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Manafort Offered Private Briefings to Russians

September 20, 2017 at 5:15 pm EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

“Less than two weeks before Donald Trump accepted the Republican presidential nomination, his campaign chairman offered to provide briefings on the race to a Russian billionaire closely aligned with the Kremlin,” the Washington Post reports.

“Paul Manafort made the offer in an email to an overseas intermediary, asking that a message be sent to Oleg Deripaska, an aluminum magnate with whom Manafort had done business in the past.”

Key detail: “The emails are among tens of thousands of documents that have been turned over to congressional investigators and Special Counsel Robert S. Mueller.”

Trump Leaning Toward Decertifying Iran Nuclear Deal

September 20, 2017 at 5:13 pm EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

“President Trump is leaning toward decertifying the Iran nuclear deal and putting the decision of whether the U.S. will withdraw from the accord in the hands of Congress,” NBC News reports.

“Such a move would come prior to an Oct. 15 deadline and would trigger a 60-day window for lawmakers to determine whether to reimpose sanctions related to Iran’s nuclear program that were lifted as part of the 2015 agreement. The president’s goal during that time is to prod America’s European allies, who are part of the nuclear deal, to agree to renegotiate some provisions, and pressure Iran back into talks.”

New GOP Plan Could Sow Health Care Chaos

September 20, 2017 at 5:05 pm EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

A new analysis finds the latest Republican bill to repeal Obamacare “would set the stage for a decade of new health care fights as states struggle to cover residents with less money and an unstable source of funding,” NBC News reports.

“Experts say the long and difficult process to implement Graham-Cassidy could create years of chaos in the insurance market, potentially hiking premiums and unsettling markets in 2018 and beyond.”

Said health care analyst Billy Wynne: “I don’t think it’s possible to overstate how disruptive this would be.”

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McCain Says Position on Health Care Has Not Changed

September 20, 2017 at 4:19 pm EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

In an interview with Politico, Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) sounded like he could end up tanking the latest GOP health care bill even though it was written by Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC), his close friend.

Said McCain: “Nothing has changed. If McConnell wants to put it on the floor, that’s up to McConnell. I am the same as I was before. I want the regular order.”

For members: Republicans Are Bluffing

Quote of the Day

September 20, 2017 at 4:12 pm EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

“I could maybe give you 10 reasons why this bill shouldn’t be considered. But Republicans campaigned on this so often that you have a responsibility to carry out what you said in the campaign. That’s pretty much as much of a reason as the substance of the bill.”

— Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-IA), quoted by the Des Moines Register, on the Graham-Cassidy health care bill.

Mueller Seeks Documents Related to Trump’s Actions

September 20, 2017 at 3:28 pm EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

Special counsel Robert Mueller “has asked the White House for documents about some of President Trump’s most scrutinized actions since taking office, including the firing of his national security adviser and F.B.I. director,” the New York Times reports.

“In recent weeks, Mr. Mueller’s office sent a document to the White House that detailed 13 different areas that investigators want more information about. Since then, administration lawyers have been scouring White House emails and asking officials whether they have other documents or notes that may pertain to Mr. Mueller’s requests.”

“One of the requests is about a meeting Mr. Trump had in May with Russian officials in the Oval Office the day after James B. Comey, the F.B.I. director, was fired.”

Washington Post: “The requests broadly ask for any document or email related to a series of highly publicized incidents since Trump became president, including the firing of National Security Adviser Michael Flynn and Comey, the people said. The list demonstrates Mueller’s focus on key moments and actions by the president and close advisers which can address whether Trump sought to block the FBI investigations of Flynn and of Russian interference. His team is also eyeing whether the president sought to obstruct the earlier Russia probe.”

Christie Won’t Back GOP Health Plan

September 20, 2017 at 3:27 pm EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

Gov. Chris Christie (R) said that he opposes the latest Senate plan to repeal and replace Obamacare, deeming it “too injurious” to New Jersey, Politico reports.

Said Christie: “I’m certainly not going to support a bill that takes nearly $4 billion from people in the state.”

Justice Won’t Support GOP Senate Nominee

September 20, 2017 at 3:09 pm EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

West Virginia Gov. Jim Justice (R), who switched parties to become a Republican in early August, told a crowd of Republican lawmakers this week that he supports Sen. Joe Manchin’s (D-WV) re-election to the U.S. Senate, according to West Virginia Metro News.

Said Justice: “Joe Manchin has been a friend of mine. Now he may be a terrible person to y’all but Joe has been a friend of mine and I’m going to tell you this as straight up as I can be: Joe Manchin is becoming a very key, integral part with Donald Trump. And I’m going to take my read off of Donald Trump.”

Price Travels on Private Jets for Official Business

September 20, 2017 at 1:45 pm EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

“In a sharp departure from his predecessors, Health and Human Services Secretary Tom Price last week took private jets on five separate flights for official business, at a cost of tens of thousands of dollars more than commercial travel,” Politico reports.

“The travel by corporate-style jet comes at a time when other members of the Trump administration are under fire for travel expenditures… Price, a frequent critic of federal spending who has been developing a plan for departmentwide cost savings, declined to comment.”

New Bill Includes an ‘Alaska Purchase’ to Woo Key Senator

September 20, 2017 at 12:43 pm EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

Josh Barro: “On Tuesday evening, Robert VerBruggen of National Review noticed something odd: The financial projections produced by Sen. Bill Cassidy’s office showed that, in 2026, his healthcare proposal would award each state almost precisely $4,400 in federal subsidy per “eligible beneficiary” — except Alaska, which would receive $6,500, or 48% more than everybody else.”

