
Even after acquittal, GOP senators and Democratic managers hope rebuke of Trump has lasting impact
CNN
In the moments after former President Donald Trump was acquitted by the Senate for a second time in a little more than a year, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell rose to speak.
His message was clear: the former President could not be the future of the Republican Party. Even as McConnell voted that Trump was not guilty Saturday for inciting an insurrection -- raising constitutional and specific legal objections -- McConnell's words underscored the challenge for the Republican Party going forward. They are torn between two competing interests: sticking with Trump enough to woo supporters for themselves and erasing Trump's dangerous final days from the GOP's legacy. "Former President Trump's actions preceding the riot were a disgraceful dereliction of duty," McConnell said on the floor Saturday.
The alleged drug traffickers killed by the US military in a strike on September 2 were heading to link up with another, larger vessel that was bound for Suriname — a small South American country east of Venezuela – the admiral who oversaw the operation told lawmakers on Thursday according to two sources with direct knowledge of his remarks.

The two men killed as they floated holding onto their capsized boat in a secondary strike against a suspected drug vessel in early September did not appear to have radio or other communications devices, the top military official overseeing the strike told lawmakers on Thursday, according to two sources with direct knowledge of his congressional briefings.











