Speaker Nancy Pelosi declined to criticize President Trump at Normandy earlier today, saying she will not discuss the president while out of the country, CNN reports.
However, in a Fox News interview, against a backdrop of the graves of dead American soldiers, Trump later referred to Pelosi as “Nervous Nancy” and called her a “disaster.”
“Capping off a week in which he drew London protests and reopened a feud with a member of the British royal family, President Trump delivered one of his most well-received speeches in Normandy, France, on Thursday,” USA Today reports.
“The address near Omaha Beach won praise from allies and critics alike.”
Ron Brownstein: “It’s become conventional wisdom—not only among Democrats but also among many political analysts—that House Republicans paid a severe electoral price for moving against Bill Clinton in 1998, at a time when polls showed most of the public opposed that action.”
“But that straightforward conclusion oversimplifies impeachment’s effects, according to my analysis of the election results and interviews with key strategists who were working in national politics at the time. While Republicans did lose House seats in both 1998 and 2000, Democrats did not gain enough to capture control of the chamber either time. And in 2000, lingering unease about Clinton’s behavior provided a crucial backdrop for George W. Bush’s winning presidential campaign—particularly his defining promise ‘to restore honor and dignity’ to the Oval Office.”
Walter Shapiro: 1998 was a Seinfeld election—not an impeachment referendum.
House Democrats are urging President Trump “to reconsider his plans to speak at the Fourth of July celebration on the National Mall,” Politico reports.
Some have expressed fears Trump’s plans “could create the appearance of a televised, partisan campaign rally on the Mall at public expense” and waste taxpayer dollars.
“Montana Gov. Steve Bullock is currently on the outside looking in, one of the foremost candidates in danger of missing the stage after what his campaign calls the DNC’s 11th-hour ‘unmasking’ of ‘arbitrary’ polling rules,” Politico reports.
“Bullock’s status isn’t the only question remaining in the final week of qualifying, but the latest update comes after the Democratic National Committee provided… additional guidance about its polling criteria — the first time the party committee has publicly addressed questions surrounding the previously announced guidelines.”
“House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jerry Nadler told Democratic leaders at a closed-door meeting this week that he could issue a subpoena to Robert Mueller within two weeks if he is unable to reach an agreement to secure the former special counsel’s public testimony,” Politico reports.
“Nadler’s comments at the Tuesday meeting were his clearest remarks to date on the possibility of compelling Mueller’s attendance at a public hearing.”
“On the campaign trail, having to explain what bisexuality is to people was pretty unbelievable. People were like, ‘But you’re married to a man.’”
— Rep. Katie Hill (D-CA), quoted by Refinery29.
“Michael Flynn has fired his legal team as he awaits sentencing for lying to the FBI about his conversations with a top Russian official,” Politico reports.
“The lawyers, Robert Kelner and Stephen Anthony, offered no explanation for their abrupt dismissal in a two-page motion delivered to the federal judge who will mete out Flynn’s punishment stemming from his 2017 guilty plea to Robert Mueller’s prosecutors.”
“House Democrats are planning to vote next week to empower committees to go to court to enforce their subpoenas, a move that will give committee chairmen a powerful tool to hold officials in contempt while bypassing the House floor,” CNN reports.
“The plan is likely to expedite Democrats’ efforts to fight the Trump administration in court over their subpoenas and could also help vulnerable Democratic lawmakers avoid repeated contempt votes on the House floor, although there are also concerns about implications of the precedent that’s being set.”
The Defense Department contradicted President Trump’s claim that service-members are “not allowed to take any drugs” and that transgender troops can’t serve because of this, the Washington Post reports.
Said spokeswoman Jessica Maxwell: “The Military Health System covers all approved medically necessary treatments and prescription medications. If a service member has a hormone deficiency for any reason (such as hypogonadism, hypothyroidism, menopause, etc.), he or she would be prescribed hormones.”
