Wednesday night summary
Here’s what’s happened Wednesday evening:
- Hope Hicks is joining several other former Trump administration officials in cooperating with Democratic-led investigations into whether the president or those working for him committed obstruction of justice.
- A Senate subcommittee has scheduled a hearing to look into the FAA’s certification of the Boeing planes involved in the two fatal crashes.
- The Devin Nunes’ cow parody account, that uses Twitter to make fun and criticize the Californian conservative congressman now has more followers than he does.
- A former DEA official, who testified to Congress in 2017 about the need to regulate prescription drugs in order to control the opioid epidemic, was recently hired by Purdue Pharma, the maker of the highly addictive painkiller OxyContin.
Purdue Pharma, one of the largest opioid manufacturers in the US, has hired a former Drug Enforcement Administration official who testified before Congress in 2017 the urgent need to regulate prescription drugs, NBC news reports.
Demetra Ashley, who was once the acting assistant administrator at the DEA, is now advising the company, which made more than $35 billion from the sale of Oxycontin, the highly addictive pain-killer, in its attempt to navigate a federal lawsuit through her private consulting firm.
Per NBC:
Purdue Pharma, the maker of the opioid painkiller OxyContin, is one of the opioid companies being sued by more than 1,600 cities and counties for “grossly” misrepresenting “the risks of long-term use of those drugs for persons with chronic pain,” according to court documents. The lawsuits have been consolidated into one case in federal court in Cleveland. Purdue vigorously denies allegations that it deceptively marketed OxyContin.
Ashley spent three decades at the DEA, specializing in preventing the diversion of prescription drugs like OxyContin”.
As millions around the world get ready to celebrate Nowruz, the Persian New Year, Trump issued a Presidential message using the occasion to criticize Iran.
“I send my warmest wishes to those in the United States and around the world observing the ancient holiday of Nowruz,” he wrote, before adding, “Sadly, the Iranian people are once again unable to share fully in the joy of this occasion. This year, as they have each year for the past four decades, they mark the arrival of spring under the heavy burden of the oppression of their country’s ruthless and corrupt regime”.
Surprise. Trump uses Nowruz message to bash Iran regime. pic.twitter.com/PCY5FUJ3ky
— Laura Rozen (@lrozen) March 20, 2019
Trump also released a separate statement on Nowruz, using the holiday to condemn Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps and announce new guidelines from the Department of Treasury “reaffirming America’s support for the free flow of information to the citizens of Iran”.
The holiday, celebrated on March 21, is supposed to be a time of togetherness to welcome the start of spring. According to the United Nations, which recognized Nowruz as an international holiday in 2010, “it promotes values of peace and solidarity between generations and within families as well as reconciliation and neighbourliness, thus contributing to cultural diversity and friendship among peoples and different communities”.
FYI here’s how Trump wishes Iranians happy Nowruz last year. https://t.co/NXF0M7XdCO
— Saba Hamedy (@saba_h) March 20, 2019
A parody Twitter account called Devin Nunes’ cow, which serves to mock the conservative Californian congressman, now has more Twitter followers than he does — all because of media attention brought by Nunes’ enormous defamation lawsuit against Twitter and users who make fun of him on the platform.
Another account cited in the suit, “Devin Nunes’ mom” has since been suspended. But the cow continues on, now with 471,000 followers. Both accounts were created to use puns and humor to criticize Nunes, after an article in Esquire exposed that his family had secretly moved their farm to Iowa, long before he used it as a central part of his California campaign narrative.
Narrator: it would be hilarious 🐄 https://t.co/bawN6wdlma
— Devin Nunes’ cow (@DevinCow) March 20, 2019
Nunes, the former chairman of the House Intelligence Committee and a Trump ally, filed a lawsuit against the tech company, two comedy accounts, and a Republican communications consultant for more than $250 million, accusing Twitter of allowing and profiting from “abusive, hateful, and defamatory” content, CBS reports.
The move has inspired even more jokes at Nunes expense, especially on late night TV, highlighting how the congressman cosponsored legislation last year called the “Discouraging Frivolous Lawsuits Act”.
