White House press secretary Sarah Sanders said that President Trump “believes he has the power to” fire special counsel Robert Mueller, CNN reports.
Said Sanders: “He certainly believes he has the power to do so.”
Most Voters Would Reject Attempt to Fire Mueller
A new Quinnipiac poll finds that American voters say by 69% to 13% that President Trump should not fire special counsel Robert Mueller.
Even Republicans say by 55% to 22% that he shouldn’t move to dismiss Mueller.
Why the FBI Raid Is Perilous for Donald Trump
Ken White: “The Stormy Daniels payout may be outside the scope of the Russia investigation, but it’s possible that Mr. Cohen’s records are full of materials that are squarely within that scope. And the law is clear: If investigators executing a lawful warrant seize evidence of additional crimes, they may use that evidence. Thus Mr. Trump and Mr. Cohen, with their catastrophically clumsy handling of the Daniels affair, may have handed Mr. Mueller devastating evidence.”
“It’s easy to conclude that after so many bombshells, this is just another overfrantic news cycle. It’s not. It’s highly dangerous, and not just for Mr. Cohen. It’s perilous for the president, whose personal lawyer now may face a choice between going down fighting alone or saving his own skin by giving the wolves what they want.”
Earlier for members: 3 Takeaways on the FBI Raid of Michael Cohen’s Office
Bonus Quote of the Day
“It would be suicide for the president to want to talk about firing Mueller.”
— Senate Judiciary Chairman Chuck Grassley (R-IA), quoted by Politico.
Republicans Warn Trump Against Axing Mueller
“Republicans are mounting an urgent defense of special counsel Robert Mueller in the face of President Trump’s latest attacks, with one key senator leading a renewed push to protect him and other GOP lawmakers arguing the special counsel’s report should become public when Mueller finishes his work,” Politico reports.
“The GOP alarm was palpable on Tuesday in the wake of Trump leaving the door open to canning Mueller.”
FBI Raid Sought Info on Payments to Two Women
“The FBI agents who raided the office of President Trump’s personal lawyer were looking for records about payments to two women who claim they had affairs with Mr. Trump, and information related to the publisher of The National Enquirer’s role in silencing one of the women,” the New York Times reports.
Washington Post: “The interest in both Daniels and McDougal indicates that federal investigators are trying to determine whether there was a broader pattern or strategy among Trump associates to buy the silence of women whose accounts could harm the president’s electoral chances and whether any crimes were committed in doing so.”
Raid Also Sought Info on Taxi Medallions
“The search warrant behind Monday’s raids on the office and hotel room of President Trump’s personal attorney, Michael Cohen, included a request for documents related to Cohen’s ownership of taxi medallions,” CNN reports.
“The search was also related to porn star Stormy Daniels, with whom Cohen is in a legal dispute over a hush agreement Daniels signed before the 2016 campaign to keep quiet about an alleged affair between her and Trump… In addition, the warrant said it related in part to election laws.”
New York U.S. Attorney Recused Himself
ABC News has learned that Geoffrey Berman, the U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York, has recused himself from the Michael Cohen investigation and had no role in yesterday’s raid of Cohen’s home and office.
Rosenstein Signed Off On Raid of Trump’s Attorney
Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein personally signed off on Monday’s FBI decision to raid the office of Michael Cohen, President Trump’s personal attorney and longtime confidant, the New York Times reports.
“The early-morning searches enraged Mr. Trump, associates said, setting off an angry public tirade Monday evening that continued in private at the White House as the president fumed about whether he should fire Mr. Rosenstein. The episode has deeply unsettled White House aides, Justice Department officials and lawmakers from both parties, who believe the president may use it as a pretext to purge the team leading the investigation into Russia meddling in the 2016 election.”
Trump ‘Less Inclined’ to Meet with Mueller
“In the wake of an early morning FBI raid on his personal attorney, sources close to President Trump and his legal team say the president is ‘less inclined’ to sit down for an interview with Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s team,” ABC News reports.
One source said Trump is now “understandably less trusting” of Mueller and his team.
“Multiple sources say advisers don’t know how to deal with the president’s frustration and are bracing for what he may do next.”
Trump Homeland Security Adviser Quits
White House homeland security adviser Tom Bossert is leaving the Trump administration, “another departure during what has been a chaotic few months of personnel changes,” the Washington Post reports.
