Good morning! Here is your news briefing for Friday November 15, 2019
THE WASHINGTON FREE BEACON
THE DAILY SIGNAL
|
Nov 15, 2019
Happy Friday from Washington, where House Democrats today resume
their impeachment inquiry with much-anticipated testimony from the
ambassador to Ukraine who was removed by President Trump. On the
podcast, Heritage Foundation legal expert Tom Jipping provides analysis
of the proceedings so far. Plus: Kentucky’s first black attorney
general, the not-so-green Green New Deal, and Disney and racism. On this
date in 1867, the first stock ticker debuts in New York City,
permanently changing the stock market by transmitting up-to-the-minute
prices to investors across the nation. Have a terrific weekend.
Analysis Everything You Need to Know About What’s Happening in Impeachment Process By Daniel Davis Heritage Foundation legal scholar Tom Jipping explains why lawyers, not lawmakers, are doing much of the questioning, what’s next for the impeachment process, and today’s hearing featuring Marie Yovanovitch, the former ambassador to Ukraine. More News 4 Things to Know About Republican Daniel Cameron, Kentucky’s First Black Attorney General By Joshua Nelson When he takes office Dec. 10, Daniel Cameron will make history as Kentucky’s first-ever attorney general who is African American and the first Republican to hold the office since 1948. More Commentary The Green New Deal Isn’t Just Expensive. It’s Also Bad Environmental Policy. By Nicolas Loris The central planning policies at the heart of the Green New Deal have a horrible track record for the environment. More Commentary Disney Again Faces Up to Its Racist Past By Dee Dee Bass Wilbon Disney Plus put this disclaimer at the bottom of the synopsis of some of the studio’s classic movies: “This program is presented as originally created. It may contain outdated cultural depictions.” More News Backed by Soros Cash, Radical District Attorneys Take Control in DC Suburbs By Luke Rosiak In a previous election cycle, financier George Soros’ PAC helped install Kim Foxx, a Chicago prosecutor who gained notoriety for her role in the Jussie Smollett case. More The Daily Signal is brought to you by more than half a million members of The Heritage Foundation. Donate to The Daily Signal Find us on Facebook Follow us on Twitter How are we doing? We welcome your comments, suggestions, and story tips. Please reply to this email or send us a note at comments@dailysignal.com. The Daily Signal 214 Massachusetts Avenue, NE Washington, DC 20002 (800) 546-2843 Add morningbell@heritage.org to your address book to ensure that you receive emails from us. You are subscribed to this newsletter as rickbulow1974@gmail.com. If you want to receive other Heritage Foundation newsletters, or opt out of this newsletter, please click here to update your subscription. |
THE EPOCH TIMES
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“You need to overcome the tug of people against you as you reach for high goals.” GENERAL GEORGE PATTON Good morning, A former senior state department official who played a key role in spreading the “Steele dossier” on Donald Trump during the 2016 elections was also involved in the firing of a top Ukrainian official. According to impeachment inquiry testimony by senior State Department official George Kent, Victoria Nuland was involved in creating the plan to force Ukraine’s president to fire the prosecutor general. Biden would pressure Ukraine’s president for the firing by threatening to withhold $1 billion in loan guarantees. Read the full story here. Poll: Majority Believe Media Working With Democrats to Try to Impeach Trump Jeffrey Epstein ‘Was Innocent’ and Did Not Kill Himself, Brother Mark Epstein Claims Trump Appeals to Supreme Court to Keep Tax Returns From NY Officials Only 10 Candidates Make the Cut for November Democratic Presidential Debate After the first day of public impeachment hearings on Nov. 13, White House chief economic adviser Larry Kudlow came to President Donald Trump’s defense. He said the president has had to “fight hard to do his task” amid political “toxicity” in Washington. Read more More than 4,000 child exploitation cases were initiated by Homeland Security Investigations this fiscal year, resulting in thousands of arrests and the identification of more than 1,000 victims, according to data obtained by The Associated Press. Read more U.S. senators are using the “hotline” method to push for swift passage of a bill supporting the pro-democracy protests in Hong Kong, as tensions in the city escalated to new levels in the past week. Read more Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) is taking action in the wake of the Thrift Savings Board’s refusal to reverse its decision earlier this year to invest billions of dollars saved by federal employees and members of the U.S. military in Chinese firms connected to Beijing’s military research and development. Read more Two Republicans on the House Education and Labor Committee told the panel’s Democratic chairman on Nov. 14 that the corruption scandal at the highest ranks of the United Auto Workers union is deepening and it’s time for a congressional hearing on the situation. Read more See More Top Stories Don’t lapse your life insurance policy – sell it for cash instead! Whatever you do with your unneeded life insurance policy, don’t cancel it before you talk to us. Policyowners who sell their policies receive on average 400% more cash than they would get from any cash surrender value. You can even sell a term policy! That’s money you can use to supplement your retirement income, fund long-term care, pay medical bills, cover your grandkids’ college tuition, or whatever else you’d like. Consider this: We were recently approached by a policyowner interested in selling a policy on his mother to help fund her long-term care. He sold a $100,000 Universal Life policy with only $2,000 in cash value for $45,000! Find out if you qualify by calling 800.596.2664 or by visiting CoventryDirect.com. Virginia Goes Blue: Pro-China Communists Claim Credit By Trevor Loudon It’s official. The once deep-red Commonwealth of Virginia is now a blue state. As a result of the Nov. 5 election, Democrats now hold all three of the statewide constitutional offices, both U.S. Senate seats, the majority of its Congress members, and both chambers of the State House. Read more Sister City Partnerships With China: Promoting the Chinese Regime’s Agenda Abroad By Heng He In October, the city council of Prague voted to terminate its sister city relationship with Beijing. Shortly after, Beijing announced it would also end the Friendship City agreement, which is one of the many treaties signed during Chinese leader Xi Jinping’s visit to the Czech Republic in 2016. Read more See More Opinions Former Top Regulator: Mainstream Economics Doesn’t Understand Banks By Valentin Schmid (November 15, 2015) Economics as a science has a terrible track record. Time and again the “dismal science” misses predictions or whole financial crises altogether. The problem: Mainstream economics ignores the fact banks create and manage our money, and the whole system stands and falls with the process. Read more Attorney General William Barr said the release of an internal watchdog investigation into whether the FBI followed its own policies and the law when it applied for a warrant to surveil President Trump’s campaign starting in 2016 is “imminent.” Barr: IG Report on Alleged FISA Abuses Is ‘Imminent’ Advertisement: Copyright © 2019 The Epoch Times, All rights reserved. Want to change how you receive these emails? You can unsubscribe from this list or remove my account. |
THE RESURGENT
THE FLIP SIDE
| View this email in your browser Friday, November 15, 2019 Pete Buttigieg Rising A Monmouth University Poll of Iowa’s Democratic caucuses released on Tuesday showed Pete Buttigieg in the lead. “Four candidates are currently vying for the top spot in Iowa’s caucuses – Buttigieg (22%), Biden (19%), Warren (18%), and Sanders (13%).” Monmouth Last Friday, Buttigieg unveiled an economic plan pledging to lower the cost of housing, childcare, college, and healthcare and also to raise incomes. Pete Buttigieg 2020 From the Left The left thinks Buttigieg has a long road ahead to gain momentum outside Iowa, but supports his education proposal. “As voters have developed Goldilocks syndrome about the leading Democratic candidates — too old, too liberal, too … female? — Buttigieg has benefitted from the strong vanilla flavor of his political porridge. His stump speech is about ‘American values, correctly understood,’ addresses ‘the crisis of belonging,’ scolds the ‘cheap nationalism of hugging the flag’ and encourages ‘Republicans of conscience’ to come on into the Democratic Party. Like Biden, Buttigieg is selling voters on a nostalgic return to some age of innocence and patriotism that existed before Trump.” Clare Malone, FiveThirtyEight Buttigieg “has criticized Warren for being evasive about how she would pay for her Medicare for All plan, which credible sources estimate would cost between $31tn and $34tn over a decade. Buttigieg’s proposed Medicare-for-all-who-want-it alternative would also represent an expensive advance on the status quo. But by allowing Americans who have private insurance to keep it if they wish – unlike Warren and Sanders, who would eliminate it – Buttigieg can advertise himself as both a progressive and a pragmatist… “Buttigieg is the most articulate speaker and debater in the presidential