Thread by @Monaheart1229

Re: The reaction of the GOP Congress to the Whistleblower Complaint and Trump's #UkraineTranscript Article excerpts threaded here for ppl w paywall issues:
#TrumpImpeachment #WednesdayWisdom
washingtonpost.com/powerpost/sena…

2-"Several Senate Republicans were privately stunned Wednesday 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

3-"Democratic presidential candidate 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 and defend — while the party argues at the same time that House

4-"Democrats are overreaching with their impeachment inquiry of Trump.
Three other GOP senators complained privately in discussions with The Washington Post that the White House erred by releasing the transcript, arguing that it sets a precedent for future presidents about

5-"disclosure of calls with foreign leaders and could be seen as a concession to Democrats. Publicly, two senators expressed serious concerns about the revelation, as cracks have begun to emerge with GOP lawmakers privately discussing Trump’s conduct and their party’s political

6-"standing. “Republicans ought not to be rushing to circle the wagons and say there’s no ‘there’ there when there’s obviously a lot that’s very troubling there,” Sen. Ben Sasse (R-Neb.) told reporters after reviewing the whistleblower’s complaint. “. . . Democrats ought not be

7-"using words like ‘impeach’ before they knew anything about the actual substance.” Sasse, who opposed Trump’s 2016 candidacy, recently has spoken more favorably about Trump and earned the president’s endorsement in his reelection bid.

8-“It remains troubling in the extreme. It’s deeply troubling,” Sen. Mitt Romney (R-Utah) told reporters Wednesday when asked about the transcript..Three Senate GOP aides said Wednesday that their bosses were unhappy with the White House’s decision and the sense that Republican

9-"lawmakers were being forced into the difficult position of defending Trump while contending with what many Democrats see as a problematic transcript...
Romney’s willingness to speak out has “given cover” to Senate Republicans who also want to speak out, even if more mutedly,

10-"one Senate GOP aide said, because Romney is taking the lead in asking pointed questions about Trump and the administration." & re: the unanimous consent of the GOP to release the complaint last night: "“I really thought Mitch would knock it down, because Chuck was putting it

11-"up. He hates everything Chuck does,” one veteran Republican senator said, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to speak candidly. “But he didn’t. He let Chuck’s resolution get through with unanimous consent.”
~WaPo, 9/25/19