The lawyers for former Trump aide Rick Gates, who was indicted alongside Paul Manafort, have asked for permission to withdraw from the case “effective immediately,” USA Today reports.
The reasons aren’t stated in the public filing but are included in an exhibit “which is the subject of a motion to be filed under seal.”
[alert type=”general” dismiss=”no”]This suggests Gates may have flipped and is now cooperating with the special counsel. If true, that’s very bad news for Manafort.[/alert]
“That was one of the greatest years in the history of politics. I’ve kept one promise after another and we’re just getting started… Now we’ve fulfilled far more promises than we promised… I call it promises plus.”
— President Trump, quoted by Axios, speaking to Republican lawmakers.
Former Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty (R) is actively considering a political comeback, Minnesota Public Radio reports.
“Pawlenty is weighing a campaign for his old job and is convening a group of Republican donors and political movers this month as he seeks advice about entering a governor’s race without a clear favorite.”
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Jonathan Swan: “Inside the Trump administration, sources who’ve been briefed on the Nunes memo expect it will be underwhelming and not the ‘slam dunk’ document it’s been hyped up to be.”
“Trump still wants to release the memo. But there are a number of people in the White House who are fairly underwhelmed, and there’s internal anxiety about whether it’s worth angering the FBI director and intelligence community by releasing this information.”
Politico: “Though the GOP still controls both chambers of Congress and maintains the ability to jam through a repeal-and-replace bill via a simple majority, there are no discussions of doing so here at House and Senate Republicans’ joint retreat at The Greenbrier resort. Republicans doubt they can even pass a budget providing for the powerful party-line ‘reconciliation’ procedure used to pass tax reform last year, much less take on the politically perilous task of rewriting health care laws in an election year.”
“Republicans’ decision to abstain from another attempt at gutting Barack Obama’s health law — at least this year — goes back on a pledge the party has made to voters since 2010. And it underscores how Republicans overpromised in their ability to reform the nation’s health care and never fully recognized how divided the party is over key Obamacare planks like protecting pre-existing conditions and preserving the law’s Medicaid expansion.”
Out this summer: The Brink: President Reagan and the Nuclear War Scare of 1983 by Marc Ambinder.
“The incredible story of the 1983 war game that triggered a tense, brittle period of nuclear brinkmanship between the United States and the former Soviet Union.”
President Trump “cleared the way for the release of a secret memo written by Republican congressional staffers and said to accuse federal law enforcement officials of abusing their surveillance authorities,” the New York Times reports.
“The president’s decision came despite a growing chorus of warnings from national security officials who say that releasing the document would jeopardize sensitive government information, including how intelligence is gathered, and from Democrats who say it is politically motivated and distorts the actions of the Justice Department and the F.B.I. by omitting crucial context.”
“Top White House aides are worried FBI Director Christopher Wray could quit if the highly controversial Republican memo alleging the FBI abused its surveillance tools is released,” CNN reports.
“Wray has made clear he is frustrated that President Trump picked him to lead the FBI after he fired FBI Director James Comey in May, yet his advice on the Nunes memo is being disregarded and cast as part of the purported partisan leadership of the FBI.”
Daily Beast: “Former FBI agents are warning that FBI Director Christopher Wray has to be prepared to quit, should President Donald Trump assent over bureau objections to the release of a memo calling the FBI’s integrity into question.”
Rep. Duncan Hunter (R-CA) “raised only $50,000 for his reelection bid in the final quarter of 2017, all while paying six-figures on legal bills as he’s investigated for improper use of campaign cash,” The Hill reports.
“The sum is staggeringly low for a sitting member seeking reelection and it gives Hunter $290,904 in his campaign account.”
Washington Post: “They have begun to adapt to his unpredictable nature and, when it comes to investigations into Trump’s 2016 campaign and presidential actions, Republicans have increasingly become strong defenders in a bid to invalidate his Democratic tormentors and special counsel Robert S. Mueller III.”
