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"If Hillary Clinton had won and Comey had re-opened an investigation into her email server and she didn't like the way it was going and she fired him, I'm quite certain my party would be rightly howling," Bob Inglis, a former South Carolina representative, told CNN's Erin Burnett Friday on "OutFront." "When the shoe's on this foot, it's like, 'Oh, well, he's new at it.'"

The former politician, who lost his re-election bid in 2010, also called out House Speaker Paul Ryan for his defense of Trump.

"@SpeakerRyan you know this isn't true," Inglis tweeted, linking to an article titled "Ryan denies GOP would try to impeach Dem accused of same actions as Trump."

Inglis argued Ryan, who he called a friend, is apologizing for Trump too much.

Inglis, who voted for the impeachment of President Bill Clinton, said "the substance" of the investigation into the Trump administration is "way more serious."

"In the case of Bill Clinton, we were dealing with sex in the White House with an intern and then a cover up," Inglis said. "That's quite different substance than a hostile country affecting or attempting to affect the outcome of our presidential election."

He said Clinton also "never fired the FBI director when he didn't like the way an investigation was going."

The investigation into Russia's probe in the 2016 election and the Trump administration's potential ties to Russia is more similar to President Richard Nixon's situation, Inglis said. He cited the "Saturday Night Massacre," during which Nixon tried to "get rid of the people that were pursuing the investigation" into Watergate.

"It didn't work out for Nixon, and I really think Donald Trump might have learned that it's probably not a good idea," Inglis said. "Because there are an awful lot of FBI agents now that want to make sure they get to the bottom of this."

Still, he said "it's too early to tell" whether Trump could be impeached.

"What the House has to do is look at these facts and ... not hold back with any explanations or minimizing it or explaining it away," he said. "But rather say, 'Now listen here: This is a serious matter. Somebody here might have participated in a hostile country's attack on the heart of our republic, and we're going to get to the bottom of it. And if it leads to the President, or to his family, or to anybody in his campaign, so be it.'"

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Former congressman calls out fellow Republicans for defending Trump - CNN

Not super worried about the whole issue.

By Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images.

It may surprise you to learn that, since January 20, 2017, Republicans have controlled the White House and both houses of Congress. Nearly five months into the Trump presidency, the G.O.P. has scored hardly any legislative wins. Obamacare is still kicking. No one who works on Capitol Hill has seen any details of Donald Trumps tax plan beyond the one-page outline the White House released last month. Infrastructure Week was overshadowed by Comeyghazi. Perhaps asking Republicans legislators to actually legislate was expecting too much. After all, theyve been out of practice for much of the last eight years. So, lets lower the bar: can Republicans stop the government from shutting down without any drama? Amazingly, the answer to that, too, appears to be no.

Despite the seemingly straightforward business of raising the debt ceiling, the G.O.P.-controlled House and Senate are struggling to keep the lights on. The trouble began during the Obama years, when the Republican Party turned the otherwise simple task into a perennially terrifying, market-roiling experience wherein the lawmakers periodically held the republic hostage in order to win policy concessions like budget cuts. Now, with a Republican president in the White House, its happening again.

In May, when Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin urged Congress to get moving on raising the borrowing limit, insisting that time was of the essence, the House Freedom Caucus responded by saying, We demand that any increase of the debt ceiling be paired with policy that addresses Washingtons unsustainable spending by cutting where necessary, capping where able, and working to balance in the near future. Not helping Mnuchins case was White House budget director Mick Mulvaney, who explained last week that he would like to see things like spending cuts tied to any agreement to raise the debt ceiling. Amazingly, per the The New York Times, there are a number of House Republicans who believe that inaction on the debt ceiling would not result in a government default, as treasury secretaries from both parties have consistently warned.

The divisions within the G.O.P., of course, mean that Republicans will need help from Democrats, who are not exactly in a giving mood at the moment. I dont have any intention of supporting lifting the debt ceiling to enable the Republicans to give another tax break to the wealthy in our country, to further exacerbate the challenge that is created when they have their trickle-down economics, Nancy Pelosi said last week. Chiming in on Tuesday, Chuck Schumer added, Its going to be a lot harder to get the debt ceiling raised if our Republican colleagues insist on raising the deficit dramatically by huge tax cuts for the wealthiest of Americans. Republicans might have a better shot at overcoming such obstacles if they provided a united front, or perhaps decided to drop the hostage-taking schtick altogether. Recent news suggests wed be so lucky.

