buzzfeed--2020-01-25--Democrats Say Trump’s Lawyers Just Made A Great Case — For Calling Witnesses and Documents

“ The thing that most irks me , I mean really irks me , is that we ’ re having this conversation when there are literally people who could confirm directly — like [ Trump ’ s acting chief of staff ] Mick Mulvaney or [ former national security adviser John ] Bolton — they could confirm so much of this one way or the other , ” said Sen. Cory Booker .
They accused House impeachment managers of leaving out key information and presenting a skewed narrative .
Leaving the trial , several Democratic senators said the obvious way @ @ @ @ @ @ @ new witnesses and documents .
White House lawyers spent about two hours Saturday beginning their defense in Trump ’ s impeachment trial .
Their arguments included that no one has testified they heard Trump directly demand a political quid pro quo from Ukraine or say explicitly that foreign aid was held up to benefit himself .
The Impeachment Today podcast gets you up to date with the day ’ s most important impeachment news .
Catch up on all the episodes , or subscribe on the iHeartRadio app , Apple Podcasts , Spotify @ @ @ @ @ @ @ favorite shows .
White House lawyers have opposed issuing new subpoenas .
But Sen. Tim Kaine noted that one of their main objections to the impeachment process was that Trump ’ s lawyers were not allowed to cross-examine witnesses during their initial , closed-door depositions .
“ They ’ re going to stand there and tell us cross-examination is the greatest engine for discovery of truth , but oh by the way we don ’ t want you to cross-examine witnesses , ” said Kaine .
“ They made the case this morning @ @ @ @ @ @ @ necessary to resolve this.
” Sen. Richard Blumenthal , a lawyer , said trials have shown the best way to resolve factual disputes between two legal teams is to call in witnesses and lawyers .
While the removal of President Trump from office is overwhelmingly unlikely , Democrats have pushed Republicans to at least call for more evidence .
At the beginning of the trial they put forward eight proposals to subpoena various witnesses or documents the administration has refused to turn over .
All were voted down along party lines .
However @ @ @ @ @ @ @ place next week .
But several Republicans said Saturday they are more convinced than ever that it is not necessary to issue new subpoenas .
Sen. Ron Johnson said he saw no need whatsoever to call witnesses .
“ The sooner that we can conclude this the better , ” he said .
“ But then we ’ ll continue .
The House will continue their oversight efforts , the Senate will continue ours .
That ’ s the better venue for answering these questions , not a completely partisan impeachment trial that @ @ @ @ @ @ @ democracy.
” Even if the Senate votes to call witnesses , they would then be faced with the question of who specifically to call .
Some Republicans have insisted that if House Democrats are allowed to issue subpoenas , the White House defense team must be able to as well .
The names most frequently tossed around as possible White House subpoenas are presidential candidate Joe Biden and his son Hunter .
But Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham is urging his colleagues to wrap up the trial quickly rather than get wrapped up in @ @ @ @ @ @ @ privilege .
“ I am more intent on ending this thing now with my vote , ” he said .
“ I really don ’ t want to turn the trial into a circus .
There ’ s a way to look at Hunter and Joe Biden outside impeachment .
”

White House lawyers have opposed issuing new subpoenas. But Sen. Tim Kaine noted that one of their main objections to the impeachment process was that Trump’s lawyers were not allowed to cross-examine witnesses during their initial, closed-door depositions.
“They’re going to stand there and tell us cross-examination is the greatest engine for discovery of truth, but, 'Oh, by the way, we don’t want you to cross-examine witnesses,'” said Kaine. “They made the case this morning for why documents and witnesses are absolutely necessary to resolve this.”
Sen. Richard Blumenthal, a lawyer, said trials have shown the best way to resolve factual disputes between two legal teams is to call in witnesses and lawyers.
While the removal of President Trump from office is overwhelmingly unlikely, Democrats have pushed Republicans to at least call for more evidence. At the beginning of the trial, they put forward eight proposals to subpoena various witnesses or documents the administration has refused to turn over. All were voted down along party lines. However, another vote on subpoenas will take place next week.
But several Republicans said Saturday they are more convinced than ever that it is not necessary to issue new subpoenas. Sen. Ron Johnson said he saw no need whatsoever to call witnesses.
“The sooner that we can conclude this the better,” he said. “But then we’ll continue. The House will continue their oversight efforts; the Senate will continue ours. That’s the better venue for answering these questions, not a completely partisan impeachment trial that does a lot of damage to our democracy.”
Even if the Senate votes to call witnesses, they would then be faced with the question of who specifically to call. Some Republicans have insisted that if House Democrats are allowed to issue subpoenas, the White House defense team must be able to as well. The names most frequently tossed around as possible White House subpoenas are presidential candidate Joe Biden and his son Hunter.
But Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham is urging his colleagues to wrap up the trial quickly rather than get wrapped up in thorny questions of congressional power and executive privilege.
“I am more intent on ending this thing now with my vote,” he said. “I really don’t want to turn the trial into a circus. There’s a way to look at Hunter and Joe Biden outside impeachment.”


buzzfeed--2020-01-25--Can The New Left Have Its Own Political Party?

The Working Families Party used idealistic goals and transactional tactics to play big in New York politics .
Now it ’ s missing out on the moment .
They moved the victory party for Tiffany Cabán to a big nightclub — La Boom — to accommodate the growing crowd on primary night last summer , and the place was packed for the queer , progressive thirtysomething public defender who suddenly had a real shot at being the Queens district attorney .
A lineup of local officials spoke onstage , then an organizer from the Democratic Socialists of America , which @ @ @ @ @ @ @ The organizer led the crowd in a booming chant of “ DSA , DSA.
