“Federal prosecutors have issued grand jury subpoenas to associates of former National Security Advisor Michael Flynn seeking business records, as part of the ongoing probe of Russian meddling in last year’s election, according to people familiar with the matter,” CNN reports.
“The subpoenas represent the first sign of a significant escalation of activity in the FBI’s broader investigation begun last July into possible ties between Trump campaign associates and Russia.”
In an extraordinary move, President Trump has dismissed FBI James Comey on the recommendation of Attorney General Jeff Sessions, the New York Times reports.
Comey was leading an investigation into whether members of the Trump campaign colluded with Russia to influence the 2016 election.
“Democratic activist groups have a new plan for their party to take back control of Congress: Raise money for yet-to-be determined Democratic nominees,” the HuffPost reports.
“At least three Democratic-allied groups ― including ActBlue, the biggest online fundraiser for Democratic candidates ― are raking in money from donors who don’t care who they’re supporting, as long as it’s a Democrat in a certain district.”
“Immediately after House Republicans passed a bill to repeal Obamacare… the three groups combined to raise more than $2 million in less than 24 hours for dozens of Democratic nominees whose identities will be determined at a later date.”
Sen. Orrin Hatch (R-UT) warned that efforts to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act in the Senate might be complicated because once the public “is on the dole, they’ll take every dime they can,” CNN reports.
Said Hatch: “Let’s face it, once you get them on the dole, they’ll take every dime they can. We’ve got to find some way of getting things under control or this country and your future is going to be gone.”
Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross told Reuters the U.S. economy won’t achieve the Trump administration’s 3 percent growth goal this year and not until all of its tax, regulatory, trade and energy policies are fully in place.
Said Ross: “The Congress has been slow-walking everything. We don’t even have half the people in place.”
White House aide Dan Scavino “celebrated the six-month anniversary of the election by tweeting a screen grab of the late night phone call in which Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton called to concede to Republican candidate Donald Trump,” Yahoo News reports.
“Scavino promised to share video of the conversation, which he said came via a Nov. 9 phone call at 2:30 a.m. from longtime Clinton aide Huma Abedin to Trump’s then-campaign manager, Kellyanne Conway.”
The Trump’s campaign website was also relaunched along with a statement that said it would offer a “unique, behind the scenes view.”
Rep. Raúl Labrador (R-ID) filed paperwork to run for governor and promised a formal candidacy announcement in the “coming weeks,” an expected development that came as the congressman continues to face harsh national publicity for comments last week that “nobody dies because they don’t have access to health care,” the Idaho Statesman reports.
HuffPost: “The announcement ends long speculation that Labrador was eyeing the governor’s mansion. For years, Labrador has seemed frustrated by the slow pace of lawmaking. He’s bemoaned the erosion of regular order in Congress and been a key player himself in thwarting major pieces of legislation.”
Seattle Mayor Ed Murray “dropped his re-election bid for a second term after four men claimed he sexually abused them when they were teenagers, claims vehemently denied by Murray as an anti-gay political conspiracy aimed at derailing his campaign,” the AP reports.
“Murray said for weeks after the allegations emerged that he would press on in his campaign for a second term but told reporters that he decided it was best for Seattle to end his campaign and not seek another term.”
Nate Silver: “When the conventional wisdom tries to outguess the polls, it almost always guesses in the wrong direction. Many experts expected Le Pen to beat her polls. Currency markets implied that she had a much greater chance — perhaps 20 percent — than you’d reasonably infer from the polls. But it was Macron who considerably outperformed his numbers instead.”
“While this was somewhat amusing — the one time the experts decided to take the nationalist candidate’s chances really seriously was the time she lost by 32 points — it should actually worry you, even if you’re a ‘fan’ of polling and data-driven election forecasting. It’s a sign that the polls may be catering to the conventional wisdom, and becoming worse as a result.”
“The White House is keeping tabs on Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA), viewing her as a potential challenger to President Trump in the 2020 election,” The Hill reports.
“The Republican National Committee (RNC), in coordination with the White House, is assembling a research file on Warren and other possible 2020 opponents and frequently circulates memos critical of her to reporters.”
“Senate Republicans landed a top-tier candidate in West Virginia but have struggled to recruit well-known GOP challengers in several states where President Trump romped and Democratic incumbents warily face re-election,” the AP reports.
“In Wisconsin, Michigan and other states, Republicans have passed on challenging Democrats. Trump’s abysmal approval ratings loom large as does the typically rough going for the president’s party in midterm elections. Democratic senators in states Trump carried last year have capitalized on their party’s resistance to the president to post robust early fundraising.”
“What the fuck is that?”
— Sen. Kamala Harris (D-CA), on Pod Save America, when asked about Rep. Raul Labrador’s (R-ID) statement that “nobody dies because they don’t have access to health care.”
House Republican cuts to Medicaid in the American Health Care Act would hit New Jersey harder than any other state, thanks to a compromise brokered by Rep. Tom MacArthur (R-NJ) that led to the approval the bill, the Newark Star Ledger reports.
“The bill would leave 500,000 more Garden State residents without health insurance than under current law, and New Jersey no longer would get extra federal funding for expanding Medicaid.”
“Jakarta’s Christian governor was sentenced to two years in jail for blasphemy, a harsher-than-expected ruling that critics fear will embolden hardline Islamist forces to challenge secularism in Indonesia, the world’s largest Muslim-majority nation,” Reuters reports.
“Tuesday’s guilty verdict comes amid concern about the growing influence of Islamist groups, who organized mass rallies during a tumultuous election campaign that ended with Basuki Tjahaja Purnama losing his bid for another term as governor.”
“Republican anxiety is mounting about a runoff election in a typically red Georgia House district—a race that will offer an early test of Democratic motivation just weeks after Donald Trump’s health care repeal bill passed the House,” McClatchy reports.
“Republicans in Washington and Georgia acknowledge that a GOP loss in the special election runoff between Karen Handel (R) and Jon Ossoff (D) is a distinct possibility, a development that would harden the narrative that Republicans face a daunting task in maintaining control of Congress in 2018… Interviews with a half-dozen Republican operatives and strategists familiar with the race reveal a recognition that Democrats have enthusiasm on their side.”
Federal investigators are looking into allegations that Sen. Bernie Sanders’s (I-VT) wife, Jane Sanders, falsified loan documents while she served as the president of Burlington College, The Hill reports.
“The small Vermont liberal arts school closed down in May 2016, after going bankrupt and failing to meet accreditation standards. Sanders has been accused of falsifying the information on the loan documents in order to expand the college grounds.”
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.