Politics

From a Washington Post story titled “Winter Is Coming”: President Trump’s advisers and allies are increasingly worried that he has neither the staff nor the strategy to protect himself from a possible Democratic takeover of the House, which would empower the opposition party to shower the administration with subpoenas or even pursue impeachment charges. Within Trump’s orbit, there is consensus …

Politico reports: Special counsel Robert Mueller’s team wants to review emails between Paul Manafort and one of his former lawyers — messages that would typically be protected by attorney-client privilege. Manafort’s emails are a special case, Mueller’s team argued in a court motion Wednesday. Attorney-client privilege doesn’t apply when the client enlists a lawyer’s help to commit a crime — …

Roll Call reports: Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) missed votes this week as he spent time campaigning back in Texas, where he is running in a closer-than-anticipated Senate race. The Senate cut its work week short, but before they did so the chamber held seven roll call votes to clear nominees for President Trump. GOP Sen. John Cornyn (R-Texas), the No. …

The Washington Examiner reports: “It’s very clear that Mr. DeSantis is taking a page directly from the campaign manual of Donald Trump, but I think he has got another thing coming to him if he thinks that in today’s day and age Florida voters are going to respond to that level of derision and division, they are sick of it,” …

The West Virginia Metro News reports: Don Blankenship will not be on the November General Election ballot for U.S. Senate in West Virginia after the state Supreme Court denied his attempt in an order handed down Wednesday afternoon. The order came about three hours after oral arguments had concluded before the Court in which Blankenship’s attorney argued the state’s Sore …

NBC News reports: Former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin (R) has not been invited to attend funeral services for Sen. John McCain, her one-time running mate. A source within the Palin family told NBC News that “out of respect to Senator McCain and his family we have nothing to add at this point.” “The Palin family will always cherish their friendship …

The New York Times reports: Romania, long considered one of the most corrupt states in the European Union, has made energetic efforts to root out graft, with high-profile lawmakers caught in the cross hairs and concerns about the rule of law prompting rallies attended by tens and sometimes hundreds of thousands of protesters. Now, unexpectedly, Rudolph W. Giuliani, President Trump’s …

“A little while ago we had Ron DeSantis, the Republican nominee for governor in Florida, on for an interview to discuss the Florida election. During the interview he made what some are calling an inappropriate comment about his Democratic opponent Andrew Gillum. We do not condone this language and wanted to make our viewers aware that he has since clarified …

The Hill reports: The Texas Republican Party invoked a decades-old mug shot from a previous Rep. Beto O’Rourke’s (D-Texas) arrest as part of a series of jabs at the congressman for declining to debate Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas). The tweet included O’Rourke’s mugshot from an arrest. The photo included a message that reads: “Sorry, Can’t debate. Had a little too …

The Daily Beast reports: Republican candidate Ron DeSantis’ general election campaign for governor of Florida got off to an abysmal start on Wednesday morning when he went on Fox News and warned voters not to “monkey this up” by electing his Democratic opponent, Andrew Gillum, who would be the first African-American to lead the state. “The last thing we need …

USA Today reports: White House counsel Don McGahn, who had extraordinary access to President Donald Trump during some of his most controversial dealings and decisions, will leave his post this fall, the president said Wednesday. Trump announced McGahn’s departure on Twitter hours after a report by Axios broke the news that the lawyer planned to leave. Trump thanked McGahn for …

Now that John McCain won’t be around to give another thumbs-down, Senate Republicans are plotting another run at repealing Obamacare. GOP lawmakers say they won’t have time to hold another vote to repeal the law in 2018 but vow to try again next year if they manage to keep their Senate and House majorities. Sen. Ron Johnson (R-Wis.) said he …

The Washington Post reports: “The young people will win,” vowed David Hogg, the Parkland activist who has turned the stalled movement for gun control into a plea for political engagement. The change registered far beyond the suburb of South Florida where 17 students and educators died on Feb. 14, Hogg said. Tuesday’s primaries advanced two 39-year-old candidates for governor. The …

Courthouse News reports: Blueprints for 3D-printed guns are now available to anybody who wants them, the owner of a Texas company said Tuesday, claiming a federal judge’s order the day before applied only to free online instructions. Consumers in the United States can name their own price for the controversial files that began shipping on USB drives Tuesday morning by …

The New York Post reports: It’s good to be David and Julia Koch. New York’s richest couple just bought an Upper East Side mansion on a whim — for $40 million in cash, sources told The Post. They came upon the 15,000-square-foot home when they visited a ritzy decorator show house earlier this summer. The Kochs liked the stately mansion …

Mediaite reports: Florida gubernatorial candidate Ron DeSantis, who officially clinched the GOP nomination Tuesday night, appeared on The Ingraham Angle and is already taking aim at his Democratic opponent. He’ll be facing off against Tallahassee Mayor Andrew Gillum, who received the endorsement of Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT). “He wants to abolish ICE. He wants a billion-dollar tax increase. He wants …

Politico reports: Even in death, John McCain has one final burn planned for two of his biggest foes — Vladimir Putin and Donald Trump — at a moment when much of the world will be watching. The Republican senator from Arizona, who planned his own funeral, chose Russian dissident Vladimir Kara-Murza as one of the dignitaries to carry his coffin …

Axios reports: Top White House officials and sources close to White House counsel Don McGahn tell Axios that McGahn will step down this fall — after Brett Kavanaugh is confirmed to the Supreme Court, or after the midterms. That potentially puts a successor in charge of fielding a blizzard of requests or subpoenas for documents and testimony if Democrats win …

NBC News reports: Rep. Martha McSally has defeated Kelli Ward and former Sheriff Joe Arpaio in the Arizona Republican Senate primary on Tuesday night, NBC News projects. McSally, a former fighter pilot, had been favored to prevail over the two conservatives who have split the anti-establishment vote. But McSally tacked far to the right in the primary, which could cause …

Via press release from the Victory Fund: Openly LGBTQ candidate Lauren Baer won her primary for a U.S. House seat and is on-track to becoming the first openly LGBTQ person elected to Congress from Florida. The seat is considered pivotal to Democrats’ efforts to retake the House, and she will face Republican anti-LGBTQ incumbent Brian Mast in November. Baer will …