Today in Campaign 2016
- FBI director James Comey angrily defended his impartiality before lawmakers after explaining why he chose not to prosecute an “unsophisticated” Hillary Clinton. During nearly five hours of nonstop grilling by the oversight committee of the House of Representatives, Comey insisted that recommending charges in the case would have been “celebrity hunting” because normally prosecutors require evidence of intent in such cases, despite what was possibly unlawful handling of classified emails.
- Under the 1917 Espionage Act there is a provision for bringing charges for gross negligence without evidence of an intentional breach of the law, he said, but only one much more serious case has ever been brought using it. “You know what would be a double standard? If she were prosecuted for gross negligence,” said Comey. “No reasonable prosecutor would bring the second case in 100 years based on gross negligence.”
- Republican opponents of Donald Trump in Congress described meetings with the presumptive GOP nominee as awkward and sparred with him, while Trump’s supporters raved about his visit to Capitol Hill.
- South Carolina Rep Mark Sanford mocked Trump afterward for referencing Article XII of the Constitution in response to a question about Article I, which delineates Congress’s powers. There are only seven articles in the Constitution.
- Texas senator and suspended presidential candidate Ted Cruz, who claimed 559 delegates in the primary season and who enjoys the loyalty of many more delegates bound at first to vote for Donald Trump, has accepted an offer from Trump to speak at the Republican convention later this month.
- Speaking in Warsaw, Poland, President Barack Obama commented on the recent shooting deaths of two black men who were killed by police. “We have seen tragedies like this too many times,” Obama said. “And that hurts. And that should trouble all of us. This is not just a black issue, it’s not just a Hispanic issue - this is an American issue, that we should all care about. All fair-minded people should be concerned.”
Kristen Bell, the star of Frozen, has tweeted a response to Donald Trump’s use of a Frozen sticker book to prove that journalists are conspiring to paint him as an anti-Semite:
Zip it Don & get ur head outta ur ass. We've more important things 2 think abt today #AltonSterling #PhilandoCastile https://t.co/H2irnurqIe
— Kristen Bell (@IMKristenBell) July 7, 2016
Members of the House of Representatives have joined Black Lives Matter protesters outside the US Capitol, joining them in a chant of “No justice, no peace!”
About 20 House Democrats leading a "No justice, no peace" chant. https://t.co/877fxUyTHY
— Matt Fuller (@MEPFuller) July 8, 2016
Former House speaker New Gingrich told Fox News this evening that he would feel “compelled” to serve as Donald Trump’s running mate if the presumptive Republican presidential nominee asks him to take on the roll.
“If Trump offers the position and is serious about it, which I think he would be after our conversations, [my wife] Callista and I would feel compelled to serve the country,” Gingrich told Fox News’ On the Record with Greta Van Susteren.
“I think that we are at a crossroads in American history, frankly captured in part by what happened over the last few days. We’re either going to clean up Washington or Washington is going to corrupt the whole country.”
Video: The full speech President Barack Obama gave upon landing in Warsaw, Poland, regarding the fatal shootings of two black men by police this week:
Convention speaker schedule to be released tomorrow. Let today be devoted to Crooked Hillary and the rigged system under which we live.
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) July 6, 2016
The state department is reopening an internal investigation of possible mishandling of classified information by Hillary Clinton and top aides.
Spokesman John Kirby says the emails probe is restarting now that the Department of Justice isn’t pursuing a criminal prosecution. The Department of State suspended its review in April to avoid interfering with the FBI’s inquiry.
Kirby set no deadline for the investigation’s completion.
Clinton was secretary of state until early 2013. Most of her top advisers left shortly thereafter. But Kirby said this week former officials can still face “administrative sanctions”. The most serious is loss of security clearances, which could complicate Clinton’s naming of a national security team if she becomes president.
Beyond the Democratic frontrunner, the probe is most likely examining confidants Cheryl Mills, Jake Sullivan and Huma Abedin.
The Guardian’s Ben Jacobs has more on Donald Trump’s meeting with congressional Republicans:
Some House members left the private meetings giving a highly positive account of Trump’s comments. Rep Ralph Abraham of Louisiana said his party’s nominee talked about “growth, security and prosperity, all the good things” while fellow Louisiana congressman and Senate candidate John Fleming said there was “a lot of positive energy” and “the entire conference was uniting behind Donald Trump”.
In his remarks, Trump reportedly addressed a number of policy issues while also harping on what he felt was unfair media criticism over his praise for Saddam Hussein killing terrorists in recent days. His grievances were shared by many in the room. Rep Trent Franks of Arizona, a self-described “former critic” of Trump complained to reporters afterwards that “you missed all the ugly things he said about Saddam Hussein but if he says he [Saddam] kills terrorists he’s in love with Saddam Hussein. Of all the stupidity and misappropriation of the truth.”
Although Trump received multiple standing ovations, he may not have been the most popular member of his family in the room. When Rep Peter King of New York said members had their choice who to take a picture with, they flocked towards Trump’s daughter, Ivanka. “She’s the star,” King said.
But there were also critics in the room. South Carolina Rep Mark Sanford mocked Trump afterward for referencing article XII of the Constitution in response to a question about article I, which delineates Congress’s powers. There are only seven articles in the Constitution.
President Obama on shootings: 'How would you feel?'
“We have seen tragedies like this too many times,” President Barack Obama begins, after landing in Warsaw, Poland. “The Justice Department, I know, has opened a civil-rights investigation in Baton Rouge. The governor of Minnesota, I understand, is calling for an investigation as well.”
