Daily Archives

January 25, 2018

38 posts · Thursday

Trump Ordered Mueller Fired In June

January 25, 2018 at 8:20 pm EST By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

“President Trump ordered the firing last June of Robert Mueller, the special counsel overseeing the Russia investigation, according to four people told of the matter, but ultimately backed down after the White House counsel threatened to resign rather than carry out the directive,” the New York Times reports.

“The West Wing confrontation marks the first time Mr. Trump is known to have tried to fire the special counsel. Mr. Mueller learned about the episode in recent months as his investigators interviewed current and former senior White House officials in his inquiry into whether the president obstructed justice.”

Washington Post: “The incident could now become part of Mueller’s examination of whether Trump has taken steps to try to stymie the investigation.”

Russians Got Thousands to RSVP for Phony Events

January 25, 2018 at 8:12 pm EST By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

“Russian operatives used Facebook to publicize 129 phony event announcements during the 2016 presidential campaign, drawing the attention of nearly 340,000 users — many of whom said they were planning to attend,” the Washington Post reports.

It’s not possible to know how often people gathered in response to the sham announcements, but the numbers highlight how Russian operatives were successful in prompting Americans to express a willingness to take action. In some cases, Russians allegedly working in an office building in St. Petersburg motivated at least some people to mobilize behind various causes, a striking accomplishment for a foreign influence operation.

GOP Candidate Rails Against ‘Feminist She Devils’

January 25, 2018 at 7:01 pm EST By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

Missouri U.S. Senate candidate Courtland Sykes (R) has ignited a social media firestorm with a Facebook post in which he calls feminists “she devils” and expounds on how he wants his wife to cook his dinner, the Kansas City Star reports.

Sykes wrote that he rejects “radical feminism’s crazed definition of modern womanhood” and that he wants daughters who will be homemakers rather than “career obsessed banshees” or “nailbiting manophobic feminist she devils.”

Mueller Had No Interest In Bannon Until Book

January 25, 2018 at 6:58 pm EST By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

A lawyer close to special counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation told the Daily Beast that before the release of Michael Wolff’s book Fire and Fury, the special counsel’s team indicated “zero interest” in questioning President Trump’s former chief strategist Stephen Bannon for their Russia probe.

Bannon himself told Wolff that he didn’t expect to hear from Mueller: “I know no Russians, I don’t know nothin’ about nothin. I’m not being a witness. I’m not hiring a lawyer.”

He’s now expected to talk with the special counsel’s team by the end of the month.

Megyn Kelly to Cover Trump’s State of the Union

January 25, 2018 at 6:45 pm EST By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

NBC staff members are “horrified” that Megyn Kelly will be part of the team covering the State of the Union for the network a source tells the Daily Mail.

The network denied the claim: “Not only is there zero truth to this, but everyone is genuinely excited to see her jump back into political coverage.”

Shutdown Erases Bump In Trump’s Approval

January 25, 2018 at 5:28 pm EST By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

“During a week featuring a three-day government shutdown, the job approval rating of President Trump fell slightly in the latest SurveyMonkey tracking poll, wiping out a holiday ‘bump’ that had lifted briefly lifted his rating as high at 44%.”

“This past week, 40% of Americans say they approve of the way Trump is handling his job as president, while 58% disapprove.”

Trump Will Support Citizenship Path for 1.8 Million

January 25, 2018 at 5:14 pm EST By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

“President Trump’s immigration proposal to Congress will include a path to citizenship for an estimated 1.8 million young undocumented immigrants… more than twice the number of ‘dreamers’ who were enrolled in a deferred action program Trump terminated last fall,” the Washington Post reports.

“The figure represents a significant concession to Democrats but is likely to produce sharp blowback among conservative Republicans.”

“Trump’s plan… also includes a $25 billion ‘trust fund’ for a border wall and additional security upgrades on both the southwest and northern U.S. borders. And the president will propose significant curbs to legal immigration channels, restricting the ability of U.S. citizens to petition for visas only for spouses and minor children and ending categories for parents and siblings. Both of those provisions are likely to engender fierce objections among liberal Democrats.”

The New York Times reports White House officials called the plan “extremely generous” but also a “take-it-or-leave-it proposal” by the president.

Trump Attorney Has Not Decided on Talking to Mueller

January 25, 2018 at 5:10 pm EST By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

“John Dowd, a lawyer for President Donald Trump, told the Daily Beast on Wednesday he will be the one to decide whether or not Trump sits down for an interview with special counsel Robert Mueller. Dowd also said he hasn’t made any decision on whether or not an interview will happen.”

“Dowd noted that the president will only talk to Mueller if his legal team advises him to do so.”

Cruz Blasts Citizenship Path Suggested by Trump

January 25, 2018 at 4:28 pm EST By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) “blasted the idea of giving young undocumented immigrants a path to citizenship, a day after President Trump said he was open to the idea as part of immigration legislation being negotiated in Congress,” Bloomberg reports.