“Hmm. Do we know anybody from Alaska?”

“Making things odder: Neither VerBruggen nor I could locate the provision in the bill that seemed to authorize this Alaska Purchase. So I asked a staffer in Cassidy’s office and was told they are revising the projections. The spreadsheet came down off the senator’s website after I inquired about it.”

Clinton Book Sold More Than 300K Copies

September 20, 2017 at 12:10 pm EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

Hillary Clinton’s book about her stunning loss in 2016 to Donald Trump sold more than 300,000 copies in the combined formats of hardcover, e-book and audio, Simon & Schuster told the Associated Press.

The book’s hardcover sales of 168,000 was the highest opening for any nonfiction release in five years.

Trump Nominee Says Trans People Part of ‘Satan’s Plan’

September 20, 2017 at 10:44 am EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

President Trump’s nominee for a federal judgeship in Texas, Jeff Mateer, once described transgender children as evidence of “Satan’s plan,” lamented that states were banning conversion therapy and argued that sanctioning same-sex marriage would lead to polygamy and bestiality, CNN reports.

Trump Using Facebook Ads to Reassure Base

September 20, 2017 at 10:35 am EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

President Trump “is using targeted Facebook ads to reassure supporters that he still plans to build the border wall after his recent public comments caused many to question whether he would keep his promise,” BuzzFeed reports.

“The ads are not visible on the timelines of the Trump or Pence Facebook pages. They are therefore so-called ‘dark post ads’ because they can only be seen by people the campaign chose to target with the message. This is the same type of ad Facebook recently acknowledged was purchased by a Russian troll factory in order to target Americans during the election.”

The Most Radical GOP Health Care Plan Yet

September 20, 2017 at 10:33 am EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

Sarah Kliff: “I have spent the bulk of 2017 writing about the different Republican plans to repeal the Affordable Care Act. Graham-Cassidy, in my view, is the most radical of them all.”

“While other Republican plans essentially create a poorly funded version of the Affordable Care Act, Graham-Cassidy blows it up. The bill offered by Republican Sens. Lindsey Graham and Bill Cassidy takes money from states that did a good job getting residents covered under Obamacare and gives it to states that did not. It eliminates an expansion of the Medicaid program that covers millions of Americans in favor of block grants. States aren’t required to use the money to get people covered or to help subsidize low- and middle-income earners, as Obamacare does now.”

“Plus, the bill includes other drastic changes that appeared in some previous bills. Insurers in the private marketplace would be allowed to discriminate against people with preexisting conditions, for example. And it would eliminate the individual mandate as other bills would have, but this time there is no replacement. Most analysts agree that would inject chaos into the individual market.”

Sam Baker: “The Senate’s health-care overhaul would quickly pull $215 billion in federal funding out of the health care system, and those cuts could later grow as high as $4 trillion, according to a new analysis from the consulting firm Avalere Health.”

Republicans Are Bluffing

September 20, 2017 at 9:03 am EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

This piece is only available to Political Wire members.

After weeks of trying, Sens. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) and Bill Cassidy (R-LA) weren’t any closer to getting the 50 votes they needed to pass their health care bill. So they starting bluffing.

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Mueller Interviews His Boss on Russia Investigation

September 20, 2017 at 7:54 am EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

The Wall Street Journal reports Robert Mueller’s office has interviewed Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein about Trump’s firing of James Comey.

“The interview, which occurred in June or July, presents the unusual situation of investigators questioning the person directly overseeing their probe. Mr. Mueller as special counsel has a good deal of independence, but he ultimately answers to Mr. Rosenstein, because Jeff Sessions recused himself from the investigation. The special counsel’s handling of the interview could be a sign that Mr. Mueller’s team doesn’t view Mr. Rosenstein as a central witness in its probe, as the deputy attorney general hasn’t withdrawn himself from overseeing it since that interview. A key witness would likely have to take such a step.”

Republicans Don’t Care About Health Bill Details

September 20, 2017 at 7:21 am EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

“Senate Republicans are on the verge of passing a sweeping health care bill not only without knowing what’s in it, but without particularly caring. The political abstraction of ‘Obamacare’ — and the seven years of promises to ‘repeal Obamacare’ — have almost totally overshadowed even the broad strokes of policy, much less the details,” Axios reports.

Said one GOP lobbyist: “I am just in shock how no one actually cares about the policy any more.”

“The bottom line: The repeal-and-replace bill sponsored by Sens. Lindsey Graham and Bill Cassidy is gaining steam because it has the appearance of gaining steam — not because of the changes it would make.”

Rick Klein: “This rerun of the fight has been quieter, to the GOP’s benefit so far. But, as Democrats learned the hard way in the Obama years, Republicans will own the policy as well as the process.”

Trump Rebounds from Polling Slide

September 20, 2017 at 7:09 am EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

Politico: “Following a low of 39 percent in the Politico/Morning Consult poll last month after his controversial reaction to the violent protests in Charlottesville, Virginia, Trump is back at 43 percent in this week’s survey. Other surveys show similar results: Trump bottomed out at 35 percent in Gallup’s weekly tracking poll in late August, but ticked up to 38 percent last week. Trump is at 40 percent in the RealClearPolitics average, up about 2.5 points from his low-water mark last month.”

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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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