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Sen. Bob Casey (D-PA) had surgery for prostate cancer Tuesday and is not expected to require further treatment, the Philadelphia Inquirer reports.
He is expected to return to a “normal schedule,” his office said, after an unspecified period of recovery.
“By the time a Chinese spy balloon crossed into American airspace late last month, U.S. military and intelligence agencies had been tracking it for nearly a week, watching as it lifted off from its home base on Hainan Island near China’s south coast,” the Washington Post reports.
“U.S. monitors watched as the balloon settled into a flight path that would appear to have taken it over the U.S. territory of Guam. But somewhere along that easterly route, the craft took an unexpected northern turn, according to several U.S. officials, who said that analysts are now examining the possibility that China didn’t intend to penetrate the American heartland with their airborne surveillance device.”
“This new account suggests that the ensuing international crisis that has ratcheted up tensions between Washington and Beijing may have been at least partly the result of a mistake.”
“Federal prosecutors overseeing the investigation into former President Donald Trump’s handling of classified documents are seeking to pierce assertions of attorney-client privilege and compel one of his lawyers to answer more questions before a grand jury, adding an aggressive new dimension to the inquiry and underscoring the legal peril facing Mr. Trump,” the New York Times reports.
“The prosecutors have sought approval from a federal judge to invoke what is known as the crime-fraud exception, which allows them to work around attorney-client privilege when they have reason to believe that legal advice or legal services have been used in furthering a crime. The fact that prosecutors invoked the exception in a sealed motion to compel the testimony of the lawyer, M. Evan Corcoran, suggests that they believe Mr. Trump or his allies might have used Mr. Corcoran’s services in that way.”
“Among the questions that the Justice Department has been examining since last year is whether Mr. Trump or his associates obstructed justice in failing to comply with demands to return a trove of government material he took with him from the White House upon leaving office, including hundreds of documents with classified markings.”
“Sen. Jon Tester (D-MT) will lead a Senate investigation into why it took so long for the Defense Department to detect Chinese spy balloons that floated over the United States this month and in previous years, revealing an embarrassing gap in the nation’s air defenses,” The Hill reports.
Walter Shapiro: “Maybe I’m expecting too much from Biden, but a small incident recently reported by Annie Linskey in The Wall Street Journal troubled me. Toward the end of a nuanced article about the president’s many, many ties to the University of Pennsylvania, Linskey revealed that one of Hunter Biden’s daughters was rejected for early admission to Penn in 2019. That setback prompted Biden—then a private citizen about to declare for the presidency—to speak to the dean of admissions at Penn. Probably not coincidentally, Biden’s granddaughter ended up among the 7 percent of applicants eventually admitted to Penn in 2019.”
“In a world of overhyped fake scandals—where everything is the greatest outrage since Aaron Burr killed Alexander Hamilton—this is a nothing-burger. Many politically connected parents or grandparents have put a thumb on the scale in the effort to score an edge at a prestigious college…”
“But still, even after adding all the context in the world, this is not a good look for the president. Perhaps Hunter Biden’s daughter would have gotten into Penn on her merits during the regular admission period, but thanks to Grandpa Joe’s intervention, we will never know. In all likelihood, someone else was denied admission to Penn so there would be a slot for Biden’s granddaughter.”
“Former Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro said he plans to return to Brazil in March to lead the political opposition to leftist President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva and defend himself against accusations he incited attacks by protesters on government buildings last month,” the Wall Street Journal reports.
Said Bolsonarro: “The right-wing movement is not dead and will live on.”
“Oh, no, I’m not announcing anything. I will one day.”
— Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-CA), in an interview with Raw Story, about an hour after her office released the statement on her decision not to seek re-election.
Semafor: “It might be tempting to downplay the White House’s new big theme as little more than cranky, small-bore populism…”
“But if you talk to Biden administration officials, its origins sound more high-minded. They make the case that junk fees are deeply serious business, a kitchen table issue that also happens to fit snugly with their wider ambition to bring American antitrust enforcement back from the grave and make markets more competitive.”
“Michigan Democrats are considering speeding up the passage of new gun legislation in the state following a shooting at Michigan State University on Monday evening that left three people dead,” Politico reports.
“The drive for new legislation will be one of the first significant tests of Democratic Party governance in the state since the midterm elections.”
“An earlier presidential primary date won’t just bring a wave of political advertising and more attention to Georgia. It could also bring a surge of spending that generates thousands of new jobs and a nine-figure economic impact,” the Atlanta Journal Constitution reports.
“Those findings are outlined in a new economic analysis by Thomas More Smith, an Emory University finance professor who drafted an 11-page report on the effort by Democrats to make Georgia the fourth state to vote in next year’s presidential primary.”
“Gov. Phil Murphy said Tuesday that his administration is expanding Advanced Placement African American Studies courses next year from one school to 26 in New Jersey after Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis blocked the course from being taught in public schools in Florida,” the AP reports.
“Murphy’s move comes about a month after the administration of DeSantis, a potential presidential candidate, declared without citing any evidence that the course violates state law and isn’t historically accurate.”
Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) on Tuesday announced she would not seek reelection in 2024, putting to rest uncertainty over whether she would seek a sixth full term as the oldest sitting senator, the Los Angeles Times reports.
Joint Chiefs Chairman Gen. Mark Milley said that Russia has “lost” the war in Ukraine, Insider reports.
Said Milley: “Russia is now a global pariah and the world remains inspired by Ukrainian bravery and resilience. In short, Russia has lost — they’ve lost strategically, operationally, and tactically.”
“President Biden announced Tuesday a massive aircraft purchase agreement between Air India and Boeing, touting the deal as part of his pledge to return the U.S. to its position as a global manufacturing leader,” the Washington Times reports.
FTC Commissioner Christine Wilson, a Republican appointee, writes in the Wall Street Journal that she’ll resign her position in protest of Chair Lina Khan’s leadership.
Writes Wilson: “I refuse to give their endeavor any further hint of legitimacy by remaining.”
“House Freedom Caucus lawmakers taking a hard line against raising the U.S. government’s $31.4 trillion debt ceiling rely heavily on small donors to fund their campaigns, shielding them from business lobby pressure to avoid a default,” a Reuters analysis found.
“Members of the House Freedom Caucus, a secretive group of at least 37 conservative Republicans, got close to 40% of their campaign funds from smaller donations during the 2022 election cycle, the analysis of financial disclosures found, compared to close to 20% for the rest of the party’s House members.”
“You should know this about me: I don’t put up with bullies. And when you kick back, it hurts them more if you’re wearing heels.”
— Nikki Haley, in a video launching her presidential campaign.
“While many in the world see the Chinese spy balloon as a sign of Beijing’s growing aggressiveness, China has sought to cast the controversy as a symptom of the United States’ irrevocable decline,” the New York Times reports.
“Why else would a great power be spooked by a flimsy inflatable craft, China has argued, if not for a raft of internal problems like an intensely divided society and intractable partisan strife driving President Biden to act tough on Beijing?”
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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