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Freedom Caucus Wants to Force Health Care Vote

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“The conservative House Freedom Caucus will file a petition today to try to force Speaker Paul Ryan to bring up a so-called ‘clean Obamacare repeal’ bill,” according to Politico.

“The legislation passed the House and Senate in the past — it repeals Obamacare after a two-year transition period. (It failed the Senate this year.) If the discharge petition — which will get filed during today’s pro-forma session — gets 218 signatures, it will force a floor vote. The Freedom Caucus and conservative outside groups will try to ramp up lots of pressure to force people to sign on. Expect Trump — itchy for victory, and frustrated with Republican leaders on health care — to weigh in. He’s close with some members of the Freedom Caucus.”

Manafort Switches Legal Team

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Former Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort “is changing his attorneys as a federal investigation heats up into his financial transactions,” Politico reports.

“Manafort’s case will now be handled by Miller and Chevalier, a boutique firm in Washington that specializes in complicated financial crimes among other issues… Manafort is cutting ties with WilmerHale, the firm that has represented him in the matter so far. His former lawyer there, Reg Brown, led the congressional investigations practice.”

Trump Risks Alienating Important Ally

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Politico: “The two men have talked from time to time on the phone, but the conversations have often been brief, and Trump often disregards McConnell’s advice. McConnell has told people after meeting with Trump in the White House that it is difficult to keep the president on topic and that he wanders around verbally in a way that McConnell — a man who does not see the purpose in unnecessary words — doesn’t understand.”

New York Times: “Mr. McConnell’s original point was that the president was still learning how things work in Washington. By publicly berating the man who should be his most indispensable ally on Capitol Hill, Mr. Trump may have affirmed Mr. McConnell’s point.”

For members: It Makes No Sense to Attack Mitch McConnell


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Trump Insists He Hasn’t Thought of Firing Mueller

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President Trump told reporters “that he hasn’t given firing special counsel Robert Mueller any thought, despite people close to him telling reporters that he is,” CNN reports.

Said Trump: “I haven’t given it any thought. I’ve been reading about it from you people. You say, ‘Oh, I’m going to dismiss him.’ No, I’m not dismissing anybody.”

But he added: “We have an investigation of something that never took place.”

Trump Thanks Putin for Expelling U.S. Diplomats

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President Trump thanked Russian President Vladimir Putin for expelling hundreds of U.S. diplomatic employees from Russia, saying he appreciated the ability to cut the federal government’s payroll, CBS News reports.

Said Trump: “I want to thank him because we’re trying to cut down our payroll and as far as I’m concerned I’m very thankful that he let go of a large number of people because now we have a smaller payroll. There’s no real reason for them to go back. I greatly appreciate the fact that we’ve been able to cut our payroll of the United States. We’re going to save a lot of money.”

Trump Says It Was ‘Tough Stuff’ to Raid Manafort Home

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President Trump said he was “surprised” by the fact that the FBI conducted an early morning raid of his former campaign chairman Paul Manafort’s home last month, CNN reports.

Said Trump: “You know, they do that very seldom, so I was surprised to see it. I was very, very surprised to see it. I thought it was a very, very strong signal, or whatever.”

He added: “But to do that early in the morning, whether or not it was appropriate you’d have to ask them. I’ve always found Paul Manafort to be a very decent man. He’s like a lot of other people — probably makes consultant fees from all over the place. Who knows? I don’t know, but I thought it was pretty tough stuff to wake him up, perhaps his family was there. I think that’s pretty tough stuff.”

CNN Fires Jeffrey Lord

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CNN severed ties with Jeffrey Lord on Thursday, hours after he ignited controversy by tweeting the words “Sieg Heil!” at a prominent liberal activist, CNN reports.

Said a CNN spokesperson: “Nazi salutes are indefensible. Jeffrey Lord is no longer with the network.”

Graham Says Trump Is Willing to Strike North Korea

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Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) told radio host Hugh Hewitt that while President Trump said he would try to negotiate with North Korea, he is very “willing to abandon strategic patience and use preemption. I think he’s there mentally. He has told me this.”

Said Graham: “I wish a Democrat would take their hatred of Donald Trump and park it…because of everyone else’s failure, he’s run out of the ability to kick the can down the road.”

It Makes No Sense to Attack Mitch McConnell

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This piece is only available to Political Wire members.

It’s hard to see how President Trump thinks attacking Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) will help him get things done. McConnell is literally the key to all of Trump’s agenda.

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Don’t Double Dare Kim

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Dennis Wilder, former special assistant to George W. Bush for East Asian affairs, quoted by the Cipher Brief:

The key thing now is President Trump has got to realize that Kim Jung-un is a man who can be provoked by words, and therefore, be careful with what you put out there. There is danger that he can be provoked into steps. And, remember that Kim was behind the sinking of the Cheonan. We know the South Koreans have had quite good public statements on this, we know that Kim himself was involved in the decision to sink the South Korean warship.

This is a guy who will take those kinds of actions to demonstrate his toughness. You want to think hard about — again, I use a kid’s “I double dare” you sort of language, “I triple dare you,” you know, all that stuff. I just don’t think that’s mature foreign policy.

Trump Escalates Rhetoric on North Korea

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President Trump said of North Korea that “things will happen to them like they never thought possible” should the regime attack the United States or its allies, the Washington Post reports.

Trump told reporters that his Tuesday statement warning of “fire and fury” may not have been “tough enough.”

“Trump would not say whether he is considering a preemptive strike on North Korea, and while he said he was open to negotiating with Pyongyang, he said talks over the years had done little to halt the country’s nuclear program.”

Castro Launches Political Group Ahead of 2020

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Former Obama Cabinet secretary Julián Castro has formed a new PAC as he steps up his political activity and considers a possible run for president in 2020, Politico reports.

“Castro, long considered a rising star in the Democratic Party, has discussed his political intentions carefully, telling reporters that he will not run for office in 2018 but is not ruling out running for president… He is taking several preliminary steps associated with presidential campaigns; in addition to forming a political group, Castro is also writing a memoir.”

Most See Congress as a Failure

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A new CNN poll finds 68% of Americans judge the Republican Congress a failure so far after last month’s Obamacare repeal and replace plan died in the Senate.

Approval of the current Republican leaders in Congress has dropped from 39% in January to just 24% now.

Mueller Turns Up Heat on Manafort

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Special counsel Robert Mueller “is bearing down on former Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort as he directs a wide-ranging probe into Russian interference in last year’s presidential election,” Bloomberg reports.

“Mueller’s team of investigators has sent subpoenas in recent weeks from a Washington grand jury to global banks for account information and records of transactions involving Manafort and some of his companies, as well as those of a long-time business partner, Rick Gates, according to people familiar with the matter.”

“As prosecutors gather many years of information about his financial affairs, Manafort could be dragged deeper into any number of legal disputes. He has a history of doing business with oligarchs and politicians in Ukraine and Russia that predates his political work for Trump, with payments routed through foreign banks and investments in U.S. real estate.”

About Political Wire

goddard-bw-snapshotTaegan 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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