President Trump said “he hasn’t submitted his answers yet and emphasized that he wrote them, not his lawyers,” the Washington Post reports.
Said Trump: “You always have to be careful answering questions for people who have bad intentions.”
Trump Questions Pence’s Loyalty
At a news conference last week, President Trump publicly asked Mike Pence to be his running mate again in 2020. But in private, the New York Times reports, Trump doesn’t seem so sure.
“In recent weeks, with his electoral prospects two years from now much on his mind, Mr. Trump has focused on the person who has most publicly tethered his fortunes to him. In one conversation after another he has asked aides and advisers a pointed question: Is Mike Pence loyal?”
“Mr. Trump has repeated the question so many times that he has alarmed some of his advisers. The president has not openly suggested dropping Mr. Pence from the ticket and picking another running mate, but the advisers say those kinds of questions usually indicate that he has grown irritated with someone.”
Pelosi Huddles with Potential Challenger
House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) huddled Friday with a potential rival for Speaker, Rep. Marcia Fudge (D-OH), The Hill reports.
“Neither Pelosi nor Fudge disclosed details of their 45-minute conversation, which took place in Pelosi’s office in the Capitol. The meeting was brokered by Rep. Elijah Cummings (D-MD), among the most powerful figures in the Congressional Black Caucus and a strong supporter of Pelosi.”
Another White House Tell-All Book Coming
“Cliff Sims, a Trump adviser who joined the West Wing staff on Day One as a special assistant to the president after working on the campaign, is writing a memoir about his time working for the president. The book is set to be published in January,” Politico reports.
“Sims’ book, according to people familiar with the project, has been in the works for months and was described as a thoughtful and introspective portrayal of his time serving in the Trump White House. The book is modeled, those people said, on George Stephanopoulos’ tell-all memoir All Too Human, a personal account of his time serving as communications director in the Clinton White House.”
Trump Offered to Nominate Aide as Ambassador to Estonia
“President Trump offered to nominate Mira Ricardel as ambassador to Estonia after First Lady Melania Trump forced the deputy national security adviser out of the White House,” Bloomberg reports.
“Ricardel turned down the posting to the Baltic state… The president wants to find her a good position, and she’s been presented nearly a dozen jobs from which to choose.”
Grassley to Trade Judiciary for Finance
Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-IA) plans to trade his Senate Judiciary Committee gavel to lead the Finance Committee next year, he said on Friday — leaving Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) in line to replace him as chairman, Politico reports.
“Grassley’s move to Finance wasn’t a given, since the Judiciary panel has played an outsized role in the successful confirmation of more than 80 of President Trump’s nominees to lifetime appointments on the federal bench. That number could include future Supreme Court justices beyond Neil Gorsuch and Brett Kavanaugh in the next Congress, heightening the influence of the Judiciary chairman.”
McClatchy: “Graham is poised to become the chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee in the next Congress, giving him both influence and exposure — and a new, politically risky stature as a Democratic target.”
New Jersey Elections Official Charged with Voter Fraud
Andrea Palmucci-McGillicuddy, a former chief investigator of Mercer County elections, was charged with voter fraud after officials learned she resides in Pennsylvania, yet has voted in New Jersey since at least 2012, the Trentonian reports.
Quote of the Day
“I’m watching this thing and you know it’s like, the administration is like a shit show in a dumpster fire.”
— George Conway, husband of Kellyanne, on the Skullduggery podcast.
White House Ordered to Return Acosta’s Press Pass
A federal judge granted CNN’s request for a court order that would temporarily reinstate network correspondent Jim Acosta’s White House press pass, which had been suspended indefinitely in the wake of a fiery exchange between the reporter and President Trump a week earlier, CNBC reports.
Axios: “In his ruling, Judge Timothy Kelly is setting a precedent that future White House administrations and other elected officials need clear evidence of a security threat or operational burden created by reporters’ actions in order to have the justification to revoke a press pass.”
Lou Dobbs Claims Many ‘Illegal Immigrants’ Voted
Fox Business host Lou Dobbs falsely claimed that “millions of illegal immigrants cross our borders” and that “many” voted in this year’s midterm elections, The Hill reports.
Said Dobbs: “Are we just sitting here, helpless against anyone who wants to cross that border, and to have their way with the American way?”
