Political Wire

North Carolina Election Fraud Probed Long Before 2018

January 8, 2019 at 7:31 pm EST By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

“Long before accusations of absentee ballot fraud in a small North Carolina county cast doubt on the results of a heated 2018 congressional race, a state elections investigator spent weeks probing whether the man at the center of the current scandal was among a group buying votes,” the AP reports.

“That 2010 investigation was one of at least a half dozen instances over the last nine years that prosecutors and elections officials received complaints of serious elections irregularities in Bladen County, a rural locale of 35,000 people that has long had a statewide reputation for political chicanery by both Republicans and Democrats.”

Lawmakers from Border Districts Reject Trump’s Wall

January 8, 2019 at 5:30 pm EST By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

CBS News: “Eight congressional representatives serve the districts that line the 2,000-mile southern border. They are men, women, freshman politicians and Washington veterans. The Democrats among them span liberal ideologies, while one of them is a Republican.”

“But they all have one thing in common: each is against President Trump’s border wall.”

Just a Third Support Trump’s Border Wall

January 8, 2019 at 5:28 pm EST By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

A new Reuters/Ipsos poll finds that only 35% of American adults support a congressional spending bill that includes funding for President Trump’s proposed border wall and only 25% support Trump’s decision to keep the government closed until Congress approves funding for the wall.

Supreme Court Won’t Intervene In Mystery Subpoena

January 8, 2019 at 3:41 pm EST By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

“The Supreme Court on Tuesday declined to intervene in a mysterious subpoena fight apparently involving a foreign-government-owned company and special counsel Robert Mueller,” Politico reports.

“The unknown firm had asked the high court to block a federal judge’s contempt order and financial penalties for refusing to comply with the subpoena, arguing that the company is immune from U.S. grand jury subpoenas.”

Washington Post: “The entity that is the subject of the cloaked legal battle — known in court papers simply as a ‘Corporation’ from ‘Country A’ — is a foreign financial institution that was issued a subpoena by a grand jury hearing evidence in the special counsel investigation.”

Trump Has a Chance to Supercharge Voter Suppression

January 8, 2019 at 3:38 pm EST By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

Rick Hasen: “In a short unpublished opinion so far garnering only slight media attention, the United States Court of Appeals for the 3rd Circuit decided on Monday what may be one of the most consequential cases poised to affect the 2020 elections. The circuit upheld a district court decision ending a court order in effect since 1982 barring the Republican National Committee from engaging in ‘ballot security’ measures designed to intimidate minority voters from voting at the polls.”

“With Trump having taken over the RNC for the 2020 elections and with this consent decree no longer standing in his way, we should be concerned about a new wave of voter suppression coming from the Republican Party during the upcoming election.”

Manafort Shared Polling Data with Alleged Russian Spy

January 8, 2019 at 2:55 pm EST By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

“Special counsel Robert Mueller has accused former Trump campaign chief Paul Manafort of sharing polling data with an alleged Russian spy during the 2016 presidential campaign, a new court filing by Manafort’s criminal defense lawyer has accidentally revealed,” CNBC reports.

“The alleged spy, Konstantin Kilimnik, is a former business associate of Manafort’s who is criminally charged with working with him to try to tamper with potential witnesses against Manafort before his scheduled federal criminal trials last summer.”

“Manafort’s lawyers meant for those accusations by Mueller to be sealed from public view. The sections containing the accusations are blacked out in an otherwise public document filed in federal court… But those sections are easily viewable when the sections are copied in a word processing file, and then pasted into a new document.”

Washington Post: “The apparently inadvertent revelation indicates a pathway by which the Russians could have had access to Trump campaign data.”

Steyer to Make Announcement In Iowa

January 8, 2019 at 2:00 pm EST By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

Billionaire Tom Steyer will make an announcement tomorrow in Iowa “concerning his political plans for 2019 and beyond” amid speculation that he could run for president in 2020.

Will Trump Declare a ‘National Emergency’ on the Border?

January 8, 2019 at 12:47 pm EST By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

“While Democrats have been bracing themselves for him to make that declaration on Tuesday night, administration officials who had seen a draft copy of his speech said the president was not preparing to do so.” the New York Times reports.

Playbook: “If they go the national emergency route, it will become quite clear the White House is not looking for a way out of the 18-day government shutdown. Going the national emergency route isn’t going to put Democrats into dealmaking mode.”

The Crisis In the Oval Office

January 8, 2019 at 12:41 pm EST By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

Charles Sykes: “Over the weekend, the New York Times suggested that the whole idea for the wall was originally concocted by his brain trust of Roger Stone and Sam Nunberg as a way to get the notoriously undisciplined Trump to remember to talk about immigration… The mnemonic device became an applause line at his rallies (along with the claim that Mexico would pay for it) and, most fatefully, an idée fixe with Ann Coulter & Co. who were enchanted by its blunt force crudity.”

