House Republicans are indeed plotting to replace Paul Ryan amid GOP bribery scandal
Last week Republican Congressman Mark Amodei began publicly discussing what he called a “rumor” about Speaker of the House Paul Ryan being replaced by Congressman Steve Scalise. Palmer Report pointed out at that time that this had to be more than mere idle chat, as a Congressman wouldn’t be talking about the potential ouster of his own party’s Speaker unless he either believed it was true, or he was trying to make it happen. Now it turns out there’s definitely fire where the smoke was.
Here’s what MSNBC host Joy Reid now has to say about the matter via her Twitter account: “Republican sources telling me there is definite chatter about Steve Scalise replacing Paul Ryan as speaker.” So now we have confirmation that there is indeed some kind of plot in the works. This still leaves us with two crucial questions.
The first is whether Ryan is in on this plot because he no longer wants to be Speaker, or if this is a plot to forcibly oust him. That’s far from clear. Congressman Kevin McCarthy would seem to be the natural successor to Ryan, and McCarthy has recently become close allies with Donald Trump, so it raises eyebrows that Steve Scalise is being referred to as Ryan’s potential replacement. This feels less like Ryan simply wanting out, and more like a rival faction of the GOP trying to take control of the House.
The second question remains what this does or doesn’t have to do with the bribery scandal which bubbled over just as the GOP began talking publicly about replacing Paul Ryan. Robert Mueller’s cooperating witness George Nader funneled millions of dollars in foreign bribe money from United Arab Emirates into the hands of Trump fundraiser Elliott Broidy. Which Republicans in Congress ended up taking that money, and which of them knew it was dirty? Is Paul Ryan considering resigning because he took the dirty money, or are other House GOP members trying to seize control of the House in order to protect themselves in the bribery scandal? Something is afoot here.
