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Democratic lawmakers from both chambers are urging President Trump to either suspend or investigate National Security Adviser Michael Flynn over reports that he discussed sanctions on Russia with the country's ambassador the day they were imposed by the Obama administration.

Rep. Adam Schiff, the top Democrat on the House Intelligence Committee, said Friday that Flynn should no longer serve if allegations that he discussed sanctions with Russia while President Obama was still in office are true.

Schiff, D-Calif., said in a statement that recent reports that Flynn spoke with Russia ahead of President Trump's inauguration raise "serious questions" about whether the former military officer should continue serving as one of the president's top advisers.

"The allegation that General Flynn, while President Obama was still in office, secretly discussed with Russia's ambassador ways to undermine the sanctions levied against Russia for its interference in the presidential election on Donald Trump's behalf raises serious questions of legality and fitness for office," Schiff said in a statement.

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"If he did so, and then he and other administration officials misled the American people, his conduct would be all the more pernicious and he should no longer serve in this administration or any other," he continued.

It is not illegal for Flynn to speak with the Russian ambassador during Obama's lame duck session, but the law does prohibit making any promises about possible changes under Trump's administration that would undermine Obama. The FBI is investigating whether Flynn made any promises regarding the repeal or weakening of the sanctions Obama levied against Russia in response to its hacking during the U.S. election.

Sens. Ed Markey and Chris Murphy, both members of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, released a joint statement about their concerns regarding Flynn.

Markey said Flynn may have lied to Vice President Mike Pence about his converstions with the Russian ambassador, and he may not be able to continue serving.

"That General Flynn may have misled the Vice President of the United States and others raises the most serious questions about his ability to continue serving as National Security Advisor," Markey said. "I hope federal law enforcement professionals investigate this matter immediately. Any effort to undermine our nation's foreign policy even during a transition period may be illegal and must be taken seriously."

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Murphy added there's no way to explain Flynn's actions.

"Either Donald Trump directed his National Security Adviser to undermine U.S. foreign policy on Russia, or Michael Flynn went rogue and did it on his own," Murphy said. "Then he either lied to the Vice President or the Vice President went on television to lie to the American people. Whatever transpired, the President needs to get his White House under control."

Sen. Mark Warner, the top Democrat on the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence, said his committee's work on Russia's role in the election is even more important now.

"These reports underscore both the gravity and the urgency of the Senate Intelligence Committee's investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 election," Warner said in a statement, "which will include a thorough examination of counterintelligence concerns including any links between Russia and individuals associated with political campaigns."

Rep. Eric Swalwell, D-Calif., is on the House Permanent Select Commitee on Intelligence said Flynn should no longer be serving.

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"The @WhiteHouse should immediately SUSPEND National Security Advisor Flynn & REVOKE access to classified information until investigated," Swalwell said in a tweet.

Rep. Elijah Cummings, D-Md., previously questioned whether Flynn should even hold a security clearance if the allegations are true.

The White House said and Flynn initially stated that he did not discuss sanctions with the ambassador and instead exchanged Christmas greetings and the logistics of setting up a phone conversation between their two leaders, but he has subsequently changed his story.

A spokesman told the Washington Post that while Flynn "had no recollection of discussing sanctions," he didn't want to state for "certain that the topic never came up."

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Intel committee's top Democrat says Flynn can't serve if Russia reports are true - Washington Examiner

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Democratic lawmakers are finally listening to their enraged base.

It took countless phone calls and raucous, Tea Party-like protests across the country to get the Democrats to listen. But the results have been noticeable: After President Trump's first few nominees mostly sailed through, the Democrats unified to oppose the nomination of Betsy DeVos and, with the help of Republicans Lisa Murkowski and Susan Collins, forced Vice President Mike Pence to break a 50-50 Senate tie. Similarly, nearly every Democrat opposed the nomination of Senate colleague Jeff Sessions for attorney general no small feat, considering the limp approach some in the caucus were taking just a few short weeks ago.

