Welcome to the Jim Acosta Morning Memo on a Wednesday morning after Trump hid out for a change while Republicans followed Pete Hegseth off a cliff.
Ding Dong!: The impeachment is dead — for now.
The accusations against Pete Hegseth dominated the news on Monday and Tuesday, as Congressman Thomas Massie pushed hard to remove Hegseth, and Hegseth lashed out in response.
Amid all that drama, the House held a vote to refer Massie’s impeachment resolution to the Judiciary Committee and certain death. Here’s how that went.
If that 211 to 204 vote isn’t mathing for you, it’s not just you. Seven Republicans missed the vote — and so did eleven Democrats, more than enough to have defeated the measure if they had shown up. Not a great start, folks.
Absentee Daddy Trump: Trump was pleased with the result, posting on Truth Social that “The Democrats’ attempt to impeach Secretary of War Pete Hegseth has miserably FAILED!”
The Democrats’ attempt to impeach Secretary of War Pete Hegseth has miserably FAILED! Every single Republican, except Thomas Massie, a major LOSER, voted in favor of Pete. Again, Victories in Venezuela and Iran, the Best Recruitment Numbers in the History of the Military (Long waiting lists to get in!), and Spirit like rarely seen before, led to the EXONERATION of a Great American Patriot. The Democrats continue to weaponize and abuse the United States of America. They must be stopped! MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN. President DONALD J. TRUMP
But before you start celebrating too hard, Pete, the president spent Tuesday hiding out from cameras, despite several open spots on his schedule for signings and photo ops. That silence is not golden for you, pal.
Before the House bailed Hegseth out, he held a press briefing Tuesday morning to spew lies and pretend this effort was about the troops.
And he went on to make a pretty spectacular throw under the bus when he noted that he was just following orders from Trump.
That smell isn’t testosterone; it’s the reek of desperation.
Penta-goons: To underscore just how freaked out Hegseth and his goons are about the impeachment push, they’ve taken to threatening reporters with physical force.
According to multiple reporters, a Pentagon security officer approached them before the briefing and warned that they would be quote “physically removed” if they failed to maintain professionalism and decorum.
A security agent for Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth just warned the reporters here — for Hegseth’s first press conference in 6 months — that we will be physically removed from the briefing room if we are not professional and maintain decorum. We asked if that meant no shouted questions and got no clarity. It’s the first time any of us could ever remember being threatened like this. Shouted questions are normal. “This is crazy town” one journalist said, noting the White House has never threatened reporters like that.
And in a refreshing show of solidarity, the reporters refused to allow Pentagon spokesman Joel Valdez to clean up that threat by “clarifying” off the record. They sent him packing instead.
No clarification yet on what would trigger a reporter’s removal from this briefing. Deputy Pentagon Press Secretary Joel Valdez came out briefly to clarify, on the condition that his comments be off the record. When reporters refused to agree to that condition, he left.
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