Daily Archives
34 posts · Wednesday
Ty Cobb, the White House lawyer leading the response to the Russia investigation, told the New York Times that President Trump “was speaking hurriedly and intended only to say that he was willing to meet” with special counsel Robert Mueller and not necessarily be interviewed under oath.
Said Cobb: “He’s ready to meet with them, but he’ll be guided by the advice of his personal counsel.”
“Two Democrats on the Senate Judiciary Committee on Wednesday pressed the committee’s Republican chairman to provide special counsel Robert Mueller with transcripts of the panel’s interviews with key witnesses in its Russia probe, including Donald Trump Jr,” Politico reports.
“It also amounted to a suggestion that witnesses — potentially including Donald Trump Jr., who sat for an interview in September — may have made false statements to the committee.”
President Trump said for the first time “that he is open to a path to citizenship for some younger undocumented immigrants known as “dreamers” in an immigration deal being negotiated by Congress, a potential breakthrough in the stalled talks,” the Washington Post reports.
“In an impromptu discussion with reporters, Trump emphasized that his support of a citizenship path for about 690,000 immigrants would be contingent on securing $25 billion for a wall on the southwest border with Mexico and $5 billion for additional border upgrades. The president also is expected to continue his push to curb legal immigration as part of a deal.”
New York Times: “Mr. Trump once again seemed to undercut his administration’s message, telling reporters at the White House that he would allow the young illegal immigrants to ‘morph into’ citizens over a period of time.”
“Senate Democrats are willing to drop their demand that relief for Dreamers be tied to any long-term budget agreement — a potential breakthrough on spending talks, but one that could face opposition from their House counterparts,” Politico reports.
“The shift comes in response to the deal struck between Senate leaders Monday to reopen the government and begin debate on an immigration bill next month. Meanwhile, budget negotiators are expressing optimism that a two-year agreement to lift stiff caps on defense and domestic spending is increasingly within reach.”
Felix Salmon: “I’ve always been OK with adding up the wealth of the rich, and looking at an annual increase is a great way of demonstrating just how enormous the returns to capital were in 2017. Of course, if stocks had gone down instead of up, those returns would have been negative, and Oxfam would have concentrated on something else. But at the end of this crazy bull market, it’s always worth remembering just how enormous the big winners’ gains have been.”
“Specifically, the world’s billionaires – the richest 2,000 people on the planet – saw their wealth increase by a staggering $762 billion in just one year. That’s an average of $381 million apiece. If those billionaires had simply been content with staying at their 2016 wealth, and had given their one-year gains to the world’s poorest people instead, then extreme poverty would have been eradicated. Hell, they could have eradicated extreme poverty, at least in theory, by giving up just one seventh of their annual gains.”
President Trump said that he was willing to speak under oath to Robert Mueller, the special counsel investigating Russia’s interference in the 2016 presidential campaign, the New York Times reports.
Said Trump: “I’m looking forward to it.”
President Trump’s close political advisers “are making millions of dollars working for several different entities gearing up for Trump’s re-election campaign — raising questions about whether they are following campaign finance laws designed to keep campaigns from coordinating with big-money outside groups,” BuzzFeed reports.
“Campaigns and party committees are not allowed to coordinate with allied outside groups that are supposed to be independent, such as super PACs and nonprofits. But the Federal Election Commission, which is governed by a board of three Republicans and three Democrats and usually deadlocks on issues, has hardly enforced that rule.”
The White House said that President Trump will release a framework for what he hopes to see in an immigration reform bill on Monday, Axios reports.
Asked whether that’ll include a path to citizenship for Dreamers, Press Secretary Sarah Sanders said: “If I told you now it would kind of take away the fun for Monday.”
Vice President Mike Pence broke a 49 to 49 tie in the U.S. Senate to confirm Kansas Gov. Sam Brownback as U.S. Ambassador-at-Large for International Religious Freedom, the Kansas City Star reports.
A final Senate vote to confirm the nomination likely could take place as early as Thursday, officially clearing the way for Lt. Gov. Jeff Colyer (R) to succeed Brownback as governor.
There are dozens of new job listings over at Political Job Hunt.
A new Quinnipiac poll finds the government shutdown hurt Democrats in Congress and President Trump more than Republicans in Congress.
Democrats are responsible, 32% of voters say, while 31% say President Trump is responsible and 18% point to Republicans.
“Special counsel Robert Mueller’s team wants to question former White House chief strategist Steve Bannon about the firings of national security adviser Michael Flynn and FBI Director James Comey,” CNN reports.
“Bannon is set to interview with Mueller by the end of the month, these people say, as the special counsel’s investigation moves closer to President Trump’s inner circle.”
Sen. Bob Corker (R-TN) said President Trump’s unpredictability “is paying dividends for the United States abroad as his administration tries to reshape the nation’s role in the world,” the Washington Post reports.
Said Corker: “The president and I haven’t always seen eye to eye. On the other hand, I’ve seen where that unpredictability has been helpful in negotiations.”
He added: “He’s has done an incredible job of rallying the animal spirits in our country, there’s no question.”
A new Pew Research poll finds that opinions are divided about the new tax law’s impact on the country as a whole: 35% say the law will have a mostly positive effect on the country, 40% a mostly negative effect and 15% say it will have little effect.
“Senior U.S. intelligence officers including CIA Director Mike Pompeo have been questioned by the U.S. special counsel’s team about whether President Trump tried to obstruct justice in the Russia probe,” sources told Reuters.
“Such questioning is further indication that Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s federal investigation into alleged Russian meddling in the 2016 U.S. election and potential collusion by Trump’s campaign includes examining the president’s actions around the probe.”
Playbook: “Congress will need another stopgap spending bill on Feb. 8, because there is no chance the House will have an immigration deal by then, even if the Senate does. Then Congress would pass another stopgap until March — just before the ultimate expiration of DACA.”
CNN: “While 2020 polling in 2018 is of relatively limited value, a deeper dive into potential Trump head-to-head matchups with Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont, former Vice President Joe Biden and talk show host Oprah Winfrey reveals a major problem for Trump as he seeks to build a winning coalition in 2020: Women — across virtually every age, education and racial range — have moved against him in major numbers.”
“Biden holds an eye-popping 36-point edge over Trump among women, while Sanders leads Trump by 30 and Oprah bests him by 29. That’s a very different result than in the 2016 election, when Hillary Clinton beat Trump by 13 points among women, according to exit polling. Orders of magnitude different.”
New York Times: “By any measure, he made a lot of money, the kid from Queens, maybe not as much as he boasted, but a fortune. And yet never accepted, never respected, he remained on the outside pressing his nose against the window of the club of elites he both revered and resented.”
“So when President Trump arrives in this snowy, mountaintop resort where financial titans mingle with heads of state in an annual saturnalia of capitalism, it may feel like a moment of vindication. Never invited when he was merely a businessman, Mr. Trump will arrive on Thursday as leader of the world’s last superpower, commanding attention if not admiration. Whatever else, he cannot be ignored now.”
Taegan Goddard
Taegan Goddard is the founder of Political Wire -- which for more than two decades has been one of the nation's most influential political news sites.
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