Writer E. Jean Carroll, who claims President Trump raped her in a department store dressing room in the mid-1990s, has requested a DNA sample from the president as evidence of her allegations, AP reports.
The big picture: Carroll went public with the allegations last June. She claims Trump pinned her against the wall of a dressing room in either 1995 or 1996 and forced himself on her, but that she fought back and quickly escaped. Carroll's lawyer claims that the dress Carroll wore that day, which she says has hung in her closet unlaundered since, has been DNA tested and shows four samples present. At least one of the samples has been identified as male.
Sen. Elizabeth Warren introduced a new gun reform bill on Thursday with Rep. Hank Johnson (D-Ga.) that calls for raising the minimum age for all gun purchases to 21 and increasing the excise tax on gun sales to 30% and ammunition sales to 50%.
The big picture: 2019's mass shootings in El Paso, Texas; Dayton, Ohio; Virginia Beach; and near Odessa, Texas, have pushed 2020 Democrats to take harder stances on gun control than in the last presidential election, when Bernie Sanders and Hillary Clinton only briefly addressed the issue in their primary debate.
Chief Justice John Roberts again declined Thursday to read a question from Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) during the question-and-answer portion of President Trump's Senate impeachment trial.
The big picture: Paul attempted to include the alleged name of the Ukraine whistleblower in his questions on Wednesday, CNN reported. When beginning Thursday's proceedings, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell promised Roberts a "level of consideration" in reading the questions out loud — an apparent dig at Paul.
President Trump's 2020 campaign previewed its Super Bowl ad on Thursday, touting Trump's economic accomplishments.
The state of play: In a press release, the campaign stated the ad is one of two 30-second ads the campaign will air. The second one will debut during the game. Trump's campaign claims this is the first time that a presidential campaign purchased national Super Bowl advertising.
Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) picked up the endorsement of the American Postal Workers Union on Thursday, a group that boasts 200,000 members across the country.
Why it matters: The union promised to lend its organizing power to Sanders' campaign, with the endorsement coming only a few days before the Iowa caucus on Feb. 3. The group also backed Sanders in 2016, per AP.
Three Democratic state attorneys general filed a lawsuit against a federal government official on Thursday to certify the Equal Rights Amendment, which would ban sex-based discrimination, into the U.S. Constitution.
The big picture: The lawsuit follows the National Archives and Records Administration's decision not to adopt the amendment, despite Virginia's General Assembly approving the ERA in mid-January, becoming the 38th state to do so. The NARA's decision is in line with a Justice Department legal opinion also issued earlier this month, arguing that Congress imposed a deadline for ratification, which expired in 1982.
Mike Bloomberg will feature a 60-second campaign ad titled "George" after the Super Bowl halftime show highlighting Calandrian Simpson Kemp, a mother from Texas whose 20-year-old son was shot and killed during an altercation.
Why it matters: The $11 million ad will run in front of what is routinely the largest television audience of the year and will promote gun safety measures to curb gun violence.
The nonprofit Everytown for Gun Safety plans to roll out $1.25 million for digital ad campaigns in five states where control of the legislatures is at play this year, Everytown first told Axios.
Why it matters: The group has committed to spending a total of $60 million on 2020 elections. This newest campaign will focus on pressuring competitive state legislatures, including in Arizona, Iowa, Minnesota, North Carolina and Pennsylvania, to move forward on gun safety legislation.
As the Senate prepares for another long day of Q&A, Republicans seem increasingly confident that at least 51 senators will vote Friday to prevent bringing additional witnesses into President Trump’s impeachment trial.
The bottom line: The whip count is still fluid, but GOP senators are far more optimistic after yesterday's eight-hour session than they were following their closed-door meeting on Tuesday.
In Iowa over the past week, "abortion" and "health care" were the top searched issues in relation to all 2020 candidates that have qualified for the next Democratic debate, according to the latest Google Trends data.
Why it matters: Iowa's caucus-goers will set the first real test of candidates' appeal to voters in just five days. Winning a single pledged delegate from the caucuses will also allow any candidate to join the next debate.
Senators got their chance to ask questions Wednesday following the completion of both sides' opening arguments throughout the eighth day of President Trump's Senate impeachment trial.
The state of play: The most memorable moment came when Trump lawyer Alan Dershowitz responded to a question from Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas), who asked if it would even matter if there were a quid pro quo. Dershowitz argued that a quid pro quo can only exist in a purely corrupt form if it benefitted the president financially.
Federal agents have found the "longest illicit cross-border tunnel ever discovered along the Southwest border," Customs and Border Protection announced Wednesday.
Details: The drug-smuggling tunnel stretches for 4,309 feet to connect an industrial site in Tijuana, Mexico, to San Diego, per a CBP statement. "It includes an extensive rail/cart system, forced air ventilation, high voltage electrical cables and panels, an elevator at the tunnel entrance, and a complex drainage system," the statement notes.
At least three Republican senators are signaling support for calling John Bolton as a witness in President Trump's Senate impeachment trial, following reports that the former national security adviser's forthcoming book includes allegations that Trump said he conditioned aid to Ukraine on the nation investigating his political rivals.
The state of play: The revelations from Bolton's book could be enough to sway the four Republican senators needed to vote for witness testimony in the trial, GOP sources told Axios on Monday.
