“Chelsea Manning, an anti-secrecy activist and former U.S. Army intelligence analyst whose release of classified information to WikiLeaks in 2010 sparked worldwide controversy over transparency in the military and whistleblower protections, was taken into custody at a federal court on Friday after a federal judge found her in contempt of court for refusing to answer questions before a secret grand jury,” ABC News reports.
Democrats Weigh Probe Into Ivanka Trump
Washington Post: “But investigating Ivanka Trump is so politically sensitive that Democrats are proceeding with caution. It is unclear even which House committee would take the lead; aides for several panels with jurisdiction suggested that other committees may be better suited to probing the president’s eldest daughter.”
President Trump “has said privately he does not want his children testifying on Capitol Hill or providing documents to their investigations.”
“Last May, China approved more than a half-dozen Ivanka trademarks around the time Trump shielded a major Chinese state-owned equipment company from U.S. sanctions. The year before, Ivanka’s clothing line saw the same trademark boon the same day she dined with Chinese President Xi Jinping at the president’s Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida.”
Can Democrats Retake the Senate In 2020?
Join now to continue reading.
Members get exclusive analysis, bonus features and no advertising. Learn more.
What Biden Said About Race and Busing in the 1970s
The Washington Post unearths this quote from former Vice President Joe Biden in 1975:
I do not buy the concept, popular in the ’60s, which said, ‘We have suppressed the black man for 300 years and the white man is now far ahead in the race for everything our society offers. In order to even the score, we must now give the black man a head start, or even hold the white man back, to even the race.’ I don’t buy that.
First Read: “Joe Biden’s greatest strength is that he’s been in the mainstream of American politics for the last 50 years. And that’s his greatest weakness, too.”
“It raises the question: Can the Democratic Party we saw nearly melt down this week over Ilhan Omar handle Biden’s past – whether it’s busing, race or Anita Hill?”
Trump Claims Border Wall Is ‘Far Ahead of Schedule’
President Trump tweeted that his planned border wall along the U.S.-Mexico border was already under construction despite “obstruction” from congressional Democrats.
Said Trump: “The Wall is being built and is well under construction. Big impact will be made. Many additional contracts are close to being signed. Far ahead of schedule despite all of the Democrat Obstruction and Fake News!”
Trump Sags In Michigan
A new EPIC-MRA poll in Michigan finds 49% of voters say they will definitely vote to replace President Trump and another 16% say they will consider voting for someone else. Only 31% said they will definitely vote to re-elect Trump.
Key finding: “Self-described independent voters are driving down Trump’s numbers. Among independents, 44 percent say they will definitely vote for someone else and 27 percent say they will consider backing another candidate, while only 18 percent say they would definitely vote to re-elect.”
Trump Promises ‘A-Plus’ Relief for Alabama
President Trump travels to Alabama on Friday after directing federal emergency personnel to provide “A Plus treatment” in assisting the state’s recovery from tornadoes that killed 23 people last weekend, Bloomberg reports.
“Trump has at times struggled in the role of consoler-in-chief after natural disasters… But the president will be on friendly ground in Alabama, a state he carried by nearly 28 percentage points in the 2016 election.”
Trump Watched Super Bowl with Founder of Busted Spa
Miami Herald: “Seated at a round table littered with party favors and the paper-cutout footballs that have become tradition at his annual Super Bowl Watch Party, President Donald Trump cheered the New England Patriots and his longtime friend, team owner Robert Kraft, to victory over the Los Angeles Rams on Feb. 3.”
“Sometime during the party at Trump’s West Palm Beach country club, the president turned in his chair to look over his right shoulder, smiling for a photo with two women at a table behind him. The woman who snapped the blurry Super Bowl selfie with the president was Li Yang, 45, a self-made entrepreneur from China who started a chain of Asian day spas in South Florida. Over the years, these establishments — many of which operate under the name Tokyo Day Spas — have gained a reputation for offering sexual services.”
“Nineteen days after Trump and Yang posed together while rooting for the Patriots, authorities would charge Kraft with soliciting prostitution at a spa in Jupiter that Yang had founded more than a decade earlier.”
Job Growth Grinds to Near Halt
Job growth came to a near halt in February after a blistering start to the year, with nonfarm payrolls increasing by just 20,000 even as the unemployment fell to 3.8 percent, CNBC reports.
Carter Offers to Visit North Korea Amid Stalemate
“Former President Jimmy Carter — who once brokered a nuclear agreement with Kim Jong Un’s grandfather in the 1990s — is offering to travel to North Korea to try and break President Trump’s deadlock with the North Korean dictator,” Politico reports.
