Daily Archives
11 posts · Saturday
“Controversial Milwaukee County Sheriff David Clarke has withdrawn his acceptance of a job as an assistant secretary for the US Department of Homeland Security,” a representative for the sheriff told BuzzFeed News.
“However, neither the White House nor the Department of Homeland Security has ever publicly confirmed Clarke was offered the job.”
“Six members of the Presidential Advisory Council on HIV/AIDS have resigned, furious at what they say is the new administration’s regressive health policies and a lack of care from President Trump,” BuzzFeed reports.
The six wrote a letter to Newsweek: “As advocates for people living with HIV, we have dedicated our lives to combating this disease and no longer feel we can do so effectively within the confines of an advisory body to a president who simply does not care.”
President Trump “has done business with royals from Saudi Arabia for at least 20 years, since he sold the Plaza Hotel to a partnership formed by a Saudi prince. Mr. Trump has earned millions of dollars from the United Arab Emirates for putting his name on a golf course, with a second soon to open,” the New York Times reports.
“He has never entered the booming market in neighboring Qatar, however, despite years of trying.”
“Now a feud has broken out among these three crucial American allies, and Mr. Trump has thrown his weight firmly behind the two countries where he has business ties, raising new concerns about the appearance of a conflict between his public role and his financial incentives.”
Politico: “The legal interests of President Donald Trump and his aides are dramatically diverging as special counsel Robert Mueller expands his probe into possible obstruction of justice – and as the president ratchets up his attacks on the investigators. While Trump’s personal attorney, Marc Kasowitz, recently told White House staffers they can rely on him, rather than hire their own lawyers, some of the people closest to Trump aren’t taking that advice.”
“More White House staffers are likely to hire lawyers and splinter off as the president’s response to the investigation grows increasingly aggressive.”
Politico: “Special counsel Robert Mueller has added 13 attorneys — with more still to come — as his investigation quickly expands beyond potential collusion between President Donald Trump’s campaign with Russia to potential obstruction of justice case by the president… The prosecution team has experience going after everything from the Mafia and Enron to al Qaeda and President Richard Nixon.”
Newt Gingrich said that a “president cannot obstruct justice,” The Hill reports.
Said Gingrich: “The president of the United States is the chief executive officer of the United States. If he wants to fire the FBI director, all he has to do is fire him.
Los Angeles Times: That’s not what he said in 1998.
Byron York: “A key lesson emerged from the testimony of Attorney General Jeff Sessions before the Senate Intelligence Committee this week: Without the president’s decision to fire FBI Director James Comey, the Trump-Russia investigation would be on a downward trajectory. The collusion charge, originally the heart of the investigation, would be fading for lack of evidence. Investigators would be going down side roads involving Flynn and Manafort in which the public would have little interest.”
“But not after Comey. At the Sessions hearing, Democrats had nothing new on collusion. They barely seemed interested. Instead, they focused to a great extent on trying to get Sessions to reveal what the president did or did not say in private discussions — about Comey. On the Democratic side of the hearing — and much of the Republican side, as well — the issue was Comey, Comey, Comey. In the end, it could be that the president’s impatience to get rid of Comey in order to shorten an investigation that he believed to be going nowhere resulted in a new investigation that could last the rest of Trump’s time in office.”
New York Times: “Inside the White House, those close to the president say he has continued to fume about the actions of Justice Department officials, his anger focused mostly on Mr. Rosenstein for appointing Mr. Mueller and on Attorney General Jeff Sessions, a longtime political ally whose decision to recuse himself from the Russia case in March enraged Mr. Trump…”
“While he has left open the possibility of dismissing Mr. Mueller and began considering it shortly after the special counsel was appointed last month, the president’s anger has been largely trained on Mr. Sessions and Mr. Rosenstein, whom he views less as executors of law than as salaried staff.”
Associated Press: “Trump advisers and confidants describe the president as increasingly angry over the investigation, yelling at television sets in the White House carrying coverage and insisting he is the target of a conspiracy to discredit — and potentially end — his presidency.”
Politico profiles Jason Kander (D), who lost his U.S. Senate race in Missouri last year but is in demand as a speaker at Democratic events across the country.
“It’s a measure of the Democratic Party right now that the politicians generating the most excitement are the former president, the former vice president, a 74-year old senator who’s not officially a Democrat, a 67-year old Massachusetts senator whom many centrists believe would turn the party’s economic to the radical left, and a guy who lost a Senate race. It’s a measure of Democrats’ current ‘anyone can run’ thinking around the 2020 field that Kander is being discussed at all—though that often gets stopped with a, ‘well, not anyone.'”
House Majority Whip Rep. Steve Scalise (R-LA) was at “imminent risk of death” when he arrived at a hospital Wednesday after sustaining a gunshot to his hip during baseball practice, CBS News reports.
Said Dr. Jack Sava: “When he arrived, he was in critical condition with an imminent risk of death. He will certainly be in the hospital for a considerable period of time, presumably weeks.”
Politico: Five terrifying minutes on a baseball field.
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.
Goddard is the owner of Goddard Media LLC.