” Finally , in the place of honor , introducing Cabán herself , was Bill Lipton , the lean , impatient state director of the Working Families Party , which had professionalized and managed the campaign , bringing it to the brink of victory .
He tried starting a chant too : “ I say ‘ Working , ’ you say ‘ Families.
’ Working ...
Families.
” It went a couple of rounds , and then the crowd @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Cabán declared victory on primary night , and then lost when absentee ballots were counted .
And WFP — a complicated , powerful force in New York for two decades — now also finds itself at what could be a moment of real triumph , or total irrelevance .
People outside the insular power politics of New York , Philadelphia , and Hartford may not have heard of WFP .
But the party has achieved a remarkable amount in America ’ s biggest city and a key state , where the tax-the-rich economic @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
Through the long neoliberal winter of the 1990s and 2000s , WFP played a central role in a series of early progressive victories , bringing paid leave , a millionaire ’ s tax , softer drug laws , and a higher minimum wage to New York .
It was central to flipping the New York State Senate , bringing — among other things — an ambitious Green New Deal to the state .
Now , at what feels like a new national era of progressivism , the party faces deep questions about @ @ @ @ @ @ @ by angry Democratic insiders and the new world of movement politics .
Among its vulnerabilities is that , as the biggest progressive party in New York , it failed to endorse Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez when she challenged a machine politician .
The party is scrambling to remake itself to the intersectional standards of contemporary progressive politics .
And it ’ s barely survived an assault by Gov .
Andrew Cuomo , the master of the state ’ s machine .
“ It ’ s both satisfying and ironic — at this moment of @ @ @ @ @ @ @ are facing our own death , ” the party ’ s national chair and former longtime executive director , Dan Cantor , told me outside a grim hearing room in lower Manhattan while his project of 20 years hung in the hands of Cuomo ’ s allies on an obscure commission .
The body had been established to push through progressive campaign finance reforms — but planned , in passing , to put in place new rules making it harder for minor parties to operate .
Cantor , like many of the two @ @ @ @ @ @ @ s 20 years whom I talked to for this story , was in a nostalgic mood .
“ We changed the weather and we got some shit done , ” he said .
Most states don ’ t have third parties that drive their politics .
New York is different .
Under an obscure bit of state law that permits “ fusion voting ” third parties have long been able to offer their endorsements to major-party candidates .
So the Liberal Party would back Democrats who aligned with what was initially a reformist @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Conservative Party would coendorse anti-abortion Republicans , and so on .
Today , WFP is the most powerful of them , alternating between an ally to Democrats and a left-wing irritant that is occasionally strong enough to run its own candidates against Democratic moderates .
But those old insider maneuverings have become unfashionable in this moment of progressive movement politics .
And WFP ’ s response to the moment casts a light on the underreported history of the left in the US — one that points not to Bill Clinton or even Barack @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Warren , and Bernie Sanders .
In that history , the pressing question is whether the new left can lock in its gains as policy — the way , say , Black Lives Matter helped produce substantive changes to the criminal justice system — or let them mostly slip away , as Occupy Wall Street seemed to .
WFP is the rare , robust leftist institution to survive the ’ 90s and aughts .
Its ascendancy has unlikely roots in a series of mostly doomed and quixotic projects of which the most ambitious @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ’ s precursor , the New Party .
In the early 1990s , the New Party attempted to provide a new home for the Democratic left — the labor movement , the civil rights movement , the Naderite consumer movement — who had been shoved to the side in Bill Clinton ’ s Democratic Party .
Now they were seeking , if not a true alternative , at least a counterweight to pull the party back their way : The party was the dream of a brilliant and cantankerous political scientist in Wisconsin @ @ @ @ @ @ @ me over a morning cigarette in a recent Skype conversation , his idea was that if “ you want to fix the society , fix the democracy first.
” He had met Cantor , a `` wonderfully honest , decent , tortured , funny guy '' from Long Island in the anti-Reagan politics of the 1980s , through an obscure book project of the intellectual left — a tome on `` labor , the world economy , and Central America ” that Rogers had retained Cantor to write .
After Cantor left Jesse @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the two got to work on a 24,674-word memo called “ Party Time.
” The memo made the case for a new political party organized around the “ empowerment of working people.
” Its backbone would of necessity be the strongest element of the Democratic coalition : organized labor .
Its base would be New York , thanks to fusion .
The party would position itself as “ progressive ” against both Democrats and liberals as follows : By `` progressive '' we also mean something other than `` liberal , '' though @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
Both liberals and progressives , for example , agree that affirmative government action ( e.g.
, regulation , redistribution , education ) is required to meet even minimal conditions of democracy .
Both ( sometimes joined by `` honest conservatives '' ) also favor `` good government '' and `` honest government . ''
They hold government to high standards of effective performance , and do n't like public fraud and lies .
Where progressives and liberals disagree is in their view of working people .
In a nutshell , liberals do @ @ @ @ @ @ @ to govern their own affairs .
Progressives have much more confidence , and that confidence fuels their democratic conviction .
They believe in empowering working people , not just administering them in `` kinder , gentler '' ways .
They believe that a society that encourages and harnesses the capacities of all people , including those of ordinary means , will be both morally superior to and better functioning than one that does not .
This strengthens their commitment to democracy .
Cantor mailed hundreds of copies — a radical Unitarian Universalist church @ @ @ @ @ @ @ to a Xerox machine — to everyone he could think of .
He sent “ Party Time ” to labor leaders , Democratic politicians , civil rights leaders , and the broad left coalition that had given Jesse Jackson far more juice than the Democratic Party ’ s establishment had suggested .
