Trump is straight-up bribing GOP senators to back him against impeachment: report

According to a report from Politico, President Donald Trump is attempting to regain the full support of GOP lawmakers facing tough re-election prospects in 2020 by showering them with cash in the hopes of keeping them on his side with an impeachment vote likely.

As the House prepares to take a historic vote on Thursday authorizing the impeachment inquiry to go forward, the White House is actively engaging in fundraising with a plan to distribute money raised to GOP senators who are wavering on the support for the embattled president.

Politico reports, “Trump is tapping his vast fundraising network for a handful of loyal senators facing tough reelection bids in 2020. Each of them has signed onto a Republican-backed resolution condemning the inquiry as ‘unprecedented and undemocratic.’”

In an email to supporters headlined “WITCH HUNT,” the report states, “on Wednesday, the Trump reelection campaign sent a fundraising appeal to its massive email list urging donors to provide a contribution that would be divided between the president and Colorado Sen. Cory Gardner, Iowa Sen. Joni Ernst, and North Carolina Sen. Thom Tillis. Each of the senators are supporting the anti-impeachment resolution despite being endangered in 2020.”

Noticeably missing for the list of senators is Sen. Susan Collins (R-ME), Politico reporting, “The new online fundraising drive bypassed Collins, an occasional Trump critic who called on the president to retract his tweet comparing the impeachment investigation to a ‘lynching.’ Collins also said Trump made a ‘big mistake’ in asking China to investigate the Biden family.”

As for the other, along with Arizona Sen. Martha McSally (R), they are facing tough re-election campaigns and losses could mean control of the Senate could change hands.

“The president is looking to buck up senators coming under mounting pressure on impeachment. Gardner, who is widely seen as the most jeopardized Republican incumbent up for reelection, faced criticism earlier this month after he dodged questions about Trump’s conduct. Ernst was confronted at a town hall over her support for the president,” Politico reports. “This week, a liberal group began a multimillion-dollar advertising campaign pushing both Republican senators to support impeachment.”

Mike Reed, a Republican National Committee spokesman, Wednesday beg for cash brought in “six figures,” adding, “Our supporters stand totally behind President Trump and are eager to support down-ballot candidates who do the same.”

The report notes that the door is open for the president’s campaign to add more senators to future campaign contribution emails depending on who appears to be wavering and to keep his Senate firewall in place.

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