Daily Archives
50 posts · Wednesday
Nate Cohn: “It wasn’t necessarily the night of either party’s dreams. The Democrats are poised to gain around 35 seats after Tuesday’s elections. Republicans seem likely to gain a few seats in the Senate, and they triumphed in some high-profile governor’s races.”
“But Democrats faced formidable structural disadvantages, unlike any in recent memory. Take those into account, and 2018 looks like a wave election, like the ones that last flipped the House in 2010 and 2006.”
Washington Post: “Washington plunged into political war on Wednesday in the wake of a split decision by voters in the midterm elections, with President Trump ousting his attorney general and threatening to retaliate against Democrats if they launch investigations into his personal conduct and possible corruption in the administration.”
“The rapid shift to battle stations signaled the start of what is likely to be two years of unremitting political combat as Trump positions himself for reelection. For the first time, Trump will be forced to navigate divided government as Democrats who won the House pledge to be a check on his power and face pressure from their liberal base to block him at every turn.”
John Harwood: “His words of self-celebration signal one thing, his actions another: that President Trump knows he is in big trouble.”
“After American voters hit the brakes on his administration by flipping the House to Democratic control, Trump called a White House news conference to insist he had won ‘almost a complete victory.’ That referred to GOP gains in the Senate, which remains in his party’s control thanks to victories in conservative states he had won handily in 2016.”
“And then he made plain he understands viscerally what he has lost.”
Vanity Fair: “Trump’s move against Sessions today arrives at a moment when Trump allies are increasingly concerned about Donald Trump Jr.’s legal exposure. In recent days, according to three sources, Don Jr. has been telling friends he is worried about being indicted as early as this week.”
“One person close to Don Jr. speculated that Mueller could indict him for making false statements to Congress and the F.B.I. about whether he had told his father about the June 2016 Trump Tower meeting with Russians to gather ‘dirt’ on Hillary Clinton. This source had heard that the case could revolve around Trump’s former deputy campaign chairman, Rick Gates, who’s cooperating with Mueller and who was deeply involved in the campaign at the time of the meeting. Trump, this person continued, is ‘very upset’ about the risks Don Jr. faces.”
Said the source: “The president is very depressed.”
“The Democrats don’t have anybody like him. I’ve seen all of them. They don’t have anyone of his caliber on the national stage. I pray for the soul of anyone who has to run against him in Iowa in 453 days.”
— Ted Cruz’s strategist Jeff Roe, quoted by Politico, on Rep. Beto O’Rourke’s (D-TX) chances if he ran for president in 2020.
Sen. Susan Collins (R-ME) warned the Trump administration against interfering with special counsel Robert Mueller’s Russia investigation, saying he “must be allowed” to finish it, The Hill reports.
Said Collins: “It is imperative that the Administration not impede the Mueller investigation. I’m concerned Rod Rosenstein will no longer be overseeing the probe.”
Jonathan Chait: “Before the forced resignation of Jeff Sessions as Attorney General, it was possible, however optimistically, to dismiss his authoritarianism as mere rhetoric and affect. It is not possible any longer. Sessions’s departure, and his replacement with Mark Whitaker, is Trump’s plan to corrupt the Department of Justice. It is the most dire threat to the republic since Trump’s election itself.”
“If you study literature of democratic backsliding, the frightening conclusion is that nobody has devised a system of laws comprehensive enough to guarantee the survival of a democratic government. Because there is always wiggle room in the execution and enforcement of the law, democracies rely on informal norms. One of those norms is the independence of federal law enforcement, without which, the ruling party could use the law as a weapon against its enemies while shielding itself.”
“There is simply no doubt that Trump’s entire rationale for firing Sessions is his refusal to quash the Russia investigation, because he has not even bothered to conceal his motive.”
Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein is no longer overseeing special counsel Robert Mueller’s probe into Russian election meddling — following the resignation of Jeff Sessions, the New York Post reports.
Acting Attorney General Matthew Whitaker will now oversee the investigation, a Justice Department spokeswoman said.