“So here we are; facing a genuine crisis because of Trump’s non-crisis. The dangers of his impulsive decision to shut down the government continue to rise, and acolytes like Lewandowski are cheering on the notion of a wall by presidential fiat. That could include what the president calls the ‘military version of eminent domain,’ which means … God knows what? Armed soldiers seizing private property from American citizens?”

“All of that suggests that the ‘crisis’ in not at the border, but sits in the Oval Office.”

McDonnell Files for Divorce

January 8, 2019 at 12:28 pm EST By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

Former Virginia Gov. Bob McDonnell (R) “has filed for divorce from his wife, Maureen, his one-time co-defendant in a tawdry corruption trial that exposed their marital woes and tarnished his political legacy before the U.S. Supreme Court tossed out his conviction,” the Washington Post reports.

Trump Looking to Save Face on Shutdown

January 8, 2019 at 12:16 pm EST By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

“In a private meeting with aides at Camp David on Sunday, Mr. Trump said he wanted them to come up with a resolution without him appearing to have capitulated to Democrats,” the Wall Street Journal reports.

“White House officials disputed that account and said the president didn’t make such a statement.”

Networks Will Air Democrats’ Response

January 8, 2019 at 11:27 am EST By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

NBC, CBS, Fox News and CNN said they will air the Democrats response after they and other networks agreed Monday to air the president’s prime time address on the “humanitarian and national security crisis” at the U.S.-Mexico border, USA Today reports.

Why Trump’s Speech Tonight Won’t Change Anything

January 8, 2019 at 11:09 am EST By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

This piece is only available to Political Wire members.

Perhaps sensing he’s losing support in the showdown over his proposed border wall, President Trump plans to address to the nation tonight to make his case for ending what he calls a “humanitarian and security crisis” on the Mexican border.

Join now to continue reading.

Members get exclusive analysis, bonus features and no advertising. Learn more.

If you’re already a member, sign in to your account.

Russian Lawyer Charged In Case That Shows Kremlin Ties

January 8, 2019 at 10:47 am EST By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

Natalia Veselnitskaya, the Russian lawyer who in 2016 met with Trump campaign officials in Trump Tower, was charged in a separate case that showed her close ties to the Kremlin, the New York Times reports.

“Ms. Veselnitskaya was charged by federal prosecutors in New York with seeking to thwart a Justice Department civil fraud investigation into money laundering that involved an influential Russian businessman and his investment firm.”

“The case was not directly related to the Trump Tower meeting. But a federal indictment returned in Manhattan seemed to confirm that Ms. Veselnitskaya had deep ties to senior Russian government officials.”

Candidate Trips Alarm Trying to Avoid Reporters

January 8, 2019 at 10:38 am EST By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

After North Carolina congressional candidate Mark Harris (R) finished addressing Mecklenburg County Republicans, he tried to avoid questions from WSOC-TV by running out of a fire exit.

After the bizarre exit, in a tweet to the reporter, Harris said he had to get home to watch the college football National Championship game.

Trump Has No Credibility on Immigration

January 8, 2019 at 10:35 am EST By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

James Hohmann: “As he prepares to make the case for a wall during a televised speech from the Oval Office tonight and with a trip to Texas on Thursday, President Trump has already made more false or misleading claims about immigration than any other subject.”

“Through the end of 2018, The Washington Post Fact Checker team documented 7,645 false or misleading claims made by Trump since taking office. Of those, 1,130 were about immigration. Claims about foreign policy and trade tied for second, with 822 claims, followed by claims about the economy (768).”

“The last week has brought a stream of additional falsehoods on the topic that’s defined his term as much as any other — and prompted a partial government shutdown now in its 18th day.”

First Read: “Being president may give you the right to ask networks for time for an Oval Office address. But on immigration — perhaps more than on any other issue — Trump is far from having earned the benefit of the doubt from the American people.”

Kamala Harris Has a New Memoir

January 8, 2019 at 10:30 am EST By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

Los Angeles Times: “The book, timed for release as rival Democrats are launching their campaigns, aims to introduce Harris as uniquely positioned to fight for civil and economic rights: as a child of immigrants from India and Jamaica who rose to the top of their fields; as a prosecutor who forced law enforcement agencies resistant to change to confront racial bias; and as a political crusader who defied pressure from colleagues and forced more money out of the nation’s most powerful banks to compensate homeowners in the aftermath of the mortgage crisis.”

NPR: “So is it a great book? No. No, it is not. But that’s not a particularly interesting question, as campaign books are rarely great reads. The question is whether it’s an effective book. On that count, Harris is more successful.”

Networks Agree to Carry Trump’s Address Live

January 8, 2019 at 10:04 am EST By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

“The major television networks said that they will provide wall-to-wall coverage of President Trump’s prime time address on border security on Tuesday,” CNN reports.

“NBC, ABC, CBS, PBS and Fox broadcast network all said on Monday that they had agreed to the White House’s request for air time. CNN, Fox News and MSNBC will all carry the address live, as well.”

“Following news that the networks would air Trump’s immigration address, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer said in a joint statement that they should be given an equal amount of time to respond.”

Members Get the Full Experience