“Even those Republicans that still hesitate to embrace Trump have come to grips with the fact that voters chose this particular mode of operation — and no longer expect him to change course.”
BuzzFeed News: “Striking a blow to President Trump’s reelection chances almost certainly would require an upset victory or better-than-imagined showing — think Eugene McCarthy chasing LBJ in 1968 — in New Hampshire or one of two other key early voting states: Iowa and South Carolina.”
“But would-be Trump challengers won’t find many friendly GOP leaders there. In interviews this week at the Republican National Committee’s winter meetings, top party officials from these states pledged allegiance to Trump and questioned why anyone would bother to try to wrestle the nomination from him.”
“Well, the president has the ability to fire his at-will employees, so if the president fired Rosenstein, I would support that. I think that there are a lot of people in American — especially in my district of Kentucky — that are disappointed in the attorney general and Rosenstein, and you know, if there is something there with Russia, then let’s get it out. This whole Russia investigation has been a big distraction.”
— Rep. James Comer (R-KY), talking to CNN about the possibility of President Trump firing Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein.
“The Trump administration has stripped enforcement powers away from Consumer Financial Protection Bureau office that specializes in pursuing cases against financial firms for breaking discrimination laws,” the Washington Post reports.
“The move comes about two months after President Trump installed his budget chief Mick Mulvaney at the head of an agency that has long been in the cross-hairs of Republicans. The Office of Fair Lending and Equal Opportunity had imposed penalties on lenders that it said had systematically imposed higher interest rates on minorities than whites.”
Missouri Gov. Eric Greiten’s (R) office is being sued over its use of Confide, “an ephemeral messaging mobile app, which they say is in violation of state public records law,” Ars Technica reports.
“Confide, like Signal and other popular encrypted-messaging apps, auto-deletes messages after a certain period of time, making automated record-keeping of those messages very difficult, if not impossible. Use of such apps by public employees for official business is almost certain to run afoul of transparency laws.”
A new Monmouth poll finds an overwhelming majority of Americans — 71% — say that President Trump should agree to be interviewed by special counsel Robert Mueller about the Russia probe.
This includes 85% of Democrats, 74% of independents, and 51% of Republicans. If Trump agrees to an interview, 82% say he should do so under oath, including 93% of Democrats, 85% of independents, and 67% of Republicans.
Nashville Mayor Megan Barry (D) told the Tennessean that “she had an extramarital affair with the police officer in charge of her security detail, an extraordinary admission that rocks the popular Nashville mayor’s first term.”
“During the interview, Barry hesitated when asked whether she plans to resign, but said she will not, despite rumors swirling Wednesday that she might step down.”
Matt Bai: “What we know of Trump, filtered through those closest to him, is that he’s given to passing tirades and is easily distracted, that he goes to bed early and watches ‘Fox & Friends’….But what profoundly moves or humbles him? When does he admit self-doubt, and to whom? What delights him or weighs him down?”
“When he was a TV performer, it was reasonable to assume that Trump was hiding some pivotal part of who he really was. Now you have to wonder if the persona is all there is… He seems always to be a man out of his element, uncomfortable…There must be private hours of sadness or self-doubt, humanizing moments he hides from the world. Inevitably, though, Trump responds publicly with the only real emotion he has consistently displayed as president — the bottomless rage against otherness that binds him tightly to his supporters. It is the closest he comes to a heartfelt humanity.”
Washington Post: “Wray, who worked as a top Justice Department official during the George W. Bush administration and left a law firm position to lead the FBI, has had to defend himself and the bureau from Trump’s attacks before.”
“He has shown a willingness to consider resigning when the department is under political pressure. When [James] Comey in 2004 was prepared to quit as the deputy attorney general over concerns about reauthorization of a secretive domestic surveillance program, Wray approached him in the hall at the Justice Department and said, ‘Look, I don’t know what’s going on, but before you guys all pull the rip cords, please give me a heads-up so I can jump with you,’ according to an account of the incident in the Washingtonian magazine.”
Taegan 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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