In an op-ed on Wednesday in The Bulwark, 2020 GOP presidential challenger Bill Weld wrote that the U.S. would be better off with "President Mike Pence", and that, "If Donald Trump is an American patriot, he should resign from office."
"How can a president function if he instinctively lies to not only the public but to his own staff? There is one essential truth that leaps from the pages of the Mueller report: No one can trust Donald Trump. ... Strangely, the only time Trump seems capable of telling the truth is when he’s in the company of dictators and tyrants. He seems to envy their approach to power."
— Weld wrote for the online outlet that primarily publishes conservative commentary
Hillary Clinton urged Democrats in a Washington Post op-ed published on Wednesday to hold off, for now, on launching impeachment proceedings against President Trump, cautioning that: "What our country needs now is clear-eyed patriotism, not reflexive partisanship," and that they should focus on "the sensible agenda that voters demanded in the midterms, from protecting health care to investing in infrastructure."
"Whether they like it or not, Republicans in Congress share the constitutional responsibility to protect the country. Mueller’s report leaves many unanswered questions — in part because of Attorney General William P. Barr’s redactions and obfuscations. But it is a road map. It’s up to members of both parties to see where that road map leads — to the eventual filing of articles of impeachment, or not. Either way, the nation’s interests will be best served by putting party and political considerations aside and being deliberate, fair and fearless."
The 2020 presidential election's Democratic primaries are breaking new ground for how white politicians talk about race in America.
The big picture: Increasingly frank rhetoric around systemic racism and inequity resembles a "woke litmus test," Democratic strategist Joel Payne told the AP.
Presidential candidate Beto O'Rourke has denied fleeing the scene of a crash that caused him to be arrested for drunk driving in 1998, but the El Paso officer who arrested him told the Texas Tribune that he stands by his report of the night.
What they're saying: An unnamed female witness told officers that O'Rourke's car "attempted to leave the scene" after crashing into a truck. The police officer who arrested O'Rourke doesn't remember the specifics of the night, but said: "I believe we have contradicting stories here. I stand by my report." The sergeant who signed the report also doesn't remember being there, but said: "He did something to lead the officers to believe he was trying to get away. What they put down, I believed them."
Michael Cohen, President Trump's former lawyer and fixer, denied portions of his February guilty plea in a private phone call recorded without his knowledge by actor and comedian Tom Arnold, as reported by the Wall Street Journal.
The big picture: "There is no tax evasion. ... And the Heloc? I have an 18% loan-to-value on my home. How could there be a Heloc issue? How? Right?… It's a lie," he reportedly said, referring to a criminal charge involving his home-equity line of credit. Cohen's comments are unlikely to have much, if any, effect on his 3-year prison sentence, set to start on May 6, for campaign finance violations, tax evasion and lying to Congress.
South Bend, Indiana, Mayor Pete Buttigieg said in an interview with the New York Times that "people were refreshed by the novelty" of the progressive proposals that Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) brought to the 2016 election, but that he doubts the 77-year-old Sanders can bring together the "coalition" necessary to beat Trump in 2020.
Why it matters: 2020 Democratic candidates have been largely hands-off with one another so far, focusing primarily on Trump and their individual candidate pitches. Buttigieg, who has surged into the double digits in recent early state polls, has repeatedly drawn parallels between Sanders voters and Trump voters for their anti-establishment, blow-up-the-system style of populism — though he clarified to CNN that he views the two men as "stupendously different."
In his private briefings on his yet-to-be-released immigration plan, Jared Kushner has told people his plan will be "neutral" on immigration numbers, multiple administration and Hill sources familiar with the proposal tell Axios.
Why it matters: By neutral, Kushner says he means it will neither raise nor lower the overall number of legal immigrants coming into the U.S.
Iowa Rep. Andy McKean, the state legislature's longest-serving Republican, announced Tuesday he's switching parties to join the Democrats because of President Trump and his policies.
"I believe that [it] is just a matter of time before our country pays a heavy price for President Trump’s reckless spending and short-signed financial policies, his erratic, destabilizing foreign policy, and his disregard for environmental concerns."
White House administration officials were told Tuesday to boycott this weekend's White House Correspondents' Association Dinner, according to reports in CNN and Politico.
The backdrop: Trump skipped the annual dinner for the last two years, choosing instead to hold campaign-style rallies. He'll do the same this weekend with an event in Green Bay, Wisconsin. This year's WHCA Dinner won't feature the traditional presidential roast from a comedian — historian Ron Chernow will speak instead — after Michelle Wolf's routine last year drew criticism from some who said it crossed the line into personal attacks.
Sen. Kamala Harris (D-Calif.) said she supports including a third gender option on federal identity documents on Tuesday, Politico reports.
Where it stands: 10 states, and Washington, D.C., currently issue identity documents with options to identify as non-binary, intersex or to opt-out via an "X" on gender markers. However, the documents are inconsistent from state to state — many only include the extra options on birth certificates. Ohio technically offers intersex people a third identification option, but uses outdated language.
Former U.S. Air Force helicopter pilot M.J. Hegar, who narrowly lost a high-profile House race in 2018, launched a Senate campaign against incumbent John Cornyn (R-Texas) on Tuesday morning.
Why it matters: Beto O'Rourke's long-shot Senate challenge against Ted Cruz last year garnered national attention and raised the possibility that Texas could be in play in 2020, especially with demographics shifting in Democrats' favor. Hegar, whose campaign video "Doors" went viral during the midterms, is the first Democrat to announce a run against Cornyn, though the field is expected to fill up.
When Joe Biden announces for president later this week, he'll open his campaign with a "climate of the nation" message that takes on President Trump but doesn't directly attack any of the other 2020 Democrats, advisers tell me.
What he'll say: Biden will spell out the stakes for the country, and talk about what kind of people we're going to be. He'll emphasize the kind of politics he's running against, and what kind of leadership the moment calls for.
Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) is the runaway preferred 2020 Democratic presidential candidate for progressive activists, a Democracy for America survey published early Tuesday shows.
Details: In the online survey of 96,641 DFA members, Sanders achieved 42.3% support — 30 points ahead of his closest rival, Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) (10.52%).
Congress should take steps toward the impeachment of President Trump following the release of the redacted Mueller report, Democratic presidential hopeful Sen. Kamala Harris (D-Calif.) told a CNN town hall in New Hampshire Monday.
"I think we have very good reason that there is an investigation that has been conducted that has produced evidence that tells us that this president and his administration have engaged in obstruction of justice. I believe Congress should take the steps toward impeachment."
Responding to a question about whether the Boston Marathon bomber should have his voting rights restored, Sen. Bernie Sanders said during CNN's presidential town hall that the right to vote is inherent, even for people convicted of sexual violence and terrorism charges.
Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) doubled down on her call for impeachment against President Trump during a CNN presidential town hall Monday night, arguing that "there is no political inconvenience exception to the United States Constitution" and that every person in the House and Senate should have to vote on whether they approve of Trump's conduct.