Congressman @DevinNunes is suing an imaginary cow. Whatever you do, DON'T follow @DevinCow... https://t.co/jWIDn0OvKR
— Jimmy Kimmel (@jimmykimmel) March 20, 2019
I DIED NINE TIMES AND CAME BACK TO LIFE TEN TIMES TRYING TO WATCH THIS SPITTING TOOTHPASTE ALL OVER THE BATHROOM THIS MORNING.......https://t.co/7AsfaJR9NG
— Elizabeth Shidemantle (@moomoosnanner) March 20, 2019
Devin Nunes’ cow meanwhile, has inspired everything from cow-themed t-shirts for sale, fan art, to it’s very own hashtag: #themooovement. And, new Nunes parody accounts are popping up in solidarity.
— Devin Nunes’ cow (@DevinCow) March 20, 2019
Updated
A Senate subcommittee has scheduled an aviation safety hearing for next week, as part of an ongoing inquiry into what caused two Boeing 737 Max 8 planes to crash during the last year, Reuters reports.
Federal Aviation Administration administrator Dan Elwell will be joined by National Transportation Sagety Board chairman Robert Sumwalt and Transportation Department Inspector General Calvin Scovel at the March 27 hearing before the Senate Commerce subcommittee on aviation and space.
According to Reuters:
Federal prosecutors are investigating the FAA’s certification of the Boeing 737 MAX that was grounded last week by regulators around the world.
The panel chaired by Senator Ted Cruz, a Republican, said that ‘in light of the recent tragedy in Ethiopia and the subsequent grounding of the Boeing 737 Max aircraft, this hearing will examine challenges to the state of commercial aviation safety, including any specific concerns highlighted by recent accidents’”.
Manufacturers are expected to be called before the committee in the coming weeks.
Gabrielle Canon taking over for Ben Jacobs.
Hope Hicks, Trump’s former communications director, is cooperating with the House Judiciary Committee and has agreed to provide requested documents that could shine more light on whether obstruction of justice occurred in the White House, CNN reports.
Hope Hicks reportedly plans to turn over docs to the House Judiciary Cmte.
— Kyle Griffin (@kylegriffin1) March 20, 2019
Nadler asked Hicks for docs relating to Flynn's false statements to the FBI, Comey's firing, Trump's involvement in hush money payments, and the misleading Trump Tower statement.https://t.co/nhoFFjVJ6J
The committee, headed by Democratic Representative Jerry Nadler, has requested documents from other former administration officials, including former chief strategies Steve Bannon who has also turned over “several thousands of pages”.
Per CNN:
One of the Trump campaign’s earliest hires, Hicks in 2018 was willing to answer questions about the 2016 campaign and some questions about the Trump transition, but she would not address questions about her time in the White House. Democrats on the committee had urged their Republican colleagues to subpoena Hicks to answer their questions. Now in the majority, House Intelligence Chairman Adam Schiff, a California Democrat, has indicated he also is interested in getting additional information from Hicks, too.
Nadler had set a Monday deadline for 81 individuals and entities to provide information to the panel as part of his investigation into possible abuses of power, corruption and obstruction of justice. Republicans contended that few — only eight -- complied by Monday’s deadline. But Democratic aides said far more witnesses had agreed to provide information in the coming days — and Hicks is just one such example”.
Summary
- President Donald Trump renewed his attacks on John McCain today at event at an Ohio tank plan. Trump said of McCain “I never liked him much” and complained he was never thanked for approving McCain’s funeral.
- Trump also continued his war of words with George Conway, a conservative lawyer who is married to top White House aide Kellyanne Conway. Trump called him “a whack job.”
- Republican Senator Johnny Isakson of Georgia rebuked Trump for his past comments on McCain, calling them “deplorable”
- Trump also told reporters that he doesn’t mind if the Mueller Report is released publicly.
Kamala Harris will hold a star studded fundraiser in Hollywood tonight.
The event at the home of director J.J. Abrams will also feature producer Shonda Rhimes and Damon Lindlehof, one of the creators of Lost.
Tickets are $2800 and the opportunity to be co-chair costs $10,000.
Jim Clyburn, the number three Democrat in Congress, called Donald Trump and his family “the greatest threats to democracy of my lifetime” on Tuesday.
In an interview with NBC News, Clyburn also went so far as to compare Trump to Hitler.
