“Bill Burton, a former adviser to President Barack Obama, defended his decision to join Howard Schultz’s team as the former Starbucks CEO considers an independent presidential bid in 2020, pushing back against suggestions that Schultz could be a spoiler,” CNN reports.
Burton warned against a third-party candidate in a Sacramento Bee op-ed in August 2016, saying it could help elect Donald Trump.
A new Washington Post-ABC News poll finds 56% of all Americans say they would “definitely not vote for him” should President Trump become the Republican nominee, while 14% say they would consider voting for him and 28% would definitely vote for him.
Majorities of independents (59%), women (64%) and suburbanites (56%) rule out supporting Trump for a second term.
Also interesting: While 75% of Republicans and GOP-leaning independents approve of Trump’s performance in office when asked separately, nearly 1 in 3 say they would like to nominate someone other than Trump to be the party’s candidate for president.
“Senate Republicans can’t stomach another government shutdown. After weathering 35 days of a partial shuttered government, the Senate GOP is dreading the possibility another one will hit in fewer than three weeks — a sentiment that could prevent President Donald Trump from closing the government again,” Politico reports.
“Though House Republicans aren’t ruling out supporting the president should he choose another confrontation over his border wall, the Republican Senate majority — which actually has governing power — has another view.”
“Starbucks chairman emeritus Howard Schultz is a long shot to win the White House, but a sure bet to create headaches for the coffee chain he turned into a global empire,” Axios reports.
“Schultz and Starbucks are tied at the hip, which means they’ll need to work together. Kind of like Mitt Romney and Bain Capital in 2012. For Schultz, that means quickly identifying supporters in upper Starbucks management (including in the communications and legal departments), and leveraging those people when the campaign needs time-sensitive answers.”
“A member of President Trump’s transition team was named as a board member of a company owned by Russian oligarch Oleg Deripaska the day after the Trump administration lifted sanctions against Deripaska’s companies,” the HuffPost reports.
“A defense attorney for Andrew Miller, who’s fighting a subpoena from Robert Mueller’s investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 election, learned Monday afternoon that the special counsel still wants witness testimony for a federal grand jury,” CNN reports.
“Paul Kamenar, the defense attorney, says the assertion from Mueller’s team made clear to him that Mueller and the Justice Department are considering an additional indictment of Roger Stone or have plans to charge others.”
Joe Biden brought his not-yet-a-campaign campaign to Florida’s biggest liberal bastion on Tuesday and said he’s “a lot closer” to deciding to run for president in 2020 and plans to make “the decision soon,” Politico reports.
“Don’t help elect Trump, you egotistical billionaire asshole.”
— A heckler at Howard Schultz’s first stop on his national book tour.
New Jersey state Sen. Dawn Addiego is leaving the Republican Party to become a Democrat, the New Jersey Globe reports.
The move gives Democrats a 26 to 14 majority in the state senate, giving the GOP the smallest amount of seats in the chamber since 1981.
President Trump has agreed to sit down with CBS News for a Super Bowl Sunday interview, CNN reports.
“Face the Nation moderator Margaret Brennan will speak with the president on Friday, and portions of the interview will air Sunday both on her program and on the Super Bowl pre-game telecast.”
President Trump’s campaign manager “is pushing him to hold firm in his ongoing battle with Democrats over funding for a border wall with Mexico,” CNN reports.
“Brad Parscale is making his pitch as Trump continues to negotiate with Democrats over border wall funding with the possibility of another government shutdown looming in less than three weeks.”
“As part of his pitch, Parscale is presenting the President with internal data that shows voters in key swing areas believe a border wall or fence is needed.”
“In a sign of how serious Howard Schultz is about running for president, he has hired political strategist Steve Schmidt and Democratic consultant Bill Burton to help shape his forthcoming campaign,” CBS News reports.
“Schmidt, a former top Republican strategist, helped run George W. Bush’s 2004 re-election campaign and the failed 2008 presidential bid by GOP Arizona Senator John McCain. Burton helped run Barack Obama’s 2008 presidential campaign and later served as deputy White House press secretary.”
Michael Cohen has hired two new criminal defense lawyers, and dropped his old ones, as he prepares for testimony before the Senate Intelligence Committee next month, CNBC reports.
Meanwhile, ABC News reports Cohen has also agreed to testify behind closed doors in front of the House Intelligence Committee.
Acting attorney general Matthew Whitaker said that he has been “fully briefed” on special counsel Robert Mueller’s probe of Russian interference in the 2016 election and that, “right now, the investigation is close to being completed,” the Washington Post reports.
Speaker Nancy Pelosi invited President Trump to deliver State of the Union on Feb. 5 in the House chamber, the Washington Post reports.
The Trump administration announced sanctions on Venezuela’s state-owned oil company to try to force President Maduro to step down, the Washington Post reports.
Jonathan Swan: “The Trump administration is trying to use economic and diplomatic pressure to push for regime change in Venezuela. The White House is hoping that if they deprive Maduro of cash the Venezuelan military will have no reason to stay loyal to him.”
New York Times: “Administration officials indicated that Mr. Trump was still not ruling out military intervention in his efforts to pressure Mr. Maduro to step down.”
Rep. Justin Amash (R-MI) slammed President Trump on Twitter for suggesting he might declare a national emergency to direct construction of a border wall, saying that Trump “can’t claim emergency powers” when Congress doesn’t pass legislation he wants.
Amash was commenting on a tweet from Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) who said Trump “must” declare a national emergency for construction of a border wall if there’s no deal with lawmakers.
Taegan Goddard is the founder of Political Wire, one of the earliest and most influential political web sites. He also runs Political Job Hunt, Electoral Vote Map and the Political Dictionary.
Goddard spent more than a decade as managing director and chief operating officer of a prominent investment firm in New York City. Previously, he was a policy adviser to a U.S. Senator and Governor.
Goddard is also co-author of You Won - Now What? (Scribner, 1998), a political management book hailed by prominent journalists and politicians from both parties. In addition, Goddard's essays on politics and public policy have appeared in dozens of newspapers across the country.
Goddard earned degrees from Vassar College and Harvard University. He lives in New York with his wife and three sons.
Goddard is the owner of Goddard Media LLC.