Archives for November 27, 2018 at 11:07 pm EST

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Trump Tells Lawmakers He Won’t Back Down on Wall

November 27, 2018 at 11:07 pm EST By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

“President Trump told House Republican leaders on Tuesday that Congress must accede to his demand to include $5 billion for a southern border wall in a hefty year-end spending bill, intensifying a fight over one of his signature campaign promises that could lead to a partial government shutdown next week,” the New York Times reports.

“With less than 10 working days to wrestle out the details of an anticipated seven-bill spending package and deliver a measure to the president’s desk, Democrats have shown little sign of giving in to Mr. Trump’s demands. But House Republican leaders said after a private White House meeting that Mr. Trump would not back down, and sought to turn Democrats’ opposition against them.”

Manafort’s Lawyer Repeatedly Briefed Trump’s Lawyers

November 27, 2018 at 10:21 pm EST By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

“A lawyer for Paul Manafort, the president’s onetime campaign chairman, repeatedly briefed President Trump’s lawyers on his client’s discussions with federal investigators after Mr. Manafort agreed to cooperate with the special counsel,” the New York Times reports.

“The arrangement was highly unusual and inflamed tensions with the special counsel’s office when prosecutors discovered it after Mr. Manafort began cooperating two months ago… Some legal experts speculated that it was a bid by Mr. Manafort for a presidential pardon even as he worked with the special counsel, Robert Mueller, in hopes of a lighter sentence.”

Earlier for members: Was Paul Manafort an Unwitting Double-Agent?

Republicans Split on Possible Arizona Senate Appointment

November 27, 2018 at 10:18 pm EST By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

“Days after the midterm election, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell and Arizona Gov. Doug Ducey spoke privately about a sensitive topic with far-reaching implications — the Senate seat that John McCain held for three decades before his death in August,” the Washington Post reports.

“In a telephone call confirmed by two people familiar with the conversation, McConnell (R-KY) told Ducey: If there is an opening, consider appointing Martha McSally, the Republican congresswoman who came up short in her bid for Arizona’s other Senate seat this year.”

“But some Republicans in Arizona, including those in Ducey’s inner circle, have reservations about appointing McSally. They have questioned her campaign’s strategic decisions and wondered why she was not able to win in a state that President Trump carried in 2016 and where Ducey coasted to reelection this year.”

Hyde-Smith Wins Mississippi Run Off

November 27, 2018 at 7:45 pm EST By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

Sen. Cindy Hyde-Smith (R-MS) is projected to defeat challenger Mike Espy (D) in Mississippi’s U.S. Senate run off.

Use the comments to track the results as they come in.

Trump Says He’s Not a ‘Believer’ In Climate Change

November 27, 2018 at 7:25 pm EST By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

President Trump “dismissed a landmark report compiled by 13 federal agencies detailing how damage from global warming is intensifying throughout the country, saying he is not among the ‘believers’ who see climate change as a pressing problem,” the Washington Post reports.

“The comments marked the president’s most extensive yet on why he disagrees with his own government’s analysis, which found that climate change poses a severe threat to the health of Americans, as well as to the country’s infrastructure, economy and natural resources. The findings — unequivocal, urgent and alarming — are at odds with the Trump administration’s rollback of environmental regulations and absence of any climate action policy.”

Said Trump: “One of the problems that a lot of people like myself, we have very high levels of intelligence but we’re not necessarily such believers.”

Trump Floats Backup Plan If Congress Rejects Border Wall

November 27, 2018 at 6:44 pm EST By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

“President Trump said he is considering a backup plan if Congress rejects his demand for $5 billion in funding for his border wall, potentially including the continued use of troops and razor wire to prevent migrants from entering the country,” the Washington Post reports.

Said Trump: “We need Democrat votes to have a wall. Now, if we don’t get it, will I get it done another way? I might get it done another way. There are other potential ways that I can do it. You saw what we did with the military, just coming in with the barbed wire and the fencing, and various other things.”

Trump Slams Fed Chair for Market Declines

November 27, 2018 at 6:40 pm EST By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

“President Trump placed responsibility for recent stock market declines and this week’s General Motors plant closures and layoffs on the Federal Reserve during an interview Tuesday, shirking any personal blame for cracks in the economy and declaring that he is ‘not even a little bit happy’ with his hand-selected central bank chairman,” the Washington Post reports.

“Trump complained at length about Federal Reserve Chairman Jay Powell, whom he nominated earlier this year. When asked about declines on Wall Street and GM’s announcement that it was laying off 15 percent of its workforce, Trump responded by criticizing higher interest rates and other Fed policies, though he insisted that he is not worried about a recession.”

Said Trump: “I’m doing deals, and I’m not being accommodated by the Fed. They’re making a mistake because I have a gut, and my gut tells me more sometimes than anybody else’s brain can ever tell me.”

Espy Would Need Unprecedented Swing to Win

November 27, 2018 at 4:30 pm EST By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

Geoffrey Skelley: “We don’t often see a runoff in a general election, but if Sen. Cindy Hyde-Smith were to lose Mississippi’s Senate runoff on Tuesday, after the two Republican candidates combined to win a sizable majority of the initial vote, that would be even more unusual.”

“In the first round, Republicans Hyde-Smith and Chris McDaniel combined for a bit less than 58 percent of the vote, while Democrat Mike Espy and one other candidate from his party together won a little more than 42 percent. For Espy to win, the runoff vote has to swing more than 15 points more Democratic than the initial vote margin.”

