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The Guardian - US
The Guardian - US
World
Ben Jacobs in Washington

Trump refuses to rule out Manafort pardon – live updates

Donald Trump walks to board the Marine One helicopter to begin his travel to Mississippi on 26 November.
Donald Trump walks to board the Marine One helicopter to begin his travel to Mississippi on 26 November. Photograph: Jonathan Ernst/Reuters

Summary

  • Nancy Pelosi overcame the first hurdle in her quest to become Speaker again as 203 Democrats supported her in an internal election. She still needs 218 votes on the floor in January.
  • The Senate voted to start debate on a resolution to end U.S. support for the Saudi-backed coalition in Yemen.
  • The Senate also voted to advance the controversial nomination of Thomas Farr to the federal bunch after Mike Pence cast a tiebreaking vote.
  • Hakeem Jeffries won a contested election to become Democratic caucus chair and position himself as a potential future Speaker of the House.
  • In an interview with the New York Post, Donald Trump refused to rule out a pardon of Paul Manafort.

This is a good map to compare last night’s result in Mississippi to the last competitive Senate race in the Magnolia State.

The vote is over on the Senate taking up the Yemen resolution. It passes by a 63-37 margin.

One Democrat who voted against Pelosi today in the caucus says that he won’t support her on the floor in January either.

Stormy Daniels says Avenatti sued Trump without permission

Stormy Daniels says that Michael Avenatti sued Trump without her permission and has not been transparent about money raised on her behalf via a Go Fund Me.

In a statement, Daniels says:

“I haven’t decided yet what to do about legal representation moving forward. Michael has been a great advocate in many ways. I’m tremendously grateful to him for aggressively representing me in my fight to regain my voice. But in other ways Michael has not treated me with the respect and deference an attorney should show to a client. He has spoken on my behalf without my approval. He filed a defamation case against Donald Trump against my wishes. He repeatedly refused to tell me how my legal defense fund was being spent. Now he has launched a new crowdfunding campaign using my face and name without my permission and attributing words to me that I never wrote or said. I’m deeply grateful to my supporters and they deserve to know their money is being spent responsibly. I don’t want to hurt Michael, but it’s time to set the record straight. The truth has always been my greatest ally.

Updated

This is a good guide to what Nancy Pelosi needs to do in January to become Speaker.

Republican Claudia Tenney, who lost her bid for re-election in upstate New York, has finally conceded.

The Senate has voted to advance the resolution on Yemen

The Senate has taken the first step to curb U.S. support for the Saudi backed coalition in Yemen

Presidential candidate John Delaney is about to play Tetris on a livestream with the Washington Post’s Dave Weigel.

Delaney is the first 2020 candidate to already visit all 99 counties in Iowa but not the first to play an 80s video game with Weigel. Cory Booker played PacMan with him last month.

Bob Corker, the chair of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, lays out on the process on the Yemen resolution and seems to assume it will pass.

Pelosi wins Speaker nomination handily

Pelosi did far better than she did the last time she received a challenge with over 200 members supporting her in the caucus. She is still short of the 218 votes she needs on the floor though.

The cuisine at the Democratic leadership elections is not exactly gourmet.

Seth Moulton, one of the leading Democratic critics of Pelosi within the caucus, has just released a statement insisted that she does not have the 218 votes necessary to be Speaker.

Trump refuses to rule out Manafort pardon

In a new interview with the New York Post, President Donald Trump refused to rule out a pardon for Paul Manafort.

Updated

Nancy Pelosi nominated to be Speaker

Pelosi has cleared the first hurdle but still needs 218 votes on the floor in January.

It looks like Democrats will pick up another seat in California, taking their total gains for the cycle to 40 seats.

Tim Scott is still holding open the possibility that he might vote against Farr’s confirmation tomorrow. Today’s vote was procedural.

Not all Pelosi critics have been won over even as the Democratic leader seems to be shoring up support across her caucus

John Kerry is considering another presidential bid. The 2004 Democratic nominee and former secretary of state said at Harvard “I’m going to think about” running.

Nancy Pelosi has reached a deal with the Problem Solvers Caucus, a group of centrists who pushed for rules reforms in exchange for supporting Pelosi for Speaker.

Pence’s tiebreaking vote on Farr’s nomination is the 10th that he has cast since taking office. He is the first vice president to hit double digits in that category in nearly 150 years. Schuyler Colfax, who served as Ulysses S. Grant’s vice president, was the last to cast at least 10 tiebreaking votes.

Updated

Thomas Farr's nomination advances

After nearly an hour, South Carolina Republican Tim Scott has voted to advance the nomination of Thomas Farr to the federal bench.

