Political Wire

Boris Johnson Clings On Amid Cabinet Standoff

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“Boris Johnson was locked in an unprecedented standoff with his own cabinet on Wednesday, as he clung to power after an extraordinary day that saw more than 40 resignations, and the sacking of Michael Gove,” The Guardian reports.

“The prime minister appeared determined to fight on, despite a delegation of senior cabinet ministers, including the home secretary, Priti Patel, and the transport secretary, Grant Shapps, personally urging him to resign.”

“Instead of stepping down, Johnson responded by sacking Gove as levelling up secretary. Gove had earlier told the prime minister in a face-to-face meeting that he believed his position was unsustainable, given the number of MPs who had turned against him.”

New Yorker: Boris Johnson’s government is collapsing in on itself.

Two Trump Foes Faced Intensive IRS Audits

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“Among tax lawyers, the most invasive type of random audit carried out by the IRS is known, only partly jokingly, as ‘an autopsy without the benefit of death,’” the New York Times reports.

“The odds of being selected for that audit in any given year are tiny — out of nearly 153 million individual returns filed for 2017, for example, the IRS targeted about 5,000, or roughly one out of 30,600.”

“One of the few who received a bureaucratic letter with the news that his 2017 return would be under intensive scrutiny was James Comey, who had been fired as FBI director that year by President Donald Trump. Furious over what he saw as Mr. Comey’s lack of loyalty and his pursuit of the Russia investigation, Mr. Trump had continued to rail against him even after his dismissal, accusing him of treason, calling for his prosecution and publicly complaining about the money Mr. Comey received for a book after his dismissal.”

“Among those who were chosen to have their 2019 returns scrutinized was the man who had been Mr. Comey’s deputy at the bureau: Andrew McCabe, who served several months as acting FBI director after Mr. Comey’s firing.”

Chart of the Day

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It’s been two months since the wave of infections from the new Omicron variants began, but there’s not been an associated wave of deaths so far.

Mitch McConnell Explains the Labor Shortage

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Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) said that people will begin to work once they run out of savings, USA Today reports.

Said McConnell: “You’ve got a whole lot of people sitting on the sidelines because, frankly, they’re flush for the moment. What we’ve got to hope is once they run out of money, they’ll start concluding it’s better to work than not to work.”

White House Communications Director to Step Down

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“White House communications director Kate Bedingfield, a longtime aide to President Biden who played an instrumental role in his 2020 campaign, will be departing the administration later this summer,” the Wall Street Journal reports.

Politico: “Democrats have grown openly critical of the Biden team’s communications strategy in recent weeks and months. Longtime Biden aide Anita Dunn recently returned to the White House as a senior adviser and has been working to shore up the operation.”

Boris Johnson Refusing to Resign

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In the wake of 14 government ministers resigning, British Prime Minister Boris Johnson “is holding firm and refusing to quit despite calls from several key cabinet colleagues for him to go,” the BBC reports.

Johnson is insisting that he wants to continue to focus on the “hugely important issues facing the country.”

The Daily Mail reports Johnson is arguing his resignation would cause “chaos” and would see the Conservatives fall to “almost certain” defeat at the next election.

That’s likely to result in more resignations tonight.
Taegan

The Coming Red Wave Might Be a Red Mirage

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There have now been 9 generic congressional ballot polls since the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade and their average shows Democrats leading by 45.4% to 43.7% lead or 1.7 percentage points.  If you take out the Rasmussen polls, Democrats hold a 2.5 percentage point lead.

Looking at this data, Simon Rosenberg concludes the race has shifted 4 to 5 percentage points towards the Democrats in just a couple of weeks.

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Justice Department Targets Violent Crime Fugitives

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“Attorney General Merrick Garland on Wednesday hailed a month-long federal operation that led to the arrest of 1,500 fugitives, sex offenders and gang members in 10 large U.S. cities, pledging that the Justice Department will do more to confront surging rates of violent crime,” the Washington Post reports.

“The effort aimed to apprehend those who committed the most violent offenses, prioritizing suspects who used firearms.”

Extra Bonus Quote of the Day

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“I don’t think this alters the midterm advantage for Republicans because of Biden’s economic woes. But in a cycle that is all about turnout, it is a net benefit for Democrats. Angry voters vote.”

— Former Rep. Tom Davis (R-VA), quoted by NBC News, on the impact of abortion politics in this year’s midterm elections.

Evangelical Leader Claims She Prays with Justices

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“At an evangelical victory party in front of the Supreme Court last to celebrate the downfall of Roe v. Wade last week, a prominent Capitol Hill religious leader was caught on a hot mic making a bombshell claim: that she prays with sitting justices inside the high court,” Rolling Stone reports.

“This disclosure was a serious matter on its own terms, but it also suggested a major conflict of interest. Nienaber’s ministry’s umbrella organization, Liberty Counsel, frequently brings lawsuits before the Supreme Court… In other words: Sitting Supreme Court justices have prayed together with evangelical leaders whose bosses were bringing cases and arguments before the high court.”

FBI and MI5 Issue Joint Warning on Chinese Spying

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“The heads of the FBI and Britain’s domestic security service issued sharply worded warnings to business leaders about the threats posed by Chinese espionage, especially spying aimed at stealing Western technology companies’ intellectual property,” the Wall Street Journal reports.

Said FBI Director Christopher Wray: “The Chinese government is set on stealing your technology—whatever it is that makes your industry tick—and using it to undercut your business and dominate your market. They’re set on using every tool at their disposal to do it.”

About Political Wire

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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