12-07-2017, 09:25 PM
Personally, I'm not confident that the Dems would have forced Al Franken to step down, rather than go through an Ethics Committee investigation, if (a) there had been a risk of losing his Democratic senate seat to a Republican replacement, and (b) it didn't give them a perceived strategic advantage of appearing on higher moral ground than the Republicans.
And, I very seriously doubt that the Republican House leadership would have publicly announced that there were ethics investigations underway on Franks and Farenthold if the GOP wasn't itching to cut that Democratic strategy off at the pass.
And, I very seriously doubt that the Republican House leadership would have publicly announced that there were ethics investigations underway on Franks and Farenthold if the GOP wasn't itching to cut that Democratic strategy off at the pass.