A lawyer for Rick Gates, the former top aide to Paul Manafort, told the House Judiciary Committee that Gates will not cooperate for now.
Politico reports that Gates is not doing so on the advice of prosecutors. Gates has pleaded guilty in federal court and has been cooperating with special counsel Robert Mueller.
In a letter that was also sent to the House and Senate Intelligence Committees, Gates’s lawyer wrote:
“Having received input from the various prosecution offices, I have concluded that for the time being it is not in the interest of my client to provide testimony of documents to Congressional investigators. Our position in this regard may well be different in the coming months.”
With a number of Democrats now advocating for increasing the size of the Supreme Court, a nearly four decade old video has been dredged up of Joe Biden criticizing the idea.
In the clip from 1983 unearthed by the Free Beacon, Biden attacked Franklin Delano Roosevelt for trying to pack the court.
“But it was a bonehead idea. It was a terrible, terrible mistake to make, and it put in question, for an entire decade, the independence of the most significant body—including the Congress in my view—the most significant body in this country, the Supreme Court of the United States of America.”
Trump seemed to blame the recent closing of a General Motors plant on high union dues just now.
Trump continues to express his frustration about McCain’s funeral, at a tank plant in Lima, Ohio.
I gave him the kind of funeral he wanted which as president I had to approve and I didn’t get a thank you.
Updated
Trump is now returning to his criticism of John McCain, in Ohio.
“I have to be honest, I never liked him much and I probably never will,” said Trump. He also mentions a complaint that McCain turned over the Steele dossier to the FBI and didn’t call Trump personally.
Updated
President Donald Trump is criticizing Michael Dukakis, the former Massachusetts governor and 1988 Democratic presidential nominee, in Ohio right now.
Trump seems to be referencing a much mocked picture of Dukakis riding a tank during his campaign.
"I remember when a man named Dukakis got into a tank," Trump says at the tank plant in Ohio. "He tanked when he got into the tank. ... How would I look in a tank? OK? Yeah? ... The helmet was bigger than he was, that was not good."
— Jennifer Jacobs (@JenniferJJacobs) March 20, 2019
Updated
The Defense Department Inspector General is investigating Patrick Shanahan, the acting Defense Secretary, over whether he is biased toward Boeing.
Shanahan is a former Boeing executive.
“The Department of Defense Office of Inspector General has decided to investigate complaints we recently received that Acting Secretary Patrick Shanahan allegedly took actions to promote his former employer, Boeing, and disparage its competitors, allegedly in violation of ethics rules,” DoD IG spokesperson Dwrena Allen said.
“In his recent Senate Armed Services Committee testimony, Acting Secretary Shanahan stated that he supported an investigation into these allegations,” she said. “We have informed him that we have initiated this investigation.”
On March 13, the independent watchdog group Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washingtonrequested the investigationbased on a January report from POLITICO that said Shanahan, while he was deputy Defense secretary, disparaged Lockheed Martin in Pentagon meetings and held up Boeing as an example.
Beto O’Rourke will hold three major rallies in his home state of Texas next week as he officially launches his campaign. The former congressman will span the state with rallies in his hometown of El Paso, Houston, the state’s biggest city, and Austin, the state capital.
On March 30th, we're officially kicking off this grassroots campaign with three events in three Texas cities, starting in my hometown of El Paso. We want you to be a part of this historic day. Join us in:
— Beto O'Rourke (@BetoORourke) March 20, 2019
➡️El Paso at 10am
➡️Houston at 5pm
➡️Austin at 9pm
Bernie Sanders’s popularity has significantly declined in recent months.
An analysis of polling done by CNN shows that just as many people have an unfavorable view of Sanders as have a favorable view. Sanders had 20 point advantage in favorability after 2016 primary and had a double digit margin just six months ago.
The argument though is that Sanders takes a blow in polling by being considered one of the current frontrunners.
I’d argue that Sanders was benefiting from not being in a competitive campaign. (Former Vice President Joe Biden, who has garnered the most support in general election polls among the Democrats, may be benefiting from a similar effect.) When you’re not being thought of a viable threat to win a party’s nomination, opponents tend to lay off. The last time Sanders was thought of as at least a minor threat to win the Democratic nomination was in March 2016. His net favorability rating back then among all voters was +3 points in a CNN poll.
