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Democrats Expecting Defections on Articles of Impeachment Vote: Reports

CNN Ripped for Apparently Skipping Live Coverage of Hearing on FBI Misconduct

The Senate Judiciary Committee will hear from the Department of Justice’s Inspector General, Michael Horowitz, on Wednesday on the findings of his report into the FBI’s tactics on how it surveilled a Trump campaign aid. Reporters and pundits claimed that CNN is not showing the hearing, suggesting the network has a political bias for not doing so. MSNBC was also criticized for appearing to present biased coverage during Wednesday’s coverage of Horowitz’s testimony. Fox News reported that CNN didn’t televise Senate Majority Leader Lindsey Graham’s (R-S.C.) opening statement. “The first thing I want you to know is how the cake is baked here and my goal is to make sure … you look at this as more than a few irregularities, because if this becomes a few irregularities in America, then…

Democrats Expecting Defections on Articles of Impeachment Vote: Reports

Some Democrats are expected to defect on voting on articles of impeachment against President Donald Trump, according to several reports this week.

As House Judiciary Committee members hold a hearing to hold a committee-wide vote on impeachment, some battleground Democrats in the House are mulling voting against impeachment as it would hurt their chances at reelection in 2020. The final vote on impeachment is expected to occur next week before the Christmas recess.

The Washington Post reported that there will be at least half a dozen Democrats in the House who will join the Republicans to oppose impeachment. Another aide told the paper that there might be more than that.

Politico reported that a half-dozen Democrats would likely defect.

“It’s probably the most serious consideration I’ll give anything that I’ve considered my one year in Congress,” said Rep. Elissa Slotkin (D-Mich.), reported the website. “I’m going to do exactly what I was trained to do as a CIA officer—I’m going to look at the full body of information, read it thoroughly, and make an objective decision.”

About 18 House Democrats would need to defect from the party for it to fail in the House.

As expected, Rep. Jeff Van Drew (D-N.J.), the most vocal Democrat against impeachment, will vote against the measure, according to the Post. Rep. Collin Peterson (D-Minn.), another impeachment opponent who represents a staunchly pro-Trump district, will also vote against the measure, it was reported. Both Van Drew and Peterson joined Republicans to vote against a procedural measure that laid out public hearings in the House Intelligence Committee.

One of the most vulnerable Democrats, Rep. Kendra Horn (D-Okla.), said she isn’t sure on how she will vote next week. “I’m still reviewing,” Horn told reporters on Wednesday, according to Politico.

Reps. Joe Cunningham (D-S.C.), Jason Crow (D-Colo.), Max Rose (D-N.Y.), Xochitl Torres Small (D-N.M.), and Ben McAdams (D-Utah) have yet to say how they will vote, the report said.

“This is not something that we’re going to operate on anyone’s timeline,” Rose told Politico. “I take the speaker at her word that this is a vote of conscience, as is every vote here,” he added.

“What I’m doing over the next couple of days, I’m going back, reviewing the testimony and reviewing the transcripts, the documents that were collected during the inquiry the last few months,” said Crow.

When the measure reaches the Senate, some Democrats might also vote against convicting the president. One of them may be Sen. Joe Manchin (D-W.V.), a centrist Democrat, who said this week that he is “very much torn” over impeachment.

Earlier this week, Politico reported that a small number of House Democrats were seeking to censure Trump instead of impeaching him.

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Manchin ‘Torn’ About Whether to Vote to Convict Trump on Articles of Impeachment

A moderate Democratic senator says he’s not sure whether he’ll vote to convict President Donald Trump on two articles of impeachment if the House votes to impeach the president, which would trigger a Senate trial. “I’m very much torn on it. I think it weighs on everybody,” Sen. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.) told reporters in Washington on Dec. 11. “We have a divided country. On the other hand, we have equal branch of governments, responsibilities in the Constitution. There are a lot of things at stake here,” he said. Manchin said he thinks the Senate should hear from witnesses like Rudy Giuliani, Trump’s personal lawyer; acting White House chief of staff Mick Mulvaney; and former Vice President Joe Biden’s son Hunter Biden. Manchin in September said he supported an impeachment inquiry…