The Toronto Star has published the video of the late Toronto Mayor Rob Ford smoking crack cocaine.
Ford always denied the incident saying he could not comment on a video “that I have never seen or does not exist.”
Reid May Force Vote on Supreme Court Nominee
Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) “left the door open for Democrats to potentially use a procedural tactic to force a vote on Supreme Court nominee Merrick Garland,” The Hill reports.
Said Reid: “We have a couple of options, and we’re deciding when to do that and if we should do it — when and if. I’ve been in touch with some of my senators during the break to determine that.”
Republicans Urge RNC to Stop Supporting Trump
“More than 70 Republicans have signed an open letter to Republican National Committee Chairman Reince Priebus urging him to stop spending any money to help Donald Trump win in November and shift those contributions to Senate and House races,” Politico reports.
Trump Doubles Down Saying Obama Founded ISIS
Donald Trump said that he meant exactly what he said when he called President Obama the “founder of ISIS” and objected when a conservative radio show host tried to clarify the GOP nominee’s position, CNN reports.
Said Trump: “No, I meant he’s the founder of ISIS. I do. He was the most valuable player. I give him the most valuable player award. I give her, too, by the way, Hillary Clinton.”
He added: “He was the founder. His, the way he got out of Iraq was that that was the founding of ISIS, okay?”
What Happens to the Clinton Foundation If Hillary Wins?
First Read: “Maybe the Clinton Foundation doesn’t have to close its doors if Hillary wins in November, but it will be unsustainable — for the Clintons and for the foundation — if it’s viewed as a conflict of interest. As former GOP Sen. Dick Lugar (R-IN) noted in 2009 during Hillary Clinton’s confirmation hearing to become secretary of state back, ‘The core of the problem is that foreign governments and entities may perceive the Clinton Foundation as a means to gain favor with the secretary of state. Although neither Senator Clinton nor President Clinton has a personal financial stake in the foundation, obviously its work benefits their legacy and their public service priorities.'”
“And as we found out, any safeguards that the Clintons and Foundation established to eliminate perceptions problems while Hillary was secretary of state didn’t exactly do the trick.”
Clinton Is Outpacing Obama In the States
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Democrats Still Unlikely to Take House
Larry Sabato’s Crystal Ball: “This week we’re moving four House race ratings toward the Democrats (descriptions of those changes are below). That brings the overall House tally to 226 Safe/Likely/Leaning Republican seats, 193 Safe/Likely/Leaning Democratic seats, and 16 Toss-ups (14 of which are held by Republicans). The House is currently 247-188 Republican, so if one splits the Toss-ups eight apiece, the House would be 234-201 Republican, giving Democrats a net gain of 13 seats (and matching the makeup of the House following the 2012 election).”
“That squares with our current projection: a 10-15 seat Democratic gain, which even at the high end would still be just half of the 30 seats the Democrats need to win the House.”
Trump Campaign Struggling In Ohio
Cincinnati Enquirer: “With the presidential election 90 days away, the Donald Trump campaign is scrambling to set up the basics of a campaign in Hamilton County, a key county in a swing state crucial to a Republican victory, a recent internal email obtained by The Enquirer shows. The campaign has yet to find or appoint key local leaders or open a campaign office in the county and isn’t yet sure which Hamilton County Republican party’s central committee members are allied with the Republican presidential nominee.”
Americans Find Trump Nearly as Big a Threat as ISIS
A new Monmouth poll specifically asked whether voters feel that their own personal way of life is under threat from six different sources.
Among these sources, majorities of the electorate say they personally feel threatened by Islamic terrorists (61%) and by the prospect of a Donald Trump presidency (54%). About 4-in-10 feel their way of life is threatened by the prospect of a Hillary Clinton presidency (42%), by the policies of the Republican Party (43%), or by the policies of the Democratic Party (39%). Just 28% say their personal way of life is under threat from illegal immigrants from Mexico.
