Sen. Kamala Harris told a crowd Monday that she would push for the federal government to rename Columbus Day “Indigenous Peoples’ Day,” a focal point for some progressives who say the holiday should emphasize the history of Native Americans instead of the European conquerer, BuzzFeed News reports.
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Majority Disapprove of Trump’s Emergency Declaration
A new HuffPost/YouGov survey finds a majority of Americans ― 55% ― disapprove of President Trump’s decision to declare a national emergency along the U.S.-Mexico border in order to pay for construction of a border wall. Just 37% approve.
The emergency declaration is significantly more unpopular in the poll than building the wall itself, of which 49% disapprove and 45% approve.
Stone Posts Photo of Judge With Crosshairs
“Days after a federal judge imposed a limited gag order on him, Roger Stone posted a photograph of that judge to his Instagram page that included her name, a close-up of her face and what appeared to be the crosshairs of a gun sight near her head,” the Washington Post reports.
“Stone, a longtime confidant of President Trump, deleted the picture soon afterward, then reposted it without the crosshairs before deleting that second post as well.”
NBC News says Stone later posted a statement on Instagram saying the image had been “misinterpreted.”
Investigators Find Fraud In North Carolina Election
“State election officials in North Carolina said that a political operative for Republican Mark Harris orchestrated a ‘coordinated, unlawful, and substantially resourced absentee ballot scheme’ in the 9th Congressional District last year, hiding evidence of the operation as it unfolded and obstructing the state’s investigation after the election,” the Washington Post reports.
“Those explosive charges opened an evidentiary hearing in Raleigh Monday, where the North Carolina State Board of Elections began listening to witness testimony to decide whether enough ballots were tampered with to taint the outcome of the 9th District race.”
The Charlotte Observer has more on the hearing.
Warren to Introduce Universal Child Care Proposal
Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) “will unveil a major new initiative on Tuesday designed to make sure every family can afford high-quality child care,” the HuffPost reports.
“The plan seeks to make access to child care universal… by offering federal funds to providers that offer care at their facilities on a sliding income scale. No family would have to spend more than 7 percent of its household income on child care, no matter the number of kids. Families with incomes below twice the poverty line, which is roughly $50,000 a year for a family of four, would pay nothing.”
Trump Confidant Says Dan Coats Could Be Fired
Chris Ruddy, the founder of the conservative outlet Newsmax and a confidant of President Trump’s, told CNN that — based on what he’s been told by White House sources — he believes Director of National Intelligence Dan Coats could be fired for attacking the administration’s stance on North Korea.
‘I Am Not a Democratic Socialist’
Sen. Kamala Harris (D-CA), visiting New Hampshire for the first time in her life, distanced herself from the last candidate to win this state’s Democratic presidential primary, saying she was “not a democratic socialist” like Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT), the New York Times reports.
Said Harris: “The people of New Hampshire will tell me what’s required to compete in New Hampshire, but I will tell you I am not a democratic socialist.”
13 States File Lawsuit Over Trump’s ‘National Emergency’
California Attorney General Xavier Becerra told NBC News that California and a dozen other states are filing a lawsuit challenging President Trump’s national emergency declaration.
Said Becerra: “The president admitted that there’s not a basis for the declaration, he admitted there’s no crisis at the border, he’s now trying to rob funds that were allocated by Congress legally to the various states and people of our states.”
He added: “The separation of powers is being violated, we’re going to go out there and make sure that Donald Trump cannot steal money from the states and people who need them, since we paid the taxpayer dollars to Washington, D.C. to get those services.”
Trump Handicaps His Potential 2020 Opponents
ABC News: “In tweets, public remarks and private conversations, Trump is making clear he is closely following the campaign to challenge him on the ballot. Facing no serious primary opponent of his own — at least so far — Trump is establishing himself as an in-their-face observer of the Democratic Party’s nominating process — and no will be surprised to find that he’s not being coy about weighing in.”
“Presidents traditionally ignore their potential opponents as long as possible to maintain their status as an incumbent floating above the contenders who are auditioning for a job they already inhabit.”
“Not Trump. He’s eager to shape the debate, sow discord and help position himself for the general election. It’s just one more norm to shatter, and a risky bet that his acerbic politics will work to his advantage once again.”
