Playbook: “Three Democratic presidential hopefuls grilled the attorney general during Wednesday’s Senate hearing. The consensus rankings from our Twitter feeds: 1) Kamala Harris, who impressed with her focused, sharp questions; 2) Amy Klobuchar, who got Barr to confirm that the White House pressured GOP senators not to support efforts to create a paper ballot trail; and 3) Cory Booker, who didn’t make much of an impression.”
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Trump’s Biden Bashing Splits Advisers
“As the 2020 Democratic presidential field began to form earlier this year, Trump campaign officials received a directive from the president’s son-in-law and adviser Jared Kushner: Don’t meddle in primary politics,” Politico reports.
“Targeting specific Democratic presidential hopefuls was at best a waste of time—and could even be counterproductive, Kushner warned.”
“One school of thought holds that an early front-runner like Biden … must be attacked early and often. Another argues that engaging Biden gives the Democrat exactly what he wants in a 20-candidate primary field: the image that he is already waging a head-to-head battle with a rattled incumbent.”
Reuters: “Biden’s rapid emergence as front-runner in the race for the 2020 Democratic presidential nomination has caught the attention of President Donald Trump and unnerved some of his allies, who believe Biden is a potentially dangerous rival.”
Most Think Trump Committed Crimes
A new Quinnipiac poll funds 57% of American voters say President Trump committed crimes before he became president.
In addition, 46% say Trump committed crimes since he became president.
Why Barr Can’t Whitewash the Mueller Report
Neil Katyal: “Many who watched Attorney General William Barr’s testimony on Wednesday before the Senate Judiciary Committee, which followed the revelation that the special counsel Robert Mueller had expressed misgivings about Mr. Barr’s characterization of his report, are despairing about the rule of law. I am not among them. I think the system is working, and inching, however slowly, toward justice.”
“When it comes to investigating a president, the special counsel regulations I had the privilege of drafting in 1998-99 say that such inquiries have one ultimate destination: Congress. That is where this process is going, and has to go. We are in the fifth inning, and we should celebrate a system in which our own government can uncover so much evidence against a sitting president.”
Trump Allies Push Story on Biden Conflicts of Interest
Rudy Giuliani solicited information from Ukrainian officials that he intended to use to undermine the Mueller Report and to try to damage Joe Biden’s presidential campaign, the New York Times reports.
President Trump was briefed on the effort.
Justice Department Makes Case to Strike Down Obamacare
The Trump administration offered its first full argument Wednesday for its reversal on the Affordable Care Act, arguing in new court filings that the entire law “should not be allowed to remain in effect,” CNN reports.
“The government argues that the so-called ‘individual mandate’ requiring Americans to have coverage is unconstitutional and that the rest of the law should therefore also be struck down, even if the government ‘might support some individual provisions as a policy matter.'”
It’s Not Obstruction of Justice If It Works
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Barr Refuses to Testify Before House Judiciary
Attorney General William Barr declined to testify tomorrow before the House Judiciary Committee, the Washington Post reports.
Axios: “House Judiciary Chairman Jerry Nadler had previously pledged to subpoena Barr should he refuse to testify. If Barr ignores the subpoena, as several Trump administration officials have done, Democrats on the committee have indicated that they will move to hold the attorney general in contempt of Congress.”
Barr Didn’t Even Pretend He’s an Honest Broker
Andrew Cohen: “There’s no great mystery about what Attorney General William Barr did Wednesday during his testimony before the Senate Judiciary Committee. He knows that Senate Democrats don’t have the votes or the power to do anything substantial to impair his tragic choice to protect President Trump from the substantiated allegations against him. And so the nation’s chief law enforcement official and top prosecutor, at taxpayer expense, spent hours spinning like a defense attorney with his client’s liberty on the line. If every prosecutor was so keen to forgive and forget compelling evidence of criminal conduct the nation’s prisons would be empty.”
