A new ad for Rep. Liz Cheney (R-WY) features former Sen. Alan Simpson (R-WY), a political icon in the state, backing Cheney’s re-election, NBC News reports.
“But in an interview with NBC News about the ad, the Wyoming political giant minced few words about his frustration with former President Donald Trump, who is backing a primary challenge against Cheney over her repeated criticism of the former president.”
“A 39-year-old man who allegedly slapped Rudy Giuliani on the back Sunday has been charged with assault with intent to cause physical injury, harassment in the second degree and menacing in the third degree and was released on his own recognizance after a court appearance Monday,” CNN reports.
Tucker Carlson interviewed John Eastman, and called his situation a “reminder to anyone who didn’t vote for Joe Biden to erase your texts and emails every single day.”
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New York gubernatorial candidate Harry Wilson (R) called rival Lee Zeldin (R) and an aide “scumbags” in a group text that he accidentally sent to Zeldin.
Michael Gerson: “For the foreseeable future, the abortion debate — with all its tragic complexities — has been returned to the realm of democracy. And there is little evidence our democracy is prepared for it.”
“I never believed them. I didn’t believe them. That’s why I voted against them.”
—Vice President Kamala Harris, quoted by CNN, on the centrist senators who felt betrayed by Justices Neil Gorsuch and Brett Kavanaugh overturning Roe v. Wade
Sen. Joe Manchin (D-WV) wouldn’t tell the New York Times whether he’d back Joe Biden for President in 2024 — or consider a third-party run of his own.
Politico breaks down the primaries today in Colorado, Illinois, Mississippi, New York, Oklahoma and Utah.
“Democrats have a lot riding on Tuesday’s primaries. The Republican primaries, that is.
“Facing hurricane-force electoral headwinds in November, Democrats have launched an unprecedented effort to meddle in GOP nominating contests across the country, elevating extreme candidates and attacking Republican hopefuls they view as greater threats in the general election.”
Cassidy Hutchinson, a top aide to Trump chief of staff Mark Meadows, will testify today before the January 6 Committee.
Playbook: “Hutchinson knows a lot. Before, on, and after Jan. 6, she had close proximity to both Meadows and then-President Donald Trump.”
Said Hutchinson: “Almost all, if not all, meetings Mr. Trump had, I had insight on.”
Punchbowl News: “Hutchinson also testified that she saw Meadows burn papers in his office after meeting with Rep. Scott Perry (R-PA) in the weeks before Jan. 6. Perry played a key role in the push to appoint Jeffrey Clark, a DOJ environmental lawyer, as acting attorney general in order to use the Justice Department to bolster Trump’s false election fraud claims.”
CNN: “Hutchinson told the January 6 committee that Trump had suggested to Meadows he approved of the ‘hang Mike Pence’ chants from rioters who stormed the U.S. Capitol.”
New York Times: “Mr. McConnell is indisputably a chief architect — if not the chief architect — of the conservative court that has shaken the nation over the past week with a string of rulings on abortion, guns and religion — a trifecta of searing cultural issues.”
“While much of the public recoiled at the decisions and the prospect of more to come in the years ahead, Mr. McConnell, a deep admirer of Justice Antonin Scalia, saw the culmination of a personal push to reshape the court in the image of the conservative judicial icon.”
“That history-making feat came at a price: the embrace of Donald J. Trump. Mr. McConnell and his fellow Republicans might have had their misgivings about Mr. Trump, but they were more than willing to set aside any reservations — and Senate comity — in zealous pursuit of a reliably conservative court. Mr. Trump, however problematic, was a means to their end.”
Yesli Vega (R) — the GOP nominee in Virginia’s 7th Congressional District vying to unseat Rep. Abigail Spanberger (D-VA) — drew outrage after audio published by Axios Richmond appeared to capture her theorizing inaccurately about why rape might not lead to pregnancy in a conversation about abortion and exceptions to abortion bans, the Washington Post reports.
“Cassidy Hutchinson, an aide to former White House chief of staff Mark Meadows and a witness to many critical events and conversations, is expected to testify publicly on Tuesday before the select committee investigating the January 6, 2021, US Capitol attack,“ CNN reports.
The committee last week also presented videotaped testimony from Hutchinson discussing how Reps. Mo Brooks (R-AL) and Matt Gaetz (R-FL) wanted blanket pardons for members of Congress who tried to subvert the election.
“While in Europe for a NATO summit with world leaders, President Joe Biden plans to announce extension of some of the increased U.S. troop presence in Poland and changes to U.S. deployments in several Baltic nations that he authorized ahead of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine,” NBC News reports.
Wall Street Journal: “U.S. public pension funds don’t have nearly enough money to pay for all their obligations to future retirees. A growing number are adopting a risky solution: investing borrowed money. As both stock and bond markets struggle, it’s a precarious gamble.”
“Earlier this month, when Senator Bernie Sanders said he would not challenge President Biden in 2024, Mr. Biden was so relieved he invited his former rival to dinner at the White House the next night,” the New York Times reports.
“Mr. Biden has been eager for signs of loyalty — and they have been few and far between. Facing intensifying skepticism about his capacity to run for re-election when he will be nearly 82, the president and his top aides have been stung by the questions about his plans, irritated at what they see as a lack of respect from their party and the press, and determined to tamp down suggestions that he’s effectively a lame duck a year and a half into his administration.”
“Mr. Biden isn’t just intending to run, his aides argue, but he’s also laying the groundwork by building resources at the Democratic National Committee, restocking his operation in battleground states and looking to use his influence to shape the nomination process in his favor.”
“The FBI seized the phone of former President Donald Trump’s election attorney John Eastman last week, according to a new court filing from the lawyer,” CNN reports.
“About six federal investigators approached the right-wing lawyer in New Mexico when he was exiting a restaurant after dinner with his wife and a friend, according to the court filings. Agents were able to get access to Eastman’s email accounts on his iPhone 12 Pro.”
“Eastman contends the agents ‘forced’ him to unlock his phone.”
New York Times: “The seizure of Mr. Eastman’s phone last week is the latest evidence that the Justice Department is intensifying its criminal investigation into the various strands of Mr. Trump’s efforts to remain in power after he was defeated in his bid for re-election.”
“President Biden’s nominee to lead Immigration and Customs Enforcement, Ed Gonzalez, said Monday that he was withdrawing himself from consideration after his nomination hit roadblocks following domestic violence allegations,” The Hill reports.
“Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) on Monday said she’s preparing votes on a number of bills protecting abortion as well as codifying landmark Supreme Court decisions as a response to the court overturning Roe v. Wade,” Axios reports.
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Taegan 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.