John Cornyn Dismisses Criminals Surrounding Trump As 'Grifters And Hangers On'

By Heather — January 20, 2020

Sen. John Cornyn (R-TX) made it clear this Sunday that there's no amount of open criminality that's ever going to move a single Republican to finally hold Trump accountable for his actions. When asked by Face the Nation host Margaret Brennan if the Senate should hear from former NSA John Bolton, Cornyn proceeded to attack the House impeachment hearings rather than answer the question:

CORNYN: Well, I find it curious that Chairman Nadler of the Judiciary Committee called this a rock solid case. But if the House isn't prepared to go forward with the evidence that they produced in the impeachment inquiry, maybe they ought to withdraw the articles of impeachment and-- and start over again. This isn't the Senate's responsibility to make the case. This is the House's responsibility under the Constitution. The Senate's supposed to decide the case sitting as a court of impeachment. [...]

So, this is really on the House to make that decision. They can continue to process additional witnesses in the House. They could even vote on additional articles of impeachment. But this to me seems to undermine or indicate that they're getting cold feet or have a lack of confidence in what they've done so far.

Cornyn may get his wish if the Senate proceeds with this cover-up in the manner we all expect them to this week. Cornyn then rejected the findings of the nonpartisan GAO, which reported that withholding the aid to Ukraine violated the law:

BRENNAN: You reject that government watchdog report, the GAO report, that does say there was a violation of the law?

CORNYN: Certainly not a crime and something that no one had ever dreamed in the past would have been-- risen to the level of impeachment. This is one of the basic problems with the House's case--

BRENNAN: But isn't it central--

CORNYN: --is the Constitution--

BRENNAN: --to that question of the President withholding aid for personal gain, which is the allegation?

SCORNYN: Well, it's-- it is-- he has been charged with abuse of power, which is not treason, which is not bribery, which is not a high crime and misdemeanor. So, this is the first time in history where a President has been impeached for a non-crime for events that never occurred. Ultimately, the investigation never took place and ultimately the-- their aid was delivered.

Cornyn was then asked whether the newly released documents from Lev Parnas should be allowed as evidence during the Senate trial, and Cornyn attempted to dismiss the information as "hearsay." When Brennan pointed out the fact that it was a letter from Rudy Giuliani, and not hearsay, Cornyn proceeded to attack Parnas and the other criminals that Trump has surrounded himself with as merely "grifters and hangers on," as opposed to... campaign managers, National Security Advisers and people he apparently trusts to run shadow foreign policy for him trying to dig up dirt on political opponents.

BRENNAN: Well, that-- that is certainly what the-- the White House is arguing. But I want to ask you about the legal brief that Democrats did submit. It included a number of things, including documents that have been revealed recently by Lev Parnas, an indicted business associate of Rudy Giuliani. Among them, a letter that says that Rudy Giuliani himself was acting with the approval and knowledge of the President when he was reaching out to the president of Ukraine. Should all of these items be admissible during trial?

CORNYN: Well, as you know, Margaret, I was a judge for thirteen years in-- in state courts and in no court in America would that kind of hearsay be admissible. But having said that, I would be--

BRENNAN: It's a letter from Rudy Giuliani.

CORNYN: Well, I would be careful before crediting the veracity of somebody who is under indictment in New York, the southern district of New York, and who's trying to get leniency from the prosecutor and who has ties to Russian oligarchs.

BRENNAN: Well, yeah, he--

CORNYN: The Russians have--

BRENNAN: --exactly, but--

CORNYN: --had a lot to do with our elections and disinformation campaigns, and this could be part of that.

BRENNAN: And you certainly would have knowledge, since you're on Senate Intelligence on that. But given what you're saying are Lev Parnas' ties to Russian oligarchs, which is often shorthand for Russian mafia, doesn't it trouble you that he was working so closely with Rudy Giuliani, who is acting on the President's behalf and saying he was acting on the President's behalf?

CORNYN: Well, there's no question that there have been a-- a series of grifters and other hangers on that have associated themselves with the President's campaign or claimed to have special relationships with the President. But this is not the issue that the Senate's going to be deciding. We'll take the issue of evidence as it comes. If the impeachment managers want to rest their case on the credibility of somebody who's under indictment in the Southern District of New York with extensive ties to Russian oligarchs and organized crime, as you point out, then that's their choice.

It's not the Democrats' fault that Trump has chosen to surround himself with criminals with ties to Russian oligarchs. Cornyn also told Brennan that he didn't have any questions for Rudy Giuliani relevant to the impeachment hearings, even though he's up to his neck in this scandal.

Cornyn gave us a preview of the farce we're in for this week as Republicans in the Senate do their best to keep the public from watching them continue to cover up for this corrupt administration.