General
Navy Suspends Flight Training for Saudi Military Students in Florida
Patricia Mazzei and Eric Schmitt, The New York Times
The Navy has grounded Saudi military trainees in Florida, suspending their flight instruction indefinitely in the wake of a shooting last week at Naval Air Station Pensacola by a member of the Saudi Royal Air Force. The suspension will affect about 300 Saudi students at three bases in Florida. Classroom teaching will continue, and other international students will resume flight training, the Navy said on Tuesday.
Former FBI lawyer Lisa Page sues Justice Department
Zachary Basu, Axios
Former FBI lawyer Lisa Page filed a lawsuit against the Justice Department on Tuesday for violating the Privacy Act by “unlawfully” releasing text messages between her and the bureau’s former deputy assistant director Peter Strzok — with whom she was having an affair. Why it matters: The lawsuit cites the Justice Department’s inspector general report, which was released earlier this week and concluded that political bias did not influence the FBI’s Russia investigation.
Rampage in Jersey City Leaves Officer and 5 Others Dead
James Barron and Michael Gold, The New York Times
The shooting began outside a cemetery in Jersey City, N.J., on Tuesday when a 40-year-old detective tried to intercept two people who were suspects in a homicide. They opened fire and fled, speeding off in a rented truck that had been reported stolen and leaving the detective dead on the ground.
White House & Administration
Trump to Sign Order Targeting Anti-Semitism on College Campuses
Peter Baker and Maggie Haberman, The New York Times
President Trump plans to sign an executive order on Wednesday targeting what he sees as anti-Semitism on college campuses by threatening to withhold federal money from educational institutions that fail to combat discrimination, three administration officials said on Tuesday. The order will effectively interpret Judaism as a nationality, not just a religion, to trigger a federal law penalizing colleges and universities deemed to be shirking their responsibility to foster an open climate for minority students, according to the officials, who insisted on anonymity to discuss the matter before the announcement.
‘A f—ing soap opera’: The health care drama riveting the White House
Nancy Cook, Politico
They’re not obsessing about the impeachment imbroglio consuming the rest of the Washington. At the West Wing’s Navy mess, in hallway asides and at staff meetings, many White House aides just want to chatter about an increasingly vicious public spat between two of President Donald Trump’s top health officials.
Trump meets Russia’s top diplomat amid scrap over election interference
John Hudson and Anne Gearan, The Washington Post
President Trump met with Russia’s top diplomat in the Oval Office on Tuesday, creating a dramatic contrast as House Democrats unveiled articles of impeachment against him for his actions in Ukraine, an ally fending off a Russian-backed insurrection. After the meeting, Trump said he warned Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov not to interfere in U.S. elections and urged a resolution to the Moscow’s conflict with Ukraine, the White House said.
Turkey and Russia Judged Bigger Risk Than ISIS for U.S. Troops in Syria
Thomas Gibbons-Neff and Eric Schmitt, The New York Times
The Trump administration’s rapidly shifting strategy in northern Syria has American commanders there scrambling to protect their forces from an expected surge in actions by military units from Turkey, Russia, Iran and the Syrian government, as well as their proxy forces, according to Defense Department officials. American commanders now see these armed groups as a greater danger than the Islamic State forces they were sent to fight.
U.S. Army will fund rare earths plant for weapons development
Ernest Scheyder, Reuters
The U.S. Army plans to fund construction of rare earths processing facilities, part of an urgent push by Washington to secure domestic supply of the minerals used to make military weapons and electronics, according to a government document seen by Reuters. The move would mark the first financial investment by the U.S. military into commercial-scale rare earths production since World War Two’s Manhattan Project built the first atomic bomb.
Barr thinks FBI may have acted in ‘bad faith’ in probing Trump campaign’s links to Russia
Ken Dilanian, NBC News
Attorney General William Barr said he still believes the FBI may have operated out of “bad faith” when it investigated whether the Trump campaign colluded with Russia, and he contends the FBI acted improperly by continuing the investigation after Donald Trump took office. In an exclusive interview with NBC News, Barr essentially dismissed the findings of the Justice Department’s inspector general that there was no evidence of political bias in the launching of the Russia probe, saying that his hand-picked prosecutor, John Durham, will have the last word on the matter.
Betsy DeVos Overruled Education Dept. Findings On Defrauded Student Borrowers
Cory Turner, NPR News
Documents obtained by NPR shed new light on a bitter fight between defrauded student borrowers and U.S. Education Secretary Betsy DeVos. These borrowers — more than 200,000 of them — say some for-profit colleges lied to them about their job prospects and the transferability of credits.
