Live political reporting continues on Friday’s blog:
Late evening summary
It was another evening of late-breaking news. Here’s a summary as our live politics coverage ends for the night:
- House members were reportedly warned by intelligence officials last week that Russia is interfering in the 2020 campaign to try to get Trump re-elected, the New York Times and the Washington Post reported. The account Trump heard of the briefing reportedly enraged him, prompting him to lash out at his acting director of national intelligence, Joseph Maguire, who had expected to stay in the position.
- Instead, Trump replaced Maguire with Richard Grenell, a hardcore Trump loyalist, the current US ambassador to Germany, and a person with no intelligence experience.
- One sign of how Grenell will operate in this role: one of his new senior advisers, in his new role as the top intelligence official for the Trump White House, is Kash Patel, a former Hill staffer who made his reputation as the lead author of a Republican report “questioning the conduct of FBI and DOJ officials investigating Russia’s election interference,” Politico reported.
- Also: among the new information reportedly shared with lawmakers at the House intelligence briefing: “Russia intends to interfere with the ongoing Democratic primaries as well as the general election,” the Times reported.
- Meanwhile: Democrats discussed what they will do if Bernie Sanders wins the most voters in the Democratic primary, but not an outright majority of votes, a contentious issue.
- Elizabeth Warren renewed her demand that Michael Bloomberg release former employees who sued him or his company from their non-disclosure agreements, so they can speak promptly and publicly about the behavior that prompted their lawsuits.
- At a rally in Colorado, Trump complained that Parasite, a South Korean film, had won the best picture Oscar. “Can we get Gone with the Wind back. please?” he asked.
Elizabeth Warren is not done with her demans that Michael Bloomberg, billionaire former New York mayor and late entrant into the 2020 Democratic primary, release former employees who have brought lawsuits against Bloomberg and his company from their nondisclosure agreements.
The goal, Warren has said: allowing women to talk candidly about the behavior that prompted the lawsuits, and ensuring transparency in the primary.
Elizabeth Warren opens her CNN town hall by saying she brought something with her -- a contract she wrote up that she says would release former Bloomberg employees from NDAs.
— Alex Seitz-Wald (@aseitzwald) February 21, 2020
"I used to teach contract law... All he has to do is sign it. I’ll text it."
As a Hill staffer, Kash Patel was the “lead author of a report questioning the conduct of FBI and DOJ officials investigating Russia’s election interference,” a report Republican lawmakers used to bolster claims the investigation was a plot against President Donald Trump.
Since then, Patel has received a series of promotions. Most recently, he has been made a senior adviser to new acting Director of National Intelligence, Richard Grenell, a Trump loyalist with no background in intelligence or the armed services, Politico reports.
By appointing Grennell the “acting director,” Trump is sidestepping the Senate confirmation process required to appoint a new director, a maneuver he has used repeatedly.
Earlier today, the New York Times reported that “some current and former intelligence officials expressed fears that Grenell may have been put in place explicitly to slow the pace of information on election interference to Congress.”
Before joining the NSC, Patel previously worked as Rep. @DevinNunes' top staffer on the House Intelligence Committee and was the lead author of a report questioning the conduct of FBI and DOJ officials investigating Russia’s election interference. https://t.co/zDK1B6hx1m
— Daniel Lippman (@dlippman) February 21, 2020
Colorado Sen. Cory Gardner, speaking alongside the president at a rally for Trump supporters in Colorado Springs, is now attacking “the normalization of socialism by Bernie Sanders.”
Gardner, facing a rocky path to reelection this year, pledged to fight hard to keep Republican control of the Senate and the White House.
“They want to take our guns. They want to take our healthcare. That’s their platform,” Gardner said of the Democratic Party.
Former Senate majority leader Harry Reid, a Nevada Democrat, told the Washington Post that none of the Democratic presidential primary candidates should get the nomination with less than a majority of delegates.
Reid was pushing back on “suggestions from Sanders and his supporters that he should become the nominee if he finishes with a plurality lead ahead of the still large pack of candidates,” the Post reported.
“Reid even suggested that a group of moderate candidates, trailing Sanders overall, could assemble a coalition ahead of the Democratic convention in July in Milwaukee to hand the nomination to someone else.”
Bloomberg’s campaign has already been pushing to position himself as a candidate who could benefit from the support of other “moderate” candidates like Joe Biden or Pete Buttigieg in this situation, Politico reported earlier today.
Harry Reid still doesn't mince words, on Bernie or anything:
— Paul Kane (@pkcapitol) February 21, 2020
“Let’s say that he has 35 percent. Well, 65 percent he doesn’t have. ... I do not believe anyone should get the nomination unless they have 50-plus-one.”
1st cut from HMR-PK talk. https://t.co/Gh7IycMtTy
A group co-founded by Hollywood actor Eva Longoria and DNC Finance Chair Henry R. Muñoz III has endorsed Joe Biden for president.
NEW: @latinovictoryus announces they are endorsing @JoeBiden for President, just 2 days ahead of the Nevada caucuses
— Johnny Verhovek (@JTHVerhovek) February 21, 2020
"Our country will need an experienced leader who will hit the ground running on day one, and that candidate is Vice President Biden,” the groups chair says
A Democratic political strategist notes that Trump’s praise at this Colorado Springs rally for Sen. Cory Gardner, a Colorado Republican facing a tough reelection campaign, will likely be used in attack ads against him.
“Cory was with us all the way. He didn’t move, he didn’t budge,” Trump added later in the speech, saluting Gardner for voting against impeaching him, a vote that was reportedly a tough one for Gardner.
Coming soon to a million Democratic ads this fall! https://t.co/oKDjNq59bX
— Emmy Bengtson (@EmmyA2) February 21, 2020
President Trump is now at a rally in Colorado complaining that the Oscar for Best Picture went to Parasite, a film from South Korea, and complaining that the country has trade problems with South Korea.
“Can we get Gone with the Wind back please?” Trump asked.
Trump goes off on the Oscars for giving Best Picture to Parasite because it's a South Korean movie pic.twitter.com/GUGKdExTbw
— Claudia Koerner (@ClaudiaKoerner) February 21, 2020
Updated
John Brennan, the former director of the Central Intelligence Agency and a prominent public critic of Donald Trump, weighs in on the significance of the new report about Trump being furious about an intelligence briefing for members of Congress that included the conclusion that Russia is still attempting to interfere in the 2020 election with the goal of supporting him.
