January 1, Impeachment: A Dozen House Dems Still Holding Out | American Support Grows | Senate Dems Say NRA Acted as Russian Asset in 2016 Election

Good Morning Middle Americans!

Hope you’re having a good Saturday. We have put together a trio of stories to give you an update on the how Democrats in Congress and the American public feels about the current state of the impeachment process.  Just a reminder that even though House Speaker Nancy Pelosi has start an official impeachment inquiry process, the actual impeachment won’t begin until the House Judiciary Committee votes on, and passes formal articles of impeachment.

We also have story that looks at a new Senate report that characterizes the NRA’s behavior in the lead up to the 2016 election as that of a Russian intelligence asset.  Read all about it.

–          Fraser Dixon

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This Day in History | 1928

British scientist Alexander Fleming discovers penicillin at St. Mary’s Hospital in London.

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12 House Dems Still Don’t Support Impeachment

(CNN) – In the past week — amid allegations that President Donald Trump abused the power of his office for personal political gain — there has been an absolute rush among House Democrats to call for impeachment proceedings against the President. What was once regarded as a risky position, politically, has now become a default position of the vast majority of the Democratic caucus.

But interestingly, it’s not the position of the entire caucus. Yes, 223 House Democrats are on the record supporting an impeachment inquiry. But 12 holdouts remain.

Read More from CNN Here

Biden is the Only 2020 Candidate Not Fully Supporting Impeachment

(Axios) – Nearly all major 2020 Democratic candidates have joined the call to launch an impeachment inquiry against President Trump, with Joe Biden on board with the idea if the president continues to “continues to obstruct Congress.”

In a race that has been characterized by 2020 Democrats creating new litmus tests to measure themselves against Trump, calling for his impeachment has slowly become the standard for all candidates.

Read more from Axios here

New Polling Shows More American Support Impeachment

(FiveThirtyEight) – The polling we have so far mostly shows an uptick in support for impeachment. But according to the initial polls at least, public opinion doesn’t seem to have shifted dramatically from where it was following both the release of special counsel Robert Mueller’s report on April 18 and Mueller’s testimony before Congress on July 24. The majority of Americans still do not favor impeachment, although more than two-thirds of Democrats do. There are several reasons, however, to believe that this picture is incomplete and could change.

See the latest polling from FiveThirtyEight here

Senate Dems: The NRA Acted as a Russian Asset During 2016 Election

(NPR) – offering the promise of political access to elected officials in the U.S. in exchange for business deals.

Drawing on contemporaneous emails and private interviews, an 18-month probe by the Senate Finance Committee’s Democratic staff found that the NRA underwrote political access for Russian nationals Maria Butina and Alexander Torshin more than previously known — even though the two had declared their ties to the Kremlin.

Read the latest from NPR here