Though Obama says that he cannot comment on the specifics of either case, “what I can say is that all of us as Americans should be troubled by these shootings, because these are not isolated incidents. They’re symptomatic of a broader set of racial disparities that exist in our criminal justice system.”
“Last year,” Obama continues, “African Americans were shot by police at more than twice the rate of whites. African Americans are arrested at twice the rate of whites; African Americans defendants are 75% more likely to be charged with offenses commanding mandatory minimums.”
“If you add it all up, the African American and Hispanic pop, who make up only 30% of the general population, make up half of the incarcerated population,” Obama says.
“Now, these are facts, and when incidents like this occur, there’s a big chunk of our fellow citizens that feels as if, because of the color of their skin, they are not being treated the same,” Obama continues. “And that hurts. And that should trouble all of us. This is not just a black issue, it’s not just a Hispanic issue - this is an American issue, that we should all care about. All fair-minded people should be concerned.”
Obama declares that building trust between minority communities and law enforcement agencies would benefit both groups.
“Ultimately, if you can rebuild trust between communities and the police departments that serve them, that helps us solve crime problems,” Obama says. “That will make life easier for police officers. They will have more cooperation. They will be safer. They will be more likely to come home. So it will be good for crimefighting, and it will avert tragedy.”
“There are people of goodwill on the Republican side and the Democratic side who want to get something done here - that too would provide greater assurance for people across the country that those in positions of power are willing to take action,” Obama says, after acknowledging that Congress is “generally” having problems passing legislation.
Obama emphasizes that concern regarding the deaths of minority civilians at the hands of law enforcement is not inherently a critique of law enforcement officers. “To be concerned about these issues is not to be against law enforcement,” Obama says. “There are times when these incidents occur, and you see protests and you see vigils, and I get letters, well-meaning letters sometimes, from law enforcement officers saying, ‘How come we’re under attack? How come not as much emphasis is made when police officers are shot?’” Addressing those officers, Obama says that “we know you have a tough job. We mourn those in uniform who are protecting us who lose their lives. On a regular basis, I have joined with families in front of Capitol Hill to commemorate the incredible heroism that they’ve displayed. I’ve hugged family members who’ve lose loved ones doing the right thing. I know how much it hurts.”
Obama says that there is “no contradiction” between supporting police departments and law enforcement agencies and “also saying that there are problems across our criminal justice system - there are biases, conscious and unconscious - that have to be rooted out.”
“I repeat: If communities are mistrustful of the police, that makes those law enforcement officers who are doing a great job,” Obama says, “it makes those jobs harder.”
“The data shows black folks are more vulnerable to these kinds of incidents,” Obama continues. “This isn’t a matter of us comparing the value of lives - this is recognizing that there is a particular burden that is being placed on a group of our fellow citizens, and we should care about that. We can’t dismiss it. We can’t dismiss it.”
“I actually, genuinely, truly believe that the vast majority of American people see this as a problem we should all care about,” Obama concludes. “And I would just ask those who question the sincerity or the legitimacy of protests and vigils and expressions of outrage who somehow label those expressions of outrage as quote-unquote ‘political correctness,’ I just ask folks to step back and think, what would happen if this happened to someone in your family? How would you feel?”
“To be concerned about these issues is not political correctness - it’s just being an American, and wanting to live up to our best and highest ideals, and to recognize that we have some tough history and we haven’t gotten though all of that history yet.”
Updated
President Obama speaks about deaths of Alton Sterling and Philando Castile
After landing in Warsaw, Poland, President Barack Obama is delivering remarks regarding the deaths of two black men at the hands of US police officers this week:
An event in Moscow promised to be a rare opportunity to get inside Donald Trump’s foreign policy thinking, as one of his advisers arrived in Russia to give a speech on the grand-sounding topic of the “future of the world economy”.
In the end, however, Carter Page offered little except confusion and the occasional snigger, during a rambling presentation and an evasive question-and-answer session.
Page, an investment banker who previously worked in Russia, insisted he was inRussia on a private visit, although he is likely to meet Russian officials when he gives the commencement speech at the New Economic School in Moscow on Friday. He refused to comment on whether he had any meetings with officials planned.
That was not the only thing he refused to comment on.
Would he advise Donald Trump to remove sanctions on Russia? “I’m not here at all talking about my work outside of my academic endeavours. It’s not appropriate time to speak about that.” How could relations between Russia and the west be improved? “There’s a time and a place to have all discussions, today is not the time and place.”
The question and answer portion of the event at times descended into farce, as he even refused to answer the question on whether he was a “good person”, saying “I don’t really have any comments on that at this stage”.
Leaked remarks from Donald Trump’s closed-door session with congressional Republican earlier today seem to indicate that the presumptive presidential nominee’s primary goal in meeting with the nearly 200 legislators was to convince them to “say great things” about him.
According to the Washington Post, which obtained a detailed summary of the hour-long meeting, Trump pressured congressional Republicans to tell anyone who would listen that the party is well and truly unified.
“It would great if you could say we had an unbelievable meeting. ‘Trump loves us. We love Trump.’ It’s going to be so good. Okay?” Trump reportedly said. “Honestly, if we could say it is great, we have a unified party, I’ll tell you what, you are going to see a difference immediately. That’s what I’m going to say.”
“If when we leave we could just go out and say, ‘We love Trump, he’s going to be great.’ I love you, we’re doing great. As a team, we can’t be beaten,” Trump continued. “Say great things, because anything you say that’s even a little - well you know, they magnify it. Just say it’s great. You gotta say great things. Any little negativity that you have, they are going to blow it up twentyfold. You’ve got to be positive.”