race… [he] evokes many of the same themes that launched Obama to the White House in the last decade… In less than a hundred days, we’ll find out if Iowa’s Democratic voters consider his version of ‘hope and change’ to be the best approach to take on Trump.” Geoffrey Kabaservice, The Guardian “What’s clear is that Buttigieg is doing well in Iowa mostly because Iowa voters are exactly the kind of people who love Pete Buttigieg: aging, mostly white voters with midwestern sensibilities. The South Bend Mayor is about twice as popular with voters over 65 as he is with voters under 30, according to a recent New York Times/Siena poll, and overwhelmingly favored by white voters over voters of color. Many midwestern moderates are also drawn to his brand of hopeful liberalism… “But those strengths don’t necessarily translate outside Iowa… It’s not that black voters in South Carolina necessarily dislike Pete Buttigieg—they just don’t like him. The most typical reaction from the black voters I spoke with during Buttigieg’s most recent swing through South Carolina was resounding indifference: not a sneer, but a shrug.” Charlotte Alter, Time “Black voters generally favor candidates with a demonstrated history of loyalty to the community. Buttigieg is a young man, relatively unknown, and with a curious history on race relations in South Bend, Ind. He will have to get over those hurdles. Pretending those hurdles don’t exist, and instead assigning the blame to black homophobia, hurts Buttigieg’s campaign more than helps it.” Charles M. Blow, New York Times “African Americans have evolved on LGBTQ equality just like everyone else. According to the Pew Research Center, only 29 percent of blacks supported same-sex marriage in 2009. Ten years later, a majority (51 percent) now does. Sure, that is lower than other ethnic groups, but not significantly so… Black voters don’t own homophobia and they are not monolithic. Black voters have their specific concerns and they have hopes, dreams and aspirations that are as American as they come. If candidates want their votes, they have to work for them continually and ask for them with sincerity. And if a candidate fails to win over African Americans, the fault is not those voters. It’s the messenger and their message. Or they simply thought someone else stood a better chance of winning.” Jonathan Capehart, Washington Post Regarding Buttigieg’s education proposal, “it stops short of the free-college-for-all plans that Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) and Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) have offered, which would wastefully hand tuition subsidies to wealthy families who don’t need the help. The result is that Mr. Buttigieg can devote some of the money he would raise from the 1 percent to other worthy causes, whereas Mr. Sanders and Ms. Warren need new and different revenue-raisers — some of them implausible or economically risky — to fund their more expansive programs. It is more progressive to target aid to those who require it, conserving federal resources to do the maximum good… [Buttigieg has] resisted the faux-progressive lure of big, universal programs and designed one that would provide help to those who need it.” Editorial Board, Washington Post From the Right The right remains skeptical that Buttigieg will win the nomination, and criticizes his economic plan. “Buttigieg’s lead has been the headline of the day for mainstream media outlets, but the reason he has a lead is because Buttigieg flooded Iowa with paid TV advertisements… Buttigieg’s campaign spent $870,000 between November 5 to 11 on TV ads in Iowa alone… In the third quarter of fundraising, Buttigieg raised $19.1 million. Between November 5 to 11, Buttigieg’s campaign spent approximately 5 percent of that money in just one week–high spending for just one state… Nationally, Buttigieg is far from the top three and not ‘top tier.’ With intense money poured into television ads and staff in Iowa, Buttigieg may be at the top in one state, but this poll is not indicative of his campaign on the national level.” Chrissy Clark, The Federalist “The Buttigieg campaign is heavily invested in Iowa and has little in the way of infrastructure or support elsewhere… To have a sustainable campaign, Buttigieg must look beyond Iowa and broaden his appeal while fending off attacks from his rivals. If Mayor Pete can hold on for three months to pull off an upset victory in Iowa, then he may be able to parley his new frontrunner status into more victories.” David Thornton, The Resurgent “A big question hanging over Buttigieg’s head is whether he can make sufficient inroads with African-American primary voters to capture the nomination… Buttigieg’s weakness in South Carolina is partly a function of the fact that Joe Biden, former vice president to America’s first black president, retains a commanding lead among black voters. But Buttigieg’s weakness is also partly a function of his sexual orientation… “Gallup has long tested voters’ bias against political candidates based on various factors… this year, 17 percent of Democrats said they would not vote for a gay or lesbian candidate. A spokeswoman for Gallup tells National Review that while 9 percent of white Democrats said they would not vote for a gay or lesbian candidate, 22 percent of non-white Democrats said they would not vote for a gay or lesbian candidate. And recall that this is a question about voting in a general election for a ‘generally well-qualified’ nominee of one’s own party. The percentage of Democrats who would be reluctant to vote for a candidate in the Democratic primary due to his sexual orientation is surely higher than that.” John McCormack, National Review “For Democrats to avoid a contested convention… they need for the field to narrow to essentially two main candidates relatively early on. This seemed to be a possibility when it was looking like Warren and Joe Biden were co-front-runners… “A Buttigieg victory in Iowa would be particularly disruptive. A big reason is that for months, polls have consistently shown him in the low single digits among black voters, who play a critical role in later states. While it might be conceivable for a candidate to lose black voters and still win, no Democrat will be able to do as poorly as Buttigieg has been performing and have a path to the nomination. But if he wins Iowa, he’ll have ample reason to justify staying in the race for a long time (and the cash to do it), which would allow him to vacuum up delegates in states and congressional districts with whiter electorates.” Philip Klein, Washington Examiner “Buttigieg is getting a hard look from anxious Democrats. If Joe Biden can’t perform better and Elizabeth Warren seems unelectable, then who’s on deck? Maybe it’s Pete, the mild Midwestern mayor… As a result, he’ll be getting more scrutiny for his ideas, and on Friday he released what he called ‘An Economic Agenda for American Families.’ For a candidate who wants to occupy the moderate lane, Mr. Buttigieg’s policy details veer notably left… “This isn’t an economic agenda, and there isn’t a pro-growth item anywhere. It’s a social-welfare spending and union wish list. Mr. Buttigieg tosses off these grand plans in a seven-page campaign paper, which mentions not once how he intends to pay for them. Don’t forget the billions more he has allocated to green energy, as well as his $1.5 trillion health-care public option, ‘Medicare for All Who Want It.’ So far Mayor Pete’s agenda totals $5.7 trillion, as his campaign told the Indianapolis Star last week. Mr. Buttigieg plans to pay for it, the Star reports, ‘largely through a capital gains tax on the top 1% of all earners and through eliminating President Donald Trump’s tax cuts.’ Details to come later, apparently.” Editorial Board, Wall Street Journal On the bright side… Meet Narwhal, the rescue puppy with a tail growing out of his forehead. CNN Our volunteer team spends hours each night scanning the news, fact-checking, and debating one another, so your 5 minutes each morning can be well spent. If you’ve found value in our work, we welcome you to help sustain our efforts and expand our reach. Any support you can provide is greatly appreciated! Share Tweet Forward Sign Up Here Copyright © 2019 The Flip Side, All rights reserved. You can unsubscribe from this list here. |
THE WASHINGTON POST MORNING HEADLINES
