Political Wire

The GOP’s Orwellian Moment

July 22, 2018 at 5:14 pm EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

Charlie Sykes: “As Donald Trump extends his control over the Republican party, American conservatism has entered a pseudo-Orwellian stage where weakness is strength, appeasement is toughness, lies are truth, and ‘America first’ means ‘blame America first.’”

”The fiasco in Helsinki, where the president openly sided with Vladimir Putin over his own country’s intelligence agencies, was not a one-off for this president but rather an exclamation point on what has happened to the American right.”

”For me, as an outspoken conservative for the last four decades, the experience has been vertiginous. On one issue after another – from Russia and free trade to corruption and the rule of law – Republicans have adjusted their principles to conform with Trumpism, which often means with Trump’s latest glandular impulse.”

GOP Stands By as Trump Upends U.S. Security

July 22, 2018 at 4:32 pm EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

Evan Osnos: “President Trump has upended the basis of American security—opening a trade war with China, chastising U.S. allies in Europe, and, at a press conference in Helsinki, following a two-hour private meeting with President Vladimir Putin, accepting his claim that Russia did not interfere in the 2016 election.”

“The outcry, including from Republicans, was instaant… More remarkable, though, was what didn’t happen. No one resigned from the Cabinet. No Republican senators took concrete steps to restrain or contain or censure the President.”

“The pattern is already visible for the historians of tomorrow. When Trump hailed neo-Nazis in Charlottesville as ‘very fine people,’ when he endorsed an accused child molester for the Senate, when he separated children from their parents at the Mexican border, the Republican Party, by and large, accepted it. And, when Coats said, of Russian cyberattacks, that “warning lights are blinking red again,” the Party did not pressure the President to mount a defense.”

Gowdy Says Trump’s Advisers Should Quit Over Russia

July 22, 2018 at 4:22 pm EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

House Oversight Chairman Trey Gowdy chastised Donald Trump for inviting Russian President Vladimir Putin to Washington, saying that some members of the president’s administration should consider quitting if Trump won’t listen to their advice, Politico reports.

Said Gowdy: “It can be proven beyond any evidentiary burden that Russia is not our friend and they tried to attack us in 2016. So the president either needs to rely on the people that he has chosen to advise him, or those advisers need to reevaluate whether or not they can serve in this administration. But the disconnect cannot continue.”

Quote of the Day

July 22, 2018 at 3:05 pm EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

“One of the most disgraceful, remarkable moments of kowtowing to a foreign leader by an American president that anyone has ever witnessed. It wasn’t just that it was a kind of surrender. This is dangerous. The president stood there and did not defend our country.”

— Former Secretary of State John Kerry, in an interview on Face the Nation, on President Trump’s news conference with Russian President Vladimir Putin.

Democrats Brace for Pressure on the Left

July 22, 2018 at 1:13 pm EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

“Energized to take on President Trump, these voters are also seeking to remake their own party as a ferocious — and ferociously liberal — opposition force. And many appear as focused on forcing progressive policies into the midterm debate as they are on defeating Republicans,” the New York Times reports.

“The impact of these activists in the 2018 election has been limited but revealing: Only about a sixth of Democratic congressional nominees so far have a formal affiliation with one of several important insurgent groups. Fifty-three of the 305 candidates have been endorsed by the Justice Democrats, the Working Families Party, the Progressive Change Campaign and Our Revolution, organizations that have helped propel challenges to Democratic incumbents.”

Trump Claims Vindication Despite Evidence to Contrary

July 22, 2018 at 1:01 pm EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

“President Trump claimed without evidence on Sunday that his administration’s release of top-secret documents related to the surveillance of a former campaign aide had confirmed that the Justice Department and the F.B.I. ‘misled the courts’ in the early stages of the Russia investigation,” the New York Times reports.

Said Trump: “Looking more & more like the Trump Campaign for President was illegally being spied upon (surveillance) for the political gain of Crooked Hillary Clinton and the DNC.”

“In a series of early-morning tweets, Mr. Trump left unmentioned how the documents laid out in stark detail why the F.B.I. was interested in the former campaign adviser, Carter Page.”

Kavanaugh Said Watergate Tapes Decision May Have Been Wrong

July 22, 2018 at 12:21 pm EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

“Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh suggested several years ago that the unanimous high court ruling in 1974 that forced President Richard Nixon to turn over the Watergate tapes, leading to the end of his presidency, may have been wrongly decided,” the AP reports.

