New York Times: “They had a plan: dramatize the special counsel’s damning but dense report on national television in their committees, animating his prose with vivid testimony from witnesses who would discuss Mr. Mueller’s findings on Russia’s election interference and Mr. Trump’s possible obstruction of justice. But so far Mr. Trump and his allies have successfully parried every one of their moves.”
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Judge Orders Release of Flynn Transcripts
“A federal judge on Thursday ordered that prosecutors make public a transcript of a phone call that former national security adviser Michael Flynn tried hard to hide with a lie: his conversation with a Russian ambassador in late 2016,” the Washington Post reports.
“U.S. District Judge Emmet Sullivan in Washington ordered the government also to provide a public transcript of a November 2017 voice mail involving Flynn. In that sensitive call, President Trump’s attorney left a message for Flynn’s attorney reminding him of the president’s fondness for Flynn at a time when Flynn was considering cooperating with federal investigators.”
Trump’s Tariffs Are Like a Massive Tax Hike
“President Trump, having championed one of the larger tax cuts in recent years, has now enacted tariffs equivalent to one of the largest tax increases in decades,” CNBC reports.
“A CNBC analysis of data from the Treasury Department ranks the combined $72 billion in revenue from all the president’s tariffs as one of the biggest tax increases since 1993. In fact, the tariff revenue ranks as the largest increase as a percent of GDP since 1993 when compared with the first year of all the revenue measures enacted since then, according to the data.”
Florida Braces for Planeloads of Immigrants
“The Trump administration is preparing to move hundreds of immigrants from overcrowded camps along the U.S. border to Broward and Palm Beach counties,” the South Florida Sun Sentinel reports.
“Broward Mayor Mark Bogen and Palm Beach County Sheriff Ric Bradshaw said they were told to expect two planeloads of immigrants each week, starting in about two weeks. The 270 weekly passengers — about 1,000 each month — would be split, with half going to Palm Beach County and half to Broward.”
Someone ‘Connected to Congress’ Tried to Influence Flynn
A filing unsealed in federal court says an unnamed person “connected to Congress” allegedly attempted to influence former national security adviser Michael Flynn’s willingness to cooperate with special counsel Robert Mueller’s probe, Politico reports.
Meanwhile, CNN reports there’s a voicemail recording of a member of the Trump administration reaching out to Flynn and his lawyers while he was cooperating with Mueller.
Trump Wants Border Wall to Have Black Spikes
“The barrier that President Trump wants to build along the Mexico border will be a steel bollard fence, not a concrete wall as he long promised, and the president is fine with that. He has a few other things he would like to change, though,” the Washington Post reports.
“The bollards or ‘slats,’ as he prefers to call them, should be painted ‘flat black,’ a dark hue that would absorb heat in the summer, making the metal too hot for climbers to scale.”
“And the tips of the bollards should be pointed, not round, the president insists, describing in graphic terms the potential injuries that border-crossers might receive.”
Biden Way Ahead Among Democrats Nationally
A new Fox News poll finds Joe Biden leading the Democratic presidential race nationally with 35%, followed by Bernie Sanders at 17%, Elizabeth Warren at 9%, Pete Buttigieg at 6% and Kamala Harris at 5%.
They are followed by Beto O’Rouke at 4%, Cory Booker at 3%, Amy Klobuchar at 2% and Julian Castro at 2%. Everyone else is at 1% or less.
Pelosi Raises Impeachment to Break Trump’s Stonewall
“Speaker Nancy Pelosi suggested that House Democrats could always open an impeachment inquiry to pry free documents and testimony from stonewalling Trump administration officials — a sharp response to the White House’s blanket claim that House requests served no ‘legitimate’ legislative purpose,” the New York Times reports.
Said Pelosi: “The courts would respect it if you said we need this information to carry out our oversight responsibilities — and among them is impeachment It doesn’t mean you’re going on an impeachment path, but it means if you had the information you might. It’s about impeachment as a purpose.”
“Her threat was the first time Ms. Pelosi suggested using impeachment as an information-gathering tool, although she had made the suggestion in private before.”
Trump’s Immigration Proposal Is Already Dead
Speaker Nancy Pelosi said that President Trump’s new immigration plan is “dead on arrival” and “not a remotely serious proposal,” The Hill reports.
