NEW: On the House floor at noon, Pelosi will say in a speech crafted in part by Jon Meacham that she intends to pass the torch to the next generation of leadership but will stay on as a backbencher to help guide future leader Hakeem Jeffries
.
@abcpolitics
: "In Virginia, voters by a 2-1 margin said they were casting their ballot to show opposition to Trump rather than support for him. In New Jersey the margin was 3-1."
Another eruption on the House Floor against Kevin McCarthy over alleged deal-making to secure the speakership, with one member shouting him down with "“You fucked me, I know it was you, you whipped against me.”
NEW: Before Biden arrives on the Hill for his lunch to push voting rights, Sinema is weighing going to the floor at noon to speak out against changing the rules for voting rights, per two Senate sources. She's doubling down.
It was my first personal observation of what DeSantis’s critics mean when they call him a paper tiger—a superficially perfect test-tube Republican candidate who, on closer inspection, is probably not ready for prime-time.
NEW: intel & foreign affairs committee lawyers meeting tomorrow to evaluate subpoenaing Trump's interpreters at meetings w/ Putin when no aides present. Many Dems were opposed b/c it's an unprecedented step that could impact future diplomacy. Now warming to it due to WaPo report
McCabe in a statement: "Here is the reality: I am being singled out and treated this way because of the role I played, the actions I took, and the events I witnessed in the aftermath of the firing of James Comey."
Baldwin was the first person I ever experienced being blocked by on Twitter, after he used his account with hundreds of thousands of followers to berate me for...writing about a fundraiser he’d hosted in a way he didn’t find satisfactory.
Caught up H.R. McMaster outside of the West Wing. He told me "Sarah set it straight yesterday. Everybody has got to leave the White House at some point"
I asked whether he's leaving sooner rather than later: "I'm doing my job" and then he walked away. No denial.
WH press shop asking former officials to renounce Woodward book, one former WH staffer turned them down telling me: “Kelly has always made it clear behind the President’s back that he’s Trump’s babysitter.. He should just have the guts to own it” w/
@Santucci
@JordynPhelps
“It’s like being on the Titanic and placed in charge of polishing the silverware. Seems a bit pointless” - One State Department official on what its like going back to work tomorrow after that
#TrumpPutinSummit
Was on a British radio show today to talk about Ghislaine Maxwell. I was asked not to mention Prince Andrew because it was "legally hot."
#JeffreyEpstein
NEWS: Suspicious package intercepted by Capitol Hill police was addressed to Democratic California congresswoman Maxine Waters, according to three sources.
.
@GovChristie
on Trump's latest move in Russia probe: "I've told him many times that there's no way to make an investigation like this shorter, but there's lots of ways to make it longer, and he's executed on a number of those ways to make it longer" @ university of chicago
Scoop: Nikki Haley tried to get a meeting with Trump yesterday but he turned her down, even despite her apparent attempt to patch things up through a
@WSJ
op-ed yesterday
multiple sources noted to me that the New Hampshire G.O.P. is still struggling to sell tickets, at every level up from entry-level tickets to $5,000 dinner sponsorships, for the annual Amos Tuck Dinner on April 14, featuring DeSantis as the special guest.
.
@MeghanMcCain
tells
@ABC
: "When I had a conversation with Kelly [Sadler], I asked her to publicly apologize and she said she would. I have not spoken to her since and I assume that it will never come."
I obtained leaked audio of a call between No Labels and it's supporters, in which the CEO tells a caller concerned about Harlan Crow's donations to the dark money group -- "This isn't the place for you"
So many of Epstein's victims that I've interviewed & some of his staff say Ghislaine Maxwell was pure evil & in some ways worse than Jeffrey. She procured girls for him.They trusted her bc she was a woman. They say she took part in the sexual abuse. big day for survivors. more tk
NEW: White House's latest idea for funding the wall -- asset seizure funds. Trump presented with the idea of using DOJ's unappropriated cash as one of the many pots of money to pay for the wall. Justice Department fiercely against this. Would likely end up in courts...
First of all, that Bronz statue of Trump at
#cpac
— it was Made in Mexico + it gets even weirder.. the artist has been in touch with Trump’s long time assistant Rhona Graff about getting a stainless steel version in the Trump Library
Two secret service sources told me Trump was MIA at their White House Christmas party on Sunday. A real bummer for the people who risk their lives to protect him.
