Donald Trump Impeachment Odds Increase As Ranking Republicans Begin Shift From POTUS

Donald Trump impeachment odds have increased with the bookmakers since the firing of FBI Director James Comey, reports Politico. In an argument for a Donald Trump impeachment, Newsweek writes that it will be up to the Republicans in Congress to make the final call. Before news broke that Donald Trump had given code-word level secrets to Russia, the New York Times reported that GOP senators were starting to shift from Donald Trump.

Republican lawmakers breaking from Donald Trump would be the first critical step toward a Donald Trump impeachment. Newsweek wrote the following in establishing an argument to remove the 45th president of the United States from office.

“The question is no longer whether there are grounds to impeach Donald Trump. It is when enough Republicans will put their loyalty to America ahead of their loyalty to their party.”

There are signs of this happening, though how serious those signs are remains to be seen. With scandals rocking the White House seemingly every single day, those signs could get more serious in the days to come.

The most recent scandal rocking the Trump Administration is that of the breaking news that the president gave code-word level secrets to Russia in a meeting that he did not allow American media into but did allow Russian media into.

Just one day prior to that breaking news, the New York Times reported that GOP senators were already becoming “increasingly unnerved” by the president’s “volatility and unpopularity” and that the Republican shift from the president was starting. The problem that the Republicans face at present is they have a very clear and specific agenda for health care and tax reform.

Having a president of the party leading the country in most cases would make those policy reforms for the party a slam dunk. Unfortunately, with a scandal rocking the Trump Administration every day, nothing is getting done in Washington. A Republican operative that worked for former House Speaker John Boehner expressed frustration on this very topic.

“All the work that goes into getting big things done is hard enough even in the most tranquil of environments in Washington. But distractions like these can become a serious obstacle to aligning the interests of Congress.”

Republican Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell told Bloomberg News today that he wants to see “less drama” from Donald Trump.

“I think it would be helpful if the president spent more time on things we’re trying to accomplish and less time on other things.”

Republican Mitch McConnell said this in the wake of the news that Trump had given highly classified information to Russia. But even before that, support for a Donald Trump impeachment had been increasing in the general public. Politico reports that last week, after Donald Trump fired FBI Director James Comey, a website known as Predict It had cited an 83 percent chance that Donald Trump would not be president by the end of 2017.

At the time of press, the odds have increased even higher, with Predict It giving Donald Trump only 76 percent chance of being president by the end of 2017. Predict It is selling bets as a “Yes” Donald Trump will be president by the end of 2017 for 75 cents.

However, the price of a “No” is 25 cents. If a Donald Trump impeachment does not occur by the end of 2017, any bettors who paid 76 cents today for a “Yes” he will be president by the end of 2017 will receive a full $1 back on their bet. If a Donald Trump impeachment or resignation does occur by the end of 2017, those voting “No” will have their shares redeemed at $1.

The rates for oddsmakers placing value on a Donald Trump impeachment have gone up over 10 cents since the firing of FBI Director James Comey. Newsweek argued for a Donald Trump impeachment in the wake of the Comey firing, saying that firing James Comey was obstruction of justice and an attempt to stop the Trump Russia investigation within the FBI.

“Trump’s obstruction is potentially far more serious [than Clinton’s or Nixon’s obstruction.] It involves an investigation about whether Trump or his aides colluded with Russia in rigging a presidential election – the most direct assault on American democracy in history.”

Newsweek argues, as do many members of the American public, that when Donald Trump spoke with NBC’s Lester Holt after the firing, he admitted to obstruction of justice when he said, “I was going to fire regardless of the recommendation.”

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=weCh7Ivzyvk

Since the firing of FBI Director James Comey, it appears that the majority of Americans have lost faith in the administration and even in an FBI investigation. With Trump responsible for appointing a new FBI director, Americans aren’t confident it is going to be someone bipartisan.

An NBC News and Wall Street Journal poll shows that 78 percent of Americans think that a special prosecutor should be appointed to conduct an independent investigation of the Trump-Russia scandal. That is an increase from March when 64 percent of Americans wanted a special prosecutor on this scandal. Not all of those answering the poll are Democrats, suggesting there is an evident move of Republicans from the Trump Administration.

As the Inquisitr previously reported, many in Trump’s base are tweeting him daily with the starting phrase, “I voted for you but,” and many of Trump’s voters will not be voting for him again.

There is, however, a long leap from disgruntled voters to a Donald Trump impeachment.

