Archives for October 2017
Top Brady Strategist May Be Indicted for Payoff
Rep. Bob Brady’s (D-PA) “longtime political strategist has become the latest target in a widening federal probe of a $90,000 payment the congressman made to a primary challenger in 2012 to convince the man to drop out of the race,” the Philadelphia Inquirer reports.
“Ken Smukler, whom prosecutors have accused of helping to secretly funnel some of that money to the rival campaign, is expected to be indicted by a federal grand jury Tuesday.”
Said Brady: “He didn’t do nothing wrong. I don’t know what this is all about.”
House GOP Opens Probe Into Clinton Investigation
“Two powerful House Republican chairmen announced Tuesday that they would jointly investigate the Justice Department’s handling of its 2016 Hillary Clinton investigation — a potential counter-punch to the FBI’s probe of the Trump campaign’s Russia connections,” Politico reports.
“House Judiciary Committee Chairman Bob Goodlatte and House Oversight and Government Reform Committee Chairman Trey Gowdy said they have a host of questions about the FBI’s probe of Clinton’s treatment of classified information.”
Corker Stopped Short of Calling for Trump’s Removal
Sen. Bob Corker (R-TN) unloaded on President Trump during a CNN interview, stating that Trump will be most remembered for “the debasement of our nation.”
He added: “I think at the end of the day, when his term is over. I think the debasing of our nation, the constant not truth telling, just the name calling, the things… I think the debasement of our nation will be what he’ll be remembered most for and that’s regretful.”
Corker also said that he “would not” support Trump again, though he stopped short of saying that Trump should be removed from office.
Trump Has Personally Attacked 1 In 5 GOP Senators
Chris Cillizza: “By my count, Trump has personally attacked 11 senators — or, roughly, 21% of the entire 52 person GOP conference between his time as a candidate and his nine months in the White House.”
Bonus Quote of the Day
“Fuck no, I’m not running for Senate. Are you kidding me?”
— Kid Rock, quoted by the Detroit Free Press, adding that fueling speculation has been “the most creative thing I’ve ever done.”
Exchange of the Day
Sen. Bob Corker (R-TN) gave an extraordinary interview to Savannah Guthrie on the Today Show:
GUTHRIE: Left to his own devices, do you think the president is a threat to national security?
CORKER: I think that there are people who are around him who work in an effort to contain him – that would be Secretary Mattis, Tillerson and General Kelly there as chief of staff.
GUTHRIE: That almost seems to accept the premise of the question: He needs to be contained?
CORKER: I do think, when you’re having the kind of issue we’re having with North Korea where we have a very unstable leader there, when you send out tweets into the region to raise tension, when you kneecap your secretary of state whose diplomacy you have to depend upon … you really move our country into a binary choice which could lead to a world war.
Trump Blasts Corker Again
President Trump tweeted that Sen. Bob Corker (R-TN) “couldn’t get elected dog catcher in Tennessee” and is now fighting the president’s tax reform plan.
He added: “Corker dropped out of the race in Tennessee when I refused to endorse him, and now is only negative on anything Trump. Look at his record!”
Corker responded: “Same untruths from an utterly untruthful president.”
What If There’s No Middle?
Molly Ball follows members of Third Way, a center-left think tank, on a postelection listening tour:
The trip was predicated on the optimistic notion that if Americans would only listen to each other, they would find more that united than divided them. This notion—the idea that, beyond our polarized politics, lies a middle, or third, path on which most can come together in agreement—is Third Way’s raison d’être. It is premised on the idea that partisanship is bad, consensus is good, and that most Americans would like to meet in the middle.
But these are not uncontested assumptions. And, three days into their safari in flyover country, the researchers were hearing some things that disturbed them greatly—sentiments that threatened their beliefs to the very core.
O’Reilly Blames God for Sexual Harassment Allegations
Former Fox News host Bill O’Reilly said he’s “mad at God” for the sexual misconduct allegations he’s faced in recent months, The Hill reports.