The Justice Department also confirmed to The Hill that Whitaker will now oversee the Russia probe instead of Rosenstein.
The Daily Beast reports Rosenstein was on his way to the White House.
“I would indict Hillary Clinton.”
— Mark Whittaker, who was appointed Acting Attorney General today, writing in USA Today in July 2016.
Senate Minority Leader Charles Schumer (D-NY) warned that attempts by President Trump or a successor to Attorney General Jeff Sessions to interfere in special counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation would spark a “constitutional crisis,” The Hill reports.
Said Schumer: “I’d say this, protecting Mueller and his investigation is paramount. It would create a constitutional crisis if this were a prelude to ending or greatly limiting the Mueller investigation.”
President Trump asked Attorney General Jeff Sessions to resign, effectively firing him, CNN reports.
Sessions’ resignation letter has been delivered to White House chief of staff John Kelly.
Reuters: “Never in modern history has a president attacked a Cabinet member as frequently and harshly in public as Trump did Sessions, 71, who had been one of the first members of Congress to back his presidential campaign in 2015.”
Sen. Jon Tester (D-MT) was re-elected to third term, defeating Matt Rosendale (R), the Associated Press reports.
Vox: “It’s a blow to Trump, who has been furious at Tester for months because of the senator’s role in the defeat of Trump’s scandal-plagued VA secretary nominee Ronny Jackson. Tester, the top Democrat on the Senate Veterans Affairs Committee, went public about allegations that Jackson drank on the job and improperly gave out medication — and Trump was eventually forced to withdraw the nomination.”
President Trump had a confrontational exchange with White House reporters during a news conference to discuss the results of Tuesday’s election, USA Today reports.
“Trump refused to answer a follow-up question from CNN reporter Jim Acosta, who persisted in his attempt to ask the president about the Russia investigation. Trump spoke loudly over Acosta and demanded he hand over the microphone.”
Said Trump: “That’s enough… I tell you what, CNN should be ashamed of itself having you working for them. You are a rude, terrible person.”
President Trump “said he would fight fire with fire if Democrats follow through on their vows to use the subpoena power that will come with the House majority to demand the release of his tax returns and reopen the chamber’s investigation into any interactions between Mr. Trump’s campaign and Russia during the 2016 campaign,” the New York Times reports.
He said he would adopt a “warlike posture” and get the Senate Republicans to investigate the Democrats.
Said Trump: “They can play that game, but we can play better because we have a thing called the United States Senate and a lot of questionable things were done between leaks of classified information and many other elements that should not have taken place.”
He added: “I could see it being extremely good for me politically because I think I’m better at that game than they are, actually, but we’ll find out.”
“It really could be a beautiful bipartisan type of situation. There are a lot of great things we can do together.”
— President Trump, quoted by the Washington Post, calling for bipartisanship while warning against Democratic investigations of his administration.
President Trump ripped losing Republican candidates who had distanced themselves from him during the midterms, NBC News reports.
Said Trump: “Mia Love gave me no love, but then she lost. Too bad.”
He listed several other GOP lawmakers he said rejected his “embrace” before falling to Democratic opponents: Reps. Carlos Curbelo in Florida; Mike Coffman in Colorado; Peter Roskam in Illinois and Barbara Comstock in Virginia, among them.
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) called for “working on a bipartisan basis to address shortcomings in the Affordable Care Act as Democrats prepare to take control of the House,” the Washington Post reports.
“His comments marked a sharp departure from Republican efforts during the past two years to repeal former president Barack Obama’s signature health-care law while the party controlled both chambers of Congress and held the presidency.”
“Arizona’s former Green Party Senate candidate Angela Green is defending herself against accusations that she has spoiled the Democrat’s chances of winning the race,” the Washington Post reports.
“While the race is still too close to call, Republican nominee Martha McSally currently leads Democratic nominee Kyrsten Sinema by 15,908 votes (with 99.3 percent of precincts reporting). Green got more than twice that amount, 38,597 votes, despite dropping out of the race less than a week before Election Day — too late for her name to be removed from the ballot.”
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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