We are now in a full-blown national security crisis. By trying to prevent the flow of intelligence to Congress, Trump is abetting a Russian covert operation to keep him in office for Moscow’s interests, not America’s. https://t.co/Vj6lUV5ZNu
— John O. Brennan (@JohnBrennan) February 21, 2020
“Russia intends to interfere with the ongoing Democratic primaries as well as the general election.”
That’s key new information that House lawmakers heard during an intelligence briefing last week, according to the New York Times. The briefing, which reportedly angered the president, once again conveyed to lawmakers the conclusion from intelligence officials that Russia was interfering in the election with goal of electing Trump.
Last week’s briefing did contain what appeared to be new information, according to NYT, including that Russia intends to interfere with the ongoing Democratic primaries as well as the general election. https://t.co/NEdqx6ee8b
— Kyle Griffin (@kylegriffin1) February 21, 2020
Mike Bloomberg is quietly lobbying Democratic Party officials and donors allied with moderate opponents like Joe Biden and Pete Buttigieg to flip their allegiance to him —and defeat Bernie Sanders — if Democrats fail to choose a presidential nominee during the first round of voting, Politico reports.
“It’s a presumptuous play for a candidate who hasn’t yet won a delegate or even appeared on a ballot,” Politico’s David Siders writes. “And it could also bring havoc to the convention, raising the prospect of party insiders delivering the nomination to a billionaire over a progressive populist.”
if Bernie Sanders goes into the Democratic National Convention with a plurality and Mike Bloomberg signs up superdelegates to wrest it away from him, as this story suggests, I am genuinely uncertain what will happen to the Democratic Party https://t.co/SHasxfe5Hv
— Matt Pearce 🦅 (@mattdpearce) February 20, 2020
A heavily edited video posted by the Bloomberg campaign to Instagram on Thursday paints a flattering, and false, portrait of the former New York mayor’s widely panned debate performance.
My colleague Kari Paul reports on how tech companies are responding to this kind of misleading political content. Facebook and Instagram: nothing. Twitter: would be flagged as misleading... under a new policy that hasn’t started yet.
Twitter told me this video should be flagged as misleading under its new policy regarding disinformation, but that policy doesn't go into effect until March 5 https://t.co/WXoqWPZJaS https://t.co/xtB2ttGLuu
— Kari Paul (@kari_paul) February 20, 2020
The Washington Post obtained a recording of a private speech in London at which the acting White House chief of staff, Mick Mulvaney, said that the United States desperately needs more immigrants to fuel its economy, a position starkly different from the senior White House adviser Stephen Miller and others who have pushed to reduce any kind of immigration.
“We are desperate – desperate – for more people,” Mulvaney said, according to the Post. “We are running out of people to fuel the economic growth that we’ve had in our nation over the last four years. We need more immigrants.”
The Trump administration wants those immigrants to come in a “legal fashion”, Mulvaney said, according to the Post.
"We are desperate -- desperate -- for more people," Mulvaney said during private speech in London. "We are running out of people to fuel the economic growth that we’ve had in our nation over the last four years. We need more immigrants.” w/@nickmiroff: https://t.co/q1WtDMYYwd
— Josh Dawsey (@jdawsey1) February 20, 2020
Updated
House members reportedly told Russia interfering in 2020 election
House members were reportedly warned by intelligence officials last week that Russia is interfering in the 2020 campaign to try to get Trump re-elected, mirroring the country’s meddling in the 2016 race.
The New York Times reports:
The day after the Feb. 13 briefing to lawmakers, Mr. Trump berated Joseph Maguire, the outgoing acting director of national intelligence, for allowing it to take place, people familiar with the exchange said. Mr. Trump cited the presence in the briefing of Representative Adam B. Schiff, the California Democrat who led the impeachment proceedings against him, as a particular irritant.
During the briefing to the House Intelligence Committee, Mr. Trump’s allies challenged the conclusions, arguing that Mr. Trump has been tough on Russia and strengthened European security. Some intelligence officials viewed the briefing as a tactical error, saying that had the official who delivered the conclusion spoken less pointedly or left it out, they would have avoided angering the Republicans.
That intelligence official, Shelby Pierson, is an aide to Mr. Maguire who has a reputation of delivering intelligence in somewhat blunt terms. The president announced on Wednesday that he was replacing Mr. Maguire with Richard Grenell, the ambassador to Germany and long an aggressively vocal Trump supporter.
The Washington Post reported earlier today about the confrontation between Trump and Maguire, but the content of the intelligence briefing was not previously known.
Trump has repeatedly pushed back against the intelligence community’s conclusion that Russia interfered in the 2016 race to help him defeat Hillary Clinton.
During the impeachment inquiry and trial, some of the president’s allies tried to peddle the baseless conspiracy theory that it was actually Ukraine who meddled in the 2016 race.
That claim was dismissed by Fiona Hill, the White House’s former top Russia expert, as a “fictional narrative” pushed by Vladimir Putin’s government.
Updated
Evening summary
That’s it from me today. My west coast colleague, Lois Beckett, will take over the blog for the next few hours.
Here’s where the day stands so far:
- Trump said he would not yet pardon Roger Stone, his former associate who was sentenced to 40 months in prison today, and would instead wait for “the process to play out”. But the president added he thinks Stone has a “very good chance of exoneration”.
- While delivering Stone’s sentence, Judge Amy Berman Jackson denounced Stone’s actions and warned that his disregard for the truth represented “a threat to the very foundation of this democracy”.
- Trump reportedly lashed out against the acting director of national intelligence Joseph Maguire last week, after one of his staffers privately testified to the House intelligence committee on election security. The president announced yesterday that Richard Grenell, the US ambassador to Germany and a Trump loyalist, would replace Maguire.
- Nearly 20 million people, a new record for a Democratic primary debate, watched last night’s event. That could be bad news for Mike Bloomberg, whose first debate performance was widely panned.
Lois will have more coming up, so stay tuned.
Updated
Coming off her strong debate performance, Elizabeth Warren said her campaign has raised more than $5 million since she took the stage last night.
