....of primarying someone.

and now they are becoming prominent for trying to stop the investigations that will prove they are in deep with a foreign adversary. This is going to be a big year. The spiral gyre is tightening and the center can not hold.

Welcome to DU!

I think they're just horrible people who are happy to go along with Trump if it helps to advance their legislative agenda.

Plus they don't want trump to call them a doo-doo head.

They are horrible Trump asskissers because they're all venal, self serving, heartless bigots, but they'd also rather it not be known that Russia knows their secrets.

That's just my guess, which is based on nothing more than a hunch.

It’s possible that more than being blackmailed, many Republicans have been willingly working with the Russians so they can benefit personally, be it politically or financially.

They know their shady dealings, taking bribes, and corruption will be exposed, so they are on a mission to grab as much money as they can before they leave office and go into hiding. They seem to think that being out of office will shield them - oops.... It'll make it worse....

try any of them should he find criminal activity. They will no longer have the protection of being in office.

And they are all falling nicely in line too!
Email or call your republican congress person/ senator daily if you are unlucky enough to be represented by. And encourage friends and relatives to do the same.

The dirt must be pretty bad to commit treason. Maybe the dirt is on some of their kids or family members, making it a little bit harder to say "fuck off!" The whole thing is mind boggling. SMH

Either they got lots of money from the Russia collaboration or the KGB arm of the GOP has some really bad tape of them or their family.

President ever”. Bye hatch, FH.

were openly critical of tRump. Rand Paul, too. Then they went golfing with tRump, and now they love him. Corker entered office deeply in debt. Now he is the 4th richest person there. How did he gain so much wealth?? Vlad knows!! Remember Corker called the WH an "adult day care center" Now he is a fan. YES, blackmail is behind this. Nunes is in business with Russians financing a vineyard in California. He supposedly has all his money tied up in it, so he does not want the investigation to continue. They are all protecting themselves. Can't wait for Mueller to blow the lid off the whole slimy group.

a permanent tax cut wouldn’t it? Why continue to run for office after getting what they came for? It’s not like they’re in it to serve their country when everything they do is obviously self serving.

Putin has the Republican Party compromised with email hacks, shady campaign donations and who knows what else. (Sexcapades)

the kompromat is just added insurance.

they don't need to be blackmailed to understand that they have no future in the republican party unless they fall in line.


the only thing blackmail keeps them from doing is retiring (and possibly writing a tell-all).

Papadopholous is just the first known contact with the Russians.

It's all about the rubles rubles rubles.

That would explain it perfectly.

I can explain the conduct of GOP leaders as party loyalty plus susceptibility to bribes, without need for alleged blackmail.

But I'm sure you're right about at least some, and we should probably be prepared for revelations that a few Dems are also compromised.

are so very obsequious with him....the public displays of adoration are nauseating, probably even to them.

reasonable explanation for how the BIG POWERFUL REPUBS are owned by Russia!! The rest just follow suit. They have no idea whats in these bills they are voting yes on, voting yes just because they are supporting there constituents!!!!!!!!!!!!

And maybe for far longer than Trump has been. It’s gotten pretty obvious that they were in it to get very rich and nothing else. Now that they’ve given themselves permanent tax cuts their work is done. The news that some prominent Republicans are beginning to say they’re not running again shows they’ve gotten what they always wanted. Trumpaganda is just the finishing touch. The last push that got them to their goal.

It isn’t Communism any more than it is for Russia and Putin. It’s full blown Oligarchy.

I think whatever Trump's people had on Orrin Hatch must be known in the news circles. That's probably why his paper hit him with assurance and aplomb.

This is exactly correct.

Dig, Mueller, DIG!

I believe some are on the take from Russia while others are power hungry.

What if Russia gave Trump career-ending dirt on key Republicans, and the Republicans know it?

Pure self-interest would prevent them from acting against him.

Two main problems:

1. Trump is an idiot with no impulse control, so he would already have revealed any dirt that he has on them.

2. Putin wouldn't trust Trump with that info because Trump is too stupid to use it effectively.


Still, it's always fun to speculate...

In fact, that's the version I think is most likely.

Plus, they don't even need to have given Trump anything. All that's needed here is the realization that Trump could GET some info on them from Russia.

just sayin..

Or is this just false equivelancy in an effort to be “fair and balanced”?

Like many here, I've felt (known) Lindsey Graham is gay for years. I think someone got to him and has threatened to make him the first outwardly gay republican senator if he doesnt back trump. its really the only way to explain his sudden conversion.

Lots and lots of money paid out in exchange for silence?

Oh, yes.

Which explains the silence.

and i hope like hell that Mueller's all over it.

It's interesting how McCain does it. He sounds the call in the canyon as if he's the Lone Ranger, then he turns tail and buckles in to the demands of Big Money. He's done this throughout his career. It's as if McCain is always hanging out a poster asking for more corporate money, and when he gets an offer, the game is on and he sings the tune of his donors.

