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Moderate Democrats Want to Keep Impeachment Narrow

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“A group of House Democratic centrists are warning their caucus that any case against President Donald Trump should steer clear of Robert Mueller — resurfacing an ugly internal debate on impeachment that could complicate the coming weeks,” Politico reports.

“Multiple moderates — including freshman lawmakers deemed most at-risk in 2020 — have urged Democrats not to relitigate the issues in the Mueller report in their own investigation into the Ukraine scandal. But key Democrats, including House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jerry Nadler, have suggested that it could be included in eventual articles of impeachment, with many in the caucus still eager to repudiate Trump for his misconduct outlined by Mueller.”

White House Gears Up for Senate Trial

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“The White House signaled Wednesday that it will aggressively defend President Trump in a near-certain Senate impeachment trial in the coming weeks, as legal experts called by House Democrats testified in a contentious hearing that Trump’s Ukraine dealings constitute an impeachable offense,” the Washington Post reports.

Iran Secretly Moving Missiles Into Iraq

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“Iran has used the continuing chaos in Iraq to build up a hidden arsenal of short-range ballistic missiles in Iraq, part of a widening effort to try to intimidate the Middle East and assert its power,” the New York Times reports.

“The buildup comes as the United States has rebuilt its military presence in the Middle East to counter emerging threats to American interests, including attacks on oil tankers and facilities that intelligence officials have blamed on Iran. Since May, the Trump administration has sent roughly 14,000 additional troops to the region, primarily to staff Navy ships and missile defense systems.”

“But new intelligence about Iran’s stockpiling of missiles in Iraq is the latest sign that the Trump administration’s efforts to deter Tehran by increasing the American military presence in the Middle East has largely failed.”

Barr Prosecutor Won’t Back Right-Wing Theory

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“The prosecutor handpicked by Attorney General William Barr to scrutinize how U.S. agencies investigated President Trump’s 2016 campaign said he could not offer evidence to the Justice Department’s inspector general to support the suspicions of some conservatives that the case was a setup by American intelligence,” the Washington Post reports.

“Justice Department Inspector General Michael Horowitz’s office contacted U.S. Attorney John Durham, the prosecutor Barr personally tapped to lead a separate review of the 2016 probe into possible coordination between the Trump campaign and Russia… The inspector general also contacted several U.S. intelligence agencies.”

House Tees Up Impeachment Articles

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“House Judiciary Chairman Jerry Nadler signaled at today’s televised hearing that the committee is broadening the scope of the impeachment inquiry to include Robert Mueller’s findings,” Axios reports.

“Democrats displayed three impeachable offenses on the screens in the room: Abuse of power and bribery, obstruction of Congress, and obstruction of justice. This is the clearest sign yet that these could be the articles of impeachment ultimately drafted by the committee.”

Biden Says He’d Consider Kamala Harris as Veep

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Joe Biden told CNN he would consider Sen. Kamala Harris as a potential running mate, a day after she dropped out of the presidential race.

Said Biden: “Of course I would. Look, Sen. Harris has the capacity to be anything she wants to be. I mean it sincerely. I talked to her yesterday. She’s solid, she can be president someday herself, she can be vice president, she could go on to be a Supreme Court justice, she could be attorney general. I mean she has enormous capability.”

Trump Considers 14K More Troops for Mideast

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“The Trump administration is considering a significant expansion of the U.S. military footprint in the Middle East, including dozens more ships, other military hardware and as many as 14,000 additional troops to counter Iran,” the Wall Street Journal reports.

“The deployment could double the number of U.S. military personnel who have been sent to the region since the start of a troop buildup in May. President Trump is expected to make a decision on the new deployments as soon as this month.”

Tories Relieved as Trump Leaves U.K.

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Politico: “The British Conservative Party was given a huge boost on Wednesday when Donald Trump left the U.K. without smashing up its election strategy. The U.S. president was supposed to hold a press conference at the end of a gathering of NATO leaders but canceled it, saying he had answered enough questions.”

“It means U.K. Prime Minister Boris Johnson survived the Trump visit without any extra obstacles being put in his way ahead of the December 12 vote.”

John Ellis: Don’t count out a hung parliament after the U.K. election.

Nikki Haley for Veep Talk Fizzles

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Gabriel Sherman: “According to sources, Jared Kushner and Ivanka Trump’s effort to draft Nikki Haley to replace Pence on the 2020 ticket has fizzled. During her book tour month, Haley stoked speculation that she was positioning herself to replace Pence when she torched Trump nemeses Rex Tillerson and John Kelly while lavishing praise on Trump… The thinking was that Haley appealed to suburban women, a crucial demographic Trump fares poorly with.”

“But Republicans close to the White House told me Haley had made the determination that joining the ticket, or even replacing Mike Pompeo as Secretary of State, would be a net negative for her 2024 ambitions.”

Trump Now Sees Giuliani as a Liability

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Gabriel Sherman: “Trump is coming around to his advisers’ view that Giuliani is a liability, three Republicans close to the White House told me. The relationship has grown so strained that Trump has even directed Giuliani not to appear on Fox News, a Republican briefed on the conversations said. (A Fox source said Giuliani has declined producers’ requests to appear on the network in recent days).”

Said one GOP source: “We had to do something, we don’t want Rudy out there. Every time he talks it’s bad for Trump.”

“The turning point seems to be Giuliani’s Fox News interview on November 23 in which he claimed to have an ‘insurance policy’ in case Trump throws him overboard. ‘Trump was pissed,’ a source told me.”

Thief Targets White House Press

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Washingtonian: “It’s a Hardy Boys mystery for the MAGA age: A thief seems to be operating in one of the most secure buildings in the world—the White House.”

“A rash of personal items have disappeared from designated press areas, where some reporters maintain desks, and the incidents are being treated as suspected thefts, according to senior members of the White House press corps.”

GOP Lawmaker Mulls Primary Challenge to Tillis

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Rep. Mark Walker (R-NC) is actively considering a primary campaign against several fellow Republicans next year, including a potential bid against Sen. Thom Tillis (R-NC), after new congressional district maps have put the three-term congressman’s political future in doubt, The Hill reports.

Walker’s campaign paid for two polls in recent weeks, testing his chances against both Tillis and Rep. Ted Budd (R-NC).

Bevin Blames ‘Harvested Votes’ for His Loss

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Kentucky Gov. Matt Bevin (R) told WFPL that he lost his race for reelection because the Democratic Party “harvested votes in urban communities.”

Said Bevin: “The left, those who think of a different ideological bent, they are getting so good at harvesting votes in the urban communities. They were able to go into urban communities where people are densely populated on college campuses and public housing projects.”

About Political Wire

goddard-bw-snapshotTaegan Goddard is the founder of Political Wire, one of the earliest and most influential political web sites. He also runs Political Job Hunt, Electoral Vote Map and the Political Dictionary.

Goddard spent more than a decade as managing director and chief operating officer of a prominent investment firm in New York City. Previously, he was a policy adviser to a U.S. Senator and Governor.

Goddard is also co-author of You Won - Now What? (Scribner, 1998), a political management book hailed by prominent journalists and politicians from both parties. In addition, Goddard's essays on politics and public policy have appeared in dozens of newspapers across the country.

Goddard earned degrees from Vassar College and Harvard University. He lives in New York with his wife and three sons.

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— Arianna Huffington, founder of The Huffington Post

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— Glenn Reynolds, founder of Instapundit

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