In numerous recent conversations with colleagues, including last week's senior staff meeting, White House acting Chief of Staff Mick Mulvaney has said he thinks President Trump could win 45 states in 2020 after the impeachment process — a magnitude of landslide that few if any independent pollsters would dare predict.
Between the lines: People who've heard Mulvaney make this remark say he wasn't joking or even exaggerating. He appears to genuinely believe that impeachment will have a profoundly positive effect on Trump's political fortunes, according to 3 sources who have heard Mulvaney make the 45-state prediction.
The attorney representing the whistleblower whose anonymous complaint about President Trump and Ukraine has sparked an impeachment inquiry confirmed to ABC News on Sunday that he is now representing a second whistleblower with "firsthand knowledge" of some of the allegations.
Why it matters: One of the attacks Trump and his allies have used to try to undermine the credibility of the first whistleblower is that he relied on secondhand information from other White House officials. There is no requirement in the whistleblower statute for firsthand information, but an official with direct knowledge of the allegations could provide even more explosive evidence in the impeachment investigation.
Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine) on Saturday became the 3rd Republican senator to break ranks with GOP leadership and condemn President Trump's public call for China to investigate former Vice President Joe Biden and his son, according to the Bangor Daily News.
The big picture: Collins joins Sens. Mitt Romney (R-Utah) and Ben Sasse (R-Neb.) in publicly criticizing Trump's comments, which he made just days after Democrats launched a formal impeachment inquiry over revelations that he had made the same request to the president of Ukraine.
U.S. District Judge Amy Berman Jackson ordered the White House on Thursday to preserve records of President Trump’s communications with foreign leaders, including those with Ukraine's president that have spurred an impeachment inquiry in the House, according to Politico.
Why it matters: Jackson's order seems to address concerns outlined in a whistleblower complaint that the White House has used procedures reserved for highly sensitive information to limit access to potentially damaging conversations between Trump and foreign leaders. CNN has reported that officials took steps to restrict access to Trump's calls with Vladimir Putin, Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman and Chinese President Xi Jinping.
Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said on a trip to Greece Saturday that the State Department will follow the law in the House impeachment investigation into President Trump's attempts to push Ukraine to investigate former Vice President Joe Biden and his son, according to AP.
Why it matters:Pompeo previously accused Democrats of "intimidating" State Department officials who had been asked to cooperate and said the dates for the witness interviews the House had scheduled were "not feasible." In response, the chairs leading the inquiry warned that defiance would be considered "evidence of obstruction." Pompeo will allow Democrats to interview several witnesses next week, per AP.
In a Washington Post op-ed Saturday night, Joe Biden addressed the mounting storm over President Trump's calls for Ukraine and now China to investigate him and his son, condemning the president for "using the highest office in the land to advance his personal political interests instead of the national interest."
Why it matters: Much has been made about how Biden would respond to the Trump-Ukraine scandal, which has sparked an impeachment inquiry 13 months before the 2 candidates could potentially face off in the 2020 presidential election. Biden repeated a common refrain — that he intends to "beat [Trump] like a drum" next year — and added that while "the House does its job on impeachment," he'll continue campaigning "to ensure that the United States is once again the leader of the free world."
President Trump "has ordered a substantial reduction" of the National Security Council's staff, Bloomberg reports, citing 5 people familiar with the president's plans.
The big picture: Some of those sources told Bloomberg the staff cuts are "part of a White House effort to make its foreign policy arm leaner under new National Security Adviser Robert O’Brien." But the move also follows a whistleblower complaint released by a CIA officer who was previously detailed to the National Security Council, per the NY Times.
President Trump attempted to pit Utahan voters against Republican Sen. Mitt Romney via Twitter on Saturday, claiming that state residents now consider voting for him in 2018 to be a mistake.
Why it matters: Romney, who criticized the Trump-Ukraine allegations after reading the whistleblower complaint, is one of the first Republican senators to denounce Trump's calls for China or Ukraine to investigate one of his top 2020 rivals.
The top of Sunday's Washington Post Outlook section has two sharp, interesting articles that help explain why Democrats think they have a strong hand on impeachment.
The big picture: For nearly a month, the White House has refused to comply with House investigations into whether Trump jeopardized national security by allegedly pressing Ukraine to interfere in the 2020 presidential election, and by withholding security assistance provided by Congress to help Ukraine.
President Trump referred to Mitt Romney as a "pompous ass" on Saturday in response to the Republican senator's criticism of Trump for his "brazen and unprecedented appeal to China and to Ukraine" to investigate the Bidens.
Why it matters: Romney, who criticized the Trump-Ukraine allegations after reading the whistleblower complaint, is one of the first Republican senators to denounce Trump's calls for China or Ukraine to investigate one of his top 2020 rivals.
President Trump always counted on the economy to carry him to re-election, but now he's testing it as a central argument against impeachment.
Why it matters: If Americans see their economic fortunes tied to whether Trump is impeached, it could make Democrats' next moves on impeachment that much harder — and give Trump a new insurance policy for the general election.
The Trump administration on Friday issued a proclamation requiring immigrant-visa applicants to prove they can obtain health insurance within 30 days of entering the U.S. or cover their own health care expenses.
The big picture: A recent increase in the number of people without health insurance has coincided with the Trump administration discouraging immigrants from applying for and using government health care programs, like Medicaid.
