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FBI Report on Kavanaugh on Capitol Hill

October 4, 2018 at 7:02 am EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

“The White House has found no corroboration of the allegations of sexual misconduct against Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh after examining interview reports from the FBI’s latest probe into the judge’s background,” the Wall Street Journal reports.

Mike Allen: “An administration source tells me there’s nothing in it that’s likely to stall confirmation.”

The report is now on Capitol Hill where it will be viewed by senators.

Playbook: “Today, reporters are going to stake out the room where senators are reading the report. As each Republican senator exits, they’ll be asked about the contents of the FBI memo — and whether it’s going to affect their vote. This will likely go on all day.”

Trump Unlikely to Face Consequences of Tax Dodging

October 4, 2018 at 7:00 am EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

President Trump “is unlikely to pay a legal or financial price even if new allegations of extensive tax dodging by him and his family are borne out. Multiple factors could offer Trump a shield, not the least of which is time: The questionable practices outlined in a New York Times report happened so long ago that a case would be difficult to make today, especially given statutes of limitations,” Politico reports.

“If Trump inherited undervalued assets, as the Times report alleged, he wouldn’t be liable for underpayment of gift taxes because the tax liability falls on the donor — his father, Fred Trump, who died in 1999.”

Senate Will Move Ahead on Kavanaugh Nomination

October 3, 2018 at 10:03 pm EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

The U.S. Senate will move ahead on Brett Kavanaugh’s Supreme Court nomination with a procedural vote expected Friday, the Washington Post reports.

“McConnell’s move came as five senators — three Republicans and two Democrats — have not said how they would vote following an FBI investigation into misconduct allegations against Brett Kavanaugh. A simple Senate majority to end debate would clear the way for the Senate to confirm Kavanaugh as the next justice this weekend.”

The Hill: “If Kavanaugh overcomes the procedural hurdle, the Senate could then take a final vote on his nomination as early as Saturday.”


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Democratic Staffer Charged with Posting Data on Senators

October 3, 2018 at 10:01 pm EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

“U.S. Capitol Police announced late Wednesday that a former junior Senate Democratic staffer has been arrested for allegedly posting private information about Republican senators on the Wikipedia Internet website,” the Washington Post reports.

“Jackson Cosko, 27, faces five federal counts including making public restricted personal information, making threats in interstate communications, identity theft, witness tampering and unauthorized access of a government computer… Cosko also faces District charges of second degree burglary and unlawful entry.”

Republicans Shift To Attacks on Kavanaugh Accuser

October 3, 2018 at 9:07 pm EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

New York Times: “The president’s scathing and derisive impression of Dr. Blasey, who has accused Judge Kavanaugh of sexually assaulting her when they were teenagers, came at the same time his Republican allies stepped up their efforts to challenge her veracity. Seizing on a sworn statement from a former boyfriend, Republicans suggested that she had not been fully truthful in her testimony before the Senate Judiciary Committee last week.”

“The gloves-off approach could further complicate Mr. Trump’s efforts to confirm Judge Kavanaugh to the Supreme Court by winning over three undecided Republican senators who have insisted that Dr. Blasey’s allegation be taken seriously, Susan Collins of Maine, Jeff Flake of Arizona and Lisa Murkowski of Alaska. All three condemned the president’s rally riff on Wednesday, using phrases like ‘wholly inappropriate,’ ‘kind of appalling’ and ‘just plain wrong.'”

The Hill: Trump’s shot at Christine Blasey Ford seems to backfire.

Kavanaugh Probe Appears to Be Highly Curtailed

October 3, 2018 at 9:02 pm EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

Washington Post: “The FBI background check of Brett Kavanaugh appeared to remain curtailed in its scope Wednesday even as agents neared the end of their work, opening up the possibility that the bureau would again face criticism over what some will view as a lackluster investigation.”

“Though complete details of the FBI’s findings had yet to be released Wednesday evening, the bureau’s inquiry seems to have focused mostly on an allegation by a California professor who claims Kavanaugh assaulted her decades ago at a party in Maryland, when both were high school students.”

GOP Gains Grounds In Key Senate Races

October 3, 2018 at 7:21 pm EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

A new round of Fox News battleground polls shows a Republican trend in the fight for the U.S. Senate. The GOP candidates are helped by increased interest in the election among Republicans and pro-Donald Trump sentiment.

There’s been an uptick in GOP interest in all five states surveyed:

  • AZ-Sen: Kyrsten Sinema (D) 47%, Martha McSally (R) 45%
  • IN-Sen: Joe Donnelly (D) 43%, Mike Braun (R) 41%
  • MO-Sen: Claire McCaskill (D) 43%, Josh Hawley (R) 43%
  • ND-Sen: Kevin Cramer (R) 53%, Heidi Heitkamp (D) 41%
  • TN-Sen: Martha Blackburn (R) 48%, Phil Bresdesen (D) 43%

Democrats Say There’s Evidence of Improper Conduct

October 3, 2018 at 6:01 pm EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

“Senate Democrats suggested in a letter to the Senate Judiciary Committee chairman that past FBI background checks on Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh include evidence of inappropriate behavior, contrary to Republican claims,” the Washington Post reports.

In the letter, eight of the 10 Democrats on the Judiciary panel challenged the accuracy of a tweet from the majority Republicans that said: “Nowhere in any of these six FBI reports, which the committee has reviewed on a bipartisan basis, was there ever a whiff of ANY issue — at all — related in any way to inappropriate sexual behavior or alcohol abuse.”

“The Democrats said the information in the tweet is ‘not accurate,’ and urged the GOP to correct them.”

