Politics

Elizabeth Warren: I’m Not Running For President

Politico reports: Sen. Elizabeth Warren insisted Saturday night that she was not running for the White House in 2020, but the Massachusetts Democrat repeatedly dodged on whether she would serve her full six-year term if she wins re-election to the Senate this November. “I am in this fight to retain my Senate seat in 2018. That’s where I’m focused,” Warren …

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Putin On Russian Meddling In US Election: “So What?”

Newsweek reports: Vladimir Putin discussed the indictment filed by special counsel Robert Mueller last month as part of an exclusive interview to NBC’s Megyn Kelly aired on Friday night under the title “Confronting Putin,” which touched on several topics including the ongoing investigation into Russian interference in the U.S. election. The Russian presidential office published a transcript of the full …

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White House Studies Death Penalty For Drug Dealers

The Washington Post reports: The Trump administration is studying new policy that could allow prosecutors to seek the death penalty for drug dealers, according to people with knowledge of the discussions, a sign that the White House wants to make a strong statement in addressing the opioid crisis. President Trump last week suggested executing drug dealers as a way to …

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Sam Nunberg: I’m Going To Lay Low For Awhile

Yahoo News reports: We in the media might not have Sam Nunberg to kick around anymore. Then again, who knows for sure? Late Thursday evening, hours before he appeared before a grand jury hearing as part of Mueller’s probe of Russian meddling in the 2016 election, the former campaign aide to President Trump called Yahoo News unprompted to give what …

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NEVADA: Son Of Cliven Bundy To Run For Governor

The Nevada Independent reports: Ryan Bundy, the son of controversial Mesquite-area rancher Cliven Bundy, plans to run for governor in 2018. Bundy told The Nevada Independent in an interview on Thursday that he plans to file to run for governor as an independent on March 14, and will run on the same state sovereignty principles that made him and his …

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LIVE VIDEO: White House Press Briefing

CNBC reports: Press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders is slated to take reporters’ questions at the White House on Friday. The briefing follows the Trump administration’s enactment of broad tariffs on steel and aluminum on Thursday. Flanked by Cabinet members and U.S. steel workers in the Oval Office, President Donald Trump signed new import taxes of 25 percent on steel and …

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Biden Mulls 2020 Running Mate And Strategy Options

Politico reports: Joe Biden knows that winning in 2020 would require a shoot-the-moon set of circumstances and luck. So his team is on the hunt for a moon shot. Between stops on his book tour and in the ramp-up for what will be a heavy midterms campaign schedule, a tight circle of aides has been brainstorming a range of tear-up-the-playbook …

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PENNSYLVANIA: Dem +4 In Special US House Race

Talking Points Memo reports: Democrats are on the verge of a major upset victory deep in Trump country, according to a new bipartisan poll shared first with TPM. Democrat Conor Lamb leads Republican Rick Saccone by 48 percent to 44 percent in a survey conducted by RABA Research, a bipartisan firm. That would mark a huge upset in a conservative …

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Nunberg Arrives To Testify Before Mueller’s Grand Jury

Former Trump aide Sam Nunberg just walked into the DC federal courthouse where he’ll testify before Mueller’s grand jury. ABC News reports: It’s unclear what exactly Nunberg will testify about before the grand jury, but during previous interviews Nunberg said he was questioned about some of President Trump’s campaign and previous business activities. But Nunberg gave a mixed message on …

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GOP Sen. Dean Heller Claims SCOTUS Justice Anthony Kennedy Will Retire “Sometime Early This Summer”

Politico reports: Dean Heller knows he’s the most vulnerable Republican senator in the country. But he thinks Supreme Court Justice Anthony Kennedy might just help him hang on to his seat. “Kennedy is going to retire around sometime early summer,” Heller predicted in Las Vegas last week, according to audio of an event he spoke at that was obtained by …

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Kushner Tried To Sell Paper To Media Matters Founder