Kasich Sees Opening for Independent Candidate In 2020
Ohio Gov. John Kasich (R) told the Columbus Dispatch that he remains undecided about another presidential run, but that the midterm election results could suggest a greater opening for an independent or third-party candidate.
Said Kasich: “I know everybody’s wondering how I’m going to make a decision, when I’m going to make a decision. I don’t know, but what’s most important to me is that I can have a voice that can be a healing voice for the country.”
Seven House Seats Still Uncalled
CNN: “There are seven races in the House left uncalled — all are Republican-held seats; Democrats lead in five of the seven. If they win all the races where their candidates are winning at the moment, Democrats will net 38 seats. If they lose them all — which is very unlikely — they will hold at a 33-seat gain.”
Cindy McCain Thinks Two of Her Children May Enter Politics
Cindy McCain told CBS News that “one or two” of her children might have political aspirations like their father, the late Sen. John McCain (R-AZ).
Said McCain: “There are two I know that won’t, but there’s two that I think will.”
She declined to name which of their four children (John McCain had three other children from a previous marriage), but added: “They’ve all grown up in politics. It’s hard not to – you either catch the bug or you don’t.”
Is It Mueller Time?
First Read: “During the last two months of the 2018 midterm campaign, as President Trump talked about the caravan and Brett Kavanaugh and as Democrats focused on pre-existing conditions, special counsel Robert Mueller stayed out of the news. Almost entirely.”
“Indeed, the last major development in the Russia investigation took place on September 14, when former Trump campaign chairman Paul Manfort pleaded guilty and agreed to cooperate with Mueller’s investigative team. (That feels more like two years ago than two months ago, right?)”
“But count us among those who believe that the silence from the Russia probe is about to end. For starters, longtime Trump adviser Roger Stone and Jerome Corsi have been talking about upcoming indictments against them.”
CNN: “President Trump is acting like he knows something about the Russia investigation that the rest of America has yet to learn.”
Why Fact Checking Trump Is Easy
Daniel Dale: “I’ve made it my mission to fact-check every word Donald Trump utters as president. That means trying to watch every speech, read every transcript, decipher every tweet. I’ve accidentally established a reputation for using Twitter to point out that he’s lying within seconds of him telling a lie.”
“People sometimes ask in response how I can blast out these corrections so quickly. But I have no special talent. My secret is that Trump tells the same lies over and over.”
North Korea Tests ‘Ultramodern’ Weapon
“North Korean leader Kim Jong Un observed the successful test of an unspecified ‘newly developed ultramodern tactical weapon,’ state media reported Friday, in an apparent bid to apply pressure on the United States and South Korea,” the AP reports.
“It didn’t appear to be a test of a nuclear device or a long-range missile with the potential to target the U.S. A string of such tests last year had many fearing war before the North turned to engagement and diplomacy. Still, any mention of weapons testing could influence the direction of stalled diplomatic efforts spearheaded by Washington and aimed at ridding the North of its nuclear weapons.”
Top Cheney Aide Now In Mueller’s Sights
“Dick Cheney’s former top national security aide has come under scrutiny from special counsel Robert Mueller, two people with knowledge of the probe tell the Daily Beast. It’s the latest sign that Mueller’s probe has expanded beyond the narrow bounds of Russian interference in American politics.”
“Mueller’s team has been looking into the communications and political dealings of John Hannah, the former Cheney adviser who later worked on Trump’s State Department transition team. This includes interactions with Lebanese-American businessman and fixer George Nader, who brokered meetings between foreign dignitaries and team Trump, and Joel Zamel, a self-proclaimed social media guru with deep ties to Israeli intelligence.”
Abrams Considers Unprecedented Legal Challenge
“Stacey Abrams’ campaign and legal team is preparing an unprecedented legal challenge in the unresolved Georgia governor’s race that could leave the state’s Supreme Court deciding whether to force another round of voting,” the AP reports.
“The Democrat’s longshot strategy relies on a statute that’s never been used in such a high-stakes contest. It is being discussed as Georgia elections officials appear to be on the cusp of certifying Republican Brian Kemp as the winner of a bitterly fought campaign that’s been marred by charges of electoral malfeasance.”
Atlanta Journal Constitution: “Abrams is fast running out of options to close a deficit in the race for Georgia governor.”