Since I stepped on the #DemDebate stage, our grassroots campaign has raised more than $5 million. We’ve not only reached our critical goal of raising $7 million before the Nevada caucuses—we're now raising it to $12 million. I'm so grateful. Keep it up! https://t.co/9kjAWYs2zq
— Elizabeth Warren (@ewarren) February 20, 2020
Warren had set a goal of raising $7 million before Saturday’s Nevada caucuses, and she is now raising that number to $12 million.
But Warren is also attracting some criticism today for refusing to distance herself from a new super PAC supporting her candidacy.
NEW: Here is video of Warren declining to disavow the new super PAC supporting her:
— Shane Goldmacher (@ShaneGoldmacher) February 20, 2020
“If all the candidates want to get rid of super PACs, count me in. I'll lead the charge. But that's how it has to be. It can't be the case that a bunch of people keep them and only 1 or 2 don’t.” pic.twitter.com/byxQRjGMfs
The Massachusetts senator said she would support all the candidates disavowing super PACs but would not be the sole opponent. (This comes after Warren previously said she would reject the groups’ support.)
Shortly after Roger Stone was sentenced today, senator Lindsey Graham tweeted that Trump “has all the legal authority in the world to review this case.”
This presidential power is available to all presidents in all cases brought before our justice system.
— Lindsey Graham (@LindseyGrahamSC) February 20, 2020
This is the way our legal system is intended to work and provides a brilliant and intricate system of checks and balances we should all honor.
The tweet was read as a possible indication that Trump’s congressional allies will not push back much if the president chooses to pardon his former associate.
In contrast, House intelligence committee chairman Adam Schiff said such a move would be a “breathtaking act of corruption.”
Trump replaced acting DNI after staffer testified to House
Trump reportedly lashed out last week against the acting director of national intelligence, Joseph Maguire, because one of his staffers gave a classified briefing to the House intelligence committee.
The Washington Post reports:
Maguire had been considered a leading candidate to be nominated for the post of DNI, White House aides had said. But Trump’s opinion shifted last week when he heard from a GOP ally that the intelligence official in charge of election security, who works for Maguire, gave a classified briefing last Thursday to the House Intelligence Committee on 2020 election security.
It is unclear what the official, Shelby Pierson, specifically said at the briefing that angered Trump, but the president erroneously believed that she had given information exclusively to Rep. Adam B. Schiff (D-Calif.), the committee chairman, and that the information would be helpful to Democrats if it were released publicly, the people familiar with the matter said. Schiff was the lead impeachment manager, or prosecutor, during Trump’s Senate trial on charges of abuse of power and obstruction of Congress.
The president was furious with Maguire and blamed him for the supposed transgression involving Pierson when the two met the next day.
‘There was a dressing down’ of Maguire, said one individual, who, like others, spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss a sensitive matter. ‘That was the catalyst’ that led to the sidelining of Maguire in favor of Grenell, the person said.
Trump announced yesterday that Richard Grenell, the US ambassador to Germany and a loyaly supporter of the president, would replace Maguire as acting DNI.
However, Grenell made clear today that he would not be nominated for the permanent position:
Correct. Acting. The President will announce the Nominee (not me) sometime soon. https://t.co/9ShqB2eXea
— Richard Grenell (@RichardGrenell) February 20, 2020
Trump once again segued away from celebrating the Hope for Prisoners graduates by lamenting his impeachment.
The president acknowledged the graduates’ road ahead would be difficult at times, and he could commiserate about having “those days.”
“I mean, I didn’t do anything wrong, and they impeached me a few weeks ago,” Trump said.
While Trump was listing his perceived political enemies moments ago, someone in the crowd responded by yelling, “Lock ‘em up!”
According to the pool report, that outburst came as the president was accusing officials like former FBI director James Comey of lying like Roger Stone -- even though Stone was charged and convicted of lying to Congress, unlike Comey.
As a reminder, this Las Vegas event is meant to celebrate the commencement of graduates from a program aimed at helping former prisoners reenter society.
Trump emphasized he would be monitoring Roger Stone’s case closely and indicated he would later make a decision on a potential pardon.
“We will watch the process and watch it very closely. And at some point I will make a determination,” Trump said.
However, the president also made clear he thought Stone had been treated unfairly in the trial. “Roger Stone and everybody has to be treated fairly. And this has not been a fair process,” Trump said.
Trump on Stone case: 'I want the process to play out'
Trump indicated that he would not pardon Roger Stone at this time because he wanted to see the case continue making its way through the courts if his former associate appeals the ruling.
“I am not going to do anything in terms of the great powers bestowed to the president,” Trump said. “I want the process to play out. I think that’s the best thing to do because I would love to see Roger exonerated.”
The president defended Stone, who was convicted of obstructing and lying to Congress and witness-tampering in the Russia investigation.
“They say he lied. But other people lied too,” Trump said before going on to bash a number of his perceived enemies, such as former FBI director James Comey.
Trump says Stone has a 'very good chance of exoneration'
Speaking at the Las Vegas event, Trump addressed the Roger Stone case for the first time since his former associate was sentenced.
“I’m following this very closely, and I want to see it play out to its fullest because Roger has a very good chance of exoneration in my opinion,” Trump said.
The president then turned to attacking the jury foreman in Stone’s case, who he said was “totally tainted” and an “anti-Trump activist.”
Stone’s team has argued he should get a new trial because of juror bias, but Judge Amy Berman Jackson seemed skeptical of that motion earlier today.
Updated
Speaking at an event in Las Vegas, Trump said he was considering a pardon for the founder of the group Hope for Prisoners.
Jon Ponder, who introduced Trump at the event, has said he first envisioned the group while he was serving time in prison. His program helps former inmates reentering society.
“We are giving him absolute consideration, and I have a feeling he’s going to get that full pardon,” Trump said of Ponder.
Trump issued a spate of commutations and pardons earlier this week, intensifying speculation that the president will pardon Roger Stone.
Mike Bloomberg is being criticized fot tweeting out an altered video from last night’s debate.
The video appears to show Bloomberg’s opponents reacting with blank stares and stuttering when he says he is the only candidate on stage who has started his own business.
Anyone? pic.twitter.com/xqhq5qFYVk
— Mike Bloomberg (@MikeBloomberg) February 20, 2020
In reality, when Bloomberg delivered this line last night, he then quickly launched into praising mentoring programs he supported in New York.
Some commentators said Bloomberg’s use of the video raised questions about his credibility.