Trump also said that, if all else failed, Republicans should lie back and think of the supreme court.
“Even for the people who don’t like me . . . if you don’t think about anything else, think about the United States Supreme Court,” Trump said.
Report: Donald Trump 'unlikely' to select Chris Christie as running mate
In news that will likely send a few half-empty crystal tumblers flying at Drumthwacket, the New Jersey Star-Ledger is reporting that New Jersey governor Chris Christie is “unlikely” to be selected as presumptive Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump’s running mate.
Citing two sources close to the Trump campaign, The Star-Ledger reports that former House speaker Newt Gingrich is the “likely” choice, although one included a caveat: “It’s Trump - I doubt anyone really fully knows what he’s going to do.”
The only reason Christie has been vetted for the position at all, one source told the Star-Ledger, is that “it would be embarrassing not to be vetted,.”
Christie, who is term-limited as governor, was one of the first major Republicans to come out in support of Trump’s candidacy, in remarks that were overshadowed by speculation on social media channels that the New Jersey governor was being held hostage.
Illinois senator Mark Kirk has lashed out at fellow Republican Donald Trump in response to the presumptive presidential nominee calling him a loser in a closed-door meeting with congressional Republicans.
“I guess the bully side of him,” Kirk, who is locked in a tight battle for reelection against Representative Tammy Duckworth, told the Associated Press. “We haven’t seen a personality like his too much in the Midwest: Eastern, privileged, wealthy bully. Our bullies are made of better stuff in Illinois. We’re much more practical and polite.”
Kirk, who is widely considered the most vulnerable of sitting Republican senators up for reelection this year, announced that he would not support Trump for president in June after Trump alleged that an American-born federal judge of Mexican descent could not impartially preside over a multi-state fraud suit against Trump University.
“I have spent my life building bridges and tearing down barriers - not building walls,” Kirk said. “Donald Trump’s latest statements, in context with past attacks on Hispanics, women and the disabled like me, make it certain that I cannot and will not support my party’s nominee for President regardless of the political impact on my candidacy or the Republican Party.”
Warning: Confusing Acronym Alert
A group calling itself “LGBTrump” has endorsed Donald Trump’s backtracking on North Carolina’s so-called “bathroom bill” that criminalizes the use of bathrooms that comport with the stated gender identities of transgender people in a Breitbart News editorial - but it’s not entirely clear which group using that name is doing the endorsing.
Joseph Murray, described in the Breitbart byline as the administrator for LGBTrump, wrote in the conservative outlet that the fight for transgender equality “is not the same fight of gays and lesbians for equal legal status of their same-sex relations,” and that efforts on behalf of mainstream LGBT organizations to fight North Carolina’s law are being fought to keep gays and lesbians “away from the center of American life.”
Trump, Murray contended, “treats gays and lesbians as just normal Americans, who worry about jobs and schools and crime and neighborhood traffic and trade and wages. Just the routine, everyday stuff of Americans’ society.”
But Murray’s group is one of two pro-Trump LGBT organizations with the same name - the other, created by GOProud founder and former Log Cabin Republican Christopher R. Barron, has not mentioned North Carolina’s bill.
Trump has been proactive about reaching out to gay and lesbian voters, particularly after a mass shooting at an Orlando gay club last month that left 49 people dead, but reversed his previous condemnation of the North Carolina law in an interview with the Raleigh News & Observer.
Update: Chris Barron, of the non-Murray LGBTrump group, told the Guardian that “There is no connection between the two groups. Frankly, I didn’t know his Facebook group existed when we launched ours a couple of weeks ago.”
As for his group’s reaction to Trump’s backtracking on North Carolina’s bill, Barron called the issue “a distraction.”
“In the wake of Orlando, the reality is that this election shouldn’t be about bathrooms or who will bake our wedding cakes - it’s literally a matter of life or death for LGBT Americans,” Barron said. “We are being targeted by a global movement in the form of radical Islam that seeks to exterminate LGBT people.”
Updated
Bernie Sanders' campaign releases 12 platform priorities
The indefatigable campaign of Vermont senator Bernie Sanders is still tilting at windmills, releasing a list this afternoon of 12 “priority amendments” to the largely symbolic Democratic party platform.
The draft of the proposed platform, released last Friday afternoon, is likely the most progressive in the party’s modern history, with a proposed $15 national minimum wage, repeal of the Hyde Amendment and breaking up large financial institutions all on the table, but Sanders’ campaign apparently has at least a dozen more demands before he officially throws in the towel:
- Trans-Pacific Partnership: The proposed amendment demands that the trade agreement “must not get a vote in this Congress or in future sessions of Congress.”
- Minimum wage: A strengthening of existing language to reaffirm the party’s belief in a $15 minimum wage.
- Fracking: A national ban on the use of hydraulic fracturing, or “fracking,” to extract natural gas.
- Paid family leave: A proposal creating a national insurance fund run by the government to guarantee paid family leave, striking the current proposal to mandate paid family leave paid by employers.
- Pension cuts: A strengthening of existing language to prevent cuts to paid pension benefits.
-
Criminal justice reform: A strengthening of existing proposals regarding police body cameras, racial profiling and a proposal to mandate investigation by the Department of Justice into police shootings.
- Immigration: A proposal to end deportation programs that promote racial profiling and make sure that DREAMers are eligible to serve in the uniformed services.
- Fracking: Including anti-fracking language into alternative-energy proposals.
- Keystone Pipeline: Encouraging the use of environmental impact studies relating to climate change when weighing similar projects.