Trump told supporters 40-50% of speech will be about foreign policy. When asked if the deficit will be mentioned in
#SOTU
speech, chief of staff Mulvaney said “nobody cares,” per attendee
NEW: President Trump spoke to 20 Republican supporters yesterday at the WH about what to expect in
#SOTU
speech. Here are the very broad talking points they handed out, “choosing greatness” in bold.
I tried once more w/ DeSantis at the State House, peaceably following him down a stairwell asking him more questions, each of which he ignored. DeSantis seemed almost to be running away from me. The slow-motion chase ended w/ DeSantis behind the black tinted-windows of his S.U.V.
in person, I immediately sensed a very different potential candidate: a guarded politician who had no interest in actually engaging with other humans, and was perhaps even a little scared of the spotlight. He had trouble making eye contact with people in the crowd.
While Dr. Oz's campaign struggles, he and his family were off on vacation in Ireland at the end of June until early July & before that he split his time between PA and Palm Beach, annoying the GOP
NEW: Since Dr. Oz won the primary in May, there have been questions about his whereabouts as his poll numbers dive... well it turns out he's been in Ireland and Palm Beach, annoying GOP. Trump not happy either and complaining to Hannity
As Rick Scott considers running for President in 2024, his team thinks they could expose DeSantis as a taxpayer mooching grifter who had the state buy him a jet & would tell their story of how DeSantis' Florida revival was on Scott's shoulders
Many in WH blame Kelly for child separation policy, but now he's blaming former Attorney General Jeff Sessions: “What happened was Jeff Sessions, he was the one that instituted the zero-tolerance process on the border that resulted in...the family separation. He surprised us.”
Epstein's victims name Bruce Reinhart in their crime victims rights act case against the government, accusing him of using inside Justice Department info when he switched sides to work for Epstein
There's always a Jeffrey Epstein angle: Bruce Reinhart, the magistrate in West Palm who signed off on the warrant to search Trump's mar-a-lago, left the US Attorney's office to represent Epstein's staff his first sex trafficking case.
Rod Rosenstein: “the russian effort to influence the 2016 election is just one tree in a growing forest.. Russian intelligence officials did not stumble on the idea.. it’s what they do everyday”
#AspenSecurity
FIRST IN PLAYBOOK scoop from
@RyanLizza
: President JOE BIDEN has decided to nominate LINA KHAN, a Columbia University legal scholar championed by anti-Big Tech activists, to the Federal Trade Commission.
Before taking off for the holidays, the ladies of the View said they're tired of the rotating cast of republican women but the show can't find its conservative "unicorn"
The Pope says he's "cannot keep silent" about his "deep concern" over U.S. recognizing Jerusalem as the capital of Israel. Calls for "respecting the status quo"
Giuliani confirmed the contents of the letter to Mueller obtained by the New York Times. He says it's still their legal strategy, telling me "If Mueller tries to subpoena us, we're going to court."
Cohen’s lawyer
@LannyDavis
fires back: “Mr. Giuliani seems to be confused. He expressly waived attorney client privilege last week and repeatedly and inaccurately - as proven by the tape - talked and talked about the recording, forfeiting all confidentiality.”
NEWS: Joint defense with Cohen over; experts hired to analyze Trump-Cohen tape. Giuliani tells me "We wouldn't consider it in our best interest to share confidential information with them and they would feel the same way." via
@ABC
New details on Assange: In Oct 2018, Ecuador contacted the Trump admin through US ambassador to Germany Richard Grenell looking for a pledge of no death penalty if they shoved him out the door. Rod Rosenstein ok’d & Grenell passed on that verbal promise
DNC is slashing prices for a photo w/ Kamala Harris. Tickets for a photo with the VP at the Women's Leadership Forum started at $15,000, but it failed to sell enough tickets & is being postponed. VP's June fundraiser in Cali is charging $5,000 for a photo
.
