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Trump Claims He’s Pardoned County Clerk

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“President Donald Trump said Thursday that he has pardoned Tina Peters, a former county clerk in Colorado who was convicted in state court on felony charges related to efforts to overturn the 2020 presidential election,” the Washington Post reports.

“It was unclear whether Trump was asserting that he has the power to free Peters from state prison. She is serving a nine-year sentence. Presidents have the power to pardon defendants convicted in federal courts, but previous presidents have not claimed that authority in a state case.”

New York Times: “The president has no power to pardon state crimes. Mr. Trump could not, for example, pardon himself for the 34 felony convictions handed down in a New York trial last year. Because Ms. Peters is in prison for a state offense, Mr. Trump’s announcement on Thursday was primarily symbolic.”

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Indiana Republicans Rebuff Trump on Redistricting

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“In a monumental rebuke of President Donald Trump’s wishes, Indiana’s supermajority Republican state legislature became the first to formally reject his push for mid-decade redistricting,” the Indianapolis Star reports.

“The Senate’s 19-31 vote caps months of anticipation and pressure from the White House and its allies, placing Indiana at the center of national intrigue and ire.”

Inside Trump’s War Against Wind Power

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Politico: “The uprooting of wind projects is especially striking at a time when political leaders from both parties are calling for a massive increase in electricity generation nationwide, citing rising consumer prices and the soaring power demands of data centers.”

“During the Biden era, the idea of erecting turbines along the nation’s coasts symbolized a vision of greening the economy, easing the threat of climate change and creating a new generation of manufacturing jobs. But now, unraveling the industry has come to represent Trump’s push for a rapid ramp-up of fossil fuels.”

Trump’s Family Is Helping Saudi Royalty Buy CNN

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Colby Hall: “Imagine if Hunter Biden were helping assemble billions in Saudi and Qatari financing so a progressive media owner could take over Fox News while quietly assuring the White House that he planned to replace hosts and reshape the network’s direction.”

“The national reaction would be immediate. Congressional hearings, emergency ethics panels, a weeklong media frenzy.”

Grand Jury Again Refuses to Indict Letitia James

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“For a second time in a week, a federal grand jury in Virginia has refused to indict New York Attorney General Letitia James for alleged mortgage fraud, again rejecting the Department of Justice’s attempt to refile the case after a federal judge dismissed an earlier case based on the unlawful appointment of the U.S. attorney in the Eastern District of Virginia,” ABC News reports.

Republicans Hold Edge with Older Voters

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A new Reuters/Ipsos poll suggests that Republicans hold a greater advantage with older voters, who “may be less swayed by the kind of cost-of-living issues that have animated recent Democratic campaigns.”

The survey found that 46% of voters aged 50 and older said they planned to vote for the Republican running in their congressional district, while 38% said they would vote Democrat.

U.S. Preparing to Seize More Oil Tankers

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“The U.S. is preparing to intercept more ships transporting Venezuelan oil following the seizure of a tanker this week, as it increases pressure on Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro,” Reuters reports.

“The seizure has put shipowners, operators and maritime agencies involved in transporting Venezuelan crude on alert, with many reconsidering whether to sail from Venezuelan waters in the coming days as planned.”

Three Trump Cabinet Officials Face Impeachment Threats

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Three members of President Trump’s Cabinet — Kristi Noem, Pete Hegseth and Robert F. Kennedy Jr. — have become the target of impeachment threats in recent weeks, Axios reports.

“Democrats have, until very recently, been timid about impeachment, which would be unlikely to pass in either chamber. But the base has been urging Dems to act more combatively against Trump and his administration.”

Punchbowl News: House Democrats brace for impeachment vote.

Michigan Republicans Block $645 Million in Spending

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“With little to no public discussion or debate, the Republican-led Michigan House Appropriations Committee on Wednesday voted to discontinue nearly $645 million in funding for ongoing programs across multiple state departments,” the Detroit News reports.

“The 78 program cuts are all ones included in the 2025 fiscal year budget, which was passed under Democratic control last year. The cuts include roughly $18.5 million in funding for a prenatal and infant support program, nearly $165 million in earmarks and more than $17 million for museums and symphonies across the state.”

An Epic Flop

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Olivia Nuzzi’s new book American Canto sold only 1,165 hardcover copies in its first week on the shelves, Politico reports.

The book was savaged in reviews, with the New York Times calling it “self-serious and altogether disappointing” and the Washington Post writing that she “tries and fails to save her reputation in the book.”

One publishing industry insider called it a “publishing debacle of epic proportions.”

The CNN Sacrifice

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Oliver Darcy: “Once upon a time, a chief executive openly signaling that he’d reorient a newsroom to appease a sitting president would be a five-alarm corporate scandal, the sort of fire that would send the company’s public relations teams sprinting through the hallways to extinguish.”

“Indeed, the notion that Ellison would assure the president that he would overhaul the news network’s editorial posture to be more obedient to him and his administration should be a downright scandal that Paramount would seek to address. As one veteran media executive confided to me, ‘This is Pravda style stuff’—the playbook of Russian oligarchs, not aspiring Hollywood moguls hoping to buy themselves a sprawling entertainment conglomerate that houses an iconic global news network.”

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.

Goddard is the owner of Goddard Media LLC.

Praise for Political Wire

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— Chuck Todd, host of “Meet the Press”

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— Larry Sabato, Center for Politics, University of Virginia

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— Arianna Huffington, founder of The Huffington Post

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— Glenn Reynolds, founder of Instapundit

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