The idea was compelling , but the New Party quickly hit an obvious institutional barrier : pulling the Democratic Party to the left threatened Democrats .
Rogers and Cantor had hoped to launch the New Party into David Dinkins ’ historic @ @ @ @ @ @ @ itself an echo of the Jackson campaign .
But Dinkins ’ guru , the late Bill Lynch , killed the idea of him running on the New Party line as well as the Democratic Party ’ s — according to various recollections , either to avoid seeming too far left or out of fear of getting crosswise with the tight relationship between organized labor and the Democratic Party machine .
“ Labor is innately a very conservative set of institutions because they [ have ] real responsibility to their members , ” said @ @ @ @ @ @ @ do n't ever want to overthrow the established powers that enable them to do that.
” So the New Party started small , allying itself with the well-organized , resolutely outsider community group ACORN in places like Chicago , New Orleans , and Little Rock and with unions in Wisconsin and other Midwestern states .
And then , as Rogers had always planned , the party sued , arguing that the Constitution requires states to allow fusion — that is , having two parties run the same candidate .
On April 28 , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ 6–3 that the state interest in “ reduc [ ing ] election- and campaign-related disorder ” allowed it to ban the practice .
It was a crushing defeat and effectively ended the party .
Rogers , still angry 20 years later , waved his cigarette and declined to discuss his profane opinions on the decision and the justices on the record .
As the New Party was collapsing , a handful of men had begun having breakfast at a diner on John Street in lower Manhattan .
The group members , which included @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , were the leaders of New York ’ s radical , old labor left , the dying strand of American politics that came out of Irish , Italian , Jewish immigrant struggles , including the leader of the bus drivers union , Larry Hanley , and the head of ACORN , Jon Kest .
They ’ d coalesced around Sal Albanese , a doomed nominee in the city ’ s 1997 mayoral race — the candidate of the left-wing white working class , who came in third in the Democratic primary to a @ @ @ @ @ @ @ leader .
His supporters concluded , recalled Bob Master , a longtime political leader with the Communications Workers of America , that Democrats were going to lose the 1998 governor ’ s race .
But there was a little technicality about the statewide contest that interested the group : Just 50,000 votes could provide a new party with a ballot line .
“ If we ’ re going to lose the election in 1998 , why don ’ t we try to take advantage of it and take the ballot line ?
” @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Albanese crew .
Meanwhile , Cantor and Lipton , who were both then trying to figure out what to do with the rubble of the New Party where they ’ d both worked , were thinking along the same lines , and the two groups began building WFP .
It was the height of Clinton ’ s Third Way governance and of Rudy Giuliani ’ s popularity in New York .
All they needed was a candidate .
In an early mark of the kind of compromise that both made and threatened the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ city council leader , Peter Vallone — a hero to New York ’ s aging Greek community but an unlikely champion for the multiracial working people ’ s party of their dreams .
`` For the most part , Vallone 's politics represented the antithesis of what we hoped to build — and we took an enormous amount of shit from a lot of activists about that contradiction in ’ 98 , ” Master recalled .
“ But the tactic worked.
” They rallied the support of private-sector unions — CWA and the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the reprisals of elected officials — and of progressive groups who had been boxed in by the pro-business consensus of Democrats like Clinton and moderate Republicans like then-governor George Pataki .
“ It did feel like we couldn ’ t win unless something fundamentally changed , ” recalled Karen Scharff , the executive director of Citizen Action , a key early element of WFP .
And then…things actually worked the way the memo from Rogers and Cantor predicted , though for a different party .
WFP raised money from labor unions that were @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
WFP hired political operatives and got to work in the local races where the Democratic machine had rusted away .
The party was central to electing a new left-wing cadre to the city council in 2001 with candidates that included current mayor Bill de Blasio .
WFP elected its first candidate on its own line in 2003 — Letitia James , the current New York state attorney general .
And it moved the needle on policy , pushing minimum wage and “ living wage ” laws .
It did in 2004 what @ @ @ @ @ @ @ years later : It unseated the Democratic district attorney in Albany in a display of muscle that promptly led to the repeal of the state ’ s punitive Rockefeller Drug Laws .
WFP also made enemies .
“ I have been turned off by how transactional they have been — not just in my case but in many other instances as well , ” one politician told reporter Ross Barkan for his excellent recent history of the party .
In 2009 , the party briefly achieved its real goal : a takeover of @ @ @ @ @ @ @ body long run by moderate Republicans , and pushed through $ 5 billion in new taxes on the rich .
WFP ran the table in New York City , where local legislators pushed through paid sick days over Michael Bloomberg ’ s opposition , and began the campaign against stop-and-frisk .
The pendulum swung back fast and hard after Barack Obama ’ s election .
Eliot Spitzer , the combative , progressive governor , lost his job in a prostitution scandal .
Republicans steamrolled his ineffectual replacement as governor , retook the Senate @ @ @ @ @ @ @ and rolled back the left-wing turn .
The party ’ s style — idealistic policy and very practical politics — became the subject of a federal investigation .
It had been operating a kind of internal political consulting firm for candidates it favored ; prosecutors accused it of evading campaign finance limits by giving the candidates it supported deep discounts — effectively , a way of laundering labor union money into local campaigns .
The party avoided charges , but it was a near-death experience , since it paid its adversaries ’ legal @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
To WFP leaders , the assault was also a sign that they had challenged the system and made powerful enemies .
To their critics in Democratic politics , it was something else : evidence that they were running their own cynical machine , doing more or less the same thing that Democrats had done forever while seizing the moral high ground .
