Former President Barack Obama said that “snappy” slogans such as “defund the police” can alienate people, making the statements less effective than intended, Axios reports.
Said Obama: “You lost a big audience the minute you say it, which makes it a lot less likely that you’re actually going to get the changes you want done.”
The Cook Political Report notes the U.S. has surpassed a record-shattering 158 million votes counted.
Joe Biden’s national popular vote lead is now up to 6.94 million votes or 4.4 percentage points.
“The Justice Department is investigating a potential crime related to funneling money to the White House or related political committee in exchange for a presidential pardon,” CNN reports.
“The case is the latest legal twist in the waning days of President Trump’s administration after several of his top advisers have been convicted of federal criminal charges and as the possibility rises of Trump giving pardons to those who’ve been loyal to him.”
Renato Mariotti: “Exchanging anything of value for an official act, such as granting a pardon, is a federal crime.”
“President Trump is discussing possibly launching a 2024 campaign to retake the White House on Inauguration Day and skipping the swearing-in of his successor,” NBC News reports.
“Regardless of the timing of a campaign announcement, Trump is not expected to attend the inauguration of President-elect Joe Biden… He also does not plan to invite Biden to the White House or even call him.”
“A New York county reported on Tuesday that 55 early voting ballots had been discovered, potentially changing the outcome of a congressional race separated by only 12 votes,” The Hill reports.
“According to WBNG reporter Josh Rosenblatt, these votes have the potential to keep Rep. Anthony Brindisi (D-NY) in office as representative for New York’s 22nd district, or give the election to Republican challenger Claudia Tenney.”
“Mr President, it looks like you likely lost the state of Georgia. We’re investigating, there’s always a possibility, I get it. You have the rights to go to the courts. What you don’t have the ability to do – and you need to step up and say this – is stop inspiring people to commit potential acts of violence. Someone is going to get hurt, someone is going to get shot, someone is going to get killed, and it’s not right. It’s not right.”
— Georgia elections offiial Gabriel Sterling, making an impassioned plea to President Trump to tone down his rhetoric disputing the election results.
“A House Democratic panel in charge of committee selections gave Rosa DeLauro the nod to become the next Appropriations chairwoman following a closed-door vote Tuesday,” Roll Call reports.
CNN: “Inside his transition team, there is a real recognition of how difficult it would be to choose a Senate Democrat for any role, given how closely divided the upper chamber will be next year.”
“And the narrowing Democratic majority in the House has made it far less likely that he would be able to easily turn to any House members for posts in the administration.”
“Trump allies and other lawyers have begun a campaign to petition the West Wing in hopes of securing pardons for those who might receive a sympathetic reception from the president,” ABC News reports.
“One idea that has been floated among Trump allies is the possibility of preemptive pardons for members of the Trump family and close allies of the president.”
“It’s not clear how this kind of preemptive pardon would work, given that no member of the Trump family has been accused of a federal crime. However sources pushing for this action say the argument is an ‘insurance policy’ against concerns that the incoming Biden administration could undertake politically motivated investigations.”
“President Trump’s allies said Tuesday they have asked the U.S. Supreme Court to block a decision by Pennsylvania’s highest court dismissing a challenge of the state’s mail-in voting system,” the Washington Post reports.
“Attorney General William Barr has given extra protection to the prosecutor he appointed to investigate the origins of the Trump-Russia probe, giving him the authority of a special counsel to complete his work without being easily fired,” the AP reports.
“Barr said that he had appointed U.S. Attorney John Durham as a special counsel in October under the same federal statute that governed special counsel Robert Mueller in the original Russia probe.”
Axios: “It’s an extra layer of protection for Durham to continue investigating possible misconduct by Obama-era intelligence officials past Joe Biden’s inauguration as president.”
“A first-rate team that’s going to get us through this ongoing economic crisis and help us build the economy back, not just build it back, but build it back better than before… Our message to everybody struggling right now is help is on the way.”
— President-elect Joe Biden, quoted by CBS News, while introducing his economic team.
A must-read, out next week: Bag Man: The Wild Crimes, Audacious Cover-up, and Spectacular Downfall of a Brazen Crook in the White House by Rachel Maddow and Michael Yarvitz.
“The knockdown, drag-out, untold story of the other scandal that rocked Nixon’s White House, and reset the rules for crooked presidents to come.”
Attorney General William Barr told the Associated Press that the Justice Department hasn’t uncovered widespread voting fraud that could have changed 2020 election outcome.
Axios: “It’s a direct repudiation of President Trump’s baseless claims of a ‘rigged’ election from one of the most loyal members of his Cabinet.”
President-elect Joe Biden announced Tuesday that the chair of the Council of Economic Advisers would have a seat on his Cabinet, The Hill reports.
Biden described Cecilia Rouse, his pick for CEA chair, as “one of the most distinguished economists in the country.”
Politico: “With Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-CA) stepping down as the top Democrat on the committee in the next Congress, Senate Minority Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL) and Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI) are both vying to succeed her. Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) is staying neutral on the matter so far.”
“But Durbin’s bid to be both whip and the top Democrat on Judiciary has spurred a broader debate within the caucus over how much power individual senators should accumulate.”
Coming soon: How to Avoid a Climate Disaster: The Solutions We Have and the Breakthroughs We Need by Bill Gates.
“Bill Gates has spent a decade investigating the causes and effects of climate change. With the help of experts in the fields of physics, chemistry, biology, engineering, political science, and finance, he has focused on what must be done in order to stop the planet’s slide to certain environmental disaster.”
Mary Trump will follow her bestselling exposé of her dysfunctional family life with a new book titled, The Reckoning, The Guardian reports.
According to the publisher, the book “will examine America’s national trauma, rooted in our history but dramatically exacerbated by the impact of current events and the Trump administration’s corrupt and immoral policies.”
The book will be published in July 2021.
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.