New York Times: “Being a national chairman for the party that doesn’t hold the White House is among the worst jobs in American politics. It’s a high-profile position with little power. There is endless grief from fretting party regulars and nonstop comparisons to the president’s party, which has the president himself as its chief fund-raiser.”
Schumer Wants Bolton and Mulvaney as Witnesses
“Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer proposed calling former national security adviser John Bolton and acting White House chief of staff Mick Mulvaney as witnesses at an impeachment trial for President Trump in a letter to Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell on Sunday,” NBC News reports.
“The offer is intended as a signal that Democrats are seeking an evidentiary trial, not intending to simply rely on the House investigation.”
Axios: “The Senate Democratic leader’s request — particularly his call for additional impeachment witnesses — may appeal to some moderate Republicans but is sure to meet forceful resistance from President Trump and McConnell.”
Five Aides Resign from Party Switcher’s Office
“Much of the staff serving a freshman Democratic congressman resigned on Sunday after sources said the lawmaker prepares to switch to the Republican Party,” CNN reports.
Politico says the aides in Rep. Jeff Van Drew’s Washington office wrote in a joint letter to his chief of staff that Van Drew’s decision to become a Republican “does not align with the values we brought to this job.”
Nadler Says GOP Senators Violating Oath
House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jerrold Nadler accused Senate Republicans of violating their oath to be impartial jurors in an impeachment trial, as GOP senators defended their right to work for President Trump’s acquittal, the Washington Post reports.
Said Nadler: “That’s in violation of the oath that they’re about to take, and it’s a complete subversion of the constitutional scheme.”
Schiff Wants Witnesses at Senate Trial
“House Intelligence Committee Chairman Adam Schiff said he would like for some witnesses to be called during the expected Senate impeachment trial against President Trump and for withheld administration documents to be introduced as evidence,” CNN reports.
Said Schiff: “I think there are any number of witnesses that should be called in the Senate trial, and many witnesses the American people would like to hear from that the administration has refused to make available. And perhaps of equal and if not greater importance are the thousands and thousands of documents that the administration refuses to turn over. I would hope that every senator of both parties would like to see the documentary evidence.”
Democrats Push Amash as Impeachment Manager
“A private campaign is underway to draft Rep. Justin Amash (I-MI) as an impeachment manager in the Senate trial of President Trump, a bid to diversify House Democrats’ appeal to voters with a rare conservative voice,” the Washington Post reports.
An Extraordinary Life
My father, who passed away last month, was profiled today in the Hartford Courant.
He would have loved this.
Bonus Quote of the Day
“The president is supposed to set an example of trying to do the right thing. Not be a nasty little bitch. Because that’s what he is. He’s a petulant little punk. There’s not one thing that I see in him or his family, not any redeeming qualities. They’re out on the take. It’s like a gangster family.”
— Robert DeNiro, in the New York Times.
Coons Suggests Trump Will Be ‘Unbounded’
Sen. Chris Coons told NBC News that if President Trump is “exonerated in the Senate, if the Senate Republican majority refuses to discipline him through impeachment, he will be unbounded.”
He added: “I’m gravely concerned about what else he might do between now and the 2020 election, when there are no restrictions on his behavior.”
Quote of the Day
“I’ve made a complete break mentally with the world I used to live in.”
— Tucker Carlson, in an interview with The Atlantic, on his success hosting a Fox News show.
U.S. Secretly Expelled Chinese Suspected of Spying
“The American government secretly expelled two Chinese Embassy officials this fall after they drove on to a sensitive military base in Virginia… The expulsions appear to be the first of Chinese diplomats suspected of espionage in more than 30 years,” the New York Times reports.
“American officials believe at least one of the Chinese officials was an intelligence officer operating under diplomatic cover… The group, which included the officials’ wives, evaded military personnel pursuing them and stopped only after fire trucks blocked their path.”
Trump Slams Fox News for Comey, Schiff Interviews
President Trump ripped Fox News for scheduling interviews with former FBI Director James Comey and House Intelligence Committee Chairman Adam Schiff, saying that the decision was an example of the network’s efforts to be “politically correct,” The Hill reports.
Said Trump: “Hard to believe that Fox News will be interviewing sleazebag & totally discredited former FBI Director James Comey, & also corrupt politician Adam ‘Shifty’ Schiff. Fox is trying sooo hard to be politically correct, and yet they were totally shut out from the failed Dem debates!”
U.N. Climate Talks End with Few Results
Washington Post: “Global climate talks lurched to an end Sunday morning with finger pointing, accusations of failure and fresh doubts about the world’s collective resolve to slow the warming of the planet.”
“The talks failed to achieve their central goals, one of which was convincing the world’s largest carbon-emitting countries to pledge to more aggressively tackle climate change beginning in 2020.”
Graham Invites Giuliani to Testify
“Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) is inviting Rudy Giuliani, President Trump’s personal lawyer, to testify before the Senate Judiciary Committee about his recent trip to Ukraine,” The Hill reports.
Bloomberg’s Political Spending Spree
“Mike Bloomberg has been steadily pumping tens of millions of dollars into the broader Democratic effort to defeat Donald Trump, part of a move to improve his standing in the party for his unconventional presidential campaign,” the Washington Post reports.
“Though he has sworn off fundraising for his own campaign, he has made himself a top Democratic Party donor in just the past few weeks, quietly giving the party $625,000 to distribute to infrastructure efforts atop the $175,000 required of all candidates for access to the Democratic National Committee’s voter data. In coming days, his campaign plans to rally wealthy New York activists and donors to give more money to state parties for their programs to register and turn out voters.”
“Since launching his campaign about a month ago, Bloomberg has committed nearly $250 million to his own campaign advertising and other projects to help the party in November 2020.”
Democrats Need a Plan for the Supreme Court
Harry Reid: “Senate Republicans have hijacked our Supreme Court. They stole a seat that should have been filled by President Obama in 2016 and they rushed to confirm Brett Kavanaugh last year despite ample evidence that he lied to Congress. The result is the Supreme Court is now a ticking time bomb, set to blow up any meaningful progressive reforms for decades to come. Yet, the court has been the subject of surprisingly little discussion so far in the presidential primary.”
Ex-Trump Aide to Return to White House
“A close aide to President Trump who was dismissed last year by the White House chief of staff at the time is expected to rejoin the West Wing,” the New York Times reports.
“John McEntee, who shadowed Mr. Trump as his body man, is slated to come back in a similar role… His return will mean a familiar presence with whom Mr. Trump is comfortable as he heads into the 2020 re-election campaign, and he is likely to divide duties with one of his successors, Nick Luna.”
“In March 2018, on the orders of the chief of staff at the time, John Kelly, Mr. McEntee was marched out of the West Wing, with no time to collect his belongings, people in the building said then. His security clearance had been denied at least in part because of an online gambling habit.”
Top Democrats Urge DNC to Change Debate Rules
“Cory Booker has asked his fellow presidential candidates to sign a letter petitioning the Democratic National Committee to make its debate qualification rules less exclusionary,” BuzzFeed News reports.
“All seven participants in next week’s debate, as well as Julián Castro, who also has not qualified, have signed the letter.”
But Politico notes the DNC is pushing back.
