Tom Emmer, the Republican candidate for governor in 2010 who lost a close race to Mark Dayton, will likely make an announcement that he’s a likely candidate to run for the House seat being vacated by Rep. Michele Bachmann (R-MN), MinnPost reports.
Most Back Same-Sex Marriage
A new Bloomberg poll finds that 52% of Americans “support allowing same-sex couples to marry, endorsing the goal of gay-rights activists as the U.S. Supreme Court this month prepares to rule on the issue for the first time.”
“Of those supporters, more than half — 61% — want a national law rather than a state-by-state approach. During arguments in March, the justices signaled a reluctance to declare a right to same-sex marriage nationwide.”
Quote of the Day
“I listened to that tape, and I couldn’t hear the word in question. I couldn’t hear it at all… I don’t know who it was. I’m not saying it couldn’t have been me. I thought OK, it probably was me… By the eighth time listening to it, I thought it wasn’t really worth my time.”
— California First Lady Anne Gust Brown, quoted by the Sacramento Bee, on whether hers was the anonymous voice who called 2010 gubernatorial candidate Meg Whitman (R) a “whore” on an answering machine.
Unlock Political Wire for more.
Join for as low as $6 per month. Learn more.
Already a member? Sign in here.
Massachusetts Candidates Clash in First Debate
Rep. Edward Markey (D-MA) and Gabriel Gomez (R) “clashed in their first debate in Massachusetts’ special U.S. Senate election Wednesday, sparring on abortion, national security and gun issues. A recurring theme of the one-hour matchup at the WBZ-TV studios was Gomez’s claim that Markey is representative of old-style Washington politics while Markey suggested that Gomez would be another Republican vote for gridlock in Congress,” the Boston Globe reports.
Jim O’Sullivan notes the awkwardness of both candidates: “Neither Gomez nor Markey demonstrated himself as a forceful, effective debater, in line with expectations for many who observed the Republican and Democratic primary debates.”
Republican Reboot Not Working
Politico:
“Not every Republican learned Todd Akin’s lesson from 2012 – and
Democrats noticed. This week alone: Sen. Saxby Chambliss blamed sexual
assaults in the military on hormones, conservative pundit Erick Erickson
credited biology for male dominance in society and Mississippi Gov.
Phil Bryant said working moms are making kids fail in school.”
Tweet of the Day
In digital era, privacy must be a priority. Is it just me, or is secret blanket surveillance obscenely outrageous? ow.ly/lKS13
— Al Gore (@algore) June 6, 2013
Government Secretly Collecting Phone Records of Millions
The National Security Agency “appears to be collecting the telephone records of tens of millions of American customers of Verizon, one of the nation’s largest phone companies, under a top-secret court order issued in April,” the Washington Post reports.
“The order, which was signed by a judge from the secret court that oversees domestic surveillance, was first reported on the Web site of the Guardian newspaper… If the document is genuine, it could represent the broadest surveillance order known to have been issued. It also would confirm long-standing suspicions of civil liberties advocates about the sweeping nature of U.S. surveillance through commercial carriers under laws passed after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks.”
New York Times: “The disclosure late Wednesday seemed likely to inspire further controversy over the scope of government surveillance.”
IRS Staff Say They Were Directed from Washington
“Two Internal Revenue Service employees in the agency’s Cincinnati office told congressional investigators that IRS officials in Washington helped direct the probe of tea-party groups that began in 2010,” the Wall Street Journal reports.
FBI Links Democratic Consultant to Hijacked Email
A Democratic political consultant controlled a computer account that contained email allegedly hijacked from New Mexico Gov. Susana Martinez’s (R) campaign system, the AP reports.
“FBI affidavits, which previously had been sealed court records, linked consultant Jason Loera to a former Martinez campaign manager who was indicted last week for allegedly taking unauthorized control over the campaign email system after Martinez became governor in 2011.”
