Senator Tommy Tuberville skipped a vote on Tuesday to fly to Bedminster and be with President Trump on the day of his arrest – who he says is “disappointed” but in good spirits.
Tuberville said he was the only senator to have attended a dinner with Trump and between 20 and 30 of his donors.
“I had dinner with him a few hours later. [the speech.]. He was good, disappointed to have been indicted for something everyone else did,’ Tuberville told DailyMail.com, adding that the fundraising dinner had been planned before the indictment.
The Alabama Republican insisted Trump was not focused on the day’s unprecedented events.
“We talked about golf,” Tuberville insisted.
“He didn’t do close to what everyone else did, but that’s politics. He understands that. It’s not his first rodeo.
Tuberville was one of the senators who received a phone call from Trump on January 6, 2021 asking them to oppose the certification of Joe Biden’s election.
The senator insisted that Trump had done nothing different from the “last four or five presidents”.
Senator Tommy Tuberville skipped a vote on Tuesday to fly to Bedminster and be with President Trump on the day of his arrest – who he says is ‘disappointed’ but in good spirits
“We look dumb here, the FBI looks dumb, the DOJ. there’s a precedent for the last four or five presidents and all of a sudden, ‘We don’t like this guy. So we’ll go after him.”
Tuberville said he was not concerned about Trump’s handling of classified documents, but that the Justice Department should be concerned about documents found in President Biden’s garage.
I read all about it, most of them were from the Senate. I leave this SCIF, you do not take anything with you.
“There’s nothing for me to worry about, I’m not the DOJ – they’re the ones to worry about.” It just doesn’t have to be a two-tier system.
Trump was arrested and arraigned in a federal courthouse in Miami on Tuesday for tampering with classified documents — before delivering a speech to supporters at his Bedminster, NJ club and having dinner with donors.
Tuberville also remained stubborn in blocking military promotions until the Pentagon reversed its policy of paying travel expenses for service members seeking abortions.
He said the Senate GOP leadership did not urge him to give up his grip, which the leadership confirmed. Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell has previously said he disagrees with the tactic.
Tuberville said he is not concerned about the military readiness of service members who are unable to take on their new roles.
“They can do the most important ones at a time – we can do five today.”
Asked about the use of speaking time for individual, non-controversial promotions, Tuberville said, “Have you seen what we’re doing here?” Zero.’
Trump was arrested and arraigned in a federal courthouse in Miami on Tuesday for tampering with classified documents — before delivering a speech to supporters at his Bedminster, NJ club and having dinner with donors.
The Senate must confirm hundreds of promotions this year.
Marine Gen. Eric Smith told senators on Tuesday that Tuberville’s hold on promotions could jeopardize national security.
“It certainly compromises our ability to be the most ready,” Smith told an Armed Services Committee hearing. “Our state of readiness is national security.”
“When a three-star general retires…there will be a fairly new one-star general charged with [a] Marine Expeditionary Force of 48,000,” Smith explained. “It will have an effect.”
Tuberville’s colleagues attempted to work with him to find a solution that would move forward with some 250 senior officer promotions.
Tuberville reiterated on Wednesday that he would not back down until Defense Sec. Lloyd Austin cancels the policy or the Senate votes for or against the Pentagon policy.
Senator Joni Ernst proposed a bill that would effectively override Pentagon policy and offered Tuberville a deal where her bill would get a vote as an amendment to the must-have National Defense Authorization Act ( NDAA) and he would lift his grip, but Tuberville refused.
“I don’t want to hold the NDAA for this,” the senator said.
Tuberville isn’t the only one withholding nominations.
On Tuesday, Sen. JD Vance, R-Ohio, announced he would oppose all of President Biden’s Justice Department choices regarding the indictment of former President Trump. Sen. Joe Manchin, DW.Va., blocks Biden’s EPA nominees on administration’s climate policies and Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., said he will block health-focused candidates until Biden produces a plan to reduce drug costs.