“ The WFP has engaged in real power politics for a really long time , ” said Mike Boland , the party ’ s field director who left in disgust @ @ @ @ @ @ @ and then returned .
“ It ’ s this progressive powerhouse that ’ s supposed to do amazing progressive things — and because it embraces real power , we ’ ve had to do some things that make people question the organization.
” But the beginning of the party ’ s current moment — and ours — began Sept. 17 , 2011 , when a loose group of protesters settled in a grim little park in the shadows of Wall Street ’ s towers .
They had no real connections to the existing @ @ @ @ @ @ @ that excluded making those connections .
The official rule was that any politician wishing to deal with protesters would have to appear on site and speak through the cumbersome “ human microphone , ” characterized by endless choruses of “ mic check.
” It was a powerful demonstration of organizational principle , and it puzzled and repelled many of Occupy ’ s allies .
Behind the scenes , WFP helped keep the square occupied .
The protesters happened to include one of the party ’ s rising stars , Nelini Stamp , then @ @ @ @ @ @ @ could n't afford college and was helping her mother with health care , Stamp was working retail and raging against the system that had kicked her aside .
The Obama campaign , and then WFP ’ s successful minimum wage campaign , had awakened her to the power of politics .
She called in sick from her job running the party ’ s Westchester operation .
The party kept paying her , and she persuaded her Occupy brethren that she and two other WFP staffers weren ’ t there in an official capacity @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the park did n't mean you could negotiate on behalf of the park , ” she recalled .
She emerged as a key force in the leaderless movement , organizing rallies and setting tactics in the park .
But when they needed political support , she ’ d called New York Communities for Change 's Kest , a key WFP figure , and Lipton , the state director .
“ I ’ d tell Bill or Jon what we needed , and they would call an elected [ official ] , ” she @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
The party negotiated with Mike Bloomberg ’ s city hall , brought labor unions around to seeing the scruffy protesters as their allies , and at one point called elected officials to the park to stave off attempts to clear it out .
It was a little-known bit of practical politics in a movement now famous both for its symbolic success and organizational failures .
“ People really overlook the importance of the party in the movement , ” she said .
Occupy was , in retrospect , the birthplace of our @ @ @ @ @ @ @ left , but the lack of a sustainable movement — or established interests that incorporated that energy and outlook — created a void that has now been filled by true outsiders like Bernie Sanders .
By 2018 , WFP and its labor union allies had long had a warm relationship with the boss of the Queens Democratic machine , a genial Irish American political operator named Joe Crowley .
Crowley had been a powerful , useful ally in Washington .
The party was at war with incumbents across the state , doing their @ @ @ @ @ @ @ socialist in Brooklyn , and focused on seizing control of the levers of power in Albany .
Nobody had much time for the young bartender running against Crowley .
“ Nobody knows who the fuck this person is , and we ’ re about to go against Andrew Cuomo , ” recalled a labor union official involved in the choice of Crowley over Ocasio-Cortez .
“ Anyway , how many enemies can you survive ?
” It was a signal mistake .
And it embodied the party ’ s two key weaknesses in @ @ @ @ @ @ @ new kind of communications , and a deep distrust for that inside game .
One is WFP ’ s pragmatism , its willingness to dirty its hands with compromise and power politics — something that its leaders see as a key feature , not a bug .
But , secondly , the failure to endorse the breakout millennial political star also embodied the party ’ s long-standing blind spot .
From those early days in the diner on John Street and in Rogers ’ Madison office , the party was built by an @ @ @ @ @ @ @ who have begun to fade into the background as the American left became intensely focused on questions of representation .
There had been black and Latino labor figures close to the party from the start , many hailing from the powerful SEIU local 1199 and ACORN .
The organization ’ s constituents and its intended beneficiaries were mostly black and Latino , and figures like Dinkins , Patrick Gaspard , and Harry Belafonte had been around at its birth .
But its founders and early leaders , like ACORN ’ s , were @ @ @ @ @ @ @ always obvious on the inside .
When Bertha Lewis , a black woman who got her start as a housing organizer in the Bronx , had first walked into the party ’ s office in Brooklyn , she said , the collection of white people “ would burn your retinas out.
” Lewis , who would play a central role in the politics of the Bloomberg years before leading ACORN in its final days , always dreamed that WFP would ultimately follow what she saw as its central logic and become a “ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ perhaps it will .
Cantor , who stepped down in 2018 , told me he hopes the party ’ s founders will be remembered as having “ had the skill to build something real , and the grace to hand it over to an of-color leader who has similar politics but a very different background , and will take the org [ anization ] places that the founders never could.
” When I ran into Maurice Mitchell on the floor of the ill-fated Cabán victory party , I didn ’ t realize that @ @ @ @ @ @ @ A 40-year-old black guy from Long Island with a fedora and an easy smile , he ’ d be easy to mistake for , say , the frontman for an Afropunk band…which he also is .
But when the party went looking for a new generation of leaders after the 2018 midterms , Dan Cantor , Bill Lipton , and their allies realized they needed to transform themselves for the moment : to hand the reins to people who better represented the politics they were fighting for .
And , perhaps more important @ @ @ @ @ @ @ turn a party that had mostly been a political organization into something more like a movement .
Mitchell was the answer .
A product of a corner of multiracial working-class life in central Long Island , he grew up steeped in the radical traditions of Caribbean politics .
He was , for a time , the lead singer of a mostly white punk band , though the band ’ s composition has grown more diverse with time .
And he was a political activist since his school days , working in a series @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Island before a black man ’ s shooting in Ferguson , Missouri , triggered the Black Lives Matter movement .
Mitchell moved to Ferguson and lived in the attic of an older white anti–death penalty activist .