“The prospect that Trump would align himself with his Democratic predecessor seems remote. The normally reserved ex-president has challenged Trump, sayingthat he would ‘change all of the policies’ Trump has instituted if he could, and describing his presidency as a ‘disaster.’ And while Trump has not made Carter a target while in office, he has previously chided Carter for ostensibly being a pushover.”
House Democrats May Probe Kushner Real Estate Deal
“House Democrats are discussing investigating the cash infusion the Kushner Companies’ flagship New York office tower received in summer 2018,” Axios reports.
“Jared Kushner’s family real estate business provides Democrats with a new opening to investigate a senior White House official’s indirect connection to foreign money. Kushner has been helping conduct Middle East policy on behalf of the U.S. government.”
White House Source Leaked Info on Jared and Ivanka
“From a White House source, the House Oversight Committee has obtained documents related to Jared Kushner and Ivanka Trump’s security clearances that the Trump administration refused to provide,” Axios reports.
“The White House this week rejected the committee’s request for documents on the process for granting security clearances to staffers. But the House Oversight Committee in early February had already obtained the leaked documents that detail the entire process, from the spring of 2017 to the spring of 2018, on how both Kushner and Trump were ultimately granted their security clearances.”
O’Rourke Seeks Staffers In New Hampshire
“As Beto O’Rourke continues to hold off on an announcement about his political plans, people working closely with him have begun making inquiries in New Hampshire about matters that would be central to a mounting a presidential campaign in the leadoff primary state,” WMUR reports.
“Key Democratic sources — who are not involved in any effort to draft O’Rourke — told WMUR that people close to O’Rourke have reached out to politically knowledgeable Granite Staters seeking advice on specifics concerning what a New Hampshire campaign would entail.”
GOP Splits Over Hate Resolution
Playbook: “23 House Republicans voted against a resolution Thursday evening that condemned hate against many groups, including Jews and Muslims, in the wake of Rep. Ilhan Omar’s comments that suggested supporters of Israel might have dual loyalty — remarks that were widely viewed as anti-Semitic. Every Democrat voted yes.”
“There is serious, serious anger — seething, it’s fair to say — at the top levels of the House GOP that Republicans muddled their message with a split on this vote. All week, House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy’s leadership team managed to keep his troops in line, allowing Democrats to spend days upon days tripping all over themselves. Now, they have taken a bit of the spotlight off Democrats for reasons that are clear to no one.”
“There were two options when it came to this vote, according to top lawmakers and aides: Either every single Republican had to be for the resolution, or everyone needed to be against it. Now that nearly two dozen Republicans voted no, the party is in the mushy middle, unable to define where it stood.”
Trump Inauguration Took Money from Shell Companies
“Donald Trump’s inauguration received tens of thousands of dollars from shell companies that masked the involvement of a foreign contributor or others with foreign ties,” The Guardian reports.
“The Guardian has identified the creators of three obscure firms that contributed money to Trump’s inaugural committee, which collected a record $107m as he entered the White House in 2017.”
Gillibrand Struggles to Win Endorsements
“Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand is still searching for a first presidential endorsement from colleagues in New York’s delegation, leaving her the only senator running in 2020 without any home-state congressional backing. The New York Democrat, who is still in the exploratory phase of her presidential bid, is working behind the scenes to curry support among her colleagues,” Politico reports.
“Gillibrand is having lunch with House members — some for the first time — and hosting informal drinks with the state delegation next week. She’s made phone calls to them and asked others for help in shoring up endorsements. But, so far, no one has jumped on board.”
Trump Seeks Payment from Allies
Bloomberg: “The administration is drawing up demands that Germany, Japan and eventually any other country hosting U.S. troops pay the full price of American soldiers deployed on their soil — plus 50 percent or more for the privilege of hosting them, according to a dozen administration officials and people briefed on the matter. In some cases, nations hosting American forces could be asked to pay five to six times as much as they do now under the ‘Cost Plus 50’ formula.”
Advisers Urge Trump to Defer 2020 Rallies
“As he watches the 2020 Democratic candidates fire up campaign crowds, President Donald Trump is itching to upstage them with rallies of his own. Not so fast, say Trump’s political advisers, who are arguing that Trump’s best asset is the White House — and that he should make the most of it,” Politico reports.
“The rambunctious rallies can come later, they say. For now, Trump’s Republican allies and campaign officials believe an early re-election strategy built around his role as chief executive in dignified settings like the Oval Office and the Rose Garden will carry more weight with voters than his signature freewheeling arena speeches.”