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How Many Republicans Does It Take to Keep the Lights On? - Vanity Fair

Two groups of pro-Cuba engagement House and Senate Republicans each sent letters to President Donald Trump and members of his administration, respectively, asking for Cuba to remain open in the wake of reports the administration is leaning toward reversing its policy on the island nation.

The National Security Council met Friday to finalize their policy and recommendations for the Principals Committee and then provide those recommendations to the president on Cuba, according to multiple sources briefed on the matter. ABC News has confirmed that Trump will likely announce policy changes in Miami next Friday.

In the letter from the House group, seven Republicans write to Trump that "Reversing course would incentivize Cuba to once again become dependent on countries like Russia and China. Allowing this to happen could have disastrous results for the security of the United States."

The representatives also argue that reversing the re-normalization of U.S. relations with Cuba would "threaten" the efforts to combat human trafficking, illicit drug trade, cybercrime and fraud identification.

The Republican congressmen that signed the letter include Reps. Tom Emmer of Minnesota, Rick Crawford of Arkansas, Ted Poe of Texas, Darin LaHood of Illinois, Roger Marshall of Kansas, James Comer of Kentucky and Jack Bergman of Michigan.

The Senate letter, written by Sens. John Boozman, R-Arkansas; Mike Enzi, R-Wyoming; and Jeff Flake, R-Arizona, to Secretary of State Rex Tillerson and National Security Adviser H.R. McMaster cites the growth in Cuban entrepreneurs, expanded opportunity for U.S. businesses and the national security benefit of preventing the island nation from becoming "a client state of nations that view US interests as counter to their own."

"We strongly urge you to weigh carefully any rollback of policies that would endanger these benefits," the letter reads.

A U.S. official said that a rollout is likely next week, but cautioned that the details are still being finalized and the date could be pushed back.

President Barack Obama and Cuban President Raul Castro initiated the process in 2014 of opening Cuba, overturning decades of diplomatic hostility, economic and business restrictions, and constraints on travel.

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Congressional Republicans send letters to Trump and administration urging Cuba remain open - ABC News

New York Times

Debt Ceiling Is Again a Battleground, This Time with Republicans in Charge New York Times Republicans transformed the once-routine task of lifting the debt ceiling into high-stakes games of chicken during the Obama presidency edging the economy toward so-called fiscal cliffs to extract policy concessions such as budget cuts and spending ... Republicans Face Debt Ceiling Decision: Cater to Conservatives or Make a Deal With Dems?Independent Journal Review all 21 news articles »

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Debt Ceiling Is Again a Battleground, This Time with Republicans in Charge - New York Times

Republicans put forth a series of contradictory talking points ahead of James Comeys Senate testimony Thursday hailing it as a victory for President Donald Trump, yet simultaneously diminishing the fired FBI directorscharacter.

After Comey and the Senate Intelligence Committee released his opening statement Wednesday afternoon, Republicans seized upon his confirmation that the FBI was not investigating Trump personally.

President Trump was right. Director Comeys statement reconfirmed what the president has been saying all along he was never under investigation, Republican National Committee chair Ronna Romney McDaniel said in a statement.

Trumps response, through his outside counsel Marc Kasowitz, who is handling all matters related to the Russia investigations, struck a similarly victorious tone.

The President is pleased that Mr. Comey has finally publicly confirmed his private reports that that the President was not under investigation in any Russia probe, Kasowitz said in a statement. The President feels completely and totally vindicated. He is eager to continue to move forward with his agenda.

Late Wednesday, the RNC released a list of suggested talking points for Republicans responding to Comeys testimony. Chief among them were casting Comeys testimony as vindication for Trump and confirmation that the president did not impede or engage in obstruction of justice (which is not within the purview of Comey or the committee to judge).

Yet Republicans have also tried to smear Comey as untrustworthy. Another GOP talking point says that Comey has a long history of blatant contradictions and misstatements.

Earlier this week, the Trump-affiliated Great America Alliance released a campaign-style attack ad against Comey, blasting him as a showboat and another DC insider only in it for himself.

By hailing Comeys testimony as vindication, Republicans seemed to abandon their initial approach. When Comey and the Senate Intelligence Committee released his opening statement Wednesday afternoon, the RNC quickly tweeted a gif dismissing the statement as lacking substance.

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Republicans Are Already Contradicting Themselves On James Comey's Testimony - HuffPost