But there is one exception: Joe Manchin, a Vichy Democrat from West Virginia, voted with every Republican to confirm Sessions. DeVos, it turns out, is the only Trump Cabinet appointment Manchin hasn't supported, a feat that makes him just as reliable a foot soldier for Trump as GOP Sen. Rand Paul. It seems like Trump likes Manchin more, too; the West Virginia Democrat was also considered for a Cabinet post, called Harry Reid's statement after Trump's election an "absolute embarrassment," and, according to the AP, Manchin has a "an open line" to Trump and some of the top figures in the administration.

Some Democrats will no doubt make excuses for Manchin. The obvious one is he's up for re-election in 2018, and his brand of Blue Dog Democratic politics is supposedly the only way Democrats can win in West Virginia. But this is mind-blowing in its defeatism. Not only has the Blue Dog strategy completely fallen apart since 2010 just 17 Democrats remain as members of the House Blue Dog Coalition but it doesn't take into account the fact that lefty economic populism has won in West Virginia before. And there are indicators that it can win again.

It's possible that no state has felt the harsh effects of late capitalism more than West Virginia. West Virginia lost over 40 percent of its manufacturing jobs from 1994 to 2016. Coal, by far West Virginia's biggest industry, has lost 35 percent of its jobs since 2011. Nearly a quarter of West Virginian children live in poverty, and West Virginia has been hit harder by the opioid epidemic than any other state.

During the presidential campaign, Hillary Clinton's cringe-inducing promise to "put a lot of coal miners and coal companies out of business" killed her in West Virginia. She lost by more than 40 points. But while Trump's margin of victory was jaw-dropping, so was the fact that only 57 percent of eligible West Virginia voters actually cast a ballot. And given that Trump's promise to "bring coal jobs back" is an empty one that's sure to stir disappointment in a region that overwhelmingly voted for Trump, there's room for Democrats to put forward a viable alternative.

Past West Virginia political figures have shown how it can be done. Democrat Ken Hechler, eulogized in The New York Times in December as "Coal Miners' Champion," served as a congressman for 18 years, his principal achievement being stricter safety regulations for miners in the wake of the 1968 Farmington mine disaster.

Hechler later got elected as West Virginia's secretary of state, where he served four terms. Moreover, Hechler didn't have to throw civil rights under the bus to ensure support in his heavily white state; in fact, as the Times obituary notes, he was reportedly the only member of Congress to participate in the Selma march.

Obviously, West Virginia politics have changed since Hechler's last race in 1996. But what's happening there now clearly isn't working, and sooner or later someone's going to have to take the blame.

This is why progressive groups have to invest heavy resources into places like West Virginia (and South Dakota, and Idaho, and Louisiana), and lose over and over again while they lay the groundwork for a long-term movement. Otherwise, there won't be a substantive alternative to the politics that have failed West Virginia and many other parts of the country, and filling the vacuum will be Democrats like Joe Manchin.

After his Sessions vote, it's hard to see how that's acceptable anymore.

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Joe Manchin, Vichy Democrat - The Week Magazine

Rep. Elijah Cummings' meeting with President Donald Trump comes at a sensitive time for Democrats. | AP Photo

By Kyle Cheney

02/08/17 03:00 PM EST

Updated 02/08/17 05:39 PM EST

Rep. Elijah Cummings (D-Md.) plans to press President Donald Trump on voter suppression of minorities in a White House meeting scheduled for next week a response to Trump's false claim that mass voter fraud tainted the 2016 popular vote.

Though the meeting is ostensibly to discuss a potential area of bipartisan cooperation lowering prescription drug prices Cummings said Trump's widely debunked claim compels him to raise his concerns about minorities being denied the right to vote.

Story Continued Below

"I have no choice. It would be malpractice not to," he told reporters Wednesday at a Democratic retreat in Baltimore.

