Reason Roundup

Trump Rant Replaces Infrastructure Meeting as Impeachment Talk Swallows All of Politics

Plus: Snowflakes in House Freedom Caucus continue to melt down over Amash comments, Michael Avenatti charged for stealing from Stormy Daniels, and more...

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Trump ditches White House policy meeting to rant at reporters. When congressional Democratic leaders showed up at the White House on Wednesday afternoon, they were expecting to talk with President Donald Trump about U.S. infrastructure. The president had other plans.

With Rep. Nancy Pelosi (D–Calif.), Sen. Chuck Schumer (D–N.Y.), and several others ready for the meeting, Trump instead took to a Rose Garden podium for a stream-of-consciousness rant about Russia, obstruction, and Pelosi's comments earlier in the day. That morning, the House speaker had said Trump had been part of a "coverup" regarding Russia's interference in the 2016 election.

Pelosi and other Democrats have been talking a lot about conducting their own investigation into whether Trump obstructed Special Counsel Robert Mueller's probe into the matter. But so far, Pelosi has rejected calls for impeachmenteven as many others, including libertarian-leaning Rep. Justin Amash (R–Mich.), have been suggesting impeachment is appropriate.

"Whether or not they carry the big i-word out, I can't imagine that, but they probably would because they do whatever they have to do," Trump said during his impromptu press conference yesterday. The Washington Post reports:

He stayed about 10 minutes, almost all of it a monologue. He took two brief questions and turned to go, ignoring others.

Meanwhile, the infrastructure meeting went on without him. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin and counselor to the president Kellyanne Conway, among others, remained in the room as Pelosi did some venting of her own, according to three people familiar with the session, all of whom spoke on the condition of anonymity to share details of the meeting.


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