He wound up living there for five months and cofounding a collective called Blackbird , a communications and strategy arm of the movement .
He was , he thinks , the “ riskiest ” candidate to take over WFP , and he warned the men hiring him that he wasn ’ t joking about transformation .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ in a small core of people ” to “ a multiracial movement that spans the country.
” The world has changed , but the goal isn ’ t that different from what Rogers and Cantor envisioned two decades earlier .
The objective , Mitchell said , is to “ build a multiracial left movement that would be a united front that would unite the black radicals and the white liberals against the forces of evil.
” Mitchell , who is now the national director of WFP ( it is , at this point @ @ @ @ @ @ @ a dozen national and state committees ) , has been greeted with an enthusiasm blended with skepticism about whether WFP can transform itself from a local political operation into a national movement .
( One veteran called the very notion of turning WFP into a real party “ bullshit.
” ) He has already shown one key quality : the willingness to play power politics .
The party infuriated some of its members , and inspired others , by endorsing Elizabeth Warren in September 2019 and then refusing to release the details of @ @ @ @ @ @ @ s the sort of move that makes the party a sought-after endorsement , and it looked for a time like a bold path to power in a Warren administration .
Less than a few months later , the risk of crossing Sanders and supporters who include , again , Ocasio-Cortez seems starker .
The party ’ s friends and enemies alike aren ’ t sure if it ’ ll be able to make the transition .
And this is part of the wide-open question of what comes out of this new era of @ @ @ @ @ @ @ be strong new institutions , or revived old ones , with new progressive political bosses ?
Will the tide recede to leave figures like Cuomo , the New York governor who has done just enough to keep progressive voters on his side without ever letting the left wing of his party build lasting power ?
Now , Mitchell is trying to blend the movement strategies of the new world with the imperatives of practical politics , and even the cantankerous Rogers said he was impressed .
“ Maurice is much more a [ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Cantor is ] , but Maurice certainly knows that elections matter and takes very seriously the organization and organizing discipline needed to make a difference in them , and after , ” he said .
Mitchell ’ s view of his mission : “ I ’ m trying to corner the market on nondelusional third-party politics.
” ●

Most states don’t have third parties that drive their politics. New York is different. Under an obscure bit of state law that permits “fusion voting” third parties have long been able to offer their endorsements to major-party candidates. So the Liberal Party would back Democrats who aligned with what was initially a reformist, progressive, anti-communist strain, the Conservative Party would coendorse anti-abortion Republicans, and so on. Today, WFP is the most powerful of them, alternating between an ally to Democrats and a left-wing irritant that is occasionally strong enough to run its own candidates against Democratic moderates.
But those old insider maneuverings have become unfashionable in this moment of progressive movement politics. And WFP’s response to the moment casts a light on the underreported history of the left in the US — one that points not to Bill Clinton or even Barack Obama, but to AOC, Elizabeth Warren, and Bernie Sanders. In that history, the pressing question is whether the new left can lock in its gains as policy — the way, say, Black Lives Matter helped produce substantive changes to the criminal justice system — or let them mostly slip away, as Occupy Wall Street seemed to.
WFP is the rare, robust leftist institution to survive the ’90s and aughts. Its ascendancy has unlikely roots in a series of mostly doomed and quixotic projects of which the most ambitious — and most doomed — was WFP’s precursor, the New Party.
In the early 1990s, the New Party attempted to provide a new home for the Democratic left — the labor movement, the civil rights movement, the Naderite consumer movement — who had been shoved to the side in Bill Clinton’s Democratic Party. Now they were seeking, if not a true alternative, at least a counterweight to pull the party back their way:
The party was the dream of a brilliant and cantankerous political scientist in Wisconsin named Joel Rogers. As he told me over a morning cigarette in a recent Skype conversation, his idea was that if “you want to fix the society, fix the democracy first.”
He had met Cantor, a "wonderfully honest, decent, tortured, funny guy" from Long Island in the anti-Reagan politics of the 1980s, through an obscure book project of the intellectual left — a tome on "labor, the world economy, and Central America” that Rogers had retained Cantor to write. After Cantor left Jesse Jackson’s campaign for president, the two got to work on a 24,674-word memo called “Party Time.”
The memo made the case for a new political party organized around the “empowerment of working people.” Its backbone would of necessity be the strongest element of the Democratic coalition: organized labor. Its base would be New York, thanks to fusion.
The party would position itself as “progressive” against both Democrats and liberals as follows:
By "progressive" we also mean something other than "liberal," though we recognize overlapping commitments and shared values. Both liberals and progressives, for example, agree that affirmative government action (e.g., regulation, redistribution, education) is required to meet even minimal conditions of democracy. Both (sometimes joined by "honest conservatives") also favor "good government" and "honest government." They hold government to high standards of effective performance, and don't like public fraud and lies. Where progressives and liberals disagree is in their view of working people. In a nutshell, liberals don't believe working people have much capacity to govern their own affairs.
Progressives have much more confidence, and that confidence fuels their democratic conviction. They believe in empowering working people, not just administering them in "kinder, gentler" ways. They believe that a society that encourages and harnesses the capacities of all people, including those of ordinary means, will be both morally superior to and better functioning than one that does not. This strengthens their commitment to democracy.
Cantor mailed hundreds of copies — a radical Unitarian Universalist church on Long Island, gave him access to a Xerox machine — to everyone he could think of. He sent “Party Time” to labor leaders, Democratic politicians, civil rights leaders, and the broad left coalition that had given Jesse Jackson far more juice than the Democratic Party’s establishment had suggested.