Trump has pledged to launch an investigation into voter fraud in the 2016 election, despite widespread bipartisan agreement that there's no evidence to support Trump's charge that 3 million to 5 million illegal votes were cast. But he has twice delayed plans to begin that process. Cummings said that if he does spend taxpayer dollars on such an investigation, voter suppression should be part of the analysis.

"It has now become normal, it has become baked in the cake, that we should be able to expect that not everybody is going to be able to vote," he said. "We cannot allow that to be our normal. And I will fight to the death to make sure that doesnt happen."

Cummings said he's received letters from about a dozen state attorneys general affirming that no widespread voter fraud occurred in their states, and he expects letters from all 50 attorneys general by the end of next week.

If Cummings holds his meeting with Trump next week, he would one of the first Democratic House members to huddle with Trump since he was inaugurated. Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi joined Republican and Democratic leaders for an introductory meeting last month. And last week, Rep. Richard Neal (D-Mass.), the ranking member of the House Ways and Means Committee, joined his Republican counterpart Rep. Kevin Brady (Texas) to talk tax reform with Trump.

A group of moderate Democratic senators, central to Trump's legislative agenda, were slated to meet with Trump on Thursday.

Cummings appears to be one of the few House Democrats to have developed a rapport with Trump, who reportedly called him last month and offered condolences shortly after one of the congressman's aides lost six children in a house fire. An aide confirmed that prescription drug prices were among the topics the two discussed on the phone.

Cummings said he's planning to meet Trump one-on-one, though an aide said he's still determining if others will join him. A White House spokeswoman did not respond to requests for comment on the meeting.

Cummings is also the ranking Democrat on the House oversight committee, a top watchdog of government spending. The committee's chairman, Rep. Jason Chaffetz (R-Utah), had a 30-minute meeting with Trump Wednesday but said no oversight business was discussed.

Asked whether he had any concerns about Chaffetz's private meeting at a time he's charged with being a watchdog of the executive branch, Cummings mentioned his own planned meeting with Trump and said, "No, I'm not worried about it."

Cummings' meeting also comes at a sensitive time for Democrats. The party's base, still anguished over Trump's election, has come down sharply against any sort of collaboration with the president. A POLITICO/Morning Consult poll out Wednesday shows just a third of Democrats want their party's leaders to work with Trump.

But the rising price of prescription drugs has emerged, along with infrastructure investments, as one of a handful of possible areas of Democratic collaboration with the Republican president.

Opposition for oppositions sake, even if we think the policies proposed are good for the American people ... I think the public would not think thats our responsibility or duty," House Minority Whip Steny Hoyer (D-Md.) told reporters Tuesday.

Trump has repeatedly pledged to lower drug prices and has called for allowing Medicare to negotiate with drug companies to bring down costs. White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer affirmed Trumps commitment Tuesday to letting Medicare negotiate drug prices.

Heather Caygle contributed reporting from Baltimore.

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Democrat Cummings to discuss voter suppression in meeting with Trump - Politico

The U.S. Senate sent a clear, direct message to one of its most liberal members last night: Follow the rules or sit down.

On Tuesday night, U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) was speaking on the floor of the Senate when Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) objected to the content of her remarks.

Warrens rant epitomized the derangement and hypocrisy of the democratic oppositionThe Democrats have escalated every policy dispute to the level of crisis.

McConnell said Warren had violated the rules of the Senate by besmirching the reputation a member of the Senate in this case, Jeff Sessions of Alabama, who is President Donald Trumpsnominee to be attorney general.

McConnell unleashedRule 19 of the Senate guidelines, showing he intends to restore comity to the troubled legislative body.

The Senate, normally the august and sedate upper chamber of Congress, has recently shown cracks in its reputable stature.

Only the Senate confirms the presidentsnominees for his Cabinet, dozens of lesser administrative posts, and judgeships. Seeing an opportunity to torment the new president and rally their base, Democrats have publicly mounted unprecedented obstruction tostall the nominees and Trumps agenda.

Despite having only 48 seats in the 100-seat chamber, Senate rules allow a slowing down of the process by the minority. Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) has done just that.