President Trump told Fox News that former special counsel Robert Mueller made “such a fool out of himself” last week when he made a public statement regarding his Russia investigation and whether Trump obstructed the probe.
Said Trump: “Let me tell you, he made such a fool out of himself . . . because what people don’t report is the letter he had to do to straighten out his testimony because his testimony was wrong.”
Los Angeles Times: “About one-quarter of House Democrats publicly support opening an impeachment inquiry against Trump. More say they are moving closer to that position as the White House continues to defy congressional demands for documents and witnesses.”
“The growing support for an impeachment inquiry creates the potential for a dramatic clash with the Trump administration this summer over Congress’ investigative demands. But the wide range of views over impeachment continues to shape Pelosi’s strategy as she maneuvers to keep the Democrats from dividing over the issue.”
When visiting Normandy — as my family did several years ago — it’s immediately apparent how terrifying it must have been for Americans landing on those beaches to join the fight against Nazism. It’s almost impossible to imagine.
The bravery of those soldiers must never be forgotten. Our world continues to benefit from their service and sacrifice.
Nate Silver: “A recent YouGov poll, which asked Democrats to list all the candidates they were considering rather than requiring them to pick just one, also seems to suggest that Sanders has a relatively high floor of support. Among Democrats who were considering only one candidate, 28 percent were considering only Sanders, and 27 percent were considering only Biden. Everyone else was in the single digits on this question.”
“Here’s the catch, though: Only 28 percent of Democrats fell into the category of considering only one candidate. (By comparison, 67 percent are still considering multiple candidates, and 5 percent aren’t considering any current candidates.) So Sanders isn’t getting 28 percent of 100 percent — he’s getting 28 percent of 28 percent. That means just 8 percent of the overall Democratic electorate truly falls into the ‘Bernie or bust’ category.”
“So while Sanders might have a slightly higher floor than other candidates — about half of the voters who currently prefer Sanders are only considering Sanders — it’s still pretty low in the broader scheme of things. About two-thirds of Democratic voters are still up for grabs, and they’re probably going to take their time to make a decision.”
“Michigan military veteran and businessman John James (R) is hoping the second time’s a charm in a run for U.S. Senate, this time challenging Sen. Gary Peters (D-MI) in 2020,” the Detroit News reports.
“His announcement comes several months after James lost to Sen. Debbie Stabenow (D-MI) in November.”
Sen. Kamala Harris (D-CA) “is scaling up her focus on Iowa, promising to bring on at least 65 paid staffers by July and launch a summer organizing push targeted at the precinct level,” the Des Moines Register reports.
“Harris so far has lagged behind some campaigns, which have sought to aggressively add staff in the state. In April, her campaign tallied just five paid staffers here while others, such as Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren, had brought on nearly 50.”
Washington Post: “In July, a wealthy Iraqi sheikh named Nahro al-Kasnazan wrote letters to national security adviser John Bolton and Secretary of State Mike Pompeo urging them to forge closer ties with those seeking to overthrow the government of Iran.”
Kasnazan wrote of his desire “to achieve our mutual interest to weaken the Iranian Mullahs regime and end its hegemony.”
“Four months later, he checked into the Trump International Hotel in Washington and spent 26 nights in a suite on the eighth floor — a visit estimated to have cost tens of thousands of dollars.”
Kyle Kondik: “So the argument now is that because impeachment didn’t work for Republicans in 1998, it won’t work for Democrats in 2020. That may or may not be the case if Democrats do pursue impeachment, but if 1998 is going to keep coming up, that election itself merits a closer look.”
“While it’s impossible to know what would’ve happened in some alternate universe where Republicans did not open impeachment proceedings of Clinton prior to the election, there’s some reason to believe that the effects of that decision were not as electorally significant as popularly remembered.”
“While impeachment probably did hurt the Republicans in some districts, it may have been that Clinton’s popularity in a time of peace and prosperity would have insulated Democrats from big losses even if the GOP had held off on impeachment.”
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.