“Kavanaugh was taking part in a roundtable discussion with other lawyers when he said at three different points that the decision in U.S. v. Nixon, which marked limits on a president’s ability to withhold information needed for a criminal prosecution, may have come out the wrong way.”

States Aggressively Move to Purge Voter Rolls

July 22, 2018 at 12:11 pm EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

“Nine states with a history of racial discrimination are more aggressively removing registered voters from their rolls than other states, according to a report released Friday,” NBC News reports.

“After reviewing voter purges nationally from 2012 to 2016, the nonpartisan Brennan Center for Justice found that the mostly Southern jurisdictions that had once been required to get changes to voting policies pre-approved by the Justice Department had higher rates of purging than jurisdictions that were not previously subject to pre-clearance.”

Russian Billionaire Backed Alleged Agent

July 22, 2018 at 12:08 pm EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

“Maria Butina, the Russian woman charged in federal court last week with acting as an unregistered agent of her government, received financial support from Konstantin Nikolaev, a Russian billionaire with investments in U.S. energy and technology companies,” the Washington Post reports.

“Nikolaev’s son Andrey, who is studying in the United States, volunteered in the 2016 campaign in support of Trump’s candidacy… Nikolaev was spotted at the Trump International Hotel in Washington during Trump’s inauguration in January 2017.”

Huntsman Says He Won’t Resign

July 22, 2018 at 7:18 am EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

U.S. Ambassador to Russia Jon Huntsman responded to a call to resign by saying he wouldn’t, The Hill reports.

Huntsman said that he would stay on the job after conducting “an unscientific survey among my colleagues” and asking his own naval officer sons if he should resign.

Said Huntsman: “The laughter told me everything I needed to know. It also underscores the fragile nature of this moment.”

Trump Gets Negative Marks for Putin Meeting

July 22, 2018 at 7:10 am EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

A new Washington Post-ABC poll finds that overall, 33% of Americans approve of President Trump’s handling of his meeting with Vladimir Putin while 50% disapprove. A sizable 18% say they have no opinion.

A slightly larger 56% disapprove of Trump expressing doubts about U.S. intelligence agencies’ conclusion that Russia tried to influence the outcome of the 2016 election. On both questions, those who say they “strongly disapprove” of Trump’s performance outnumber those who say they “strongly approve” by better than 2 to 1.

Coats Denies Criticism of Trump Over Putin

July 22, 2018 at 6:32 am EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

Director of National Intelligence Dan Coats “played down on Saturday his seemingly astonished reaction this week to the news that President Trump planned to invite President Vladimir Putin of Russia to Washington,” the New York Times reports.

Said Coats: “My admittedly awkward response was in no way meant to be disrespectful or criticize the actions of the president.”

“Diplomats and career officials have scrambled to understand what exactly transpired between Mr. Trump and Mr. Putin during their private meeting on Monday in Helsinki, Finland, and Mr. Coats had seemed taken aback by the prospect of another one-on-one encounter. He said he planned to warn the president of the dangers of such a meeting — something he did not walk back in his statement.”

Trump’s Trade Tariffs Could Hurt Voters Around Midterms

July 22, 2018 at 2:25 am EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

President Trump’s “trade wars could become a major political drag for Republicans, with job losses and price increases piling up just as voters head to the polls in November,” Politico reports.

“Trump jolted markets once again early Friday when he said he’s prepared to impose penalties on some $500 billion in Chinese goods regardless of the consequences that might ensue, economic or political… But market analysts, industry experts and economists warn that the economic fallout of the president’s tariffs — those that are already in effect and those he’s threatening to impose — is only going to intensify over the coming months and could reach a peak around election time. ”

“It takes months for most consumers to feel the impact of tariffs, but as the fall approaches, everything from groceries to appliances could start to cost more at major retailers across the country.”

Most Blue Wave Indicators Are Flashing

July 22, 2018 at 1:32 am EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

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Avenatti Says There Are More Tapes

July 22, 2018 at 1:28 am EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

Michael Avenatti, the lawyer for Stormy Daniels, told MSNBC that there are more audio recordings made by President Trump’s personal lawyer.

Said Avenatti: “I know for a fact this is not the only tape. And I think that any and all tapes Michael Cohen has in his possession relating to this president should be released immediately for the benefit of the American public and they can decide what happens next.”

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