Leaked audio of Sen. Joe Manchin call with billionaire donors provides rare glimpse of dealmaking on filibuster and January 6 commission
Sen. Manchin told the assembled donors that he needed help flipping a handful of Republicans from no to yes on the January 6 commission in order to strip the “far left” of their best argument against the filibuster.
When it came to Sen. Roy Blunt, a moderate Missouri Republican who voted no on the commission, Sen. Manchin offered a creative solution.
“Roy is retiring. If some of you all who might be working with Roy in his next life could tell him, that’d be nice and it’d help our country. That would be very good to get him to change his vote,” said Sen. Manchin.
During the Zoom event, Sen. Manchin’s office appeared in the background. It is against campaign finance ethics rules to solicit funds while in a federal building, but Manchin did no solicitation beyond the broad suggestion that donors help out Republicans who switch their votes.