Boris Johnson claimed in a BBC interview that a “no deal” Brexit could get through the U.K. Parliament if he is chosen as the next prime minister.
Johnson claimed that “politics have changed so much” since the original Brexit deadline, and both major parties face “mortal retribution from the electorate” if the U.K. doesn’t leave by the October 31 deadline.
“President Trump has recently mused to confidants about withdrawing from a longstanding defense treaty with Japan that he thinks treats the U.S. unfairly,” Bloomberg reports.
“Trump regards the accord as too one-sided because it promises U.S aid if Japan is ever attacked but doesn’t oblige Japan’s military to come to America’s defense, the people said. The treaty, signed more than 60 years ago, forms the foundation of the alliance between the countries that emerged from World War Two.”
President Trump declined to say in an interview with The Hill that he has confidence in Christopher Wray and stressed that he disagrees with the FBI director, who has said he does not believe there was spying on the president’s 2016 campaign.
Said Trump: “Well, we’ll see how it turns out. I mean, I disagree with him on that and I think a lot of people are disagreeing. You may even disagree with him on that.”
“A lawyer that Michael Flynn recently hired said on Monday that she would most likely need a security clearance to review classified materials that were separate from the documents that prosecutors for the special counsel, Robert Mueller, had already handed over in the case,” the New York Times reports.
“The lawyer, Sidney Powell, made the unusual disclosure during a hearing in Federal District Court despite prosecutors’ insistence that they included no classified information in the evidence they shared with the defense. Her remarks heightened speculation that Ms. Powell — who has pushed conspiracy theories about the special counsel’s investigation and sells anti-Mueller T-shirts on her website — may be preparing to accuse the government of wrongdoing in Mr. Flynn’s case.”
In the last three months, President Trump has called Obamacare a “disaster,” a “catastrophe” and something that just “doesn’t work,” CNN reports.
But on Monday, he conceded, it’s working “at least adequately now.”
He added: “And we had that choice to make. And politically it’s probably not a good thing that I did, but it’s the right thing to do for a lot of people.”
President Trump said he would make a nomination to the Supreme Court if there’s a vacancy anytime before the 2020 presidential election, The Hill reports.
Said Trump: “Would I do that? Of course… If we could get him approved, I would definitely do it. No, I’d do it a lot sooner than that. I’d do it. If there were three days left, I’d put somebody up hoping that I could get ‘em done in three days, OK?”
“The position is an apparent reversal for the president, who as a candidate in 2016 backed Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell’s (R-KY) decision to block President Obama’s nomination of Merrick Garland to the high court.”
President Trump told The Hill that Joe Biden was lying about his lack of a 2020 endorsement from President Obama.
Said Trump: “How he doesn’t get President Obama to endorse him? There has to be some reason why he’s not endorsing him… He was the vice president. They seemed to have gotten along. President Obama not endorsing him is rather… a big secret.”
He added: “Then he goes and lies and says I asked the president not to endorse me… give me a break.”
President Trump told The Hill that writer E. Jean Carroll was “totally lying” when she recently accused him of raping her in the mid-1990s.
Said Trump: “I’ll say it with great respect: No. 1, she’s not my type. No. 2, it never happened. It never happened, OK?”
“The New York Post’s former top editor, a supporter of President Trump and an old lieutenant of Rupert Murdoch who returned to the conservative tabloid as an adviser in early 2019, ordered the removal of a story about writer Jean Carroll’s sexual assault allegations against President Trump,” CNN reports.
“The Post’s story about Carroll’s sexual assault allegations was mysteriously scrubbed from the tabloid’s website on Friday afternoon.”
The White House moved to bar counselor Kellyanne Conway from testifying to Congress about alleged violations of Hatch Act, the Washington Post reports.
Conway claimed that House Democrats are seeking to compel testimony from her in retaliation for her successfully managing President Trump’s 2016 campaign.
“A legislation-stalling walkout by the 11 Republicans in the Oregon Senate continued Monday, with no end in sight,” the Oregonian reports.
“Rumors of reported sightings of the absent lawmakers abounded over the weekend, but no credible accounts surfaced by the time the Oregon Capitol opened for business Monday morning.”
