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How America’s Decline Began

May 17, 2018 at 9:22 am EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

Steven Brill: “The story of America’s tailspin is not about villains, though there are some. It is not about a conspiracy to bring the country down, nor did it spring from one single source… But there is a theme that threads through and ties together all the strands: many of the most talented, driven Americans used what makes America great—the First Amendment, due process, financial and legal ingenuity, free markets and free trade, meritocracy, even democracy itself—to chase the American Dream. And they won it, for themselves.”

“Then, in a way unprecedented in history, they were able to consolidate their winnings, outsmart and co-opt the forces that might have reined them in, and pull up the ladder so more could not share in their success or challenge their primacy.”

Few Believe Trump Is Honest

May 17, 2018 at 9:09 am EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

A new SurveyMonkey poll finds just 13% of Americans said they would consider President Trump to be honest and trustworthy.

GOP Builds Massive Shadow Army for Midterms

May 17, 2018 at 8:57 am EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

“Republicans have amassed a sprawling shadow field organization to defend the House this fall, spending tens of millions of dollars in an unprecedented effort to protect dozens of battleground districts that will determine control of the chamber,” Politico reports.

“The initiative by the Congressional Leadership Fund, a super PAC aligned with Speaker Paul Ryan (R-Wis.), now includes 34 offices running mini-campaigns for vulnerable Republicans throughout the country. It has built its own in-house research and data teams and recruited 4,000 student volunteers, who have knocked on more than 10 million doors since February 2017.”


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Independent Voters Like Bredesen More

May 17, 2018 at 8:16 am EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

A new Vanderbilt poll in Tennessee finds that independent voters “have a significantly more positive view” of former Gov. Phil Bredesen (D) than Rep. Marsha Blackburn (R-TN), as the race to replace Sen. Bob Corker (R-TN) continues to heat up.

Further, a majority of Republicans even say they have a favorable view of Bredesen.

Trump Advisers Met with Government Informant

May 17, 2018 at 8:12 am EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

The New York Times reports that “at least one” U.S. government informant met with Trump campaign officials during the 2016 presidential election. That person met “several times” with campaign advisers Carter Page and George Papadopoulos.

“That has become a politically contentious point, with Mr. Trump’s allies questioning whether the F.B.I. was spying on the Trump campaign or trying to entrap campaign officials.”

President Trump tweets: “If so, this is bigger than Watergate!”

Trump Advisers Get Into ‘Screaming Match’ on China Trip

May 17, 2018 at 7:53 am EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

“Tensions between two top Donald Trump economic advisers spilled over during a recent trip to China earlier this month, resulting in what was described by administration officials as a ‘screaming match,'” the Daily Beast reports.

“The confrontation, which took place between Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin and White House economic adviser Peter Navarro, came during a very important stretch of trade negotiations for this White House. And it underscored the deep divisions that have developed within the president’s economic team over a key pillar of the president’s agenda.”

Cambridge Analytica Shared Data with Russians

May 17, 2018 at 7:31 am EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

A whistleblower told Congress that Cambridge Analytica used Russian researchers and shared data with companies linked to Russian intelligence, AFP reports.

“Christopher Wylie, who leaked information on the British-based firm’s hijacking of data on millions of Facebook users, told a Senate panel he believes Russian intelligence services had access to data harvested by the consultancy.”

GOP’s Big Fear Is Trump Will Shut Down the Government

May 17, 2018 at 7:09 am EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

Politico: “Senate Republicans didn’t put too many questions to President Donald Trump when he joined them for lunch on Tuesday, but the party’s most vulnerable incumbent did make one big ask: Please, Nevada Sen. Dean Heller pleaded, don’t shut down the government over funding for a border wall before the midterm elections.”

“Picking that fight during an election season would hurt Republicans at the ballot box, Heller told Trump… Though Heller prefaced his request by heaping praise on the president, Trump was noncommittal. ‘We’ll see what happens,’ he told the group.”

Republicans In an Immigration Nightmare

May 17, 2018 at 7:05 am EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

Playbook: “Speaker Paul Ryan, House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy and House Majority Whip Steve Scalise have spent this week trying to get Republicans to not sign a discharge petition that would open the House floor to a wide-ranging immigration debate. As of now, it’s been a failure.”

“After the trio spent the morning making the argument that this was not the path to go down, two Republicans — New York Rep. John Katko and Michigan Rep. Dave Trott — signed it anyway. That Republicans are openly defying their own leadership is relatively stunning. McCarthy has made the argument that an immigration vote could cost Republicans the majority. That clearly isn’t resonating.”

“Republicans are in a box. The discharge petition is a bad look for a lot of conservatives, who rightly think that the process will lead to a bill that will be carried mostly by Democrats. But it’s a central part of how the House works… Make no mistake this is a mess for the GOP.”

