Of a set of procedures regarding the impeachment inquiry, laying out the facts in a deliberate and fairminded process. Keepepublican colleagues changing arguments as to why they were opposed to what the house is doing. Vote. There needed to be a there was a vote. Second, make it public. Now it is public. There was no quid pro quo. Another is when they even admit. Now they are just saying it is impeachable. The Shifting Sands of the which seemsrgument, to shift all the time, indicates that they dont seem to have real interest in following the facts to where they lead, but rather just defending trump regardless of the facts. Facts. Thats a huge mistake for the republic and for this senate and how we should conduct ourselves. So let me elaborate. For weeks Congressional Republicans criticized House Democrats for not scheduling a vote. As soon as the vote was taken, the same republicans criticized the process once again. Republicans criticized House Democrats for conducting classified hearings even though the material discussed concerned our National Security and republicans readily participated in those hearings. Then the house voted on the plan for open hearings and predictably the same republicans kept criticizing the process coming up with even another new argument. The president s allies in congress then went on to the idea that there was no quid pro quo, which the president himself stated, although he was contradicted by mr. Mulvaney, and that seemed to be the linchpin of their defense of the president in the last few days and weeks. But now all of a sudden, knowing maybe whats coming out, all of a sudden our republican colleagues are saying, yeah, there was a quid pro quo, but it doesnt matter, its not impeachable. Some of them even think its not even wrong, which is absolutely absurd. So instead of the Shifting Sands of defenses of the president on a near daily basis, my republican friends should let all the facts come out and make that you make their judgments based on the facts. Instead of changing their argument every third day when faced with new facts, they should remain dispassionate and say were going to look at the facts instead of jumping to find a new defense of the president no matter what the facts. If youre defending the president because theres no quid pro quo and then there is quid pro quo, you should be saying maybe somethings going on here. But, no, a new argument pops up. The investigation is not yet complete. Jumping to conclusions before all the facts come out is misguided, its unbefitting of a senators role as judge and juror of a potential impeachment case. Now last night the president held a political rally in kentucky with several republican elected officials, including the junior senator from kentucky, who publicly and explicitly urged the media to disclose the identity of the federal whistleblower. The president of course quickly praised the senators idea. I cannot stress just how wrong this is. We have federal whistleblower laws designed to protect the identity and safety of patriotic americans who come forward to stand up for the constitution. There are members on the other side of the aisle, including senior members and chairs of committees, who spent their entire careers defending whistleblowers and the laws that protect them and their families. Well, where are they now . I was pleased to hear that my colleague, senator thune, spoke out and said whistleblowers must be protected. I believe senator grassley said the same. Theyre both right, but there should be bipartisan outrage at the public attempts by the president and a member of this body to expose the identity of a federal whistleblower. You dont get to determine when our whistleblower laws apply or they dont, whether you like what the whistleblower said or you dont. They are laws. This whistleblower whose complaint was deemed credible in an urgent matter by a trump appointee is protected by these statutes. Every Single Member of this body should stand up and say it is wrong to disclose his or her identity. Our rhetoric can sometimes be overheated, but im appalled by these developments. Theres no other word for it. Were in a moment of history when republicans over only a few weeks have shifted from saying that no laws were broken to saying that laws were broken, but its not impeachable, to outright advocating that laws be broken. Where is the internal gyroscope, the clock of decency and honor on the other side . Theyre twisting themselves in contradictory pretzels to defend this president has gone to bounds that we have rarely seen in this body with any party, with any president. I dont understand what sort of effect President Trump has on them. People of integrity and some degree of strength just fold whenever he says something, twists their arguments, change their arguments, do 180degree hairpins about their arguments all because theyre afraid of tell are makingn. Org, we it easier for you to watch coverage of the impeachment inquiry. Go to our impeachment page on our website for video on demand. We have added a tally from the Associated Press showing where each House Democrat stands on the impeachment inquiry. Ourow the inquiry on webpage. It is your fast and easy way to watch unfiltered coverage any time. Live, fbi director will testify and security threats before the Homeland Security committee at 230 eastern on cspan. An executive with microsoft testifies on cybersecurity before a subcommittee. A reminder you can watch all of our coverage online at cspan. Org or at lucent with the free cspan radio app. Or listen with the free cspan radio app. Next, a discussion about civility with the former Democratic National committee donna brazil and mercedes slap a , former white house strategics Strategic Communications director. This was held at Sheppard University in west virginia. [background sounds]