- Fossil fuels: Strengthening language regarding phasing out the use of traditional fuels.
- Nuclear weapons spending: A proposal to reduce spending on the US nuclear arsenal by at least $100 billion over the next decade.
Video: Texas senator and former Republican presidential hopeful Ted Cruz spoke with Donald Trump today and plans to speak at the upcoming Republican National Convention.
.@tedcruz tells reporters he met with @realdonaldtrump and will be speaking on conservatism at the convention pic.twitter.com/JWRzPl7557
— Betsy Klein (@betsy_klein) July 7, 2016
Cruz to speak at convention
Texas senator and suspended presidential candidate Ted Cruz, who claimed 559 delegates in the primary season and who enjoys the loyalty of many more delegates bound at first to vote for Donald Trump, has accepted an offer from Trump to speak at the Republican convention later this month, according to various reports.
Cruz immediately becomes one of the biggest names participating – even if Trump does make good on his promise to deliver Jack Nicklaus.
That does not mean that Cruz has or will endorse(d) Trump, however. Here’s a look at the delegates race:
Let the senators say what they will – Trump sounds like he had fun:
Just leaving D.C. Had great meetings with Republicans in the House and Senate. Very interesting day! These are people who love our country!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) July 7, 2016
Clinton up 9 points in new poll
Pew Research puts Clinton up on Trump by nine points, 45-36 in a four-way race and 51-42 in a two-way race. That’s better than her leads in the polling averages of 6.6 points and 4.7 points.
Clinton+9 in Pew Research poll https://t.co/EmkbYmDzOt pic.twitter.com/LUHhCMaIMu
— Nate Cohn (@Nate_Cohn) July 7, 2016
Hillary Clinton continues to lead this race. News at 11.
— (((Harry Enten))) (@ForecasterEnten) July 7, 2016
Updated
Comey is done.
Chaffetz asks Comey about email between Clinton and aide Jake Sullivan in which she tells him to take a header indicating classified status off the email. Why?
“It caught my attention...what she meant by that is, make it into a non-classified document,” Comey says Clinton explained in her Saturday interview.
“You are very generous in your accepting of that,” Chaffetz says.
Chaffetz: How many people had access to that server?
Comey: More than two, less than ten.
Chaffetz asks whether Clinton’s lawyers read classified emails. “I don’t know the answer to that,” Comey says. Did Hillary Clinton give non-cleared people access to classified information? “Yes. Yes,” Comey replies, but without criminal intent, he says.
Clinton lawyers also didn't have security clearances. Does that concern Comey? "Oh yeah, sure."
— Shane Harris (@shaneharris) July 7, 2016
“Shot”
“Chaser”
Sanders Says He’ll Do Everything Possible to Help Elect Clinton
Bernie Sanders signaled a formal endorsement of Hillary Clinton is imminent, saying in an interview that Republican Donald Trump is “a pathological liar” and that he’ll throw his full support behind electing his rival for the Democratic nomination as president.
“We have got to do everything that we can to defeat Donald Trump and elect Hillary Clinton,” Sanders said. “I don’t honestly know how we would survive four years of a Donald Trump as president.”
In his interview with Bloomberg, Sanders also weighed in on the Democratic veepstakes.
On Virginia senator Tim Kaine:
“I know Tim; Tim is a very decent guy,” Sanders said. “I happen to believe that we should have as our vice presidential nominee a very strong progressive voice, somebody who has a history of standing up to big money interests, somebody who is gonna fight for the working families of this country and who has a history of doing that,” Sanders said. He declined to say whether Kaine meets that test. “I don’t want to comment on Tim Kaine.”
On Massachusetts senator Elizabeth Warren:
“I would be pleased” if Clinton chooses Warren, Sanders said, calling her “one of the outstanding members of the United States Senate. She has a life history of standing up to powerful special interests.”
Updated
Representative Gowdy is back. He says that defendants are prosecuted all the time who don’t know they committed a crime.
“There are lots of really dumb defendants out there who do not know that they were breaking the law,” Gowdy says.
Comey disagrees.
Gowdy says: “I was a gutter prosecutor and you were a white collar prosecutor. Trust me. There are lots of people who don’t know you can’t kill other people.”
More from Trump’s meeting with House Republicans:
Charlie Dent told reporters that Trump proclaimed to House Republicans today "Hispanics love him"
— Ben Jacobs (@Bencjacobs) July 7, 2016
Trump’s unfavorable rating among Latino registered voters was pegged at 87% in April.
The New York Times asks Trump in an interview inside his namesake tower whether he might win the presidency “only to forgo the office as the ultimate walk-off winner”.
Trump “flashed a mischievous smile” and said:
I’ll let you know how I feel about it after it happens.
It’s almost comical. https://t.co/Q0OYgTuEf5
— Charles C. W. Cooke (@charlescwcooke) July 7, 2016
It’s like asking the dog that caught the car, “So, you gonna eat that?" https://t.co/zmSGH4c2rU
— Molly Ball (@mollyesque) July 7, 2016
— john r stanton (@dcbigjohn) July 7, 2016
.... ? https://t.co/J8udjEiOcL
— Byron Tau (@ByronTau) July 7, 2016
He’s gotta be fucking with us https://t.co/a7JTw0MT3P
— Igor Bobic (@igorbobic) July 7, 2016
This Washington Post report on Trump’s meeting with Republican senators has several eyebrow-raising tidbits, including a confrontation between Trump and Arizona senator Jeff Flake.
