Daily Archives

June 12, 2017

32 posts · Monday

J.P. Morgan Pulls Ads Over Megyn Kelly’s Interview

June 12, 2017 at 8:48 pm EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

J.P. Morgan Chase has pulled its advertisements from NBC News in light of Megyn Kelly’s upcoming interview with Infowars host Alex Jones, the Wall Street Journal reports.

Hollywood Reporter: “Critics argue that NBC’s platform legitimizes the views of a man who, among other conspiracy theories, has suggested that the killing of 26 people at the Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Connecticut, in 2012 was a hoax. The network released a brief portion of the interview, which is scheduled to air on Sunday.”

Trump Discussed Firing Mueller

June 12, 2017 at 8:11 pm EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

In a PBS Newshour interview, President Trump’s friend, Newsmax CEO Chris Ruddy, said the president has discussed firing special counsel Robert Mueller.

Said Ruddy: “I think he’s considering perhaps terminating the special counsel. I think he’s weighing that option. I think it’s pretty clear by what one of his lawyers said on television recently.”

Ruddy was seen leaving the White House shortly before the interview.

For members: Trump Allies Lay Groundwork for Firing Mueller

Trump Voters Split on Body-Slamming Reporters

June 12, 2017 at 8:05 pm EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

A new Public Policy Polling survey finds President Trump’s supporters are split on whether it’s appropriate for a politician to “body-slam” a journalist: 45% say it’s not acceptable while 42% said it was.

Lewandowski Says Comey Wants Lucrative Book Deal

June 12, 2017 at 7:53 pm EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

President Trump’s former campaign manager Corey Lewandowski accused fired FBI Director James Comey of being a liar out to make money through a lucrative book deal, The Hill reports.

Said Lewandowski: “Don’t kid yourself, Jim Comey is a person who has made a career – a very good career – living in Washington. And what we saw this week – I’m shocked by this news – is Jim Comey’s about to sign a $10 million book deal, right?”

He added. “It’s amazing how these guys go from government service to multi-millionaires, and people wonder why Washington is broken.”

$40 Million Spent on Ads In Georgia’s 6th

June 12, 2017 at 7:49 pm EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

Ad spending in Georgia’s 6th congressional district race has reached nearly $40 million, “easily cementing the congressional contest as the most expensive of its kind in U.S. history,” according to new data shared with NBC News.

Treasury Will Run Out of Money In September

June 12, 2017 at 5:34 pm EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said the Treasury Department “only has enough money to fund the government through early September, a much earlier timeline than many analysts had projected,” the Washington Post reports.

“Mnuchin’s comments, made at a congressional hearing, came in response to a question about the debt ceiling, which is preventing Treasury from borrowing enough money to cover the large gap between how much money the government brings in through revenue and how much it spends.”

Plurality Think Trump Obstructed Justice

June 12, 2017 at 4:45 pm EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

A new Public Policy Polling survey finds 49% of voters think President Trump obstructed justice, to just 41% who don’t think he did.

Also interesting: Only 37% of voters say they think Trump is honest, as compared to 56% who say he’s not. And for the second month in a row a plurality support for impeachment: 47% are in support compared to 43% who are opposed.

DeMint Will Try to Organize a Convention of States

June 12, 2017 at 4:32 pm EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

Former Sen. Jim DeMint (R-SC),” ousted last month as head of the Heritage Foundation think tank, is joining a fast-growing, conservative movement that is pushing states to seek a constitutional convention to rein in federal spending and power,” USA Today reports.

“DeMint, a prominent figure among the Tea Party activists who helped Republicans seize control of the U.S. House of Representatives in 2010, will serve as a senior adviser to the Convention of the States Project, providing a jolt to its efforts to marshal grassroots support for a state-led movement to amend the U.S. Constitution.”

Jonathan Swan: “A large and growing number of conservatives — the Convention of States project boasts more than 2.2 million supporters throughout the country — are concluding that the election of Donald Trump will do little to change the permanent bureaucracy in Washington.”

Secret Service Has No Records of Taping in White House

June 12, 2017 at 3:49 pm EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

The U.S. Secret Service has no audio copies or transcripts of any tapes recorded within President Trump’s White House, the Wall Street Journal reports.

“The agency’s response to a freedom of information request submitted by The Wall Street Journal doesn’t exclude the possibility that recordings could have been created by another entity. The question of a White House recording system has lingered for more than a month since Mr. Trump first raised the possibility in a provocative tweet about fired FBI Director James Comey.”

Extra Bonus Quote of the Day

June 12, 2017 at 2:08 pm EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

“Never has there been a president….with few exceptions…who’s passed more legislation, who’s done more things than I have.”