| Sign up for this newsletter Read online The morning’s most important stories, curated by Post editors. Trump asks Supreme Court to shield his tax returns from prosecutors The filing by the president’s private lawyers represents a historical moment that tests the court’s independence and highlights the Constitution’s separation-of-powers design. It also marks a new phase in the investigations that have dogged President Trump throughout his time in office. By Robert Barnes and Ann Marimow ● Read more » ‘The reaction is to cry’: In flooded Venice, visitors take selfies as residents reel The tourists stayed when flooding arrived this week. But Venetians say the toll of repeated inundation has led to a sense that life in one of the world’s most improbable and spellbinding cities is becoming unviable. By Chico Harlan and Stefano Pitrelli ● Read more » Ex-envoy’s testimony will be a moment of reckoning on gender for Trump Marie Yovanovitch, former ambassador to Ukraine, was targeted by male allies of President Trump. She’s about to publicly face some of his fiercest congressional defenders. IMPEACHMENT INQUIRY ● By Elise Viebeck ● Read more » Pelosi calls Trump’s actions ‘bribery’ The shift toward bribery as an impeachable offense comes after long debates over whether President Trump engaged in a “quid pro quo.” By Mike DeBonis and Toluse Olorunnipa ● Read more » How the impeachment inquiry has revealed a long and murky campaign to oust a veteran U.S. ambassador Marie Yovanovitch’s public testimony is expected to showcase how a crusade by private individuals to push her from her post became intertwined with the Ukrainian pressure campaign. By Rosalind Helderman and Tom Hamburger ● Read more » ADVERTISEMENT Career White House budget official expected to break ranks, testify in impeachment inquiry Political appointees at the Office of Management and Budget have refused to appear, but Mark Sandy is a longtime employee who has worked for multiple presidents. By Erica Werner ● Read more » Opinions Zelensky planned to announce Trump’s ‘quo’ on my show. Here’s what happened. By Fareed Zakaria ● Read more » It’s the Wise Men vs. the wise guys in Trump’s America By Jon Meacham, Walter Isaacson and Evan Thomas ● Read more » The case of Bijan Ghaisar has enshrined injustice By Editorial Board ● Read more » ADVERTISEMENT Confused by defense strategies from Republicans? Yeah, so are they. Impeachment Diary ● By Dana Milbank ● Read more » Trump has bulldozed over Congress on immigration. Will lawmakers ever act? By Catherine Rampell ● Read more » We are staying in Syria, but what comes next? By Josh Rogin ● Read more » More News 2 dead, at least 4 injured in shooting at Los Angeles-area high school; suspect in custody The shooting is at least the seventh to take place on school grounds since the start of the academic year, according to a Washington Post analysis, and the first fatal shooting on a campus since students arrived back at school. By Mia Nakaji Monnier, Crystal Duan, Moriah Balingit and Katie Mettler ● Read more » Kavanaugh addresses the conservative legal establishment that championed his nomination There were standing ovations for the newest justice and for his wife at the Federalist Society’s gala Thursday night at Washington’s Union Station. By Robert Barnes ● Read more » White House and Pentagon prepare for Trump to issue pardons in war-crimes cases, officials say President Trump has raised concerns that the military justice system has treated the service members involved unfairly. Some military justice experts see the possible intervention as a subversion of the legal process. By Dan Lamothe and Josh Dawsey ● Read more » Myles Garrett swings a helmet at Mason Rudolph, and the NFL will surely deliver a suspension Baker Mayfield produces three touchdowns as Cleveland beats Pittsburgh, 21-7, on Thursday night, but the result is sure to be overshadowed by melee in the final seconds. By Mark Maske ● Read more » Late to the party: Even more Democrats enter the race for 2020 Matt Viser on late entries into the 2020 race. Neena Satija investigates the policies that ensnared child migrants in a bureaucratic nightmare. And author Jacqueline Woodson with untold stories about black family life in her latest, “Red at the Bone.” Post Reports | Listen Now ● By The Washington Post ● Read more » We think you’ll like this newsletter Check out The Trailer for news and insight on political campaigns around the country, from David Weigel. 435 districts. 50 states. Tuesday, Thursday and Sunday evenings. Sign up » |
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AXIOS
By Mike Allen
Happy Friday! Today’s Smart Brevity™ count: 1,168 words … 4½ minutes.
1 big thing: Impeachment drama must fight for audience
Illustration: Aïda Amer/Axios
New data about impeachment’s opening hearing shows the difficulty Democrats face in capturing attention in a nation that has grown numb to the Trump era’s constant political drama, Axios’ Neal Rothschild and Sara Fischer write.
- Wednesday’s hearing generated middling viewer interest compared with blockbuster hearings of the past three years.
- Why it matters: Democrats are banking on the hearings’ spectacle to move independents and Republicans in favor of impeachment.
Day One’s 13.8 million live TV viewers (not counting streaming and other online services) fell short of James Comey’s testimony in June 2017 (19.5 million) … the Christine Blasey Ford/Brett Kavanaugh hearing in September 2018 (20 million) … or the Michael Cohen hearing in February (16 million).
- On social media, Wednesday’s opening day generated 7 million interactions (likes, shares, comments), per analytics company NewsWhip.
- That’s higher than the 6 million interactions for Comey coverage on the day he testified, but shy of 8 million for Robert Mueller’s testimony — and way below the 18 million for the Kavanaugh/Ford hearing.
Between the lines: While these other events were confined to a single day of viewing, the impeachment hearings will play out over many days. That could either scatter viewership, or build interest over time.
A number of factors may be working to suppress viewer interest:
- The outcome looks predetermined: The Democratic-led House is expected to impeach, and the Republican-led Senate is likely to acquit.
- Much of the testimony is known ahead of time: Witnesses have been deposed during hours-long questioning, and the transcripts released.
- Media echo chambers mean that few facts and narratives are agreed upon by the left and the right.
- The witnesses weren’t household names until the past month, making them unfamiliar — and less interesting — to many Americans.
- Americans could be experiencing hearing fatigue after sitting through the day-long slog for other high-profile Trump-era testimonies.
- The daytime airing keeps many potential viewers from tuning in.
P.S. Fox News was the most popular network for hearing coverage, with 2.9 million viewers — the network’s third most-watched day of the year.
- MSNBC was second with 2.69 million, ABC had 2.01 million, CBS had 1.97 million, CNN had 1.84 million and NBC had 1.68 million. (Nielsen via AP)
2. Warren gains with black voters
Sen. Elizabeth Warren is narrowing Joe Biden’s longtime lead with black Democrats in the crowded 2020 primary field, Axios’ Alexi McCammond reports.
- Why it matters: Since 1992, no Democrat has won the party’s presidential nomination without a majority of the black vote.
- Black voters are expected to cast one in four primary ballots in the 2020 election, per an NBC News analysis.
Last week, a group of more than 100 black female activists (Black Womxn) endorsed Warren, saying her policies, record, and understanding of structural inequality speak directly to black voters.
- Biden’s association with former President Obama contributes to the former vice president’s high support among older black Democrats — but he hasn’t convinced young black voters.
Axios tracked nine Quinnipiac surveys between March and the end of October, and found:
- Warren has steadily gained support among black Democrats, along with her overall rise in the nominating contest. She had less than 0.5% support from black Democrats in March; by the end of October, that had risen to 20%.
- Biden was at 43% last month, about where he started in March.
3. Exclusive: Apple to remove vaping apps
Demonstrators vape during a protest outside the White House last weekend. Photo: Jose Luis Magana/AFP via Getty Images
Apple will remove all 181 vaping-related apps from its mobile App Store this morning, sources tell Axios’ Ina Fried and me.
- Why it matters: The move comes after at least 42 people have died from vaping-related lung illness, per the CDC. Most of those people had been using cartridges containing THC, though some exclusively used nicotine cartridges.
Apple said in a statement to Axios: “Recently, experts ranging from the CDC to the American Heart Association have attributed a variety of lung injuries and fatalities to e-cigarette and vaping products, going so far as to call the spread of these devices a public health crisis and a youth epidemic. We agree.”
- Matthew Myers, president of Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids, said: “Apple is setting a welcome example of corporate responsibility in protecting our kids.”
4. On birthday, teen kills two classmates
Students are escorted out of Saugus High School. Photo: Marcio Jose Sanchez/AP
The shooting at Saugus High School in Santa Clarita (30 miles from L.A.) — which left two students dead and three wounded — happened over 16 seconds, when a classmate pulled a gun from his backpack in the quad, per the L.A. Times.
- The suspect turned 16 yesterday. He was found with a self-inflicted gunshot wound to the head. He was taken to a hospital and was in grave condition.
5. Pelosi gives Trump fresh optimism on trade
Speaker Pelosi talks to reporters yesterday. Photo: J. Scott Applewhite/AP
After weeks of venting their frustration over Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s negotiating tactics on the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA), current and former administration officials close to the trade talks tell Axios’ Jonathan Swan they’re more optimistic than ever that Pelosi is close to agreeing to a deal.
- Why it matters: USMCA is President Trump’s top legislative priority and represents billions in trade between America’s closest neighbors.
Pelosi’s use of the word “imminent” yesterday to describe USMCA buoyed officials who have been pushing Congress to approve it.
- Pelosi’s comments were her “most definitive signal that the logjam is going to break soon,” per a top trade lawyer.
