RUSH: We just have a new sound bite here from Nancy Pelosi, CNN’s Newsroom. She was talking with the correspondent Manu Raju. Manu Raju reported about Pelosi’s California call with the House Democrat caucus about possible new articles of impeachment against the Trumpster.

RAJU: She’s making very clear that there’s more support for moving forward with impeachment among the House Democratic caucus now than there was the first time Donald Trump was impeached back in 2019. She said that she prefers the president resigning, or Vice President Mike Pence and the cabinet invoking the 25th Amendment to force the president out of office. But she’s making it very clear: They’re prepared to move forward with impeachment.

RUSH: Well, they better hurry if that’s the objective, if they want to get rid of Trump via impeachment, ’cause today is the 8th. In 12 days, Plugs Biden gets inaugurated. So they gotta do this in 11 days. So they’ve gotta call the House together, then they got to get the Senate to go ahead and convict for this. And then they want a proviso that Trump cannot seek the presidency ever again.

And they think that doing this is gonna pressure the cabinet and Pence into invoking Amendment 25. But Pence has said that he’s not gonna do this. “There’s more desire to impeach Trump now than there was in 2019.” I totally believe that. That was trumped up like you couldn’t believe in 2019.

A bunch of people were just going along with it. But this, the hatred is visceral. You can touch it. You can see it. You can see it steaming from the electrodes on these Democrats’ heads. I’ve never seen personal animosity like this. I mean, it is almost to the point of uncontrollable and unpackageable.

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RUSH: Hi, folks. I got a report on the top-of-the-hour news from one of our EIB affiliates, and it was a report on how Nancy Pelosi has the military on standby in case Trump launches the nuke code. Folks, I’m telling you, the entire swamp, they are scared out of their gourd. They do not know what to expect next.

JOHNNY DONOVAN: And now, from sunny South Florida, it’s Open Line Friday!

RUSH: Open Line Friday, the Rush Limbaugh program. Every show seems like the most important. Nobody wants to miss the current or the next show. Every caller… Unlike most shows, every caller matters. “What’s the next caller gonna say? What’s Rush going to draw out of the next caller?” It’s a show unlike any other, and it’s great to have you as part of it. 800-282-2882. Open Line Friday. Whatever you want to talk about, gang, have at it.

I swear. The entire Washington establishment is poised. They are recoiling in fear. They are cowering in fear in the corners. They are scared to death of Donald Trump. They are scared to death of you. You have been defeated. You have been vanquished. Donald Trump has been vanquished. But he hasn’t left. He hasn’t left town. He hasn’t apologized.

He hasn’t said he won’t do it again, whatever it is, and they’re gonna be like this — do you understand? — for the next 12 days. In case you missed it, Nancy Pelosi, according to top-of-the-hour propaganda on the radio from an EIB affiliate… Well, I’m assuming it’s radio. Yeah, ’cause our listeners would be listening to the EIB Network radio facilitate and local news or national news network.

Pelosi has called the military and put ’em on standby in case Trump launches the nuke codes. Who are we gonna nuke? The little pot-bellied dictator, Kim Jong-un? What are they terrified of? They’re terrified that Trump is gonna unleash classified documents. You know, he’s got a bevy of ’em, folks. He’s got classified documents about the hoax, the four-year coup.

The four-year coup, the four-year effort to get the election results of 2016 overturned. There are all kinds of people who broke the law, all kinds of people who are quaking in their boots. They’re worried silly that Trump is gonna unleash some of these classified documents. Do you know what else they’re worried about? Do you know what else they’re scared of?

They are scared to death — they are terrified — that Trump is gonna pardon people who are dangerous to the establishment. Call it the swamp if you want. Because let me tell you, nothing’s changed. The people in the Washington establishment, why did they want to stop Trump in the first place? Because they didn’t want what they have been up to (which is no good) for years to ever come out.

They didn’t want Trump to discover it and release it. They remain petrified for the next 12 days that Trump is going to release — somehow, some way — what he knows about these people. In other words, they’re worried to death that he’s got a card or two to play here yet, including the pardon power. They’ve got a lot of stuff to keep covered up. I don’t know if Trump’s gonna write a book.

Do you think if Trump wrote a book, that Simon & Schuster would cancel it like they did Josh Hawley’s? (interruption) Do you think they would? (interruption) You don’t think so? (interruption) “They want the money too much.” I don’t know. They hate this guy like you can’t believe. I’m telling you. Anyway, for Pelosi to call the military up, keep on standby, ’cause they’re worried Trump’s gonna launch the nuke codes?

Man, oh, man.

This is more fun than I thought it was gonna be actually.

Here’s Ted Cruz, Ted Cruz last night in Houston, KTRK-TV news. Correspondent Tom Abrahams said to Senator Cruz, “Senator Cruz, 39% of Americans believe that there was election fraud or that it was rigged because the president has repeated it. Even before votes were cast, senators like and you Josh Hawley have continued to talk about it. Now, where is the line between people believing something on their own, and they believe it because they’re constantly told that that’s what the truth is?”

CRUZ: The president’s language and rhetoric crossed a line and it was reckless. I disagree with it, and (chuckles) I have disagreed with the president’s language and rhetoric for the last four years.

RUSH: Ted Cruz is backing away now. It’s like the last four years never happened. “Oh, yeah! Oh, yeah, in the last four years I’ve been condemning Trump for his language. The last four years. You heard me, I’m sure. Remember?” No, I’m not trying to scrub a little pick a fight with Ted Cruz, folks. I’m just… Look, I’m telling you what isn’t in the news anywhere else. This is what the news looks like.

