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“The attempt at impeachment is best understood as a legislative coup against a democratically elected president, and the radical leftists in Congress are working arm-in-arm with the deep state saboteurs and their allies in the media in order to try to effectuate this illegal coup,” Miller said. “Although rest assured, they will fail,” he continued. “The deep state is a collection of permanent bureaucrats enmeshed inside the federal government who can’t be fired or removed — at least historically, have not been able to be — because of misguided civil service laws.

AUGUSTA, Maine — It is ‘‘completely inappropriate’’ for a president to encourage a foreign state to investigate a political rival, US Senator Susan Collins of Maine said Saturday. Addressing reporters after a memorial service for firefighters, the Maine Republican was asked what she thought about President Trump asking China to investigate Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden and his son, Hunter Biden. ‘‘I thought the president made a big mistake by asking China to get involved in investigating a political opponent,’’ she said.

Republicans defended President Trump on Sunday morning amid a growing impeachment inquiry while Democrats kept up the pressure on him. On “Meet the Press,” Ron Johnson, a Republican senator from Wisconsin, indicated his continued support for Trump. In response to questions from host Chuck Todd, Johnson repeatedly focused on the 2016 election, rather than the current questions about Trump. “Something pretty fishy happened in the 2016 campaign ... and we still don’t know,” Johnson said.

WASHINGTON — A lawyer for the whistle-blower whose complaint set off an impeachment inquiry of President Trump said Sunday the same legal team was now representing a second whistle-blower, an intelligence official with firsthand knowledge of the president’s interactions with Ukraine. The new whistle-blower “made a protected disclosure under the law and cannot be retaliated against,” Mark S.

KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — As Rudy Giuliani was pushing Ukrainian officials last spring to investigate one of Donald Trump’s main political rivals, a group of individuals with ties to the president and his personal lawyer were also active in the former Soviet republic. Their aims were profit, not politics. This circle of businessmen and Republican donors touted connections to Giuliani and Trump while trying to install new management at the top of Ukraine’s massive state gas company.

MORE took aim at a second unnamed intelligence official who is reportedly considering filing a complaint against Trump and testifying before Congress about the president's contacts with Ukraine's president on Saturday. Trump tweeted that the official, whose identity remains a secret, was a member of the "deep state" conspiracy he has argued is working to undermine his presidency. "The first so-called second hand information 'Whistleblower' got my phone conversation almost completely wrong, so now word is they are going to the bench and another 'Whistleblower' is comin

MORE on Saturday lashed out against House Democrats' impeachment inquiry while blasting the U.S.

Republicans are hunting for a boogeyman in the burgeoning impeachment fight as the party struggles to unify behind a single strategy.  Facing growing headaches, Republicans are eager to shift the public’s focus toward politically safer territory —ranging from former Vice President MORE (D-Calif.) to a “rigged” impeachment process.  The effort to find an alternative focal point comes as the party has been beset by political headaches this week, and largely remained silent on Trump’s suggestion that China open an investigation.  The tactics have Republicans high-wiring