Sen. Joe Manchin III (D-W.Va.) listens to Gina Haspel, President Trump's pick to lead the CIA, during her confirmation hearing before the Senate Intelligence Committee in May 2018. That’s apparently how Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) read the situation. In a scene recounted in former White House staffer Cliff Sims’s new book, “Team of Vipers: My 500 Extraordinary Days in the Trump White House,” McConnell reportedly told Trump in February 2017 that Manchin was in his crosshairs. “We’re going to do everything in our power to beat him when he comes up for reelection,” McConnell told the president, according to Sims. In last year’s Republican primary to see who would challenge Manchin, the most controversial and vocal candidate in the race was Don Blankenship.

Source: Washington Post February 01, 2019 10:45 UTC