Trump told Flake he was doomed to lose reelection. Flake informed Trump he's not on the ballot this year https://t.co/cmCNPGHz8d
— Philip Rucker (@PhilipRucker) July 7, 2016
How Flake introduced himself to Trump is, wow https://t.co/DE9ykzh1Zi pic.twitter.com/2x3rr6GkKy
— Philip Rucker (@PhilipRucker) July 7, 2016
Trump also vowed he would win the state of Illinois, which hasn’t gone Republican in a presidential election since 1988 and which Obama won by 25 and 17 points, the Post reports:
Trump also called out Sen. Mark Kirk (R-Ill.), who withdrew his endorsement of Trump last month citing the business mogul’s racially-based attacks on a federal judge, and said he did not approve of the senator’s action, said the officials.
Characterizing Kirk as a loser, Trump vowed that he would carry Illinois in the general election even though the state traditionally has been solidly Democratic in presidential contests. Kirk did not attend the meeting with Trump.
Updated
Trump promises to protect 'Article 12' powers
Representative Mark Sanford of South Carolina says he was not impressed by Trump, the Washington Post reports, in part because Trump promised to protect “Article 12” powers, but there are only seven articles in the constitution. Here’s a constitution to read.
Rep. Mark Sanford on Trump meeting: “I wasn’t particularly impressed. It was the normal stream of consciousness, long on hyperbole."
— daveweigel (@daveweigel) July 7, 2016
More Sanford: When asked about Article I powers, Trump said he’d protect “all of them,” down to Article 12. “There is no Article 12."
— daveweigel (@daveweigel) July 7, 2016
Comey: 'I did not coordinate with anyone'
Folks are bailing on the Comey grilling:
GOP has impressive witness who would love to spend hours bashing Hillary Clinton for misconduct; choose manipulating him into defending her
— Jonathan Bernstein (@jbview) July 7, 2016
Most fired up Comey has when he testifies he did not coordinate with admin on announcement "I want to make sure I am definitive about that."
— Seung Min Kim (@seungminkim) July 7, 2016
WATCH: FBI Dir. James Comey forcefully tells congressman: 'I did not coordinate that with anybody' https://t.co/9GAqKPsPrK
— ABC News Politics (@ABCPolitics) July 7, 2016
Updated
Lawsuits against Trump linked to former Jerry Springer producer
Lawsuits accusing Donald Trump of sexually assaulting a child in the 1990s appear to have been orchestrated by an eccentric anti-Trump campaigner with a record of making outlandish claims about celebrities, writes the Guardian’s Jon Swaine:
Norm Lubow, a former producer on the Jerry Springer TV show, has previously been involved with disputed allegations that OJ Simpson bought illegal drugs on the day Simpson’s wife was murdered, and that Kurt Cobain’s widow had the Nirvana frontman killed.
Court filings in California and New York against Trump, purportedly on behalf of a woman using the name Katie Johnson, have in recent weeks alleged that the presumptive Republican presidential nominee raped Johnson when she was 13. Trump vehemently denies the allegations.
A publicist using the pseudonym “Al Taylor” is acting as a representative for Johnson, and has been shopping around to media outlets a video of a woman who wears a disguise while recounting the allegations against Trump. “Taylor” said in telephone calls last month that he was seeking $1m for the tape. Jezebel has published a segment of the videoalong with a detailed account of how the allegations against Trump were being pushed to reporters.
A telephone number and an email address used by “Taylor” have also been used by Lubow, according to three sources who have worked with them. A longtime associate of Lubow also told the Guardian that Lubow used the identity “Al Taylor”.
“Taylor” told the Guardian that he helped the alleged victim Johnson put together her first lawsuit against Trump, which was filed in California earlier this year. “She is a friend of mine,” he said, declining to make her available for interview.
He then became threatening when asked more about his motivations in seeking the money for the video and about his true identity. “Just be warned: we’ll sue you if we don’t like what you write,” he said. “We’ll sue your ass, own your ass and own your newspaper’s ass as well, punk.”
Read the full piece here:
Updated
Cruz and Trump meet
Cruz has yet to endorse Trump and still seems somehow like an obstacle to the nomination for Trump:
CRUZ and Trump are currently meeting at NRSC, per @NoahGrayCNN.
— Teddy Schleifer (@teddyschleifer) July 7, 2016
Trump also met with the original #NeverTrump Republican senator, Nebraska’s Ben Sasse. It was a “gracious exchange,” says Sasse’s spokesman. PS: “this election remains a dumpster fire.”
Statememt from Sasse spokesman. Sasse and Trump had a "gracious exchange" pic.twitter.com/5hg3w6YiIY
— Bridget Bowman (@bridgetbhc) July 7, 2016
Here’s a photo from inside the Trump meeting with House Republicans this morning:
"Chairman @Reince Priebus has been terrific- the @GOP has been great!" @realDonaldTrump #Trump2016 #AmericaFirst pic.twitter.com/Yrwe1FnfPC
— Dan Scavino Jr. (@DanScavino) July 7, 2016
Here’s another photo:
Republican senators emerge from a back alley behind a gas station after meeting with @realDonaldTrump pic.twitter.com/qAhXhVdR76
— Niels Lesniewski (@nielslesniewski) July 7, 2016
Updated
“We couldn’t find direct evidence” that any hostile actor acquired material from Clinton’s server, Comey says.
Updated
Paul Ryan does not want to talk about the subject Donald Trump has been talking about most: his Star of David tweet.