Buzzfeed reports: Just days before heading to a West Wing job, Donald Trump’s son-in-law, Jared Kushner, was secretly engaged in talks to sell his struggling news organization, the New York Observer, to Clinton megadonor and Univision chair Haim Saban and Hillary Clinton ally David Brock — a progressive media figure with aspirations to turn the news outlet into “the Breitbart …

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REPORT: Zinke Spent $139,000 On Office Doors

The Associated Press reports: Records show the Interior Department spent nearly $139,000 last year for construction at the agency that was labeled on a work order as “Secretary’s Door.” A spokeswoman for Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke did not provide answers Thursday to questions about whether changes had been made to a door in the secretary’s office. Records show the Maryland …

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Operative Tied To Trump Once Indicted For Child Porn

The Atlantic reports: A political operative who frequented the White House in the early days of President Trump’s administration, George Nader, was indicted in 1985 on charges of importing to the United States obscene material, including photos of nude boys “engaged in a variety of sexual acts,” according to publicly available court records. Nader pleaded not guilty, and the charges …

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Judge To Trump: Mute But Don’t Block Your Followers

I’m among those Trump has blocked: A judge is recommending that President Donald Trump mute rather than block some Twitter followers to resolve a First Amendment lawsuit. Manhattan federal Judge Naomi Reice Buchwald on Thursday suggested a settlement as the preferred outcome after listening to lawyers argue whether it’s constitutional for Trump to block his critics. The hearing stemmed from …

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MISSISSIPPI: Lawmakers Pass Anti-Abortion Bill Meant To Challenge Roe V Wade, GOP Governor Will Sign It

The Associated Press reports: Mississippi lawmakers on Thursday passed what is likely to be the nation’s most restrictive abortion law, making the procedure illegal after 15 weeks of pregnancy. The House voted 75-34 in favor of the measure, and Gov. Phil Bryant has said he will sign it. The owner of Mississippi’s only abortion clinic has pledged to sue— a …

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Nancy Pelosi: Trump Is Lip Syncing His Policies

From the Hollywood Reporter: The ever-blurring lines between politics and pop culture grow fuzzier — and more fabulous! — when Democrat Leader Nancy Pelosi pays a surprise visit this week to RuPaul’s Drag Race All Stars. Pelosi represents California’s 12th district in Congress, which includes all of San Francisco — so it’s safe to say she’s found her way around …

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Trump Demands China Reduce Trade Deficit By “One Billion Dollars” (He Meant To Ask For $100 Billion)

New York Magazine reports: This week, Trump ventured another strange foreign policy pronouncement. He had asked China to produce a plan to reduce its trade deficit by One Billion Dollars. He even capitalized it to underscore the significance of the towering sum he proposed to extract. This demand was incredibly puzzling to trade economists, and regular economists, and anybody who …

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REVEALED: At Least 187 Trump Appointees Are Former Lobbyists, Many Now Oversee Their Former Industries

ProPublica reports: When the Trump administration took office early last year, hundreds of staffers from lobbying firms, conservative think tanks and Trump campaign groups began pouring into the very agencies they once lobbied or whose work they once opposed. Today we’re making available, for the first time, an authoritative searchable database of 2,475 political appointees, including Trump’s Cabinet, staffers in …

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REPORT: Trump Vetoed Miss Universe Contestants Who Were Dark-Skinned Or Had Snubbed His Advances

Mother Jones today published a long-read on Trump’s passionate bromance with Vladimir Putin. Near the end of the piece is this: At each pageant, Miss Universe staffers would set up a special room for Trump backstage. It had to conform to his precise require­ments. He needed his favorite snacks: Nutter Butters and white Tic Tacs. And Diet Coke. There could …

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REPORT: Trump Furious With Sarah Huckabee Sanders For Acknowledging Legal Battle With Stormy Daniels

The Hill reports: President Trump is upset with White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders for her handling on Wednesday of questions about allegations that the president once had an affair with adult-film actress Stormy Daniels. CNN’s Jim Acosta reported that Trump is “very unhappy” with his press secretary after she acknowledged at a press briefing on Wednesday that Trump …

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