Sen. Michael Bennet (D-CO) told the Washington Post he is ending his campaign for the presidency.
Andrew Yang Ends Presidential Campaign
“Andrew Yang, a Democratic businessman who campaigned on giving every adult American a monthly check for $1,000, will end his campaign for president after a disappointing showing in the New Hampshire primary,” the Washington Post reports.
Saif Yang: “I am a numbers guy. In most of these upcoming states, I’m not going to be at a threshold where I get delegates, which makes sticking around not necessarily helpful or productive in terms of furthering the goals of this campaign.”
Nate Silver: “He ran an overachieving campaign that brought new types of voters into the Democratic fold, and he probably has an interesting future in politics if he wants one.”
How We’ll Lose Our Democracy
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New Hampshire Primary Results
Most close at 7 p.m. or 8 p.m. ET, depending on the location. The Associated Press could project a winner soon after 8 p.m., or it could take longer if the race is close.
The Wall Street Journal has three things to watch:
- Voting process. Any signs of problems at the polls, or issues tabulating results, and the Democrats will suffer another black eye. Party officials are promising no Iowa-like surprises.
- Sorting out the field. Another strong showing from Buttigieg and Sanders could pay off in fundraising and momentum ahead of the Nevada and South Carolina races later this month, and Super Tuesday at the start of March.
- Showing strength. Klobuchar has shown momentum in recent weeks, and she would celebrate a third-place finish. But Warren and Biden, who came into the 2020 race with much greater name recognition, will want to elbow her out.
The New York Times is tracking results with their “live needle.”
Leave your reactions in the comments.
Trump Pulls Nomination of Former U.S. Attorney
President Trump is withdrawing his nomination for former U.S. attorney for D.C. Jessie Liu to serve as the Treasury Department’s undersecretary for terrorism and financial crimes, Axios reports.
“Liu was expected to stay in her position as U.S. attorney through her confirmation — with a hearing before the Senate Banking Committee scheduled for this Thursday — but was unexpectedly informed last month that Attorney General Bill Barr was replacing her with his close adviser Timothy Shea.”
“She was informed that Trump was pulling her nomination Tuesday afternoon.”
Romney Suggests Senate GOP Has Moved On
Sen. Mitt Romney (R-UT) told the Washington Post that he “has received a fine reception from his Senate Republican colleagues and Utah GOP leaders, following his lone Republican vote to convict President Trump in the impeachment trial.”
“Signaling he wants to be a team player, Romney flew home to Salt Lake City for meetings last Thursday — a day after the Senate vote — and then to Palm Beach, Fla., for a National Republican Senatorial Committee gathering.”
Virginia Lt. Governor Sues CBS for $400 Million
Virginia Lt. Gov. Justin Fairfax (D) filed a $400 million lawsuit against CBS, alleging the company defamed him when it broadcast interviews with two women he says have falsely accused him of sexual assault, Fox 5 reports.
Trumpocalypse
Coming soon: Trumpocalypse: Restoring American Democracy by David Frum.
“A huge swath of Americans see the rest of the country building a future that doesn’t have a place for them. It’s no wonder they’d rather burn it all down. But the fire can be stopped by Americans who act now to protect their country and its democracy.”
- Amazon Kindle Edition
- Frum, David (Author)
- English (Publication Language)
- 264 Pages - 05/26/2020 (Publication Date) - Harper (Publisher)
Four Prosecutors Resign Over Roger Stone Case
In a sign of fallout over the Justice Department’s decision to downgrade a sentencing memo for Roger Stone, top Mueller prosecutor Aaron Zelinsky filed a notice withdrawing from the case this afternoon.
Meanwhile, MSNBC reports another Roger Stone prosecutor — Jonathan Kravis — “has resigned as an Assistant United States Attorney and therefore no longer represents the government in this case.”
And Vox reports that Adam Jed becomes the third Stone prosecutor to withdraw.
NBC News reports that Michael Marando is the fourth prosecutor to resign.
