“The Democratic National Committee has decided to exclude Fox News Channel from televising any of its candidate debates during the 2019-2020 cycle as a result of published revelations detailing the cable network’s close ties to the Trump administration,” the Washington Post reports.
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Trump Already Trying to De-Legitimize the 2020 Election
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Extra Bonus Quote of the Day
“Let me just put this in context for the American people. Perhaps the most famous invasion in the history of the world — D-Day — 73,000 American troops landed in the D-Day invasion. We have 76,103, according to my numbers, apprehensions along our southern border last month. We have D-Day every month on our southern border.”
— Rep. Clay Higgins (R-LA), quoted by ABC News.
Americans Oppose Trump’s Use of Emergency Powers
A new Quinnipiac poll finds American voters overwhelmingly disapprove of President Trump using emergency executive powers to fund a wall on the border with Mexico, 66% to 31%.
However, Republicans back his use of emergency powers for the wall, 69% to 29%.
Every other listed party, gender, education, age and racial group disapproves.
Ex-GOP Lawmaker Strikes Deal to Avert Prosecution
Federal prosecutors finalized a deal to resolve the criminal charges against former Rep. Aaron Schock (R-IL) who was “accused of misspending campaign and government money for his personal benefit,” the Washington Post reports.
Chicago Tribune: “The stunning deal, known as a deferred prosecution agreement, was announced Wednesday during what was supposed to be a routine status hearing for Schock.”
“According to the agreement, Schock, 37, must pay $42,000 to the IRS and $68,000 to his congressional campaign fund. If he does so — and stays out of any new trouble — prosecutors would drop all felony counts against Schock, leaving him with a clean record.”
Clinton Did Not Intend to Close Door on 2020 Bid
Although Hillary Clinton told News 12 Westchester that she is not running for president in 2020, the New York Times now reports that Clinton actually “wasn’t trying to be emphatic and close the door on running” and “was surprised by how definitively it played.”
Clinton is “bothered” that people expect her to definitively rule out another bid and that she’s “waiting at least to see the Mueller report” before she formally does so.
Roger Stone Takes Down Two Websites
CNBC: “One, stonezone.com, was operating as of late Sunday, according to data from the internet archival service the Wayback Machine… The other site, whoframedrogerstone.com, was operating as of Feb. 6, according to the Wayback Machine.”
“Another Stone website, stonecoldtruth.com, remained online Tuesday, as does stonedefensefund.com. Both of those active sites contain links for visitors to donate to his legal defense, as does Stone’s active Facebook page. However, Stone has significantly changed the language on one of his remaining legal fundraising sites, apparently to comply with the gag order.”
Democratic PAC No Longer Sees Ohio as a Battleground
“One of the most prominent Democratic super PACs in the country does not have Ohio high on its list of targets for the 2020 presidential election, further eroding the state’s status as a presidential battleground,” the Cleveland Plain Dealer reports.
“A report from Priorities USA… significantly downgrades Ohio’s targetability, listing it as a ‘GOP Watch’ state along with Texas and Iowa.”
“That’s below other more traditional swing states like Florida, Pennsylvania and North Carolina, but also historically red states like Arizona and Georgia.”
That fits the current consensus shown on our interactive Electoral Vote Map.
Trump Intimately Involved In Planning Inauguration
Bloomberg Businessweek: “Trump registered his opinion on inaugural plans big and small, from allocation of broadcasting rights to procurement of tablecloths, according to three people familiar with the planning and the transition effort who requested anonymity to describe the decision-making process… Barrack told staff that Trump wanted to know everything about the inauguration’s finances, an admonition to keep budgets in check… Trump’s interest in keeping tabs on spending was familiar to anyone who’d worked on the campaign.”
“Trump’s involvement in inaugural planning started early. He wanted to give exclusive broadcasting rights to Fox News, with on-air talent that was broadly supportive of his candidacy. But in a late November phone call with Trump, Jeff Zucker, the president of CNN, argued it would be a mistake to broadcast only to his most loyal supporters.”
The White House has repeatedly denied that Trump had any role in planning it.
Trump’s Most Dishonest Single Event as President
Daniel Dale: “Donald Trump made 60 false claims in his speech to the Conservative Political Action Conference on Saturday, shattering his old record for false claims in a single speech.”