“It was as disgraceful a performance by an attorney general as I have seen in 22 years as a legal analyst and commentator. And I say that having extensively covered the hapless appearances of Alberto Gonzales. He was the attorney general at the heart of the Bush administration’s U.S. Attorney scandal a decade ago. At least he had the excuse of being as dumb as a rock. Barr is no dummy. He knows precisely what he’s doing. His audience is an audience of one. It always has been. And he made it clear Wednesday, as if it had not been before, that he is no honest broker for the Justice Department. He’s just another hack.”
Moore’s Bid for Fed Post Is ‘In Trouble’
“Stephen Moore’s prospects of getting confirmed to the Federal Reserve Board grew dimmer Wednesday as Trump administration officials began to acknowledge privately he does not have the votes and Republican senators indicated the ensuing drama over Moore’s pending nomination would end soon,” the Washington Post reports.
Said Senate Majority Whip John Thune (R-SD): “I think he’s gotten enough feedback from the people up here that his nomination is in trouble.”
Mueller’s Letter to Barr Was Not Normal
Garrett Graff: “I’ve read just about every word Bob Mueller has ever said publicly or published. He’s written precisely one letter like the angry one he sent to Barr: It excoriated Scotland for letting the Pan Am 103 bomber out of prison.”
“To call Mueller’s letter ‘snitty’ dramatically undersells how extraordinary it is—and Barr knows that, in part, because who helped lead the Pan Am 104 prosecution? Bill Barr and Bob Mueller, back 30 years ago.”
Castro Won’t Run for Senate In Texas
Rep. Joaquin Castro (D-TX) “has decided not to seek the Democratic nomination to challenge Sen. John Cornyn, choosing instead to continue pursuing a fast-rising career in Congress focusing on security and border issues,” the San Antonio Express-News reports.
“Castro’s decision could pave the way for a contest in 2020 between Cornyn and Mary Jennings ‘MJ’ Hegar, an Afghanistan war veteran who ran a strong but losing race for Congress last year and who declared her candidacy last week.”
Graham Won’t Call Mueller to Testify
Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) reiterated on Wednesday that he will not ask special counsel Robert Mueller to testify about the Russia probe, The Hill reports.
Said Graham: “I’m not going to do any more. Enough already. It’s over.”
Graham also said he won’t ask former White House counsel Don McGahn to testify before the Senate panel either.
Extra Bonus Quote of the Day
“Oww… Kidney stones. It was a fun night. But it’s better than going to the meeting with Chuck and Nancy at the White House.”
— White House acting chief of staff Mick Mulvaney, quoted by the Washington Post, gingerly taking his seat onstage at the Milken conference.
Bullock Will Announce Presidential Bid Soon
Montana Gov. Steve Bullock (D) will announce his bid for the presidency in two weeks, MTN News has learned — adding to the 20 Democrats already running for the 2020 nomination to challenge President Trump.
House Democrats Mull Holding Barr In Contempt
“Democrats on the House Judiciary Committee are discussing holding Attorney General William Barr in contempt of Congress,” the Washington Post reports.
“During a pair of closed-door meetings Tuesday evening and Wednesday morning, the committee decided that it would probably make a push for a Barr contempt citation if he skips a scheduled Thursday hearing or ignores their subpoena for the full report by special counsel Robert Mueller.”
How Trump Co-Opts Leaders Like Bill Barr
James Comey: “Amoral leaders have a way of revealing the character of those around them. Sometimes what they reveal is inspiring. For example, James Mattis, the former secretary of defense, resigned over principle, a concept so alien to Mr. Trump that it took days for the president to realize what had happened, before he could start lying about the man.”
“But more often, proximity to an amoral leader reveals something depressing. I think that’s at least part of what we’ve seen with Bill Barr and Rod Rosenstein. Accomplished people lacking inner strength can’t resist the compromises necessary to survive Mr. Trump and that adds up to something they will never recover from. It takes character like Mr. Mattis’s to avoid the damage, because Mr. Trump eats your soul in small bites.”
Trump Campaign Lied Most Often About Moscow Project
The Mueller report identifies at least 77 times in which the Trump’s campaign staff, administration officials, family members and associates lied or made false statements to the public, CNN reports.
The Trump Tower in Moscow was the issue that involved the most false claims made by Trump and his team, with 31 of them recorded in the report. At least 13 false claims were made about the firing of former FBI director James Comey.
