Politico: “The Democratic research group American Bridge is preparing a $50 million campaign to win over a slice of President Donald Trump’s base, and new polling has convinced the organization that Trump is vulnerable on pocketbook issues, especially health care, among white working-class voters.”
Opposition Win a Blow to Turkey’s Erdogon
“The opposition candidate for mayor of Istanbul celebrated a landmark win Sunday in a closely watched repeat election that ended weeks of political tension and broke the long hold President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s party had on leading Turkey’s largest city,” the AP reports.
“The governing party’s candidate, former Turkish Prime Minister Binali Yildirim, conceded moments after returns showed him trailing well behind Imamoglu, 54% to 45%. Imamoglu increased his lead from a March mayoral election by hundreds of thousands of votes.”
Sanders to Propose Canceling Student Loan Debt
“Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) will propose on Monday eliminating all $1.6 trillion of student debt held in the United States, a significant escalation of the policy fight in the 2020 Democratic presidential primary two days before the candidates’ first debate in Miami,” the Washington Post reports.
“Sanders is proposing the federal government pay to wipe clean the student debt held by 45 million Americans — including all private and graduate school debt — as part of a package that also would make public universities, community colleges and trade schools tuition-free.”
Vox: Sanders’s free college proposal just got a whole lot bigger.
GOP to Launch New Fundraising Site
“Republicans are set to launch a long-awaited, much-delayed online fundraising platform on Monday, a move aimed at closing Democrats’ massive small-donor money advantage ahead of the 2020 election,” Politico reports.
“WinRed is being billed as the GOP’s answer to the Democratic Party’s ActBlue, which has already amassed over $174 million this year. The new tool is intended to reshape the GOP’s fundraising apparatus by creating a centralized, one-stop shop for online Republican giving, which the party has lacked to this point.”
Trump Vetting Documents Leaked
Nearly 100 internal Trump transition vetting documents leaked to Axios identify a host of “red flags” about officials who went on to get some of the most powerful jobs in the U.S. government.
A sampling:
- Scott Pruitt, who ultimately lost his job as EPA administrator because of serial ethical abuses and clubbiness with lobbyists, had a section in his vetting dossier flagging “coziness with big energy companies.”
- Tom Price, who ultimately resigned as Health and Human Services secretary after Trump lost confidence in him in part for stories about his use of chartered flights, had sections in his dossier flagging “criticisms of management ability.”
- Mick Mulvaney, now Trump’s acting chief of staff, had a striking assortment of red flags, including his assessment that Trump “is not a very good person.”
- Nikki Haley, who became Trump’s U.N. ambassador, had a note that she’d said Trump is everything “we teach our kids not to do in kindergarten.”
Documents Re-Open Questions About Omar’s Marriage
“New investigative documents released by a state agency have given fresh life to lingering questions about the marital history of Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-MN) and whether she once married a man — possibly her own brother — to skirt immigration laws,” the Minneapolis Star Tribune reports.
“Omar has denied the allegations in the past, dismissing them as ‘baseless rumors’… But she said little then or since about Ahmed Nur Said Elmi, the former husband who swept into her life in 2009 before a 2011 separation.”
“The questions surfaced again this month in a state probe of campaign finance violations showing that Omar filed federal taxes in 2014 and 2015 with her current husband, Ahmed Hirsi, while she was still legally married to but separated from Elmi.”
Sanders Has Dodged Criticism for Crime Bill Vote
“As a presidential candidate, Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) has often defended his vote for a controversial 1994 crime bill as a hold-your-nose compromise that included measures popular within the Democratic Party, such as a ban on assault weapons. As a result, Sanders’ support for the massive anti-crime package hasn’t come under the same level of scrutiny that has at times stuck to other Democratic candidates,” NBC News reports.
“But an NBC News review of his past statements shows that Sanders also backed some of the legislation’s key get-tough-on-crime provisions, which he now says ‘created a very broken system,’ — a part of his public record that may surprise some Sanders supporters.”
Agriculture Department Buries Studies on Climate Change
“The Trump administration has refused to publicize dozens of government-funded studies that carry warnings about the effects of climate change, defying a longstanding practice of touting such findings by the Agriculture Department’s acclaimed in-house scientists,” Politico reports.
“The studies range from a groundbreaking discovery that rice loses vitamins in a carbon-rich environment — a potentially serious health concern for the 600 million people world-wide whose diet consists mostly of rice — to a finding that climate change could exacerbate allergy seasons to a warning to farmers about the reduction in quality of grasses important for raising cattle.”
