Joe Scarborough warns the GOP is on the 'yellow brick road to hell'
The Morning Joe team skewered the GOP on Tuesday for making "a deal with the devil" after the House Intelligence Committee voted Monday to release a secret memo that reportedly accuses senior FBI officials of misusing their authority to obtain a surveillance order on President Trump's former campaign associate, Carter Page. "I understand Donald [Trump's position]," a disbelieving Joe Scarborough said. "He will take any sleazy tactic he can to save himself and his family from going to jail. But Paul Ryan? A guy from Janesville, Wisconsin. A guy I campaigned for in 1998 … What does he get out of this?"
Panelist Jim VandeHei didn't have much sympathy for House Republicans. "They made a deal with the devil and they feel good about it," he said. VandeHei further skewered House Intelligence Committee Chairman Devin Nunes (R-Calif.) for ignoring warnings from the Department of Justice that releasing the memo would be "extraordinarily reckless."
"What Nunes did is unprecedented," VandeHei went on. "Never in the history of this committee has this committee voted to declassify classified material. Never."
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.
Co-host Mika Brzezinski concluded: "Joe, Republicans seem to be on the yellow brick road."
"The yellow brick road to hell," Scarborough agreed, adding: "Bad things are going to happen to [Trump] legally. The Wizard of Oz didn't get indicted. The Wizard of Oz didn't go to jail." Watch below. Jeva Lange
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
Jeva Lange was the executive editor at TheWeek.com. She formerly served as The Week's deputy editor and culture critic. She is also a contributor to Screen Slate, and her writing has appeared in The New York Daily News, The Awl, Vice, and Gothamist, among other publications. Jeva lives in New York City. Follow her on Twitter.
-
Ashes to ashes, ducks to ducks: the end of Bazball?Talking Point Swashbuckling philosophy of England men’s cricket team ‘that once carried all along with it has become divisive and polarising’
-
The strangely resilient phenomenon of stowaways on planesIn The Spotlight Lapses in security are still allowing passengers to board flights without tickets or passports
-
Four Seasons Seoul: a fascinating blend of old and new in South KoreaThe Week Recommends Located right in the heart of the action, this classy hotel is the perfect base to explore the capital
-
Son arrested over killing of Rob and Michele ReinerSpeed Read Nick, the 32-year-old son of Hollywood director Rob Reiner, has been booked for the murder of his parents
-
Rob Reiner, wife dead in ‘apparent homicide’speed read The Reiners, found in their Los Angeles home, ‘had injuries consistent with being stabbed’
-
Hungary’s Krasznahorkai wins Nobel for literatureSpeed Read László Krasznahorkai is the author of acclaimed novels like ‘The Melancholy of Resistance’ and ‘Satantango’
-
Primatologist Jane Goodall dies at 91Speed Read She rose to fame following her groundbreaking field research with chimpanzees
-
Florida erases rainbow crosswalk at Pulse nightclubSpeed Read The colorful crosswalk was outside the former LGBTQ nightclub where 49 people were killed in a 2016 shooting
-
Trump says Smithsonian too focused on slavery's illsSpeed Read The president would prefer the museum to highlight 'success,' 'brightness' and 'the future'
-
Trump to host Kennedy Honors for Kiss, StalloneSpeed Read Actor Sylvester Stallone and the glam-rock band Kiss were among those named as this year's inductees
-
White House seeks to bend Smithsonian to Trump's viewSpeed Read The Smithsonian Institution's 21 museums are under review to ensure their content aligns with the president's interpretation of American history
