Political Wire

Nunes Says Rosenstein Not Impeached Due to Timing

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In a secret recording obtained by NBC News, Rep. Devin Nunes (R-CA) says the impeachment effort of Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein was halted because Republicans want to wait until Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh is confirmed.

Said Nunes: “The Senate would have to drop everything they’re doing… and start with impeachment on Rosenstein. And then take the risk of not getting Kavanaugh confirmed. So it’s not a matter that any of us like Rosenstein. It’s a matter of, it’s a matter of timing.”

GOP Promotes Fear Instead of Tax Cuts

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Associated Press: “Republican candidates in the nation’s premiere midterm battlegrounds have embraced a central message in their fight to maintain the House majority this fall — and it has little to do with the surging economy or the sweeping tax cuts that the GOP celebrated as a once-in-a-generation achievement just eight months ago.”

”Instead, as Republicans enter the final month of the primary season, they’re looking ahead to a general-election strategy of embracing anxiety as a tool to motivate voters.”

Giuliani Says GOP Would Benefit If Talks Drag On

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Rudy Giuliani said that he wants negotiations over a presidential interview with special counsel Robert Mueller to be completed by Sept. 1 but also said that Republicans could benefit from dragging the process into the November midterm elections, CNN reports.

Said Giuliani: “When I first got involved, I would have told you not testifying would be the right legal strategy but then hurt politically. Now I’m thinking the continuance of the investigation would actually help because people are getting tired of it, and (the President) needs something to energize his voters because the Democrats look like they’re energized.”

Kasich Said Voters Sent Republicans a Message

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Gov. John Kasich (R) told CBS News that Ohio voters who cast so many votes for Democrat Danny O’Connor in a solidly Republican district were “sending a message to the Republicans to knock it off.”

Said Kasich: “Stop the chaos, the division, no more of this family separation that we see at the border or taking people’s healthcare away. I think that have — basically have had enough and they’re sending a message to the Republicans, including the Republican in the White House.”

He added: “This district is so Republican, there should never even have been an election here. And it was so close and — in one of the counties that’s so solidly Republican — where a Republican would normally win by 70 percent, it broke basically 50-50.”

Kobach Won’t Recuse Himself from Recount

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Kansas Secretary of State Kris Kobach (R) said that he “has no plans to recuse himself from a recount process in the race for governor because any counting of ballots would take place at the county level,” the Kansas City Star reports.

Said Kobach: “The secretary of state’s office merely serves as a coordinating entity overseeing it all but not actually counting the votes.”

We Still Don’t Know What Mueller Knows

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Walter Shapiro: “In a world with more leaks than a rotting rowboat, it is hard to get your mind around the reality that the Mueller investigation doesn’t leak. Everything that we know about his investigation comes from Paul Manafort’s trial; more than 30 other indictments and guilty pleas; reports of subpoenas by the grand jury; self-serving comments by mouthpieces like Rudy Giuliani; and Trump’s desperate, caged-man, all-caps tweets.”

“That sounds ample, except none of this reveals Mueller’s timetable, how much he has learned about the president’s conduct and business dealings and whether the independent counsel will issue a final report recommending impeachment.”

“In a sense, it is akin to how Pluto (which should still be a planet) was anticipated before it was actually observed in 1930 by Clyde Tombaugh’s telescope. Pluto’s existence had already been theorized because of a wobble in the orbit of Neptune.”

“What we are witnessing now are only the perturbations caused by the Mueller investigation. But the hard leak-proof reality is that we simply don’t know where it is all leading. Yet.”

Omarosa Secretly Recorded Trump

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“Multiple sources with direct knowledge of the situation tell the Daily Beast that Omarosa Manigault-Newman, the infamous former Apprentice star who followed Trump to the White House, secretly recorded conversations with the president — conversations she has since leveraged while shopping her forthcoming ‘tell-all’ book, bluntly titled Unhinged.”

“For months, it has been rumored that Manigault had clandestinely recorded on her smartphone ‘tapes’ of unspecified private discussions she had in the West Wing. Audio actually does exist, and even stars Manigault’s former boss.”

“The mere existence of such recordings represent a dramatic betrayal of trust by a one-time Trump confidant who has since abandoned years of professed loyalty to the president and has apparently decided to profit off her years of closeness to Trump.”

A Public Lesson on Money Laundering and Corruption

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John Cassidy: “It’s not clear yet how Gates’s testimony will affect the outcome of the trial, in which Manafort is charged with tax evasion, bank fraud, and failing to disclose foreign bank accounts. But his time on the witness stand provided an invaluable public lesson in how tax evasion, money laundering, and political corruption work.”

“The importance of these phenomena goes well beyond this trial, and also beyond the special counsel Robert Mueller’s broader inquiry into Russia’s activities during the 2016 election. (Among other things, Mueller is widely believed to be looking into whether Donald Trump and his Presidential campaign had any surreptitious financial ties to Russian interests.) The ability of rich people such as Manafort and his oligarchic clients to shuffle money across borders, beyond the purview of tax collectors and law-enforcement authorities, is a huge and intractable problem. In many places, these practices are denuding tax bases, corrupting a large class of professional enablers, and undermining public confidence in the political and financial systems.”

Bonus Quote of the Day

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“We won a district where we can nominate a bag of cement… and we won by 1,000 votes. That means… they are playing 50 seats deep in our infield and almost winning. What does that tell you about our midterms?”

— GOP strategist Mike Murphy, quoted by The Atlantic, on what last night’s Ohio special election says for the November midterms.

Trump Rejects Mueller’s Conditions for Interview

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“President Trump’s lawyers rejected the special counsel’s latest terms for an interview in the Russia investigation, countering on Wednesday with an offer that suggested a narrow path for answering questions,” the New York Times reports.

“The letter marked the latest back and forth in the eight months of negotiations between Mr. Trump’s lawyers and the special counsel, Robert Mueller. Last week, Mr. Mueller proposed a slightly altered format to the expansive interview he wants to conduct with the president.”

“Mr. Trump’s lawyers did not reject an interview outright but included the narrower counteroffer.”

Trump Warms to Rosenstein

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Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein — who President Trump has previously publicly considered firing — has now reportedly developed a “strong rapport” with the president, the Wall Street Journal reports.

Trump is said to call Rosenstein to discuss issues beyond the investigation such as immigration, and Rosenstein visits the White House as often as three times a week.

When asked for a comment on their relationship, Trump said: “It’s fantastic!”

About Political Wire

goddard-bw-snapshotTaegan Goddard is the founder of Political Wire, one of the earliest and most influential political web sites. He also runs Wonk Wire, Political Job Hunt and the Political Dictionary.

Goddard spent more than a decade as managing director and chief operating officer of a prominent investment firm in New York City. Previously, he was a policy adviser to a U.S. Senator and Governor.

Goddard is also co-author of You Won - Now What? (Scribner, 1998), a political management book hailed by prominent journalists and politicians from both parties. In addition, Goddard's essays on politics and public policy have appeared in dozens of newspapers across the country.

Goddard earned degrees from Vassar College and Harvard University. He lives in New York with his wife and three sons.

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