The idea was compelling, but the New Party quickly hit an obvious institutional barrier: pulling the Democratic Party to the left threatened Democrats. Rogers and Cantor had hoped to launch the New Party into David Dinkins’ historic run for mayor of New York, itself an echo of the Jackson campaign. But Dinkins’ guru, the late Bill Lynch, killed the idea of him running on the New Party line as well as the Democratic Party’s — according to various recollections, either to avoid seeming too far left or out of fear of getting crosswise with the tight relationship between organized labor and the Democratic Party machine.
“Labor is innately a very conservative set of institutions because they [have] real responsibility to their members,” said Rogers of that disappointment. “They don't ever want to overthrow the established powers that enable them to do that.”
So the New Party started small, allying itself with the well-organized, resolutely outsider community group ACORN in places like Chicago, New Orleans, and Little Rock and with unions in Wisconsin and other Midwestern states. And then, as Rogers had always planned, the party sued, arguing that the Constitution requires states to allow fusion — that is, having two parties run the same candidate. On April 28, 1997, the US Supreme Court ruled 6–3 that the state interest in “reduc[ing] election- and campaign-related disorder” allowed it to ban the practice. It was a crushing defeat and effectively ended the party. Rogers, still angry 20 years later, waved his cigarette and declined to discuss his profane opinions on the decision and the justices on the record.


buzzfeed--2020-01-25--Trump's Impeachment Lawyers Argued Democrats Ignored Evidence. Then They Went Ahead And Ignored Evid

Trump's Impeachment Lawyers Argued Democrats Ignored Evidence. Then They Went Ahead And Ignored Evidence.

After Democrats argued that the president is a “ danger to the country , ” Trump ’ s team now has 24 hours over three days to make his case .
WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump ’ s defense team began presenting their case to the Senate on Saturday , offering a two-hour attack on Democrats and the impeachment process that ignored certain evidence and highlighted a debunked conspiracy theory .
Saturday was day five of the impeachment trial to determine whether to remove Trump from office .
The defense will resume Monday .
One of their key arguments on @ @ @ @ @ @ @ crucial evidence during their nearly 24-hour presentation over three days .
About an hour into their own presentation , Trumps defense did exactly that .
Mike Purpura , deputy White House counsel , accused Democrats of not showing impeachment testimony that Ukrainian officials were unaware of the freeze on security assistance at the time of the July 25 telephone call between President Trump and President Zelensky .
He showed a montage of testimony from four US officials saying they only received calls from Ukrainians about the security assistance after a story was published @ @ @ @ @ @ @ lack of knowledge on the part of the Ukrainians at the time of the call , Purpura argued , meant it would not have been possible for Trump to be extorting them to open an investigation into the Bidens in exchange for the aid .
“ There ca n't be a threat without the person knowing he 's being threatened , ” Purpura said .
“ There ca n't be a quid pro quo without the quo.
” But Purpura did not show testimony that indicated the Ukrainians were in fact aware of @ @ @ @ @ @ @ of the call .
Defense Department official Laura Cooper testified in November that two unclassified emails sent from the State Department to the Pentagon just hours after the call focused `` on the issue of Ukraine 's knowledge of the hold or of Ukraine asking questions about the possible flow of assistance . ''
According to Cooper , one email said the Ukrainian Embassy and the House Foreign Affairs Committee were `` asking about security assistance . ''
The second email , according to Cooper , said that `` the Hill knows about @ @ @ @ @ @ @ situation to an extent and so does the Ukrainian embassy , '' referring to the aid money .
And a former Ukrainian foreign official , Olena Zerkal , has also said she read a cable from her country ’ s embassy in Washington in July about the security freeze .
“ We had this information , ” Zerkal told the New York Times .
“ It was definitely mentioned there were some issues.
” After the hearing , Sen. Chris Murphy , a Democrat , told CNN that Republicans `` continue to make @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , and that 's just nonsense . ''
`` I have been working on US/Ukraine policy for the better part of the last decade .
I was hearing in the spring from my contacts who were visiting Ukraine that they were feeling pressure the minute that Rudy Giuliani showed up and started demanding investigations into the Bidens , '' he said .
`` Of course , it would stand to reason that the Ukranians were feeling pressure when the president is telling them , 'The one thing I care about is doing investigations @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Trump ’ s personal attorney Jay Sekulow and White House counsel Pat Cipollone are serving as the lead attorney ’ s on the president defense team .
In an effort to depict Ukraine as a corrupt country that rightfully concerned Trump , Sekulow hinted at a debunked conspiracy theory that Ukraine interfered in the 2016 presidential election .
“ Let me be clear , the [ Democrat ] House managers over a two-hour period kept pushing this false dichotomy that it was either Russia or Ukraine , but not both , ” he @ @ @ @ @ @ @ found no evidence to support the theory that Ukraine interfered in the US election — a conspiracy the Associated Press found was first floated online during the 2016 election , later amplified by Russian President Vladimir Putin , and then pushed by Trump himself .
In her November testimony , Fiona Hill , the former senior director for Europe and Russia on the National Security Council staff , warned lawmakers not to “ legitimize an alternative narrative … that Ukraine — not Russia — attacked us in 2016.
” `` This is a @ @ @ @ @ @ @ propagated by the Russian security services themselves , ” she said .
And last month , FBI Director Chris Wray said , `` We have no information that indicates that Ukraine interfered with the 2016 presidential election . ''
After the day 's hearings , Sen. Joe Manchin , a West Virginia Democrat who often comes under pressure from the right , said he thinks Trump ’ s attorneys were “ succinct and spoke what they believe would be effective .
I think they did a good job.
” Trump ’ s defense @ @ @ @ @ @ @ of impeachment , echoing a common Republican talking point that Democrats , not Trump , are trying to steal an election by impeaching him .
