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Details Emerge About Russian Plane in the Seychelles

May 17, 2018 at 4:41 pm EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

“A Russian plane linked to the country’s government flew into the Seychelles the day prior to a 2017 meeting now under review by special counsel Robert Mueller,” according to NJ Advance Media.

“Much speculation has centered on one particular meeting that took place between Erik Prince, founder of the security company Blackwater, Kirill Dmitriev, the director of one of Russia’s sovereign wealth funds, and Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Zayed Al-Nahyan, the effective ruler of the United Arab Emirates.”

“But new details about a Russian aircraft that landed in the Seychelles the day before Prince has raised questions about the scope of the meetings that week and whether sanctions were a topic of conversation among participants.”

Haspel Confirmed as CIA Director

May 17, 2018 at 4:34 pm EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

“The Senate confirmed Gina Haspel to be the first woman to lead the Central Intelligence Agency, elevating a career clandestine officer to the directorship despite bipartisan misgivings about her role in the agency’s brutal detention and interrogation programs in the wake of the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks,” the New York Times reports.

Washington Post: “Lawmakers approved her nomination 54 to 45, a wider than expected margin, with six Democrats voting yes and two Republicans voting no.”

Send a Mariachi Band to Racist Lawyer’s Office

May 17, 2018 at 3:33 pm EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

A GoFundMe campaign is raising money to send a Mariachi band and taco truck to the offices of the New York City lawyer who threatened to call immigration authorities on Spanish-speaking restaurant employees.

White House Limits Meeting Size to Stop Leaks

May 17, 2018 at 3:23 pm EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

“The White House communications office has canceled a large daily morning meeting in response to the leak of a joke about Sen. John McCain being close to death that a staff member made at one of those meetings,” the New York Times reports.

“The meeting, which brought together roughly 30 communications staff members from the West Wing, did not take place Thursday or the two days prior. Instead, a smaller group of communications team members has met.”

Cohen Secretly Tried to Arrange Meeting with Putin

May 17, 2018 at 3:03 pm EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

Michael Cohen worked secretly to negotiate a business venture and a meeting between Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin in Moscow aven after Trump denied doing business in Russia, BuzzFeed News reports.

“While fragments of the Trump Moscow venture have trickled out — most recently in a report last night by Yahoo News — this is the definitive story of the Moscow tower, told from a trove of emails, text messages, congressional testimony, architectural renderings, and other documents obtained exclusively by BuzzFeed News, as well as interviews with key players and investigators. The documents reveal a detailed and plausible plan, well-connected Russian counterparts, and an effort that extended from spearfishing with a Russian developer on a private island to planning for a mid-campaign trip to Moscow for the presidential candidate himself.”

McConnell Warns That Senate Is In Play

May 17, 2018 at 2:11 pm EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) told the Washington Post that control of the Senate is “absolutely” in play in the midterm elections, identifying the nine battleground states he believes will decide the outcome in November.

Said McConnell: “I always think it’s better to be candid and not try to spin people into thinking this isn’t going to be a challenging election. I think the safest place to be is just to say that this is going to be a very challenging election, and I don’t think we know in May … whether it’s Category 3, 4 or 5.”

The nine battlegrounds: Arizona, Nevada, Tennessee, Montana, North Dakota, Missouri, Indiana, West Virginia and Florida.

Show Starring Avenatti and Scaramucci Is Being Pitched

May 17, 2018 at 2:07 pm EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

“A television show featuring Michael Avenatti, the lawyer who is suing President Trump on behalf of a pornographic film actress, and the former White House communications director Anthony Scaramucci was pitched to two cable networks in recent weeks,” the New York Times reports.

“The prominent television agent Jay Sures discussed with executives at CNN and MSNBC the concept of a program where the two men would square off.”

Half of Women Running Are Winning Primaries

May 17, 2018 at 1:54 pm EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

New York Times: “Record numbers of women are running for Congress. And many are winning: Ten states have had primaries so far, and in those, 60 women have won and 63 have lost.”

Quote of the Day

May 17, 2018 at 1:12 pm EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

“What the hell is there not to like?”

— Pennsylvania U.S. Senate candidate Lou Barletta (R-PA), quoted by National Journal, on the Trump administration.

Kushners Near Deal With Qatar-Linked Company

May 17, 2018 at 12:54 pm EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

“The company controlled by the family of the White House adviser Jared Kushner is close to receiving a bailout of its financially troubled flagship building by a company with ties to the government of Qatar,” the New York Times reports.

“Mr. Kushner earlier this year lost his top-secret security clearance amid concerns that foreign governments could attempt to gain influence with the White House by doing business with the Kushner Companies.”

GOP Lawmaker Says Falling Rocks Cause Sea Level Rise

May 17, 2018 at 12:33 pm EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

Rep. Mo Brooks (R-AL) claimed in a congressional hearing that land erosion plays a more significant role in sea-level rise than climate change, Science Magazine reports.