@RepMattGaetz
tells me "I can tell you after lunch with the president, I believe the president has the staying power to sustain a long government shutdown if necessary" w/
@benyc
according to source at republican governors assocation dinner last night, Trump thought he was speaking to the national governors association and when an attendee said Gov Cuomo wasn't in the room, Trump went on to mock California Gov Newsom over the bullet train
Cokie Roberts & I shared a wall — our offices were next to each other. She would pop by to say hi — rare attention from network legacy. We talked about work but mostly about life. She warned me that a guy I was dating would choose his dog over me & she was right. Miss you
#Cokie
.
Here's something crazy. While l'm interviewing Epstein's ex butler w/
@VRSVirginia
, the FBI calls him. They showed up at his house hours before we arrived. He hadn't heard from them in a year. Virginia's phone battery explodes hours later. Not saying they are linked.. but maybe.
Juan Alessi started working for Epstein in the early ‘90s, before his boss was wildly rich. But once the money started flowing, he says the “visits” from girls became constant. Hear more about what he witnessed in the new episode of Broken: Seeking Justice
People always say, “why does the press hate Trump?” The press does not hate Trump. It hates the lies he’s spewing, because it’s our job to tell the truth and he makes it harder. So it really shouldn’t matter if you’re a right or left leaning reporter, we’re lie busters.
"I walked into the room and I told Senator Schumer and Speaker Pelosi, I want to do infrastructure... but I can't do it under these circumstances" --
@realDonaldTrump
Pence's COS Marc Short told
@meridithmcgraw
that the Vice President was on the plane but it didn't take off. Then he turned around, back to the White House. He told her we'll find out "in a few weeks" what happened.
NEW: Eric Adams made a point of telling reporters he flew to Puerto Rico for SOMOS on "my dollar, my dime and my time," but turns out he flew on the G4 jet of Cryptobillionaire Brock Pierce. His spox said he paid his way but couldnt come up w/ a receipt
.
@mattgaetz
just told me that he talked to Trump last night and he helped him with his speech today to take down
@Liz_Cheney
. Also, there are a LOT of people here. Lots of Trump flags. at least 300 people
This harassment of reporters is just “fake news” by another name. If Psaki knows you have a tough question she doesn’t have to call on you. So far, she hasn’t had to deal with a real bomb. also im surprised you of all people would weigh in.
This is a lie. Tara’s lying to you, and worse, apparently thinks you won’t read the full piece:
“In each of the early press conferences, she’s fielded questions from every reporter in the room.”
An aide on House Foreign Affairs committee told me Former Sec of State Rex Tillerson "volunteered" to be interviewed by the committee after they put out feelers. Tillerson literally called their switchboard and said he's "happy to talk"
Scoop: Les Wexner -- a man so close to Jeffrey Epstein that he made him "power of attorney" and gifted him a $56 million townhouse -- just gave $250K to RGA after announcing in 2018 that he was leaving the Republican party via
@politico
A Democratic aide on House Oversight Committee confirms that when the Democrats gain subpoena power they will investigate the President’s role in hush payments made to two women during the campaign, see more on
@ABCWorldNews
with
@TomLlamasABC
"I know you're probably running short on time..."
@SteveDoocy
to Pres Trump.
The president has been on the phone live with Fox & Friends for 35 minutes now
New reporting on
@ABCWorldNews
— Sources tell me Vice President Pence offered Schumer $2.1 billion for the border wall — much lower than Trump’s $5 billion — and asked for looser restrictions on spending. But Schumer’s office tells
@MKhan47
they are “still very far apart”
White House official tells me this was not a last minute trip — was in the works for 6 weeks. Trump and Melania would have left from Florida if not for the shutdown.
NEW: Stephanie Grisham texts show that she was aiding in the AZ recount effort, despite claims in her new book that she told Melania Trump election was not stolen
POLITICO Playbook: GOP donors privately pan Trump’s ‘horrible’ RNC speech — spotted some prominent Trump appointees out last night in Palm Beach, who were not interested in hearing his speech w/
@rachaelmbade
"A longtime State Department official explained that he filed a complaint to the Office of Inspector General about Pompeo’s rampant use of classification to stop embarrassing leaks.. to the point that every doc that reached his desk had to be classified"
NEW: Before Biden arrives on the Hill for his lunch to push voting rights, Sinema is weighing going to the floor at noon to speak out against changing the rules for voting rights, per two Senate sources. She's doubling down.