Sens. Cotton and Perdue are outed for lying on Trump's behalf

By Jennifer Rubin

January 16, 2018 at 10:00 AM

Some lawmakers on Jan. 14, denied President Trump called Haiti, El Salvador and African nations "shithole countries," as debate over an immigration deal continues and Congress faces a government shutdown. (Elyse Samuels/The Washington Post)

There is no honor among anti-immigrant advocates and liars, I suppose. After dutifully lying on behalf of the president regarding his abhorrent language (“shithole countries”), Sens. Tom Cotton (R-Ark.) and David Perdue (R-Ga.) were outed by the White House.

Three White House officials said Perdue and Cotton told the White House that they heard “shithouse” rather than “shithole,” allowing them to deny the president’s comments on television over the weekend. The two men initially said publicly that they could not recall what the president said.

Not only did these two repeatedly lie, but Cotton also impugned the integrity of Sen. Richard J. Durbin (D-Ill.), who told the truth. Asked whether the accusation that Trump spoke the offending words or the sentiment was phony, Cotton lied, “Yes.” He went on to say, “Senator Durbin has misrepresented what happened in White House meetings before, and he was corrected by Obama administration officials by it.”

Honorable men would resign after such a remarkable revelation of their crummy character; neither Cotton nor Perdue will. We still await the appearance of a single staffer of either who would quit in protest.

The incident is telling in many respects, but none more important for Republicans than this: They can lie and enable the president hoping to score brownie points, but this White House won’t repay loyalty in kind. Instead, Republicans will find themselves humiliated.

So to recap: The president described a preference for Norwegian (i.e. white) immigrants over those from “shithole” countries (African nations). He gave the Congressional Black Caucus the back of the hand. (“At one point, Durbin told the president that members of that caucus — an influential House group — would be more likely to agree to a deal if certain countries were included in the proposed protections, according to people familiar with the meeting. Trump was curt and dismissive, saying he was not making immigration policy to cater to the CBC and did not particularly care about that bloc’s demands, according to people briefed on the meeting. ‘You’ve got to be joking,’ one adviser said, describing Trump’s reaction.”) He blew up a possible deal on the Deferred Action on Childhood Arrivals program, bragged about his actions to friends and then lied to the public about what he said. Two U.S. senators lied as well and then were double-crossed by White House aides.

This raises several questions: Why should these Republicans hold elected office? Why should anyone believe them in the future? And lastly, what is the appropriate response to them?

Given that the two senators lied to the faces of interviewers on the Sunday talk shows, network bookers might consider never having them on air again. They are known prevaricators, so whatever they say on their shows cannot be relied upon as credible. News outlets should respect their viewers by denying airtime for those with so little respect f

In addition, Durbin might consider filing ethics claims against both of the senators, seeking appropriate punishment by the Senate. The ethics committee has jurisdiction to consider “complaints and investigate allegations of improper conduct which may reflect upon the Senate, violations of law, violations of the Senate Code of Official Conduct and violations of rules and regulations of the Senate, relating to the conduct of individuals in the performance of their duties as Members of the Senate, or as officers or employees of the Senate, and to make appropriate findings of fact and conclusions with respect thereto.” I cannot imagine that publicly impugning another member’s integrity for the purpose of sustaining a lie would not constitute “improper conduct which may reflect upon the Senate.”

Democrats have every reason to shame and shun these two Republicans, who have behaved in such a nakedly partisan and dishonest fashion. I’d like to think that all senators would, but we already know how deep the tribal instinct runs.

As for Trump, the more details that emerge, the more nakedly racist and dishonest he appears. Under these circumstances, my suggestion about boycotting the State of the Union might actually catch on. Moreover, I don’t see any purpose in conducting in-person meetings with the president behind closed doors when he and Republican supplicants will lie about what goes on. Perhaps lawmakers should insist that all their interactions with the president be recorded so as to prevent more incidents such as this in the future.
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https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jennifer_Rubin_(journalist)

Jennifer Rubin (born 1962) is an American journalist. She writes the "Right Turn" blog for The Washington Post. Previously she worked at Commentary, PJ Media, Human Events, and The Weekly Standard. Her work has been published in media outlets including New York Post, New York Daily News, Politico, National Review, and The Jerusalem Post.

And where does Norway get all the wealth to support all those benefits?
OIL !!!
Trump announces opening up leases for off shore drilling and what happens next? Gov Rick Scott starts it off with asking to have Florida exempt worrying about some oil fouling their tourist filled beaches. Other states join in.
Well, how are all those beach goers going to get to and from the beach without gas for their cars?
There is also a fair amount of resistance to fracking for oil and natural gas.
This country runs on energy. We need to be energy independent and we can probably do that soon. If energy prices are low, we all benefit.
If we keep importing more and more uneducated people from shithole countries, we'll need MORE energy.
I know this is probably too much common sense for the lefties to digest so I'll stop here.

Two Republican senators who attended yesterday’s meeting in which President Trump reportedly disparaged immigrants from “shithole countries” seem to have come down with a case of amnesia.
In a joint statement this afternoon, Sens. Tom Cotton (R-AR) and David Perdue (R-GA) wrote that they “do not recall the President saying those comments specifically” — but conspicuously didn’t outright deny that he said them.
Since Trump’s comments were confirmed by multiple other sources who attended the meeting or quickly heard about it, Cotton and Perdue’s statement doesn’t pass the laugh test. Indeed, it seems to be an unusually craven attempt to deny reality and curry favor with the president.

http://www.vox.com/2018/1/12/16885312/trump-shithole-countries-denial

And where does Norway get all the wealth to support all those benefits?
OIL !!!
Trump announces opening up leases for off shore drilling and what happens next? Gov Rick Scott starts it off with asking to have Florida exempt worrying about some oil fouling their tourist filled beaches. Other states join in.
Well, how are all those beach goers going to get to and from the beach without gas for their cars?
There is also a fair amount of resistance to fracking for oil and natural gas.
This country runs on energy. We need to be energy independent and we can probably do that soon. If energy prices are low, we all benefit.
If we keep importing more and more uneducated people from shithole countries, we'll need MORE energy.
I know this is probably too much common sense for the lefties to digest so I'll stop here.