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[Dill]

A bipartisan group of former senators put together an open letter urging current lawmakers to become 'zealous guardians' of America's democracy. https://www.businessinsider.com/former-senators-op-ed-about-guarding-democracy-2018-12

    A bipartisan group of 44 former US senators put together a letter to the current US Senate, saying the nation is "at an inflection point in which the foundational principles of our democracy and our national security interests are at stake."
   The senators addressed the letter to their colleagues and warned of an imminent and troubling intersection of national and international challenges, spurred in part by President Donald Trump's turbulent first years in office.
   They say that the Senate must stand up and help the nation face the tough times ahead.
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Looks like these former senators are prepping their former colleagues for the storm ahead--the one sure to follow the eventual publication of Mueller's report. The president has failed to step up to protect the country from external attack. Perhaps this will legitimate even more bi-partisan support for real oversight and national defense, internal as well as external.

Just a reminder of all the "witchs" already caught in the witch hunt--indictments, guilty pleas, and convictions.
All The Criminal Charges To Emerge So Far From Robert Mueller'sInvestigation    
https://www.npr.org/2018/12/09/643444815/all-the-criminal-charges-to-emerge-so-far-from-robert-muellers-investigation

Especially telling is General Flynn's cooperation, providing "substantial" help. The inadequate WH legal team appears wholly unprepared.
https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2018/12/trump-white-house-has-no-plan-counter-mueller-report/577417/

Then this broke today.
Accused Russian spy Maria Butina cooperating with federal prosecutors as part of plea deal
https://www.cnn.com/2018/12/10/politics/maria-butina-plea/index.html

Probably not a real spy, but Butina posed as a reporter at one of Trump's news conferences, helped turn the NRA into a funnel for Russian dark money to help turn the election in Trump's favor. Like Flynn, she has apparently flipped.  

The belated attempt to create a distracting scandal around Uranium One deal, linking Mueller to Hillary, has fizzled.
And swirling in the background is the Stormy Daniels payoff--a likely campaign violation--not to mention the Kashoggi scandal, and the embarassing difficulty of replacing Kelly as Chief of Staff.

Will the Trump base hold steady as the implosion picks up speed?

[Dill]

Here is the letter:

https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/we-are-former-senators-the-senate-has-long-stood-in-defense-of-democracy--and-must-again/2018/12/10/3adfbdea-fca1-11e8-ad40-cdfd0e0dd65a_story.html?utm_term=.21286da97d8e

Dear Senate colleagues,

As former members of the U.S. Senate, Democrats and Republicans, it is our shared view that we are entering a dangerous period, and we feel an obligation to speak up about serious challenges to the rule of law, the Constitution, our governing institutions and our national security.

We are on the eve of the conclusion of special counsel Robert S. Mueller III’s investigation and the House’s commencement of investigations of the president and his administration. The likely convergence of these two events will occur at a time when simmering regional conflicts and global power confrontations continue to threaten our security, economy and geopolitical stability.

It is a time, like other critical junctures in our history, when our nation must engage at every level with strategic precision and the hand of both the president and the Senate.

We are at an inflection point in which the foundational principles of our democracy and our national security interests are at stake, and the rule of law and the ability of our institutions to function freely and independently must be upheld.

During our service in the Senate, at times we were allies and at other times opponents, but never enemies. We all took an oath swearing allegiance to the Constitution. Whatever united or divided us, we did not veer from our unwavering and shared commitment to placing our country, democracy and national interest above all else.

At other critical moments in our history, when constitutional crises have threatened our foundations, it has been the Senate that has stood in defense of our democracy. Today is once again such a time.

Regardless of party affiliation, ideological leanings or geography, as former members of this great body, we urge current and future senators to be steadfast and zealous guardians of our democracy by ensuring that partisanship or self-interest not replace national interest.

Max Baucus (D-Mont.), Evan Bayh (D-Ind.), Jeff Bingaman (D-N.M.), Bill Bradley (D-N.J.), Richard Bryan (D-Nev.), Ben Nighthorse Campbell (R-Colo.), Max Cleland (D-Ga.), William Cohen (R-Maine), Kent Conrad (D-N.D.), Al D’Amato (R-N.Y.), John C. Danforth (R-Mo.), Tom Daschle (D-S.D.), Dennis DeConcini (D-Ariz.), Chris Dodd (D-Conn.), Byron Dorgan (D-N.D.), David Durenberger (R-Minn.), Russ Feingold (D-Wis.), Wyche Fowler (D-Ga.), Bob Graham (D-Fla.), Chuck Hagel (R-Neb.), Tom Harkin (D-Iowa), Gary Hart (D-Colo.), Bennett Johnston (D-La.), Bob Kerrey (D-Neb.), John Kerry (D-Mass.), Paul Kirk (D-Mass.), Mary Landrieu (D-La.), Joe Lieberman (I-Conn.), Blanche Lincoln (D-Ark.), Richard Lugar (R-Ind.), Barbara Mikulski (D-Md.), Ben Nelson (D-Neb.), Sam Nunn (D-Ga.), Larry Pressler (R-S.D.), David Pryor (D-Ark.), Don Riegle (D-Mich.), Chuck Robb (D-Va.), Jay Rockefeller (D-W.Va.), Jim Sasser (D-Tenn.), Alan Simpson (R-Wyo.), Mark Udall (D-Colo.), John W. Warner (R-Va.), Lowell Weicker (I-Conn.), Tim Wirth (D-Colo.)