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Impeachment Probe Taking Longer Than Expected

October 21, 2019 at 4:25 pm EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

“House Democrats are facing a time crunch to quickly wrap up their investigation into allegations President Trump abused his office in pushing Ukraine to probe his political rivals, prompting growing expectations that votes on impeaching Trump could slip closer to the end of the year,” CNN reports.

“Some Democrats had hoped that a narrow probe could conclude swiftly, with a potential vote to impeach Trump by Thanksgiving.”

“But that has proven to be more complicated than it initially seemed… The reason: Each witness has so far provided more leads for investigators to chase down, including new names to potentially interview or seek documents from.”

Gingrich Would Ban Reporters from White House

October 21, 2019 at 4:21 pm EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

Newt Gingrich told CBS News that there would be no reporters — who he calls “enemies of the president” — at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue if it was up to him.

Pompeo Makes Yet Another Trip to Kansas

October 21, 2019 at 4:18 pm EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

“Secretary of State Mike Pompeo will make another trip to Kansas on Thursday in a move sure to reignite speculation about his political future,” the Wall Street Journal reports.

“The official visit—the secretary of state’s third official appearance in the state this year—is seen by Kansas Republicans as the latest sign that Mr. Pompeo hasn’t fully ruled out a 2020 run to succeed retiring GOP Sen. Pat Roberts.”

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Impeachment Will Focus on ‘Abuse of Power’

October 21, 2019 at 4:14 pm EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

“House Democrats are zeroing in on a framework for their impeachment case against President Trump that will center on a simple ‘abuse of power’ narrative involving the president’s actions regarding Ukraine,” NBC News reports.

“As Democrats continue closed-door depositions with critical witnesses and prepare to move to the next phase of public hearings, they are wrestling over which elements and evidence to bring in, which to leave out. The goal is to explain to the public the reasoning and relevance of any eventual impeachment charges.”

The Hill: Pelosi releases “fact sheet” saying Trump “betrayed his oath of office.”

Pompeo Claims Trump Will Attack Turkey If Needed

October 21, 2019 at 4:11 pm EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

Secretary of State Mike Pompeo told CNBC that President Trump is prepared to use military force against Turkey over its actions in Syria in the event that such is “needed.”

Trump’s Homeland Security Picks Are Not Eligible

October 21, 2019 at 3:03 pm EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

The White House personnel director told President Trump that his top two candidates to become Secretary of Homeland Security — Ken Cuccinelli and Mark Morgan — are not qualified to fill the position under the federal vacancies law, the Wall Street Journal reports.

Both men are serving on an acting basis, and neither has been nominated by Mr. Trump for permanent roles, which would require Senate confirmation. As a result, neither man is eligible to be elevated to the Department’s top job.

37% of Republicans Will Back Trump No Matter What

October 21, 2019 at 2:17 pm EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

This piece is only available to Political Wire members.

A new PRRI American Values Survey finds that 46% of Americans say they disapprove of President Trump and that nothing he could do would change their minds. By contrast, only 26% of respondents say the opposite: They’ll stick with Trump no matter what he does.

Among Democrats, unwavering opposition to Trump extends to 77% of respondents. Among independents, it’s 45%. And even though a large majority of Republicans continue to stand by Trump, 50% of them say that they could change their minds.

That’s not a great place to be heading into re-election. If the survey is correct, Trump can lose more support than he can gain.

Trump’s political base is the 37% of Republicans that supports him no matter what. Overall, it’s 26% of voters, suggesting that’s the floor for his approval rate.

Also interesting are the two main Republican subgroups who most loyally back Trump, as shown in the above chart from the Washington Post:

55% of Republicans for whom Fox News is their primary news source say there is nothing Trump could do to lose their approval, compared to only 29% of Republicans who do not cite Fox News as their primary news source.
45% of Republicans who do not have a college degree say there is virtually nothing Trump could do to lose their support, compared to 35% of college-educated Republicans who say the same.

What If Trump Wins?

October 21, 2019 at 2:15 pm EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

Politico: “To further fine-tune the conventional wisdom, we reconvened the Time Machine travelers and added a bunch more to the roster—25 people who know Trump world and GOP and Democratic politics—and asked them: What’s in store for Washington and the nation if Trump defies the odds to hold onto the White House?”

Bonus Quote of the Day

October 21, 2019 at 1:43 pm EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

“They’re vicious and they stick together. They don’t have Mitt Romney in their midst.”

— President Trump, quoted by The Guardian, on the Democrats.

Trump Defends Tulsi Gabbard from Clinton Attacks

October 21, 2019 at 1:40 pm EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

President Trump slammed Hillary Clinton for suggesting Rep. Tulsi Gabbard (D-HI) is Russia’s favorite in the 2020 presidential race, The Hill reports.

