| | | | How Republicans learned to love conspiracy theories |  | | A clear divide was on display this week in Washington.
On one side were the nine witnesses -- all of whom are current or former Trump administration officials.
This group was dealing in something called facts. Texts. WhatsApp messages. Contemporaneous notes from phone calls and meetings. Released rough transcripts. Eyewitness testimony.
Those facts all painted a very similar picture: A concerted effort -- from a number of senior officials including President Donald Trump -- to force Ukraine to announce an investigation into Joe and Hunter Biden in exchange for a meeting between Trump and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky at the White House. When the investigation was not publicly announced, nearly $400 million in US security aid for Ukraine was held up as a way to lever up the pressure on Zelensky to do what Trump wanted.
On the other side of the equation were congressional Republicans -- especially those on the Intelligence Committee -- and the Trump White House.
This group was dealing in debunked conspiracy theories. Conjecture. A single article written by a questionable columnist. Rumor. What-people-are-saying-ism.
Those conspiracy theories were myriad: Ukraine was meddling in the 2016 election to help Hillary Clinton. Lt. Col. Alexander Vindman, a decorated infantry officer and now a National Security Council Ukraine expert, might have dual loyalties because he was born in Ukraine. Former Ukraine Ambassador Marie Yovanovitch hated Trump and refused to hang his official portrait in the embassy.
To be clear (again): None of those things is true. And yet, from Donald Trump to California Rep. Devin Nunes (R) and back, Republicans acted as though their conspiracies were of equal value to the facts established by the nine witnesses (and affirmed by the Democratic questioners on the committee.)
The result of this facts vs. conspiracy theories approach to the week's public impeachment hearings was a reinforcing of this fact: In the age of Trump, tribalism rules Republicans. Facts are less important than desperately clinging to a disproven conspiracy theory that keeps Trump happy.
Here's the thing: Republicans don't have to vote for impeachment -- if they believe that Trump's pressure campaign against Ukraine doesn't meet the standard of "high crimes and misdemeanors." That's a judgment call. What's not a judgment call is that, according to established facts, Trump and several of his most senior aides sought to force an investigation into the Bidens using the levers of official government power.
To answer those facts with outrageous claims like that Ukraine meddled in the 2016 election or a decorated combat veteran is somehow disloyal to his country are both outlandish and embarrassing.
The Point: This week proved just how far Republicans are willing to go in their total fealty to Trump. And it's farther than I would have ever thought.
-- Chris
And now, the week in 18 headlines:
Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday | | "Well, a lot of things are the matter with me."
-- President Trump with a lighter take on his unplanned trip to Walter Reed Medical Center. Trump maintains he is in good health.
Chris recaps this and 57 other bananas lines from Trump's Fox & Friends interview on Friday morning. | | | Former President Barack Obama has some advice for Democrats currently fretting about their field of contenders: "Chill out."
"Everybody needs to chill out about the candidates, but gin up about the prospect of rallying behind whoever emerges from this process," Obama said, defending Democrats' arduous and ongoing primary.
That process, of course, now includes former Massachusetts Gov. Deval Patrick (bringing the number of Democrats running to 17). The field could swell to 18, if former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg's potential bid becomes a reality. | | | New Noah Gundersen! Enjoy this acoustic track: "Lose You." | |
LAUREN'S CAMPAIGN TRAIL PREVIEW | | Coming over the next week: Newly registered Florida voter Donald Trump holds a rally and voter registration drive in Florida. We have a flurry of early state stumping ahead of Thanksgiving as candidates look to capture momentum post-debate. And at least two will spend the Thanksgiving holiday in Iowa: Kamala Harris and Amy Klobuchar.
Saturday, November 23 - Elizabeth Warren: Heads to New Hampshire for a town hall and canvas kickoff
- Andrew Yang: Holds a rally and two office openings in Iowa
- Julián Castro: Attends the Black Hawk County Democrats' Hall of Fame dinner
- Bill Weld: Attends the Concord, New Hampshire, Christmas parade.
- Tulsi Gabbard: Hosts a town hall and a house party in New Hampshire
- Cory Booker: Holds six events in New Hampshire, including four meet-and-greets
- Amy Klobuchar: Speaks at the Human Rights Campaign New England Dinner in Boston after two events in New Hampshire
Sunday, November 24 - Marianne Williamson: Signs papers to appear on South Carolina's primary ballot
- Tom Steyer: Hosts a meet-and-greet followed by a town hall in Mason City, Iowa
- Steve Bullock: Attends two meet-and-greets and a house party in Iowa
- Bernie Sanders: Hosts a rally in Portsmouth, New Hampshire
Monday, November 25 - Elizabeth Warren: Hosts a town hall in West Des Moines, Iowa
- Pete Buttigieg: Hosts a meet-and-greet, a round table and two town halls across Iowa
- Deval Patrick: Speaks at Politics & Eggs at N.H. Institute of Politics at St. Anselm College
- Bernie Sanders: Hosts two town halls in New Hampshire
- Michael Bennet: Finishes a three-day swing through New Hampshire. He recently announced he's going all-in on the first in the nation primary
- Kamala Harris: Closes out three days in South Carolina with a Berkeley County meet-and-greet with Charlamagne Tha God
Tuesday, November 26 - Pete Buttigieg: Hosts three town halls across western Iowa
- Amy Klobuchar: Campaigns in Iowa's Worth County, Winnebago County, Hancock County, Wright County and Franklin County
- Kamala Harris: Returns to Iowa through December 1
Wednesday, November 27 - Cory Booker: Hosts a day-long "Beloved Community Thanksgiving" of events around Des Moines, Iowa
Thursday, November 28 - Amy Klobuchar: Spends Thanksgiving with family and supporters in Des Moines
- Kamala Harris: Spends Thanksgiving in Iowa with her family
Friday, November 29 | | | $5.6 million
The amount of money spent on impeachment-specific ads on Facebook from mid-September through last week. | | | | | | |
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