Ryan doesn't comment on Trump standing by his Star of David tweet: "I'm just not going to get into the tweet talk." https://t.co/GZNnCvH1EG
— ABC News Politics (@ABCPolitics) July 7, 2016
Two rallies, two front pages, in a big city in a key state:
The front pages of the Cincinnati Enquirer after Clinton and Trump's big recent rallies there pic.twitter.com/fbP8v4yzjh
— Gabriel Debenedetti (@gdebenedetti) July 7, 2016
Comey says “a number of different people were assigned as administrators of that server”. A Republican congressman is walking through the server setup and how it was secured.
As a tactical matter, i am surprised more democrats aren't using this hearing to talk about #AltonSterling
— (((Anthony Weiner))) (@anthonyweiner) July 7, 2016
Comey is explaining the difference between the “extremely careless” behavior by Clinton as he described it, and “gross negligence” which would demand prosecution.
“The question of whether that amounts to gross negligence frankly is really not at the center of this,” Comey says, because only one such gross negligence case, he says, has been prosecuted in the last 100 years.
Comey said he knew from 30 years at the justice department that “There’s no way that anyone at the department of justice is bringing a case against John Doe or Hillary Clinton based on those facts”.
Representative Gerry Connolly asks Comey whether he’s a Republican.
Comey: “I have been a registered Republican for most of my adult life. I’m not registered any longer.”
Whyever did he leave the GOP?
Here’s another live feed of the Comey hearing – the original feed has gone offline:
Comey repeats that only three emails had material marked classified. But the probe found classified information in 110 emails and top-secret information in eight email chains.
“There were three emails that down in the body... at the beginning of the paragraph had a parenthesis, a capital C and a parenthesis... [indicating] classified at the lowest level...Three emails bore C markings down in the body.
None of the emails had headers, Comey says.
Update: Clinton’s communications team provides two of the emails.
Here are two of the 'marked' emails. State has said both were marked in error https://t.co/blFAVHHafahttps://t.co/jL06DoPXSQ
— Brian Fallon (@brianefallon) July 7, 2016
Updated
Comey again kind of implies Clinton was kind of a doofus with classification designations:
Whether she was actually sophisticated enough to understand what a C in parens means... I’m not so sure. I think it’s possible, possible, that she didn’t understand what a C meant when she saw it in an email like that.
Ryan on Trump: 'we had a great meeting'
.@SpeakerRyan statement on Trump meeting. pic.twitter.com/AGEoGbf6s9
— Sean Sullivan (@WaPoSean) July 7, 2016
Comey repeats that of the tens of thousands of Clinton emails reviewed by the FBI, “There were only three in the entire we batch we found with any markings that they were classified.”
Comey’s asked whether Trump’s retweeting “white genocide” Twitter doesn’t make it “easier for these groups to recruit.” His answer is good:
I don’t think I’m in a position to answer that in an intelligent way sitting here.
Trump received a standing ovation in his meeting with House Republicans this morning:
Trump apparently hasn't started speaking yet to members of Congress. He did receive a standing ovation.
— Ben Jacobs (@Bencjacobs) July 7, 2016
And Trump has brought his Saddam-killing-terrorists line with him to the House GOP meeting...
— Rebecca Berg (@rebeccagberg) July 7, 2016
Rep. Price: Trump gave a speech on "unity" to House Republicans.
— Matt Laslo (@MattLaslo) July 7, 2016
He seems to have hit all their buttons: regulations, repealing Obamacare
Apparently Trump said this morning that Jack Nicklaus will speak at the RNC
— Ben Jacobs (@Bencjacobs) July 7, 2016
Peter King says Ivanka got an even warmer welcome from House R's than Trump did
— Betsy Woodruff (@woodruffbets) July 7, 2016
Kushner cousins objects to his use of grandparents' Holocaust survival story to defend Trump
Trump son-in-law Jared Kushner defended the candidate Wednesday from charges of anti-Semitism in part by telling the story of his grandparents’ survival of the Holocaust.
But two cousins think Kushner should have left their grandparents out of it, Politico reports:
“I have a different takeaway from my Grandparents’ experience in the war,” Marc Kushner, a New York City-based architect and first cousin, wrote in a Facebook post Thursday morning with a link to his cousin’s Op-Ed. “It is our responsibility as the next generation to speak up against hate. [Sic] Antisemitism or otherwise.”
Jacob Schulder, another cousin, went even further in a comment on Marc Kushner’s post, writing: “When an out of touch with reality nominee hires an out of touch with reality campaign manager, who is also a son-in-law, you get the BS Jared wrote. I don’t think Trump is an antiSemite; I think he’s a lying idiot (among other things) with little to no experiences outside his teetering fiefdom of failed development projects, divorces, bankrupted sports leagues, fraudulent “Universities” and golf courses (and the list keeps going). The very first thing a responsible campaign manager should do, I’d think, and I mean the very first thing, would be to take away his father-in-law’s Twitter account. Even Joseph Kushner would’ve had the street smarts to figure that one out while living on boiled potatoes in the forest.”
There’s more where that came from – read the full piece here. (h/t @bencjacobs)
Representative Carolyn Maloney says she has to ask Comey about conspiracy theories leveled by Donald Trump.
“Did you plan the timing of your announcement to help” Hillary Clinton’s campaign event with president Obama? she asks.
“It was entirely my own, nobody knew I was going to do it, including the press, I’m very proud of the FBI, nobody leaked that,” Comey says.
Did you make your decision because of some kind of bribe to the attorney general?
“No.”
It's early, but I see two tracks of House GOP Qs to Comey. 1) Help us show your decision was bad 2) Help us show Hillary was untruthful.
