Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin has rejected House Democrats' request to turn over President Trump's tax returns for the third time.
"In reliance on the advice of the Department of Justice, I have determined that the Committee's request lacks a legitimate legislative purpose, and pursuant to section 6103, the Department is therefore not authorized to disclose the requested returns and return information."
The big picture: After several delays, Mnuchin had sent a letter to House Ways and Means Chairman Richard Neal (D-Mass.) informing him that the Treasury Department would consult with the Justice Department and decide by May 6 whether to release Trump's tax returns to Congress. Mnuchin's latest refusal is the most definitive and will likely set up a prolonged court battle between the Trump administration and House Democrats.
Democrats in early-voting states are more inclined toward impeachment than leaders in Washington, but the numbers have dipped notably since polls earlier this year, according to a new poll from Republican firm Firehouse Strategies, along with Øptimus Data Analytics, that polled 1,695 likely caucus/primary voters in Iowa, New Hampshire and South Carolina.
By the numbers: A majority of Iowa and S.C. Democrats still back impeachment, but the numbers have dipped significantly since Firehouse's last poll. It's even money — at 45% for and against — on impeachment in N.H. Plus, the Biden surge is real, with a double-digit boost in all three states in the past three months — and Mayor Pete Buttigieg is his strongest competitor.
Puerto Rican native Alex Cora, the manager of last year's World Series champion Boston Red Sox, said Sunday that he won't attend the team's ceremony at the White House this week, citing the Trump administration's response to Hurricane Maria, per the Boston Globe.
"It's pretty tough to go celebrate when we're where we're at. I'd rather not go and be consistent with everything."
The big picture: Cora is the latest sports figure to not engage with the White House following a championship season. The Golden State Warriors have not visited after clashing with Trump, the Philadelphia Eagles were disinvited after many players said they wouldn't go, and a number of others cited scheduling conflicts and individual players on teams have elected not to attend.
Democratic presidential hopeful Kamala Harris told the Detroit NAACP Fight for Freedom Fund Dinner Sunday that Attorney General Bill Barr "lied" during testimony before the Senate Judiciary Committee.
"We had just recently a United States attorney general who lied to Congress and lied to you and is clearly more interested in representing the president than the American people."
Why it matters: The California senator is among several leading Democrats to have called for Barr's resignation over his handling of the Mueller report. A C-SPAN video circulating on Twitter of Harris questioning Barr had been viewed almost 4.9 million times by 11:30 pm ET Sunday.
In her NAACP speech, Harris also accused President Trump of "trying to make America hate."
The other side: President Trump singled Harris out for criticism last week, as he said congressional Democrats who grilled Barr were "just looking for political points."
President Trump retweeted Liberty University president Jerry Falwell’s Twitter post calling for the first term of his presidency to be extended by 2 years for "time stolen" and tweeted his own thoughts on the Mueller investigation Sunday.
President Trump tweeted on Sunday that Mark Morgan, a career FBI official and the former head of Border Patrol during the last few months of the Obama administration, will become the new director of Immigrations and Customs Enforcement.
The big picture: Former acting ICE director Ron Vitiello quit last month after Trump pulled his nomination as part of a broad effort to move the immigration agency in a "tougher direction." Morgan, who was forced to step down after Trump took office, has defended Trump's efforts to build a border wall.
Today in strange bedfellows: The ultra-conservative House Freedom Caucus and the Congressional Black Caucus share enthusiasm for the same bill — an infrastructure package with bipartisan and pan-ideological enthusiasm.
What's more, House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) is onboard. The Intercept's Ryan Grim summed up these unusual political dynamics in a tweet: "Here's Breitbart writing about Kevin McCarthy endorsing the use of a CBC-backed bill to make an infrastructure deal happen. Worlds are colliding."
A political organization run by David Bossie, President Trump's former deputy campaign manager, has raised millions of dollars by saying it's supporting Trump-aligned conservative candidates — but has spent only a tiny fraction of that money supporting candidates.
Instead, federal records suggest the Presidential Coalitionhas spent nearly all its money — raised mostly from small-dollar donations — on more fundraising, as well as administrative costs, which include Bossie's salary, according to a new report produced by the Campaign Legal Center (CLC) in collaboration with Axios.
About two-thirds of the contributions made to David Bossie's Presidential Coalition in 2017 and 2018 came from donors giving less than $200 in a single year. And of the donors identified in its tax forms, most said they were retired.
Data: Presidential Coalition's forms 8872 from the IRS; Chart: Harry Stevens/Axios
Facebook's political ad archive shows that most of the organization's ads "are overwhelmingly targeted to, and viewed by, Facebook users 65 and older," according to CLC’s report.
Age: 88 ... Gravel would be 90 years old — if elected — when he takes office.
Born: Springfield, Massachusetts
Undergraduate: Columbia University
Date candidacy announced: April 8
Previous roles: Alaska representative and Alaska Speaker of the House, U.S. Senator
Gravel's stance on key issues
Foreign policy: In "A Political Odyssey," Gravel shared his non-interventionist opinion on foreign policy. He doesn't believe sanctions work, specifically in Iran. Gravel also supports cutting military spending by 50%. He wants to end support for Saudi Arabia and foreign arm sales and opposes the Israeli treatment of Palestinians.
Big businesses: Gravel wants big businesses to be broken up, and leaders of corporations to be held directly responsible for the actions of their organizations.
Health care: Gravel calls health care is a human right, and thinks the U.S. should develop a universal health-care plan.
Climate change: Gravel supports the Green New Deal, and has a progressive climate platform that includes eliminating all single-use plastic products.
Immigration: Gravel labels the Trump administration's immigration policy as "monstrous." He supports open borders for non-criminals and abolishing ICE.
Notoriety: Gravel's campaign is, by and large, not being taken seriously. In part, that is because he said his intention for running was to make it onto the debate stage, rather than win the nomination. However, Gravel seems to be taking his own candidacy more seriously as time passes.
Age: Gravel is the oldest person seeking the presidency, followed by Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), who is 77, and Joe Biden, who is 76.
The Democratic presidential candidates all have something unique that captures their identity. It could be a signature proposal or issue, or a broad theme they'll run on — or it could be their personality if they don't have a substantive idea that stands out.
Here's the one big thing for each candidate — what you should know if you know nothing else about them.
Democratic presidential hopeful Bernie Sanders told ABC News’ "'This Week" Saturday President Trump's "sitting down" with North Korea leader Kim Jong-un was the right thing to do.
What he's saying: "This is one area, actually, where I do not fault Trump," Sanders said. "... They are isolated. They're demagogic, and we have just got to do everything we can to have China and the people in the Pacific Rim put as much pressure on North Korea and make it clear that they cannot continue to act this way."