One has to seriously question the credibility of any campaign that would push out such a manipulated video. These reaction shots are unrelated to the two-second moment in the debate. This is a dangerously slippery slope that will lead to a nuclear war of fake videos. https://t.co/W1XFzCsLeI
— Glenn Kessler (@GlennKesslerWP) February 20, 2020
In a new statement, a spokesperson for Roger Stone denounced Judge Amy Berman Jackson’s handling of his sentencing and called on Trump to pardon him.
Statement on behalf of Roger Stone from his friend Kristin. Davis. She directly asks for a pardon from the president. pic.twitter.com/Uju44jnl6C
— Kelly O'Donnell (@KellyO) February 20, 2020
Kristin Davis criticized Jackson for issuing a ruling on Stone’s sentence before reaching a decision on the former Trump associate’s motion claiming juror bias.
However, Jackson applauded the jurors for their service earlier today, so she seems unlikely to issue a favorable ruling on Stone’s motion.
“It falls on President Trump to use the power of a pardon as the final means of checks and balances to right this horrible wrong,” Davis said.
Last night’s Democratic debate drew 19.7 million viewers, setting a new record, according to Nielsen.
Deadline reports:
[NBC News and MSNBC] said that it was the most watched Democratic debate in history. It also topped the 18.1 million who watched the second night of the Democratic debate in June. That event was broadcast by NBC News, MSNBC and Telemundo.
NBC said that the debate generated 13.5 million live video streams and 22 million video views across all platforms. The network said that it translated into an average audience of 417,000 viewers.
Those figures will likely delight the candidates who performed well last night, namely Elizabeth Warren, but they may be greeted with panic over at Mike Bloomberg’s headquarters.
Warren’s campaign said it raised nearly $3 million yesterday, as the candidate went after Bloomberg for his past sexist comments and his hefty campaign spending.
But Bloomberg’s performance was widely panned, with the former New York mayor appearing unprepared for some obvious lines of attack.
Considering nearly 20 million people tuned in last night, that could be bad news for Bloomberg’s hopes of turning in a formidable performance on Super Tuesday after skipping the early voting states.
Here’s some bad news for Democrats: a new poll found Trump leading all of the top presidential candidates in the pivotal swing state of Wisconsin.
According to the Quinnipiac University poll, the 2020 Democratic field has an edge over the president in Michigan and Pennsylvania, which Trump carried in 2016.
But the poll also found that all of the candidates are trailing Trump in the key toss-up state of Wisconsin.
Swing State Poll: #PresidentTrump up in Wisconsin while Dems have the edge in Pennsylvania; in Michigan it’s close https://t.co/uElqAkm9ZB #2020Election pic.twitter.com/yG6h5AvHvn
— Quinnipiac University Poll (@QuinnipiacPoll) February 20, 2020
If the 2016 electoral map holds mostly steady this year, and Trump is able to hold Wisconsin while Democrats pick up Michigan and Pennsylvania, the president will still win reelection.
Democrats have said they expect to be competitive in other states that went for Trump in 2016, such as Arizona and Georgia.
But for the many Democrats who have argued their road to the White House runs through the Midwest, those polling numbers could cause alarm.
Reacting to yet another one of the president’s mocking tweets, Mike Bloomberg joked about the likelihood of Trump pardoning Roger Stone, after his former associate was sentenced to more than three years in prison.
Shouldn’t you be pardoning Roger Stone, you #carnivalbarkingclown? https://t.co/PYNj4QPNbG
— Mike Bloomberg (@MikeBloomberg) February 20, 2020
Afternoon summary
Here’s where the day stands so far:
- Roger Stone, Trump’s former associate, was sentenced to more than three years in prison for obstructing the congressional investigation of Russian interference in the 2016 election.
- Trump has hinted at a possible pardon for Stone, which House intelligence commitee chairman Adam Schiff said would be “a breathtaking act of corruption.”
- Judge Amy Berman Jackson denounced Stone’s actions while delivering her sentencing decision, calling Stone’s disregard for the truth “a threat to the very foundation of this democracy.”
The blog will have more coming up, so stay tuned.
Schiff warns Stone pardon would be 'breathtaking act of corruption'
House intelligence committee chairman Adam Schiff said Roger Stone’s sentence was “justified” and warned that a presidential pardon in the case would be a “breathtaking act of corruption.”
Roger Stone was found guilty of lying to Congress and threatening a witness.
— Adam Schiff (@RepAdamSchiff) February 20, 2020
He did it to cover up for Trump. His sentence is justified.
It should go without saying, but to pardon Stone when his crimes were committed to protect Trump would be a breathtaking act of corruption.
Trump has appeared open to pardoning Stone, pinning this clip from Fox News’ Tucker Carlson to the top of his Twitter feed.
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) February 20, 2020
“Like the Russia collusion fantasy itself, Stone’s prosecution was wholly poitical,” Carlson says in the clip, although that argument was rejected by Judge Amy Berman Jackson today.
Carlson goes on to say, “President Trump could end this travesty in an instant with a pardon, and there are indications tonight that he will do that.”
Allies and critics of Roger Stone faced off as the former Trump associate exited the courthouse after his sentencing hearing.
From the Guardian’s Lauren Gambino, who is at the courthouse:
Anti Trump protesters are now drowning them with chants of “Lies” and “get out of the way.” https://t.co/o0x3xOObCK
— Lauren Gambino (@laurenegambino) February 20, 2020
Roger Stone will not report to prison for at least a few weeks, until Judge Amy Berman Jackson rules on his motion claiming juror bias in the case.
Press and onlookers waiting for Stone, who is not going to prison for a least a few weeks, to emerge. pic.twitter.com/Z6LfVH8j9r
— Dan Friedman (@dfriedman33) February 20, 2020
But Jackson seems unlikely to give Stone a favorable ruling on his motion, considering she praised “jurors who served with integrity under difficult circumstances” while delivering her decision today.
Judge: 'The truth still matters'
As she delivered her sentence, Judge Amy Berman Jackson delivered a defense of facts, accusing Roger Stone of disregarding them in his case.
“The truth still exists. The truth still matters,” Jackson said. “Roger Stone’s insistence that it doesn’t, his pride in his own lies are a threat to the very foundation of this democracy.”
Despite America’s current divisions, Jackson said that the condemnation of Stone’s disregard for the truth “should transcend both parties.”