“But if we look at the five Senate elections since 1990 where an initial round of voting was held on the national Election Day and two candidates advanced to a runoff, no challenger has ever come close to outperforming the previous round of voting by the kind of margin Espy would need to win.”

Corsi Provided Stone With Early Alert on WikiLeaks Dump

November 27, 2018 at 4:23 pm EST By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

“Two months before WikiLeaks released emails stolen from the Clinton campaign, right-wing conspiracy theorist Jerome Corsi sent an email to former Trump campaign adviser Roger Stone anticipating the document dump,” according to draft court papers obtained by NBC News.

Wrote Corsi: “Word is friend in embassy plans 2 more dumps. One shortly after I’m back. 2nd in Oct. Impact planned to be very damaging.”

Meanwhile, draft court filings obtained by CNN outline significant insights into what special counsel Robert Mueller may know about Stone’s efforts to seek documents from WikiLeaks in 2016.

Mueller Probes Manafort’s Meeting with Ecuadorian Leader

November 27, 2018 at 4:08 pm EST By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

Special counsel Robert Mueller’s team has been investigating a meeting between former Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort and Ecuadorian President Lenin Moreno in Quito in 2017 and has specifically asked if WikiLeaks or its founder, Julian Assange, were discussed in the meeting, CNN reports.

Earlier Tuesday, The Guardian reported that Manafort secretly met several times with Assange inside the Ecuadorian embassy in London. Manafort denies the meetings ever happened.

McConnell Vows to Block Any Bill Protecting Mueller

November 27, 2018 at 3:53 pm EST By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) “shut down the possibility that the Senate might take up legislation to protect special counsel Robert Mueller from being fired by President Trump, even after Sen. John Cornyn (R-TX), the No. 2 Senate Republican, held open the possibility earlier Tuesday,” USA Today reports.

“Earlier in the day, Cornyn signaled a potential change in the position of Republican leaders who have previously rejected a push by outgoing Republican Sen. Jeff Flake (R-AZ) to allow a vote on the Mueller legislation.”

Manafort Denies Ever Meeting Julian Assange

November 27, 2018 at 3:49 pm EST By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

Former Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort told the National Review that he has never met privately with Wikileaks founder Julian Assange and threatened to sue the Guardian for reporting that he has.

Said Manafort: “This story is totally false and deliberately libelous. I have never met Julian Assange or anyone connected to him. I have never been contacted by anyone connected to Wikileaks, either directly or indirectly. I have never reached out to Assange or Wikileaks on any matter. We are considering all legal options against the Guardian who proceeded with this story even after being notified by my representatives that it was false.”

Jordan, Meadows Vie to Defend Trump on Key Committees

November 27, 2018 at 3:33 pm EST By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

“An intense behind-the-scenes power struggle over who will become Donald Trump’s top congressional defender is coming to a head as two Freedom Caucus leaders and their allies pressure senior Republicans to give them two top committee posts,” Politico reports.

“Rep. Jim Jordan has formally launched a bid to become the top Republican lawmaker on the House Judiciary Committee, according to two leadership sources, while Rep. Mark Meadows is going for the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee.”

Franken Stays Silent as Gillibrand Faces Attacks

November 27, 2018 at 3:18 pm EST By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

Former Sen. Al Franken (D-MN) “is staying silent in the face of attacks on his ex-colleague, Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY), who has been shunned by major Democratic donors and criticized heavily online after calling for Franken’s resignation last year in the wake of sexual misconduct allegations,” BuzzFeed News reports.

Kane to Begin Serving Prison Sentence

November 27, 2018 at 3:06 pm EST By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

Prosecutors asked a judge to revoke bail for former Pennsylvania Attorney General Kathleen Kane (D) “after the state’s top court denied her final appeal, clearing the way for her to begin serving a jail sentence for perjury and other crimes,” Reuters reports.

“The jury convicted Kane on charges of perjury, false swearing, obstruction of justice, official oppression and conspiracy. She was sentenced to serve 10 to 23 months in jail.”

White House Prevents CIA Director from Briefing Senate

November 27, 2018 at 2:26 pm EST By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

“The White House is preventing the CIA director, Gina Haspel, or any other intelligence official from briefing the Senate on the murder of Saudi dissident and Washington Post columnist, Jamal Khashoggi,” The Guardian reports.

“Officials made it clear that the decision for Haspel not to appear in front of the committee came from the White House.”

Cuomo Won’t Run for President

November 27, 2018 at 1:53 pm EST By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo (D) ruled out a potential bid for the presidency in 2020, saying that he has a “full plate” in his current role, The Hill reports.

Said Cuomo: “I am ruling it out. I ran for governor. I have a full plate. I have many projects. I’m going to be here doing the job of governor… I’m governor of New York and I have a lot to do.”

Huge Majorities See a Divided Country

November 27, 2018 at 1:45 pm EST By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

A new Monmouth poll finds just 20% of the public feels that Americans are united and in agreement on our most important values while 77% say we are not.

Big majorities of Democrats (82%), Republicans (78%), and independents (72%) feel that the country is fundamentally divided.

Also interesting: “More than 6-in-10 Americans (62%) feel that the country has become more divided since Trump took office. Just 11% say the country has become more united and 25% say there has not really been a change in our sense of unity.”