Rep. Duncan Hunter (R-CA) said he probably killed “hundreds of civilians” while serving as an artillery officer in Fallujah, KPBS reports.
Said Hunter: “I was an artillery officer, and we fired hundreds of rounds into Fallujah, killed probably hundreds of civilians. Probably killed women and children if there were any left in the city when we invaded. So, do I get judged too?”
Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan (R), “who was considering an insurgent White House bid that would have championed traditional GOP values, will not challenge President Trump for the Republican Party’s 2020 nomination,” the Washington Post reports.
Said Hogan: “I’m not going to be a candidate for president in 2020.”
“Hogan’s choice dashes the political hopes of Trump’s leading GOP critics, who have wooed the popular Maryland governor for months and connected him with key players in early voting states — and comes as other top Republicans are shying away from jumping into the presidential fray.”
A new analysis finds Justice Brett Kavanaugh is the second most conservative justice on the Supreme Court next to Justice Clarence Thomas, on a measure that places judges on a liberal-conservative spectrum.
The most liberal are Justice Sonia Sotomayor and Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg.
You're reading the free version of Political Wire
Upgrade to a paid membership to unlock full access. The process is quick and easy. You can even use Apple Pay.
Bloomberg: “The economic damage of U.S. tariffs on Mexican goods would tear through battleground states that President Trump needs to win re-election, hurting the auto industry in Michigan and Ohio, dairy farmers in Wisconsin and grain and hog farmers in Iowa and North Carolina.”
“Agricultural and industrial regions played an important role in Trump’s electoral map in 2016. He won an Electoral College majority and the presidency based on a combined margin of fewer than 80,000 votes in three states: Wisconsin, Michigan and Pennsylvania.”
“House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jerry Nadler said that there ‘certainly is’ justification for launching impeachment proceedings against President Donald Trump, but cautioned that the public first must agree that it’s warranted,” Politico reports.
Said Nadler: “Impeachment is a political act, and you cannot impeach a president if the American people will not support it.”
He added: “The American people right now do not support it because they do not know the story. They don’t know the facts. We have to get the facts out. We have to hold a series of hearings, we have to hold the investigations.”
Reuters: “The United States began collecting higher, 25% tariffs on many Chinese goods arriving in U.S. seaports on Saturday morning in an intensification of the trade war between the world’s two largest economies and drawing retaliation from Beijing.”
The Atlantic: “Over the past two and a half years, the president has interfered in the U.K.’s domestic politics. He has repeatedly undermined its national security with his comments and actions after terrorist attacks in Britain. He has bullied and humiliated the prime minister, Theresa May. He has accused British intelligence agencies of spying on him, even after he promised not to do so. Trump has taken a predatory approach in trade talks, seeking to squeeze controversial concessions out of London at a moment of weakness, even at the risk of sabotaging the prime minister’s Brexit deal. He refused to listen to the British government on vital issues of shared concern, such as Iran and climate change.”
“The special relationship is arguably at its lowest point since the Suez crisis of 1956, when President Dwight Eisenhower pulled the rug out from underneath Britain and France’s attempt to retake the Suez Canal. If this sounds like an exaggeration, just consider the track record.”
A new Gallup poll shows that just 20% of Americans approve of the job Congress is doing. The vast majority, 75%, disapprove of the job Congress is doing.
Harry Enten: “From 1974, when the Gallup data starts, to September 2009, the average approval rating for Congress in Gallup’s polling was 37%. That’s not good. President Donald Trump, who has been historically unpopular for a president, has had an average approval rating in the low 40s over the last year.”
“But that 37% is more than double the 17% average approval rating Americans have given Congress since September 2009. It’s not just that the average has been low, though — it’s how consistent the low ratings have been.”
“President Trump is inching closer to hiring his third legislative affairs director, a job that is becoming increasingly challenging as Trump makes sweeping policy decisions that are alienating lawmakers,” Politico reports.
“Trump and acting chief of staff Mick Mulvaney are interviewing at least two internal candidates for the position in the Oval Office on Friday afternoon, according to two people familiar with the deliberations. The candidates being interviewed Friday are Eric Ueland, a top official at the White House Domestic Policy Council, and Amy Swonger, the White House deputy director of legislative affairs.”
Wall Street Journal: “The chairman of the House Intelligence Committee slammed a Justice Department review of the origins of the Russia investigation as a politically charged effort to cast doubt on special counsel Robert Mueller’s findings, demanding the nation’s intelligence chiefs share with the panel any materials they turn over to Attorney General William Barr.”
CBS News: “As many of the 2020 Democratic candidates descended on San Francisco for the state’s party convention, former Vice President Joe Biden — who skipped the convention — picked up a new endorsement, former Labor secretary and current Los Angeles County Supervisor Hilda Solis.”