Said Trump: “Hillary Clinton, I don’t know if you’ve heard of her, she’s the one accusing everybody of being a Russian agent. Anybody that is opposed to her is a Russian agent. That’s a scam that was pretty much put down.”

He added: “I don’t know Tulsi, but she’s not a Russian agent. I don’t know Jill Stein. I know she likes environment. I don’t think she likes Russians. If she does like them, I know she’s not an asset. These people are sick. There’s something wrong with them.”

Netanyahu Fails to Form a Government

October 21, 2019 at 1:24 pm EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu returned the mandate for forming a government to President Reuven Rivlin after failing to cobble together enough support for a coalition within the 28-day time frame that Rivlin had granted, the Jerusalem Post reports.

Axios: “This is the second time in six months that Netanyahu has failed to form a government after an election. Benny Gantz, leader of the center-left Blue and White Party, will now get an opportunity to form a coalition, but he’s also unlikely to succeed. The chances are growing that Israel will be forced to hold a third election this year.”

Russian Trolls Are Back for 2020

October 21, 2019 at 1:20 pm EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

CNN: “People linked to the Internet Research Agency, the Kremlin-backed troll group indicted by the United States for its alleged interference in the 2016 US presidential election, are laying the groundwork to do the same in 2020, new information released by Facebook on Monday suggests.”

“Profiles originating in Russia had since the beginning of this year been building a network of accounts on Instagram designed to look like groups in swing states.”

“Although the accounts posed as Americans from all sides of the political spectrum, many were united in their opposition to the candidacy of former Vice President Joe Biden.”

Mark Zuckerberg Referred Campaign Hires to Buttigieg

October 21, 2019 at 1:15 pm EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

Bloomberg: “Earlier this year, Zuckerberg sent multiple emails to Mike Schmuhl, Buttigieg’s campaign manager, with names of individuals that he might consider hiring, campaign spokesman Chris Meagher confirmed. Priscilla Chan, Zuckerberg’s wife, also sent multiple emails to Schmuhl with staff recommendations. Ultimately, two of the people recommended were hired.”

Assange Fights Back Tears In Court

October 21, 2019 at 12:57 pm EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

“Wikileaks founder Julian Assange struggled to say his own name as he appeared in the dock facing extradition to the US,” the Evening Standard reports.

“The 48-year-old is wanted in the United States over claims that he was involved in the hacking and leak of a mass of classified documents in 2010 through the Wikileaks website. But Assange says he is the victim of a politically-driven campaign by the Trump administration against journalists and whistleblowers, and claims his privileged discussions with lawyers have been spied on by the US.”

Fighting back tears, Assange said he has been denied access to a computer behind bars and is “in fear of my life.” He called the case “not equitable” and added: “I can’t think properly.”

Castro Sets Fundraising Goal to Stay in the Race

October 21, 2019 at 12:39 pm EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

Julián Castro on Monday threatened to suspend his presidential bid unless he can raise nearly $1 million by the end of the month, Politico reports.

Said Castro: “If I can’t raise $800,000 in the next 10 days — I will have no choice but to end my race for president. If I don’t meet this deadline, I won’t have the resources to keep my campaign running.”

Russian Hackers Masquerading as Iranian Hackers

October 21, 2019 at 12:24 pm EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

Financial Times: “A Russian cyber espionage unit has hacked Iranian hackers to lead attacks in more than 35 countries, a joint UK and US investigation has revealed. The so-called Turla group, which has been linked with Russian intelligence, allegedly hijacked the tools of Oilrig, a group widely linked to the Iranian government.”

Cipollone and Mulvaney Battle Over Chief of Staff Job

October 21, 2019 at 12:15 pm EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

“An internal West Wing feud is pitting the top White House lawyer, Pat Cipollone, against President Trump’s acting chief of staff, Mick Mulvaney, who has been facing criticism from both inside and outside the administration for recently telling reporters that military aid to Ukraine was withheld in part to advance Mr. Trump’s political requests,” CBS News reports.

“Internal feuds are nothing new in the Trump White House. And Mulvaney, like predecessors Reince Priebus and John Kelly, has faced maneuvering against him and rumors of his imminent demise. Mulvaney’s status, however, appears more open to question now, and even his allies consider Cipollone a central rival.”

Boris Johnson Presses Ahead with Brexit

October 21, 2019 at 11:45 am EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

Washington Post: “As it did on Super Saturday, the British government will try, once again, to hold a ‘meaningful vote’ on Monday in Parliament on the withdrawal agreement that Johnson successfully negotiated with his European counterparts last week. Britain is scheduled to leave the E.U. on Oct. 31, in just 10 days time. But the terms of its departure — or indeed, when or even if it departs — remain in a deep fog following Johnson’s humiliating defeat in the House of Commons over the weekend.”