“Sweeping changes to Ukraine’s top law enforcement agency ordered by President Volodymyr Zelenskiy are set to derail a series of long-running criminal investigations, including two related to U.S. President Trump’s former campaign chairman, Paul Manafort,” Reuters reports.
Nationals Pitcher Will Skip White House Celebration
Washington Nationals pitcher Sean Doolittle told the Washington Post that President Trump’s rhetoric is why he won’t join the World Series champions during their visit to the White House next week.
Said Doolittle: “There’s a lot of things, policies that I disagree with, but at the end of the day, it has more to do with the divisive rhetoric and the enabling of conspiracy theories and widening the divide in this country.”
He added: “At the end of the day, as much as I wanted to be there with my teammates and share that experience with my teammates, I can’t do it. I just can’t do it.”
Smugglers Cut Through Sections of Trump’s Border Wall
“Smuggling gangs in Mexico have repeatedly sawed through new sections of President Trump’s border wall in recent months by using commercially available power tools, opening gaps large enough for people and drug loads to pass through, according to U.S. agents and officials with knowledge of the damage,” the Washington Post reports.
“The breaches have been made using a popular cordless household tool known as a reciprocating saw that retails at hardware stores for as little as $100. When fitted with specialized blades, the saws can slice through one of the barrier’s steel-and-concrete bollards in a matter of minutes,.”
“After cutting through the base of a single bollard, smugglers can push the steel out of the way, allowing an adult to fit through the gap. Because the bollards are so tall — and are attached only to a panel at the very top — their length makes them easier to push aside once they have been cut and are left dangling.”
The ‘Whimpering’ Terrorist Only Trump Heard
New York Times: “It was a vivid scene worthy of the ending of a Hollywood thriller, the image of a ruthless terrorist mastermind finally brought to justice “whimpering and crying and screaming all the way” to his death. But it may be no more true than a movie script.”
“In the days since President Trump gave the world a graphic account of Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi’s last minutes, no evidence has emerged to confirm it. The secretary of defense, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff and the regional commander who oversaw the operation that killed the leader of the Islamic State, all say they have no idea what the president was talking about.”
Republicans Consider Admitting Quid Pro Quo
“A growing number of Senate Republicans are ready to acknowledge that President Trump used U.S. military aid as leverage to force Ukraine to investigate former vice president Joe Biden and his family as the president repeatedly denies a quid pro quo,” the Washington Post reports.
“In this shift in strategy to defend Trump, these Republicans are insisting that the president’s action was not illegal and does not rise to the level of an impeachable offense as the Democratic-led House moves forward with the open phase of its probe.l
“But the shift among Senate Republicans could complicate the message coming from Trump as he furiously fights the claim that he had withheld U.S. aid from Ukraine to pressure it to dig up dirt on a political rival, even as an increasing number of Republicans wonder how long they can continue to argue that no quid pro quo was at play in the matter.”
O’Rourke Drops Out of Presidential Race
“Beto O’Rourke is dropping out of the presidential race, ending a campaign in which he struggled for months to recapture the energy of his insurgent 2018 Senate candidacy on a national stage full of other big personalities and liberal champions,” the New York Times reports.
“He is not expected to run for any other office in 2020, despite persistent efforts by party leaders and political donors to coax him into another bid for the Senate.”
Trump Declines to Defend Mulvaney
Asked during an Oval Office interview with the Washington Examiner if he is happy with the job Mick Mulvaney is doing for him, President Trump demurred.
Said Trump: “Happy? I don’t want to comment on it.”
Warren Says Biden Is Running in ‘Wrong Primary’
Elizabeth Warren swatted back at Joe Biden’s criticism of her $21 trillion Medicare-for-All plan, accusing him of running in the wrong presidential primary, Bloomberg reports.
Said Warren: “Democrats are not going to win by repeating Republican talking points. So, if Biden doesn’t like that, I’m just not sure where he’s going.”
“Warren’s unusually direct attack on her campaign rival came after she released a long-awaited explanation of how she to planned to pay for her $20.5 trillion proposal to create a government-run health care system. The Biden campaign called that plan ‘mathematical gymnastics’ intended to hide the fact that it would result in tax increases on middle-class workers.”
They Said This Day Would Never Come
Coming in January: They Said This Day Would Never Come: Chasing the Dream on Obama’s Improbable Campaign by Chris Liddell-Westefeld.
“In the year leading up to the Iowa caucuses, few thought a freshman senator named Barack Hussein Obama would be able to win the Democratic nomination–not to mention become the most popular leader in the world.”
“But something was stirring. Hundreds of young people from all over the country began assembling in Iowa. These ‘kids’ became the foundation of one of the most improbable presidential campaigns of our lifetime.”