Washington Post: “For Trump, who campaigned on achieving ‘peace through strength,’ the consistent application of a tool kit of toughness has limited his options and left him in a precarious position as he accelerates his campaign for a second term.”
“Despite his pressure tactics, unauthorized immigration at the U.S.-Mexican border is at a 12-year peak, the tariff wars have sent jitters through Wall Street, and Pyongyang has resumed testing of short-range missiles, a sign that Kim is growing impatient.”
“Since leaving the United Nations last year, Nikki Haley’s moves have been closely watched for signs that the former South Carolina governor will run for the White House in 2024,” the Charleston Post & Courier reports.
“A new advocacy group, a new book and a series of high-profile speaking engagements were seen as steps toward a presidential bid.”
“Now Haley is heading to Iowa.”
New York Times: “They are there before 7 a.m. to catch Ms. Trump and Mr. Kushner departing for work. After switching shifts midday, they are also there at 8 p.m., when the couple usually return home. This repeats itself most days, including weekends and holidays.”
“Neighbors don’t seem to mind or even take notice. That’s because Kalorama already has its share of high-profile officials, with as many black town cars and Chevy Suburbans idling on its leafy drives as one might see in gangster’s cortège.”
“The paparazzi stay sandwiched between the Secret Service detail guarding the Trump-Kushner residence and another detail guarding the Obamas, who live a block away… Still, it’s a somniferous situation for the photographers, who camp out in their cars for hours at a time for a few seconds of activity.”
CBS News: “Russian Twitter trolls have attempted to fuel the anti-vaccination debate in the U.S., posting about the issue far more than the average Twitter user last year, a study out of George Washington University has found.”
“The ‘sophisticated’ bots shared opinions from both sides of the anti-vaxxer debate, which took the U.S. by storm and prompted tech companies to crack down on the spread of misinformation surrounding vaccinations.”
Ahead of his visit next week to the United Kingdom, President Trump expressed support for Boris Johnson as the country’s next prime minister in an interview with The Sun, calling him “a very good guy, a very talented person.”
Said Trump: “I think Boris would do a very good job. I think he would be excellent.”
He also responded to comments made by Meghan Markle, the Duchess of Sussex, ahead of the 2016 election: “I didn’t know that she was nasty. I hope she is OK.”
President Trump will award the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the nation’s highest civilian honor, to economist Arthur Laffer, The Hill reports.
“Laffer championed supply-side economics and gained prominence serving as a top adviser to then-President Reagan. He established what is known as the ‘Laffer Curve,’ which showed that increases in tax rates will eventually cause government revenue to decrease at a certain point. The model has been cited to argue for the benefits of tax cuts.”
“The Justice Department on Friday released a transcript of a call from Donald Trump’s attorney John Dowd to Rob Kelner, the lawyer for Trump’s former national security adviser Michael Flynn, where he sought information about Flynn’s discussions with the special counsel,” CNN reports.
“However, the Justice Department refused to turn over transcripts of Flynn’s calls with Russian officials, including then-Russian ambassador Sergey Kislyak, as was expected after Judge Emmet Sullivan ordered prosecutors to file those publicly.”
“Separately, the Justice Department hasn’t released any additional parts of the Mueller report that were previously confidential. The judge had told prosecutors they needed to make public redacted sections of the report that pertained to Flynn by today.”
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.
“There are a lot of blogs and news sites claiming to understand politics, but only a few actually do. Political Wire is one of them.”
— Chuck Todd, host of “Meet the Press”
“Concise. Relevant. To the point. Political Wire is the first site I check when I’m looking for the latest political nugget. That pretty much says it all.”
— Stuart Rothenberg, editor of the Rothenberg Political Report
“Political Wire is one of only four or five sites that I check every day and sometimes several times a day, for the latest political news and developments.”
— Charlie Cook, editor of the Cook Political Report
“The big news, delicious tidbits, pearls of wisdom — nicely packaged, constantly updated… What political junkie could ask for more?”
— Larry Sabato, Center for Politics, University of Virginia
“Political Wire is a great, great site.”
— Joe Scarborough, host of MSNBC’s “Morning Joe”
“Taegan Goddard has a knack for digging out political gems that too often get passed over by the mainstream press, and for delivering the latest electoral developments in a sharp, no frills style that makes his Political Wire an addictive blog habit you don’t want to kick.”
— Arianna Huffington, founder of The Huffington Post
“Political Wire is one of the absolute must-read sites in the blogosphere.”
— Glenn Reynolds, founder of Instapundit
“I rely on Taegan Goddard’s Political Wire for straight, fair political news, he gets right to the point. It’s an eagerly anticipated part of my news reading.”
— Craig Newmark, founder of Craigslist.