Good morning. 
Sunday in Whitewater will bring rain and snow showers with a high of thirty-six. Sunrise is 6:50 AM and sunset 4:29 PM, for 9h 39m 41s of daytime. The moon is a waning gibbous with 74.7% of its visible disk illuminated.
Today is the one thousand one hundred fourth day.
On this day in 2013, a late-season tornado outbreak plagues the Midwest, with 73 confirmed tornadoes across several states.
Recommended for reading in full:
Amber Phillips writes More testimony raises the question: What did Ron Johnson know about Trump’s intentions with Ukraine?:
What did Sen. Ron Johnson know about President Trump’s intentions with Ukraine? That’s been a question from the start of this impeachment inquiry, ever since the senator himself acknowledged he heard from people there was a quid pro quo.
The Wisconsin Republican’s name keeps popping up in testimony in critical conversations, including with Trump and Ukraine’s president. They are conversations that could help assess whether Ukrainians knew there were conditions on getting their military aid and whether Trump was behind ordering those conditions.
New closed-door testimony Friday folds Johnson in again, this time detailing a September meeting in Ukraine with Ukraine’s newly elected president, Volodymyr Zelensky. Here’s U.S. diplomat in Ukraine David Holmes saying this in his opening statement, obtained by CNN, about Johnson:
President Zelensky asked about the security assistance. Although both senators stressed bipartisan congressional support for Ukraine, Senator Johnson cautioned President Zelensky that President Trump has a negative view of Ukraine and that President Zelensky would have a difficult time overcoming it. Senator Johnson further explained that he was “shocked” by President Trump’s negative reaction during an Oval Office meeting on May 23, when he and the Three Amigos proposed that President Trump meet President Zelensky and show support for Ukraine.
Why that’s notable: We know that Johnson wanted the security aid, which was mysteriously frozen after Congress approved it this summer, given to Ukraine. He’s the vice chair of the Senate Ukraine Caucus and a key member on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee who helped shepherd it through Congress.
But Johnson has been publicly very supportive of Trump, giving the president the benefit of the doubt that he was interested in ensuring the money wouldn’t be used corruptly. Yet here’s Johnson in a closed-door setting appearing to say he doesn’t understand why Trump isn’t more supportive of Ukraine.
(Emphasis in original. Phillips’s full article lists other references in public statements showing Johnson’s ongoing role in the Ukraine matter.)
On Wisconsin Public Radio, Kate Archer Kent hosts a discussion on Immigration: Now, And Then:
As the Supreme Court takes up a case challenging efforts to end a program protecting from deportation young immigrants who came to the country illegally, we discuss conditions at the border with a Wisconsinite who saw them firsthand. Then, we take a closer look at the state’s immigration history.
Host(s):
Kate Archer Kent
Guest(s):
Primitivo Torres
Rachel Ida Buff
Meanwhile…RoJo is fixin’ to write himself a letter explaining just what he was up to in Ukraine.
https://thehill.com/homenews/sunday-talk-shows/470829-johnson-im-writing-a-letter-to-lay-out-what-i-know-about-ukraine
All of which leads one to the theory that RoJo would rather not talk about the subject in any sort of public setting. Considering how off-the-handle he got the last time he got asked a question on the subject in-person, he’s probably making the right choice. What it does not do is give us much confidence that he has any sort of explanation that would survive cross-examination.
Wouldn’t it be entertaining to see the house subpoena RoJo as a material witness, or possible co-conspirator?
Holy moly, what a mess. So many of these WISGOP men over the years have been mostly over their heads: Walker, Priebus, Ryan. Johnson seems less capable, but perhaps more culpable, of definite and serious misdeeds even than those others. He should not have talked as much as he did (as a matter of self-interest). There’s still this question: even given time to craft a statement, could he fashion one that makes sense and exculpates him? The answer should be in the affirmative, but one doubts Johnson has that rudimentary level of ability. He’s more likely to incriminate himself further. Remarkable, in its own way.
““This would have been far better off if we would’ve just taken care of this behind the scenes,” Johnson said in an interview on NBC”
I imagine so.
As you point out: America’s Dumbest Senator ™