“ They 're asking you to remove President Trump from the ballot in an election that 's occurring in approximately 9 months , ” Cipollone said .
“ They 're asking you to tear up all of the ballots across this country on your own initiative take that decision away from the American people.
” White House lawyers attacked the House impeachment inquiry by saying it was made @ @ @ @ @ @ @ hearings of hand-selected witnesses , and that the president ’ s legal team was shut out .
“ If you were really confident in your position on the facts why would you lock everybody out of it from the president ’ s side ?
” said Cipollone .
White House lawyers were not allowed to participate in the first stage of the inquiry , when the House Intelligence Committee took closed-door depositions from witnesses .
But the White House was invited to take part in the public hearings in the Judiciary Committee .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
Trump ’ s team also went after lead House impeachment manager Rep. Adam Schiff — just as he predicted they would Friday night .
In one of their first arguments Saturday morning , the defense team played a clip of Schiff paraphrasing Trump ’ s July 25 call with Zelensky during the House ’ s investigation , a clip that Republicans have harped on for months as evidence that Schiff is lying to get Trump out of office .
But even in the segment Trump ’ s lawyers played Saturday , Schiff @ @ @ @ @ @ @ : “ Shorn of its rambling character and in not so many words , this is the essence of what the president communicates , ” he said , going on to describe Trump essentially asking Zelensky “ to make dirt on my political opponent , understand ?
” “ That ’ s fake , ” Sekulow said after playing the clip , suggesting it was inappropriate .
“ We can shrug it off and say we were making light or a joke but that was in a hearing in the United States House @ @ @ @ @ @ @ president of the United States from office .
There are very few things if any that can be as grave and serious.
” Sekulow , Trump ’ s personal lawyer , told reporters Friday that their overall case will focus in-part on former Vice President Joe Biden and his son Hunter , who served on the board of Burisma , a Ukrainian gas company .
He also name-checked a handful of conspiracy theories related not only to the Bidens , but to FBI , the Democratic National Committee , and the creation of @ @ @ @ @ @ @ prepared for Trump ’ s political opponents during the 2016 election , which BuzzFeed News first published after Trump and then-president Barack Obama had been briefed on its contents .
House Democrats — acting as prosecutors in the impeachment trial — laid out their case to support two articles of impeachment earlier in the week : abuse of power and obstruction of Congress .
On Wednesday , Democrats laid out a timeline of Trump ’ s abuse of power when the president made the decision to withhold military aid to Ukraine in exchange @ @ @ @ @ @ @ political rival Joe Biden and his family .
On Thursday and Friday , Democrats focused on how the president ’ s actions violated the Constitution .
Following the defense 's two-hour presentation , senators were essentially split by party , with Republicans praising the president 's team and Democrats largely criticizing them .
`` I think it was pretty impressive that they took the record that was produced by Chairman Schiff and use that record to show that he was cherry-picking his presentation .
...
I think it 's a miscalculation to act @ @ @ @ @ @ @ story later on , '' Senate Majority Whip John Cornyn told reporters as senators left the Capitol .
Several Republicans hammered away at House Democrats for using nearly all of their 24 hours of argument to make their case , often keeping senators in session late into the evening .
`` You ask any senator , even the ones on the other side of the aisle , you did not need 23 hours to regurgitate , repeat & re-market , '' Sen. Mike Braun told reporters .
Sen. Tim Kaine , a Democrat @ @ @ @ @ @ @ presidential nominee in 2016 , said that Trump 's lawyers were merely trying to appease the president himself , noting their shots at Schiff , in particular .
“ I think that was to make the president happy .
I think these guys in some ways have an audience of one , ” he said .
`` They ’ re trying to make the president laugh , smile or tweet . ''
Still , two Democrats were somewhat complimentary of the president 's team : Montana Sen. John Tester and West Virginia Sen. @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Trump ’ s attorneys were “ succinct and spoke what they believe would be effective .
I think they did a good job.
” “ I think they made some good points , '' Tester said .
`` But we ’ re not done . ''

WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump’s defense team began presenting its case to the Senate on Saturday, offering a two-hour attack on Democrats and the impeachment process that ignored certain evidence and highlighted a debunked conspiracy theory.
Saturday was day five of the impeachment trial to determine whether to remove Trump from office. The defense will resume Monday.
One of the team's key arguments was that Democrats did not present crucial evidence during their nearly 24-hour presentation over three days.
About an hour into their own presentation, Trump's defense did exactly that.
Mike Purpura, deputy White House counsel, accused Democrats of not showing impeachment testimony that Ukrainian officials were unaware of the freeze on security assistance at the time of the July 25 telephone call between Trump and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.
He showed a montage of testimony from four US officials saying they only received calls from Ukrainians about the security assistance after a story was published in Politico on Aug. 28. This lack of knowledge on the part of the Ukrainians at the time of the call, he argued, meant it would not have been possible for Trump to be extorting them to open an investigation into the Bidens in exchange for the aid.
“There can't be a threat without the person knowing he's being threatened,” Purpura said. “There can't be a quid pro quo without the quo.”
But Purpura did not show testimony that indicated the Ukrainians were in fact aware of the security assistance freeze at the time of the call.
Defense Department official Laura Cooper testified in November that two unclassified emails sent from the State Department to the Pentagon just hours after the call focused "on the issue of Ukraine's knowledge of the hold or of Ukraine asking questions about the possible flow of assistance."
According to Cooper, one email said the Ukrainian Embassy and the House Foreign Affairs Committee were "asking about security assistance." The second email, according to Cooper, said that "the Hill knows about the FMF [Foreign Military Financing] situation to an extent and so does the Ukrainian Embassy," referring to the aid money.
