“As the Taliban and the United States were finalizing their February deal, Taliban leaders were in frequent communication with al-Qaeda, consulting with their counterparts on the terms of the agreement and assuring them that they would not be betrayed,” the Washington Post reports.
“The active coordination between the two groups has continued to this day, despite the Taliban’s commitment to sever ties as a condition of the peace deal.”
“A Trump appointee with a short but controversial record of overseeing Voice of America and other federally funded news agencies has declined to cooperate with President-elect Joe Biden’s representatives as they seek access to records and personnel,” the Washington Post reports.
“Rep. Marcia Fudge (D-OH) has vaulted to the front of the pack of candidates to lead the Department of Housing and Urban Development in the Biden administration, after losing steam in her bid to become the first Black female Agriculture secretary,” Politico reports.
Sen. Doug Jones (D-AL) is the leading contender to become Presdient-elect Joe Biden’s attorney general, NBC News reports.
Biden has also been considering Appeals Court Judge Merrick Garland and former Deputy Attorney General Sally Yates.
Sen. Marco Rubio (R-FL) told Florida Politics he will run for reelection in 2022 and that he thinks Donald Trump will clear the field if he runs for president in 2024.
Said Rubio: “If he decides to run, I think what it means is that Donald Trump will be the next Republican nominee… I still have work to do in the U.S. Senate… I have every intention of being on that ballot in November of 2022.”
Sen. Tom Cotton (R-AR) was asked twice if he supports Donald Trump running for president again in 2024 but he declined to answer, the Wall Street Journal reports.
Said Cotton: “Let’s put one election on the books before we start worrying about two elections out.”
Cotton, who aspires to be president, also said he didn’t think Trump would freeze the 2024 field.
“It’s completely unacceptable and it’s not going to work and the president should give up trying to get legislatures to overturn the results of the elections in their respective states.”
— Sen. Pat Toomey (R-PA), quoted by the Philadelphia Inquirer, on President Trump’s attempts to overturn the election.
“President Trump’s lawyer Jenna Ellis has informed associates she has coronavirus, stirring West Wing fears after she attended a senior staff Christmas party on Friday,” Axios reports.
“There are concerns about the potential for another White House superspreader event, though it was unclear whether Ellis posed a risk when she attended.”
Rep. Alex Mooney (R-WV) introduced a resolution on Tuesday to formally condemn any lawmakers who call on Donald Trump to concede “prematurely” from the presidential race despite having lost, Politico reports.
James Hohmann: “Several Senate Democrats spoke quite eloquently four years ago about the need for civilian control of the military as they opposed a special waiver to a federal law requiring that a secretary of defense be out of uniform for at least seven years to be eligible for the job.”
“All of them insisted that their objections were principled and had nothing to do with President-elect Donald Trump or retired Marine Gen. Jim Mattis, his nominee.”
“President-elect Joe Biden’s selection of retired Army Gen. Lloyd Austin to be secretary of defense will offer an early and crucial test for Democrats who opposed Mattis’s waiver. Now that a Democrat will be in the White House, we will get to gauge the sincerity of their supposed convictions.”
Jonathan Bernstein: “I tend to agree with the critics, but the real question is how Biden proceeds. In some ways, this will begin to establish his professional reputation as president.”
“Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton (R) is suing four battleground states — Georgia, Michigan, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin — whose election results handed the White House to President-elect Joe Biden,” the Texas Tribune reports.
“In the suit, he claims that pandemic-era changes to election procedures in those states violated federal law, and asks the U.S. Supreme Court to block the states from voting in the Electoral College.”
The House Freedom Caucus announced it intends to vote against the annual defense authorization act this afternoon, CNN reports.
If the entire caucus votes against the bill, support for the legislation could fail to reach a veto-proof majority.
Fox Business host Lou Dobbs attacked White House adviser Stephen Miller for not doing enough to help President Trump in his efforts to overturn the election, The Hill reports.
Said Dobbs: “Why don’t you guys jump and salute Ted Cruz and say, ‘Yes, we want you on the team’ now? My God, this is not a time for internecine nonsense on the part of the Republican Party, which is watching its blood drain into the streets because they’re gutless!”
The exchange is worth watching.
Christopher Krebs, the former top U.S. cybersecurity official responsible for election security, sued the Trump campaign and attorney Joseph diGenova, “asserting that they conspired to falsely claim the election was stolen, attack dissenting Republicans and fraudulently reap political donations,” the Washington Post reports.
House Majority Whip James Clyburn (D-SC) predicted on MSNBC that President-elect Joe Biden would nominate Rep. Marcia Fudge (D-OH) to a cabinet position.
Said Clyburn: “Look for her to be in the cabinet. It may not be at Agriculture but she will be nominated to be in the cabinet.”
President Trump appealed to House Republicans to vote against the annual defense authorization act and reiterated his threat to veto the bill should it pass.
Even if Trump were to veto the bill, it seems likely to be overriden, given that both chambers of Congress passed the legislation with veto-proof majorities back in July.
The Arizona Republican Party asked supporters if they are willing to give their lives in President Trump’s fight over the results of the election.
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.