Donald Trump Jr. Went to Mongolia, Got Special Treatment From the Government and Killed an Endangered Sheep
Jake Pearson and Anand Tumurtogoo, ProPublica
The rocky highlands of Central Asia, in a remote region of Western Mongolia, are home to a plummeting population of the largest sheep in the world, the argali. The endangered species is beloved for its giant curving horns, which can run over 6 feet in length.
Senate
McConnell says Senate to take up trade deal after impeachment trial
Haley Byrd and Ted Barrett, CNN
The Senate will take up Trump’s renegotiated North American Free Trade Agreement only after an impeachment trial concludes in the chamber, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said Tuesday. “We will not be doing USMCA in the Senate between now and next week,” the Republican from Kentucky said at a news conference on Capitol Hill.
‘End this’: Republicans poised to call no witnesses during Trump impeachment trial in Senate
David M. Drucker, The Washington Examiner
Senate Republicans do not expect to call witnesses President Trump might want to hear from most in an impeachment trial, conceding there are not the votes to summon key figures such as Hunter Biden and the unidentified government whistleblower whose complaint sparked the process. Senate impeachment rules require a majority vote to call witnesses, and with just two out of 53 votes to spare, there is no “appetite” among Republicans to pursue testimony from people that Democrats blocked Republicans from subpoenaing during the House investigation.
Justice Watchdog to Face Congress
Sadie Gurman, The Wall Street Journal
Justice Department Inspector General Michael Horowitz is set to face questions from lawmakers Wednesday about his report on the FBI’s Russia investigation and its finding that the bureau was justified in seeking to monitor a Trump campaign adviser—but committed serious missteps along the way. At a hearing of the Senate Judiciary Committee, lawmakers will likely press Mr. Horowitz on a sharp disagreement between him and Attorney General William Barr about whether the basis for the investigation into whether the campaign conspired with Moscow’s election interference was legally sufficient.
House
Pelosi shoves back on criticism she’s handing Trump a win on trade
Caitlin Oprysko, Politico
Nancy Pelosi on Tuesday flatly rejected criticism that she was handing President Donald Trump a political victory by announcing a breakthrough agreement on trade only an hour after presenting articles of impeachment against him. “This isn’t about politics, and giving the president a win,” Pelosi said at POLITICO’s Women Rule Summit on Tuesday, reiterating her long-held view that improving upon the current NAFTA deal should supersede partisan politics.
Seeking Unity on Impeachment, Democrats Decided Against Mueller Charges
Nicholas Fandos, The New York Times
Speaker Nancy Pelosi and her top lieutenants huddled in her office last week as Representative Jerrold Nadler, Democrat of New York, who oversees the Judiciary Committee, made the case that the House should take up three articles of impeachment against President Trump. Representative Richard E. Neal, Democrat of Massachusetts and the chairman of the Ways and Means Committee, countered that there should only be two.
Judge Hears Final Arguments in Case Over Impeachment Subpoenas
Zach Montague, The New York Times
A federal judge on Tuesday heard final arguments in a case brought by Charles M. Kupperman, President Trump’s former deputy national security adviser, who asked for clarity from a federal court about whether he must testify to Congress amid a constitutional clash between House investigators and the White House. During the impeachment inquiry into Mr. Trump, Mr. Kupperman’s case became a highly anticipated test of the extent of congressional oversight, and the power House Democrats have to compel senior-level White House officials to testify despite Mr. Trump’s orders not to.
Pelosi brokers deal with liberals on drug pricing bill
Adam Cancryn and Sarah Ferris, The Washington Post
House Democratic leadership on Tuesday clinched a deal to win progressive leaders’ support for a sweeping drug pricing bill that could clear its path for passage in the full House on Thursday. The pact between Speaker Nancy Pelosi and progressive leaders includes an agreement to expand the government’s authority to directly negotiate drug prices under the legislation, ultimately requiring federal officials to hammer out the cost of at least 50 medicines a year, from the original 35.
2020
How the New Primary Calendar Changes the Contest for Democrats
Nate Cohn, The New York Times
When the Democratic primaries start in less than two months, they will lead off as usual with four familiar early states. What follows next is different.
Biden signals to aides that he would serve only a single term
Ryan Lizza, Politico
Former Vice President Joe Biden’s top advisers and prominent Democrats outside the Biden campaign have recently revived a long-running debate whether Biden should publicly pledge to serve only one term, with Biden himself signaling to aides that he will serve only a single term. While the option of making a public pledge remains available, Biden has for now settled on an alternative strategy: quietly indicate that he will almost certainly not run for a second term while declining to make a promise that he and his advisers fear could turn him into a lame duck and sap him of his political capital.
What Pete Buttigieg Really Did at McKinsey
Edward-Isaac Dovere, The Atlantic
Last month, a source emailed a colleague of mine with a detailed connecting of dots demonstrating that, the source claimed, Pete Buttigieg had been in the CIA. “The American people have the right to know if he was ever an agent or officer,” the person wrote, with the kind of baseless confidence that lives on the internet.
