At-Risk GOP Senators Head to White House for Lunch While Repeatedly Dodging Questions on Trump’s Misconduct

Collins “Studiously Avoided Commenting… Because of Her Likely Role as a Juror” But Sees No Problem Dining at the White House Behind Closed Doors

Gardner, McSally Infamous for Their Failure to Answer Basic Questions About Foreign Interference in U.S. Elections

Senator Susan Collins will dine with the president at the White House today — despite repeatedly claiming her role as a juror prevents her from taking a position on the president’s misconduct.

Senator Cory Gardner, who has now dodged questions about the president’s misconduct no fewer than 19 times, Senator Thom Tillis, who has earned scathing local editorials for his “fecklessness,” and unelected Senator Martha McSally, who has refused to say whether she would accept illegal campaign help from a foreign government in her own uphill re-election battle have also attended one of the “gatherings.”

“All the excuses and dodges have revealed these senators to lack the independence to stand up to the president — and participating in this inappropriate ‘courting’ shows they continue to put their political party and self-interest ahead of what’s right,” said DSCC spokesperson Stewart Boss.

IN CASE YOU MISSED IT

POLITICO: Trump cozies up to GOP during impeachment — including Mitt Romney and Susan Collins

The president will meet with some of his Republican critics ahead of a likely Senate trial that will decide the fate of his presidency.

By Burgess Everett

November 21, 2019

Key Points:

• President Donald Trump is aggressively courting Senate Republicans as impeachment bears down, and on Thursday, he’ll come face to face with two of the most unpredictable jurors in any Senate trial: Mitt Romney and Susan Collins.

• The flurry of activity highlights the increasingly urgent task at hand for Trump: Making sure the GOP caucus understands his side of the Ukraine saga, not just through his tweets, but from him personally. 

• One White House official said the gatherings have been helpful to get synced up with GOP senators… 

• …Collins has also studiously avoided commenting on the impeachment proceedings because of her likely role as a juror in a Senate trial. A person familiar with the White House meeting set for Thursday confirmed her attendance. 

• Attendees have included at-risk Republican incumbents like Cory Gardner of Colorado, Martha McSally of Arizona and Thom Tillis of North Carolina; sometimes it’s a private meeting with McConnell.

• But the group lunches consistently include members of just one party, a tactic Democrats say suggests Trump’s only goal at these lunches is to win acquittal from a potential Senate jury.

Read the full story here.

See also: 

• Boulder Daily Camera (Editorial): Cory Gardner should defend the Constitution or resign
• Colorado Independent (Opinion): Cory Gardner makes his declaration of complete and utter dependence
• QUICK CLIP: “Cory Gardner Has Got President Trump’s Back”
• Arizona Republic: Roberts: Martha McSally ran away from reporters and tripped over the elephant in the room
• AZFamily: Sen. McSally won’t say if she’d seek foreign assistance to help her politically
• Arizona Republic: Sen. Martha McSally abruptly ends reporters’ questions when asked about impeachment
• CBS5 Phoenix (KPHO-TV): Sen. McSally won’t say if she’d seek foreign assistance to help her politically
• NBC 12News Phoenix (KPNX-TV): “McSally has dodged questions about [the impeachment investigation] for a month.”
• 3TV Phoenix (KTVK-TV): “Our political editor Dennis Welch met up with [Sen. McSally] to ask if she would accept or request help from a foreign government.”
• News 13 CBS Tucson (KOLD-TV): McSally declined to say if she would accept political assistance from a foreign government
• Capitol Broadcasting Company (Editorial): “North Carolinians cannot rely on Sen. Thom Tillis – who quakes at every Trump tweet and parrots whatever spin the White House sends out”
• Greensboro News & Record Editorial: “Tillis’ comments were hardly a surprise, since he desperately needs Trump’s support to win re-election in 2020…”
• Charlotte Observer Editorial: “Thom Tillis, however, has taken a decidedly different path… a reminder… that elected officials, like so many of us, tend to look after themselves first…”
• Washington Post: “Tillis declines to say whether it’s appropriate for Trump to ask foreign countries to investigate his political rivals.”

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