New: The White House is openly currying favor with Bob Menendez, the new Foreign Relations chairman who’s often to the right of his caucus on foreign policy & has a history of causing trouble for a Democratic president who crosses him.
The Obama WH made the mistake of crossing Menendez on Iran and Cuba, and he used his power to make things difficult for Obama on the nuke deal & Cuba reset.
Menendez tells us that Biden is already abandoning the “Obama model,” to his great satisfaction.
The “Obama model,” as Menendez called it, didn’t value Congress’ role in shaping U.S. foreign policy.
Both Jake Sullivan and Tony Blinken sent us on-the-record statements praising Menendez, showing they’re already working to keep him happy—& in the loop.
Menendez’s penchant for working closely with Republicans on foreign policy can be an asset to an administration that came into office emphasizing bipartisanship. And in a 50-50 Senate, every vote counts.
Sen. Cassidy (R-La.) asks both sides about the Tuberville-Trump call & Trump’s subsequent tweet.
“The tweet and lack of response suggests that President Trump did not care that Pence was in danger ... does this show that Trump was tolerant of the intimidation of Pence?”
Trump lawyer Michael van der Veen calls Tuberville’s account “hearsay” and blames the House for not investigating.
Raskin counters that the “evidence is in the sole possession of their client,” whom the managers invited to testify last week.
Just left the Senate chamber, where I witnessed senators’ real-time reactions to that presentation. A few notes.
—Sen. Booker put his hands over his eyes when video played of shooting thru House door
—Several senators rubbed their eyes during footage of officer being crushed
More:
—Sen. Manchin shook his head when Trump said “we love you” to the rioters.
Lots of facial expressions were difficult to decipher with masks covering them, but senators were intently watching the screens inside the chamber and reacting as if they were watching it for the first time.
JUST IN: Group of Democratic senators files ethics complaint against Sens. Hawley and Cruz over the Jan. 6 insurrection, asking the Senate Ethics Committee to investigate any potential violations & punishments.
Group includes Sens. Whitehouse, Wyden, Smith, Blumenthal, Hirono, Kaine, Brown.
The senators write: “When Sens. Ted Cruz & Josh Hawley announced they would object to the counting of state-certified electors on January 6, 2021, they amplified claims of election fraud that had resulted in threats of violence against state & local officials around the country.”
🤔Ratcliffe just declassified to Graham a claim that Russian intel alleged that Clinton “approved a campaign plan to stir up a scandal against [Trump] by tying him to Putin and the Russians' hacking of the DNC.”
...but says “the IC does not know the accuracy of this allegation.”
It’s reasonable to ask why Graham and Ratcliffe would even put this out there if, as Ratcliffe acknowledges, “the IC does not know the accuracy of this allegation or the extent to which the Russian intelligence analysis may reflect exaggeration or fabrication.”
Senate Republicans have released their “interim report” on their Hunter Biden investigation. We’ve read it—it’s largely a compilation of previously public assessments & news articles, some rehashed from the impeachment inquiry. Lots of media-bashing too.