“When Donald Trump’s campaign chairman offered private briefings to a Russian oligarch close to President Vladimir Putin last year, he wasn’t only appealing to a superpower, he was pursuing a personal mission: the end to a costly dispute over a failed business deal,” Bloomberg reports.
“The campaign’s chairman, Paul Manafort, wanted a meeting in hopes of resolving a long-simmering dispute with the Russian, said two people familiar with the offer.”
“The stunning defeat of President Trump’s chosen Senate candidate in Alabama on Tuesday amounted to a political lightning strike — setting the stage for a worsening Republican civil war that could have profound effects on next year’s midterm elections and undermine Trump’s clout with his core voters,” the Washington Post reports.
“The GOP primary victory by conservative firebrand Roy Moore over Sen. Luther Strange could also produce a stampede of Republican retirements in the coming months and an energized swarm of challengers.”
Axios: Sen. Bob Corker, a mainstream Republican, announced his retirement today, and several other sitting Republicans are facing primary challengers from the right. So will there be a populist surge in 2018 GOP primaries?”
“Green Party presidential candidate Jill Stein was the beneficiary of at least one Russian-bought ad on Facebook that federal government officials suspect were intended to influence the 2016 election,” Politico reports.
“Other advertisements paid for by shadowy Russian buyers criticized Hillary Clinton and promoted Donald Trump. Some backed Bernie Sanders and his platform even after his presidential campaign had ended, according to a person with knowledge of the ads.”
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“Roy Moore, a firebrand former chief justice of the Alabama Supreme Court, overcame efforts by top Republicans to rescue his rival, Sen. Luther Strange, defeating him on Tuesday in a special primary runoff,” according to the Associated Press.
“The outcome in the closely watched Senate race dealt a humbling blow to President Trump and other party leaders days after the president pleaded with voters in the state to back Mr. Strange.”
Washington Post: “For conservative opponents of the current Republican leadership, the victory was a godsend — literally, for many — and a validation of the larger effort to replace the current leadership of the Republican Party with a more populist crowd.”
HHS Secretary Tom Price “took a government-funded private jet in August to get to St. Simons Island, an exclusive Georgia resort where he and his wife own land, a day and a half before he addressed a group of local doctors at a medical conference that he and his wife have long attended,” Politico reports.
“The St. Simons Island trip was one of two taxpayer-funded flights on private jets in which Price traveled to places where he owns property, and paired official visits with meetings with longtime colleagues and family members.”
“With the collapse of the GOP’s last-ditch effort to repeal Obamacare, Sen. Lamar Alexander (R-TN) said Tuesday he is restarting bipartisan talks to stabilize health insurance markets and bring down premiums,” the Tennessean reports.
Alexander said he will consult with Sen. Patty Murray (D-WA) and other Republicans and Democrats “to see if senators can find consensus on a limited bipartisan plan that could be enacted into law to help lower premiums and make insurance available to the 18 million Americans in the individual market in 2018 and 2019.”
David Nather: “There’s still no guarantee that they can get a deal — Alexander wants to give states more freedom from ACA rules than Murray does. But the fact that Alexander is willing to restart the talks, after walking away from them last week during the Graham-Cassidy effort, could be a sign that the repeal bill’s failure is reviving the prospects for ‘fixing’ the ACA.”
President Trump “began distancing himself from a Luther Strange loss before ballots were even cast, telling conservative activists Monday night the candidate he’s backing in Alabama’s GOP Senate primary was likely to lose – and suggesting Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell would be partly to blame,” Politico reports.
“Trump told conservative activists who visited the White House for dinner on Monday night that he’d underestimated the political power of Roy Moore, the firebrand populist and former judge who’s supported by Trump’s former chief strategist Steve Bannon.”
“The IRS is now sharing information with special counsel Robert Mueller about key Trump campaign officials, after the two entities clashed this summer over both the scope of the investigation into Russia’s meddling in the 2016 election and a raid on former Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort’s home,” people briefed on the matter tell CNN.
“Part of the concern centered on the far-reaching and broad requests from Mueller’s team. In the case of Manafort, Mueller’s investigators are reaching back 11 years as they investigate possible tax and financial crimes, according to search warrant documents.”
