The two top Republicans in Congress, Rep. Kevin McCarthy and Sen.Mitch McConnell, told associates they believed President Donald Trump was responsible for inciting the deadly riot and vowed to drive him from politics. McCarthy told a group of Republican leaders that he would push Trump to resign immediately. Both men backed off their fight with Trump because they were afraid of reprisals. Their drive to act faded fast as it became clear that they would have to vote against their colleagues. McConnell told a friend that he didn't get to be leader by voting with five other people. The New York Times has a morning newsletter. The confidential expressions of outrage from McCarthy and McConnell, which have not been previously reported, illustrate the gulf between what Republican leaders say privately about Trump and what they say publicly. The retreat of the leaders in January of 2021 was a capitulation at a time when Trump had caused an insurrection against American democracy, and it was the last and best chance for mainstream Republicans to regain control of their party. The account of the private discussions among Republican leaders in the days after the attack is based on a new book. McConnell's office did not comment. Mark Bednar, a spokesman for McCarthy, denied that the Republican leader told colleagues he would push Trump to leave office. McCarthy, a 57-year-old Californian who has long had his sights set on becoming speaker of the House, embodies the stark accommodation to Trump more than any other person. McCarthy rebuked Trump for the mob that tried to stop Congress from certifying the president's loss. He didn't condemn him in harsher language. McCarthy went further in private. On a phone call with several other top House Republicans, McCarthy blamed the president for his conduct on January 6. McCarthy inquired about the mechanism for removing a president from office before concluding that was not a viable option. McCarthy was uncertain and indecisive, worried that the Democratic drive to impeach Trump would cause more division in the country. McCarthy's resolve seemed to stiffen as the gravity of the attack sank in, and the potential political ramifications for his party. Several moderate Republican governors called for the president's resignation after two members of Trump's Cabinet quit their posts after the attack. The raw brutality of the attack was more vivid in the public mind because of the video clips. McCarthy spoke with the leadership team again and this time he had a plan. McCarthy said that the Democrats would have the votes to pass an impeachment resolution. He was going to call Trump and tell him it was time for him to leave. What he did is not acceptable. He told the group that nobody should defend it. McCarthy said he would tell Trump to resign if the resolution passed. He acknowledged that it was unlikely that Trump would follow that suggestion. McCarthy was one of the White House's most obedient supporters in Congress. McCarthy has appeased members of the House who are close to the former president. If the Republicans win the House in November, McCarthy may need their support to become speaker, a vote that could come as soon as next year. McCarthy contemplated a break with Trump and his supporters after the storming of the Capitol. McCarthy told other GOP leaders that he wanted the big tech companies to remove Republican lawmakers from their social media accounts, as they had done with Trump. Members such as Lauren Boebert of Colorado had done a lot to stoke paranoia about the 2020 election and made offensive comments about the Capitol attack. McCarthy said that they can't put up with that and wondered if they would take their Twitter accounts away as well. Bednar said that McCarthy never said that particular members should be removed. The president's behavior deserved swift punishment, according to other Republican leaders in the House. On one call, the second-ranking House Republican said it was time for the GOP to consider a post- Trump Republican House. None of the men followed through on their tough talk. McCarthy heard from some Republican lawmakers who advised against confronting Trump. In a group conversation, Bill Johnson of Ohio warned conservatives to "go ballistic" in response to criticism of Trump, demanding that Republicans instead train their denunciations on Democrats, such as Hillary Clinton and Hunter Biden. Johnson said that that is the kind of thing that they are dealing with with their base. The message to McCarthy was clear when only 10 House Republicans joined with Democrats to support impeaching Trump. He visited Trump at Mar-a-Lago and posed for a picture. McCarthy offered a tortured claim that the real responsibility for January 6 lies with security officials and Democratic legislative leaders. McConnell's reversal was more revealing in the Senate. McConnell told associates late on the night of January 6 that his party would soon break with Trump and his followers, and the Republican leader asked a reporter in the Capitol for