James Comey calls out Rob Portman in the WaPo

[irisblue]

Source--https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2019/11/06/oath-office-faces-true-test-during-impeachment-hearings/

snip--Normally thoughtful people, such as Sen. Rob Portman (R-Ohio), appear to be searching for a way to sound principled without voting to convict the president. “I thought it was inappropriate for the president to ask a foreign government to investigate a political opponent,” he said recently, adding, “I also do not think it’s an impeachable offense.” But the oath makes that hard to pull off.

On Jan. 3, 2017, Portman most recently raised his right hand while standing in the well of the Senate. His left hand was on the Bible his wife held; then-Vice President Joe Biden presided. The senator promised to bear true faith and allegiance to the Constitution, which includes the requirement that the president faithfully execute his office.


Twenty-one years ago, Portman — then a congressman — could see his obligations clearly, when he voted to impeach Bill Clinton. He said then that “these acts are fundamentally inconsistent with the oath the President — as the nation’s chief law enforcement officer — took to ‘faithfully execute’ the laws of the United States.”

And now? The commitment has not changed; it is as old as this nation. If oaths and promises, the bedrock of the rule of law, are to mean anything, the senator and his colleagues will need to explain how they square their solemn promises with Trump’s actions. All Americans will be listening, but especially the young, who may someday have the privilege of taking that oath, with its “solemn obligation upon the minds of all reflecting” people.


I dislike Comey for his actions, but I loathe Portman for being a weasel

[irisblue]

1. This strikes me as an important callout.

Portman is a long long time Politician, with an established history of Bush family loyalty, Koch Brothers $,
a secure till death or he wants to leave seat. And this a -hole Comey puts a call out on him. Hmmm

[Ohiogal]

2. This is the second time

Portman has been called out in the WaPo, the first one by Jennifer Rubin a few weeks ago.

I dislike Comey's actions, too, but I am pleased to see Weaselly Rob being hammed on by national media. He deserves it and more. He is fast losing his "thoughtful moderate" label and is quickly turning into a "disgraceful lap dog." We in Ohio have known this for a long time!

Thanks, Iris.

[Cousin Dupree]

3. I called Portman's Washington office last week.

Told the answerer that I read that Rob said he would not vote to impeach. She clutched her pearls and acted like she didn’t know what I was talking about. Wouldn’t confirm it was true. I told her I wanted my Senators to listen to the evidence and make a decision, not the other way around. She did not like my call. I’m going to call them weekly.