— President Trump, quoted by CNN, at his first cabinet meeting.

Gianforte Sentenced for ‘Body Slamming’ Reporter

June 12, 2017 at 1:50 pm EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

Rep.-elect Greg Gianforte (R-MT) admitted a charge of misdemeanor assault for “body slamming” a reporter on the eve of his election, the Billings Gazette reports.

Judge Rick West “ordered Gianforte to complete 20 hours of anger management counseling and 40 hours of community service. He was given a deferred 6-month jail sentence. If he does not violate the conditions of his sentence, the charge will be dismissed.”

9th Circuit Rules Against Trump Travel Ban

June 12, 2017 at 1:47 pm EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

“Another federal court has ruled against President Trump’s revised executive order limiting travel from six predominately Muslim countries,” CNN reports.

“The ruling from a three-judge panel of the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals is yet another stinging loss from a court that similarly refused to reinstate Trump’s original executive order on travel in February.”

History Shows the Bottom Can Fall Out Quickly for Trump

June 12, 2017 at 12:40 pm EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

This piece is only available to Political Wire members.

As the scandals build around President Trump, it’s instructive to look at how long it took for President Richard Nixon to lose support before he was forced from office.

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Senate GOP Won’t Release Draft of Health Care Bill

June 12, 2017 at 12:01 pm EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

“Senate Republicans are on track to finish writing their draft health care bill this evening, but have no plans to publicly release the bill,” Axios reports.

Said one of the aides: “We aren’t stupid.”

One issue is that Senate Republicans plan to keep talking about it after the draft is done: “We are still in discussions about what will be in the final product so it is premature to release any draft absent further member conversations and consensus.”

Trump Once Had to Admit 30 Lies Under Oath

June 12, 2017 at 12:00 pm EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

Timothy O’Brien: “A decade ago, my lawyers questioned Trump under oath during a deposition in a libel case he filed against me for a biography I wrote, TrumpNation. (Trump lost the case in 2011.) Trump had to acknowledge 30 times during that deposition that he had lied over the years about a wide range of issues: his ownership stake in a large Manhattan real estate development; the cost of a membership to one of his golf clubs; the size of the Trump Organization; his wealth; the rate for his speaking appearances; how many condos he had sold; the debt he owed, and whether he borrowed money from his family to stave off personal bankruptcy.”

“Trump also lied during the deposition about his business relationships with organized crime figures.”

Russia Was Helped by ‘Treasonous’ Americans

June 12, 2017 at 11:07 am EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

Virginia Gov. Terry McAuliffe (D) told Politico that the Russians had “treasonous” guidance from Americans in hacking the 2016 presidential election.

Said McAuliffe: “Somebody had to give these people a roadmap. So I believe somewhere in this, somebody was directing the Russians on whose names to use, what impact these certain people sending a memo would have on the American electorate. I mean, they just didn’t sit over in some cubicle over there somewhere in Moscow and figure this out.”

Obamacare Is In Real Danger

June 12, 2017 at 11:00 am EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

Sarah Kliff: “Senate Republicans began to coalesce around the framework of a plan to repeal and replace the law last week. Their plan would, like the bill the House passed in May, almost certainly cause millions of low-income Americans to lose coverage by ending the Medicaid expansion. It would help the young and healthy at the expense of the older and the sick.”

“Meanwhile, across the nation, health insurance plans are beginning to flee the Obamacare marketplace. They’ve cited the uncertainty around the health care law’s future, sown by congressional Republicans and the Trump administration. The number of counties with zero health plans signed up to sell 2018 coverage keeps growing.”

“The possibility that Republicans will repeal Obamacare or drive it into collapse is an increasingly real one. That’s a reality where millions fewer have health insurance coverage and lower-income Americans struggle to afford coverage.”

Georgia’s Special Election Is a Must-Win for Democrats

June 12, 2017 at 10:58 am EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

Stuart Rothenberg: “Jon Ossoff’s defeat would not tell us what will happen seventeen months from now in the 2018 midterms any more than Republican Tim Burns’ defeat in a 2010 Pennsylvania special election presaged that year’s midterm outcome nationally. And it probably wouldn’t impact Democratic recruiting much or dry up fund raising for very long.”

“But a Democratic loss would have a significant impact on the political narrative of the summer and early fall, right up to November’s gubernatorial contests in New Jersey and Virginia. And another special election defeat, in an upscale district that did not embrace Donald Trump the way districts in Kansas and Montana did, would lead to another round of finger-pointing and self-flagellation by Democrats still consumed by their 2016 defeat.”