It isn’t that Donald Trump had an affair with a porn actress and then paid hush money to make it go away before the election. Or that Trump is a crook stealing tax dollars from you today and looking the other way when he inspires grifting from the Cabinet. Or that Trump coddles Russia and doesn’t defend America against election incursions.
It’s that Republicans think all of it’s alright.
Fred Kaplan/Slate:
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Why is America letting Russia get away with meddling in our democracy?
The most remarkable thing about Russia’s meddling in our democracy is that President Trump has done nothing about it. There are plenty of steps that he could have taken. There are people, including some working just steps away from the Oval Office who could have—and may have—advised him what to do. But Trump chose inaction.
Daily Beast:
Trump Lawyer Michael Cohen Received Inside Info From Russia Probe
Closed-door testimony before the House Russia probe is supposed to stay behind closed doors. Somehow, it got into the hands of another witness—and key Trump confidante—instead.
Witnesses who voluntarily testify before the House intelligence committee generally do so under assurances that members and staff will not share their testimony with the public or with other witnesses. Many witnesses are less likely to cooperate with sensitive Congressional investigations if they believe the information they share will get out publicly.
Hey, what about those tax cuts, NY Times?
At Slyder’s Tavern, Matt Kazee, a machinist, drank a couple of beers as he waited for burgers to take home for dinner. His tab was about equal to the increase in his take-home pay after President Trump’s tax cut found its way into the nation’s paychecks.
“I have seen a little uptick in my paycheck, about what I expected, about 30 bucks,” said Mr. Kazee, who voted twice for President Barack Obama before backing Mr. Trump in the 2016 election. “It felt to me about like where things were 15 years ago.”
His underwhelmed reaction was not what Republicans had in mind. The white working-class voters in the industrial Midwest who helped put Mr. Trump in the White House are now seeing the extra cash from the tax cut, the president’s signature domestic policy achievement and the foundation for Republican election hopes in November.
The reaction is so underwhelming that the GOP pulled their PA-18 ads running on it. Wasn’t selling.
NY Times:
Mr. Nader, a Lebanese-American businessman who advises Crown Prince Mohammed bin Zayed Al-Nahyan, the effective ruler of the Emirates, also attended a January 2017 meeting in the Seychelles that Mr. Mueller’s investigators have examined. The meeting, convened by the crown prince, brought together a Russian investor close to President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia with Erik Prince, the founder of Blackwater and an informal adviser to Mr. Trump’s team during the presidential transition, according to three people familiar with the meeting.
Mr. Nader’s cooperation in the special counsel’s investigation could prompt new legal risks for the Trump administration, and Mr. Nader’s presence at the Seychelles meeting appears to connect him to the primary focus of Mr. Mueller’s investigation: examining Russian interference during the 2016 presidential campaign.
Re the above:
Quinnipiac:
American voters oppose 50 - 31 percent tariffs on steel and aluminum, and disagree 64 - 28 percent with President Donald Trump's claim that a trade war would be good for the U.S. and easily won, according to a Quinnipiac University National Poll released today.
Every listed party, gender, education, age and racial group oppose steel and aluminum tariffs, except Republicans, who support tariffs by a lackluster 58 - 20 percent and white voters with no college degree, who are divided with 42 percent supporting tariffs and 40 percent opposed, the independent Quinnipiac (KWIN-uh-pe-ack) University Poll finds.
American voters oppose these tariffs 59 - 29 percent, if these tariffs raise the cost of goods they buy. The tariffs will be good for American jobs, 26 percent say, while 36 percent say tariffs will be bad for jobs and 24 percent say the tariffs will have no impact on jobs.
American voters disapprove 54 - 34 percent of the way President Trump is handling trade. Only Republicans and white voters with no college degree approve.
More polling coming later from Monmouth today.
Politico:
President Donald Trump’s new campaign manager has his work cut out for him.
A week after naming Brad Parscale to run his reelection effort, Trump is 8 points behind a generic Democratic candidate, 44 percent to 36 percent, according to a new POLITICO/Morning Consult poll. Nearly one in five voters, 19 percent, are undecided…
Eighty-six percent of voters who say they backed Hillary Clinton in 2016 would choose the Democratic candidate in 2020, greater than the 80 percent of Trump voters who say they would vote for him again.
Other indicators also suggest Trump is in perilous shape at this early stage. The president’s approval rating in the new poll is 43 percent, down from 46 percent last week. And Democrats’ lead on the generic congressional ballot is up to 7 points, 44 percent to 37 percent.
Despite Trump’s poor poll numbers, Republicans aren’t necessarily better off without him on the ballot. Asked for whom they would vote between a generic, non-Trump Republican and a generic Democrat, 42 percent of voters pick the Democrat, but only 28 percent choose the Republican. More than three in 10 voters, 31 percent, are undecided.
More hot takes on how Trump will likely win, please. P.S., Republicans, your party is screwed.
Aaron Blake/WaPo:
In a statement in response to the Office of Special Counsel's finding that Conway violated the Hatch Act twice, the White House signaled that not only will Conway not be punished, but also that she isn't even guilty. Its logic, though, has more holes than Swiss cheese. The whole statement is brazen, in fact.
Dana Milbank/WaPo:
For nearly three years, Republican lawmakers have stood with Trump, offering only isolated protest, through all manner of outrage. Disparaging Mexican immigrants. Videotaped boasts about sexually assaulting women. Alleging that his predecessor put a wiretap on him. Falsely claiming massive voter fraud. Racism directed at a federal judge. The firing of James B. Comey. Talk of women bleeding. A payoff to a porn actress over an alleged affair. A defense of white supremacists in Charlottesville. Support for Senate candidate Roy Moore despite allegations of child molestation. The guilty pleas of Michael Flynn, George Papadopoulos and Rick Gates and the indictment of Paul Manafort. The botched travel ban and bungled repeal of Obamacare. Insulting Britain and other allies. Attacks on the FBI and judiciary and attempts to fire the attorney general. Talk of African “shithole” countries. Questions about his mental stability. The lethargic hurricane response in Puerto Rico. The stream of staff firings and resignations and personal and ethical scandals, most recently Tuesday’s finding that Kellyanne Conway twice violated the Hatch Act.
Republican lawmakers were, by and large, okay with all that. But now Trump has at last gone too far. He has proposed tariffs on foreign steel and aluminum. And the Republican Party is in an all-out revolt.
Whatever that means.
Cheer up: