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Archives for May 2017

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White House Grants Ethics Waivers to 17 Appointees

May 31, 2017 at 10:55 pm EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

“The White House disclosed Wednesday evening that it has granted ethics waivers to 17 appointees who work for President Trump and Vice President Pence, including four former lobbyists,” the Washington Post reports.

“The waivers exempt the appointees from certain portions of ethics rules aimed at barring potential conflicts of interest. In letters posted on the White House website, the White House counsel’s office wrote that the waivers were in the public interest because the administration had a need for the appointees’ expertise on certain issues.”

“The rate at which the Trump White House has handed out waivers is far faster than that of the Obama administration, which issued 17 exemptions for White House appointees over eight years.”

Filed Under: Ethics, White House

Clinton Blames the ‘Bankrupt’ DNC Data Operation

May 31, 2017 at 10:18 pm EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

This piece is only available to Political Wire members.

One of the most interesting things Hillary Clinton revealed in her interview at the Code Conference was the state of the Democratic National Committee:

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Filed Under: 2016 Campaign, Democrats, Members

Obama Buys Washington, D.C. Home for $8.1 Million

May 31, 2017 at 10:00 pm EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

Former President Obama and former first lady Michelle purchased the home in Washington, DC that they have been renting, the Chicago Sun-Times has learned, closing on the $8.1 million purchase on Wednesday.

Said a spokesman: “Given that President and Mrs. Obama will be in Washington for at least another two-and-a-half years, it made sense for them to buy a home rather than continuing to rent property.”

Filed Under: Obama legacy


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Congress Investigating Another Sessions Meeting

May 31, 2017 at 8:16 pm EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

“Congressional investigators are examining whether Attorney General Jeff Sessions had an additional private meeting with Russia’s ambassador during the presidential campaign,” CNN reports.

“Investigators on the Hill are requesting additional information, including schedules from Sessions… They are focusing on whether such a meeting took place April 27, 2016, at the Mayflower Hotel in Washington, DC, where then-candidate Donald Trump was delivering his first major foreign policy address. Prior to the speech, then-Sen. Sessions and Russian Ambassador Sergey Kislyak attended a small VIP reception with organizers, diplomats and others.”

Filed Under: 2018 Campaign Tagged With: Jeff Sessions, Sergey Kislyak

Trump Moves to Return Russian Compounds

May 31, 2017 at 8:12 pm EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

“The Trump administration is moving toward handing back to Russia two diplomatic compounds, near New York City and on Maryland’s Eastern Shore, from which its officials were ejected in late December as punishment for Moscow’s interference in the 2016 presidential election,” the Washington Post reports.

“Then-President Barack Obama said Dec. 29 that the compounds were being ‘used by Russian personnel for intelligence-related purposes,’ and gave Russia 24 hours to vacate them. Separately, Obama expelled from the United States what he said were 35 Russian ‘intelligence operatives.'”

Filed Under: Foreign Affairs Tagged With: Russia

Sean Spicer Storms Out of Briefing Again

May 31, 2017 at 7:10 pm EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

CNN: “For two days in a row, since returning from President Trump’s trip abroad, the White House press secretary has held uncharacteristically short press briefings in which he claimed not to know the answer to questions, outsourced questions to other officials or dismissed the premise of questions entirely.”

“Both briefings included less than 20 minutes for questions — far less than most prior briefings — and ended with Spicer abruptly exiting the room to the consternation of reporters.”

Filed Under: White House Tagged With: Sean Spicer

Mulvaney Slams the CBO

May 31, 2017 at 7:08 pm EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

White House Budget Director Mick Mulvaney opened fire on the Congressional Budget Office, asserting in an interview with the Washington Examiner that the day of the CBO as a non-partisan arbiter of legislation “has probably come and gone.”

Mulvaney claimed the CBO’s scoring of the House Republican healthcare bill was “absurd.”

He added: “How much power do we give to the CBO under the 1974 Budget Act? We’re hearing now that the person in charge of the Affordable Health Care Act methodology is an alum of the Hillarycare program in the 1990s who was brought in by Democrats to score the ACA.”

Filed Under: Budget & Taxes

Early Signs of a Wave

May 31, 2017 at 6:57 pm EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

This piece is only available to Political Wire members.

Democrats have gained significant ground in the three special elections so far this year — KS-4, GA-6 and MT-AL — even though they haven’t yet won a single race.

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Filed Under: 2018 Campaign, Members

Biden Launches a Political Action Committee

May 31, 2017 at 6:55 pm EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

Former Vice President Joe Biden “is planning to create a political action committee, the most concrete sign yet that he intends to remain active in the Democratic Party and is considering a presidential bid in 2020,” the New York Times reports.

“The American Possibilities PAC will offer the former vice president a platform he can use to nurture relationships with donors, travel on behalf of the party and contribute to candidates in the two governor’s races in November and in next year’s midterm elections… By creating a political organization, Mr. Biden, 74, is also sending an unmistakable message to the many other Democrats eyeing the White House that he is not planning to quietly recede into retirement.”