House Oversight Threatens Subpoena of Kellyanne Conway
“The House Oversight Committee will vote on Wednesday to authorize a subpoena for White House counselor Kellyanne Conway for testimony connected to her violations of the Hatch Act if she does not voluntarily show up to the committee’s hearing,” Axios reports.
Tensions Boil Over at Buttigieg Town Hall
“Tensions spilled over at a town hall held Sunday by South Bend, Ind., Mayor Pete Buttigieg following the fatal police shooting of a black man, drawing further scrutiny on the Democratic presidential candidate’s record,” The Hill reports.
“The issue shines further light on what is becoming a major stumbling block for Buttigieg as a presidential contender: his lack of popularity with black voters, seen as the crucial must-win demographic for candidates seeking the Democratic Party’s nomination.”
New York Times: “For Mr. Buttigieg the candidate, this is a critical time. The first Democratic debates are this week, an opportunity for him to prove to voters that the 37-year-old mayor of a midsize Midwestern city deserves consideration in a field brimming with senators, governors and a former vice president.”
Shanahan Misled Senate on Background Problems
As he underwent confirmation for the Pentagon’s second-highest position in 2017, acting Defense Secretary Patrick Shanahan told lawmakers he was “aware of no incidents reflecting adversely” on his ability to do his job and had “never been party to any civil litigation,” USA Today reports.
“But at the time, he had only recently emerged from a contentious, years-long divorce, which is a civil court matter. His ex-wife had accused him in divorce filings and police records of punching her during a violent domestic battle in 2010.”
Quote of the Day
“I’m not looking for war, and if there is, it’ll be obliteration like you’ve never seen before. But I’m not looking to do that.”
— President Trump, quoted by Politico, warning Iranian leaders that they must begin negotiations.
Trump Says Picking Sessions Was His Biggest Mistake
President Trump said that if he could have one “do-over,” it would be “personnel” decisions, including naming former Senator Jeff Sessions as his first U.S. attorney general, Reuters reports.
Sid Trump: “I would say if I had one do over, it would be, I would not have appointed Jeff Sessions to be attorney general… That was the biggest mistake.”
Joe Sestak Announces White House Bid
“Joe Sestak, a former Navy admiral and congressman from Pennsylvania, said he was joining the crowded field of Democratic candidates running for president in 2020,” the New York Times reports.
“With an announcement on his website on Saturday, Mr. Sestak became the 24th Democratic candidate running for president.”
“His announcement came later than those of the other Democratic candidates. He said the delay had happened because he had wanted to spend time with his daughter, who had been battling brain cancer but had since beaten it.”
Trump Says He’s Not Prepared to Lose
When asked on Meet the Press whether he was prepared to lose his re-election bid, President Trump said, “No. Probably not. Probably not. It would be much better, it would be much better if I said, ‘Yeah.’ It would be much easier for me to say, ‘Oh yes.’ No I’m probably not too prepared to lose.”
He added: “I don’t like losing. I haven’t lost very much in my life.”
Trump Bucked His National Security Aides
Wall Street Journal: “President Trump bucked most of his top national-security advisers by abandoning retaliatory strikes in Iran on Thursday. In private conversations Friday, Mr. Trump reveled in his judgment, certain about his decision to call off the attacks while speaking of his administration as if removed from the center of it. ”
Said Trump to one confidant: “These people want to push us into a war, and it’s so disgusting. We don’t need any more wars.”
Democrats’ Debate Prep Gets Real
New York Magazine: “Biden debated well during the 2008 cycle and as the vice-president in 2012, but it’s been seven years, and now he knows he’s everyone’s top target. Multiple candidates who are set to debate him next week are expecting both Kirsten Gillibrand and Kamala Harris to go after his flip-flop on the Hyde Amendment, Harris to attack him on his criminal-justice record, Bernie Sanders to criticize his ‘middle-ground’ plans, and Pete Buttigieg to knock him in his signature generational terms. On both nights, they suspect, candidates will bring up Biden’s recent comments about working with segregationist senators. And Biden is preparing for all of it.”
Boris Johnson Under Pressure to Explain Row with Partner
“Boris Johnson is under pressure from a Conservative cabinet minister to explain why police were called to his home after a row with his partner as the issue threatens to derail his campaign to become prime minister,” The Guardian reports.
“Liam Fox, the international trade secretary, said the frontrunner to succeed Theresa May should speak out about the late-night altercation that was witnessed by several neighbors.”
“The development follows two days of negative headlines that have damaged Johnson’s chances of beating the foreign secretary, Jeremy Hunt, in a race to become leader of the Conservative party.”