Former Colorado Republican Party chairman Steven Curtis “is charged with forgery and voter fraud for allegedly forging his wife’s mail-in ballot from last year’s election,” ABC Denver reports.
Curtis claimed in a pre-election interview that “virtually every case of voter fraud I can remember in my lifetime was committed by Democrats.”
However, the Colorado Secretary of State’s Office says “this is the only voter fraud case that has ended in charges stemming from last year’s election.”
New York Times: “First, aides say that Mr. Trump, who often says, ‘I’m, like, a really smart person’ in public, is driven by a need to prove his legitimacy as president to the many critics who deem him an unworthy victor forever undercut by Hillary Clinton’s three-million-vote win in the popular vote.”
“Second, fighting back — in this case, against Mr. Obama, the F.B.I. director and members of his own party who say his claim about phone taps is false — is an important part of the president’s self-image. The two most influential role models in Mr. Trump’s youth were men who preached the twin philosophies of relentless self-promotion and the waging of total war against anyone perceived as a threat.”
“There’s just never been any question in my mind about that. I’ve been inside a cover-up. I know how they look and feel. And every signal they’re sending is: ‘We’re covering this thing up.'”
— Ex-Nixon White House counsel John Dean, quoted by The Hill, on the Trump administration’s reaction to ongoing investigations of Russian ties and Trump’s wiretapping accusations.
Huffington Post: “Faced with the increasingly clear reality that House conservatives will vote down the Republican health care bill, GOP leaders may be moving toward reopening negotiations on their Affordable Care Act rewrite.”
“Or Republicans may be moving closer to an embarrassing floor defeat.”
Republicans can afford only 21 defections in the House and according to The Hill, 19 Republicans are firmly opposed to the bill.
Politico: “For a president with a penchant for vengeance – who named ‘an eye for an eye’ as his favorite biblical passage, who banned media outlets from campaign events when he didn’t approve of their coverage, who ousted a GOP state chairman after the election whom he viewed as disloyal, who reminded a GOP governor just last week who didn’t endorse him that ‘I never forget’ – the roll call vote on the Republican health care plan, expected Thursday, will be the first accounting of who’s with him and who’s against him on Capitol Hill.”
“Those close to Trump describe his largely binary world view: you’re either on Team Trump or against Team Trump. ‘Get even with people,’ Trump outlined his philosophy in a 2011 speech. ‘If they screw you, screw them back 10 times as hard. I really believe it.'”
Forbes: “Never has an American president taken office with such immense and complicated assets. Nor has one brought along a busload of rich partners who, by dint of previous deals and brand association, stand to reap profits in real time, as the president serves.”
“To better understand this global network, Forbes looked into each of these 36 partners, traveling to five countries to interview more than a dozen of them… But perhaps the most interesting tidbit comes in the aggregate. Trump’s network extends to at least 19 countries. And these guys (yes, they’re all men) share a set of consistent traits, even as property developers go. This group is uniformly rich–seven are members of the Forbes Billionaires list; many more claim centimillionaire status. They reflect their partner–a mélange of bombastic marketing, over-the-top style and political connections.”
“And all of them are trying to figure out, to various degrees, how to cash in on the 45th president.”
A new new C-SPAN/PSB poll finds that while 90% of Americans believe that the Supreme Court has a big impact on their daily lives, just 43% could name at least a single justice.
No one surveyed could name Justice Stephen Breyer.
Assuming all Democrats vote against the Obamacare repeal-and-replace plan, House Republican leaders can afford no more than 21 defections from their own ranks to pass the bill.
NBC News reports there are 26 GOP lawmakers who are either opposed or “leaning strongly” against the bill.
CNN reports that House Freedom Caucus chairman Mark Meadows (R-NC) says there are “still more than 21 no votes in the group.”
For members: Why the GOP Health Care Bill Will Likely Pass the House
Associated Press: “Trump administration officials briefed reporters on condition they not be identified publicly. That was despite President Donald Trump’s repeated insistence that anonymous sources should not be trusted.”
CNN: “Since 2013 — when Trump’s Miss Universe pageant was held in Moscow — Trump has at least nine times claimed to have spoken to, met, or made contact with Putin. But as the 2016 campaign wore on and his statements on Putin began to attract more scrutiny, Trump changed course, denying having ever met the Russian president.”
“I am not trying to get ‘top level security clearance’ for my children. This was a typically false news story.”
— President-elect Donald Trump, quoted by Politico, on November 16, 2016.
“Ivanka Trump to get top security clearance and office, White House official says”
— CNN headline, March 21, 2017.
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) warned fellow Republicans of political consequences if they oppose health care legislation coming up for a vote in the House this week, the AP reports.
Said McConnell: “I would hate to be a Republican whose vote prevented us from keeping the commitment we’ve made to the American people for almost 10 years now.”
He added: “I think the American people would be deeply disappointed that we were prevented from keeping our commitment by Republicans who in the end, in effect, voted for the status quo.”
“The CBO recently said that around 24 million fewer Americans would have health insurance in 2026 under the Republican repeal plan than if the current law stayed in place,” the New York Times reports.
“That loss was bigger than most experts anticipated… But one piece of context has gone little noticed: The Republican bill would actually result in more people being uninsured than if Obamacare were simply repealed. Getting rid of the major coverage provisions and regulations of Obamacare would cost 23 million Americans their health insurance, according to another recent C.B.O. report. In other words, 1 million more Americans would have health insurance with a clean repeal than with the Republican replacement plan, according to C.B.O. estimates.”
“The whole world had a chance to watch this unfold, and it was a direct test of his credibility. And the whole world now knows he lied about it. We’ve seen it again and again. When we have a president who is a congenital liar, it really matters.”
— Former White House aide David Gergen, quoted by the Washington Post.
Just two hours before FBI Director James Comey testified before Congress, a White House official told Ryan Lizza that Comey would confirm that Trump campaign officials had no contact with Russia.
“The large gap between what the White House believed about the F.B.I. investigation and the actual facts of that investigation reveals several things. First, Comey has been successful in concealing details from Trump’s closest advisers. One of the reasons that Trump and the White House have been exuding a smokescreen of misinformation is because they are as clueless about what Comey knows as everyone else is.”
“In fact, there are very few officials who understand the true extent of the investigation.”
President Trump singled out House Freedom Caucus Chair Mark Meadows (R-NC) by name in a Capitol Hill meeting with House Republicans today, Axios reports.
“Trump asked Meadows to stand and then talked about how Meadows supported his campaign early, adding he expects Meadows to support the Republican Obamacare replacement bill in the end.”
Said Trump: “Mark, I’m gonna come after you.”
“I honestly think many of you will lose your seats in 2018 if you don’t get this done.”
— President Trump, quoted by Politico, talking to House Republicans about the GOP plan to repeal and replace Obamacare.
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.