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Signs Point to New Mueller Indictments

November 28, 2018 at 7:17 am EST By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

Garrett Graff tells Axios there are at least six signs special counsel Robert Mueller is moving towards more indictments:

Mueller is tightening the screws on Jerome Corsi, a friend of former Trump adviser Roger Stone. A plea deal — or charges — appear imminent.
Ecuador may be moving toward turning over WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange. The government removed its Assange-backing U.K. ambassador last week, and has prohibited his lawyers from meeting with him.
Russian spy and NRA superfan Maria Butina is reported to be in talks for a plea deal.
A number of Mueller’s prosecutors were hard at work on Veterans Day —when Michael Cohen took the train to Washington to talk to Mueller’s team.
ABC News reported an “unusually high” number — nearly three dozen, in fact — of sealed indictments filed over the course of the year in D.C. Fourteen of those have been added since August, a period when Mueller’s investigation was publicly quiet.
And this big one: President Trump last week finally turned in long-awaited written answers to Mueller’s investigators.

Mexico to Honor Jared Kushner

November 28, 2018 at 7:05 am EST By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

“Outgoing Mexican president Enrique Peña Nieto has stunned the country by bestowing the nation’s highest honor for foreigners on Jared Kushner,” The Guardian reports.

Peña Nieto praised Kushner as “a grand ally of Mexico” who helped achieve a renegotiation of the North American Free Trade Agreement between the US, Canada and Mexico.

Ivanka Trump Defends Her Use of Private Email

November 28, 2018 at 7:01 am EST By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

Ivanka Trump defended her use of a private email account for official government business in an interview with ABC News, insisting it’s different to the case of Hillary Clinton who was attacked by her father during the 2016 campaign for doing the same thing.

Said Trump: “All of my emails are stored and preserved. There were no deletions. There is no attempt to hide.”

She added: “There’s no equivalency to what my father’s spoken about.”

Quote of the Day

November 28, 2018 at 6:32 am EST By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

“I don’t do anything just for political gain. But I will tell you politically speaking, that issue is a total winner. People look at the border, they look at the rush to the police, they look at the rock throwers and really hurting three people, three very brave Border Patrol folks — I think that it’s a tremendous issue, but much more importantly, is really needed.”

— President Trump, in an interview with Politico, on threatening to shut down the government over funding for a border wall.

Trump Wouldn’t Talk About Manafort On the Record

November 28, 2018 at 6:13 am EST By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

Although he was willing to talk about a lot of things in his Washington Post interview yesterday, President Trump went off the record when asked if he was “planning to do anything to help” his embattled former campaign chief Paul Manafort.

Trump asked to “go off the record because I don’t want to get in the middle of the whole thing.” When asked if there was “any version” of what he said off the record that he’d be “willing to give us on the record.” Trump said he’d “rather not” and proceeded to go off the record again.

Obama World Loves Beto O’Rourke

November 28, 2018 at 6:12 am EST By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

“Rep. Beto O’Rourke (D-TX) is inspiring aides and allies of former President Obama, who say they could support him if he decides to run for president in 2020,” The Hill reports.

“The Obama allies are quick to point out similarities between O’Rourke, 46, and the former president, who was 47 when he was elected to the White House.”

“Both are political upstarts with unusual names who seemingly came out of nowhere and inspired thousands upon thousands of people to be part of a movement.”

Seth Moulton Is Playing a Risky Game

November 28, 2018 at 6:10 am EST By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

Boston Globe: “Moulton, who’s emerged as the unofficial leader of the group trying to dislodge Pelosi, may find himself in a jam, and perhaps a pariah in the party caucus, if she is able to quell the dissent in her ranks as her allies confidently predict. The question for him isn’t just how defeat will play inside the House but also what it will look like outside the Beltway, where his larger ambitions may well lie.”

