Political Wire

Piecing Together the Final Trump-Pence Call

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“Congressional investigators entering the last stage of their probe are gathering new evidence about a crucial moment on the Jan. 6 timeline: the final, fateful phone call between Donald Trump and Mike Pence before a pro-Trump mob attacked the Capitol,” Politico reports.

“They’ve had a lot of success on that front — court records and Jan. 6 select committee documents reveal that the panel has obtained significant details about that call. In recent weeks, they’ve learned even more from several high-profile witnesses who were in the Oval Office while Trump berated Pence for refusing to overturn the election.”

“Yet one crucial gap remains. Top Pence aides say the former vice president was in his residence when the call came in. He then left the room and was out of earshot for 15 to 20 minutes.”

Bernie Sanders Open to Running for President In 2024

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Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) is open to running for president in 2024 if President Biden declines to seek reelection, according to a campaign memo a top political adviser distributed to allies, the Washington Post reports.

Said Sanders spokesman Mike Casca: “While it’s frustrating this private memo leaked to the media, the central fact remains true, which is that Senator Sanders is the most popular officeholder in the country.”

Sanders would be 83 years old on Inauguration Day 2025.
Taegan

Russia Cracks Down on Western Social Media

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“The Kremlin is waging a new influence campaign: persuading Russians to quit Western social-media platforms,” the Wall Street Journal reports.

“As part of an expansive effort to control the narrative about its invasion of Ukraine, the Kremlin is pushing Russians to embrace homegrown alternatives instead. Russian authorities have put up firewalls around several Western social-media platforms and are threatening more. Now they have to convince Russians used to the freedoms of YouTube and Instagram that censored domestic social networks can deliver moneymaking opportunities and equally large audiences. And that they aren’t just cheap knockoffs.”

Trump Hotel Sale Will End an Era

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“It’s last call at the bar of the Trump International Hotel in Washington,” the New York Times reports.

“The hotel — which for much of President Donald Trump’s four years at the White House served as his dining-out spot, a gathering place for his allies and a bazaar of sorts for those seeking influence and access — is slated to be sold in the coming days to a Florida investor group that will take down the Trump name and rebrand it as a Waldorf Astoria.”

Climate Activists Angered with Efforts to Lower Gas Prices

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Washington Post: “Some advocates are increasingly frustrated over the discordant approach, arguing that Biden is sacrificing some of his long-term goal of combating climate change — and a presidential legacy of helping steer the nation away from fossil fuels — in exchange for the short-term aim of lowering prices at the pump.”

“Beyond that, some contend the moves will barely affect gas prices.”

Another High-Profile Democrat Slams Biden Over Border

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“Add another high-profile Senate candidate to the long-list of Democrats opposing the Biden administration’s reversal of a pandemic-era border policy: Ohio Rep. Tim Ryan,” Politico reports.

“The frontrunner in the Ohio race’s Democratic primary is not mincing words when it comes to the impending reversal of Title 42, a Trump-era rule limiting migrants at the border.”

Lawmaker Slams GOP Colleague Over ‘Grooming’ Charges

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Michigan state Sen. Mallory McMorrow (D) took to the Senate floor to defend herself against a completely unfounded allegation from a Republican legislator that she wants to “groom and sexualize kindergartners,” the Detroit Free Press reports.

Said McMorrow: “I am the biggest threat to your hollow, hateful scheme. Because you can’t claim that you are targeting marginalized kids in the name of ‘parental rights’ if another parent is standing up to say no.”

The full speech is definitely worth watching.

Biden’s Border Problem Is About to Get Worse

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“The scuffle over the Biden administration’s decision to end Title 42 is already complicating the White House’s request for pandemic relief money — not to mention causing political headaches for Dems writ large. Now it appears that the situation could become even more dire due to looming funding problems at the border,” Politico reports.

NBC News: “According to internal predictions, some operations for Immigration and Customs Enforcement and Customs and Border Protection could be completely out of funds by as early as July. Those projections are based on predictions that as many as 14,000 migrants could begin crossing the U.S.-Mexico border per day after Title 42 ends on May 23, nearly doubling last month’s record high number of migrant encounters.”

Why Isn’t Jared Kushner’s Saudi Payment a Big Scandal?

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David Corn: “It’s damn hard to not see the $2 billion investment as either a payoff for past services rendered or a preemptive bribe should Trump manage to regain the White House. And it could be both.”

“It’s a wonder that the disclosure of this deal hasn’t created more of a fuss and prompted congressional investigations. (Imagine what Republicans and Fox News would be doing if Hunter Biden received $2 billion from a Ukrainian government leader who was responsible for the gruesome murder of an American resident.)”

“A 10-figure payment to a relative of a former president who is essentially the current (though undeclared) GOP frontrunner in the 2024 contest and possibly the next inhabitant of the White House is a major scandal.”

The Nation: Kushner’s Saudi side-hustle merits a full-on criminal inquiry.

Republican Accountability Project: “This is what Republicans should have said about Jared Kushner’s Saudi deal.”

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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