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U.S. Man Pleads Guilty to Helping Russians
“A California man pleaded guilty to identity fraud in a second case unsealed Friday by special counsel Robert Mueller in his investigation into Russian interference in the US presidential election,” CNN reports.
“Richard Pinedo’s guilty plea was unsealed by the federal court in DC on Friday, minutes after the Justice Department announced charges against 13 Russian nationals.”
13 Russians Indicted for U.S. Election Interference
“The Justice Department announced the indictment of a notorious Russian troll farm — naming more than a dozen individual suspects who allegedly worked there — as part of the special counsel’s investigation into criminal interference with the 2016 election,” the Washington Post reports.
New York Times: “The indictment charges that the foreigners falsely posed as American citizens, stole identities and otherwise engaged in fraud and deceit in an effort to influence the U.S. political process, including the 2016 presidential race.”
“Though the Russians are unlikely to be immediately arrested, they are now wanted by the United States government, which will make it hard for them to travel or do business internationally.”
New Poll Finds Majority Would Support Impeachment
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Harris Will Endorse Newsom for California Governor
Sen. Kamala Harris (D-CA) plans to endorse Gavin Newsom (D) in the California governor’s race, the Los Angeles Times reports.
“The move is not surprising – the two Democratic politicians share the same political advisers, began their careers in San Francisco city politics and have known one another for more than two decades.”
Commerce Recommends Tariffs on Steel and Aluminum
Jonathan Swan: “The Department of Commerce will recommend tariffs on steel and aluminum that, if applied, would be the first shots in a global trade war.”
“The fight over whether to use the Section 232 law to impose tariffs has already become the hottest trade fight inside the Trump White House. Gary Cohn, Steven Mnuchin, Rex Tillerson and James Mattis have all been fighting against these tariffs on steel and aluminum — arguing they would harm the global economy and damage relationships with allies.”
Scott Leaning Towards a Senate Bid In Florida
“Florida Gov. Rick Scott (R), in conversations with major Republican donors over the past week, has signaled that he is moving closer to challenging Sen. Bill Nelson and has mapped out financial and political plans that could guide his potential bid,” the Washington Post reports.
“Scott’s study of the race’s dynamics and his confidence that the veteran Democrat is vulnerable has led those donors to conclude that the governor is now leaning toward running, the people said, requesting anonymity to discuss private exchanges.”
Said one donor: “He thinks Nelson isn’t ready for the velocity of a 2018 campaign.”
Quote of the Day
“I don’t think that the campaign colluded in some meaningful way. I don’t think that they were organized enough, or competent enough as a campaign to do that.”
— Sen. Jeff Flake (R-AZ), in an interview with CNBC, doubting that the Trump campaign colluded with Russia.
Republicans Bet Their Majorities on a Tax Cut
Matthew Continetti: “Republicans want to tie the strong economy to the tax cut they passed last December. This is the most powerful weapon they have in the coming election, not just because the policy appears to be succeeding, but also because it’s the only major achievement of the 115th Congress. Republicans are keeping track of how many companies have pegged bonuses, raises, or 401(k) perks to the tax cut—the number currently stands at 348. They urge voters to “check their check,” beginning this week, to see the extra take-home pay the cut has given them. And they are telling candidates to highlight the impact on everyday people: Christmas toys purchased, vacations enjoyed, and small businesses expanded as a result of a policy the GOP embraced but every Democrat in Congress voted against.”
Trump Gave Up Deal to Keep Immigration as an Issue
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Independent Jumps Into Missouri Senate Race
Kansas City lawyer Craig O’Dear (I) officially launched an independent bid for U.S. Senate in Missouri, “entering a race that could decide which party controls the chamber next year,” the Kansas City Star reports.
“O’Dear said he thinks he can win if he captures 35% to 40% of the vote in a three-way race.”
First Democratic Campaign Ads on the Tax Law
A Democratic super PAC unveiled these two television ads — in Indiana and Missouri — backing the endangered Senate incumbents.
Both ads feature the same message: The tax law gives 83% of the benefits to the richest one percent of the population while adding $1.5 trillion to the national debt. And to pay for it, there’s Republicans plan to cut Medicare.
Stalemate Over Guns and Immigration Isn’t Going Away
Ron Brownstein: “On both matters, Republicans are championing primarily non-urban and predominantly white constituencies that want fewer immigrants and more access to guns. Democrats reflect a mirror-image consensus: Their voters coming from diverse urban areas usually support more immigrants and fewer guns.”
“The predictability of deadlock testifies to the power of the intertwined cultural, demographic, and economic divide now separating urban and non-urban America—and how closely the nation’s partisan split follows the contours of that larger separation.”
Romney Announces Senate Bid
Mitt Romney announced in a video that he is running for U.S. Senate to “bring Utah’s values to Washington.”
Most interesting line: “Utah welcomes legal immigrants from around the world. Washington sends immigrants a message of exclusion.”
Salt Lake Tribune: “Romney, should he win, will enter the Senate with an oversized megaphone as one of the most well-known Republicans, able to garner attention for every word he utters or action he takes.”
McKay Coppins says Romney is running as a full-throated pitchman for his adoptive home state — making the case that Utah’s distinctive brand of conservatism could offer a better way forward for the GOP and the nation.
Inside the Senate’s Immigration Breakdown
Politico: “The Senate’s spectacular failure to address the plight of the most sympathetic batch of immigrants in the country illegally — a group that President Donald Trump once declared he had ‘great love’ for — was the latest display of legislative ineptitude in the upper chamber. This account, detailing the demise of the months-long immigration push, is based on interviews with more than a dozen senators and aides who’ve worked on the issue since Trump announced last fall he was rescinding the Obama-era Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program.”
“While senators vowed to try again, there’s no apparent reason to think the next time will be any different. Immigration has always been polarizing and difficult to tackle, but Trump’s ascendance has made it that much more so, diminishing trust and depleting the group of dealmaking senators it would take to clear the chamber’s 60-vote threshold.”
For members: Trump Just Played Congress on Immigration
How Trump Concealed His Affairs
Ronan Farrow in the New Yorker reports that in 2006, Donald Trump and Karen McDougal, a former Playmate of the Year, “began an affair, which McDougal later memorialized in an eight-page, handwritten document… When I showed McDougal the document, she expressed surprise that I had obtained it but confirmed that the handwriting was her own.”
“The interactions that McDougal outlines in the document share striking similarities with the stories of other women who claim to have had sexual relationships with Trump, or who have accused him of propositioning them for sex or sexually harassing them. McDougal describes their affair as entirely consensual.”
“Her account provides a detailed look at how Trump and his allies used clandestine hotel-room meetings, payoffs, and complex legal agreements to keep affairs — sometimes multiple affairs he carried out simultaneously — out of the press.”
The Most Unethical Cabinet in History
“President Trump came to Washington promising to ‘drain the swamp.’ But after less than 13 months, more than 40 percent of the people he originally picked for Cabinet-level jobs have faced ethical or other controversies. And the list has grown quickly in recent weeks,” the Washington Post reports.
Is Donald Trump a Traitor?
James Risen: “One year after Trump took office, it is still unclear whether the president of the United States is an agent of a foreign power. Just step back and think about that for a moment.”
“His 2016 campaign is the subject of an ongoing federal inquiry that could determine whether Trump or people around him worked with Moscow to take control of the U.S. government. Americans must now live with the uncertainty of not knowing whether the president has the best interests of the United States or those of the Russian Federation at heart.”