Trump Considering Four for U.N. Ambassador
President Trump is considering four people to be his next U.N. ambassador: Goldman Sachs partner Dina Powell, the current ambassadors to Canada and Germany, Kelly Craft and Richard Grenell, and John James, a former Republican U.S. Senate candidate from Michigan, Bloomberg reports.
Top White House aides have also discussed nominating Trump’s daughter and senior adviser Ivanka Trump if no front-runner emerges.
Trump Decries ‘Coup Attempt’ Against Him
“President Trump seconded the allegation that there had been a coup attempt against him on Monday, before heading out to play golf at his Florida club on Presidents Day,” NBC News reports.
“The president tweeted a quote from Fox News guest Dan Bongino alleging ‘an illegal coup attempt’ against him, adding ‘true!'”
“The message capped off a series of angry tweets Trump wrote on Monday about former acting FBI Director Andrew McCabe, who gave an explosive interview on 60 Minutes alleging that FBI Deputy Director Andrew Rosenstein repeatedly discussed using the 25th Amendment to remove the president from office. “
Warren Says Officials Have a Duty to Invoke 25th
Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) told the Nevada Independent that Trump administration officials have a constitutional duty to invoke the 25th Amendment if they believe the president cannot fulfill his job.
Said Warren: “My point here is that if they believe that Donald Trump cannot fulfill the obligations of his office, then they have a constitutional responsibility to invoke the 25th Amendment.”
She added: “Their loyalty under law is not to him personally. It is to the Constitution of the United States and to the people of United States.”
Trump’s News Conference Created New Minefields
First Read: “Just how many problems did President Trump create for himself — and others — in Friday’s 50-minute disjointed and flat-out bizarre statement and news conference, when he announced his national emergency to build his border wall?”
Let us count the ways:
- He arguably undermined the legal basis for declaring a national emergency.
- He said it was a “lie” that the preponderance of illegal drugs crossing the border do so at ports of entry — when the DEA reported in 2018 that it was the most common method for transnational criminal organizations.
- He said Japanese Prime Minister Abe recommended him for the Nobel Peace Prize for his work on North Korea, which has created an uproar in Japan.
- He claimed Obama was “close to starting a big war with North Korea,” which former Obama White House aides deny.
- After signing criminal-justice reform into law, he appeared to endorse China’s policy of giving the death penalty to drug dealers.
Chris Cillizza picks “the 47 most outrageous lines” from Trump’s national emergency declaration.
Democrats Launch Probe Into NRA-Russia Connections
Rep. Ted Lieu (D-CA) and Rep. Kathleen Rice (D-NY) are launching a new probe of what they called the “complex web of relationships” between members of the National Rifle Association and Russian individuals with close ties to the Kremlin, ABC News reports.
Political Wire Straw Poll
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Gillibrand Plays Up Motherhood
Associated Press: “As she cranks up her presidential campaign, Gillibrand isn’t trying to hide her working-mom juggle — she’s running on it. More than any other contender in a field crowded with women, the mom of two is using her dual roles of mother and candidate to pitch herself to Democratic voters.”
“She opens her standard campaign speech vowing to ‘fight for your children as hard as I would fight for my own.’ She’s floated the idea of making an RV trip through Iowa this summer, to be able to prepare meals for her family while she travels to meet supporters. During her first week as a candidate, she baked cookies with a voter, dismissing any complexity in the symbolism. And on a recent Tuesday evening, she even invited a reporter into her Capitol Hill home for dinner with her family.”
Officials to Decide Fate of Disputed House District
“North Carolina’s board of elections will dig into fraud allegations in the state’s disputed 9th Congressional District on Monday, kicking off hearings that could prompt a new election this year,” Politico reports.
“The district has gone without a congressman this year after the board declined to certify the 2018 election results amid accusations that McCrae Dowless, an operative hired by Republican Mark Harris’ campaign consultants, organized an illegal scheme to collect and mark absentee ballots. Harris led Democrat Dan McCready by 905 votes on election night, but both candidates spent the next three months in political limbo.”
Tax Refund Fiasco Is Political Payback For Republicans
“Republicans boasted all last year that their new tax law boosted paychecks and showered bonuses on several million workers,” the HuffPost reports.
“But now that tax season is upon us, several million Americans are getting a nasty surprise: a bill from the Internal Revenue Service that they never expected.”