The Wall Street Journal has a good piece on the fugitive Republicans, including details on them using “burner phones” in an attempt to avoid detection.
Former Speaker Paul Ryan (R-WI) told PBS Newshour that President Trump’s popularity is because he stands up for the “forgotten man.”
Said Ryan: “He’s not taking any crap. I mean, he’s taking on political correctness; he’s taking fights that a lot of people want to see fought. The forgotten man that he speaks to is a person that finally feels like they’re being taken seriously, they’re being paid attention to. And he’s concerned about their issues.”
He added: “That is the guttural core of what I would call the party base right now, the Trump base.”
Politico: “After their highest-profile recruits passed on Senate campaigns, Democrats are relying on a collection of relatively unknown and untested candidates to retake the Senate in 2020 — a challenging task given a map tilted toward Republican territory. But what the recruits lack in name ID, party leaders say, they compensate for with their profiles: Several are women and military veterans, boasting the type of resumes that Democrats rode to the House majority last year.”
Said Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY): “These are sort of on the 2018 House model. Most of them are not traditional, old-time politicians. They are new, fresh-faced.”
A federal judge says new evidence paints a “disturbing picture” that racial discrimination may be the motive behind the Trump administration’s push to ask everyone in the country about citizenship status, the AP reports.
Said U.S. District Judge George Hazel: “It is becoming difficult to avoid seeing that which is increasingly clear. As more puzzle pieces are placed on the mat, a disturbing picture of the decisionmakers’ motives takes shape.”
“The U.S. Supreme Court could soon render Hazel’s decision moot. The country’s highest court is expected to decide this week whether the Trump administration can add a citizenship question to the 2020 census.”
“The Treasury Department’s internal watchdog has agreed to look into why designs of a new $20 bill featuring Harriet Tubman will not be unveiled next year,” the New York Times reports.
“Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-NY), the Democratic leader, last week asked the Treasury Department’s inspector general to open an investigation following Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin’s announcement at a May Congressional hearing that designs of the new $20 would be unveiled in 2026 instead of 2020 — the 100th anniversary of women gaining the right to vote.”
Related: A Harriet Tubman stamp is being sold for those who want to make their own.
“Retired Brig. Gen. Don Bolduc (R) announced Monday that he would run for the U.S. Senate in New Hampshire against Democratic incumbent Jeanne Shaheen, setting up what may be one of the marquee congressional races of 2020,” CBS News reports.
John Ellis: “Major media coverage of a presidential campaign breaks down into four parts: the preprimary season, the primary season, the summer conventions, and the general election season (including the debates and the expensive election night broadcast).”
“What happens every four years, without fail, is that major media organizations blow through their preprimary budgets. In the run-up to the Iowa caucuses, they have already begun eating into the budget for primary coverage. By the time the Iowa caucus results are reported and the campaign caravan decamps to New Hampshire, the CFOs of the various news organizations (and their parent companies) are apoplectic, muttering darkly about ‘wild overspending.’ Word quickly comes down from on high: It has to stop.”
“And stop it does. After New Hampshire, the coverage of many candidates becomes the coverage of two (maybe three, but probably not). Costs are cut by relying on affiliates and local news outlets to provide video and text from ‘the campaign trail,’ which is then stitched together by producers and editors in New York.”
“The real campaign plays out in Manhattan and Washington television studios. Cable news outlets (especially) make every effort to push the ‘campaign’ into television studios and away from ‘the campaign trail.'”
Beto O’Rourke called for Congress to enact a “war tax” any time the country goes to war, with the proceeds going to care for veterans of the conflict, Politico reports.
Taegan Goddard is the founder of Political Wire, one of the earliest and most influential political web sites. He also runs Political Job Hunt, Electoral Vote Map and the Political Dictionary.
Goddard spent more than a decade as managing director and chief operating officer of a prominent investment firm in New York City. Previously, he was a policy adviser to a U.S. Senator and Governor.
Goddard is also co-author of You Won - Now What? (Scribner, 1998), a political management book hailed by prominent journalists and politicians from both parties. In addition, Goddard's essays on politics and public policy have appeared in dozens of newspapers across the country.
Goddard earned degrees from Vassar College and Harvard University. He lives in New York with his wife and three sons.
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