GOP pretzels

President Trump, in a private lunch Thursday with Senate Republicans, repeatedly praised his own decision to release a rough transcript of the July 25 call with the Ukrainian president that has become a central focus of the House’s impeachment inquiry, according to the senators who attended.

The White House invited just over a half-dozen GOP senators, most of them among the president’s staunchest allies in the chamber, where many members have refrained from commenting directly on the unfolding case, arguing they will effectively serve as jurors in any impeachment trial.

[...]

“On that topic, he said what he’s said in public: Read the transcript,” said Sen. Josh Hawley (Mo.), one of a handful of GOP senators who attended the lunch that was not included on the president’s public schedule. “He said a number of times that he’s really glad there’s a transcript, that he’s really glad he released it.”

  WaPo

That alone should be proof positive that the man is not fit to serve.

Asked whether the rough transcript of the call with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky appeared to be Trump’s prime defense, Sen. Rick Scott (Fla.) responded: “It’s a pretty good one.”

“I mean, they say it’s a call and there’s a transcript of the call and no one has said if you read the transcript of the call, there’s a violation of law,” Scott said. “I mean, so it’s a pretty good argument.”

Where do these people come from?

The Senate Republicans who attended the lunch, where chicken was served, were Scott, Cornyn, Hawley, as well as Sens. Marsha Blackburn (Tenn.), John Barrasso (Wyo.), Tom Cotton (Ark.), Patrick J. Toomey (Pa.), and Cindy Hyde-Smith (Miss.). White House officials in attendance included Vice President Pence, senior adviser Jared Kushner, counsel Pat Cipollone, legislative affairs director Eric Ueland, and acting chief of staff Mick Mulvaney.

He let Mulvaney come!

Is there some importance to the fact that chicken was served?

...but hey, do what you want...you will anyway.