House Foreign Affairs Committee chairman Michael McCaul (R-TX) traveled to Kyiv Tuesday with a congressional delegation to see “first-hand” what is happening on the ground in Ukraine and conduct oversight to gain better insight on the Russia-Ukraine war, Fox News reports.
Trump’s Grip on the GOP Base Is Slipping
Washington Post: “The MAGA vs. RINO dichotomy that defined the GOP for much of the last eight years is increasingly obsolete. In its place, a new dynamic emerged from interviews with more than 150 Trump supporters across five pivotal electoral states. In between Republicans who remain firmly committed or opposed to the former president, there’s now a broad range of Trump supporters who, however much they still like him, aren’t sure they want him as the party’s next nominee.”
“The foremost reason is electability. Even Republicans who said they still supported Trump and believed his false claims that the 2020 election was stolen acknowledged doubts on whether he could defeat President Biden or another Democrat in 2024…”
“It’s not the first time that Trump supporters have admitted their misgivings. But during his presidency, the only choices were to be with him or against him, so they stuck with him.”
“Now there is a new option — a way to still support Trump as the 45th president without being sold on him as the party’s best shot at becoming the 47th. Not anti-Trump, or even non-Trump — just post-Trump.”
4 Criminal Inquiries Into Trump Nearing End
New York Times: “No former president has ever confronted the barrage of legal threats that Mr. Trump now faces, all of which appear to be heading toward decision points by the authorities in coming months. Heightening the stakes, the inquiries have intensified just as Mr. Trump has started ramping up his third campaign for the White House.”
Quote of the Day
“He’s a proven loser. I think his unelectability is his Achilles’ heel, and that in and of itself is going to be a unifying argument to move on from Trump.”
— Former Speaker Paul Ryan (R-WI), in an interview with the Washington Post.
GOP Worries Democrats Could Crash Iowa Caucuses
“Republican leaders in Iowa say they are worried about Democrats crashing their 2024 presidential caucuses, a possible wild card as the pace of campaigning ramps up in the state that will start the GOP nominating process in less than a year,” the Wall Street Journal reports.
“With Democratic voters potentially having little incentive to attend their own party caucus, GOP officials are contemplating ways to block potential interlopers who might want to make mischief, perhaps by backing a Republican candidate they think will be more easily beaten in the general election.”
Taiwan Foreign Minister Held High-Level Meeting in D.C.
“Taiwan’s foreign minister traveled to the U.S. this week for an unusual high-level meeting with senior American officials in the Washington area,” the Wall Street Journal reports.
Trump Calls Out Violation of Grand Jury Secrecy
Donald Trump seized on the potential violations of grand jury secrecy in Georgia after the forewoman gave a series of media interviews:
“This Georgia case is ridiculous, a strictly political continuation of the greatest Witch Hunt of all time. Now you have an extremely energetic young woman, the (get this!) ‘foreperson’ of the Racist D.A.’s Special Grand Jury, going around and doing a Media Tour revealing, incredibly, the Grand Jury’s inner workings & thoughts. This is not JUSTICE, this is an illegal Kangaroo Court.”
Just last week Trump touted the grand jury’s findings as “total exoneration.”
Putin and Biden Shore Up Alliances
New York Times: “On the surface, it looked like a reversion to the Cold War era. The reality was even more complicated.”
Battle for House Starts as a Toss Up
Larry Sabato’s Crystal Ball finds the overall battle for House control in 2024 starts as a Toss-up.
“Relatively similar numbers of Democratic and Republican seats start in the most competitive Toss-up and Leans categories, although Republicans start with a few more targets in large part because of the likelihood that they will benefit from redistricting in North Carolina and Ohio.”
“Big blue states California and New York, where Republicans have made key gains over the past couple of cycles, loom large as Democrats plot a path back to the House majority.”
U.S. Mulls Release of Intelligence on China Arms to Russia
“The Biden administration is considering releasing intelligence it believes shows that China is weighing whether to supply weapons to support Russia’s war in Ukraine,” the Wall Street Journal reports.
