Sen. John Kennedy (R-LA) argued in a testy exchange on Meet the Press that he believes “both Russia and Ukraine meddled in the 2016 election,” claiming without evidence that former Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko “actively worked” for Hillary Clinton.
Official Who Wanted to Use Nukes Works on Arms Control
Frank Wuco, a former conservative talk radio host and naval intelligence officer who suggested dropping nuclear bombs on Afghanistan after the 9/11 attacks, now works on arms control issues at the State Department, the Washington Post reports.
Wuco also promoted far-right conspiracy theories including “debunked claims that former president Barack Obama was not born in the United States, former CIA director John Brennan converted to Islam, former attorney general Eric H. Holder Jr. had been a member of the Black Panthers and former Hillary Clinton aide Huma Abedin had ties to the Muslim Brotherhood.”
Trump Plays Big Role In British Election
Washington Post: “Donald Trump just can’t seem to stay away from British politics. He’s fired off comments on topics including Brexit, his low opinion of a British ambassador, and how his Trump-branded golf course in Scotland ‘furthers U.K. relations.’”
“So there’s little surprise that the American president is playing an outsize role in Britain’s upcoming elections — for good or bad, depending. In Britain, more than any other country aside from the United States, Trump has sought to bolster his political allies and trash his detractors.”
Trump’s Intervention In SEALs Case Tests Pentagon
New York Times: “The case of the president and a commando accused of war crimes offers a lesson in how Mr. Trump presides over the armed forces three years after taking office. While he boasts of supporting the military, he has come to distrust the generals and admirals who run it. Rather than accept information from his own government, he responds to television reports that grab his interest. Warned against crossing lines, he bulldozes past precedent and norms.”
“As a result, the president finds himself more removed than ever from a disenchanted military command, adding the armed forces to the institutions under his authority that he has feuded with, along with the intelligence community, law enforcement agencies and diplomatic corps.”
Impeachment Loomed Over Past Presidents
New York Times: “While President Trump is just the fourth commander in chief in American history to confront a serious threat of impeachment, the prospect hung over many of his predecessors, a nagging worry in the back of the mind for some, a constitutional sword of Damocles for others.”
“Impeachment has served not just as a means for removing a corrupt president from office, as outlined in the Constitution — in fact, it has never actually accomplished that purpose. Presidents Andrew Johnson and Bill Clinton were both impeached by the House but acquitted after Senate trials, while President Richard M. Nixon resigned before the full House could vote. But impeachment has served as a deterrent, a consequence that presidents had to consider when making decisions that crossed into questionable territory.”
“Beyond Johnson, Nixon, Mr. Clinton and now Mr. Trump, lawmakers have filed formal impeachment resolutions against at least seven other presidents, meaning that one out of every four occupants of the White House has faced accusations of high crimes and misdemeanors, while others were threatened. Most of the time, the effort posed no serious jeopardy.”
Top Republican Wants Adam Schiff to Testify
Rep. Doug Collins (R-GA), the top Republican on the House Judiciary Committee, told Fox News the Democratic chairman of the House Intelligence Committee will be the first person he calls to testify before his panel as impeachment hearings proceed.
Said Collins: “My first and foremost witness is Adam Schiff.”
Booker Appeals for Donations to Stay In Race
Struggling to keep his presidential campaign afloat, Sen. Cory Booker appealed for donations in a CBS News interview to ensure he can qualify for the next debate and continue his months-long pursuit of a spot in the top tier of the Democratic primary field.
Said Booker: “If you want me in this race, if you want my voice and message — which is resonating — then I need help.”
Two Months Until First Votes
Dan Balz: “Two months of campaigning remain before the first votes are cast on Feb. 3 in Iowa. In December, impeachment proceedings in the House will overshadow what the candidates do and say; then the holidays will offer voters a possible timeout from everything political.”
“In January, an impeachment trial in the Senate could tie up the senators in the race — Sanders, Warren, Klobuchar, Harris, Booker and Michael F. Bennet (Colo.) — but notably not Biden or Buttigieg. Whether that gives the non-senators an edge in the weeks when many voters will be making their decisions is the question.”
“More than in some past campaigns, Democratic voters appear torn between heart and head. Many are looking for a candidate who will inspire them while also being somewhat risk-averse. Those conflicting impulses could be one reason the race seems to shift and shift again and why the answer to the question of what and whom it will take to beat Trump still lies at the center of it all.”
Bloomberg’s Path May Depend on Splitting Early States
“Democrats say a very realistic scenario now calls for Pete Buttigieg to win Iowa, Elizabeth Warren to win New Hampshire, Joe Biden to win South Carolina and Bernie Sanders to win Nevada,” Axios reports.
“Mike Bloomberg, who’s bypassing the early states, thinks a split decision opens a path for him to make a big statement on Super Tuesday (March 3), which includes California.”