This poll was conducted before the recent news of Trump leaks.

However, Republican Senator Collins of Maine said in a radio interview on Thursday, well before Trump leaks, that it’s impossible for anyone to get anything done under Trump saying, “There’s chaos and a new scandal every day.”

Senator Collins is a member of the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence, which is one of the Congressional committees investigating the Trump Russia scandal.

And then along came a new scandal. Many Republicans have not gotten over the Comey firing yet, with the New York Times reporting that some Republicans who may support the firing say it was poorly timed and disruptive to the GOP agenda.

Republicans are saying they are left to draft health care and tax reform without input from the White House. This scenario shows they don’t need Donald Trump. That’s not good news for Donald Trump and brings the potential for an impeachment a little closer to the American people demanding it.

The Republicans’ main advantage of having a Republican president is that it should make it that much easier to pass their bills. But with the White House in its current state, the Republicans themselves are saying it’s impossible, and legislation can’t be passed without assistance from the Democrats.

The Democrats want assistance on the Donald Trump Russia scandal and aren’t getting it, making them not amenable to helping out Republicans in a legislative manner anytime soon. But one Democrat of Ohio, Senator Sherrod Brown, tells the New York Times that a Republican shift from the president is happening privately.

“I’m hearing more and more of them say privately that they are more and more concerned. More importantly, there is a lot less fear of him than there was just a month ago.”

And when it comes to recent scandals, Talk Media News reports that some Republicans are voicing concerns publicly. On Monday evening, shortly after the news broke that Donald Trump had shared code-word-level secrets with the Russians, Republican Senators John McCain and Lindsey Graham were the first to go on record.

They said that they were “deeply concerned” with the reports, but since the accuracy of the initial Washington Post report had not yet been attested to, they could not say much further. But by Tuesday morning, Donald Trump had gone on Twitter to admit that this is exactly what he did and that he had a legal right to do so.

Since then, the Associated Press reports that European allies have stated they will not be inclined to share secrets or intelligence with the United States if that report is true. Republican Senator Corker of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee described the entire situation of the Trump Administration as one of disarray.

“Obviously they’re in a downward spiral right now and they’ve got to figure out a way to come to grips with all that’s happening.”

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell was more reserved in his comments on the recent scandal, which spawned the trending hashtag #TrumpLeaks on Twitter. He talked to Bloomberg News today about the incident.

“I’ve heard the allegation. I’ve heard the response. I don’t think I have anything to add to what I’ve read in terms of the impact of this in the future. Congress is engaged in investigations now. We have the Senate Intelligence Committee looking at the allegation that the Russians were somehow in collusion with the Trump campaign. And there will be daily controversies all the time. I don’t know which ones will lead to further investigation. The Senate Intelligence Committee will decide what they want to do.”

But millions of Americans have lost faith in this system. Republican strategist for CNN Ana Navarro agrees.

She tweeted about the matters today, saying, “Pic of missing spine of most GOP elected leaders should be on side of milk cartons. Last seen Oct 2016. Abducted by a man wearing red tie.”

Ana also noted a striking comparison to the Democratic candidate in the election who had been widely chastised for putting classified intelligence at risk on a private email server.

Ana Navarro tweeted on that today, saying, “If Hillary Clinton leaked classified info to a Russian spook/diplomat, Republicans would rightly be drafting Articles of Impeachment N-O-W.”

Speaker of the House of Representatives Republican Paul Ryan was very vocal about Hillary Clinton in July of 2016.

In a video of himself that he tweeted, Ryan said, “Individuals who are extremely careless with classified info should be denied further access to such info.”

Individuals who are "extremely careless" with classified information should be denied further access to such info. pic.twitter.com/0C76Ae95LD

— Paul Ryan (@SpeakerRyan) July 7, 2016

Speaker Paul Ryan has been very quiet about the recent Trump leaks scandal. So far, some European allies of America feel the same as he did last summer and have already said they will be more hesitant to give America information in the future after this incident of Trump leaks.

Donald Trump is losing support left, right, and center, literally. Even Ann Coulter, a long-time Trump supporter, has come out to call him “grotesque” in recent days, according to the Huffington Post.

None of this is good news for Donald Trump. His base is not just leaving, rank and file Republicans are being vocal about it.

It has long been said that a Donald Trump impeachment cannot happen with a Republican Congress. But Donald Trump appears to be losing that support slowly but surely with every passing day.

[Feature Image by Andrew Harnik/AP Images]