Roger Stone has been sentenced to spend three years and four months in prison, followed by two years of supervised release.
The former Trump associate will also be required to pay a $20,000 fine.
Judge Amy Berman Jackson sentenced Stone to 40 months on the first charge and concurrent sentences on the sixth other charges.
Stone sentenced to 40 months
Roger Stone, Trump’s former associate, has been sentenced to 40 months in prison for lying to and obstructing Congress and witness tampering in the Russia investigation.
Jackson denounces Stone's actions as she delivers sentence
Judge Amy Berman Jackson defended the congressional investigation into Russian interference and the prosecution of Roger Stone’s case.
“There was nothing unfair, phony or disgraceful about the investigation or the prosecution,” Jackson said. “Witnesses do not get to decide for themselves whether Congress is entitled to the facts.”
She also argued Stone’s disregard for the truth should worry all those who care about American democracy.
“The dismay and disgust at the defendant’s belligerence should transcend party,” Jackson said.
Judge says Trump's comments on Stone were 'entirely inappropriate'
Judge Amy Berman Jackson criticized Trump’s tweets about Roger Stone’s case, calling the president’s comments “entirely inappropriate.”
But the judge made clear she would not be swayed by Trump’s comments or arguments from Stone’s critics calling for a stiffer sentence.
“Roger Stone will not be sentenced for who his friends are or who his enemies are,” Jackson said.
Judge: Stone 'was prosecuted for covering up for the president'
Judge Amy Berman Jackson dismissed the arguments, repeatedly aired by Trump’s allies on cable news and on Twitter, that Roger Stone is being punished for his political views.
“He was not prosecuted, as some have complained, for standing up for the president,” Berman said. “He was prosecuted for covering up for the president.”
Judge signals Stone's sentence will be less than original recommendation
Judge Amy Berman Jackson said federal prosecutors’ original sentencing recommendation, which called for seven to nine years in prison for Roger Stone, was “thorough, well-researched and supported.”
However, she said she would not have issued that severe of a sentence, regardless of the “unprecedented” actions taken by Justice Department leadership last week.
Judge Amy Berman Jackson also rejected the argument from Roger Stone’s lawyers that he had been made to suffer a great deal during the course of the trial.
Jackson noted that much of the public scrutiny of Stone came in response to his own handling of the trial, posting about the case on social media even after a gag order was issued.
Outlining the charges against Roger Stone, Judge Amy Berman Jackson noted both chambers of Congress were controlled by Republicans when he lied to lawmakers, so it’s illogical that Stone would feel the need to protect Trump against an allegedly unfair investigation.
Judge says one of Stone's motives was to 'shield' Trump. Notes Stone said he couldn't take 5th because it'd look bad for Trump. Judge notes Congress was GOP-controlled at time Stone lied, so it wasn't an anti-Trump cabal
— Josh Gerstein (@joshgerstein) February 20, 2020
Judge Amy Berman Jackson applauded Randy Credico, the witness who was threatened by Roger Stone, for writing a letter in support of a lenient sentence.
But Jackson dismissed the idea that Credico’s “sensitivity” and “concern” reflected favorably upon Stone.
“I really did appreciate the sensitivity and the concern that went into Randy Credico’s letter” (arguing against a tough sentence) ABJ says. “It’s nice that Mr. Credico has forgiven Mr. Stone.”
— Andrew Prokop (@awprokop) February 20, 2020
But all of that “reflects more on Mr. Credico than Mr. Stone.”
Judge Amy Berman Jackson said Roger Stone had “flat out lied” to Congress as lawmakers investigated Russian interference in the 2016 election.
“This is not mere equivocation,” Jackson said. “These answers were clearly false.”
Quoting a letter in support of Roger Stone, Judge Amy Berman Jackson rejected the notion that Stone was “being pursued by political enemies.”
Jackson said the record clearly showed Stone had “injected himself” into the WikiLeaks controversy by seeking the hacked Democratic emails during the 2016 campaign.
Jackson’s comments reject arguments from Trump and some of his allies that Stone is the victim of a political witch hunt.
Delivering her decision on Roger Stone’s sentence, Judge Amy Berman Jackson began, “Unsurprisingly, I have a lot to say.”
Jackson then said she would walk through each aspect of the sentencing, starting with the nature of Stone’s crimes.
Roger Stone’s sentencing hearing is back in session, and Judge Amy Berman Jackson will soon deliver her ruling.
Judge Amy Berman Jackson tried to get to the bottom of what happened with the changed sentencing recommendation for Roger Stone.
She noted that John Crabb, the newly installed federal prosecutor who joined the case last week after four colleagues withdrew in protest, was probably the least familiar person with this case in the courtroom, save for a lawyer who just joined the defense team.
“Is there anything you would like to say about why you are the one standing here today?” Jackson asked.
Crabb apologized for any “confusion,” which he said was not caused by the original prosecution team. He said there was a “miscommunication” but did not elaborate on the nature of that.
“This prosecution was, and this prosecution is, righteous,” Crabb said.
He refused to say if he wrote the second sentencing memo, citing internal deliberations. Asked if he was directed to sign the second sentencing memo by someone above him, he again declined to get into internal deliberations.
Asked whether he would like to address the court, Roger Stone said he would not be speaking today.
Judge Amy Berman Jackson then called for a short break before she delivers her ruling on Stone’s sentencing.
Roger Stone’s lawyers argued the prosecution of his criminal case had already been punishing enough for him and his family, recommending probation for the former Trump associate.
"The process has already really been the punishment," Ginsburg says of Stone.
— Bill Rehkopf (@BillRehkopf) February 20, 2020
But considered the severe terms Judge Amy Berman Jackson has used today to describe Stone’s actions, it seems unlikely she will be swayed by that argument.
Federal prosecutor dodges question about Stone's revised sentencing recommendation
Under questioning from Judge Amy Berman Jackson, federal prosecutor John Crabb defended the original prosecutors who carried out Roger Stone’s case.
Crabb, who signed on to the revised sentencing recommendation last week, blamed the change on a “misunderstanding,” saying the original prosecutors received the proper approvals for their recommendation of seven to nine years in prison.
“This prosecution was, and this prosecution is, righteous,” Crabb said.
But Crabb would not directly answer Jackson’s questions about whether he was ordered to sign the revised sentencing recommendation, which came after Trump criticized the original recommendation.