At any rate… (chuckles) You want a job in Washington? You want a career in Washington? You want a future in Washington? As a Republican or Democrat, you have to become a participating member of that establishment or you have to appear that you are. That’s the big lesson going forward. But that doesn’t mean… For the next eight days, 12 days, they are scared to death what Trump is gonna do.

There was probably a big sigh of relief when Trump said he wasn’t gonna go to the inauguration. Imagine if he decided to release a bunch of classified documents right before the inauguration ceremony. Whoa ho-ho-ho! They’re probably happy he decided he wouldn’t go.

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RUSH: Here is Bob in Dayton, Ohio. Hi, Bob. Great to have you here.

CALLER: Thank you, Rush. God bless you and your family.

RUSH: Thank you, sir.

CALLER: I have an issue with what Lindsey Graham said, that he’s done everything he can for Donald Trump. Throughout his presidency, Lindsey Graham hasn’t issued any subpoenas for the Russia probe —

RUSH: That’s not what he means.

CALLER: I’m sorry?

RUSH: What Lindsey Graham means is he tried to get Trump to tone it down. He tried to get Trump to behave according to Washington norms. He tried to rein Trump in and get Trump to behave more like a Washingtonian, but he just couldn’t do it. He gave it everything he’s got. He wasn’t talking about helping Trump defeat his enemies.

CALLER: Okay. How come he hasn’t issued any subpoenas for the Dominion machines or the —

RUSH: Because he desires a career in the Washington political establishment post-Trump.

CALLER: Okay.

RUSH: I’ve been explaining this yesterday and today. I mean, if you want a career in Washington, if you want a career in the Washington political class, you will divorce yourself from MAGA. You will divorce yourself from Trump. You might even go try to talk about a great guy Kim Jong-un is. Whatever. You have to distance yourself from Donald Trump.

CALLER: Okay. Well, I’m just wondering why Lindsey Graham hasn’t stood up for Trump in my opinion —

RUSH: He thinks he has.

CALLER: — the way he should have.

RUSH: He went on Hannity every other night. He was standing up for Trump. He was trying to get Trump reelected, playing golf with Trump. What do you mean, why he hasn’t stood up for Trump? I guarantee you he thinks he stood up for Trump more than anybody else in the Republican Party. That’s what he meant. He gave it his all. He tried, he tried, but it’s just gone beyond his ability to help.

CALLER: Okay.

RUSH: Look. Don’t misunderstand my tone. I’m not yelling at you.

CALLER: Okay.

RUSH: I’m not making fun of what you’re saying. You’re asking a legitimate question, and I’m giving you the real answer. You think helping Trump would have been subpoenaing Trump’s enemies, exposing people that were involved in the coup, like he said he was gonna do, and that’s a proper definition of help. But that’s not what Senator Graham means when he talks about he did everything he could.

He’s not even talking to you. When he says that, he’s talking to Schumer, he’s talking to the Democrats, he’s talking to the media, “Hey, look. I tried to help. I tried to get this guy reined in. I tried to make him more like us, and I really thought I was succeeding, but it didn’t work.”

CALLER: Well, I’m just saying that he should have been subpoenaing under oath the Dominion people and the elected officials who are —

RUSH: You know, the Dominion people are now talking about suing people for defamation of character and they’re gonna go after Sidney Powell, they claim. They’re gonna go after Lin Wood, they claim, and because they think they’ve been defamed. They think that they have been tarred and feathered improperly. That’s where that stands. (interruption) They filed suit against Sidney today? See. I told you. Even when I don’t know that something’s for sure gonna happen, it happens. Is it a defamation suit? (interruption) One and a half billion dollars? (interruption) Over a billion dollars.

Now, Sidney Powell does not have a billion dollars. So there’s obviously some symbolism in that. But Dominion, you gotta look at who they’ve got on their side out there, Bob. They’ve got the entire Democrat Party. They’ve got the Georgia governor and lieutenant governor, or secretary of state. They’ve got Venezuela. They’ve got the ghost of Hugo Chavez.

And you want Lindsey Graham to subpoena them? And Lindsey Graham can look at what they’re doing. Lindsey Graham doesn’t have a billion dollars, either. Now, I realize many of you have been misled by a bunch of people who assured you of fact A, B, and C was gonna lead to results C, D, and E, and that it was only a matter of time, we’re gonna have these subpoenas, we’re gonna get these people brought up. And guess what? It isn’t gonna happen. And you’re gonna be deflated and disappointed yet again in the people you’ve been trusting. That’s exactly what they want.

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RUSH: We’ve talked about this earlier, folks. There’s 12 days between now and when Plugs Biden gets inaugurated. Now, the current congressional schedule has most lawmakers at home until January 19th. You know that? You know what that means? Nobody home, folks, nobody home in Washington. This is a power vacuum. A number of Democrats say leaving town now would create this major power vacuum in Washington. They worry about what Trump might do before he leaves office.

And if the Democrats leave town in advance of the partying down of the inauguration or whatever they’re gonna do, Trump’s gonna stay. He lives there. He lives in the White House. Oh, my goodness. They worry. Tom Malinowski, Democrat, New Jersey, “We’re the only branch of the government that can provide leadership for the country right now.” Meaning legislative.

Now, usually these 12 days would be a time for the U.S. Senate to be holding hearings on cabinet choices of Biden so they can be confirmed by senators on Inauguration Day. But not in 2021. Senators will hold a confirmation hearing on January 19th for Biden’s nominee for defense secretary, but it’s unclear if any others will be scheduled. Two long, nervous weeks for the Democrats. Major potential power vacuum. They are scared, folks. Do not doubt me on this.