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Sen. John Fetterman (D-PA) who was hospitalized last week after feeling lightheaded, checked himself into Walter Reed National Military Medical Center on Wednesday night to receive treatment for clinical depression, the New York Times reports.
Said Adam Jentleson, his chief of staff: “While John has experienced depression off and on throughout his life, it only became severe in recent weeks.”
“President Biden said the three highflying objects taken down over North America following the shooting down of an alleged Chinese surveillance balloon were likely tied to private companies or related to recreation or scientific research, saying they were removed out of an abundance of caution,” the Wall Street Journal reports.
“Following days of questions about the administration’s response, Mr. Biden said of the three objects that ‘nothing right now suggests they’re related to China’s spy balloon program.’ He said he has directed his team to develop sharper rules for distinguishing objects that present safety risks and require action.”
He added: “But make no mistake, if any object that presents a threat to the safety and security of the American people. I will take it down.”
Charlie Shamp — a self-proclaimed Christian “prophet” who back Donald Trump in 2020 — told the Jim Bakker Show last week that God isn’t backing Trump in the 2024 election this time, Rolling Stone reports.
Said Shamp: “We need to watch Ron DeSantis. Because the Lord is going to use him in a powerful way.”
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“The Supreme Court on Thursday canceled arguments in a challenge to ending a pandemic-era immigration measure, a step that suggested it may dismiss the case based on the Biden administration’s announcement that the health emergency would end in May,” the New York Times reports.
“The justices had been scheduled to hear arguments over the measure, known as Title 42, on March 1. A terse entry on the court’s docket on Thursday announced that the case had been removed from the calendar and gave no further explanation.”
Punchbowl News: “By the time the Senate leaves today for the week-long Presidents Day Recess, the body will have confirmed another seven judges this week. Schumer will have filed cloture on another nominee to take up when the Senate returns as well.”
Marina Yankina, a high-ranking Russian defense official in the war against Ukraine, was found dead Wednesday after falling from a high-rise window in an apartment building, the New York Post reports.
A new bankruptcy court filing shows that right-wing conspiracy theorist Alex Jones has been “holding firearms” for those who participated in the insurrection at the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, the Washington Post reports.
In his first congressional race in 2020, Rep. George Santos (R-NY) created a “Devolder Santos for Congress Recount” committee less than 24 hours after Election Day — a fundraising committee that raised and spent hundreds of thousands of dollars supposedly in connection with a recount, the Daily Beast reports.
But Santos ultimately lost that race to Rep. Tom Suozzi (D-NY) by more than 46,000 votes and that recount never happened.
“The confirmation of President Joe Biden’s nominee for a prestigious federal appeals court seat could be in jeopardy after he was grilled over his role representing an elite boarding school in a sexual assault case and a key Senate Democrat withheld his immediate support,” CNN reports.
“Former New Hampshire Attorney General Michael Delaney, who has been nominated for the 1st US Circuit Court of Appeals, faced tough questions about the case from Senate Judiciary Committee members during a hearing Wednesday.”
“The office of embattled Republican congressman George Santos was surrounded by a police barricade on Wednesday as local residents delivered a petition calling on him to resign,” The Independent reports.
“Around 25 residents visited his district office in Douglaston, Queens, and asked to speak with the congressman. The protesters were turned away by a member of his staff, who said Mr Santos was in the building but would not speak to a ‘mob.'”
A new OH Predictive Insights poll in Arizona finds Rep. Ruben Gallego (D-AZ) is leading every one of his potential competitors.
Key takeaway: “As of now, Ruben Gallego’s best bet would be the GOP nominating a Trump-style Republican and Kyrsten Sinema opting out of the race. However, if Republicans nominate a more moderate candidate, Republicans will be in a better position for a more competitive race with Sinema on the ticket.”
“Sinema stands a better chance if Gallego does not run. However, assuming that is not likely, her best bet is that Ducey opts out of the race. Regardless, as the Arizona electorate stands now, it’s going to be an uphill climb for Sinema.”
Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro (D) called on the General Assembly to end the death penalty in the state, the Philadelphia Inquirer reports.
Former White House press secretary Kayleigh McEnany — famously loyal to Donald Trump — praised Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) and encouraged him to enter the 2024 presidential race.
Said McEnany: “How can you wait when you are currently the hottest governor in Republican politics, seeing how hard it is to regenerate that attention almost a decade later?”
“A Georgia judge on Thursday released parts of a report produced by an Atlanta-area special grand jury investigating efforts by President Donald Trump and his allies to overturn Trump’s 2020 election loss in Georgia — though the panel’s recommendations on potential charges will remain secret,” the Washington Post reports.
A key finding: “We find by unanimous vote that no widespread fraud took place in the Georgia 2020 presidential election.”
Another one: “A majority of the Grand Jury believes that perjury may have been committed by one or more witnesses testifying before it. The Grand Jury recommends that the District Attorney seek appropriate indictments for such crimes where the evidence is compelling.”
The rest of the panel’s findings will remain sealed — including what the judge described as “a roster of who should (or should not) be indicted, and for what, in relation to the conduct (and aftermath) of the 2020 general election in Georgia.”
“House Republicans are planning a series of attention-grabbing hearings outside of Washington, guided by a 15-page, private playbook,” Axios reports.
A Quinnipiac poll finds that when GOP voters are given a list of 14 names of Republicans who either have said they are running for president in 2024 or are seen as potential candidates in a Republican primary, Donald Trump receives 42% of the vote followed by Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis who receives 36%.
Nikki Haley receives 5%, Mike Pence receives 4%, and Mike Pompeo receives 4%. No other candidate tops 2% of the vote.
When the potential field is narrowed to only four candidates, voters are split between Trump at 43% and DeSantis at 41%, a virtual dead heat. Haley receives 6% and Pence receives 4% in this hypothetical 4-way Republican primary.
“I’m gonna try to help explain to the American people that defeating the Russians in Ukraine is the single most important event going on in the world right now… there should be a bipartisan support for this.”
— Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-KY), on Fox News.
Conservative pundit Ann Coulter said Nikki Haley — who was born in South Carolina — should “go back to your own country” after the former South Carolina governor announced her 2024 presidential candidacy.
Coulter took issue with Haley removing the Confederate flag from the state capitol in 2015 after a White supremacist shot and killed nine people at a historically Black church in Charleston.
She added: “This is my country, lady. I’m not an American Indian, and I don’t like them taking down all the monuments.”
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.
Goddard is the owner of Goddard Media LLC.
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