Crabb argued that process was a matter of internal deliberations, but he expressed confidence in Jackson’s eventual sentence. “We are confident the court will impose a fair and just sentence in this matter,” he said.
The federal prosecutors and Roger Stone’s lawyers argued in court over whether the former Trump associate had obstructed his own criminal case by posting about it on social media.
As a reminder, Stone was slapped with an expanded gag order last year after he posted an Instagram appearing to show Judge Amy Berman Jackson and the crosshairs of a gun.
Jackson warned in court today that the post could have incited violence against her and merited a sentencing enhancement, denouncing Stone’s behavior as “intolerable.”
The judge overseeing Roger Stone’s case agreed with his lawyers that his sentence should not be extended due to evidence of planning to obstruct Congress in its Russia investigation.
First win of the morning for defense on 'extensive scope or planning' enhancement. Jackson: 'I don’t think we’re looking at extensive scope or planning...'
— Josh Gerstein (@joshgerstein) February 20, 2020
Interestingly, the federal prosecutor in Roger Stone’s case who has repeatedly referred to the original sentencing recommendation, which was later contradicted by justice department leadership, is the same prosecutor who signed on to the revised recommendatinon.
Most notable of all is that the prosecutor makoing this argument in court is John CRABB — who is the one who signed onto the revised sentencing memo he is now contradicting. pic.twitter.com/dyUSrbau6v
— Kyle Cheney (@kyledcheney) February 20, 2020
The judge overseeing Roger Stone’s case has so far ruled that sentencing guidelines which could increase his prison sentence do apply to his conviction.
But as a Politico reporter noted, the application of those guidelines does not necessarily mean Stone will receive the maximum sentence.
Not going well for Stone so far, but this is pretty typical, as the judge notes. The guidelines go high and then the judge will sentence below them...She's noted there are mitigating circumstances on both of those enhancements.
— Josh Gerstein (@joshgerstein) February 20, 2020
It appears the federal prosecutors, who were added to Roger Stone’s case after four of the original porsecutors withdrew from the case in protest, are standing by their colleagues’ original sentencing recommendation.
Here's what the revised sentencing recommendation, after Barr's intervention, said about this.
— Kyle Cheney (@kyledcheney) February 20, 2020
Sure seems at odds with what DOJ is saying in court: pic.twitter.com/MBHMWMrTfS
As a reminder, the four original prosecutors withdrew from the case because senior Justice Department leaders, including attorney geneeral William Barr, revised down their sentencing recommendation for Stone.
That revision came after Trump criticized the recommended sentence, which was seven to nine years in prison.
It now seems the prosecutors installed to replace their absent colleagues are standing by the original recommendation that the president objected to.
Trump tweets about Stone as sentencing hearing unfolds
As Roger Stone’s sentencing hearing continues, Trump is tweeting about his former associate, claiming his crimes were on par with the actions of former FBI director James Comey and former deputy FBI director Andrew McCabe.
“They say Roger Stone lied to Congress.” @CNN OH, I see, but so did Comey (and he also leaked classified information, for which almost everyone, other than Crooked Hillary Clinton, goes to jail for a long time), and so did Andy McCabe, who also lied to the FBI! FAIRNESS?
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) February 20, 2020
But as a reminder, neither Comey nor McCabe were ever charged with a crime -- in comparison to Stone, who was both charged and convicted on seven counts.
Updated
Roger Stone was yelled at by a few protesters as the former Trump associate arrived for his sentencing hearing at a federal courthouse in Washington.
NEW: Roger Stone arrives at a DC courthouse for expected sentencing on his conviction for witness tampering and lying to Congress. A few onlookers yelled "Traitor!" at him as entered the building. https://t.co/hQObmjkcfA pic.twitter.com/1QQxwc7jla
— ABC News (@ABC) February 20, 2020
Updated
As a reminder, Roger Stone was found guilty on seven counts brought by the Justice Department in November.
The former Trump associate was accused of lying to and obstructing Congress, as well as witness tampering, in connection to the investigation into Russia interference.
According to special counsel Robert Mueller’s team, Stone lied under oath about his communications with WikiLeaks as he tried to obtain hacked Democratic emails during the 2016 election and threatened one of his friends to prevent that information from coming to light.
Stone sentencing hearing begins in Washington
The sentencing hearing of Roger Stone, Trump’s former associate, is getting under way in Washington.
Stone is seated at the defense table surrounded by his attorneys, including Bruce Rogow, Robert Buschel, Grant Smith and Tara Campion. Right next to Stone is the newest addition to his team, Seth Ginsberg.
— Darren Samuelsohn (@dsamuelsohn) February 20, 2020
Regardless of Stone’s sentence, the judge overseeing his case has said she will delay execution of the sentence until Stone’s request for a new trial over alleged juror bias is settled.
There’s also the possibility (if not probablility) that Trump will pardon Stone, making it unnecessary for Stone to serve out his sentence.
Trump’s appointment of Richard Grenell as the next acting director of national intelligence has raised some concerns about political influence over the intelligence community.
Grenell, who currently serves as the US ambassador to Germany, is known as one of the president’s most loyal allies, and he has no background in intelligence.
Because he has only been appointed on an acting basis, Grenell will not have to be confirmed by the Senate, although his tenure will end after only six months unless he is formally nominated.
Nonetheless, Grenell’s oversight of the office of the director of national intelligence set off alarm bells among Trump’s critics that the president was trying to exert political influence over the intelligence community.
And at a time when the integrity and independence of the DOJ has been called into grave question, our country needs a Senate-confirmed intelligence director who will provide the best intelligence and analysis, regardless of whether or not it’s expedient for the President.
— Mark Warner (@MarkWarner) February 20, 2020
Trump’s press secretary dismissed those concerns in a statement, insisting Grenell is “is committed to a non-political, non-partisan approach as head of the Intelligence Community, on which our safety and security depend.”
.@PressSec says Grennell’s appointment was made official today pic.twitter.com/b65I0BQAhB
— Jordan Fabian (@Jordanfabian) February 20, 2020
Bernie Sanders also came under attack from his opponents during last night’s debate, the first since Sanders became the definitive frontrunner in the race.
Pete Buttigieg, in particular, criticized Sanders for not doing enough to chastize his online supporters, some of whom engaged in “vicious attacks” against Nevada’s Culinary Union after the organizion came out against Medicare-for-all.