Administration officials got an extra boost from an encouraging readout of a Democratic caucus meeting.
- Several members told their colleagues they won’t get re-elected if the trade deal that Trump renegotiated with Mexico and Canada to replace NAFTA doesn’t pass, according to three sources familiar with the meeting.
For months, the White House has put pressure on freshman Democrats who won in districts that Trump carried in 2016 and where he remains relatively popular.
- Vice President Pence “participated in 35 events in the U.S. and Canada calling for USMCA passage,” per his office, and traveled to 15 districts held by Democrats to push the trade agreement.
Between the lines: The logjam on USMCA still hasn’t broken and the legislative calendar is tight and clogged with impeachment. It’s still going to be challenging to get USMCA passed before year’s end.
6. Dems’ new “quid pro quo”: “Bribery”
Pastor Sean Jones of New Beginnings Baptist Church in Walla Walla, Wash., waits for President Trump at a rally last night in Bossier City, La. Photo: Gerald Herbert/AP
Speaker Pelosi brushed aside the Latin “quid pro quo” that Democrats have been using to describe President Trump’s actions toward Ukraine and said: “It’s perfectly wrong. It’s bribery,” AP reports.
- Why it matters: The parties are hardening their messages to voters, who are deeply entrenched in two camps.
7. “Triggered” triumph
Cover: Center Street
“Triggered,” by Donald Trump Jr., will debut atop the N.Y. Times bestseller list, and Publisher’s Weekly reported first-week sales (via BookScan) of 70,730, compared with 32,683 and 30,681 for the week’s next-ranking nonfiction books.
- Although the Times list showed that the Trump book’s ranking included bulk sales, a source close to Don Jr. told me: “You could erase all the books sold thru the RNC to their donors and ‘Triggered’ would still have sold roughly double the amount of copies of its nearest competitor.”
Here’s a sneak peek at the N.Y. Times bestseller list for Nov. 24:
8. 1 fun thing
Dungeons & Dragons, celebrating its 45th anniversary, “appears to have been resurrected as if by a 17th-level necromancer,” writes the N.Y. Times’ Ethan Gilsdorf.
- The reasons for its comeback: a new set of rules designed around storytelling, a focus on representing the diversity of its players in gameplay, and an increasing acceptance of geek culture as a part of the mainstream.
📱 Thanks for reading Axios AM. Please invite your friends to sign up here.
POLITICO PLAYBOOK
POLITICO Playbook: What to expect from Marie Yovanovitch, and how Bill Clinton ended up on Tapper’s show
By ANNA PALMER and JAKE SHERMAN
11/15/2019 05:54 AM EST
DRIVING THE DAY
WELCOME TO DAY TWO OF THE PUBLIC IMPEACHMENT HEARINGS … IN A FEW HOURS — at 9 a.m. –former U.S. Ambassador to Ukraine MARIE YOVANOVITCH will appear in front of the House Intelligence Committee for the second open impeachment proceeding.
HERE’S WHAT TO EXPECT …
— DEMOCRATS tell us that they will have her detail the political retribution she experienced at the hands of RUDY GIULIANI and his cadre of aides and advisers. In Democrats’ telling, YOVANOVITCH was totally screwed. She was a well-respected, 33-year veteran of the State Department, where she has served as an ambassador under George W. Bush, Barack Obama and Donald Trump in far-flung locales like Kyrgyzstan, Armenia and Ukraine.
She was an official who fought corruption wherever she went, Democrats will say. Until one day, she started hearing rumblings that GIULIANI was looking to get her canned. What did she hear from Ukrainians as she was being pushed out the door? And what did she hear from the administration — for example, when she was told to get on a flight at 1 a.m. because she was in danger? This removal, Democrats will say, was the precursor to what they consider the improper behavior by President DONALD TRUMP. YOVANOVITCH was fired for doing her job, Dems say.
— REPUBLICANS are already saying that YOVANOVITCH is a sideshow. Yovanovitch, they say, was not in Kyiv for any of the time when TRUMP was alleged to have been trying to hold up military aid for an investigation into the Bidens. They’ll also say TRUMP is well within his rights to fire ambassadors whenever he pleases.
CHALLENGES FOR BOTH … DEMOCRATS need to keep the line moving, as they say in baseball. New revelations, new details, new color. Networks are still planning to take this live — and the cables all will, too — so the lights are still bright. REPUBLICANS, to put it bluntly, can’t look like they’re whacking a career Foreign Service officer — who happens to be female. Republicans have one woman on Intel. So they tell us they have to be exceedingly careful to not look as if they are ganging up on her.
THE WHAT-TO-WATCH-FOR STORIES … Andrew Desiderio and Kyle Cheney … NYT’s Mike Shear
AND THERE WILL BE MORE TOMORROW … “White House budget official is prepared to testify on frozen Ukraine aid,” by Kyle Cheney: “Mark Sandy, a senior White House budget official, is prepared to testify Saturday to House impeachment investigators about his knowledge of President Donald Trump’s decision to halt nearly $400 million in military aid to Ukraine, his lawyer indicated Thursday.
“Sandy’s lawyer, Barbara Van Gelder — who is also representing former National Security Council aide Tim Morrison — said Sandy intends to testify if he receives a subpoena from lawmakers, a step Democrats have repeatedly taken with other cooperative witnesses to sidestep orders from the White House to refuse to testify.” POLITICO
CNN’S MANU RAJU and JEREMY HERB: “Top Democrats privately concede major shift in public opinion on impeachment is unlikely”: “House Democrats are publicly holding out hope that historic impeachment hearings will persuade a vast majority of the American public that President Donald Trump committed high crimes and misdemeanors — but privately many acknowledge that it’s unlikely to happen.
“In a private meeting this week, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and her top lieutenants were skeptical about the prospects of a dramatic shift in opinion even as public impeachment hearings began this week, according to multiple sources familiar with the matter. The upshot, the sources said: Democrats need to move forward with impeachment proceedings even if the politics are murky, noting that even during Richard Nixon’s presidency most of the public was divided until soon before he was forced to resign.
“‘Well, I think there are hard views on both sides,’ House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer told CNN when asked if he thought the public’s views would shift dramatically. ‘And sadly, apparently, Trump was perhaps right when he said of his own supporters that he could shoot somebody in the middle of Fifth Avenue and they would not require any accountability.’” CNN
MEL ZANONA and JOHN BRESNAHAN: “Trump lays off Republican Ukraine critics”
Happy Friday.
ABOUT LAST NIGHT … NYT’S JONATHAN MARTIN in Bossier City, La.: “But he also let slip his more personal interest in the Louisiana election, where Gov. John Bel Edwards is seeking re-election, by recalling negative headlines he had received this month in another race. Gov. Matt Bevin of Kentucky, a Republican, lost his re-election a day after Mr. Trump rallied supporters in the state. ‘You got to give me a big win, please, O.K.,’ the president pleaded with his supporters. …
“‘John Bel Edwards supports illegal aliens, not American citizens,’ the president said. He eventually broke character — ‘that was a long harangue,’ he observed of his own prepared remarks — and turned to other interests, such as trumpeting the Oxford University credentials of Senator John Neely Kennedy of Louisiana to a decidedly working-class audience.”
WEST WING TAKE NOTE! … BLOOMBERG: “Trump Visit to Moscow for May 9 Would Be ‘Right Step’: Putin”
A message from the Stop The HIT Coalition:
The Health Insurance Tax will take a toll on hardworking Americans by increasing health care costs by $500 a year per family, with more than half the total cost falling on those making less than $50,000. Congress needs to act now to Stop The Health Insurance Tax.
BEHIND THE SCENES: HOW BUBBA ENDED UP ON TAPPER’S SHOW … Eyes widened and jaws dropped when BILL CLINTON ended up on JAKE TAPPER’S CNN show Thursday afternoon in the wake of the shooting in Santa Clarita, Calif. Here’s how it happened:We’re told that Tapper emailed actor BRYAN CRANSTON to tell him that he liked “El Camino,” the “Breaking Bad” offshoot movie that’s now on Netflix.