Pelosi Calls White House Letter a ‘Joke’
Speaker Nancy Pelosi blasted the White House for asserting that it would not comply with a range of requests from the House Judiciary Committee, NBC News reports.
Said Pelosi: “The letter that came from the White House yesterday was completely outrageous.”
She added: “That letter that came from the White House was a joke, beneath the dignity of the presidency of the United States, in defiance of our Constitution. Shame on them.”
Buttigieg Says He Hasn’t Peaked Yet
Pete Buttigieg insisted that he wasn’t in danger of peaking too soon, Politico reports.
Said Buttigieg: “It’s not like we’re in first place. While I’m thrilled with the fact that we are obviously running ahead of a lot of our competitors — we’ve gotten a lot of favorable attention, and our organization is growing more and more strong in terms of recruiting and finance — it doesn’t take away from the fact that this is a long run. This is a marathon. We have a long way to go.”
Trump Has ‘No Problem’ with Buttigieg Being Gay
President Trump told Fox News that he thinks “it’s great” seeing openly gay Pete Buttigieg appearing onstage with his husband.
Said Trump: “I think it’s absolutely fine. I do.”
He added: “I think it’s great. I think that’s something that perhaps some people will have a problem with. I have no problem with it whatsoever. I think it’s good.”
GOP Abortion Messaging Puts Democrats on Defensive
“With grisly claims that Democrats promote ‘birth day abortions’ and are ‘the party of death,’ the Republican Party and its conservative allies have aggressively reset the terms of one of the country’s most divisive and emotionally fraught debates, forcing Democrats to reassess how they should respond to attacks that portray the entire party as extremist on abortion,” the New York Times reports.
“The unusually forceful, carefully coordinated campaign has created challenges that Democrats did not expect as they struggle to combat misinformation and thwart further efforts to undercut access to abortion. And advocates of abortion rights fear it is succeeding in pressuring lawmakers in more conservative states to pass severe new restrictions, as Alabama did this week by approving a bill that would essentially outlaw the procedure.”
Extra Bonus Quote of the Day
“It is time for women to rise up, to be heard, to run for office. I mean all women.”
— Alabama state Sen. Linda Coleman-Madison (D), writing in Elle, after her colleagues passed a law outlawing abortion in the state.
Ukraine Sees No Evidence of Wrongdoing by Bidens
“Ukraine’s prosecutor general said in an interview that he had no evidence of wrongdoing by U.S. Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden or his son, despite a swirl of allegations by President Trump’s lawyer,” Bloomberg reports.
Trump’s Income Fell Last Year
“President Trump’s income from several of his most high-profile properties fell last year, including a nearly $2.5 million drop at his Florida resort Mar-Lago and a $1 million decline one of his Florida golf resorts, his new financial disclosure reveals,” the Wall Street Journal reports.
“In total, the minimum value of Mr. Trump’s income fell 4% to $434.8 million in 2018, down from $452.5 million the previous year.”
States with Abortion Bans Have Few Female Lawmakers
“States passing restrictive abortion legislation have the lowest rates of women represented in politics,” The Hill reports.
“Alabama, which passed a measure this week that would ban almost all abortions, with exceptions only to save the life of the mother, has a female governor but only four female state senators, putting it in 47th place in a ranking of states by female representation.”
“In addition to Alabama, two other states that recently passed restrictive abortion laws ranked in the bottom 10 for representation of women in the state legislature: Mississippi, at 13.8%, and Kentucky, at 22.5%. Ohio, which recently passed a so-called heartbeat bill banning abortions after six weeks, is ranked 30th for representation. Just over a quarter, 26.2%, of the state legislature are women. Georgia, which also passed a heartbeat bill, is the only state in the top half of the rankings, at number 20 with 15 of 56 woman state senators and 57 of 180 woman House members.”
Axios: Where each state stands if Roe v. Wade is overturned.
Trump Tells Pentagon Chief No War With Iran
“President Trump has told his acting defense secretary, Patrick Shanahan, that he does not want to go to war with Iran… in a message to his hawkish aides that an intensifying American pressure campaign against the clerical-led government in Tehran must not escalate into open conflict,” the New York Times reports.
“No new information was presented to the president at the meeting that argued for further engagement with Iran, according to a person in the room. But Mr. Trump was firm in saying he did not want a military clash with the Iranians.”