“Leadership isn’t just about policy,” Buttigieg told Sanders. “I think you have to accept some responsibility and ask yourself what it is about your campaign in particular that seems to be motivating this behavior more than others.”
Sanders said he condemned the “few people who make ugly remarks” online, but he added, “All of us remember 2016, and what we remember is efforts by Russians and others to try to interfere in our election and divide us up. I’m not saying that’s happening, but it would not shock me.”
But Twitter said in a statement that it would have disclosed any evidence of Russian disinformation campaign to sully the reputation of Sanders’ supporters.
“Using technology and human review in concert, we proactively monitor Twitter to identify attempts at platform manipulation and mitigate them,” a Twitter spokesperson told CNBC. “As is standard, if we have reasonable evidence of state-backed information operations, we’ll disclose them following our thorough investigation to our public archive — the largest of its kind in the industry.”
This is Joan Greve in Washington, taking over for Martin Belam.
Mike Bloomberg’s debate performance last night has been widely panned, with many critics saying the former New York mayor appeared unprepared to respond to some very obvious lines of attack about his record.
Trump is now adding his name to the list of Bloomberg’s critics, mocking the fellow billionaire in a tweet for his height and the “worst debate performance in history.”
The tweet includes a video made by a supporter, which ends with Bloomberg being crushed under a giant foot before “Trump-Pence: Keep America Great” appears on screen.
This makes Mini Mike look good compared to his performance last night. Worst debate performance in history! https://t.co/oUTz9njZPg
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) February 20, 2020
Warren team claims they raised $2.8m with debate performance
It isn’t just a shift in poll-ratings that candidates were looking for after the Las Vegas debates last night - and it looks like Elizabeth Warren’s performance has allowed her to hit the fund-raising jackpot. Her team say that they had their best debate day fund-raising of the campaign yet, bringing in $2.8m
We just had our best debate day of the entire campaign, raising more than $2.8 million. 🔥
— Team Warren (@TeamWarren) February 20, 2020
Will you chip in $2 right now to keep the momentum going? We can only do this together. https://t.co/uXvKIOKVrW
The Sanders campaign also seem to have had a rewarding night, with Eliza Collins reporting that they also claim to have had their best debate fund-raising day, with $2.7m coming in.
Update: Sanders raised $2.7 million today from nearly 150,000 donations – the best debate day of his campaign, according to his campaign. https://t.co/nR5UEB6cjh
— Eliza Collins (@elizacollins1) February 20, 2020
It looks like it could be quite lively at the court in Washington where Stone is due to be sentenced. There already seem to be pro and anti-Stone camps making their presence felt outside.
Here outside the US District Court in DC, where Roger Stone is scheduled to be sentenced. Some of his supporters have unfurled a banner: pic.twitter.com/WjkUHZdBl0
— Nicholas Wu (@nicholaswu12) February 20, 2020
Other protesters just inflated a giant rat mascot outside the court pic.twitter.com/SnvwulE6Ip
— Nicholas Wu (@nicholaswu12) February 20, 2020
The president is up and tweeting - and not about Roger Stone. Trump has started his online day by posting a video clip of a veteran being carried to his seat at a Trump rally, which Donald Trump Jr had highlighted earlier.
A really great moment! https://t.co/wLGzGi34Rv
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) February 20, 2020
Politico have published a good long read looking into the saga of Roger Stone’s almost inevitable presidential pardon by Darren Samuelsohn. It’s a good refresher on just how deep the ties between Stone and Trump have been over the years:
“Stone and Trump have a history unlike anyone else around the president. They’ve known each other since Ronald Reagan’s 1980 White House campaign and maintained a rapport that includes Stone counseling Trump during four potential presidential runs and Trump hiring Stone as a lobbyist to represent his gambling, airline and hotel businesses. In his most recent book, Stone boasted that he knew about Trump’s 2016 plans more than two years before the formal campaign announcement.”
You can read it here: “The Roger Stone pardon saga”
While he awaits the outcome of US moves to extradite him, WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange has been visited in prison by a leading British opposition politician - shadow chancellor John McDonnell.
McDonnell described the US attempts to extradite Assange to face trial to face 18 charges, including conspiring to commit computer intrusion, as “one of the most important and significant political trials of this generation, in fact longer.”
McDonnell criticised “The way in which a person is being persecuted for political reasons, for simply exposing the truth for what went on in relation to recent wars. We don’t believe that extradition should be used for political purposes.”
McDonnell added that “I think if this extradition takes place it will damage the democratic standing of our own country as well as America. We have a long tradition in this country of standing up for journalistic freedom, standing up for the protection of whistleblowers and those who expose injustices.”
Assange, 48, could face up to 175 years in jail if the Trump administration’s attempt to extradite him is successful.
Here’s some more detail from the visit…
Updated
Jordan Weissmann has reviewed Elizabeth Warren’s performance in last night’s debate in glowing terms for Slate:
“It was brutal. It was crushing. It was a command performance full of zingers that drew roars, even if they were a bit obviously prewritten. And perhaps everyone should have seen it coming. Warren, after all, has often been at her best during this primary campaign when going toe-to-toe in the media with billionaires fearful of her candidacy. What better foil could she ask for than Bloomberg?”
Weissmann also makes the point that the set-up of the debate suited her - being positioned just to Bloomberg’s left meant the cameras caught the full blast of her one-to-one attacks on him.
If you missed it earlier, my colleague Sam Levin rounded up all of Warren’s best attack lines on the billionaire and his arrogance and his record on NDAs, racist policing and taxes.
Donald Trump’s acting chief of staff Mick Mulvaney is in the UK at the moment, with meetings planned with some of prime minister Boris Johnson’s staff over the issue of Chinese telecoms firm Huawei. The Trump administration has made no secret of their displeasure that the UK has approved Huawei to supply equipment to build the British 5G mobile phone network.
Mulvaney was at a meeting in Oxford last night where he delivered a forceful warning:
“We are very much concerned that integrity of that information is hardwired into your computer systems, and if you folks go forward with the decision to include Huawei, it will have a direct and dramatic impact on our ability to share information with you. Period, end of story.”
The Washington Post is also reporting a different line that came out of Mulvaney’s talk, an admission that the Republican party can be hypocritical over the issues of deficits.