CRANSTON told Tapper that he was in D.C for the Brady Center’s dinner, which honored CLINTON for his efforts to curb gun violence. AFTER THE SCHOOL SHOOTING, TAPPER reached out to Clinton’s office, asking if he could come into the studio or call into the show to talk about the shooting … and voila. The former president got on the air, talking about everything from gun control to impeachment. A clip
— FORMER REP. KATIE HILL sent an email to her former freshman colleagues about the shooting, which happened in her district and at her high school, asking them to “have our back in Congress.” The letter
— JOE BIDEN was in LA, and spoke about guns … SEEMA MEHTA: “Biden, a former longtime senator from Delaware, said he had previously taken on the gun lobby successfully, adding that his legislative accomplishments set him apart from the other 2020 candidates. ‘I’m the only one running who’s ever passed anything really big,’ he said.” LAT
WHY BILL BARR WAS IN THE OVAL — “Trump talks Russia probe audit with attorney general and White House counsel in Oval Office meeting,” by CNN’s Jim Acosta and Kaitlan Collins: “President Donald Trump met with Attorney General William Barr and White House counsel Pat Cipollone in an Oval Office meeting Thursday afternoon in which the so-called Horowitz report came up in conversation … The animated discussions were captured by TV crews outside the Oval Office on the South Lawn of the White House awaiting the president’s departure for Louisiana. …
“The Horowitz report refers to a probe by Justice Department Inspector General Michael Horowitz on the opening of the Russia investigation. Horowitz’s office is expected to wrap up its investigation soon.” CNN
DAILY RUDY — “Giuliani Faces U.S. Probe on Campaign Finance, Lobbying Breaches,” by Bloomberg’s Chris Strohm and Jordan Fabian: “Rudy Giuliani, President Donald Trump’s personal lawyer, is being investigated by federal prosecutors for possible campaign finance violations and a failure to register as a foreign agent as part of an active investigation into his financial dealings, according to three U.S. officials.
“The probe of Giuliani, which one official said could also include possible charges on violating laws against bribing foreign officials or conspiracy, presents a serious threat to Trump’s presidency from a man that former national security adviser John Bolton has called a ‘hand grenade.’
“A second official said Giuliani’s activities raise counterintelligence concerns as well, although there probably wouldn’t be a criminal charge related to that. The officials, who asked for anonymity to discuss a sensitive matter, provided the first indication of the potential charges under investigation.” Bloomberg
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KICKING IT UP TO THE HIGH COURT … “Trump asks Supreme Court to shield his tax returns from prosecutors, setting up historic separation-of-powers showdown,” by WaPo’s Robert Barnes and Ann Marimow: “President Trump asked the Supreme Court on Thursday to stop a prosecutor’s investigation of his personal finances, a bold assertion of presidential power that seeks a landmark decision from the nation’s highest court.
“The filing by the president’s private lawyers represents a historic moment that will test the court and highlights the Constitution’s separation-of-powers design. It also marks a new phase in the investigations that have dogged Trump throughout his presidency and have culminated in an impeachment inquiry.” WaPo
MANAGING TRUMP … NYT: “Trump and the Military: A Dysfunctional Marriage, but They Stay Together,” by Helene Cooper, Julian Barnes, Eric Schmitt and Thomas Gibbons-Neff: “On another issue important to the Pentagon, Defense Secretary Mark T. Esper and the Army secretary, Ryan McCarthy, have reached out quietly to Mr. Trump in recent days to ask that he not interfere in several war crimes cases.
“Defense Department officials are concerned that presidential pardons could undermine discipline across the ranks. The Army, for instance, is prosecuting a Green Beret, Maj. Mathew L. Golsteyn, in the killing of a man linked to the Taliban in Afghanistan; Mr. Trump has indicated he may pardon him. ‘I do have full confidence in the military justice system,’ Mr. Esper told reporters.”
2020 WATCH …
— ON DEVAL … NYT’S ASTEAD HERNDON, JONATHAN MARTIN and MATT STEVENS: “Mr. Patrick and former President Barack Obama have been political allies for more than a decade and have remained friendly. In recent weeks, Mr. Obama has told people he thinks highly of Mr. Patrick but that his entry into the race was coming ‘very late,’ according to two people who have spoken with the former president. Mr. Obama sees building a strong organization, especially in Iowa, as a kind of compulsory exercise for a serious candidate, these people said.
“Discussing the race with Mr. Patrick, the former president covered the same talking points he had in his conversations with other candidates who have sought his counsel, according to a person with knowledge of their interaction: Campaign outside your political base, stay true to your beliefs and keep beating Mr. Trump in front of mind.
“‘He didn’t ask for anybody’s blessing,’ said Valerie Jarrett, the former senior adviser to Mr. Obama, referring to Mr. Patrick. Ms. Jarrett, who is friends with Mr. Patrick and publicly urged him to run last year, praised him as an ‘outstanding leader’ but stopped short of offering an endorsement — taking care to note that he’s entering ‘an already strong Democratic field.’” NYT
A MEMBER-STAFFER RELATIONSHIP? — “Rep. Alcee Hastings faces ethics probe for longtime relationship with staffer,” by Sarah Ferris:“The House Ethics Committee announced Thursday it has opened an investigation into Rep. Alcee Hastings amid allegations that he is engaged in a relationship with an aide in his office. The Florida Democrat’s longtime relationship with his staffer, Patricia Williams, has come under more intense scrutiny just weeks after the resignation of Rep. Katie Hill (D-Calif.), who had been under investigation for a similar allegation.
“The Ethics Committee did not specifically name Williams, though it clearly references their relationship, which has been documented in reporting by the Palm Beach Post and the Sun Sentinel. Hastings has previously dismissed concerns about dating Williams, who has been employed in his office since 2000, according to Legistorm. The two also purchased a $700,000 house together in 2017, the Palm Beach Post reported.
“‘However it looks, it’s been looking like that for 25 years,’ Hastings told the Palm Beach Post this fall. His office did not immediately respond to requests for comment.” POLITICO
— THIS IS NEW … “DOJ investigating GOP Rep. Ross Spano over alleged campaign finance violations,” by John Bresnahan: “The Justice Department is conducting a criminal investigation into Florida GOP Rep. Ross Spano over alleged campaign finance violations. Spano has denied any wrongdoing. The revelation came in an announcement by the House Ethics Committee, which has been asked by DOJ to defer its own probe into Spano while the criminal investigation unfolds. The Ethics Committee traditionally defers to law enforcement agencies while criminal cases are ongoing.
“Spano, a 53-year-old former Florida state legislator who was first elected to Congress in Nov. 2018, has been under scrutiny for months over funds he loaned his campaign during last year’s race. Spano claimed initially that nearly $175,000 he loaned his campaign came from personal funds. But it was later disclosed that Spano had received $180,000 in loans from personal friends.” POLITICO
A message from the Stop The HIT Coalition:
Americans want Congress to improve health care affordability –raising taxes on their health care isn’t what they have in mind.
TRUMP’S FRIDAY — The president will deliver remarks on transparency in health prices in the Roosevelt Room at 2 p.m.
SUNDAY SO FAR …
- CBS “Face the Nation”: Speaker Nancy Pelosi … Rep. Jim Jordan (R-Ohio) … Rep. Mike Quigley (D-Ill.). Panel: Ed O’Keefe, Rachael Bade, Ramesh Ponnuru and Molly Ball.
- FOX “Fox News Sunday”: Rep. Jim Himes (D-Conn.). Panel: Jonah Goldberg, Marie Harf, Gillian Turner and Juan Williams.
- NBC “Meet the Press”: Deval Patrick. Panel: Jeff Mason, Peggy Noonan, Danielle Pletka and Eugene Robinson.
- CNN “State of the Union”: Panel: Jen Psaki, Scott Jennings, Mia Love and Rep. Pramila Jayapal (D-Wash.).
- CNN “Inside Politics”: Mike Bender, Julie Hirschfeld Davis, Karoun Demirjian and Nia-Malika Henderson.
- Sinclair “America This Week With Eric Bolling”: House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy … Nikki Haley … Anthony Scaramucci … Director of the Office of National Drug Control Policy Jim Carroll … Seb Gorka … Ameshia Cross.
- Gray TV “Full Court Press with Greta Van Susteren”: Sen. Tim Scott (R-S.C.), Rep. Dan Kildee (D-Mich.), Rep. Denver Riggleman (R-Va.) and Lee Zurik.