“At 2 hours and 2 minutes, Trump’s speech to CPAC was also by far the longest of his presidency. If you’re counting false claims per minute, Star editor Ed Tubb notes, Trump made almost an identical amount to CPAC, 0.49 per minute, as he did in the Pennsylvania rally speech in August at which he set his old record of 36, 0.46 per minute.”
Biden Nabs Big Name Latino Operative
“In the latest sign that Joe Biden will run for president, his team has brought on Cristóbal Alex, the head of the influential Latino Victory Fund,” Politico reports.
“It’s not clear what role Alex would fill in a Biden presidential campaign. He served as Hillary Clinton’s National Deputy Director of Voter Outreach and Mobilization in 2016.”
Schultz Thinks Bloomberg’s Decision Gives Him Opening
“In Dallas last night, Howard Schultz seized on fellow billionaire Michael Bloomberg’s decision not to run for president as a fresh rationale for his own likely bid,” the Washington Post reports.
“The retired Starbucks CEO cited the former New York mayor’s announcement as validation for his theory that the ideological gulf between the two major parties will be so wide in 2020 that an independent candidate like him just might be able to prevail.”
Said Schultz: “The Democrats are pushing an agenda that is extremely so far left that, in my mind, it’s very close to a socialistic agenda. You saw today that one of the great mayors in modern history … decided not to run for president. He looked at the Democratic platform and realized that, as a centrist, he probably could not get the nomination.”
GOP Lawmaker Explains Trump Hush Money Payments
Sen. Mike Rounds (R-SD) told CNN that President Trump made hush money payoffs to adult film star Stormy Daniels because ”this president loves his family.”
He added: “I think it has as much to do with trying not to have public discussions about something that is, for him, a private matter that he didn’t want to have discussed with his family.”
Bonus Quote of the Day
“I don’t feel the investigation is a witch hunt.”
— Former Trump personal lawyer Ty Cobb, in an interview with ABC News, on the Russia probe led by special counsel Robert Mueller.
Democrats Lose Seat In Kentucky Special Election
Phillip Wheeler (R) won a special election to fill a vacancy in Kentucky’s 31st state Senate district, WSAZ reports.
Wheeler will replace former state Sen. Ray Jones (D), a Democrat who resigned his seat for another office.
The Hill: “The district reflects the remnants of historically Democratic coal country that, over the course of the last two decades, has slowly inched to the right as unions have lost power and the coal industry has struggled. More than 6 in 10 voters in the district are registered Democrats, and Jones never had trouble holding his seat — even though President Trump won almost 80 percent of the vote there in 2016.”
Trump’s Honesty Problem Catches Up with Him
First Read: “You have a problem on your hands when a man who’s pleaded guilty for lying to Congress is perceived as being more honest than you are.”
“That’s precisely the situation President Trump is facing when a Quinnipiac poll released Tuesday found voters saying – by a 50% to 35% margin – that they believe Michael Cohen more than his former boss. The only groups who believe Trump more than Cohen are Republicans (79% to 11%), whites without college degrees (50% to 37%) and white men (51% to 37%).”
“And it’s not just the Quinnipiac poll. Our own recent NBC/WSJ survey found that only 37% of Americans think that Trump has been honest and truthful about the Russia probe, versus 58% who disagree.”
Benjy Sarlin: “His re-election depends on tearing down the Democratic nominee, but if voters have tuned out everything he says that makes it harder to stick.”
Michael Cohen Is Back on Capitol Hill
“Michael Cohen was supposed to report to prison Wednesday to begin serving a three-year sentence for tax crimes, tax evasion and lying to Congress. Instead, President Trump’s former lawyer will be on Capitol Hill talking about the crimes he is now accusing Trump of committing,” CNN reports.
“Cohen, who is now slated to begin his prison term May 6, is back on Capitol Hill on Wednesday for his fourth appearance in the last eight days, concluding his closed-door testimony before the House Intelligence Committee that began last week.”
On Spending Money Effectively In Politics
Josh Barro: “Mike Bloomberg is a very smart guy who thinks unusually dispassionately, for a billionaire, about how to spend his money effectively in politics, which is why he keeps passing on presidential runs whose sole effect would be to make consultants richer and himself less rich.”
