson he learned after he shared his views with local reporters, one of whom wrote that he backed the House inquiry but was withholding judgment on whether Trump "crossed the legal line."The characterization was accurate, Amodei said, but it sparked an uproar when news media outlets (including The New York Times) called him the first Republican who had broken ranks to support an impeachment investigation. He quickly recalibrated, issuing a statement making clear he did not support Trump's impeachment."I now know 'inquiry' is a special word in the impeachment thesaurus," he said wryly, "which I'm still looking for on Amazon, but I haven't found."Still, anti-Trump voices within the Republican Party have been emboldened by comments like Amodei's. Republicans for the Rule of Law, the main initiative of the conservative anti-Trump group Defending Democracy Together, is spending more than $1 million to run television ads on Fox and MSNBC, calling on Republicans to "demand the facts" about Trump and Ukraine.The campaign began last week with ads in five districts -- including Amodei's, Upton's and Fitzpatrick's -- and will expand this week to target 12 Republican senators and 15 members of the House."Given where they've been, for congressional Republicans to say, 'Well, we need to see all the facts,' is a pretty important step forward," said Bill Kristol, the conservative commentator and a founder of Defending Democracy Together.Polls have shown a steady rise in support for the Democrats' impeachment inquiry, with a majority of Americans approving of it. But sentiment is split along party lines. A recent CBS poll found that nearly 9 in 10 Democrats approved of the inquiry, and two-thirds strongly approved, as compared with just 23% of Republicans."Overwhelmingly, Republicans oppose the impeachment inquiry," said Ayres, the pollster. "They want their Republican elected officials to defend the president and protect him from his many enemies."But for Republicans in swing districts who have tight reelection races, like Fitzpatrick in Pennsylvania, defending Trump at all costs is not an option. In Washington state, for instance, Rep. Jamie Herrera Beutler, who represents a district Democrats have targeted, has echoed Amodei, saying that while there is not yet evidence of impeachable offenses, for the "sake of this nation, we should all follow a process that does not put conclusions before facts."Here in northern Nevada, though, sentiment runs strong in favor of Trump. Amodei's district stretches south from Reno, past the cattle ranches and casinos that line the road to the state capital, Carson City, and into largely rural areas like Douglas County, where members of the local Republican women's club were having their monthly luncheon last week."I think it's a scam and it's a witch hunt, just like Trump says," said Gloria Darrington, 77, expressing the views of many here when she said she believed Democrats were simply continuing a long-running quest to undo the results of the 2016 election."He lives in a very Republican area, and he ought to be listening to his Republicans," Elinor Lindberg, 83, said of Amodei.Amodei, the only Republican in Nevada's congressional delegation, is not in danger of losing his seat to a Democrat. But he is in danger of drawing a Republican primary challenger from the right, and already some well-known Nevada names -- Adam Laxalt, the former attorney general who ran for governor last year, and Danny Tarkanian, a businessman -- are being bandied about.Amodei sounded unworried. He said some Democrats in his district have been thanking him for his open-mindedness."I am a member of the legislative branch -- I defend that institution," he said, adding, "Quite frankly, if you don't believe in the processes of your own institution, what are you doing there?This article originally appeared in The New York Times.(C) 2019 The New York Times Company
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