Romney Disappointed in Rice Pick
Mitt Romney told CNN that he was disappointed with President Obama’s pick of UN Ambassador Susan Rice to be his next national security adviser.
Said Romney: “I find that a disappointing appointment on the part of the president. I think what she did was to very seriously mislead the American people about what happened in Benghazi. My greatest concern about the Benghazi events was the fact there was not a rescue effort attempted and that is very troubling to me.”
National Security Shuffle May Signal More Activist Stance
President Obama’s “major shuffle of his national security team” ushers out a cautious Washington insider and elevates “two long-time proponents of a larger American role in preventing humanitarian crises and protecting human rights,” the Washington Post reports.
“The ideological shift signaled by the choices highlights a central dilemma for Obama as he seeks to make a mark on the world at a time of austerity — and war weariness — at home. How ambitious Obama intends to be abroad at a time of stiff challenges on the domestic front has remained an open question well into his second term.”
Bipartisan Group Claims Immigration Deal
“A bipartisan group of House lawmakers has come to an agreement on immigration overhaul legislation, but one key Republican member will not sign off on it and will write his own proposal instead,” Roll Call reports.
Rep. Raúl Labrador (R-ID) “said he told the group that he would no longer work with it because language he had offered to prevent newly legalized immigrants who entered the country illegally from getting subsidized health care will not be included in the final version.”
CIA Didn’t Always Know Who Drones Were Killing
“The CIA did not always know who it was targeting and killing in drone strikes in Pakistan over a 14-month period,” an NBC News review of classified intelligence reports shows.
“About one of every four of those killed by drones in Pakistan between Sept. 3, 2010, and Oct. 30, 2011, were classified as ‘other militants,’ the documents detail. The ‘other militants’ label was used when the CIA could not determine the affiliation of those killed, prompting questions about how the agency could conclude they were a threat to U.S. national security.”
“The uncertainty appears to arise from the use of so-called ‘signature’
strikes to eliminate suspected terrorists — picking targets based in
part on their behavior and associates. A former White House official
said the U.S. sometimes executes people based on ‘circumstantial
evidence.'”
West Converts Campaign Into PAC
Former Rep. Allen West (R-FL) has converted his campaign committee to a federal PAC and registered it as Deep Strike PAC, Roll Call reports.
Quote of the Day
“This will be the most open Republican nomination in 50 years.”
— Former New Hampshire Attorney General Tom Rath (R), quoted by NPR, on the 2016 presidential race.
Edwards Will Resume His Law Practice
Former Sen. John Edwards (D-NC) is looking to open a new law firm this September, CNN reports.
“The firm will be based in Raleigh, North Carolina, and will focus on plaintiff work, the source said. Before entering politics, Edwards was a nationally known attorney who specialized in representing plaintiffs in medical malpractice, personal injury and product liability lawsuits, earning millions.”
Rubio Will Vote Against His Own Immigration Bill
Sen. Marco Rubio (R-FL), “the leading Republican behind the Gang of Eight comprehensive immigration reform bill, says he will not vote for the legislation he helped write and has staked his political future on, unless substantial changes are made before final Senate consideration,” Byron York reports.
Obama Will Name Rice as National Security Adviser
“In a major shakeup of President Obama’s foreign-policy inner circle, Tom Donilon, the national security adviser, is resigning and will be replaced by Susan Rice, the American ambassador to the United Nations,” the New York Times reports.
The appointment puts Rice, “an outspoken diplomat and a close political ally, at the heart of the administration’s foreign-policy apparatus. It is also a defiant gesture to Republicans who harshly criticized Ms. Rice for presenting an erroneous account of the deadly attacks on the American mission in Benghazi, Libya. The post of national security adviser, while powerful, does not require Senate confirmation.”
Samantha Power will be appointed to replace Rice as U.N. Ambassador.
☑️ Have you have ever wondered if or how the United States might break up? Now available as an audio book: A More Perfect Union: Reimagining The United States as a European Union-style Federation.