“That’s part of the reason Bloomberg’s candidacy is so fascinating: No one has tried a self-funded race with anything like the spending Bloomberg has already unleashed.”
House Will Review Impeachment Report Monday
“Members of the House Intelligence Committee will begin reviewing a report Monday on the panel’s investigation of President Trump’s efforts to press Ukraine to investigate his Democratic adversaries, a crucial step in the House’s fast-moving impeachment inquiry,” Politico reports.
“Lawmakers on the panel will get a 24-hour review period… On Tuesday, the panel is expected to approve the findings — likely on a party-line vote — teeing it up for consideration by the Judiciary Committee, which is in turn expected to draft and consider articles of impeachment in the coming weeks.”
Biden Begins Iowa Blitz
The Guardian: “Joe Biden has embarked upon an eight-day tour across Iowa as the former US vice-president attempts to arrest his flagging poll numbers in the key state, which is the first to vote in the race to be the Democratic presidential nominee.”
“Biden started his election blitz on Saturday, telling supporters in a fundraising email that he was undertaking an ‘eight-day, 18 county, ‘No Malarkey’ barnstorm’ across Iowa.”
No GOP Senators Want to Chair Ethics Committee
The Hill: “Sen. Johnny Isakson (R-GA) is set to retire in approximately a month, creating an opening atop the Senate Ethics Committee, a behind-the-scenes panel responsible for enforcing standards of behavior for senators and their staffs and investigating potential violations of federal law or the Senate’s rules.”
“But GOP senators who spoke with The Hill, including current members of the committee, had a nearly universal response when asked if they wanted to take over the Ethics Committee: Thanks, but no thanks.”
Historian Predicts Trump’s Approval Will Collapse
Presidential historian Douglas Brinkley predicted on CNN that public support for President Trump will collapse as House Democrats continue their impeachment inquiry against him.
Said Brinkley: “It just tells you what deep trouble Donald Trump is in. I mean, when you have 50% of the country wanting you not just impeached but removed from office, and the game hasn’t even gotten fast yet.”
He added: “I think once the vote is taken by Congress to impeach him and he’s wearing the ‘I’ on his chest, you’re going to see that movement grow even more.”
Most Republicans Think Trump Better Than Lincoln
A new Economist/YouGov poll finds 53% of Republicans said Donald Trump was a better president than Abraham Lincoln, while 47% chose the Civil War-era leader.
Rick Perry Leaves Cabinet Post
Politico: “He didn’t resign under fire for making sweetheart apartment deals with lobbyists, engaging in dodgy real estate development plans or racking up more than $1 million in taxpayer-funded flights. So by those standards, Energy Secretary Rick Perry’s tenure as a member of President Trump’s Cabinet could count as a relative success.”
Nadler Sets Deadline for White House
“President Trump has until Dec. 6 to decide whether his legal team will participate in the impeachment proceedings, the chairman of the House Judiciary Committee said Friday, marking Democratic lawmakers’ latest effort to solicit White House involvement in an inquiry with which the administration has declined to cooperate,” the Wall Street Journal reports.
“Rep. Jerrold Nadler (D-NY) sent a letter Friday to Mr. Trump outlining the next step in the impeachment process, with Mr. Nadler’s committee due to receive a report on evidence and testimony collected so far by the House Intelligence Committee.”
“That report is scheduled to be delivered soon after Congress resumes following its Thanksgiving recess. In anticipation of lawmakers’ return to Capitol Hill, Mr. Nadler wants to know if the president will exercise the rights afforded to him under the House rules governing the impeachment process.”
Has Trump Increased His Electoral College Edge?
David Wasserman suggests that President Trump’s advantage in the electoral college may actually be deepening, despite his party’s struggles in suburban and more educated parts of the country.
Greg Sargent: “Wasserman looked at the Kentucky and Louisiana outcomes and concluded that they were plainly driven by big Democratic gains among suburban and educated voters.”
“Turnout skyrocketed, but on both sides, because Trump is energizing pro-Republican turnout, as well. The difference-maker was that Democrats engineered big swings in suburbs with a lot of college-educated voters, such as the areas outside New Orleans and in northern Kentucky, across the river from Cincinnati.”
“The crucial point here, though, is that Republicans also made gains — that is, they increased their margins, as well as turnout — in more rural parts of the country.”
Bloomberg Off to an Attention-Grabbing Start
“In just three weeks, billionaire Michael Bloomberg has captured a level of media attention that’s eluded most 2020 Democrats with months on the trail and in debates,” Axios reports.
“Recent stories about Bloomberg generated more social media interactions than Amy Klobuchar, Andrew Yang, Julián Castro or Tom Steyer have ever gotten, according to data from NewsWhip.”
