Heavyweight breaks ranks with GOP, endorsing Clinton

[DemocratSinceBirth]

Richard Armitage, who held top national security positions in the administrations of former Presidents George W. Bush and Ronald Reagan, said he would vote for presumptive Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton over her likely Republican rival, Donald Trump.


"If Donald Trump is the nominee, I would vote for Hillary Clinton," Armitage, who served as a deputy secretary of State under Bush and as an assistant secretary of Defense under Reagan, told Politico on Thursday.
"He doesn't appear to be a Republican. He doesn't appear to want to learn about the issues. So I'm going to vote for Mrs. Clinton."

Clinton hit Trump earlier this month on national security, saying his ideas would put America in greater danger and inspire more terrorist attacks

http://thehill.com/blogs/ballot-box/presidential-races/283750-armitage-breaks-ranks-with-gop-endorses-clinton

[chillfactor]

1. I believe we are gong to see this crossover more and more.

trump is just a the lowest piece of slime....more and more republicans will be stepping away from him as far as they can get....

[DemocratSinceBirth]

2. It is sad what happened to the party of Lincoln and Eisenhower...

It has been taken over by a mad man.

[Lucinda]

17. They brought in on themselves by supporting people like Rush and Glenn Beck

which lead to the tea party craziness, and the tanking of GOP congress reputations. I am enjoying the irony of GOP members looking to Hillary to save them from Trump though, especially since they have vilified her for decades.

[eastwestdem]

9. I agree. It should be an interesting summer and fall. nt

[Iliyah]

3. Read Bush also

[brooklynite]

4. FiveThirtyEight was discussing the possiblity of having GOP speakers at the Democratic Convention

[DemocratSinceBirth]

8. I would let Colin Powell speak if he endorses Hillary.

[frazzled]

5. I'm getting a little concerned

that all this chatter about Trump not being the nominee may be more real than we know. That's very cynical, I know: but while my patriotic (and plain old rational) side knows that removing the possibility of a Trump candidacy or possible presidency is a good thing, I worry that whomever they would get to replace him, while less overtly nuts, would be seen as a "savior" and would have a much stronger position in November ... yet would be almost as dangerous.

Just thinking aloud.

[geek tragedy]

6. the "Sane people" wing of the Republican party is a small fringe these days nt

[frazzled]

12. Yeah, but they don't have a death wish

They sense the whole damn party is going down with Trump, and they may just act out of self-preservation.

[auntpurl]

10. If they replace him, they're f*cked anyway.

His horde of racist minions will bring everyone down with them.

[justiceischeap]

13. A scary thought occurred to me this morning

What if they replaced Trump with Bloomberg? Now that would be a horse race.

[frazzled]

15. Bloomberg is way too avid a gun-control advocate for them

And he's dead serious about that issue. I don't think they'd go for him (he's an Independent), and their base would surely revolt. But who can predict anything these days?

[auntpurl]

7. Top GOP strategist went on a massive Trump rant and called him Cheeto Jesus

http://www.motherjones.com/politics/2016/06/rick-wilson-epic-never-trump-tweetstorm

"Go public. Man up. Show courage. Say what's in your hearts; he's insane. He's poison. He's doomed. He's killing the Party."

[LoverOfLiberty]

11. This just proves

she a Republican wolf in Democratic sheep's clothing.

I'm being sarcastic, but you know its coming.

[DemocratSinceBirth]

14. Or if I'm hiring someone to baby sit my kids I will go with the sane person.

[azurnoir]

16. Armitage aka "The Man Who Said Too Much" crossed over long ago-he was the leak in the Plame affair

On November 15, 2005, journalist Bob Woodward of The Washington Post revealed in an article that "a government official with no axe to grind" leaked to him the identity of outed CIA officer Valerie Plame in mid-June 2003. According to an April 2006 Vanity Fair article (published March 14, 2006), former Washington Post executive editor Ben Bradlee said in an interview "that Armitage is the likely source is a fair assumption", though Bradlee later told the Post that he "[did] not recall making that precise statement" in the interview.[13] The following year, on March 2, 2006, bloggers discovered that "Richard Armitage" fit the spacing on a redacted court document, suggesting he was a source for the Plame leak.[14] In August 2006, the Associated Press published a story that revealed Armitage met with Bob Woodward in mid-June 2003. The information came from official State Department calendars, provided to The Associated Press under the Freedom of Information Act.[15]

Robert Novak, in an August 27, 2006 appearance on Meet the Press, stated that although he still would not release the name of his source, he felt it was long overdue that the source reveal himself.[16] Armitage has also reportedly been a cooperative and key witness in the investigation.[17] According to The Washington Note, Armitage has testified before the grand jury three times.[18]

On August 29, 2006, Neil A. Lewis of The New York Times reported that Armitage was the "initial and primary source" for columnist Robert Novak's July 14, 2003 article, which named Valerie Plame as a CIA "operative" and which triggered the CIA leak investigation.

On August 30, 2006, CNN reported that Armitage had been confirmed "by sources" as leaking Wilson's CIA role in a "casual conversation" with Robert Novak. The New York Times, quoting people "familiar with his actions", reported that Armitage was unaware of Wilson's undercover status when he spoke to Novak.

In the September 4, 2006 issue of Newsweek magazine, in an article titled "The Man Who Said Too Much", journalist Michael Isikoff, quoting a "source directly familiar with the conversation who asked not to be identified because of legal sensitivities", reported that Armitage was the "primary" source for Robert Novak's piece outing Plame. Armitage allegedly mentioned Wilson's CIA role to Novak in a July 8, 2003 interview after learning about her status from a State Department memo which made no reference to her undercover status. Isikoff also reported that Armitage had also told Bob Woodward of Plame's identity in June 2003, and that special counsel Patrick Fitzgerald investigated Armitage's role "aggressively", but did not charge Armitage with a crime because he "found no evidence that Armitage knew of Plame's covert CIA status when he talked to Novak and Woodward".

On September 7, 2006, Armitage admitted to being the source in the CIA leak. Armitage claims that Fitzgerald had originally asked him not to discuss publicly his role in the matter, but that on September 5 Armitage asked Fitzgerald if he could reveal his role to the public, and Fitzgerald consented.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Richard_Armitage_(politician)

[Samantha]

18. Yep, I was just getting ready to post this with links

Many people still think it was Rove. Armitage was the initial leaker, and Scooter Libby refused to throw him under the bus. I believe Valerie Plame might have been willing to do so, however. Her whole life, and particularly her work, was irreparably damaged because of that.

Sam