Farr faced fierce opposition from voting rights and African American groups over his work defending a voter ID law that was later struck by a federal court as well as for Jesse Helms.

All 49 Democrats and Republican Jeff Flake opposed Farr. Scott’s vote means that it will be 50-50 and that Vice President Mike Pence will break the tie to advance Farr’s nomination.

Buzzfeed reports that President Donald Trump has been getting briefed on Brexit by Nigel Farage, the former leader of UKIP.

There is drama with the vote on Thomas Farr’s nomination. Tim Scott, the sole Republican who has yet to commit either way, can’t be found and the tally is stuck at 49. It needs 50 for Mike Pence to cast a tiebreaking vote.

Yesterday was Steve Bannon’s birthday and the former top White House aide had some interesting guests at his party.

CNN reports that Trump told special counsel Robert Mueller that he had no knowledge of Roger Stone’s contacts with Wikileaks or about the infamous 2016 Trump Tower meeting between Donald Trump Jr and a Russian attorney.

The two answers were submitted in writing to the special counsel and Trump would be subject to prosecution if he lied.

As the vote on Thomas Farr’s nomination begins, Mike Pence is in the Capitol and ready to cast a tiebreaking vote on his nomination if needed.

Jon Kyl, the appointed replacement for John McCain in the Senate, is expected to step down next year. Kyl, a former senator who came out of retirement, is not committed to serving into 2019.

The question is who Arizona governor Doug Ducey will tap to replace him. Although many national Republicans want him to pick outgoing Congresswoman Martha McSally, who narrowly lost the Senate race in November, Ducey is hesitant according to the Washington Post.

Another Democrat is now on board with Nancy Pelosi.

Darren Soto of Florida, who is a member of the centrist Problem Solvers Caucus, which has raised obstacles in recent days, is now on board.

Another attempt by the Senate to take up legislation to protect special counsel Robert Mueller was just blocked.

Jeff Flake of Arizona tried to bring the bill to the floor with a procedure that requires unanimous consent and fellow Republican Mike Lee of Utah objected.

Inside the briefing for senators, apparently neither Mike Pompeo nor Jim Mattis pushed back on the assessment that MBS was involved in the murder of Khashoggi.

Speaking after the briefing for senators on Capitol Hill on Saudi Arabia, Khashoggi and Yemen, Bob Menendez, the top Democrat on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, denounced the absence of CIA director Gina Haspel.

One interesting datapoint here on yesterday’s runoff in Mississippi where Democratic turnout was higher than it was on Election Day. However, the Republican lean of the state meant that that still wasn’t enough for Democrat Mike Espy to pull off an upset.

Hakeem Jeffries elected Democrat Caucus Chair

New York congressman Hakeem Jeffries narrowly edged Barbara Lee of California for the #5 position in the Democratic caucus, a position formerly held by outgoing congressman Joe Crowley.

With the top three Democrats in the caucus all being in their late 70s, it positions the 48-year-old Jeffries well to be a future Speaker of the House.

Updated

One key reason for Democrats coming up short in Mississippi last night was the lack of suburban college-educated white women.

As this graphic shows, the state has few suburbs and, as a result, lags the rest of the country in a demographic that was crucial for Democrats in 2018.

Secretary of State Mike Pompeo wrote an editorial in this morning’s Wall Street Journal defending the US/Saudi alliance with a particular criticism of congressional “caterwauling” after the murder of Jamal Khashoggi.

The Trump administration’s effort to rebuild the U.S.-Saudi Arabia partnership isn’t popular in the salons of Washington, where politicians of both parties have long used the kingdom’s human-rights record to call for the alliance’s downgrading. The October murder of Saudi national Jamal Khashoggi in Turkey has heightened the Capitol Hill caterwauling and media pile-on. But degrading U.S.-Saudi ties would be a grave mistake for the national security of the U.S. and its allies.

Mike Pompeo is speaking to a closed door briefing in the Senate today and trying to keep senators from supporting a resolution to cut off aid to a Saudi backed coalition in Yemen.

Lisa Murkowski will vote for the controversial nomination of Thomas Farr to the federal bench in North Carolina.

All 49 Democrats are opposed to the nomination as well as Republican Jeff Flake of Arizona.

Voting has now begun in perhaps the most competitive election today for Democratic House Leadership. Hakeem Jeffries of New York faces off against Barbara Lee of California to be caucus chair.

Congressman Bruce Poliquin has now requested a new election. The Maine Republican lost his seat in the midterms to Democrat Jared Golden.