“Much will depend on the tone he sets when this contretemps is done; will he beat a retreat or carry on as a critic? Certainly, the Marine veteran has been aggressive to this point, deploying every weapon in his arsenal against the longtime Democratic leader, prompting blowback from liberal pundits and some of his own constituents. He recruited House candidates who largely repudiated Pelosi on the trail, gathered signatures on a letter opposing her, and went on a media blitz warning of the dangers to Democrats if she’s reelected.”

Trump Tells Lawmakers He Won’t Back Down on Wall

November 27, 2018 at 11:07 pm EST By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

“President Trump told House Republican leaders on Tuesday that Congress must accede to his demand to include $5 billion for a southern border wall in a hefty year-end spending bill, intensifying a fight over one of his signature campaign promises that could lead to a partial government shutdown next week,” the New York Times reports.

“With less than 10 working days to wrestle out the details of an anticipated seven-bill spending package and deliver a measure to the president’s desk, Democrats have shown little sign of giving in to Mr. Trump’s demands. But House Republican leaders said after a private White House meeting that Mr. Trump would not back down, and sought to turn Democrats’ opposition against them.”

Manafort’s Lawyer Repeatedly Briefed Trump’s Lawyers

November 27, 2018 at 10:21 pm EST By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

“A lawyer for Paul Manafort, the president’s onetime campaign chairman, repeatedly briefed President Trump’s lawyers on his client’s discussions with federal investigators after Mr. Manafort agreed to cooperate with the special counsel,” the New York Times reports.

“The arrangement was highly unusual and inflamed tensions with the special counsel’s office when prosecutors discovered it after Mr. Manafort began cooperating two months ago… Some legal experts speculated that it was a bid by Mr. Manafort for a presidential pardon even as he worked with the special counsel, Robert Mueller, in hopes of a lighter sentence.”

Earlier for members: Was Paul Manafort an Unwitting Double-Agent?

Republicans Split on Possible Arizona Senate Appointment

November 27, 2018 at 10:18 pm EST By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

“Days after the midterm election, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell and Arizona Gov. Doug Ducey spoke privately about a sensitive topic with far-reaching implications — the Senate seat that John McCain held for three decades before his death in August,” the Washington Post reports.

“In a telephone call confirmed by two people familiar with the conversation, McConnell (R-KY) told Ducey: If there is an opening, consider appointing Martha McSally, the Republican congresswoman who came up short in her bid for Arizona’s other Senate seat this year.”

“But some Republicans in Arizona, including those in Ducey’s inner circle, have reservations about appointing McSally. They have questioned her campaign’s strategic decisions and wondered why she was not able to win in a state that President Trump carried in 2016 and where Ducey coasted to reelection this year.”

Hyde-Smith Wins Mississippi Run Off

November 27, 2018 at 7:45 pm EST By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

Sen. Cindy Hyde-Smith (R-MS) is projected to defeat challenger Mike Espy (D) in Mississippi’s U.S. Senate run off.

Use the comments to track the results as they come in.

Trump Says He’s Not a ‘Believer’ In Climate Change

November 27, 2018 at 7:25 pm EST By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

President Trump “dismissed a landmark report compiled by 13 federal agencies detailing how damage from global warming is intensifying throughout the country, saying he is not among the ‘believers’ who see climate change as a pressing problem,” the Washington Post reports.

“The comments marked the president’s most extensive yet on why he disagrees with his own government’s analysis, which found that climate change poses a severe threat to the health of Americans, as well as to the country’s infrastructure, economy and natural resources. The findings — unequivocal, urgent and alarming — are at odds with the Trump administration’s rollback of environmental regulations and absence of any climate action policy.”

Said Trump: “One of the problems that a lot of people like myself, we have very high levels of intelligence but we’re not necessarily such believers.”

Trump Floats Backup Plan If Congress Rejects Border Wall

November 27, 2018 at 6:44 pm EST By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

“President Trump said he is considering a backup plan if Congress rejects his demand for $5 billion in funding for his border wall, potentially including the continued use of troops and razor wire to prevent migrants from entering the country,” the Washington Post reports.