— Olivier Knox (@OKnox) July 7, 2016
GOP will get nowhere w/ Comey questioning his impartiality and legal acumen. This is laying groundwork for future battles.
— Shane Harris (@shaneharris) July 7, 2016
Transcript:
— Josh Hughes (@JoshHughesIA) July 7, 2016
"Just say she broke the law, dude"
"No"
"C'mon!! Say it. Say she broke the law"
"She didn't" https://t.co/oquJeKbCWy
Updated
Comey is describing the prosecution and conviction on misdemeanor charges of General David Petraeus, who Comey says lied outright to the FBI about sharing classified information with his mistress, which Petraeus told her was classified, indicating he knew it was classified.
Cummings asks Comey whether Petraeus was punished for less than what Clinton did.
“No, it’s the reverse,” Comey says. “His conduct to me illustrates the categories of behavior that mark” viable prosecutions, he says.
Comey says in Petraeus’ case, there was “clearly intentional conduct... huge amounts of information... and effort to obstruct justice.” Not so for Clinton.
He says he stands by the FBI recommendation to prosecute Petraeus.
Comey: Clinton did not lie to FBI
Chaffetz goes aggressively after Clinton via Comey, in the process challenging Comey’s recommendation not to prosecute. Chaffetz asks whether Comey lied to the FBI.
“We have no basis to conclude to the FBI,” Comey says.
Did she lie to the public?
Comey says it’s above his pay grade.
Did Hillary Clinton break the law?
In connection with her use of the email server, my judgment is that she did not.
Would the FBI give Clinton security clearance?
Comey won’t judge a hypothetical.
Would a person who did what Clinton did be turned down for clearance?
Comey: “It would be a very important consideration in a suitability determination.”
Chaffetz makes him say it a couple more times. Then asks: Did Hillary Clinton do anything wrong?
Comey: What do you mean by wrong?
Chaffetz: It’s self evident.
Comey: “I didn’t say there’s no consequence...[for mishandling classified information] there are often very severe consequences in the FBI, involving their employment, involving their clearances.
Chaffetz: What would you do to that person?
Comey: There would be a security review and an adjudication of their suitability.
He describes a robust process involving possible suspensions or loss of clearance. “You could be walked out.. or you could be reprimanded,” he says.
Comey: no evidence Clinton and colleagues knew they were breaking the law
“In our system of law, there’s a thing called mens rea... this Latin phrase means, ‘what were you thinking?’” Comey begins.
Meaning intent. “From 30 years with the department of justice, they have grave concerns to prosecute somebody for gross negligence,” Comey says.
“I see evidence of great carelessness...[but not] evidence that they knew when they did it, they were doing something that was against the law.
“No reasonable prosecutor would bring the second case in 100 years based on gross negligence.... that’s just the way it is.
“Folks can disagree about that, but I hope they know that view... was honestly held.”
Kaine to join Clinton on campaign trail
Virginia senator Tim Kaine, a possible Clinton running mate, will join Hillary Clinton on the campaign trail in northern Virginia (aka NoVa) next week, the campaign has announced.
A particularly clever editor here just referred to Clinton's NoVa appearance with Kaine as "novocaine." I laughed hard.
— Ben Brody (@BenBrodyDC) July 7, 2016
Cheryl Mills, HRC's longtime adviser, just arrived at Clinton's DC home. Mills is very involved in VP vetting. pic.twitter.com/bDetFGf3LW
— Dan Merica (@danmericaCNN) July 7, 2016
Updated
Cummings asks Comey to explain again why he did not recommend prosecuting Clinton. (Attorney general Loretta Lynch took the recommendation.) “There is a perceived gap between the things you said on Tuesday and your recommendation... I beg you to fill the gap,” Cummings says.
Cummings: “I condemn these completely unwarranted political attacks against you... they have suggested that you were somehow bought and paid for.”
Even if it takes till hell freezes over, I beg you to close the gap. Tell us what happened between what you found and your decision... so that Americans will understand.
Ranking member Elijah Cummings sounds very much as if he would like this hearing to frame up as an attack by Republicans on Comey, as opposed to an exploration by Republicans of Comey’s negative conclusions about Clinton’s handling of top secret government material.
“You’re being summoned here to answer for your alleged transgressions,” Cummings tells Comey. “And in a sense, Mr director, you’re on trial.
“There is absolutely that you made your recommendation for political reasons. No evidence that you were bribed or [subject to] coercion.”
Comey must be very gratified to hear Cummings highlight that he was not bribed.
Chaffetz: 'there does seem to be two standards'
Chaffetz: “I hope in this hearing we can stick to the facts, because there does seem to be two standards. There does seem to be no consequence. And I want to understand this.”
"We're mystified and confused by the fact pattern you laid out and the conclusions that you reached," Chaffetz tells FBI Director Comey.
— Shane Harris (@shaneharris) July 7, 2016
"Average Joe" would "be in handcuffs" if did what FBI says Clinton did, Chaffetz says.
— Shane Harris (@shaneharris) July 7, 2016
First 10 minutes into Comey hearing -- instead of praising Comey (and his reprimand of Clinton), House Republicans are criticizing him
— Mark Murray (@mmurraypolitics) July 7, 2016
Updated
FBI director Comey begins testimony
House oversight committee chairman Jason Chaffetz is delivering an opening statement in today’s hearing with witness James Comey on the FBI investigation into Hillary Clinton’s emails.
