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LIFE UNDER CHIEF WARREN NOT FAIR … “Warren Confronted By Man At Campaign Event Over Tuition Reimbursement,” via THE HILL: A man confronted Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D., Mass.) after a campaign event in Grimes, Iowa, earlier this week to vent frustration that her promise to wipe out student loan debt would not reimburse him for the tuition that he’d already paid …
“My daughter is in school,” the man said. “I saved all my money just to pay my student loans. Can I have my money back?”
“Of course not,” Warren responded.
“So you want to help those who don’t save any money and the ones that do the right thing get screwed?” he responded.
PETE PROWLS … “Top Cory Booker Supporters Are Accusing Pete Buttigieg Of ‘Chasing Ambulances’,” via BUZZFEED: “What he said was not appropriate and calling me four hours after [Booker dropped out] was not appropriate,” said [Democratic Iowa state representative Amy] Nielsen, who provided a copy of Buttigieg’s voicemail …
Monica Kurth, a state representative from Davenport who endorsed Booker in August, said she was “speechless” when she picked up the phone and heard from Buttigieg about four hours after the campaign ended.
SHE’S NOT SWITCHING, CHUCK … “Jerry Nadler ‘stunned’ Susan Collins into writing a note to John Roberts,” via POLITICO: Sen. Susan Collins was “stunned” by Rep. Jerry Nadler’s late-night diatribe this week against what he deemed a “cover-up” by Senate Republicans for President Donald Trump—so much so that she wrote a note to Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts …
Collins said she believed the back and forth between House Judiciary Chairman Nadler (D., N.Y.) and White House Counsel Pat Cipollone violated Senate rules and felt compelled to point that out, even though senators are required to stay at their desks and not speak during the trial.
NOT PEACHY … “Two Months Ahead Of Primary, Georgia Democrats Worry About Division,” via AJC: Two months before Georgia holds its presidential primary, top state Democrats still have no clear favorite in the race for the White House—and are increasingly worried the bitter race could further strain tensions between moderates and liberals dueling for the nomination.
Many of the party’s grassroots leaders are wrestling over whom to back in the field of presidential hopefuls and mindful that the internal fissures could deal lasting damage to the party’s chances of flipping Georgia for the first time since 1992, dozens of activists told the Atlanta Journal-Constitution.
NOW BERNIE REALLY WON’T SHAKE YOUR HAND … “Tom Steyer Exaggerates Fossil Fuel Divestment,” via NYT: Most directly, Mr. Steyer has assets worth between $1,001 and $15,000 in Direct Petroleum Exploration Inc., a Colorado company that “operates oil and gas field properties,” according to Bloomberg …
He also has a stake of between $1.25 million and $5.5 million in funds managed by M.H. Carnegie & Co., an Australian firm that is the second largest shareholder of the oil and gas exploration company Strike Energy Limited. And HMI Capital Partners, where Mr. Steyer has invested between $5 million and $25 million, owned stocks in Texas-based Summit Midstream Partners, which focuses primarily on shale infrastructure, according to a 2018 form filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission.
OY VEY … “Once Pushed Out of Washington, Valerie Plame Is Asking Voters to Send Her Back,” via NYT: One of the biggest issues in the campaign got its start in 2017, when Ms. Plame raised an uproar for a tweet linking to an article, “America’s Jews Are Driving America’s Wars,” in a publication that has been criticized for publishing anti-Semitic material. Ms. Plame continues to get questions about her shifting response to the controversy …
In an interview, Ms. Plame said her grandfather was from a Ukrainian Jewish family “right out of ‘Fiddler on the Roof,’” an ancestral connection she only began exploring as an adult. She said that she began attending events at the synagogue in the “aftermath” of the outcry over her tweet, but disputed that this decision involved political expediency.
THE STRUGGLE TO STAY AWAKE IS REAL … “In Marathon Impeachment Trial, Senators Walk To Stay Focused Or Pass The Time With A Fidget Spinner,” via WAPO: On either side of the chamber, [Pat] Toomey and [Cory] Booker stood at their desks, with Booker occasionally pacing back and forth. Rather than serving as centurion guards, Toomey and Booker were just trying to stay loose and focused, as the House managers crossed the five-hour mark in that phase of opening arguments in President Trump’s impeachment trial.