The Miami Herald has a detailed investigation on how current Labor Secretary Alex Acosta let billionaire investor Jeffrey Epstein off the hook for his role in a serial child sex abuser.

Pelosi to be formally nominated as Democratic pick for speaker

Nancy Pelosi will be formally nominated by another political scion this morning, my colleague Lauren Gambino reports.

Updated

The state board of elections has declined to certify a congressional race in North Carolina for unclear reasons.

Republican Mark Harris edged Democrat Dan McCready by 905 votes in the state’s 9th congressional district but, due to what one board member called “unfortunate activities,” the board is not certifying the result yet.

If you’re following along at home, the full schedule for the House Democratic leadership elections is now available.

The Daily Beast has confirmed that conspiracy theorist Jerome Corsi has a joint defense agreement with Trump. Corsi has attracted attention in recent days when he announced he turned down a plea deal offered by special counsel Robert Mueller.

A local neighborhood level commission in Washington, D.C. will vote today to rename the street outside the Saudi Embassy after Jamal Khashoggi.

The Advisory Neighborhood Commission 2A, an elected body that normally deals with issues like liquor licenses and zoning, will vote on the proposal to rename the east side of New Hampshire Avenue NW between F Street and Juarez Circle after Khashoggi.

Even if it passes, the effort still requires approval from the city council and is subject to review by Congress.

President Donald Trump told reporters from Politico yesterday that he is ready for a potential government shutdown over a border wall.

He said he would “totally be willing” to allow a partial government shutdown if Congress does not appropriate $5 billion for a physical wall on the US/Mexico border.

Trump also added “I don’t do anything ... just for political gain. But I will tell you, politically speaking, that issue is a total winner.”

The White House imposed severe conditions on local reporters when Ivanka Trump and Apple CEO Tim Cook went to Idaho yesterday.

Perhaps the biggest upset in the midterms was Democrat Kendra Horn’s shock win in Oklahoma’s Fifth Congressional District.

National Journal takes a deep dive on how Horn pulled off the upset in the Sooner State and beat incumbent Republican Steve Russell in a race that was off almost everyone’s radar.

It’s not unusual for Trump to bash journalists on Twitter. However, it’s rare for his administration to hire them.

Politico reports that former Wall Street Journal editorial writer Mary Kissel has joined the State Department as senior adviser for policy and strategic messaging to Mike Pompeo.

Trump called her “a major loser” on Twitter in March 2016 during his presidential campaign after she criticized him on Morning Joe.

The head of the EPA has joined in Trump’s criticism of the government climate report last week.

After losing in November, Republican Bruce Poliquin is now demanding a recount for unusual reasons.

The Maine congressman says “black box voting” and secret “artificial intelligence” may have decided the outcome and asked for a recount.

Poliquin lost in the first congressional race in the country decided by ranked choice voting.

House Democrats to hold leadership elections this morning

Nancy Pelosi faces her first major hurdle to becoming Speaker this morning when Democrats hold their leadership elections.

Pelosi still needs to win an election of the whole House in January once the new Congress is sworn in. However, this will be a key measure her strength within in the caucus as she is expected to formally be the Democratic choice to be Speaker with no declared opponent. But, a number of members have said they would not vote for her on the floor in January regardless.

Many Democrats ran saying they would vote against Pelosi to be leader and without a declared opponent, Politico is reporting that she has taken steps for them to fulfill that pledge today.

And since no one is challenging her for the job, Pelosi has modified the internal ballot so members can vote “no” on her nomination, Democratic insiders told POLITICO — demonstrating just how sure she is of her numbers.

The unusual move allows members from swing districts who ran on a platform of opposing Pelosi to say they did so when they return home. In fact, Pelosi allies have actually encouraged some members-elect to oppose her in caucus so they can tell constituents they tried to push her out of the job — and then back her during the more critical Jan. 3 floor vote to officially become speaker.

The Washington Post is reporting that one of the key reasons that Trump did not reappoint Janet Yellen as chairman of the Federal Reserve is that he thought the 5’3 economist was too short for the position.

Trump: 'This is our Joseph McCarthy era!'

The President of the United States is on a tear on Twitter this morning.

He retweeted an image featuring Bill and Hillary Clinton, Barack Obama, Robert Mueller and Rod Rosenstein among others asking “when do the trials for treason begin?”

He also has yet again compared Mueller’s investigation to Joe McCarthy and the Red Scare.

Updated

Good morning.

Republican Cindy Hyde-Smith held on to win the special election runoff for U.S. Senate in Mississippi last night, House Democrats will hold their leadership elections today and Donald Trump will have lunch at the White House with New York Governor Andrew Cuomo.

It’s Wednesday in American politics.

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