Mitt Romney is once again showing that it’s possible for a Republican to stand up to Trump and survive. The Hill reported about an hour ago that Romney is calling the newly revived Hunter Biden “investigation” out for what it is: a political stunt.
Sen. Mitt Romney (R-Utah) said on Thursday that a GOP investigation into Hunter Biden and Ukrainian gas company Burisma "appears political," and that people are “tired” of political investigations.
“There's no question but that the appearance of looking into Burisma and Hunter Biden appears political, and I think people are tired of these kind of political investigations,” Romney told reporters.
Yes, “appears” can be a weasel word, but in this case I don’t think that’s how Romney is using it, because Romney is a member of Ron Johnson’s committee:
Because Sen. Gary Peters (Mich.), the top Democrat on the committee, is opposing it, Johnson will need a simple majority to issue the subpoena.
Republicans hold an 8-6 majority on the committee. That means a "no" vote from Romney will result in a 7-7 tie, which would result in the subpoena failing.
Romney actually put his money where his mouth was last month when he became the first Senator in history to vote to convict an impeached president from his own party. So yes, I do read this as a signal from Romney to Moscow Mitch and Co.: Do not go down this path. I can stop you.
And the way he brushed off Trump-manufactured hate and hysteria at his conviction vote gives me some confidence that Romney will go through with it.
There’s a lot about Romney that I’ve never liked, not least his tendency to shift with the prevailing wind. But this time he’s got a secure political position for as long as he wants it, plus he’s old enough to be thinking that he’s going to have to justify his actions to his creator before too long. That speech he gave explaining his Yes vote on impeachment certainly ran along those lines. Refusing to go along with an obvious sham investigation based on lies is another test of his moral convictions. Don’t knock it.
Thursday, Mar 5, 2020 · 11:53:07 PM +00:00 · Dan K
Aaron Blake at WaPo has picked up the Romney story; he released this analysis a couple of hours ago: Romney may vote against Trump again — this time with some bite. Blake ties Romney’s current stand to his impeachment vote:
When [Romney] voted to remove Trump, he indicated he saw little more than a political effort in the efforts to launch the [Biden] investigation.
That vote was symbolic, since Trump was in no danger of being convicted.
But the [subpoena] vote would be notable for one key reason: Romney has come under withering attack from conservatives and from Trump. He was banned from the Conservative Political Action Conference and saw conspiracy theorists try to tie him to Burisma through a former political adviser. Trump himself promoted those attacks and lodged some of his own, including calling Romney a “disgrace” and a “grandstander.” He even criticized Romney for invoking his faith in making his decision on impeachment.
Trump’s attacks on Romney for that vote were meant to turn Utahns against him. It didn’t work; Romney remains more popular in Utah than Trump.
Though I don’t think Romney is expressing skepticism about Burisma as a way to get back at Trump, the smears by The Ego Who Must Not Be Crossed didn’t help.
The flip side of going to war with Romney, of course, is that it might not work. And in a closely divided Senate, sometimes you need that vote. Wednesday could drive that home, if Romney votes like he seems to be inclined. (He hasn’t committed yet, instead saying he would review the available information.) And to the extent Romney continues to delegitimize the Hunter Biden attacks, that’s an arrow in the Democrats’ quiver too.
Moscow Mitch managed to get Trump to lay off the attacks during the trial. But Trump cannot be contained, to his loss and our gain.