Said Cruz: “I do not believe we should be granting a path to citizenship to anybody here illegally. Doing so is inconsistent with the promises we made to the men and women who elected us.”

Cordray and DeWine Lead In Ohio

January 25, 2018 at 4:24 pm EST By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

A new Fallon Research poll in Ohio finds Richard Cordray (D) narrowly leads the wide-open Democratic race for governor, while Attorney General Mike DeWine (R) is running away with the Republican primary.

In a head-to-head match up, DeWine leads Cordray 49% to 28%, with 23% of respondents unsure.

Can the GOP Make the Midterms About Immigration?

January 25, 2018 at 2:21 pm EST By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

Matt Bai: “Senate Democrats are right to worry that another shutdown might get in the way of that goal. Up to now, absent this shutdown business, Democrats have been looking at a midterm election cycle so promising that even Vladimir Putin couldn’t find a way to rig it.”

“But the longer this standoff looms, the more likely it is that the midterms will become all about immigration. And here the math isn’t nearly so favorable for Democrats, who champion immigration generally but rarely talk about the legitimate anxieties arising from porous borders.”

Republicans Say Meehan Will Have to Step Aside

January 25, 2018 at 2:17 pm EST By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

“Pennsylvania Republicans increasingly believe Rep. Pat Meehan (R-PA), the latest elected official to be tarnished by a sexual harassment claim, will not be able to run for reelection this fall — and it’s now a question of whether he resigns or declares this to be his last term,” the Philadelphia Inquirer reports.

“One, who has been in touch with Meehan’s congressional aides, said the Delaware County Republican is being walked through his dim political prospects and weighing his next step, but that a departure is all-but certain.”

Rubio Ditches Bipartisan ‘Gang’ on Immigration

January 25, 2018 at 1:50 pm EST By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

Sen. Marco Rubio (R-FL), “a key co-author of the 2013 Gang of Eight comprehensive immigration bill, has no plans to join a swelling bipartisan group of senators trying to strike a deal to protect Dreamers,” Politico reports.

“In fact, other senators say Rubio prefers a more conservative approach than the bipartisan group. And his reluctance to join the new gang underscores the steep challenge — and sense of pessimism — for reaching an agreement on a tight schedule that can win support from the House, Senate and President Trump.”

The Common Good

January 25, 2018 at 1:43 pm EST By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

Out next month: The Common Good by Robert B. Reich.

“Societies and nations undergo virtuous cycles that reinforce and build the common good, as well as vicious cycles that undermine it. Over the course of the past five decades, Reich contends, America has been in a slowly accelerating vicious cycle–one that can and must be reversed.”

Romney Will Announce Senate Bid Next Week

January 25, 2018 at 1:40 pm EST By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

Sources close to Mitt Romney tell UtahPolicy.com that the former GOP presidential nominee will announce next week that he is running for the U.S. Senate this year.

Democratic Group Seeks to Elect Secretaries of State

January 25, 2018 at 12:27 pm EST By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

“The left-leaning ballot access group iVote will spend at least $5 million across swing states to elect Democratic secretaries of state — the latest front in the ‘voting wars’ that Democrats worried they have been losing,” the Washington Post reports.

The states targeted: Arizona, Colorado, Iowa, Michigan, Nevada, New Mexico and Ohio. Only one of those states, New Mexico, has a Democratic secretary of state.

Senate Will Release Transcripts from Trump Jr. Interview

January 25, 2018 at 12:13 pm EST By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

Sen. Charles Grassley (R-IA), the chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, “plans to release transcripts of its interviews with President Trump’s son, Donald Trump Jr., and others who participated in a June 2016 meeting at Trump Tower with a Russian lawyer allegedly promising damaging information about Hillary Clinton,” the Washington Post reports.

In a recent Politico interview, Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-CT) predicted the Trump Jr. transcript would be “explosive” if released.

What Happens When Trump Testifies

January 25, 2018 at 12:12 pm EST By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

Timothy O’Brien writes about how he was sued by Donald Trump for libel in 2006 for a biography called TrumpNation and witnessed the future president testifying under oath:

Trump ultimately had to admit 30 times that he had lied over the years about all sorts of stuff: how much of a big Manhattan real estate project he owned; the price of one of his golf club memberships; the size of the Trump Organization; his wealth; his speaking fees; how many condos he had sold; his debts, and whether he borrowed money from his family to avoid going personally bankrupt. He also lied during the deposition about his business dealings with career criminals.

Trump’s poor performance stemmed in part from the fact that he was being interrogated by shrewd attorneys wielding his own business and financial records against him. But there were lots of other things that went wrong as well.

Trump is impatient and has never been an avid or dedicated reader. That’s OK if you’d rather play golf, but it’s not OK when you need to absorb abundant or complex details. Lawyers typically prepare binders full of documents for their clients to pore over prior to a deposition, hoping to steel them for an intense grilling. My lawyers did that prior to my own deposition in the Trump lawsuit. But Trump didn’t appear to be well prepared when we deposed him, a weakness that my lawyers exploited (and that Mueller surely would as well).