Here’s a live video feed:
Hello and welcome to our live-wire coverage of the 2016 race for the White House, which took a new turn for the weird last night as Donald Trump delivered an off-topic, compulsive, and meandering speech in Ohio and followed it up with a tweet about the Disney movie Frozen.
More on all that shortly. But first we’d note that Trump this morning is on Capitol Hill to meet with Republican lawmakers, and FBI director James Comey is scheduled to testify before the House oversight committee about the bureau’s investigation of Hillary Clinton’s use of private email. We’ll have full coverage of Comey’s appearance here in the blog.
Some Republican lawmakers have said they aren’t sure whether they have time to meet with Trump today, reports Lauren Fox in Talking Points Memo:
“I have not looked at my schedule yet to know,” Sen. Rob Portman (R-OH) said when asked by reporters if he planned to attend the meeting with Trump. “I’m very wrapped up – as you know in this terror bill right now. That’s what I’m totally focused on” ...
“I’m not sure I’m even going to be able to attend the meeting yet,” Sen. Pat Toomey (R-PA) – another member facing re-election – said as he dashed into an elevator in the basement of the Capitol. “I just don’t know what I got on my schedule for tomorrow.”
To Capitol Hill comes Trump, report @rachaelmbade and @BresPolitico. https://t.co/iqgF7yPSW0 pic.twitter.com/se6FryLqdZ
— Michael Kruse (@michaelkruse) July 7, 2016
Why would lawmakers be loath to meet Trump? Some may view the presumptive nominee as a political liability, for reasons encapsulated perhaps in a speech Trump gave in Cincinnati, Ohio, alongside former House speaker Newt Gingrich last night.
Trump’s Cincinnati speech, which Democratic operatives are urging people to watch and to share, might have focused on the announcement just a day earlier of the FBI’s finding that Clinton had been “extremely careless” in her handling of classified material.
Instead Trump passionately rejoined a debate over whether an image he tweeted last Saturday was antisemitic. The image featured what many saw as a Star of David and the words “Most Corrupt Candidate Ever!” placed over a picture of Clinton and a pile of money.
The image, which the campaign deleted after it was tweeted, was scraped from a website trafficking in hate speech, and Trump’s son-in-law, Jared Kushner, referred on Wednesday to its dissemination by the campaign as a “careless” act. In contrast, Trump had insisted the star in the image was a “sheriff’s star, or plain star,” not a Star of David.
Trump used his Cincinnati appearance to advance his side of what has become a debate with his son-in-law. “I said, ‘You shouldn’t have taken it down,” Trump said. “They took the star down,” he added. “I said, ‘Too bad, you should have left it up.’ I would rather have defended it.”
After the speech, Trump sought to cinch his case by tweeting a picture of a Frozen-themed sticker book bearing a six-pointed star.
Trump’s tweet used the hashtag #Frozen.
Where is the outrage for this Disney book? Is this the 'Star of David' also?
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) July 7, 2016
Dishonest media! #Frozen pic.twitter.com/4LJBpSm8xa
The tweet elicited a response from the Clinton campaign, which wrapped its rejoinder in an allusion to a song from the animated film, Do You Want to Build a Snowman?:
Do you want to build a strawman? https://t.co/AoeNTJOGpo
— Hillary Clinton (@HillaryClinton) July 7, 2016
Trump ranged in his Cincinnati speech across other favored topics of late, including Saddam Hussein’s killing prowess and the virtues of his friend Don King, the controversial boxing promoter. He also swatted at a mosquito, talked about his dislike for mosquitoes and then seemed to compare the mosquito to Hilary Clinton.
Donald Trump swats mosquito: "Speaking of mosquitoes, hello Hillary, how are you doing?" https://t.co/UYpqI3w42L https://t.co/Im4XruT6EY
— CNN (@CNN) July 6, 2016
Things Trump just triple downed on: 1) Star of David tweet 2) Saddam Hussein an A+ killer, yay! 3) Don King 4) Being insane
— Heather Wilhelm (@heatherwilhelm) July 7, 2016
Read Ben Jacobs’ write-up here:
Trump’s antics prompted thoughtful conservatives to muse that Trump is not actually trying to win the election:
@BuzzFeedAndrew Honestly not convinced he truly wants it. Seems like he’s trying to derail candidacy at every step.
— Neal Rogers (@nealrogers) July 7, 2016
Perhaps.But if thought of winning doesn't terrify Trump, why he is walking naked down Main Street playing the kazoo? https://t.co/CHenTd9HJ7
— stuart stevens (@stuartpstevens) July 7, 2016
Ryan formalizes request that Clinton be denied intelligence briefing
House speaker Paul Ryan has written a letter to director of national intelligence James Clapper asking that Clinton be denied the in-depth intelligence briefings she would typically receive after officially becoming the presidential nominee, because she failed, the FBI found, to protect classified information as secretary of state.
In letter to DNI Clapper, @SpeakerRyan has formally requested that he deny @HillaryClinton from classified briefings pic.twitter.com/Ro6NcG5cAp
— Frank Thorp V (@frankthorp) July 7, 2016
Clinton statement on death of Alton Sterling
The Clinton campaign late Wednesday released a statement on the police killing of Alton Sterling in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, after the justice department announced it was opening a civil rights investigation.
“The death of Alton Sterling is a tragedy, and my prayers are with his family, including his five children,” Clinton’s statement says. “From Staten Island to Baltimore, Ferguson to Baton Rouge, too many African American families mourn the loss of a loved one from a police-involved incident. Something is profoundly wrong when so many Americans have reason to believe that our country doesn’t consider them as precious as others because of the color of their skin.”
Thanks for reading and please join us in the comments.