Washington Post: “The department’s decision to overrule frontline prosecutors and the prosecutors’ subsequent moves laid bare the tension — between career prosecutors and department leadership — that has roiled the Stone case in recent days, and it raises fresh concerns about the politicization of Trump’s Justice Department.”
Trump Adviser Says U.K. Slips Behind in Trade Priorities
After months of promises that the U.K. would be next in line for trade negotiations with the Trump administration, White House economic adviser told Bloomberg that the European Union might still be the easier target for a quick outcome aimed at avoiding a transatlantic tariff battle.
He said trade talks with the EU and U.K. are on separate tracks but because of “some structure” on the EU side, “reigniting that will be easier” than starting from scratch with the U.K.
Former President Barack Obama warned back in 2016 that the U.K. would be at the “back of the queue” in any trade deal with the U.S. if the country chose to leave the EU.
Warren Downplays Expectations In New Hampshire
Sen. Elizabeth Warren’s campaign released a memo downplaying expectations in New Hampshire and laying out a delegate path in granular detail, the New York Times reports.
“The memo provides, by far, the most detailed projections released by any campaign of delegate viability heading into Super Tuesday, predicting a ‘three-way race’ between herself, Mr. Biden and Mr. Sanders, the Vermont senator. She omits Mr. Buttigieg, the former mayor of South Bend, Ind., even though he received more support than her in Iowa and could do so again in New Hampshire. Candidates need to reach 15 percent support in each congressional district to win delegates, as well as statewide for statewide delegates.”
For members: The New Hampshire Expectations Game
Giuliani Working on Hunter Biden Documentary
Rudy Giuliani is working on a new documentary about Hunter Biden, Yahoo News reports.
“Giuliani and his production team, led by veteran California Republican fixer Tim Yale, have been conducting interviews for the documentary… They have also approached potential investors in the film, showing them trailers with footage of former Vice President Joe Biden and actors portraying Hunter Biden and Ukrainian officials.”
More Utah Voters Approved of Romney’s Vote
A new Deseret News/Hinckley Institute of Politics poll in Utah shows voters mostly approving of Sen. Mitt Romney’s vote to convict President Trump on abuse of power charges, 49% to 40% with 11% unsure.
However, among Republicans only, 60% had a negative reaction to Romney’s vote, while 31% were positive.
The New Hampshire Expectations Game
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Trump Expected to Pull Pentagon Nomination
“The White House is expected to pull the nomination of Elaine McCusker to be the Pentagon’s comptroller and chief financial officer in the latest staffing fallout from President Trump’s impeachment,” the New York Post reports.
“McCusker resisted the president’s directive to stall about $250 million in military aid to Ukraine and her emails protesting the delay were leaked in January to the blog Just Security ahead of Trump’s Senate trial.”
DOJ Nears Decision on Whether to Charge Erik Prince
“The Justice Department is in the late stages of deciding whether to charge businessman and Trump ally Erik Prince in an investigation into whether he lied to Congress in its Russia probe and violated U.S. export laws in his business dealings overseas,” the Wall Street Journal reports.
Inside Bernie’s Powerful Political Machine
Daily Beast: “Consider just the data. There are more than 150 Sanders campaign staffers in New Hampshire along with 17 state offices. On Saturday alone, the campaign had about 1,000 out-of-state volunteers helping with get-out-the-vote operations on top of the 14,000 regular, active volunteers in the state. The number of households that the campaign visited just that day was 150,000. The state only has about 640,000 household units, according to Census data.”
Feds Back Away from Roger Stone’s Sentencing Memo
“The Justice Department plans to reduce its sentencing recommendation for longtime President Trump confidant Roger Stone, after top officials were apparently blindsided by the seven-to-nine year penalty prosecutors urged a judge to impose,” the Washington Post reports.
“In a stunning rebuke of career prosecutors that will surely raise questions about political meddling in the case, a senior Justice Department official said the department ‘was shocked to see the sentencing recommendation in the Roger Stone case last night.'”
Associated Press: “It was not immediately clear what prompted the reversal. But it is exceedingly rare, particularly in a high-profile case like Stone’s, for the Justice Department to reverse its own prosecutors on a sentencing recommendation.”