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The Making of the Fox News White House

March 4, 2019 at 6:45 am EST By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

New Yorker: “Murdoch may be even closer to Trump’s son-in-law, Jared Kushner. Well-informed sources say that Kushner, an increasingly valued White House adviser, has worked hard to win over Murdoch, showing him respect and asking him for advice.”

“Kushner has regularly assured Murdoch that the White House is a smooth-running operation, despite many reports suggesting that it is chaotic. Kushner now has an almost filial status with Murdoch, who turns eighty-eight this month, and numerous sources told me that they communicate frequently. ‘Like, every day,’ one said.”

“In November, Hannity joined Trump onstage at a climactic rally for the midterm elections. Afterward, Fox issued a limp statement saying that it didn’t ‘condone any talent participating in campaign events’ and that the ‘unfortunate distraction’ had ‘been addressed.’ … The evening ended with a high five between Hannity and Shine, who had recently started working at the White House.”

Kirstjen Nielsen Survives Trump’s Wrath

March 4, 2019 at 6:25 am EST By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

Politico: “Early in her tenure, Trump would regularly dial her cellphone in anger when DHS published monthly border apprehension numbers showing an uptick, often asking her why the government couldn’t detain undocumented minors indefinitely. Because that, Nielsen would calmly explain, would be illegal.”

“But in the four months since her dismissal seemed inevitable, Nielsen has engineered a remarkable comeback.”

Trump Blames Cohen Hearings for Failed Summit

March 4, 2019 at 12:00 am EST By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

“President Trump on Sunday blamed the congressional testimony of Michael Cohen, his former personal lawyer and fixer, for the collapse in negotiations with North Korea over its nuclear program last week — continuing to vent about the investigations encircling him and his associates,” the Washington Post reports.

Tweeted Trump: “For the Democrats to interview in open hearings a convicted liar & fraudster, at the same time as the very important Nuclear Summit with North Korea, is perhaps a new low in American politics and may have contributed to the ‘walk.’ Never done when a president is overseas. Shame!”

Trump Campaign Takes Position Opposite of White House

March 3, 2019 at 8:57 pm EST By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

Jonathan Swan: “The Trump re-election campaign sparked widespread confusion inside the Trump administration and the cellular wireless industry on Friday night when it advocated for a nationwide ‘wholesale’ 5G network, which was 180 degrees from official White House policy.”

“The result? Mass uncertainty. Administration officials who work on 5G freaked out. And industry leaders were perplexed.”

“It’s highly unusual — if not unprecedented — for a presidential campaign to advocate for a different position from the sitting president’s administration.”

Pompeo Won’t Confirm Trump on Otto Warmbier

March 3, 2019 at 8:56 pm EST By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

Secretary of State Mike Pompeo refused to say in an interview with USA Today if he believes that Kim Jong Un did not know about Otto Warmbier’s mistreatment while the American college student was imprisoned in North Korea, as President Trump has asserted.

Pressed about Kim’s personal responsibility and whether Kim knew about Warmbier’s case, Pompeo fell silent again before saying he had answered the question and been “very patient” with that line of inquiry.

McGahn Still Advising on Court Picks

March 3, 2019 at 8:54 pm EST By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

“Donald McGahn, the former White House counsel who at times clashed with President Trump over the ongoing special counsel probe but led his overhaul of the federal judiciary, told the Washington Post on Sunday that he will rejoin his longtime law firm, Jones Day, this month — a move that was long expected by his friends and keeps him ensconced in conservative legal circles.”

“McGahn said he will lead the firm’s government regulation practice as a partner in Washington and will stay involved with senior Senate Republicans as an outside adviser on nominations to the Supreme Court and federal courts.”

‘Socialism’ and the Challenge for Democrats

March 3, 2019 at 5:10 pm EST By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

This piece is only available to Political Wire members.

President Trump think he’s figured out a way to cruise to re-election in 2020: Define Democrats as socialists.

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GOP Lawmaker Says Trump Violating Constitution

March 3, 2019 at 3:37 pm EST By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

Rep. Justin Amash (R-MI) denounced President Trump’s emergency declaration to fund a border wall, saying that Trump violated the Constitution by moving forward with the executive action, The Hill reports.

Said Amash: “I think the president is violating our constitutional system. And I don’t think Congress can grant legislative powers to the president by statute.”

He added: “You can’t just pass a statute that says, ‘The president now has appropriations power and bypass Congress.’ I don’t think that’s allowed under our constitutional system.”

Paul Will Vote to Block Trump’s Emergency Declaration

March 3, 2019 at 12:35 pm EST By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) told the Bowling Green Daily News that he will vote in support of a resolution to block President Trump’s emergency declaration.

Said Paul: “I can’t vote to give the president the power to spend money that hasn’t been appropriated by Congress. We may want more money for border security, but Congress didn’t authorize it. If we take away those checks and balances, it’s a dangerous thing.”

Axios: “Paul’s vote, along with the votes of Republican Sens. Susan Collins, Lisa Murkowski and Thom Tillis, gives the Senate the majority necessary to block Trump’s national emergency.”

