On Politics A.M.: Republicans Continue Impeachment Attack

2019年10月25日星期五

October 25, 2019

Good Friday morning. Here are some of the stories making news in Washington and politics today.

Republicans in Congress struggled for a second consecutive day to combat Democrats on impeachment and to defend President Trump amid a steady stream of damaging revelations about his conduct, as they moved to deliver a symbolic objection to a process they say is fundamentally unfair.
Their goal was to portray the proceedings, conducted by three House Committees behind closed doors, as unfair to Mr. Trump, to voters and to their representatives by limiting who can take part in them. But here's why the Democrats' inquiry is out of public view.

Senate Republicans up for re-election in 2020, fearful of straying too far from Mr. Trump yet unwilling to defend him, have adopted a strategy of saying as little as possible about the impeachment inquiry.

For more than two years, Mr. Trump has repeatedly attacked the Russia investigation, portraying it as a hoax and as illegal even months after the special counsel closed it. Now, Mr. Trump's own Justice Department has opened a criminal investigation into how it all began.

Vice President Mike Pence criticized American companies for trying to silence speech that expresses support for democratic values in order to maintain access to the Chinese market, saying the corporations should adhere to American principles while doing business with China.

Representative Elijah E. Cummings, whose booming cries for decency reverberated through the halls of Congress for more than two decades, made history one final time on Thursday, as the first African-American elected official to lie in state in the United States Capitol.

College students, a crucial voting bloc in 2020, are increasingly energized by issues like climate change and by their opposition to the Trump presidency. In key states, Republicans are amping up measures to keep them from voting.

Four polls out this week present a muddled picture of a primary race that is unfolding in sometimes conflicting ways, both nationally and in early-voting states.

After ending the third quarter with less cash in hand than four rivals, former Vice President Joseph R. Biden Jr.'s campaign reversed course: while once opposed to super PACs, he is no longer discouraging supporters from forming one to help him in the Democratic primary.