Politics

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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Richard Painter May Run For Al Franken’s Senate Seat

The Minneapolis Star-Tribune reports: Richard Painter, a University of Minnesota law professor and prolific TV and Twitter critic of President Donald Trump, said Wednesday that he is forming an exploratory committee that could lead to a campaign for the U.S. Senate seat vacated by Al Franken and now occupied by Democrat Tina Smith. Painter said at a State Capitol news …

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Trump Lawyer Michael Cohen Got Restraining Order Blocking Stormy Daniels From Talking About Affair

NBC News reports: President Donald Trump’s lawyer is trying to silence adult-film star Stormy Daniels, obtaining a secret restraining order in a private arbitration proceeding and warning that she will face penalties if she publicly discusses a relationship with the president, NBC News has learned. Tuesday’s lawsuit says that Trump attorney Michael Cohen — who brokered the agreement with Clifford …

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Hope Hicks To House Intel Panel: My Email Was Hacked

NBC News reports: Hope Hicks told the House Intelligence Committee last week that one of her email accounts was hacked, according to people who were present for the former White House communications director’s testimony in the panel’s Russia probe. Under relatively routine questioning from Rep. Jim Himes, D-Conn., about her correspondence, Hicks indicated that she could no longer access two …

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Ted Cruz Warns That The Rage-Filled “Extreme Left” Will Turn Out In Historic Numbers For The 2018 Midterms

“If conservatives are complacent — we know that the left is going to show up. The extreme left, they’re angry. They’re filled with rage, they hate the president. And mark my words, we are going to see historic turnout from the extreme left in November, which means if conservatives stay home, we have the potential, we could lose both houses …

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Trump Advisor Carl Icahn Denies Insider Trading: We Had No Prior Knowledge Of Trump’s Tariff On Steel

CNBC reports: Carl Icahn responded to his critics about his stock sales in Manitowoc amid the possible implementation of tariffs by President Donald Trump, an action that could raise costs for the maker of cranes. “We don’t generally comment on rumors, but the recent media speculation regarding our sale of Manitowoc stock calls for a response. We state for the …

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LIVE VIDEO: White House Press Briefing

The Associated Press reports: The White House will hold a press briefing Wednesday afternoon with press secretary Sarah Sanders. The briefing is scheduled to start at 2PM. President Donald Trump once presided over a reality show in which a key cast member exited each week. The same thing seems to be happening in his White House. Trump’s West Wing has …

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Trump Trails Generic Dem By 8 Points In 2020 Poll

Politico reports: President Donald Trump’s new campaign manager has his work cut out for him. A week after naming Brad Parscale to run his reelection effort, Trump is 8 points behind a generic Democratic candidate, 44 percent to 36 percent, according to a new POLITICO/Morning Consult poll. Nearly one in five voters, 19 percent, are undecided. Male voters are evenly …

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