Said Trump: “We need Democrat votes to have a wall. Now, if we don’t get it, will I get it done another way? I might get it done another way. There are other potential ways that I can do it. You saw what we did with the military, just coming in with the barbed wire and the fencing, and various other things.”

Trump Slams Fed Chair for Market Declines

November 27, 2018 at 6:40 pm EST By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

“President Trump placed responsibility for recent stock market declines and this week’s General Motors plant closures and layoffs on the Federal Reserve during an interview Tuesday, shirking any personal blame for cracks in the economy and declaring that he is ‘not even a little bit happy’ with his hand-selected central bank chairman,” the Washington Post reports.

“Trump complained at length about Federal Reserve Chairman Jay Powell, whom he nominated earlier this year. When asked about declines on Wall Street and GM’s announcement that it was laying off 15 percent of its workforce, Trump responded by criticizing higher interest rates and other Fed policies, though he insisted that he is not worried about a recession.”

Said Trump: “I’m doing deals, and I’m not being accommodated by the Fed. They’re making a mistake because I have a gut, and my gut tells me more sometimes than anybody else’s brain can ever tell me.”

Espy Would Need Unprecedented Swing to Win

November 27, 2018 at 4:30 pm EST By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

Geoffrey Skelley: “We don’t often see a runoff in a general election, but if Sen. Cindy Hyde-Smith were to lose Mississippi’s Senate runoff on Tuesday, after the two Republican candidates combined to win a sizable majority of the initial vote, that would be even more unusual.”

“In the first round, Republicans Hyde-Smith and Chris McDaniel combined for a bit less than 58 percent of the vote, while Democrat Mike Espy and one other candidate from his party together won a little more than 42 percent. For Espy to win, the runoff vote has to swing more than 15 points more Democratic than the initial vote margin.”

“But if we look at the five Senate elections since 1990 where an initial round of voting was held on the national Election Day and two candidates advanced to a runoff, no challenger has ever come close to outperforming the previous round of voting by the kind of margin Espy would need to win.”

Corsi Provided Stone With Early Alert on WikiLeaks Dump

November 27, 2018 at 4:23 pm EST By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

“Two months before WikiLeaks released emails stolen from the Clinton campaign, right-wing conspiracy theorist Jerome Corsi sent an email to former Trump campaign adviser Roger Stone anticipating the document dump,” according to draft court papers obtained by NBC News.

Wrote Corsi: “Word is friend in embassy plans 2 more dumps. One shortly after I’m back. 2nd in Oct. Impact planned to be very damaging.”

Meanwhile, draft court filings obtained by CNN outline significant insights into what special counsel Robert Mueller may know about Stone’s efforts to seek documents from WikiLeaks in 2016.

Mueller Probes Manafort’s Meeting with Ecuadorian Leader

November 27, 2018 at 4:08 pm EST By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

Special counsel Robert Mueller’s team has been investigating a meeting between former Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort and Ecuadorian President Lenin Moreno in Quito in 2017 and has specifically asked if WikiLeaks or its founder, Julian Assange, were discussed in the meeting, CNN reports.

Earlier Tuesday, The Guardian reported that Manafort secretly met several times with Assange inside the Ecuadorian embassy in London. Manafort denies the meetings ever happened.

McConnell Vows to Block Any Bill Protecting Mueller

November 27, 2018 at 3:53 pm EST By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) “shut down the possibility that the Senate might take up legislation to protect special counsel Robert Mueller from being fired by President Trump, even after Sen. John Cornyn (R-TX), the No. 2 Senate Republican, held open the possibility earlier Tuesday,” USA Today reports.

“Earlier in the day, Cornyn signaled a potential change in the position of Republican leaders who have previously rejected a push by outgoing Republican Sen. Jeff Flake (R-AZ) to allow a vote on the Mueller legislation.”