“Bossert, a favorite of Chief of Staff John F. Kelly, is leaving one day after national security adviser John Bolton began the job. Bossert, an ally of former national security adviser H.R. McMaster, was believed to be on shaky footing in the Bolton era and he resigned two days after Michael Anton, the National Security Council spokesman, also quit.”
Mueller Is a Wildcard In the Midterm Elections
McClatchy: “Many Republicans said it’s nearly impossible to prepare for the myriad Mueller scenarios, and they argue their time is better-spent dealing with current realities of the race. Those Republicans who have given the issue thought have wildly divergent views about how they would advise candidates to proceed if there is a Mueller verdict, from dismissing negative results as ‘fake news’ to pushing for a pivot to local issues.”
“Democrats, meanwhile, are in their own messaging quandary, caught between a desire to seize on a potential one-of-a-kind scandal or stick with pocketbook issues such as health care. Some party operatives even think Democrats would be better off in November if Mueller’s investigation never existed in the first place.”
Stone Said Russia Was Likely Behind Wikileaks In 2016
A CNN review of his comments finds that Roger Stone “said several times in July 2016 that Russia was most likely the source for hacked emails released during the Democratic National Convention and that it was not far-fetched to say the purpose was to help Donald Trump’s presidential campaign.”
“The comments, made by Stone from late July through August 1, 2016, show Stone stated at the time that Russia was the source of the emails — a sharp contrast to his more recent posture that Russia was not the source for hacked documents released by WikiLeaks throughout the campaign.”
Trump Cancels Foreign Trip
The White House announced that President Trump will no longer attend the Summit of the Americas in Peru or travel to Colombia as originally scheduled.
Instead he “will remain in the United States to oversee the American response to Syria and to monitor developments around the world.”
Trump’s Company Asked Panama’s President for Help
“President Trump’s company appealed directly to Panama’s president to intervene in its fight over control of a luxury hotel, even invoking a treaty between the two countries, in what ethics experts say was a blatant mingling of Trump’s business and government interests,” the AP reports.
“That appeal in a letter last month from lawyers for the Trump Organization to Panamanian President Juan Carlos Varela was apparently unsuccessful — an emergency arbitrator days later declined to reinstate the Trump management team to the waterfront hotel in Panama City. But it provides hard proof of exactly the kind of conflict experts feared when Trump refused to divest from a sprawling empire that includes hotels, golf courses, licensing deals and other interests in more than 20 countries.”
No Witch Hunt
First Read: “It’s hard to call an investigation a ‘witch hunt’ when it has already resulted in 19 individuals being charged with crimes, including five who pleaded guilty and one who’s been sentenced to jail (for 30 days). That’s quite a rap sheet for an ongoing probe.”
What to Watch from the Mark Zuckerberg Hearings
This piece is only available to Political Wire members.
Though it could easily be buried by an avalanche of other news, Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg is expected to be grilled in two congressional hearings about the abuse of Facebook users’ personal information and how it may have been used by Russians to interfere in the 2016 presidential election.
In advance copies of his testimony, Zuckerberg apologized for his “big mistake” in oversight and took personal responsibility. The big issue will be whether the federal government should play a role in regulating social media.
What’s not mentioned in most media coverage of today’s hearings is that Zuckerberg is far from a passive player on Capitol Hill. Of the 11 senators up for re-election this year who will be questioning Zuckerberg, nine have received campaign contributions from Facebook’s political action committee since the 2016 cycle. Of the 55 members of the House committee who will also ask questions today, all but nine have received Facebook contributions.
Facebook has also spent more than $11 million in lobbying Congress in recent years.
It will be especially interesting to watch how several potential 2020 presidential candidates use the hearings. Sens. Kamala Harris (D-CA), Amy Klobuchar (D-MN) and Cory Booker (D-NJ) are all known for their tough questioning. But Harris is the only one of the three who has not taken contributions from Facebook even though the company is based in her home state.
Quote of the Day
“We are in pretty treacherous territory here. It’s unprecedented to my knowledge to have the President’s personal attorney raided like this. They must have been able to present evidence that was hugely compelling to take a step like this.”
— Former White House aide David Gergen, quoted by CNN.
