As more House Democrats come out for impeachment proceedings against President Trump in the wake of leaks about a so-called whistleblower complaint about Trump’s July 25 phone call with Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky, 2012 GOP presidential nominee Sen. Mitt Romney (R-UT) is signalling his openness to impeaching Trump, according to interpretations of recent Romney comments by senior New York Times reporter Jonathan Martin and Never Trumper Bill Kristol.
Mitt Romney leaving meeting with then President-elect Trump in Bedminster, New Jersey, November 2016. Romney was passed over by Trump for the position of secretary of State.
On Monday, Romney said to NBC’s Geoff Bennett that should the Trump administration refuse to release the alleged whistleblower complaint to Congress, “it will be up to the House to decide how to proceed.”
Tuesday morning Romney told Politico’s Burgess Everett about impeaching Trump, “It’s early to be having those conversations. There’s so much we don’t know”
“NEWS: Sen. Mitt Romney tells me Trump “should make available the whistleblower complaint that has been deemed to be credible and urgent. I think it’d be very helpful to get the bottom of the facts. If they don’t, it will be up to the House to decide how to proceed.”
“More Romney: “It’s very much, I believe, in the public interest to get this resolved and to be able to move on. … Given the seriousness of the allegations, it’s very important that the transcript and potentially, as well, the whistle blower come forward.”
More Romney: "It's very much, I believe, in the public interest to get this resolved and to be able to move on. … Given the seriousness of the allegations, it's very important that the transcript and potentially, as well, the whistle blower come forward." https://t.co/xh3AtQDOuE
— Geoff Bennett (@GeoffRBennett) September 23, 2019
Romney on impeachment: “it’s early to be having those conversations. There’s so much we don’t know”
— Burgess Everett (@burgessev) September 24, 2019
Those comments by Romney prompted this observation from New York Times National Political Correspondent Jonathan Martin, “Dems will smash the reply button to yell at Mitt, but this is the party’s last nominee pointedly refusing to dismiss impeaching a president of his own party. And a day after he said if the admin doesn’t cooperate, the onus is on House Ds”
Dems will smash the reply button to yell at Mitt, but this is the party’s last nominee pointedly refusing to dismiss impeaching a president of his own party.
And a day after he said if the admin doesn’t cooperate, the onus is on House Dshttps://t.co/Xg2YNtl9F5
— Jonathan Martin (@jmart) September 24, 2019
Never Trumper Bill Kristol had a similar reaction in comments he made Monday night on MSNBC, reported Real Clear Politics:
“I think Romney has helped reassure maybe Speaker Pelosi that there is the possibility of Republican support. Maybe in the House. Incidentally, maybe in the Senate. If you take Romney’s statement seriously, he is not just saying maybe the House should impeach. He is sort of saying maybe as a Senate Republican he would vote to convict. And suddenly if you have a couple more Republicans even sound somewhat like that, the notion that this is a purely partisan maneuver, there will be no Republican in the Senate who will even take it seriously that goes away.”
Two weeks ago Romney said he would not be endorsing Trump for reelection in 2020. Monday night, Trump posted a video contrasting his victorious 2016 presidential campaign with Romney’s losing 2012 campaign.
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) September 24, 2019