Mulvaney is reported as saying: “My party is very interested in deficits when there is a Democrat in the White House. The worst thing in the whole world is deficits when Barack Obama was the president. Then Donald Trump became president, and we’re a lot less interested as a party”
Trump hints at Stone pardon
We’ll know in a few hours what Roger Stone’s sentence is going to be. What we don’t know yet is whether he’ll actually have to serve any of it, or whether he will benefit from an almost instantaneous presidential pardon. There was a strong hint from Donald Trump’s Twitter feed that he might do just that.
Last night he posted up a clip of Tucker Carlson from Fox News discussing the case. In the clip, Carlson says:
“Like the Russia collusion fantasy itself, Stone’s prosecution was wholly poitical. It was a shocking insult to the American tradition of equal justice. The whole thing is enough to shake your faith in our justice system. President Trump could end this travesty in an instant with a pardon, and there are indications tonight that he will do that.”
Not only did Trump tweet out the clip, but he also pinned it to the top of his feed.
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) February 20, 2020
Trump has already made headlines with his pardons this week - freeing convicted Democrat Rod Blagojevich. WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange also sensationally claimed in a court in London yesterday that Trump had offered him a pardon if he would refute Russia’s involvement in the 2016 election - something that the president denies.
Here’s Austin Sarat, arguing that Trump’s use of clemency undermines the rule of law.
Updated
Defense Secretary Mark Esper has been in North Dakota visiting Minot Air Force Base, acclaiming president Trump’s plan to modernise the nation’s nuclear arsenal.
Esper told reporters that the spending was needed to keep up with Russia and outpace China. He told reporters that “Russia and China are both modernizing and expanding their nuclear arsenals.”
He said the country needed to have confidence that US systems are effective, safe, reliable, and credible. “We’re trying to deter war.”
Great visit with #TeamMinot. Extremely impressed with the operations & how @TeamMinot accomplishes one of our most important missions: strategic deterrence. Again, thank you @SenKevinCramer and @SenJohnHoeven for all you do for our service members & their families. 🇺🇸 pic.twitter.com/HQSTaszxmV
— Secretary of Defense Dr. Mark T. Esper (@EsperDoD) February 20, 2020
The Congressional Budget Office has estimated the first 10 years of the modernization plan will cost nearly $500 billion, and that over a 30-year span the total would hit $1.2 trillion, including the cost of sustaining the current and future force.
California’s lawmakers are expected to vote to formally apologize for the role the state legislature played in the incarceration of more than 120,000 people of Japanese descent during the second world war.
The resolution, which is likely to be approved today, was introduced by California state assembly member Albert Muratsuchi.
In a reference to Trump’s muslim travel ban and the separation of families at the US border, Muratsuchi has said that “We’re seeing striking parallels between what happened to Japanese Americans before and during the second world war and what we see happening today”
Mario Koran in San Francisco has the full story.
We’ve also got an emotional piece from back in 2012, written by actor George Takei, who was interned along with his family in the 1940s.
“I’ll never forget that day, nor the tears streaming down my mother’s face as we were forcibly removed, herded off like animals, to a nearby race track. There, for weeks, we would live in a filthy horse stable while our ‘permanent’ relocation camp was being constructed thousands of miles away”
He might not have shone in last night’s debate, but Mike Bloomberg can console himself with the fact that he has picked up another three congressional endorsements.
Democratic Reps. Josh Gottheimer of New Jersey, Nita Lowey of New York and Pete Aguilar of California have all come out and endorsed Bloomberg. Aguilar cited Bloomberg’s record “at both the national and local levels” and his “track record as a former mayor on gun safety and climate.”
It brings his total number of congressional endorsements to 15. Only Joe Biden has more.
It’s not always clear how much congressional endorsements turn into popular support, but Bloomberg will be grateful that the move today suggests his campaign still has momentum after Las Vegas.
Here’s what Richard Wolffe made of last night:
“This Democratic primary is not the same as it was four years ago; nor is it like the Republican contest of the same cycle. After three years of Trumpian dysfunction and disinformation, nothing is the same.
He believes that nothing can stop Sanders winning the nomination this time around.
While a lot of eyes were on the debate in Las Vegas, president Donald Trump was at work, and used Twitter to announce that, as expected, Richard Grenell will become acting director of national intelligence.
The US ambassador to Germany is a keen Trump ally, and now takes charge of the nation’s 17 spy agencies, with whom the president has enjoyed a testy relationship. In his tweet Trump said that “Rick has represented our Country exceedingly well and I look forward to working with him.”
Grenell has been ambassador to Germany since 2018, and because he has been named as acting director, the appointment will not need to be confirmed by the Senate.
The move hasn’t been universally popular. Democrat senator Mark Warner of Virginia said Trump had “selected an individual without any intelligence experience to serve as the leader of the nation’s intelligence community in an acting capacity.”
Many pundits seemed to think that Elizabeth Warren was at her most effective in the debate last night when landing blows on Mike Bloomberg’s record. “Democrats take a huge risk if we just substitute one arrogant billionaire for another” she said.
Her performance sparked a lot of fun on social media - one person suggested that Bloomberg’s Wikipedia page needed “Cause of death: Elizabeth Warren” added to it.
But there was nothing fun about her attacks on Bloomberg over his record on race relations, policing, NDA agreements and his wealth. Sam Levin here has a write-up of the lines that most wounded the former mayor of new York.
Good morning - and it’s the morning after the night before for the six major challengers for the Democratic nomination, as they wake up and wonder how their debate performance yesterday will have played with voters.
We’ll get our first real hint when Nevada holds its caucuses on Saturday.
It is probably Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren who will be most pleased with how they did.
Sanders, the frontrunner in the polls, withstood the onslaught he faced, and Warren made her mark with a series of stinging attacks on Mike Bloomberg, who was appearing in a debate for the first time. Klobuchar and Buttigieg sparred. And Joe Biden? Well, he kept on plodding on. Here’s the wrap of the night from my colleague Sam Levin in Las Vegas.
Donald Trump is on the campaign trail too today. He’ll be at a rally in Colorado Springs which starts at 7pm ET.
Before then we’ll almost certainly hear from the president on Twitter about the sentencing of Roger Stone. Stone was was convicted in November on seven felony charges, including lying to Congress and tampering with a witness, and will find out his punishment in court this morning, despite a last minute bid to get a re-trial.
