Day: January 13, 2021
Too many good reasons to impeach, but he won’t
This is one of the last cyberspaces on earth where you would expect to find a video of Kevin McCarthy, California Republican and Minority Leader in the House. But here is his speech on impeachment today:
McCarthy is clear that the attack on the Capitol was undemocratic, violent, and criminal, aimed at interrupting the constitutionally required certification of Electoral College votes. He states there is no evidence of left-wing Antifa involvement. He says the President bears responsibility for the attack on the Capitol, and criticizes his failure to try to stop it. He says Joe Biden won the election and will be sworn in as President next week. To all of that I say: yes.
His main complaint is that no investigation has been conducted nor hearings held, though the facts adduced in the article of impeachment are all well-known and public. He claims a vote to impeach would further divide the nation, even though he knows that half dozen, or maybe more, Republicans will vote in favor of impeachment, as will the entire majority caucus. Instead of impeachment, he prefers a fact-finding commission and a censure resolution, neither of which he can convince Democrats to vote for.
The weight of the arguments in the two previous paragraphs weighs in favor of impeachment. McCarthy nevertheless is leading the House Republican charge against it, including false allegations from members of his own caucus that Biden did not win and that the Democrats advocated violence during the Black Lives Matter demonstrations.
In conclusion, McCarthy calls for an end to polarization, making reference to the fraught transition from John Adams to Thomas Jefferson in 1801. But he ignores the fact that Adams conceded, which Trump has not. He also ignores the fact that President-elect Biden has, like Jefferson, asked his supporters to put aside division and preached forgiveness. Trump has ignored that appeal.
McCarthy wants unity. I know where he can find it: in a vote, based on the arguments he presents, in favor of impeachment.
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Stevenson’s army, January 13
State Dept says Sec. Pompeo cancelled his planned European trip in order to work on the transition. Reuters said the real reason was that he was denied high level meetings.
FP says Pompeo is ‘bluffing his way to a legacy.”
NYT piles on by reporting but disputing his claims about Iran and al Qaeda.
SASC hearing heard opposition to waiver for Austin. Hearing recording is here. I was especially impressed by statement from Naval War College Prof Lindsay Cohn on why no waiver is important for civil-military relations.
Smart move: WSJ says Biden will appoint several acting heads of agencies pending approval of nominees.
FT reports on Turkey’s many overseas operations.
FBI tries to explain why warning of Capitol violence didn’t have impact.
Parler users were at Capitol.
My SAIS colleague Charlie Stevenson distributes this almost daily news digest of foreign/defense/national security policy to “Stevenson’s army” via Googlegroups. I plan to republish here. To get Stevenson’s army by email, send a blank email (no subject or text in the body) to stevensons-army+subscribe@googlegroups.com. You’ll get an email confirming your join request. Click “Join This Group” and follow the instructions to join. Once you have joined, you can adjust your email delivery preferences (if you want every email or a digest of the emails).
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