“I think that it’s just healthy. On an airplane I stand up for a six-hour flight. It’s just healthy to stand and let the blood flow,” Booker explained Thursday afternoon …
Age is definitely a cause of concern for [Pat] Roberts and Senate leaders trying to manage the trial load. [Dianne] Feinstein, who turns 87 in June, is the oldest senator, but there are four others in their 80s and nine more who are older than 75.
SEND THE BOMBERS … “Iran-Backed Militias Continue Attacks on U.S. Outposts in Iraq,” by WFB’s Adam Kredo: James Jeffrey, the Trump administration’s special representative for Syria engagement and special envoy for the global coalition to defeat ISIS, said the United States continues to experience targeted strikes by Iran-backed militia groups seeking to foment unrest in Iraq.
In the weeks since U.S. forces killed top Iranian general Qassem Soleimani, Iran-backed militants have scaled down their attacks but continue to launch strikes at U.S. positions in the war-torn country, Jeffrey told reporters in a briefing.
HOW DARE YOU … “Treasury Secretary Mnuchin says climate activist Greta Thunberg should go study economics,” via WAPO: U.S. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin mocked the Swedish climate change activist Greta Thunberg on Thursday, urging her to go to college and study economics before she tells countries what to do …
Thunberg and numerous European leaders spent the week saying the world is in a state of emergency and urgent action is required. The European Union has pledged to be carbon neutral by 2050.
THEY’RE ALL IN, BABY … “Adam Schiff Dazzles the Press,” by WFB’s David Rutz: Mainstream media and liberal commentators said Rep. Adam Schiff (D., Calif.) would be remembered for “generations to come” and was “dazzling,” “masterful,” “very very good,” “very very powerful,” “awfully impressive,” “expert,” “brilliant,” “absolutely brilliant,” and “virtuoso” in his opening statement for President Donald Trump’s impeachment trial.
FAKE NEWS, SCHMAKE NEWS … “CNN Silent on Contributor’s False Viral Tweet,” by WFB’s Alex Griswold: Former Clinton White House press secretary Joe Lockhart received more than 9,000 retweets and 36,000 likes for a tweet claiming to report an overheard conversation between two Fox News-watching GOP senators …
Replies to the tweet indicate that many people took Lockhart’s scoop seriously. When reached for comment about the episode, a CNN spokesman redirected the Washington Free Beacon to a communications director for the network who ignored multiple requests for comment.
REMINDER: FREDO ATTACKED THE COVINGTON BOYS …
Why do these trumpers think it is ok to go at a kid? https://t.co/RYY2IrJPL3
— Christopher C. Cuomo (@ChrisCuomo) January 23, 2020
DEATH OF TERRORIST BOTHERS LAWYER … “EX-CIA Lawyer: The Soleimani Hit Was a Homicide Under U.S. Criminal Law,” via DAILY BEAST: Unchastened by impeachment, and emboldened by the Justice Department’s dusty old opinion that he cannot be indicted while in office, Trump nonetheless ordered the killing of [Qassem] Soleimani, a senior Iranian official, in Iraq, in violation of Section 1116. The Department of Justice has jurisdiction to prosecute a violation of that statute …
If proven, that fact pattern would violate 18 USC Section 1116—our criminal code does not discriminate among victims (Iranian/German) and places (Iraq/France). Perhaps the president is wrong this time, and voters will care that he is bragging about committing cold-blooded murder.
ACQUITTAL IN A NEW YORK MINUTE … “Nadler’s Folly,” by WFB’s Matthew Continetti: The House Democrat made a critical error early in the trial of President Trump. He didn’t just say that Republican senators, who voted to begin the proceedings without calling witnesses, were part of a cover up. He said they had committed treason …
The contemptuous attitude of Democrats toward Republicans, and the pass-the-buck mentality that drove the House to impeach Trump before the evidence was in and inter-branch disputes settled by the courts, give GOP senators every reason to vote on the charges sooner rather than later. No one doubts that it’s a vote Trump will win.
DAYS SINCE JOE BIDEN DID A SUNDAY SHOW: 1,139. Come back, Joe!
“You know who really doesn’t have it? Joe Biden.” —Former President Barack Obama
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