New York City is about to see yet another special election.
After City Councilman Jumaane Williams was elected to be public advocate last month, a special election was called to replace him in his Brooklyn district.
As a result of the resignation of Jumaane Williams from the City Council, a vacancy has been created in the seat he held. Accordingly, I hereby proclaim that a special election shall be held in the forty-fifth Council district on May 14th, 2019 to serve until the end of the year. pic.twitter.com/U3ozOHI0A1
— Mayor Bill de Blasio (@NYCMayor) March 20, 2019
Williams was elected in a crowded field with nearly 20 candidates seeking to replace Letitia James, who resigned as public advocate after being elected state attorney general.
Public advocate is the second highest ranking position in city government.
Kentucky Governor Matt Bevin says that he did not give his nine children the chicken pox vaccine and instead deliberately exposed them to the virus.
He said in an interview: “Every single one of my kids had the chickenpox. They got the chickenpox on purpose because we found a neighbor that had it and I went and made sure every one of my kids was exposed to it, and they got it. They had it as children. They were miserable for a few days, and they all turned out fine.”
Bevin also says that he does not support mandatory vaccination.
Doctors warn against his approach and recommend universal vaccination.
Johnny Isakson says he would have “a serious conversation with his kids” if they ever said John McCain was not a war hero.
"If my kids ever said John McCain was never a war hero...they'd have a serious conversation with me, and I would have it with them," Isakson says
— Igor Bobic (@igorbobic) March 20, 2019
Republican Senator Johnny Isakson of Georgia called Donald Trump’s comments about John McCain “deplorable” in an interview today.
GOP Sen. Isakson on Trump attacking McCain: “It’s deplorable what he said.”
— Burgess Everett (@burgessev) March 20, 2019
“It will be be deplorable seven months from now if he says it again”
Former Alaska Senator Mike Gravel might launch his second quixotic bid for the White House. Gravel, who served in the Senate from 1968-1980, ran in 2008, has a longshot candidate with unusual ads---most notably one that involves staring into the camera and then throwing a rock into a pond and walking away.
Paperwork was filed for a Mike Gravel exploratory committee by a group of students who have also started a Twitter account. The 88-year-old Gravel said the students would visit him in California next month in hopes of persuading him to run. The former Alaska Senator said he’s still considering mounting a campaign.
In an interview with CBS, newly confirmed EPA Administrator Andrew Wheeler says clean drinking water is a bigger threat than climate change.
Wheeler said “We have 1,000 children die everyday worldwide because they don’t have safe drinking water.That’s a crisis that I think we can solve. We know what goes into solving a crisis like that.”
In contrast, he noted Climate change “is an important change we have to be addressing and we are addressing.” However he said “most of the threats from climate change are 50 to 75 years out.”
Justice Clarence Thomas asked a question for the first time since 2016 in a session of the Supreme Court.
Thomas, who had been silent for about a decade for his 2016 question, asked at the court’s hearing in a case revolving around Curtis Flowers, who has been tried six times for murder. Two of his trials ended in hung juries, the other three had a guilty verdict thrown out.
The case centered on whether a Mississippi prosecutor had violated the Constitution by blocking African Americans from the jury.
Kellyanne Conway defended Donald Trump for attacking her husband George today.
In an interview with Politico, the top White House aide said that Trump had ignored George Conway “for months out of respect for me. But you think he shouldn’t respond when somebody, a non-medical professional accuses him of having a mental disorder? You think he should just take that sitting down?”
Conway, a longtime critic of Trump, suggested on Twitter earlier this week that Trump suffered from narcissistic personality disorder.
Mitch McConnell just tweeted a tribute to John McCain. It makes no mention of Donald Trump who has recently been criticizing the late Arizona senator.
Today and every day I miss my good friend John McCain. It was a blessing to serve alongside a rare patriot and genuine American hero in the Senate. His memory continues to remind me every day that our nation is sustained by the sacrifices of heroes.
— Leader McConnell (@senatemajldr) March 20, 2019
Trump describes his Twitter habit as “a way I can get out the word when we have a corrupt media.”
Trump also said outside the White House that he has no idea when the Mueller Report will be released.