- Hardcover Book
- Liddell-Westefeld, Chris (Author)
- English (Publication Language)
- 256 Pages - 01/07/2020 (Publication Date) - PublicAffairs (Publisher)
Kamala Harris Shutters New Hampshire Offices
“Sen. Kamala Harris’ campaign has almost completely shuttered its New Hampshire campaign, with no visible activity at any of her offices in the state,” Politico reports.
Vindman Was Told to Not Talk About Trump Ukraine Call
“The senior White House lawyer who placed a record of President Trump’s July 25 call with Ukraine’s president in a top-secret system also instructed at least one official who heard the call not to tell anyone about it,” Politico reports.
“Lt. Col. Alexander Vindman, a decorated Army officer who served as the National Security Council’s director for Ukraine, told lawmakers that he went to the lawyer, John Eisenberg, to register his concerns about the call…”
“Eisenberg recorded Vindman’s complaints in notes on a yellow legal pad… The lawyers then decided to move the record of the call into the NSC’s top-secret codeword system—a server normally used to store highly classified material that only a small group of officials can access.”
“Vindman did not consider the move itself as evidence of a cover-up… But he said he became disturbed when, a few days later, Eisenberg instructed him not to tell anyone about the call”
The New GOP Strategy Appears to Be Misdirection
Aaron Blake: “In recent days, Republicans have maintained a laserlike focus on a very narrow defense of Trump: that there was nothing illegal about his July 25 phone call with Ukraine’s president. In doing so, they are glossing over and even outright ignoring a growing mountain of evidence that much more explicit quid pro quos existed outside that call.”
“I’ve said from the beginning that the call contains no explicit quid pro quo, but that doesn’t mean one didn’t exist elsewhere. Indeed, six people have now said as much publicly — including three under oath. If anything, the call fills out the details of a president who badly wanted these investigations, and now we’re learning about what people did behind closed doors to make them happen — including allegedly dangling hundreds of millions of U.S. government dollars and a long-sought White House meeting.”
Pelosi Criticizes ‘Medicare for All’
Speaker Nancy Pelosi questioned the wisdom of supporting Medicare for all in an interview with Bloomberg, arguing that Obamacare was a better option.
Said Pelosi: “I’m not a big fan of Medicare for all.”
Trump Wanted to Build a Mega Church
“Of all the projects real estate mogul Donald Trump wanted to build, here’s one that nobody saw,” the Washington Examiner reports.
“According to his long-time personal pastor, Paula White-Cain, Trump, in 2006 was taking steps to build a glass cathedral.”
Said White-Cain: “He wanted to build a house of God. He said, ‘Let’s do this, let’s build this before we’re too old.”
Narrow Path to Majority Emerges for Senate Democrats
“Democrats have a real, albeit narrow, path to retake control of the U.S. Senate in 2020, fueled by strong fundraising totals in some key battleground states,” the Wall Street Journal reports.
“This is a favorable election cycle for Senate Democrats, with 23 Republican-held seats up in 2020, including four open seats, compared to 11 Democratic seats on the ballot. Nine of those Democrats are in states President Trump lost, and two in states he won: Michigan and Alabama. The only open seat on the Democratic side is in New Mexico, which Mr. Trump lost in 2016 and Democrats swept statewide in 2018.”
GOP Senator Wants Emails Between Obama and Clinton
Sen. Ron Johnson (R-WI) requested in a letter to the National Archives that they hand over any emails between former President Obama and former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.
A Soviet Witch Coup
Jonathan Chait: “Republicans have spent weeks calling impeachment proceedings a coup, and then a witch hunt. Confusingly, they appear to believe witch hunts are quasi-judicial proceedings run by actual witches, and accordingly circulated merchandise depicting Democrats as a coven.”
“Then yesterday — of all days to stop talking about witches! — they made the puzzling decision to switch metaphors again, and begin likening impeachment to a Soviet show trial. It was as their sole messaging objective was to make Arthur Miller turn over in his grave.”
Trump Keeps Adding to Obstruction Charge
“President Trump has sought to intimidate witnesses in the impeachment inquiry, attacking them as ‘Never Trumpers’ and badgering an anonymous whistleblower. He has directed the White House to withhold documents and block testimony requested by Congress. And he has labored to publicly discredit the investigation as a ‘scam’ overseen by ‘a totally compromised kangaroo court,'” the Washington Post reports.
“To the Democratic leaders directing the impeachment proceedings, Trump’s actions to stymie their probe into his conduct with Ukraine add up to another likely article of impeachment: Obstruction.
“The centerpiece of House Democrats’ eventual impeachment charges is widely expected to be Trump’s alleged abuse of power over Ukraine. But obstruction of Congress is now all but certain to be introduced as well, according to multiple Democratic lawmakers and aides, just as it was five decades ago when the House impeached then-president Richard Nixon,”