"Trump told campaign aides not to pay Rudy Giuliani for his legal services.
He asked Lindsey Graham to make calls on AF1 to defend him [guess Lindsey lied-again]
And as he was impeached today, he was in Oval w/Toby Keith.."
So, does this mean Trump ISN'T going to pardon Rudy Giuliani?
WaPo:"[Trump's] relationship with lawyer Rudolph W. Giuliani, one of his most steadfast defenders, is also fracturing, according to people with knowledge of the dynamics between the men
2-"Trump has instructed aides not to pay Giuliani’s legal fees, two officials said, and has demanded that he personally approve any reimbursements for the expenses Giuliani incurred while traveling on the president’s behalf to challenge election results in key states.
3-"They said Trump has privately expressed concern with some of Giuliani’s moves and did not appreciate a demand from Giuliani for $20,000 a day in fees for his work attempting to overturn the election. .."
• • •
Missing some Tweet in this thread? You can try to
force a refresh
Breaking per NYT:
McConnell has told associates he's 'pleased' Dems are moving to impeach Trump
McCarthy asked other GOP last week if he should 'ask Trump to resign'
Yet... nytimes.com/2021/01/12/us/…
2-"McConnell..has indicated that he wants to see the specific article of impeachment that the House is set to approve on Wednesday, which is expected to draw support from as many as a dozen Republicans, potentially including Representative Liz Cheney of Wyoming
3-"But he has made clear in private discussions that he believes now is the moment to move on the weakened lame duck, whom he blames for causing Republicans to lose the Senate.
Per Playbook:
Backstory on Raffensperger recording Trump's call:
After Graham's attempt in Nov to get him to throw it, Brad felt threatened, so he recorded Saturday's call
After Trump tweet attacked him yesterday, BR released it to WaPo & AJC
Here:
2-"It started on Saturday when Trump and his team reached out to talk to Raffensperger, who, according to an adviser, felt he would be unethically pressured by the president. Raffensperger had been here before:
3-"In November he accused Trump ally and South Carolina Sen. Lindsey Graham of improperly exhorting him to meddle in the election to help Trump win Georgia. Graham later denied it.
Aside from the obvious illegality, what's interesting about the call Trump made to GA SOS Raffensperger begging him to 'find' 11,780 ballots to overturn his GA loss is that these leaks don't happen by accident
And the timing is fascinating washingtonpost.com/politics/trump…
2-"[WaPo] obtained a recording of the conversation in which Trump alternately berated Raffensperger, tried to flatter him, begged him to act and threatened him with vague criminal consequences if the secretary of state refused to pursue his false claims
3-"at one point warning that Raffensperger was taking “a big risk.” Throughout the call, Raffensperger and his office’s general counsel rejected Trump’s assertions, explaining that the president is relying on debunked conspiracy theories
Amid concerns from Biden allies that some current Secret Svc presidential detail members are politically aligned with Trump
Agents who have worked with Biden in the past will be reattached to his presidential detail washingtonpost.com/politics/secre…
2-"The Secret Service is making some staff changes in the presidential detail that will guard President-elect Joe Biden, amid concerns from Biden allies that some current members were politically aligned with President Trump, according to two people familiar with the changes.
3-"As Biden readies his new administration, the Secret Service plans to bring back to the White House detail a handful of senior agents whom Biden knows well from their work more than four years ago guarding him and his family when he was vice president.
2-"Mitch McConnell and Senate Republicans finished off any imminent chance of approving $2,000 stimulus checks on Wednesday, ending a push from President Donald Trump and Democratic leaders to approve bigger direct payments as the congressional term comes to an end.
3-"The Senate majority leader said he would not detach the $2,000 checks supported by President Donald Trump from other matters demanded by the president: Stripping legal protections from tech companies and establishing an election fraud commission.
There is currently a lot of concern in DC that Iran will retaliate for the Soleimani killing this weekend
Jan 3 is the 1 yr anniversary of US assassination of the Iranian Gen'l
2 US B-52 bombers flew a 'show of force' mission in Persian Gulf yesterday nytimes.com/2020/12/30/us/…
2-"Two American B-52 bombers flew another show-of-force mission in the Persian Gulf on Wednesday, a week after Trump warned Iran that he would hold it accountable ‘if one American is killed’ in rocket attacks in Iraq that the administration and military officials blamed on Tehran
3-"The warplanes’ 36-hour round-trip mission from Minot Air Force Base in North Dakota was the third time in six weeks that Air Force bombers had conducted long-range flights about 60 miles off the Iranian coast