Congressional Republicans have taken some criticism for expressing their "concerns" about President Trump's behavior, as a series of scandals involving Russia and the FBI investigation into his campaign unfold, and leaving it at that. But Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) played the Nixon card on Tuesday night, while accepting a Freedom Award from the International Republican Institute. "I think we've seen this movie before; I think it appears at a point where it's of Watergate size and scale," McCain told veteran TV journalist Bob Scheiffer, according to reporters at the dinner. "The shoes continue to drop, and every couple days there's a new aspect."
McCain, who's had a strained relationship with Trump, said his advice to Trump would be "the same thing that you advised Richard Nixon, which he didn't do ... get it all out," The Daily Beast's Tim Mak reports. "It's not going to be over until every aspect of it is thoroughly examined and the American people make a judgment," McCain added. "And the longer you delay, the longer it's going to last."
McCain also criticized Trump for hosting Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov in the Oval Office last week — when Trump apparently revealed highly classified intelligence to Lavrov and Russian Ambassador Sergey Kislyak. "I've known this guy Lavrov for 30 years, he's an old KGB apparatchik stooge, and Putin is a murderer and a thug," McCain said. "And to have Lavrov in the Oval Office and be friendly with the guy whose boss ... sent aircraft with precision weapons to attack hospitals in Aleppo, I just think it's unacceptable."
The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
Talk of impeachment and "obstruction of justice" is reportedly starting to percolate on Capitol Hill, after The New York Times reported Tuesday afternoon that fired FBI Director James Comey kept contemporaneous notes indicating that Trump asked him to drop the FBI's investigation of just-fired National Security Adviser Michael Flynn. That has set off yet another frenzy of media speculation, but you can watch a calm analysis of what that might mean from The Associated Press' Catherine Lucey below. Peter Weber
-
Trump crypto token launch earns family billionsSpeed Read The World Liberty Financial token is now the Trump family's 'most valuable asset'
-
RFK Jr. names new CDC head as staff revoltSpeed Read Kennedy installed his deputy, Jim O'Neill, as acting CDC director
-
DC prosecutors lose bid to indict sandwich throwerSpeed Read Prosecutors sought to charge Sean Dunn with assaulting a federal officer
-
White House fires new CDC head amid agency exodusSpeed Read CDC Director Susan Monarez was ousted after butting heads with HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. over vaccines
-
DOGE put Social Security data at risk, official saysSpeed Read DOGE workers made the personal information of hundreds of millions of Americans vulnerable to identity theft
-
Court rejects Trump suit against Maryland US judgesSpeed Read Judge Thomas Cullen, a Trump appointee, said the executive branch had no authority to sue the judges
-
Trump expands National Guard role in policingSpeed Read The president wants the Guard to take on a larger role in domestic law enforcement
-
Trump says he's firing Federal Reserve Governor Lisa CookSpeed Read The move is likely part of Trump's push to get the central bank to cut interest rates
