Caro’s Next Book Isn’t the One You’ve Been Waiting For
“Robert Caro’s next book isn’t his fifth and final volume on Lyndon Johnson or like anything he has done before. Working: Researching, Interviewing, Writing, to be published in April, combines personal reflections and professional guidance as Caro looks back on his singular history as a writer and reporter,” the AP reports.
“Caro does have disappointing news for those waiting for the next Johnson book: The author remains ‘several years’ from completion. The fourth Johnson biography, The Passage of Power, came out in 2012, and ended in the initial months of Johnson’s presidency, after the assassination of John F. Kennedy. The fifth book is expected to cover the rest of his time in the White House, which he left in 1969, and continue to his death four years later.”
Bonus Quote of the Day
“I’m attempting to chill out a bit. You can be sure I don’t follow the tweets as closely as I used to.”
— Former Attorney General Jeff Sessions, quoted by the Montgomery Advertiser.
House Ratings for 2020
Cook Political Report: “The 116th Congress hasn’t even been sworn in yet, and there’s still no resolution in sight to one North Carolina race tainted by election fraud. But already, the 2020 battle for the House is shaping up to be highly competitive.”
“Our initial ratings show Democrats with a head start in 219 races, Republicans with an advantage in 196 seats and 20 Toss Ups. Of the 20 Toss Ups, 16 will be held by Democrats in January and four by Republicans.”
Cohen Sentenced to Three Years In Prison
Michael Cohen has been sentenced to 3 years in prison on Wednesday on charges involving campaign finance violations, tax evasion, and lying to Congress in a New York federal court, Axios reports.
According to the Washington Post, Cohen told the judge he’s lived in “personal and mental incarceration” since he started working for Trump.
He’ll have to report to prison on March 6.
Kansas Lawmaker Quits the GOP
Kansas state Sen. Barbara Bollier told the Shawnee Mission Post that she no longer believes in the Republican party’s values.
Said Bollier: “Morally, the party is not going where my compass resides. I’m looking forward to being in a party that represents the ideals that I do, including Medicaid expansion and funding our K-12 schools.”
Quote of the Day
“President Trump started by bragging about how great border security is going under his watch. That, by the way, is with no wall. If it were truly the case, as the president said, that border security is better than it’s ever been, what’s wrong with another year of the same funding? If things are going so great, why does he have to threaten to shut down the government for his $5 billion wall? It makes no sense.”
— Sen. Chuck Schumer, quoted by NBC News, arguing that President Trump lives in a “cocoon of his own mistruth” and that he and Nancy Pelosi “had to puncture that cocoon and he threw a temper tantrum because of it.”
Castro Launches Exploratory Bid
“Former Obama housing chief Julian Castro says he’s taking a step toward a possible White House campaign in 2020 by forming a presidential exploratory committee. The Texas Democrat tells the Associated Press that he will announce a decision Jan. 12.”
“The move Wednesday gives the 44-year-old former San Antonio mayor an early start to what’s shaping up as a crowded Democratic field without a clear front-runner to challenge President Trump.”
GOP Operative Held 800 Absentee Ballots
“McCrae Dowless, the man whose ‘get-out-the-vote’ activities are the center of the election fraud investigation in North Carolina, told a local political campaign volunteer that he was holding onto 800 absentee ballots,” according to a new affidavit obtained by NBC News.
“In the signed statement, Kenneth Simmons said that he met Dowless at a local Republican Party meeting in the small town of Dublin. Dublin is located in Bladen County, the epicenter of the election fraud investigation involving absentee ballots. During that interaction, Simmons wrote, he and his wife saw Dowless with a large number of absentee ballots ‘in his possession.’”
Trump Still In Denial Over Election Results
First Read: “To us, there’s a more fundamental takeaway to yesterday’s Thunderdome in the Oval Office: It appears Trump still hasn’t accepted his defeat from the midterms and what that means for his agenda beginning next year.”
“It was the same kind of ‘thumping’ that George W. Bush recognized back in 2006, and similar to the ‘shellacking’ Barack Obama admitted receiving in 2010. But Trump has yet to concede what really happened in the midterms and how that means divided government in 2019-2020.”
“And that divided government takes away leverage he might have in any shutdown fight. As Schumer explained to reporters after the meeting, if there’s a shutdown, House Democrats next year can pass a clean continuing resolution to fund the government — and dare Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell to oppose it.”
James Hohmann: “It’s remarkably easy for people to get under Trump’s skin. Chuck and Nancy, as Trump refers to the Democratic leaders, needled him on the economy and the election. And his response illustrated why this was the first meeting between the three leaders in more than a year. Indeed, the president has rarely put himself in positions of being directly challenged over the past two years.”