Trump Really Has No Leverage on the Debates
Rick Klein: “Trump says he is just now engaging with the commission to negotiate. But the commission says it does not negotiate things like dates and moderators with the campaigns. In any event, one campaign has agreed to the dates, football conflicts or not. Thinking back to the primaries, he may think he has leverage he does not. Plus, there’s a downside, if it means having to swim into Hillary Clinton’s policy depths. (He wasn’t quite as good a debater as he seems to remember himself being.) The only reason the debates would happen is if Trump decides he absolutely needs them. And that will almost certainly mean following the commission schedule through the fall.”
In case you missed it, Jim Lehrer joined us on Political Wire Conversations to discuss the upcoming debates.
Trump’s Attack Backfires Big Time
Donald Trump “admonished Hillary Clinton for having the father of the Orlando shooter seated behind her at a recent campaign rally,” NBC News reports.
Said Trump: “Wasn’t it terrible? Sitting with a big smile on his face right behind Hillary Clinton … When you get those seats, you sort of know the campaign.”
“But as he said those words, disgraced former Congressman Mark Foley smiled up at him from behind the stage. Foley, a Republican who represented southern Florida, was forced to resign his seat in September 2006 in the wake of allegations that he sent sent suggestive emails and instant messages to congressional pages. The former congressman shared Trump’s camera shot, with a smile, for the entirety of the hour-long rally.”
First Read: “Here’s one of the iron-clad rules of American politics: If you’re going to hit your opponent over something, you better make sure you don’t do the exact-same thing just days later.”
Quote of the Day
“It’s either going to work or I’m going to have a very very nice long vacation.”
— Donald Trump, in a CNBC interview.
Trump Writes Only the Angry Tweets
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Florida Insiders See Trump Losing State
A Tampa Bay Times Florida Insider Poll this week finds that three in four expected Clinton will win Florida.
“At the same, however, an even more overwhelming majory of the political consultants, fundraisers, academics, and the like surveyed -almost 80 percent – expect Republican Marco Rubio will win reelection in November.”
RNC Threatened to Pull All Support from Trump
Time: “Priebus was on vacation when he learned that Trump had declined to endorse Paul Ryan, the Speaker of the House and a close friend. The chairman had a frank message for the nominee, according to two Republican officials briefed on the call. Priebus told Trump that internal GOP polling suggested he was on track to lose the election. And if Trump didn’t turn around his campaign over the coming weeks, the Republican National Committee would consider redirecting party resources and machinery to House and Senate races.”
Trump Appears to Be Hurting Rubio
A new Quinnipiac poll finds Sen. Marco Rubio (R-FL) with a three-point lead over Rep. Patrick Murphy in the U.S. Senate race, 48% to 45%.
Last month, Rubio led by 13 points.
Said pollster Peter Brown: “At this stage of the campaign, Republican U.S. Senate candidates may be running against their own presidential nominee, Donald Trump, as much as they are against their Democratic opponents. The incumbent U.S. senators seeking re-election are running better than Trump. But if Trump continues to lag behind in the presidential race, that will make it more difficult for GOP candidates, logic holds, up and down the ballot.”
Hack of Democrats Wider Than Originally Thought
“A Russian cyberattack that targeted Democratic politicians was bigger than it first appeared and breached the private email accounts of more than 100 party officials and groups,” the New York Times reports.
“The widening scope of the attack has prompted the F.B.I. to broaden its investigation, and agents have begun notifying a long list of Democratic officials that the Russians may have breached their personal accounts.”
Playbook: “There is a serious, palpable fear among Democrats right now that WikiLeaks will release a raft of new, damning emails that will help boost Donald Trump this fall.”
House Democrats See Control Within Reach
Rep. Xavier Becerra (D-CA), “who has been criss-crossing the country to help support Democratic challengers, predicted Democrats will win the 30 seats needed to regain control of the House if Republican Donald Trump continues to stumble,” the Wall Street Journal reports.
Said Becerra: “If this is a change election, the sky’s the limit. We can get to our 30 for sure.”
For members: What It Would Take for Democrats to Win the House