Trump reiterated his criticism of George Conway to reporters just now, calling him “a whack job.”
I asked Pres Trump how his tweets about @gtconway3d fit the standard of the First Lady’s Be Best campaign.
— Karen Travers (@karentravers) March 20, 2019
“He’s a whack job,” the President said, adding that George Conway is “doing a disservice to a wonderful wife. I call him Mr Kellyanne Conway. She’s a wonderful woman.”
Trump says he doesn't mind if US public sees Mueller report
Donald Trump told reporters that he doesn’t mind if the public sees the Mueller Report, while leaving the White House on his way to Ohio.
.@realDonaldTrump tells reporters he doesn’t mind if the public sees the Mueller report
— Jeff Mason (@jeffmason1) March 20, 2019
Updated
Former HUD Secretary and San Antonio Mayor Julian Castro became the latest Democratic presidential candidate to endorse getting rid of the electoral college.
Julián Castro also wants to get rid of the electoral college: "We should do away with it," he told me in NH this week. https://t.co/e0CFCBj6JZ
— Alexis Levinson (@alexis_levinson) March 20, 2019
Castro joins Elizabeth Warren, Pete Buttigieg and Jay Inslee in supporting a national popular vote to elect the president.
World leaders encourage Joe Biden to run in 2020, reports say
Politico reports that Joe Biden is being encouraged to run for President by a number of world leaders. Biden is edging closer to a decision to launch a third presidential bid this spring. He served six terms in the United States Senate before becoming Barack Obama’s vice president.
When Joe Biden attended the annual Munich Security Conference last month, the wonky foreign policy confab promised an escape from the nonstop speculation back home about the former vice president’s political plans.
Instead, Biden’s 2020 intentions were the talk of the conference.
When Armenian President Armen Sarkissian ran into him in a hallway, a TV camera captured him asking Biden: “Are you going to run?” (Biden whispered an inaudible answer.)
And in several conversations with European leaders in Munich, Biden heard a repeated refrain, according to a conference attendee familiar with the conversations: The world needs you.
Citing Biden’s long foreign policy track record and longtime commitment to the trans-Atlantic alliance, some of the leaders — echoing views from across the continent — told Biden that his return to the White House would be a sure way to restore western alliances that President Donald Trump has dramatically fractured.
Updated
Israeli Prime Minister Bibi Netanyahu will visit Donald Trump at the White House later this month. The visit comes only weeks before Israel’s parliamentary elections.
JUST IN: Trump will host Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu at White House March 25-26 pic.twitter.com/Z79tEiJxkD
— Reuters Top News (@Reuters) March 20, 2019
Speaker Nancy Pelosi and New York Mayor Bill DeBlasio pushed for passage of immigration reform legislation today at an event in New York.
The two were promoting the Dream and Promise Act, a bill to give so called “Dreamers,” undocumented immigrants brought to the United States as children, a path to citizenship. The legislation is likely to get vote in the Democratic controlled House in May but is not expected to be considered by the Senate.
Tennessee Republican Mark Green says he may run for the state’s open Senate seat.
The hard right Republican was elected to his first term in Congress last year in suburban Nashville. He is a favorite of conservatives who don’t want former governor Bill Haslam to run for the seat being vacated by retiring Senator Lamar Alexander.
In an appearance on the Ellen Show today, Cory Booker discusses his relationship with actress Rosario Dawson for the first time in detail.
Cory Booker opens up about his relationship with Rosario Dawson during his @TheEllenShow interview, airing in full later today: https://t.co/UthkyQxaOU
— Rebecca Buck (@RebeccaBuck) March 20, 2019
Booker is a bachelor and, if elected, would only be the second unmarried president in American history.
In light of Trump’s recent criticism of John McCain, Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer announced he will reintroduce legislation to rename the Russell Senate Office Building in honor of McCain.
I look forward to soon re-introducing my legislation re-naming the Senate Russell Building after American hero, Senator John McCain.
— Chuck Schumer (@SenSchumer) March 20, 2019
As Democratic presidential hopefuls try to hit the 65,000 donor threshold needed to qualify for debates, one isn’t quite there yet.
Washington Governor Jay Inslee told reporters this morning that he hasn’t hit that magic number yet.