More House Seats Move Towards Democrats

October 3, 2018 at 5:34 pm EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

Cook Political Report: “It’s becoming harder and harder to see Republicans’ path to holding the majority. In the past few days, multiple Democrats challengers have announced staggering fundraising totals of more than $3 million during the third quarter of the year, exceeding what many predecessors have raised for an entire cycle. One high-ranking Republican worries his party could be ‘buried under an avalanche’ of Democratic money that GOP outside groups can’t match.”

“After today’s ratings changes, there are 15 GOP-held seats in Lean or Likely Democratic (including seven incumbents) and Democrats would only need to win 11 of the 31 races in the Toss Up column to flip the majority. There’s still time for political conditions to change, but today the likeliest outcome appears to be a Democratic gain of between 25 and 40 seats (they need 23 for House control).”

Ellison May Step Down as Deputy DNC Chairman

October 3, 2018 at 5:14 pm EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

Rep. Keith Ellison (D-MN) told WCCO that he’s considering stepping down from his role as deputy DNC chairman to focus on his bid to become the Minnesota’s attorney general.

Said Ellison: “I need to put 100 percent of my time, energy and resources into the race and into my office, and so it’s something I am taking consideration on. I’ll put it like this though, I’ll be 110 percent for Minnesota all the time every time without fail, so that’s something that we are beginning to evaluate right now.”

The Fifth Risk

October 3, 2018 at 4:55 pm EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

Just published: The Fifth Risk by Michael Lewis.

The Guardian has an excerpt:

Not long after the people on TV announced that Trump had won Pennsylvania, Jared Kushner grabbed Christie anxiously and said: “We have to have a transition meeting tomorrow morning!” Even before that meeting, Christie had made sure that Trump knew the protocol for his discussions with foreign leaders. The transition team had prepared a document to let him know how these were meant to go. The first few calls were easy – the very first was always with the prime minister of Great Britain – but two dozen calls in you were talking to some kleptocrat and tiptoeing around sensitive security issues. Before any of the calls could be made, however, the president of Egypt called in to the switchboard at Trump Tower and somehow got the operator to put him straight through to Trump. “Trump was like … I love the Bangles! You know that song Walk Like an Egyptian?” recalled one of his advisers on the scene.

That had been the first hint Christie had of trouble.

Vice

October 3, 2018 at 4:24 pm EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

Vice, a new movie from Adam McKay, looks at “the epic story about how a bureaucratic Washington insider quietly became the most powerful man in the world as Vice-President to George W. Bush.”

What an amazing cast: Christian Bale as Cheney, Steve Carell as Donald Rumsfeld, Amy Adams as Lynne Cheney, and Sam Rockwell as George W. Bush.

Democratic Enthusiasm Edge Evaporates

October 3, 2018 at 3:48 pm EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

A new NPR/PBS NewsHour/Marist poll finds the wide Democratic enthusiasm advantage that has defined the 2018 campaign up to this point has disappeared.

“In July, there was a 10-point gap between the number of Democrats and Republicans saying the November elections were ‘very important.’ Now, that’s down to 2 points, a statistical tie.”

Trump Bets Midterms on Kavanaugh

October 3, 2018 at 2:54 pm EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

President Trump “is gambling that unflinching support for his imperiled Supreme Court nominee, Brett Kavanaugh, will drive Republican voters to the polls in November and save his party’s control of Congress,” Bloomberg reports.

“The president and his political advisers are so convinced that Kavanaugh represents an untapped cultural undercurrent that in Mississippi on Tuesday Trump finally dropped any pretense of sympathy for women who have accused the nominee of sexual misconduct. As a crowd at a political rally chanted ‘we want Kavanaugh,’ Trump lit into the judge’s accusers, picking at inconsistencies and gaps in their allegations.”

Senate Republicans Expect FBI Report Today

October 3, 2018 at 2:48 pm EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

“Senate Republican leaders expect the FBI to provide its supplementary background report on Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh on Wednesday and to hold a vote on the nominee Friday or Saturday,” The Hill reports.

“Senators said they were told during a closed-door caucus meeting that the FBI could hand over the highly anticipated report later Wednesday, though some hedged that could slip into Thursday.”

First Presidential Alerts Sent Today

October 3, 2018 at 2:00 pm EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

Federal officials will run the first nationwide test of the wireless emergency alert system today. It uses a type of alert that can only be sent by the president to cellphones and that you are not able to turn off.

The first messages will be sent at 2:18 p.m. ET.

Bloomberg: “Cell towers will broadcast the message for about 30 minutes and devices that are switched on and in range of an active cell tower will get the message only once during that period.”

FBI Not Allowed to Talk to Kavanaugh or Ford

October 3, 2018 at 1:50 pm EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

“The FBI hasn’t interviewed Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh or Christine Blasey Ford because it doesn’t have clear authority from the White House to do so,” Bloomberg reports.

“Instead, the White House has indicated to the FBI that testimony from Kavanaugh and Ford, who has accused him of attempting to rape her when they were in high school, before the Senate Judiciary Committee last week is sufficient.”

Opposition to Kavanaugh Grows

October 3, 2018 at 1:43 pm EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

A new Reuters/Ipsos poll finds 41% of Americans opposed to Brett Kavanaugh’s nomination to the Supreme Court, while 33% support him and 26% said they did not know.

“Opposition to Kavanaugh grew 4 percentage points after the Sept. 27 Judiciary Committee hearing… Opposition grew every day after the hearing in the poll, conducted between Sept. 25 and Oct. 1.”

“The increase in opposition to Kavanaugh, facing a confirmation vote in the Senate after being nominated by Trump for a lifetime position on the court, appears to be driven by those who previously did not have an opinion.”

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About Political Wire

goddard-bw-snapshotTaegan 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.

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