“He said the California coastline and the White Cliffs of Dover tumble into the sea every year, and that contributes to sea-level rise. He also said that silt washing into the ocean from the world’s major rivers, including the Mississippi, the Amazon and the Nile, is contributing to sea-level rise.”

Said Brooks: “Every time you have that soil or rock or whatever it is that is deposited into the seas, that forces the sea levels to rise, because now you have less space in those oceans, because the bottom is moving up.”

How Mueller’s Probe Compares to Other Investigations

May 17, 2018 at 12:26 pm EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

FiveThirtyEight: “We’ve taken a look at how Mueller’s first year measures up against the initial 12 months of other special counsel and independent counsel investigations. In terms of the number of charges he’s been able to file, Mueller is moving quickly. At one year after the formal appointment of a special or independent counsel, only the Watergate special prosecution force had obtained more indictments and guilty pleas.”

Trump Will Be on Campaign Trail Every Week

May 17, 2018 at 11:52 am EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

Time: “As Republicans try to stave off a Democratic takeover of Congress, President Trump plans to throw himself into the fray, flying to rallies as often as twice a week by the end of the summer to slam Democratic candidates… Aides believe the President will help raise the profile of local Republicans, and party strategists have set their sights on Senate and House races in 10 states that Trump won by large margins.”

“Trump plans to emphasize immigration issues this summer and fall, both in Washington and on the campaign trail. He’ll campaign for more deportation officers and detention beds… as well as funding for his promised border wall in the spending deal that Congress has to pass before Sept. 30. The White House believes a last-minute budget fight over border security—even at the risk of a government shutdown—will electrify GOP voters.”

Why Mike Pence Won’t Be President

May 17, 2018 at 11:38 am EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

Matt Bai: “There’s no question that Pence is building his own political operation, separate from Trump’s… Pence is definitely positioning himself for an opening, which is exactly why he goes off at Cabinet meetings about how blessed he is just to breathe the same air as Trump. He says those things because the only way he can privately maneuver to consolidate power is to publicly venerate the boss at the same time.”

“This is politics 101… Except here’s the problem for Pence: Close as he is to the presidency, his chances of ever getting the job fall somewhere between remote and imaginary.”

State Lawmaker Accused of Choking His Rival

May 17, 2018 at 11:02 am EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

Massachusetts state Rep. Rady Mom (D) has been accused of choking challenger Same Maes (D), “a former close friend and campaign adviser,” at a party earlier this month, the Lowell Sun reports.

“A police report filed on May 8 includes a five-sentence narrative of the alleged 30-second incident. Meas said he was not hurt, but fears for his safety.”

Bipartisan Bid Gains Steam In Florida

May 17, 2018 at 10:02 am EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

Politico: “First, a poll showed that Florida Democrats might want an unprecedented bipartisan ticket in the 2018 governor’s race. Then came a legal analysis indicating it could, in fact, be done.”

“Now former congressman and 2016 Senate candidate Patrick Murphy is entering a new phase in his exploration of a potential bid for governor with former Republican Rep. David Jolly: Dialing for possible dollars, thinking about a campaign team and talking openly about the chance of hitting the trail.”

“The potential bipartisan bid — the kind of unity ticket makes pundits and political analysts quiver, despite the fact that it rarely pans out — has injected a surprise element into the gubernatorial race in the nation’s largest swing state.”

Garcetti Taps Hollywood Ties to Fuel 2020 Campaign

May 17, 2018 at 9:54 am EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

“Eric Garcetti is employing a unique and potentially potent home state advantage as he prepares for an expected presidential campaign — delivering Hollywood’s expansive donor network to Democratic Party officials from early primary states,” Politico reports.

“The Los Angeles mayor hosted the South Carolina Democratic Party on Tuesday for a fundraiser in the city’s Hancock Park, raising about as much in a few hours as the state party collected in the entire month of March.”

“Presidential candidates have long sought ways to ingratiate themselves with early presidential primary state officials, but Garcetti is taking an unorthodox route. He’s drawing small-state parties across state lines and offering them an opportunity to tap into one of the nation’s most lucrative donor bases, while providing himself a rare platform to connect with operatives in the key early-voting states that make or break presidential campaigns.”

Avenatti Says Two More Women Signed Hush Agreements

May 17, 2018 at 9:28 am EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

Michael Avenatti, the attorney for adult film actress Stormy Daniels, told Morning Joe that at least two other women have credibly told him they signed hush agreements with Donald Trump over extramarital affairs.

Said Avenatti: “There’s at least two I think that are on solid ground and as the evidence rolls out over the coming months, disclosures are going to be made that my client was not alone as it relates to these payments.”

Avenatti also confirmed that the payments to the women exceeded the $130,000 paid to his client.