PLAYBOOK READS
TOP-ED … JON MEACHAM, WALTER ISAACSON and EVAN THOMAS in WAPO: “It’s the Wise Men vs. the wise guys in Trump’s America”
QUOTE DU JOUR, via Daniel Lippman: “‘He’s used to getting what he wants and he’s a tough street guy,’ said Billy Procida, a former vice president for the Trump Organization. ‘He’s been dealing with subcontractors his whole life. You know what it’s like to deal with subcontractors? They’re all terrorists. They all want more money for the job and then you’ve got to fight them and say, “OK, quid pro quo, I’m going to give you this, you do that, I’ll give you this, you do that, if you don’t do this, I’m going to do that.”’” POLITICO
WAPO’S JOHN HUDSON and MICHAEL BIRNBAUM: “Besieged on all sides, Gordon Sondland clings to power”: “‘He has no intention of resigning,’ Sondland’s attorney, Jim McDermott, said in a statement to The Washington Post. … Sondland’s attorney said his client ‘has the full confidence of Secretary [Mike] Pompeo,’ but the State Department declined to comment on that claim, adding to the diplomat’s isolation as he comes under fire from all sides.” WaPo
FOR YOUR RADAR … WSJ’s VIVIAN SALAMA: “U.S. Threatens Egypt With Sanctions Over Russian Arms Deal”
CNN’S NICOLE GAOUETTE: “Trump hikes price tag for U.S. forces in Korea almost 500% as Seoul questions alliance”: “Secretary of Defense Mark Esper landed in South Korea on Thursday to navigate renewed threats from an ‘enraged’ North Korea and newly heightened strain in the alliance with Seoul that congressional aides, lawmakers and Korea experts say has been caused by President Donald Trump.
“Trump is demanding that South Korea pay roughly 500% more in 2020 to cover the cost of keeping U.S. troops on the peninsula, a congressional aide and an administration official confirmed to CNN.
“The price hike has frustrated Pentagon officials and deeply concerned Republican and Democratic lawmakers, according to military officials and congressional aides. It has angered and unnerved Seoul, where leaders are questioning US commitment to their alliance and wondering whether Trump will pull US forces if they don’t pay up.” CNN
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TRUMP, INC. — “Trump’s Washington hotel has fallen behind competitors, with rooms running nearly half empty, marketing materials show,” by WaPo’s Jonathan O’Connell and David Fahrenthold … “Republican National Committee to Hold Meeting at Trump Doral Resort,” by NYT’s Eric Lipton
HAPPENING TODAY — “Trump admin preparing to take over private land in Texas for border wall,” by NBC’s Courtney Kube and Julia Ainsley: “The Trump administration is preparing court filings to begin taking over private land to build its long-promised border wall as early as this week — without confirming how much it will pay landowners first, according to two officials familiar with the process.
“Jared Kushner is hosting a meeting with military and administration officials at the White House this Friday, where they are expected to discuss the U.S. government taking over private land to build more sections of wall along the U.S.-Mexico border, said two officials.
“The commanding general of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Lt. Gen. Todd Semonite, is expected to attend, as are two assistant defense secretaries for homeland defense, Kenneth Rapuano and Robert Salesses.” NBC
A message from the Stop The HIT Coalition:
It’s time for Congress to Stop The Health Insurance Tax.
HMMM — “Trump Lawyer Bolsters Defense of Ukrainian Billionaire,” by Bloomberg’s Greg Farrell: “President Donald Trump’s longtime lawyer has several new clients in a money-laundering lawsuit, all co-defendants of the Ukrainian billionaire who launched the career of that country’s recently elected president, Vlodymyr Zelinskiy.
“Marc Kasowitz, a New York lawyer who has frequently worked for Trump over the years and helped him coordinate his response to the U.S. special counsel’s Russia investigation, recently signed on to defend U.S.-based business partners of Igor Kolomoisky, according to a court filing in Delaware.” Bloomberg
VALLEY TALK — “Whistle-Blower’s Purported Name Keeps Evading Facebook and YouTube Defenses,” by NYT’s Sheera Frankel: “A week ago, YouTube and Facebook said they would block people from identifying the government official thought to be the whistle-blower who set in motion an impeachment inquiry into President Trump.
“It hasn’t worked out so well. A name believed by some to be the whistle-blower has been shared thousands of times on Facebook. Videos discussing the identity of the whistle-blower have been watched by hundreds of thousands of people on YouTube. And images professing to be of the person have circulated on Instagram, which is owned by Facebook, under dozens of different hashtags.
“The purported name of the whistle-blower appeared on Facebook pages that, combined, were followed by over half a million Facebook users, according to CrowdTangle, a tool that analyzes interactions across the site. It is unclear how many of those users saw the post, but the name was easily searchable within various Facebook pages, including right-wing news sites and an individual running for Congress.” NYT
MEDIAWATCH … CNN’S BRIAN STELTER: “[I]t’s impossible to estimate how many people watched or heard Wednesday’s hearings across all platforms. But the Nielsen #’s give us some insight … Nielsen said that 13.8 million people were watching across 10 networks at every average minute of the hearing. The TV audience skewed older — 10.6 million were ages 55+. I think younger viewers were more likely to stream the hearing.”
— Anne Applebaum is joining The Atlantic as a staff writer focused on national politics and foreign policy, particularly Europe.
— Chris Wellisz is joining the WSJ’s D.C. bureau as a news editor focused on the economy. He previously was at the IMF and is a Bloomberg alum. Talking Biz News
— NYT’S MAGGIE HABERMAN (@maggieNYT): “Bannon aide says his ‘War Room’ podcast was picked up by Salem radio for evening airtime starting Monday.” Announcement
PLAYBOOKERS
Send tips to Eli Okun and Garrett Ross at politicoplaybook@politico.com.
SPOTTED: Jeff Daniels filming his new miniseries based on James Comey’s memoir at the DAR on Thursday. First-look pic … Roger Stone having dinner at Matchbox in Penn Quarter on Thursday night. Pic… Ryan Zinke at Le Diplomate late Thursday night. Pic… Olympia Snowe and Sen. Angus King (I-Maine) having lunch in the Senate Dining Room on Thursday.
THE BRADY CENTER TO PREVENT GUN VIOLENCE hosted the Brady Action Awards at the Mayflower Hotel on Thursday night, which included bipartisan honorees: President Bill Clinton, Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Rep. Peter King (R-N.Y.). Actor Bryan Cranston was on hand to honor them. SPOTTED: emcee Jonathan Capehart, Kris Brown, Kevin Quinn, Tom Ridge, Carlos Gutierrez, Reps. Mike Thompson (D-Calif.), Lucy McBath (D-Ga.), Brian Fitzpatrick (D-Pa.), Ted Deutch (D-Fla.), Mary Gay Scanlon (D-Pa.) and Jason Crow (D-Colo.), Edward Skyler, Paul Pelosi, Jason Mida, Brian Lemek, Tonio Burgos, Jim Moran, John Michael Gonzalez, Philip Dufour and Susan Rifkin.
SPOTTED at the Federalist Society’s Antonin Scalia Memorial Dinner on Thursday night at Union Station: Supreme Court Justices Brett Kavanaugh, Samuel Alito and Neil Gorsuch, A.G. Bill Barr, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell and Transportation Secretary Elaine Chao, Sen. Mike Lee (R-Utah), Matthew Whitaker, John Ashcroft, David McIntosh, Gene Meyer, Boyden Gray, Don McGhan, Jeff Sessions and Suhail Khan.
TRANSITIONS — Eloy Martinez is joining gaming company Aristocrat as global VP of government relations. He previously worked at the American Gaming Association and is a Harry Reid and Mark Begich alum. … New America announced the appointment of Helene Gayle as board chair and the addition of Katherine Gehl, Reid Hoffman and Ashton Kutcher to the board.
