We just saw the beginning of the end of Donald Trump
Bill Taylor brought the receipts to his House impeachment inquiry testimony today, providing detailed contemporaneous notes that demonstrate Donald Trump’s criminal level of guilt in his Ukraine scandal. It’s set off a chain reaction that doesn’t appear to be slowing down any time soon.
Hours after Bill Taylor delivered a bodyblow to Donald Trump, Mitch McConnell decided that it was time for him to start cutting his own losses, throwing Trump under the bus in multiple ways. Taylor’s testimony also incriminated Bill Barr, prompting the Department of Justice to issue a confusing statement that may have been an attempt at throwing Barr under the bus. Taylor also appears to have gotten Gordon Sondland nailed for perjury. So now what?
McConnell has, knowingly, declared open season for any Republican Senators who think they can improve their own personal odds of reelection by attacking Donald Trump. It’ll certainly further embolden Mitt Romney, who has already poached a former Trump fundraiser to start raising money to handle the fallout from a potential Senate vote to oust Trump. It’ll also force Lindsey Graham to reevaluate his fanatical defense of Trump, as the GOP Senate wind is now clearly blowing in the other direction.
Even as we wait to see which Republican Senators follow Mitch McConnell’s lead and start kicking Donald Trump while he’s down, we’re also waiting to see if today’s events prompt Gordon Sondland to fully fess up, and if the DOJ will make clearer attempts at distancing itself from Bill Barr. The thing about chain reactions is that the reactions tend to keep multiplying. Forget the end of the beginning; we’ve reached the beginning of the end.
Bill Palmer is the publisher of the political news outlet Palmer Report