James Hohmann: “This open rebellion really is extraordinarily unusual. These renegade Republicans risk retribution from party chieftains by signing onto this petition over the strenuous public and private objections of leadership. But these lawmakers feel caught between a rock and a hard place: They also realize that they may lose reelection in November if they do nothing.”

Pennsylvania GOP Hits Panic Button Over Barletta

May 17, 2018 at 6:57 am EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

“Senior Republicans are sounding the alarm about Rep. Lou Barletta’s (R-PA) struggling Senate campaign in Pennsylvania, fretting that his lackadaisical, disorganized effort will hand a third term to incumbent Sen. Bob Casey (D-PA), the Washington Examiner reports.

“Barletta has been a disappointing fundraiser and been too slow to ramp up a capable statewide campaign operation, his critics charge.”

Said one GOP strategist: “The sense is, nobody knows what the fuck he’s doing. He’s not really working it hard. It’s a sad thing, because people like Lou.”

Trump Mulls Replacing Nielsen

May 16, 2018 at 11:19 pm EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

“The White House is discussing possible replacements for Department of Homeland Security secretary Kirstjen Nielsen, because Donald Trump is unhappy with how she is running the massive agency tasked with keeping the US safe,” Quartz reports.

“Names being discussed inside the White House include Tom Cotton, the senator from Arkansas, energy secretary Rick Perry, and Thomas Homan, the retiring head of Immigration and Customs Enforcement, one of these people said. Cotton and Perry were also considered for the position previously.”

Trump Calls Unauthorized Immigrants ‘Animals’

May 16, 2018 at 11:12 pm EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

“President Trump lashed out at undocumented immigrants during a White House meeting on Wednesday, warning in front of news cameras that dangerous people were clamoring to breach the country’s borders and branding such people ‘animals,’” the New York Times reports.

”It was hardly the first time the president has spoken in racially fraught terms about immigrants, but it underscored his anger about unchecked immigration — the animating issue of his campaign and his tenure so far — and his frustration that he has not been able to do more to seal the nation’s borders.”

Missing Files Motivated Leak of Cohen’s Financial Records

May 16, 2018 at 6:56 pm EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

Ronan Farrow: “Last week, several news outlets obtained financial records showing that Michael Cohen, President Trump’s personal attorney, had used a shell company to receive payments from various firms with business before the Trump Administration. In the days since, there has been much speculation about who leaked the confidential documents, and the Treasury Department’s inspector general has launched a probe to find the source.”

“That source, a law-enforcement official, is speaking publicly for the first time, to The New Yorker, to explain the motivation: the official had grown alarmed after being unable to find two important reports on Cohen’s financial activity in a government database. The official, worried that the information was being withheld from law enforcement, released the remaining documents.”

“Seven former government officials and other experts familiar with the Treasury Department’s FinCEN database expressed varying levels of concern about the missing reports. Some speculated that FinCEN may have restricted access to the reports due to the sensitivity of their content, which they said would be nearly unprecedented. One called the possibility ‘explosive.'”

Giuliani Says Mueller Told Him They Can’t Indict Trump

May 16, 2018 at 6:11 pm EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

“Special counsel Robert Mueller’s team has informed President Trump’s attorneys that they have concluded that they cannot indict a sitting president, according to the President’s lawyer,” CNN reports.

Said Rudy Giuliani: “All they get to do is write a report. They can’t indict. At least they acknowledged that to us after some battling, they acknowledged that to us.”

Did Democrats Blow a Pick Up Chance In Nebraska?

May 16, 2018 at 6:04 pm EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

This piece is only available to Political Wire members.

Kara Eastman (D) surprised many Democrats last night by beating former Rep. Brad Ashford (D-NE) for the Democratic congressional nomination in Nebraska’s 2nd congressional district.

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‘Over My Dead Body’

May 16, 2018 at 5:31 pm EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

Garrett VeneKlasen (D) is running for Land Commissioner in New Mexico, an office which oversees millions of acres of land in the state, including areas that President Trump would need to build a border wall.

Trump Not Prepping for North Korea Summit

May 16, 2018 at 4:42 pm EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

“With just one month until a scheduled sit-down with North Korea’s leader, President Trump hasn’t set aside much time to prepare for meeting with Kim Jong Un, a stark contrast to the approach of past presidents,” Time reports.

Said one administration official: “He doesn’t think he needs to.”

“Aides plan to squeeze in time for Trump to learn more about Kim’s psychology and strategize on ways to respond to offers Kim may make in person, but so far a detailed plan hasn’t been laid out for getting Trump ready for the summit.”

Mueller Issues Subpoenas for Roger Stone Adviser

May 16, 2018 at 4:31 pm EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

Special counsel Robert Mueller has issued two subpoenas to a social media expert who worked for longtime Trump adviser Roger Stone during the 2016 presidential election campaign, Reuters reports.

“The subpoenas were delivered late last week to lawyers representing Jason Sullivan, a social media and Twitter specialist Stone hired to work for an independent political action committee he set up to support Trump, Knut Johnson, a lawyer for Sullivan.”

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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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