WELCOME TO THE WORLD — Amanda Kitchen O’Malley, director of corporate memberships at the RGA, and Devin O’Malley, principal deputy assistant secretary for public affairs at Treasury, welcomed John “Jack” Edward O’Malley on Sunday. He came in at 6 lbs, 8 oz. Pic
BIRTHDAY OF THE DAY: Fox News chief White House correspondent John Roberts is 63. How he got his start in journalism: “After watching all the moon shots with Walter Cronkite, I got bitten by the news bug. I volunteered at the college radio station at the University of Toronto, then instead of going to medical school, began working for a hundred and twenty-five bucks a week at a 5,000-watt radio station in Owen Sound, Ontario. I wanted to be a surgeon. Now I slice and dice every word that comes out of President Trump’s mouth, trying to figure out what it all means.” Playbook Q&A
BIRTHDAYS: Zeke Miller, AP White House reporter … Rep. Xochitl Torres Small (D-N.M.) is 35 … Rep. Drew Ferguson (R-Ga.) is 53 … Jen Palmieri … Amanda Renteria … Zach Bauer of VP Mike Pence’s office … Bill Richardson is 72 … Helen Brosnan, Northeast political director for Elizabeth Warren’s campaign … Liechtenstein Ambassador to the U.N. Christian Wenaweser (h/ts Ben Chang) … Asha Rangappa (h/t Sam Vinograd) … Robert Draper … Gail Gitcho … WaPo’s Greg Miller … Liz Hunger … Madge Bush … Robert McCreary … John Easton … Jennifer Jones … Chris Doherty (h/t Jon Haber) … Adam Snider, director of public affairs at the American Association of Airport Executives, is 4-0 …
… CNN’s Laura Bernardini … Davan Maharaj … Josh Venable … Lee Cochran of the Blackstone Group … Sarah (Novascone) Fanning is 41 … Eugene Mulero is 41 … Chris Graham … Tammy Sun … Matthew Fried … Tomos Lewis … Emily Schlichting … Elliott Phaup … POLITICO Europe’s Silvia Sciorilli Borrelli … James Boyle … AARP’s Joe Valenti … Ben Goodman (h/t Rachel Wein) … Cyril Dadd, director of federal legislative affairs at CenturyLink … Alexandra Lippman (h/t proud brother Daniel) … Bert McCarthy … Mike Mills … Mark Naymik … Erin Shaw Stinner … Ryan Miner is 34 … Bryant Johnson … Nancy Kohn … Chris Fluhr … Joe Sandler (h/t Teresa Vilmain)
A message from the Stop The HIT Coalition:
The Health Insurance Tax (HIT) hurts tens of millions of Americans, including seniors, working families and 28.8 million small businesses and their 56.8 million employees. Unless Congress suspends the Health Insurance Tax, families will face the return of a $500 tax on their coverage, driving up health care costs even further. Americans want Congress to lower health care costs – raising taxes on their health care isn’t what they have in mind. It’s time for Congress to Stop The Health Insurance Tax.
- Anna Palmer @apalmerdc
- Jake Sherman @JakeSherman
THE DISPATCH
The Morning Dispatch: The Impeachment Show: Episode 2
Plus, the GOP tries to recapture the governor’s mansion in Louisiana, and Democrats and Republicans trade places on presidential morality.
Happy Friday! John Legend was officially named “Sexiest Man Alive” by People magazine this week, so if today’s Morning Dispatch reads a little melancholy, we’re just bummed we missed the cut.
Quick Hits: What You Need To Know
- A school shooting in California left four students wounded and two dead Thursday.
- Top White House aide Stephen Miller is under fire after hundreds of emails he sent to Breitbart editors promoting white nationalist literature were leaked.
- Deval Patrick, the millionaire former governor of Massachusetts, officially announced his 2020 campaign. Meanwhile, fellow rich latecomer Michael Bloomberg apologized for past lewd remarks about women.
- The nation’s biggest employer, Walmart, posted stronger-than-expected third quarter earnings Thursday.
- Jury deliberations have begun in the trial of former Trump adviser Roger Stone, who is accused of lying to Congress during the Russia investigation.
- Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell issued a grim warning about the state of the national debt Wednesday, telling Congress the federal budget “is on an unsustainable path.”
- President Trump is demanding South Korea pay 500 percent more in 2020 to keep American troops on the peninsula.
Impeachment TV: Episode 2
The second day of public impeachment hearings begins Friday at 9 a.m. with the sworn testimony of Marie Yovanovitch, former U.S. ambassador to Ukraine, who was the subject of a smear campaign led by Rudy Giuliani, the president’s personal lawyer.
Yovanovitch served as ambassador in Kyiv from August 2016 until May 2019, when she was recalled to Washington. In her closed-door deposition, Yovanovitch testified that she was both baffled and frustrated by the campaign to oust her and told lawmakers that she’d met Giuliani only three times, on issues unrelated to the current controversy. “I do not know Mr. Giuliani’s motives for attacking me,” she testified. “But individuals who have been named in the press who have contact with Mr. Giuliani may well have believed that their personal and financial ambitions were stymied by our anti-corruption policy in Ukraine.”
Yovanovitch didn’t specify these individuals, but under later questioning described a conversation she’d had with a senior Ukrainian government official who warned her about Giuliani’s campaign and his ties to Lev Parnas and Igor Fruman. “He basically said, and went into some detail, that there were two individuals from Florida, Mr. Parnas and Mr. Fruman, who were working with Mayor Giuliani, and … were interested in having a different ambassador at post.”
Parnas and Fruman, since charged with campaign finance violations in connection with contributions they made to a Trump super PAC, among others, had pushed in both the U.S. and Ukraine for Yovanovitch’s ouster. One U.S. energy executive in Ukraine who met with the two men later said they presented him with a plan to remove Yovanovitch and return Ukraine’s energy industry to a time when it was “a heck of a lot more corrupt.”
Republicans plan to challenge Yovanovitch’s credibility and suggest she was part of an effort to thwart President Trump’s foreign policy. In this framing, the dispute at the heart of the impeachment hearings is really a disagreement over policy, with elements of the Deep State unable or unwilling to serve a president with whom they disagreed. Rep. Devin Nunes, the ranking Republican on the House Intelligence Committee, previewed his party’s approach to Yovanovitch during his opening statement Wednesday for the public hearings featuring William Taylor and George Kent. After a meandering tour through several pet conspiracy theories, Nunes claimed that “the bureaucracy … believed it was an outrage for the president to fire an ambassador.”
Republicans may also try to revive a curious attack on Yovanovitch leveled last week by Rep. Lee Zeldin, one of Trump’s most excitable defenders. Zeldin suggested that Yovanovitch may have lied under oath in response to questions he asked her about an email she’d received from a Democratic aide.
On August 14, two days after the whistleblower complaint was filed, Yovanovitch received an email on her personal email account from Laura Carey, a Democratic congressional staffer on the House Foreign Affairs Committee and former State Department colleague, seeking a meeting to obtain answers to “Ukraine-related oversight questions.” In the email, obtained by Fox News, Carey wrote, “I’d appreciate the chance to ground-truth a few pieces of information with you, some of which are quite delicate/time-sensitive and, thus, we want to make sure we get them right.”
Yovanovitch responded the following day, August 15, indicating that she’d be eager to “reconnect” but then referring the inquiry to the State Department. “I have let EUR [Bureau of European and Eurasian Affairs] know that you are interested in talking and they will be in touch with you shortly.”
Carey followed four days later, August 19, pushing for a meeting “this week.” There is no indication Yovanovitch responded to this email, having already referred Carey’s email to the State Department for a response.
When Zeldin questioned Yovanovitch about the exchange, Yovanovitch, without mentioning that she’d responded to Carey to redirect her inquiry to the proper channels, testified that she had “alerted the State Department, because I’m still an employee and so matters are generally handled through the State Department.”
Zeldin tweeted that Yovanovitch “did not accurately answer this question” and several Trump-friendly media outlets took his allegation even further. On Fox News, Tucker Carlson reported that “Yovanovitch claimed that she never personally responded to it – never responded to the Democratic staffer. … As Congressman Zeldin pointed out, the ambassador’s original answer, which was dishonest, was given under oath.” A FoxNews.com story reported that Yovanovitch “indicated under oath that she never responded to” the August 14 email. The Federalist reported that “Yovanovitch stated that she personally had not responded to the first email sent to her by an individual from the House Foreign Affairs Committee” which means “there is a strong likelihood that Yovanovitch thus committed perjury.”
But Yovanovitch did not make such a claim. Nowhere in the transcript does she say she did not respond to the first email. She can be accused, accurately, of failing to volunteer that she’d responded to Carey to let her know that she had referred the inquiry to the State Department. But she never claimed that she didn’t respond to the first email, and it’s not accurate to claim that she lied under oath.