Said O’Reilly: “You know, am I mad at God? Yeah, I’m mad at him. I wish I had more protection. I wish this stuff didn’t happen. I can’t explain it to you. Yeah, I’m mad at him.”
Most Think Their Own Group Faces Discrimination
A new NPR poll finds majorities in many ethnic, identity and racial groups in America believe that discrimination exists against their own group, across many areas of people’s daily lives.
Most interesting: 55% of white Americans are among those who feel their group is discriminated against.
GOP Believes House Majority Rides on Tax Reform
Playbook: “Republicans in the House are increasingly bullish that they’ll pass their tax reform bill before the Thanksgiving recess. If everything goes right, it’s possible that can happen. They have 15 legislative days before Thanksgiving.”
“Republicans also says they believe that if they get tax reform through soon, they could stop a number of lawmakers from retiring out of frustration that Congress can’t get anything done. If a bunch of House Republicans head for the exits, it will make it that much harder for the GOP to keep control of the chamber.”
“Republican operatives and top GOP officials increasingly believe the 2018 midterm elections boils down to one simple data point: if the party does not deliver on a large-scale tax cut before the election, they will lose their House majority.”
Quote of the Day
“Until the last year or so, I never heard of the man. Now I’ve heard of him.”
— Former Sen. Harry Reid (D-NV), quoted by Politico, on former Trump adviser Stephen Bannon.
Zinke Directed Donors to Scam PACs
“Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke has directed millions of dollars in political contributions since 2014 to a network of Washington operatives that prominent conservatives have accused of profiting by misleading donors,” Politico reports.
“Beneficiaries of Zinke’s largesse include groups linked to Washington-area political operative Scott Mackenzie, organizer of a Virgin Islands GOP political action committee that hosted the secretary at a St. Croix fundraiser in March. Before that, when Zinke was a Republican congressman from Montana, his political operation steered significant portions of its spending to a handful of Washington, D.C.-area consulting firms that also have had ties to Mackenzie and his associates.”
Key Republicans Quietly Plot Dreamers Deal
Politico: “Key Senate Republicans have begun privately discussing the contours of an immigration plan to shield the hundreds of thousands of Dreamers who will lose work permits and deportation protections starting early next year.”
“Preliminary talks show that influential GOP senators are eager to devise a legislative fix for Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals that could pass muster with both Democrats and President Trump, who said he will start winding down the Obama-era program in March to force lawmakers to come up with a permanent DACA measure with significant border security and enforcement provisions attached.”
Judge Lets Stand Schock Indictment
“A federal judge in Illinois on Monday let stand the vast majority of the indictment against former GOP Rep. Aaron Schock, refusing a defense request to dismiss the charges,” Politico reports.
“Schock was indicted in November 2016 on a variety of corruption charges, including wire fraud, mail fraud, filing false federal tax returns, submitting inaccurate reports to the Federal Election Commission, making false statements, and theft of government funds.”
‘The Cornerstone of My Day’
Another nice note from a reader:
Political Wire has become the cornerstone of my day — I’m scanning the stories typically within 15 minutes of waking up until about 15 minutes before turning the lights out. All the time in between is spent keeping up with all of the current discussions in progress and waiting for the next discussion! Political Wire has turned me into a bona fide political junkie, and I’ve never looked back!
I’m truly thankful for all of the amazing readers who make Political Wire possible.
If you’re not yet a member, join today for just $5 a month or $50 a year.
Trump Once Again Disrupts GOP Legislative Push
President Trump said “that his proposed tax plan would not prompt any changes to Americans’ tax-deferred retirement plans, pushing back against reports that the Republicans are weighing a proposal that would significantly reduce the income workers can save in these popular programs,” the New York Times reports.
“Mr. Trump’s shutdown of the proposal is the first of what many Republicans privately fear could be a presidential pattern that disrupts their efforts to pass a sweeping overhaul of the tax code. In it, Mr. Trump appeared to rule out a politically difficult idea, which, if enacted, would have provided some revenue to help pay for the tax plan.”
- « Previous Page
- 1
- …
- 8
- 9
- 10
- 11
- 12
- …
- 39
- Next Page »