Daily Archives

November 13, 2017

29 posts · Monday

Sessions Mulls Special Counsel to Investigate Clinton

November 13, 2017 at 8:22 pm EST By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

Attorney General Jeff Sessions “is entertaining the idea of appointing a second special counsel to investigate a host of Republican concerns — including alleged wrongdoing by the Clinton Foundation and the controversial sale of a uranium company to Russia — and has directed senior federal prosecutors to explore at least some of the matters and report back to him and his top deputy,” the Washington Post reports.

“The list of matters he wanted probed was wide ranging, but included the FBI’s handling of the investigation into Hillary Clinton’s use of a private email server while she was secretary of state, various dealings of the Clinton Foundation and several matters connected to the purchase of the Canadian mining company Uranium One by Russia’s nuclear energy agency.”

New York Times: “The decision to examine those matters raises questions about whether Mr. Trump is trying to use the Justice Department to investigate his political rivals and distract from the special counsel’s investigation into his presidential campaign. It also comes at a tenuous time for Attorney General Jeff Sessions, whom Mr. Trump has hinted to advisers he may want to fire.”

RNC Still Supporting Roy Moore

November 13, 2017 at 8:05 pm EST By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

“About a dozen national party staffers are on the ground in Alabama, handling field organizing duties for next month’s special election between Moore and Democratic nominee Doug Jones,” an RNC official told BuzzFeed News.

Roy Moore Had Been Banned from Shopping Mall

November 13, 2017 at 6:37 pm EST By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

New Yorker: “This past weekend, I spoke or messaged with more than a dozen people—including a major political figure in the state—who told me that they had heard, over the years, that Moore had been banned from the mall because he repeatedly badgered teen-age girls. Some say that they heard this at the time, others in the years since. These people include five members of the local legal community, two cops who worked in the town, several people who hung out at the mall in the early eighties, and a number of former mall employees.”

Blake Usry is quoted by the Birmingham News: “He would go and flirt with all the young girls. It’d seem like every Friday or Saturday night you’d see him walking around the mall, like the kids did.”

Gardner Says Moore Should Be Expelled If Elected

November 13, 2017 at 6:20 pm EST By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

NRSC Chairman Cory Gardner (R-CO) said that Alabama Senate candidate Roy Moore (R) is “unfit to serve,” and he should be expelled from the Senate if he wins next month’s election, following allegations that he initiated a sexual encounter with a 14-year-old girl when he was 32, the Washington Post reports.

The urgent repudiation came just hours after Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) said Moore should end his Senate campaign in Alabama.

Alabama Democrats Don’t Want Outside Help

November 13, 2017 at 6:05 pm EST By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

“Alabama Democrats have a message for out-of-state allies eager to help in the state’s Senate race: Thanks, but no thanks,” NBC News reports.

Said former party executive director Giles Perkins: “I tell them to stay home. This is an Alabama race, and we will decide it here.”

Paul Says He Doesn’t Know Why He Was Attacked

November 13, 2017 at 6:02 pm EST By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

In his first interview since being sucker-attacked 10 days ago while doing yard work in Kentucky, Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY) told the Washington Examiner that there was “no justification” for what happened.

Said Paul: “From my perspective, I’m not really too concerned about what someone’s motive is. I’m just concerned that I was attacked from the back and somebody broke six of my ribs and gave me a damaged lung where at least for now I have trouble speaking and breathing and now I’ve hurt for 10 days.”

Dynamic Score Not Ready as House Vote Nears

November 13, 2017 at 6:00 pm EST By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

“A full analysis of the economic effects of the House tax bill isn’t available yet, according to a Congressional Budget Office document released on Monday. It’s not clear if such an estimate will be ready before the House votes later this week,” the Wall Street Journal reports.

New York Times: Haste on tax measures may leave a trail of loopholes.

Donald Trump Jr. Corresponded with Wikileaks

November 13, 2017 at 4:45 pm EST By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

The Atlantic has private messages between Donald Trump Jr. and Wikileaks.

“The messages… were also turned over by Trump Jr.’s lawyers to congressional investigators. They are part of a long—and largely one-sided—correspondence between Wikileaks and the president’s son that continued until at least July 2017. The messages show Wikileaks, a radical transparency organization that the American intelligence community believes was chosen by the Russian government to disseminate the information it had hacked, actively soliciting Trump Jr.’s cooperation. Wikileaks made a series of increasingly bold requests, including asking for Trump’s tax returns, urging the Trump campaign on Election Day to reject the results of the election as rigged, and requesting that the president-elect tell Australia to appoint Julian Assange ambassador to the United States…”

“Though Trump Jr. mostly ignored the frequent messages from Wikileaks, he at times appears to have acted on its requests.”

No One Knows What Omarosa Does

November 13, 2017 at 4:33 pm EST By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

The Daily Beast reports that no one seems to know what Omarosa Manigault does in the White House.

