Fox News Channel says its management was unaware until it came out in court that host Sean Hannity shared a lawyer with President Trump, but that Hannity “continues to have our full support,” the AP reports.
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Trump Told to Stay Out of Speaker’s Race
President Trump wanted to endorse House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy to succeed outgoing Speaker Paul Ryan but is being advised not to back a candidate in the race, ABC News reports.
“A source close to the White House said Trump’s advisors are concerned that the endorsement could complicate the contest, and Trump’s future relationship with the next GOP leader should his preferred candidate lose or decide not to run.”
The Red and the Blue
This will be a must-read: The Red and the Blue: The 1990s and the Birth of Political Tribalism by Steve Kornacki.
Ryan Denies Retiring Because of Trump
Speaker Paul Ryan told CNBC that it’s “fake news” that he’s not running for re-election because he doesn’t want to deal with President Trump anymore.
The Democratic ‘Civil War’ Is More Civil Than War
Francis Wilkinson: “Some civil war talk is likely a product of bothsidesism — the desire of pundits and reporters to find symmetry in increasingly asymmetrical political parties. Republicans have accommodated themselves to chaos and corruption so surely the Democrats must be ready to combust, too.”
“Except that the Democratic Party is not much like the Republican Party. As Lara Putnam and Theda Skocpol wrote in a much-discussed article about surging grassroots Democratic action in suburbs and small cities, sightings of a Democratic Tea Party, let alone a smash-everything Trumpist-style rampage, are largely chimerical. The movement against Trump is led by plenty of level-headed people, especially women.”
“The chaotic divider of America will remain a uniter of Democrats as long as he is in office. If there is a Democratic civil war to come, it is off in the distance — hopefully a brighter place — in which Trump and his coterie have met whatever fate awaits them.”
Hawley Says Greitens Likely Committed Felony
Missouri Attorney General Josh Hawley (R) announce that his office has uncovered potential criminal wrongdoing by Gov. Eric Greitens (R) and he has turned that evidence over to the St. Louis prosecutor, the Kansas City Star reports.
Hawley said that during the course of an investigation into a charity founded by Greitens, his office “uncovered evidence of wrongdoing that goes beyond Missouri’s charity laws” and indicates “potentially criminal acts were committed by Gov. Eric Greitens.”
IRS Computers Crash Just Before Tax Filing Deadline
“The Internal Revenue Service’s electronic system that allows Americans to submit their tax returns online has partly failed Tuesday, complicating filing for the millions of Americans attempting to meet the midnight deadline,” the Washington Post reports.
Espy and Hyde-Smith Running Even In Mississippi
A new Triumph Campaigns poll in Mississippi finds Mike Espy (D) and Sen. Cindy Hyde-Smith (R-MS) neck and neck in the special election to replace Sen. Thad Cochran (R-MS), 33% to 33%. They are followed by Chris McDaniel (R) at 13% and Jason Shelton (D) at 6%.
The special election will not have party primaries and is likely to go to a runoff.
In head-to-head matchups, Hyde-Smith leads Espy, 42% to 36%, while Espy leads McDaniel, 43% to 24%.
Pruitt Upgraded to SUV with Bullet-Proof Seat Covers
EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt “upgraded his official car last year to a costlier, larger vehicle with bullet-resistant covers over bucket seats,” the Washington Post reports.
“One former EPA official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity out of fear of retaliation, said that Pruitt remarked that he wanted the larger car because it was similar to ones in which some other Cabinet officials rode.”
Gorsuch Votes Against Deporting Immigrant
Justice Neil Gorsuch, President Trump’s selection last year for the Supreme Court, cast the deciding vote in a decision released Tuesday that sided with an immigrant fighting his deportation, The Hill reports.
“Gorsuch ruled with the court’s four liberal justices in favor of the immigrant, James Garcia Dimaya, who argued that his convictions on two burglary charges did not represent a violent crime.”
Dent Will Resign from Congress
Rep. Charlie Dent (R-PA) said he has decided to retire from Congress “in the coming weeks,” NBC News reports.
Dent had previously announced that he would not seek re-election this year.
Can Republicans Keep the Money Flowing?
“Donors poured money into GOP coffers in the first part of this year, but their loyalty may be tested in coming months by turmoil at the Republican National Committee after the resignations of two top fundraising officials and a criminal investigation involving a third,” Bloomberg reports.
Ryan Zinke Falsely Claims He’s a Geologist
CNN: “Since becoming leader of the 70,000-employee agency, Zinke has suggested that he was a geologist or former geologist at least 40 times in public settings, including many under oath before Congress.
He uses it as a credential booster… He also uses it while discussing coal revenue, seismic activity, climate change, national monuments, precious metals, endangered species, fracking and drilling.”
“Zinke, however, has never held a job as a geologist.”
Being the Anti-Clinton Won’t Work In 2018
First Read: “One of the keys to President Trump’s victory in 2016 — and to his overall political survival — has been to claim, essentially: ‘Hey, I’m not Hillary Clinton.’ Indeed, voters who disliked BOTH Clinton and him ended up siding with the Republican in 2016.”
“But that talking point doesn’t work for Trump anymore, even as Clinton remains highly unpopular, according to the latest NBC/WSJ poll… voters who dislike both Hillary and Trump make up 15 percent of voters, and they are more Democratic and prefer the Dems to control Congress.”
“NBC/WSJ co-pollster Bill McInturff (R) says that the bipartisan disapprovers are clearly different voters between 2016 and now, but it’s also clear that they won’t be Republican voters in 2018 – and maybe beyond.”
Bonus Quote of the Day
“From what I’ve heard, from what I’ve seen, there’s no question that Michael Cohen is going to be charged. It’s only a question of when.”
— Michael Avenatti, lawyer for Stormy Daniels, in an interview on Morning Joe.
Why Trump Can’t Get the Best People
Josh Rogin: “More than a year into his administration, President Trump still won’t let go of primary-campaign grudges against foreign policy-minded Republicans who want to serve. And as qualified and patriotic Republicans watch how Trump treats those who do sign up, fewer and fewer are willing to come aboard. That dynamic hurts both Trump and our national security.”
“There are plenty of good jobs available. National security adviser John Bolton opened several opportunities in just the past few days — by cleaning house at the top of the National Security Council staff. Mike Pompeo, the nominee to become secretary of state, promised senators at his confirmation hearing last week that he would fill dozens of vacant diplomatic posts as soon as possible. Even at the Pentagon, plenty of top positions are still open.”
“Some of the vacancies are because of the slow confirmation process. Some are the result of infighting within the administration. But during interviews with administration officials and outside Republicans, a theme emerges: This White House makes it too difficult to serve, and treats those who do shabbily.”
Quote of the Day
“The president of the United States just tweeted that a private citizen should be jailed. And I think the reaction of most of us was: ‘Meh, it’s another one of those things.’ This is not normal. This is not OK. There is a danger that we will become numb to it and we will stop noticing the threats to our norms.”
— Former FBI Director James Comey, in an interview with NPR.
When the Fixer Is the Problem
Mike Allen: “Michael Cohen has spent his career making Donald Trump’s problems disappear. Now he’s the problem Trump can’t possibly make vanish.”
“Cohen, unlike Ivanka or the other kids, is the only person on earth intertwined in Trump’s professional, political, personal, legal and family life — the man with secrets few others hold. And, thanks to a court ruling yesterday, many of those secrets, reportedly recorded and emailed, are — or soon will be —in the hands of federal investigators.”
Said a former Trump campaign official: “The guys that know Trump best are the most worried. People are very, very worried. Because it’s Michael [effing] Cohen. Who knows what he’s done?”