Filed Under: 2020 Campaign Tagged With: Joe Biden

Russia Investigation Could Reveal Trump’s Tax Returns

May 31, 2017 at 6:08 pm EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

Politico: “The president and his beleaguered White House staff have given no outward sign that they have thought about the prospect yet. But in interviews, veteran federal prosecutors and legal scholars said that Mueller, who began his investigation only last week, has clear-cut authority to obtain the president’s tax returns—perhaps the most sensitive and sought-after government documents since the Pentagon Papers—from the IRS if Mueller suspects they might contain evidence of a crime.”

“And short of firing Mueller and shutting down his investigation, Trump—who is the first president in 40 years to refuse to make his tax returns public, despite once promising to do so— would have almost no way of stopping him. In fact, the prosecutors said, the president and his lawyers would not necessarily even know that Mueller had obtained them.”

Filed Under: White House

What Will It Take for Republicans to Turn on Trump?

May 31, 2017 at 5:53 pm EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

This piece is only available to Political Wire members.

As scandal consumes the White House, it’s been remarkable how little Republicans actually challenge President. For the most part, they’ve stood by him despite potentially treasonous allegations that he conspired with a hostile adversary to undermine American democracy.

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Filed Under: Members, Republicans, White House Tagged With: Hillary Clinton

Bonus Quote of the Day

May 31, 2017 at 5:12 pm EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

“They paid me.”

— Hillary Clinton, in an interview by Recode, on why she spoke at Goldman Sachs.

Filed Under: Business of Politics Tagged With: Hillary Clinton

Trump Keeps In Touch with Roger Stone

May 31, 2017 at 5:01 pm EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

Ryan Lizza: “Part of being a Trump adviser is to constantly put up with Trump’s abuse and willingness to attack or publicly undercut you… Stone has been through this cycle many times over. As Stone left the studio on May 11th, the President, who the evening before had essentially pretended not to know him anymore, had a simple message: good job.”

“But, aside from contradicting Trump’s claim of not talking to Stone, the call is unusual for another reason.”

Explained ethics lawyer Norm Eisen: “The conventional wisdom is that when someone has exposure to obstruction-of-justice liability, as Trump certainly does, he should avoid unnecessary reaching out to others involved in the investigation, lest he make things worse for himself. But Trump is famously unorthodox. Indeed, that is how he got into this mess in the first place. Trump just added another item to the investigators’ checklist.”

Filed Under: White House Tagged With: Roger Stone

Clinton Rips Media for Coverage of Her Email Server

May 31, 2017 at 4:35 pm EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

“Hillary Clinton lambasted the media’s coverage of her use of a private email server as secretary of State, arguing Wednesday that she did nothing wrong and charging that the media’s fixation on the matter allowed Republicans to effectively exploit it,” The Hill reports.

Clinton argued that most people viewed the issue as “the biggest nothing-burger ever.”

Said Clinton: “They covered it like it was Pearl Harbor.”

Filed Under: 2016 Campaign, Media Buzz Tagged With: Hillary Clinton

House Panel Issues Seven Subpoenas in Russia Probe

May 31, 2017 at 4:31 pm EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

“The House Intelligence Committee issued seven subpoenas in a sign that its investigation into alleged Russian meddling in the 2016 election is ramping up in scope and intensity,” the Wall Street Journal reports.

“The Republican-led committee issued four subpoenas related to the Russia investigation. Three others are related to questions about how and why the names of associates of President Trump were unredacted and distributed within classified reports by Obama administration officials during the transition between administrations.”

Filed Under: 2016 Campaign, House of Representatives Tagged With: Russia

New Bonus for Members

May 31, 2017 at 3:20 pm EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

Starting tomorrow, Political Wire members will get a free pass to view an excellent new documentary on the 2016 presidential campaign, Democracy Through the Looking Glass.

Here’s a preview:

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Members get exclusive analysis, bonus features and no advertising. Learn more.

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Filed Under: Members

Elon Musk Threatens to Stop Advising Trump

May 31, 2017 at 2:59 pm EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

Elon Musk has threatened to cease advising President Trump on business issues “amid reports that the United States is expected to withdraw from a major international climate pact,” Recode reports.

“The SpaceX and Tesla founder has been a longtime public advocate for the Paris agreement, an accord signed by former President Obama — and almost every other major country — that seeks to reduce worldwide carbon emissions. Musk has even used his seat on one of Trump’s economic advisory councils to push Trump to stay on board with the accord.”

Filed Under: Environment, White House Tagged With: Elon Musk

Comey Will Testify on Trump Interactions

May 31, 2017 at 1:13 pm EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

“Fired FBI director James Comey plans to testify publicly in the Senate as early as next week to confirm bombshell accusations that President Trump pressured him to end his investigation into a top Trump aide’s ties to Russia,” CNN reports.

“When he testifies, Comey is unlikely to be willing to discuss in any detail the FBI’s investigation into the charges of possible collusion between Russia and the Trump campaign — the centerpiece of the probe… But he appears eager to discuss his tense interactions with Trump before his firing, which have now spurred allegations that the president may have tried to obstruct the investigation.”

Filed Under: White House Tagged With: James Comey

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About Political Wire

goddard-bw-snapshotTaegan 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.

Goddard is the owner of Goddard Media LLC.

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