Democrats May Want an Outsider Candidate In 2020
James Hohmann: “It seems a safe bet that confrontation will trump conciliation in Washington over the next two years. The bases in both parties want their leaders to be fighters, even as the plurality of Americans want politicians to seek common ground. It’s hard to see how average Americans watch spectacles like yesterday’s and conclude anything other than that Washington is broken. If yesterday was a harbinger of what’s to come, the president who prides himself as a dealmaker isn’t going to make many big deals.”
“Divided government will either make Trump look weak and ineffective — or give him a useful foil to run against in 2020. Frankly, it could cut either way. Or both ways. Will voters blame Trump or Democrats? It’s plausible that many swing voters will adopt the a-pox-on-both-your-houses mentality.”
“Dysfunction could set the stage for another change election. Trump carried the mantle of change in 2016, and he’ll try to seize it again in 2020. Whether he succeeds will depend on whom Democrats nominate to challenge him.”
Piers Morgan Wants to Be Considered for Trump Job
Citing the praise President Trump gave him after naming him his “first Celebrity Apprentice” in the 2008, British TV personality Piers Morgan writes in the Daily Mail that he wished to “formally apply” to be White House chief of staff.
He closed with 10 reasons he should be the next White House Chief of staff:
- “You need someone who will look you in the eye and tell you when you’re being an idiot. Seriously.”
- He would “surround the Oval Office with loyal people who like and respect you, not the type of ghastly, untrustworthy reptiles like Omarosa Manigault Newman.”
- He would vet Trump’s tweets.
- He would get the media to focus more on Trump’s achievements.
- He would be a chief of staff “who gets on with Ivanka and Jared, and encourages you to listen to them as much as possible.”
- He could bring an end to the war with CNN.
- Things are about to get heated with special counsel Robert Mueller. “I love a scrap.”
- He would “use Melania more. She’s become a very popular electoral asset.”
- “I’d literally pay to work for you.”
- “You need someone whose reputation won’t be remotely tarnished by working with you and who won’t mind in the slightest if you suddenly fire him.”
Santorum Not Interested in Chief of Staff Job
Former Sen. Rick Santorum (R-PA) told CNN that he would decline if President Trump asked him to serve as the next White House chief of staff.
Said Santorum: “Look, it’s an honor even to be considered.”
New York AG Plans Sweeping Investigations of Trump
New York Attorney Gen.-elect Letitia James (D) told NBC News that she plans to launch sweeping investigations into President Trump, his family and “anyone” in his circle who may have violated the law once she settles into her new job next month.
Said James: “We will use every area of the law to investigate President Trump and his business transactions and that of his family as well.”
Jared and Ivanka Would Benefit from Tax Break
Associated Press: “The Opportunity Zone program promoted by Ivanka Trump and her husband Jared Kushner — both senior White House advisers — could also benefit them financially.”
“Government watchdogs say the couple’s financial interests underscore the ethical minefield they created two years ago when they became two of the closest advisers to the president without divesting from their extensive real estate investments.”
Trump Flips the Shutdown Script
“The trick in Washington has always been to make sure a government shutdown is pinned on the other guy. President Trump is the first to ever pin one on himself,” the New York Times reports.
“In a new twist on the old game of shutdown politics dating to the 1990s, Mr. Trump was essentially goaded on Tuesday by Rep. Nancy Pelosi and Sen. Chuck Schumer into embracing ownership of a shutdown yet to come if Democrats do not accede to his request for $5 billion to build a wall on the southern border with Mexico.”
Said Trump: “I will take the mantle. I’m not going to blame you for it. The last time you shut it down, it didn’t work. I will take the mantle of shutting down, and I’m going to shut it down for border security.”
A smiling Mr. Schumer seemed more than satisfied with Mr. Trump’s retort: “O.K., fair enough.”
A Mad Scramble In the Early States
“Local phones are buzzing with personal phone calls from national politicians. Emissaries are on the ground recruiting operatives. Potential candidates are vying to land prized speaking slots at holiday parties,” Politico reports.
“It’s a mad, end-of-the-year rush of political traffic in the early presidential states, where prospective 2020 contenders are scrambling to hire top-flight talent before it’s picked clean, and hoping to make an impression before an expected explosion of campaign announcements in January.”
Barr Has Given More Than $500K In Political Donations
President Trump has” repeatedly derided prosecutors investigating potential coordination between his presidential campaign and Russia as ‘angry Democrats,’ pointing to their past political donations as proof of bias,” the Washington Post reports.
“But William P. Barr, Trump’s nominee to lead the Justice Departmentand oversee the Russia investigation, would be by far the most prolific political donor to step into the country’s top law enforcement post in at least a quarter-century.”
“Barr has donated more than $567,000 in the past two decades, nearly all to GOP candidates and groups, federal records show. His wife, Christine Barr, gave more than $220,000 over that time, records show. Before he was nominated to be attorney general, Barr criticized past donations by prosecutors working for special counsel Robert Mueller.”