“After several months of being at odds, one source said, the IRS Criminal Investigation division is now sharing information about campaign associates, including Manafort and former White House national security adviser Michael Flynn.”
Former White House press secretary Sean Spicer “has tapped Chris Mead, a high-powered criminal defense attorney based, to handle issues related to the special counsel Robert Mueller’s probe, the Daily Beast reports.
“Spicer will need legal help for the probe. Axios reported last week that he took detailed notes throughout the presidential campaign, which may be of great interest and use to Mueller and his team of investigators.”
Sen. Bob Corker (R-TN) said he will not seek re-election next year, USA Today reports.
“Corker, a two-term senator who chairs the influential Senate Foreign Relations Committee, had agonized for weeks over whether he should run for another term amid speculation that he would likely face a challenge from the GOP’s right flank.”
“We were very disappointed by a couple of senators, Republican senators I must say, we were very disappointed that they would take the attitude that they did. But we are disappointed in certain so-called Republicans.”
President Trump, quoted by The Hill, on the latest failed GOP attempt to repeal Obamacare.
“The Environmental Protection Agency is spending nearly $25,000 to construct a secure, soundproof communications booth in the office of Administrator Scott Pruitt,” the Washington Post reports.
“Typically, such soundproof booths are used to conduct hearing tests. But the EPA sought a customized version — one that eventually would cost almost several times more than a typical model — that Pruitt can use to communicate without fear of being monitored.”
Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) “is laying down the same marker on tax legislation as he did on health care, demanding regular order and support from both parties — a stance that has proved pivotal in thwarting Senate Republican efforts to undo Obamacare,” Bloomberg reports.
Said McCain: “We need to do it in a bipartisan fashion. I am committed, as I’ve said before, to a bipartisan approach, such as we’ve been doing in the Armed Services Committee for the last 53 years.”
The U.S. Senate will not vote on the latest Republican bill to repeal Obamacare, sources tell CNN.
“The decision is another blow to President Trump’s attempts to repeal Obamacare, a long-time Republican campaign promise and a centerpiece of his legislative agenda. Trump is now also floating the idea of working with Democrats on changes to the health care law, repeating his budget deal he reached earlier this month.”
Washington Post: “Top Republicans, however, also indicated they have little interest in shoring up the existing insurance market operating under the 2010 law. Instead, they suggested, the ongoing instability would backfire on Democrats and build momentum for the ACA’s eventual repeal.”
For members: Obamacare Isn’t Safe Yet
Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-CT) said that criminal charges against former Trump advisers Paul Manafort and Michael Flynn are virtually certain, Politico reports.
Said Blumenthal, a former U.S. attorney: “I’m about 99% sure there will be some criminal charges from this investigation.”
He added that he is less certain Trump himself would end up facing charges “but there may well be others.”
“The tax plan being presented to GOP members over the next couple of days — as soon as this afternoon to senators — isn’t likely to include tough policy decisions about revenue raisers,” according to Axios.
Said one GOP lobbyist: “All of the goodies and none of the vegetables.”
“Although there’s disagreement about how much individual and corporate tax rates should be lowered, almost every Republican is going to be happy with tax cuts and lower rates. The painful decisions come in when members are forced to decide about revenue-raising policies — for example, whether to eliminate or reduce the state and local tax deduction, which Bloomberg reported this morning is already hitting blue-state Republican resistance.”
A new Monmouth poll in Virginia finds Ralph Northam (D) just five points ahead of Ed Gillespie (R) in the race for governor, 49% to 44%.
“North Korean government officials have been quietly trying to arrange talks with Republican-linked analysts in Washington, in an apparent attempt to make sense of President Trump and his confusing messages to Kim Jong Un’s regime,” the Washington Post reports.
“The outreach began before the current eruption of threats between the two leaders but will probably become only more urgent as Trump and Kim have descended into name-calling that, many analysts worry, sharply increases the chances of potentially catastrophic misunderstandings.”
Said one Republican: “Their number one concern is Trump. They can’t figure him out.”
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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