“The discussions on public disclosure come ahead of Friday’s United Nations Security Council meeting marking one year since Russia invaded Ukraine.”
Washington Post: A global divide on the Ukraine war is deepening.
Bird Flu Kills 11-Year Old Girl
“An 11-year-old girl in Cambodia has died from bird flu in the country’s first known human H5N1 infection since 2014,” the AP reports.
House GOP’s Top Tax Man Worries K Street
“Rep. Jason Smith hasn’t been chair of the House Ways and Means Committee very long, but he’s already done something rare for a Republican: He’s struck fear into the heart of corporate tax lobbyists,” Politico reports.
“The Missouri lawmaker is making it clear he isn’t the sort of Chamber of Commerce Republican his side usually picks for this job. He is going out of his way to let corporate America know he’s not terribly concerned with its problems, even if its taxes are going up substantially, while promising a lot more scrutiny of its relations with China.”
Scott Perry Fights to Keep Phone from Investigators
9Six months after federal agents seized his phone as part of their investigation into false election fraud claims, Rep. Scott Perry (R-PA) will argue Thursday in front of a panel of three judges that the device cannot be searched,” the Washington Post reports.
“The Pennsylvania Republican is supported by bipartisan leadership in the House of Representatives as he argues that the ‘speech and debate’ clause of the Constitution protects him from the special counsel probe.”
Alaska Lawmaker Censured Over Comments
“The Alaska House of Representatives voted almost unanimously Wednesday to reprimand Rep. David Eastman (R) for speculating the state could financially benefit if child abuse victims died of their abuse,” Alaska Public Media reports.
“The House’s 35-1 vote to censure Eastman — the lone vote against the measure came from Eastman himself — marks the third time the controversial Wasilla Republican has been reprimanded by the House. The House previously censured him in 2017. One year later, the House Ethics Committee found he violated state ethics law.”
“A censure vote like Wednesday’s has no consequences other than putting a formal statement of disapproval or reprimand on the record.”
Larry Hogan Running Third in Maryland Primary
A new co/efficient poll finds former Gov. Larry Hogan (R) was running third behind former President Donald Trump (R) and Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) in a new poll of likely GOP presidential primary voters in Maryland.
Georgia Juror Unsettles Trump Investigation
“The forewoman of a special grand jury in Georgia may have complicated an investigation into efforts by former president Donald Trump and his allies to overturn the results of the 2020 election by speaking bluntly about its findings in interviews this week,” the Washington Post reports.
“Several legal experts said they were surprised and concerned by Kohrs’s unusually candid commentary, which included evaluation of witnesses, tidbits about jurors socializing with prosecutors and a stated hope that the investigation yields charges because of how much time she and others invested in the case.”
For members: What We Learned from a Very Talkative Grand Juror
McCarthy Keeps a Promise to the Hard Wing
“Speaker Kevin McCarthy’s decision to grant the Fox News host Tucker Carlson exclusive access to thousands of hours of security footage from inside the Capitol during the Jan. 6, 2021, attack was his latest move to appease the right wing of his party, this time by effectively outsourcing a bid to reinvestigate the riot to its favorite cable news commentator, who has circulated conspiracy theories about the assault,” the New York Times reports.
“The most conservative Republican members of Congress — many of whom have worked to downplay or deny the reality of the Jan. 6 attack — have been pushing Mr. McCarthy for weeks to release the video after he promised to do so during his campaign for speaker.”
“Mr. McCarthy has shown little appetite for the kind of aggressive public re-litigation of what happened that day that some of his colleagues have called for, but he is sensitive to the dangers of angering his hard-core base by seeming to drop or disregard the matter.”
The Hill: Schumer blasts McCarthy for giving Jan. 6 footage to Fox News.
Labor Board Curbs Gag Rules in Severance Agreements
“The National Labor Relations Board has ruled that it is generally illegal for companies to offer severance agreements that prohibit workers from making potentially disparaging statements about the employer or from disclosing details of the agreement,” the New York Times reports.