information about the 25th Amendment. McConnell's thoughts turned to impeachment when that didn't happen. McConnell met over lunch with two of his advisers. The Senate Republican leader feasted on chicken at the Louisville office of Chick-Fil-A. The Democrats are going to take care of the son of a bitch for us, McConnell said. It would take a two-thirds vote of the Senate to convict Trump after the House impeached him. That would require the votes of all 50 Democrats and at least 17 Republicans in the Senate, given that the first impeachment trial ended with just one Republican senator voting in favor of conviction. McConnell told his advisers that he expected a bipartisan vote for conviction. Congress could prevent Trump from ever holding public office again. McConnell said that the president's behavior on January 6 was beyond the pale. McConnell sounded like he might be a Republican who would vote to convict. Several senior Republicans, including John Thune of South Dakota and Rob Portman of Ohio, told people that McConnell was leaning that way. Chuck Schumer, the Senate Democratic leader, told the leaders of several liberal advocacy groups that he believed his Republican counterpart was angry enough to go to war with Trump. Schumer said he wouldn't count on McConnell. McConnell took the measure of Republican senators and concluded that there was little appetite for open battle with a man who remained. It was inappropriate to proceed with impeachment against a former president, according to a new legal argument offered by Senate Republicans after Trump left office. McConnell voted in favor of the resolution when it was proposed by Sen. Paul, a fellow Kentuckian. He told a friend that he didn't ascend to power by siding with the minority. In February, McConnell voted to acquit Trump even as seven other Senate Republicans joined with Democrats to muster the largest bipartisan vote ever in favor of conviction in a presidential impeachment trial. McConnell went to the Senate floor after the vote to deliver a speech against the former president. McConnell was silent about Trump after that point. He rarely speaks about the former president. McConnell was asked in a Fox News interview if he would support Trump if he were to become the GOP nominee for president. McConnell said yes. The New York Times Company. Associate Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas and his wife, conservative activist Virginia Thomas, are at an event. The nation's highest court has come under fire before for failing to manage potentially unethical behavior by its justices. In the past, the Supreme Court of the United States has refused to adopt an ethics code for justices. The actions of Justice Clarence Thomas and his wife, Virginia, pushed the White House. If Manhattan prosecutors don't indict Donald Trump with the grand jury in the next nine days, the key witness investigators have used to build their entire case says he. Few know that Amazon has millions of Prime subscribers. It's Disney. The Florida newspaper asked in an editorial, "Tomorrow, who knows?" There is no other way to say it, according to a comedian on Late Night. 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Morgan wrote about an exchange that he said took place before an interview with Trump. The five episode-run of Private Eye was solid, but the timing of the show was bad. Nancy Mace's reelection campaign received thousands of dollars from four different political action committees with ties to three powerful members of the GOP. Lana Theis stirred up controversy when she claimed during her invocation that children are under attack from forces that want things for them other. Ron Johnson is facing a tough re- election for a third term. The greatest sporting event there is just a few months away. Morgan posted a news story about how some of his fans were calling him a traitor and he lost. Yes, even if it means giving up Senate control. A junior college pitcher leveled an opposing hitter as he rounded the bases after hitting a home run in Texas. The sale prices for popular internet packages could be surprising. Start your search here. In the wake of the 2020 election, Sen. Mike Lee exchanged text messages with a former White House chief-of-staff. On the same day as Askew announced his intentions to transfer, Texas got a guard from New Mexico State. A poll said that most viewers thought that French PresidentEmmanuelMacron was arrogant, but that he was able to clear a major hurdle on the path to re-election with a combative TV debate performance against far-right candidate Marine Le Pen. Although Le Pen came across as more polished and composed than in a TV debate for the presidency in 2017, Macron went on the offensive over her plans for the economy and her policy for the European Union. Voter surveys show a widening of the gap between the two candidates since the first round on April 10, but analysts said the debate was unlikely to change voter intentions.The New York Times
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