Mike Bloomberg to donate $10 million to House Democrats targeted by GOP
Michael Scherer, The Washington Post
Presidential candidate Mike Bloomberg will donate $10 million Thursday to defend vulnerable Democratic House members against paid Republican attacks on their support for impeachment proceedings against President Trump. The money, which is meant to even an arms race on the 2020 congressional battlefield, was cheered by House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.), who has been fielding concerns from some of her members over a costly Republican advertising offensive as the House moves toward an impeachment vote next week.
Mike Bloomberg, trying to win converts in California, gets an event with Jerry Brown
Joe Garofoli, San Francisco Chronicle
Former New York Mayor Mike Bloomberg makes his first presidential campaign trip Wednesday in California, a state where few people support his White House run, many don’t know who he is, and those who do think little of him. The 77-year-old billionaire publisher is going to try to change those impressions with an endorsement Wednesday from up-and-coming Stockton Mayor Michael Tubbs, an appearance with former Gov. Jerry Brown in San Francisco, and $14 million of TV ads that are ready to saturate California’s airwaves through the rest of the year, The Chronicle has learned.
States
Beshear says he will sign order Thursday restoring voting rights of 100,000+ felons
John Cheves, Lexington Herald Leader
In his inaugural address, Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear said he will file an executive order this week restoring the voting rights of many convicted felons who are currently disenfranchised under state law. “My faith teaches me to treat others with dignity and respect,” the new Democratic governor told his audience outside the state Capitol.
Corruption probe roils Illinois political machine
Reid Wilson, The Hill
A sprawling federal investigation into lobbying, patronage and alleged corruption threatens to upend Illinois’s powerful Democratic machine as agents raid offices and interrogate witnesses from Chicago to Springfield. Federal agents have conducted searches of at least nine homes and offices in connection to a probe of Commonwealth Edison, the state’s largest utility, and the political operation run by state House Speaker Mike Madigan, the most powerful Democrat in Illinois.
New York attorney general intensifies investigation into the NRA
Allan Smith, NBC News
The New York attorney general’s office is intensifying its investigation into the National Rifle Association, recently issuing a new, wide-ranging subpoena to the gun rights organization that offers hints at where the high-profile probe is moving, a person familiar with the document told NBC News. The deepening of the investigation was first reported by The New York Times.
Advocacy
Trade deal sparks divisions in K Street
Kate Ackley, Roll Call
One of K Street’s top priorities, a revamped U.S. trade pact with Canada and Mexico, took a major step forward Tuesday, but not all sectors embraced the deal — potentially pitting big-spending organizations against one another. Odd allies, including the labor group AFL-CIO and the business lobby U.S. Chamber of Commerce, offered support for a redo of the North American Free Trade Agreement, something that President Donald Trump initiated after pledging on the 2016 campaign trail he would replace the 1994 deal.
Opinions, Editorials and Perspectives
FBI Spying Ruined My Good Name
Carter Page, The Wall Street Journal
My name is Carter Page, and I wish you were hearing it for the first time. If you were, I could introduce myself—a former naval officer who has worked for political figures from both parties.
The Democrats Are Blowing Impeachment
Rick Wilson, The Daily Beast
In the week where Democrats announced historic and fully-deserved articles of impeachment against President Donald Trump, they also started blowing it and throwing away 2020. Just as impeachment needs their complete focus, Democrats started talking about how the rest of the year could be devoted to “getting things done in Washington.”
Why McKinsey became a problem for Pete Buttigieg
Megan McArdle, The Washington Post
Now that Democratic presidential hopeful Pete Buttigieg has received permission from McKinsey & Co. to disclose details of his work at the big consulting firm, it seems likely that the “questions” (veiled accusations) about his job there will die down. Buttigieg, now the 37-year-old mayor of South Bend, Ind., worked at McKinsey from 2007 to 2010, when he was in his late 20s; he would have been a very junior consultant doing grunt work for the people who had actual authority over the company’s recommendations to clients.
Research Reports and Polling
Buttigieg Slips, While Biden And Sanders Gain In Primary, Quinnipiac University National Poll Finds; Slightly More Than Half Of Voters Say Don’t Impeach Trump
Quinnipiac University
In the Democratic primary race for president, former Vice President Joe Biden is in the best position that he has been since the end of the summer, with 29 percent of the vote among Democratic voters and independent voters who lean Democratic, according to a Quinnipiac (KWIN-uh-pea-ack) University national poll released today. Biden is followed by Sen. Bernie Sanders with 17 percent, Sen. Elizabeth Warren with 15 percent, and South Bend Mayor Pete Buttigieg with 9 percent.
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