Schiff Says There’s ‘Direct Evidence’ Trump Colluded

March 3, 2019 at 11:44 am EST By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

House Intelligence Committee Chairman Adam Schiff (D-CA) told CBS News that a Russian lawyer’s 2016 offer of damaging information on Hillary Clinton to members of the Trump campaign amounts to “direct evidence” of collusion.

Said Schiff: “I think there is direct evidence in the emails from the Russians through their intermediary offering dirt on Hillary Clinton as part of what is described in writing as the Russian government effort to help elect Donald Trump. They offer that dirt. There is an acceptance of that offer in writing form the president’s son, Don Jr., and there is overt acts and furtherance of that.”

He added: “That to me is direct evidence. But there’s also abundant circumstantial evidence.”

Cohen Trying to Find Edit Trail for False Statement

March 3, 2019 at 11:31 am EST By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

Michael Cohen’s legal team is trying to find drafts of a false statement he made to Congress about the Trump Tower Moscow project in 2017 “that would reflect who edited what, and turn them over to lawmakers,” the Washington Post reports.

Bonus Quote of the Day

March 3, 2019 at 11:29 am EST By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

“There’s no one that could factually say there’s not plenty of evidence of collaboration or communications between Trump Organization and Russians.”

— Sen. Mark Warner (D-VA), in an interview with NBC News.

Pennsylvania Democrats Worry About Party’s Drift

March 3, 2019 at 10:42 am EST By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

“This should be an upbeat moment for Pennsylvania Democrats, desperate to deprive President Trump of a second term,” the New York Times reports.

“In elections last year, two Trump-like Republicans running for governor and senator lost to Democrats by blowout margins. Four Democrats wrestled away Republican-held congressional seats, including Conor Lamb, whose victory here outside Pittsburgh seemed to be a template for how to win back voters in Trump country.”

“But, listening to strategists and voters in a critical state for Democrats, the midterms feel like a long time ago. Instead, there are widespread worries that the momentum in Pennsylvania, and in other key Rust Belt states, could screech to a halt if the issues in the 2020 presidential primaries and the party’s eventual nominee stray too far left for the region’s many centrist voters.”

House Judiciary Plans Flurry of Document Requests

March 3, 2019 at 10:34 am EST By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

Rep. Jerrold Nadler (D-NY), the chairman of the House Judiciary Committee, told ABC News that his committee will be issuing document requests on Monday to “begin the investigations to present the case to the American people about obstruction of justice, corruption and abuse of power.”

Said Nadler: “Tomorrow, we will be issuing document requests to over 60 different people and individuals from the White House to the Department of Justice, Donald Trump, Jr., Allen Weisselberg, to begin the investigations to present the case to the American people about obstruction of justice, corruption and abuse of power.”

Quote of the Day

March 3, 2019 at 10:30 am EST By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

“Show me where the president did anything to be impeached. I think Congressman Nadler decided to impeach the president the day the president won the election.”

— House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-CA), in an interview on ABC News.

Key Lawmaker Says Trump Obstructed Justice

March 3, 2019 at 10:27 am EST By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

House Judiciary Chairman Jerry Nadler (D-NY) told ABC News that “it’s very clear” that President Trump obstructed justice.

Said Nadler: “1,100 times he referred to the Mueller investigation as a ‘witch hunt.’ He tried to protect Flynn from being investigated by the FBI. He fired Comey in order to ‘stop the Russia thing,’ as he told NBC News. He’s dangled pardons, he’s intimidated witnesses in public.”

Saudi Arabia Said to Have Tortured U.S. Citizen

March 3, 2019 at 9:18 am EST By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

New York Times: “A dual citizen of Saudi Arabia and the United States had been imprisoned in the Ritz Carlton in Riyadh for about a week when he heard a knock on his door.”

“Guards dragged Walid Fitaihi, a Harvard-trained physician, to another room, according to a friend who took down the prisoner’s detailed account of his treatment. Dr. Fitaihi told the friend he was slapped, blindfolded, stripped to his underwear and bound to a chair. He was shocked with electricity in what appears to have been a single session of torture that lasted about an hour.”

“His tormentors whipped his back so severely that he could not sleep on it for days, his friend said, speaking on condition of anonymity to avoid reprisals. The doctor had described the physical abuse, in general terms, to his relatives as well, a person close to them said.”

2020 Will Be Uphill Race for Trump

March 3, 2019 at 9:09 am EST By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

A new NBC News/Wall Street Journal poll finds just 41% of voters say they would re-elect President Trump next year, while 48% say they will vote for the Democratic candidate.

Key findings: 58% don’t think he’s been honest and truthful regarding the Russia probe and 60% disapprove of his recent national emergency declaration to build a border wall.

“But Democrats who want to defeat Trump have hurdles of their own. The president’s job rating remains stable with nearly 90 percent of Republicans approving of his job. And a majority of Americans remain confident in the economy, believing that there won’t be a recession in the next year.”

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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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