He is probably the only one I can rule out but not when it comes to other kinds of corruption.

Shortly after the presidential election, Senator John McCain, who had been informed about the alleged links between Kremlin and Trump, met with former British ambassador to Moscow Sir Andrew Wood. Wood confirmed the existence of the dossier and vouched for Steele's "professionalism and integrity".[35] McCain obtained the dossier from David J. Kramer and took it directly to FBI director James Comey on December 9, 2016.[28][27]

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Donald_Trump–Russia_dossier

licking Trumpy's navel. Orrin kissed Trumpy, then announced his resignation. In that order. How else would the two events be connected? Orrin wanted to resign with all of his dignity intact. That was the deal. Kiss Trumpy in public and THEN, resign.

with a solemn oath to protect the constitution, and knowing the actions of some members of the GOP who are watching makes me sick. Wonder what feeble excuses they tell themselves that enables them to Look in a mirror? Is blackmail the only reason? Wish one day for the answers.

I think the Trumpster is in on the game--pledge loyalty or end up roasted in the press, have your reputation and life ruined. Intimidation has always been a Trump strong suit, the mark of the bully-boy. Lindsey Graham's sudden conversion to Trump-buddy has been pretty remarkable. Even Corker has stepped back from his previous attacks and he's on his way out.

That performance after the tax bill passage was positively gagging. How grown men could grovel in public like that was beyond belief. Why? I think in the end, we're going to find out that the entire Republican Party sold their souls for dollars, allowed their coffers to slosh with dark money. Rumor has it that Preibus and Ryan were caught on tape consenting to Russian funding at the Republican convention. Others were picked up incidentally by intelligence communities both here and abroad in conversations with Russian handlers. Story is that that's why Nunes has acted so erratically--he knows his goose is cooked and has attempted to stall the investigations and mitigate the damage. Bannon is now out bashing Don Jr--he'll be cracked like an egg--calling the meeting at Trump Tower treasonous and unpatriotic.

The rats are scurrying for the exits, any exit.

Once the evidence rolls out, I suspect we'll be shocked by the number of people involved and/or compromised. Sadly, I suspect the investigation will implicate some Dems and their money supporters as well. It's a mess with national and international implications, nasty, nasty mob ties and all the bottom-feeding activity that entails. With the latest story on Fusion GPS, we now know that Republican leadership knew how dirty Trump was/is, and then basically ignored it. Why? Money, power and the fear of implication/prosecution is my bet. They were willing to take the money; they just didn't want to get caught.

In the end, it always comes back to follow the money. In this case, the path appears to lead straight into the sewer. Ugh!

opponents. Of course he has dirt on them.

who literally went from Trump Critic to Trump Fanboy in the space of an afternoon.

Lindsey's a lot of things, but stupid isn't one of them. I don't think there's anything Trump could have bribed him with that he'd be foolish enough to accept (he's already got money and power on his own), because he knows Trump is a fickle master. No position in the Cabinet would be as secure as the Senate seat he has now. I also think if he was licking Trump's boots voluntarily, he'd be doing a much better job, he can be very charming and silver-tongued when he wants to be. But he's been awkward and obvious and flailing in his fanboy bullshit.

I don't know what he could be blackmailing Graham with, other than proof that he's gay (which if true, is very sad that Graham would sell his soul to hide that fact, that his social conditioning as a young gay kid in the Deep South can still fuck him up in this day and age, where you don't always have to suppress your queerness to survive, that he was never able to get over that hurdle that a lot of elder gays are faced with, getting over that bone-deep survival instinct of keeping it quiet at all cost). I don't even think it's just the few hundred thousand dollars he got from Russia through a PAC by itself would be enough (they would have to show Lindsey was corrupted by it, promised favors or something). And also because if that alone takes Lindsey down, like half of the Republican Senators would go down with him. I don't think Trump wants to punish anyone for any Russian anything, lest the focus be drawn back on him.

Graham's emails were hacked, and during one of the hearings with Brooker, there was a weird exchange between Brooker and Graham about possibly recorded conversations between him and a foreign person which Graham seemed very concerned about falling into the administrations hands, and Brooker was like "As a career intelligence official, I don't think you should be concerned", and he seemed genuinely perplexed about why Graham was making such a big stinking deal about it, which...could mean he know the conversation in question, but doesn't think its a matter of national security, because it was personal.

I would HOPE that Graham would just be letting Trump *think* he's blackmailing him, while all the while playing Mueller's inside man, gathering evidence of his corruption. I would HOPE that, but I have no reason to believe that's what is happening.

I think I've got more scandals and I'm pretty boring.

...ask yourself a simple question: how would their behavior be different if they weren't being blackmailed?

are probably easy to blackmail. Move some to many and I'd still agree.