After the abrupt end to our day in March, I called a Republican source in constant contact with the White House and asked what they thought Omarosa’s job entailed. “No clue,” the source said. I told the source about our whirlwind of a morning.

“Wait, Hope [Hicks] let you follow [Omarosa] around?” the source asked. No, I hadn’t spoken with Hope, who now serves formally as the White House communications director. “So Sean [Spicer] let you?” Ditto. “Christ,” the source said. “No one in the comms department knew a random reporter was walking around the West Wing. This is why people think we’re a shit show.”

Preet Bharara on How to Flip a Witness

November 13, 2017 at 2:54 pm EST By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

Former U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara, who was fired by President Trump earlier this year, joins Chris Riback to discuss the unfolding Russia investigation and how special counsel Robert Muller might try to flip a witness.

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Special thanks to the Cook Political Report for sponsoring this episode!

Another Woman Accuses Moore of Sexual Misconduct

November 13, 2017 at 2:53 pm EST By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

A fifth woman accused Alabama U.S. Senate candidate Roy Moore (R) of making sexual or romantic advances toward her when she was 16 years old, the New York Times reports.

Said Beverly Young Nelson: “I tried fighting him off, while yelling at him to stop, but instead of stopping, he began squeezing my neck attempting to force my head onto his crotch.”

She added: “I continued to struggle. I was determined that I was not going to allow him to force me to have sex with him. I was terrified. He was also trying to pull my shirt off. I thought that he was going to rape me. I was twisting and struggling and begging him to stop. I had tears running down my face.”

Nelson said that Moore warned her that “no one will believe you” if she told anyone about the encounter.

Menendez Trial In Turmoil

November 13, 2017 at 2:27 pm EST By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

“Seven of the 16 jurors and alternates in the trial of Sen. Bob Menendez (D-NJ) raised their hands when U.S. District Judge William Walls on Monday morning asked whether they’d heard or read anything about the case, prompting the judge to take them into his chambers individually to get more details,” the Newark Star Ledger reports.

“The inquiry came after defense attorneys in the trial noted that widespread news coverage of an excused juror’s public statements may have tainted the remaining members of the panel.”

Update: Jurors told the judge that they “are unable to reach a unanimous decision in the case and asked for guidance,” according to the Newark Star Ledger.

Alabama GOP Chair Warns Against Write-In Candidates

November 13, 2017 at 2:14 pm EST By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

Alabama Republican Party Chairman Terry Lathan told the Alabama Political Reporter “that she has not even heard of any GOP elected official or candidate that is even considering running as a write-in candidate against U.S. Senate candidate Roy Moore (R), and Lathan warned GOP officials and candidates not to endorse Doug Jones (D) or a write-in campaign.”

Said Latham: “It would be a serious error for any current elected GOP official or candidate to publicly endorse another party’s candidate, an independent, a third party or a write in candidate in a general election as well. I have heard of no GOP elected official or candidate that is even considering this option.”

Nominee Did Not Disclose Wife Works in White House

November 13, 2017 at 2:02 pm EST By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

“One of President Trump’s most controversial judicial nominees did not disclose on publicly available congressional documents that he is married to a senior lawyer in the White House Counsel’s Office,” the New York Times reports.

“The nominee, Brett Talley, is awaiting a Senate confirmation vote that could come as early as Monday to become a federal district judge in Alabama. He is married to Ann Donaldson, the chief of staff to the White House counsel, Donald McGahn.”

Bonus Quote of the Day

November 13, 2017 at 1:07 pm EST By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

“I hope they spend $100 million trying to win the South.”

— Former Mississippi Gov. Haley Barbour (R), quoted by Politico, on Democrats seeing opportunity in the South.

Woman Says Bush Groped Her When She was 16

November 13, 2017 at 12:53 pm EST By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

“Roslyn Corrigan was sixteen years old when she got a chance to meet George H.W. Bush, excited to be introduced to a former president having grown up dreaming of going into politics,” Time reports.

“But Corrigan was crushed by her encounter: Bush, then 79 years old, groped her buttocks at a November 2003 event in The Woodlands, Texas, office of the Central Intelligence Agency where Corrigan’s father gathered with fellow intelligence officers and family members to meet Bush, Corrigan said. Corrigan is the sixth woman since Oct. 24 to accuse Bush publicly of grabbing her buttocks without consent.”

An Unmistakable Midterm Wave Is Forming

November 13, 2017 at 12:30 pm EST By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

This piece is only available to Political Wire members.

With less than a year until the midterm elections, there are signs a Democratic wave may be forming that will sweep over Republicans next year.

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What Is Kansas Trying to Hide?

November 13, 2017 at 12:22 pm EST By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

“Kansas runs one of the most secretive state governments in the nation, and its secrecy permeates nearly every aspect of service, the Kansas City Star found in a months-long investigation.”

“From the governor’s office to state agencies, from police departments to business relationships to health care, on the floors of the House and Senate, a veil has descended over the years and through administrations on both sides of the political aisle.”