On Tuesday, only hours after Vice President Mike Pence was forced to break a tie on Betsy DeVos, Trumps nominee for secretary of education, McConnell dug through the rules to counter Democratic strategy. He invoked Rule 19 as Warren spoke disparagingly of Sessions nomination.

Warren looked surprised. She should not have been.

Republicans have grown weary of the obstructionist tactics of the Senate Democrats. McConnell launched the Senate rulebook at Warren, and was able to convince the Senate that Warren had violated the rules on attacking the character of a fellow senator. The Senateupheld the rule by a vote of 49-43.

Warren had to sit and will not be allowed to speak again during the Sessions nomination debate, which could end Wednesday night.

Warren had read criticism in the past of U.S. Sen. Jeff Sessions (R-Ala.), provoking McConnell.

Warren rehashed30-year-old criticisms leveled at Sessions when President Reagan nominated him to be a U.S.judge in Alabama. The Senate killed Sessions chances back then, but 10 years later Sessions was elected to the Senate itself.

When Warren came to criticism of Sessions made by the late Coretta Scott King, suggesting Sessions attacked the rights of black Alabamiansto votes, McConnell objected formally. The rules do not even allow the quotation of others, if the words attack the character of the senator.

Warren and her allies objected. NBC News called the rule arcane. Hollywood liberals also went ballistic, suggesting democracy was at stake.

"I think it's important to recognize that McConnell's censorship of Warren tonight is part of a Republican process to curtail democracy," tweeted Keith Olbermann, the former MSNBC host.

"The GOP suppressing free speech, silencing Warren tonight for reading Coretta Scott King's criticism of Sessions," said George Takei, the actor who played Sulu from "Star Trek."

"We need to shut down D.C.," said Takei, a longtime Democrat.

While the "silencing" of Warren seemed to rally the Democratic base at first, it also appears to have rallied the GOP side too. Republicans are growing increasingly tired of the Democratic sniping in the upper chamber.

U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) said the upper chamber was drifting toward incivility and chaos.

"Turn on the news and watch these parliaments around the world where people throw chairs at each other," said Rubio. "I'm not arguing that we're anywhere near that here, but we're flirting with it."

Other observers said Democrats were going too far.

"Warren's rant epitomized the derangement and hypocrisy of the democratic opposition," said Robert Kaufman, a professor of public policy at Pepperdine University. "The Democrats have escalated every policy dispute to the level of crisis. After years of flaunting constitutional procedure ... the Left finds its incomprehensible and infuriating to be in the minority."

Warren, a liberal firebrand who may have ambitions to take on Trump in 2020, clearly crossed a line, said one former Senate staffer.

"The rules of the U.S. Senate are taken extremely seriously by U.S. senators," said Republican consultant Matt Mackowiak, host of the "Mack on Politics" podcast and a former press secretary to two U.S. senators. "I worked there for four years. Sen. Warren can certainly criticize the policy record of any Cabinet nominee, or even any other senator, but no senator can impugn the integrity of a colleague. That violates Rule 19, which has been in place for 100 years."

Republican punditssaid it is all part of the anti-Trump frenzy the Democrats are in.

"The far Left is in full revolt," said Mackowiak.

On Tuesday, McConnell made clear they have to revolt within Senate rules.

Excerpt from:
McConnell Takes Action to Stop Destructive Democrat Antics - LifeZette

Kansas City Star (blog)

John Kass: Democrat establishment is making the GOP's mistakes Kansas City Star (blog) Emanuel, famous for taking that steakhouse knife and stabbing the table while shouting the names of Democratic enemies, is probably the last person you'd think would tell angry Democrats to take a chill pill. But that's what Emanuel is doing because, ... Democrat Rahm Emanuel says the Democratic Party won't be back in power anytime soonTheBlaze.com Rahm Emanuel tells Democrats: 'It ain't gonna happen in 2018'Washington Times all 40 news articles »

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John Kass: Democrat establishment is making the GOP's mistakes - Kansas City Star (blog)