.@JayInslee tells reporters he hasn't yet hit 65,000 threshold, @mattholt33 reports from presser this AM
— Hanna Trudo (@HCTrudo) March 20, 2019
So far, a number of Democrats have hit that threshold ranging from Senator Bernie Sanders to businessman Andrew Yang.
The Republican National Committee raised $14.6 million in February, a record high for the party in a February of a non-election year.
The Daily Caller reports that about 60% of the total for February came from small donors as the GOP prepares for Donald Trump’s 2020 re-election bid.
Allegations of sexual misconduct could force Indiana attorney general Curtis Hill to step down.
Hill has been accused of groping several women in an Indianapolis bar last year. Although criminal charges have not been pursued against him, the Indiana Supreme Court Disciplinary Commission is pursuing administrative charges against him. The charges could lead to Hill losing his law license which force him to resign as attorney general.
Andrew Gillum, the losing Democratic gubernatorial candidate in Florida in 2018, will announce a new voter registration effort today.
Politico reports that Gillum, the former Mayor of Tallahassee, will outline effort to register sufficient new voters in Florida to ensure that Democrats win the key swing state in 2020.
An Iowa state senate special election that attracted a horde of presidential candidates ended with a win for Democrat Eric Giddens Tuesday.
Giddens won by a margin of 56% to 42% over Republican Walt Rogers in a swing district outside Waterloo, Iowa. Giddens’s campaign was bolstered by at least nine presidential candidates showing up to stump for him including Beto O’Rourke on the Texas Democrat’s maiden trip to Iowa.
Beto O’Rourke dished on his record fundraising haul in his first 24 hours after announcing. O’Rourke, who raised over six million dollars, said that the total came from over 128,000 donors for an average donation of $47.
. @BetoORourke received individual donations from more than 128,000 donors - avg contribution of $47, he tells reporters pic.twitter.com/8Ouz9mNIDA
— David Siders (@davidsiders) March 20, 2019
With only weeks remaining before Chicago’s mayoral runoff, one of the two Democratic candidates running, Tori Preckwinkle has pulled all her television ads off the air.
Preckwinkle is trailing opponent Lori Lightfoot in the polls. If elected, Lightfoot would become the first openly gay mayor in Chicago’s history.
In an interview with Esquire, South Bend Mayor Pete Buttigieg was asked if running for President was more like Ulysses or Finnegan’s Wake. Buttigieg, a James Joyce buff, said it was more like the former.
Definitely more like Ulysses than it is like Portrait. Finnegan’s Wake is dream speak. Ulysses is consciousness meeting reality. But here’s why I think Ulysses is extremely relevant. People believe Ulysses is this complex, difficult, inscrutable text full of references. And it is a difficult text, but its subject matter couldn’t be more democratic. It’s about a guy going about his day for one day. That’s the plot of Ulysses. And, to me, that’s what makes it very touching. You’re in this guy’s head, and you’re kind of seeing life through his eyes, and at the end through his wife’s eyes.
That’s how politics ought to be, too. The reason any of this stuff matters is that it affects us in the everyday. And I think the greatest literature, whether it’s Ulysses or Mahfouz, when it touches politics, it’s about how politics can make our everyday better or worse. And I think that same understanding of the imperative and the primacy of lived experience ought to be how our politics works.
Donald Trump attacked George Conway, the husband of top aide Kellyanne Conway again on Twitter this morning.
George Conway, often referred to as Mr. Kellyanne Conway by those who know him, is VERY jealous of his wife’s success & angry that I, with her help, didn’t give him the job he so desperately wanted. I barely know him but just take a look, a stone cold LOSER & husband from hell!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) March 20, 2019
Conway, a prominent conservative lawyer and longtime Trump critic, responded succinctly.
You. Are. Nuts. https://t.co/ZSpb3UXVPC
— George Conway (@gtconway3d) March 20, 2019
Trump visits Ohio to tour tank plant
Good morning
Donald Trump is in Ohio today, speaking at a tank plant and raising money, Republican Senator Johnny Isakson of Georgia will speak out today to condemn Trump for his attacks on John McCain and Iowa Congressman Steve King refused to answer a question Tuesday about whether “a white society is superior to a non-white society,” saying it was “hypothetical.”
It’s Wednesday in American politics.
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