Battle in the Bayou
Another week, another off-year red-state gubernatorial race. With Republican Matt Bevin finally conceding to Andy Beshear in Kentucky on Thursday, the political world’s eyes can fully turn down south to Louisiana, where Democratic incumbent John Bel Edwards is in a close race with GOP challenger Eddie Rispone (rhymes with pony) ahead of Saturday’s runoff election.
The runoff was set up about a month ago, when Edwards failed to reach the 50 percent threshold necessary in Louisiana’s jungle primary—where all candidates for the same office appear on one ballot regardless of party, and the top two head to a runoff a month later if no one receives an outright majority of the vote. Rispone, 70, who made his millions in the construction business, outpaced Ralph Abraham, a practicing physician and sitting member of Congress representing northeast Louisiana, to make the runoff.
Edwards is the last Democratic governor standing in the Southeast; a loss risks locking the party out of the region entirely. Edwards maintains a +21 net approval rating in the Pelican State, which Trump won by nearly 20 points in 2016. How? The governor, a West Point graduate who served eight years in the Army, isn’t necessarily marching in lockstep with his party: Although he expanded Medicaid on his second day in office and significantly raised taxes on businesses in an effort to balance the budget deficit inherited from Bobby Jindal, Edwards also signed into a law a ban on abortions after 15 weeks and views himself as a “strong supporter of the Second Amendment.”
Rispone and the GOP are hoping these more conservative concessions won’t matter in an era where partisanship trumps everything. “All elected officials, or people in the public arena are, to some extent, opening themselves up to judgment by the company they keep,” Republican Governors Association spokeswoman Amelia Chassé Alcivar told The Dispatch on Thursday. “So while John Bel Edwards has adopted positions that are not reflective of the extremism we’re seeing in the modern Democratic Party, he has allied himself and tied himself and been supported by groups that represent positions that are wildly out of step with the vast majority of Louisiana voters.”
In an effort to really drive home this point and tie Edwards to the national Democratic Party, the RGA has spent millions via its Right Direction PAC on ads highlighting the “open border extremists,” “Trump impeachers,” “socialists,” and “trial lawyers” supporting Edwards, reminding voters that the incumbent governor supported Hillary Clinton in 2016. The Democratic Governors Association—through the aptly titled Gumbo PAC—has also poured millions into attack ads, attempting to muddy Rispone’s business record and tie him to unpopular former governor Bobby Jindal. But it’s the Republican National Committee’s last-minute $1 million investment that has some panicking about the GOP’s prospects.
The race couldn’t be any closer, with surveys showing essentially a dead heat between Edwards and Rispone. The most recent poll, published Thursday by the Baton Rouge-based JMC Analytics, found Rispone ahead by half a percentage point with a four percent margin of error.
JMC Analytics pollster, John Couvillon, told The Dispatch on Thursday that with early voting in the runoff 30 percent higher than it was in the primary, all signs “are pointing towards a more energized Democratic electorate.”
Would Trump’s rally in Bossier City, Louisiana, on Thursday night help stall that momentum? Couvillon was skeptical, saying he found Trump’s last visit to Louisiana increased early voting only by about 2,500. “The Republican vote was already high in the primary,” he said, “Partially due to the enthusiasm generated, in a negative kind of way, from impeachment. I don’t think it could get any higher, but they’ve been joined by blacks [and] Democrats, and I think that the combination of those puts Governor Edwards in a better position than I would have thought would be the case in the beginning of the runoff.”
One additional worry for the GOP? Ralph Abraham voters, who might not have forgiven Rispone for the rough primary, which saw him call Abraham a Nancy Pelosi ally who didn’t support President Trump. While Abraham has endorsed Rispone publicly and spoken positively about him, “there’s some hidden animosities in there,” Couvillon says, and “Rispone needs about 90 percent of the Abraham vote, and that’s even assuming black turnout will be the same as it was in the primary, which I believe is not a true assumption.”
With so few off-year elections, each individual race takes on outsize importance in the pursuit to figure out what it all means. And Trump’s personal investment in the race—he’s held three rallies in Louisiana in the past month, including last night’s—will lead many to treat Rispone’s fate, like they did Bevin’s, as a referendum on the president and the party as a whole heading into 2020. But party officials are already tamping down expectations, even if Trump himself is not. “This race was rated by every single one of the prognosticators, you know Cook Political Report, Sabato, all of those kind of race-ranking folks as a lean-Democrat race a year ago,” Chassé Alcivar said. “This was always an uphill climb for Republicans.”
Presidents as Role Models?
One of the nice things about hoary old polling institutions is the reams of historical data they’ve accumulated over the years. Last month, Gallup polled Americans with a simple question: Would you rather have a president you disagreed with on policy who set a good moral example, or a president whose views you agreed with who was not a good moral example? It was a question they last asked in February 1999—just days after President Clinton’s impeachment trial ended with a vote to acquit him of perjury in the Senate.
In each case, supporters of the impeaching party were far more likely to say good morals were important. In Clinton’s case, 75 percent of Republicans said they wanted presidents who set a good moral example, compared with only 36 percent of Democrats who said the same. Now, the split is almost identical, but reversed: 75 percent of Democrats say they prefer the good moral example, while only 30 percent of Republicans agree.
We’ll leave interpretations up to our readers. But plenty of respondents, then and now, likely take a question like that to mean simply: “Do you think the president should be impeached for his immoral deeds?” Gallup drily alluded to this in its own release: “Because Gallup has asked the question only during the Clinton and Trump administrations, it is not known how Americans in general, and partisans in particular, might answer during a presidency that has not been dominated by investigations and charges of unethical (if not illegal) behavior.”
Maybe someday we’ll get another administration like that, and maybe then we’ll be able to find out.
Worth Your Time
- “The sun, it has passed,” Neutral Milk Hotel sang in 1998; “Now it’s blacker than black.” But what is blacker than black, and how much blacker than black can you get? That’s the subject of this fascinating New York Times feature, which details scientists’ attempts to create a true black material—one which traps every last photon of light that hits it—and throws in an interesting discussion of the historical social and artistic role of the most striking color for good measure. “How about if we smother a diamond in a layer of ultra-black carbon nanotubes, Ms. Strebe suggested, and watch its facets disappear? ‘It was an exploration of a Heraclitean principle,’ Ms. Strebe said. ‘The extreme opposites of how carbon behaves on exposure to light.’”
- You’ll want to read this New York Times op-ed from a young Jewish student at George Washington University, decrying what he calls the anti-Semitism of much of today’s campus progressive movement:
Before I arrived on campus, I could proudly say that I was both a strong progressive and a Zionist …
But my view is not at all shared by the progressive activist crowd I encountered on campus. They have made it abundantly clear to me and other Jews on campus that any form of Zionism — even my own liberal variant, which criticizes various policies of Israel’s prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, and seeks a just two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict — is a political nonstarter.
- The Berlin Wall—27 miles of concrete and barbed wire separating Europe from the Soviet Union, backed up by guard towers and landmines—was a brutally functional structure. Yet with the fall of communism, the wall took on a new aesthetic significance, and suddenly everybody seemed to want a fragment. This piece, in Lapham’s Quarterly, is an interesting investigation of where all those fragments have ended up.
Presented Without Comment
Something Fun
The Houston Astros, who lost the World Series last month, have been accused of using hidden outfield cameras to steal pitch signs and relay information to batters by banging on trash cans in the dugout. Twitter user Jomboy has a pretty thorough breakdown of it happening here. The practice, which apparently dates back to 2017, is being investigated by Major League Baseball, and could result in punishments “unlike anything seen in the sport’s recent history.”
In the meantime, the memes are glorious.Ben Porter@Ben13PorterThe Astros dugout when the catcher gives the changeup sign November 14th 201919,893 Retweets82,624 Likes
Toeing the Company Line
- David French’s most recent newsletter is, by his own admission, not “the most upbeat,” but that doesn’t make it any less of a must-read. Join him as he discusses the mounting evidence against Trump, America’s turn toward idiocracy, and Russia’s increasing military prowess.
Let Us Know
Would you rather have a president you disagreed with on policy who owned the libs, or a president whose views you agreed with who treated his or her political opponents with respect?
Reporting by Declan Garvey, Andrew Egger, and Steve Hayes.
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