And a former Ukrainian foreign official, Olena Zerkal, has also said she read a cable from her country’s embassy in Washington in July about the security freeze. “We had this information,” Zerkal told the New York Times. “It was definitely mentioned there were some issues.”
After the hearing, Sen. Chris Murphy, a Democrat, told CNN that Republicans "continue to make this claim that Ukraine felt no pressure, and that's just nonsense."
"I have been working on US/Ukraine policy for the better part of the last decade. I was hearing in the spring from my contacts who were visiting Ukraine that they were feeling pressure the minute that Rudy Giuliani showed up and started demanding investigations into the Bidens," he said. "Of course, it would stand to reason that the Ukrainians were feeling pressure when the president is telling them, 'The one thing I care about is doing investigations into my political opponents.'"


buzzfeed--2020-01-26--Here's The Recording Of Trump Saying He Wanted To "Get Rid Of" A Top US Ambassador

`` Get rid of her .
Get her out tomorrow .
I do n't care , '' Trump is heard saying on the tape .
`` Get her out tomorrow .
Take her out , ok ?
Do it . ''
WASHINGTON — A lawyer for Lev Parnas , one of Rudy Giuliani ’ s two indicted associates who ran the Ukrainian backchannel campaign at the heart of the impeachment inquiry , has released a recording of President Donald Trump saying he wanted to “ get rid of ” a US ambassador during a dinner with the men and others @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Joseph Bondy , a lawyer for Parnas , shows the president telling Parnas , his partner Igor Fruman , and other participants of an intimate 2018 meal that Marie Yovanovitch , then the US ambassador to Ukraine , should be removed .
`` Get rid of her ! ''
Trump says on the tape after Parnas says Yovanovitch has been privately criticizing the president .
`` Get her out tomorrow .
I do n't care .
Get her out tomorrow .
Take her out .
OK ?
Do it . ''
Parnas previously @ @ @ @ @ @ @ then-aide John DeStefano when he ordered the ambassador ’ s firing .
Bondy said Saturday that Fruman made the hour-long recording , the existence of which was first reported by ABC News , on April 30 , 2018 .
Yovanovitch was abruptly recalled from her post in Kyiv in a phone call a year later , she told House investigators .
Bondy also said that the tape has been turned over to the House Intelligence Committee , which has led the impeachment inquiry .
A spokesperson for the committee declined to comment .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ did not immediately respond to a request for comment .
“ Given its importance to the national interest , we decided to release this recording in a manner intended to ensure equal public access , and in an effort to provide clarity to the American people and the Senate as to the need to conduct a fair trial , with witnesses and evidence , ” Bondy told BuzzFeed News .
Bondy has repeatedly called for senators to allow Parnas to testify in the impeachment trial , tweeting # LetLevSpeak along with video montages @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Trump family , including the president .
Yovanovitch ’ s ouster , which State Department officials have dubbed a politically motivated smear campaign , has been a key component of the impeachment inquiry .
Parnas and Giuliani have said that Yovanovitch , a career foreign service officer , stood in the way of the Ukrainian investigations they were seeking into former vice president Joe Biden and his son , Hunter , on Trump ’ s behalf .
Though Trump has denied knowing Parnas or Fruman , who were charged with campaign finance violations @ @ @ @ @ @ @ speaking with the president at an intimate dinner with those close to Trump .
At the beginning of the hour-long video , Parnas can be seen in an ornate dining room at the Trump International Hotel in Washington , DC .
The recording appears to capture the president posing for a photo with his eldest son , Donald Trump Jr , down the hall .
Someone tells Fruman that people might not want their photos taken , but he continues recording .
The video also shows a place setting with “ Mr .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ name tag at the spot next to it says “ Mr .
Donald Trump Jr. ” Later , Trump Jr. stands near his place setting and his father joins him at the table to applause from the guests .
After the dinner guests are seated , Fruman appears to place his phone on the table , face up , so the video shows the ceiling and records the conversations .
The ambassador comes up approximately 42 minutes into the video , as Parnas and Trump discuss the oil industry in Ukraine , as @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the area .
At the time , Parnas and Fruman had just formed a company to export gas to Eastern Europe .
`` The biggest problem there — I think where we need to start is we got ta get rid of the ambassador , ” Parnas says .
“ She 's still left over from the Clinton administration .
She 's basically walking around telling everybody , ‘ Wait , he 's gon na get impeached , just wait ’ . ''
The line prompts laughter from the guests , and an @ @ @ @ @ @ @ new secretary of state .
At that point , Trump says Yovanovitch should be dismissed .
Then , another dinner guest congratulates the president on the confirmation of Mike Pompeo , who had been approved by the Senate days before to lead the State Department .
“ Pompeo ’ s going to be good , ” Trump says .
The spring of 2018 was a key time in Parnas and Fruman ’ s rise as major Republican donors .
At the time , the South Florida businessmen made a flurry of large donations @ @ @ @ @ @ @ of the contributions — including one to a pro-Trump super PAC for $ 325,000 that prosecutors accused the men of falsely attributing to their energy company — landed the pair in jail last year .
The duo used their newfound political access to deride Yovanovitch to another powerful lawmaker in the weeks after they dined with Trump .
In May 2018 , Parnas and Fruman lambasted the ambassador during a meeting with then-Rep. Pete Sessions .
Afterward , Sessions wrote a letter Pompeo urging him to replace her , as BuzzFeed News first @ @ @ @ @ @ @ received notice from close companions that Ambassador Yovanovitch has spoken privately and repeatedly about her disdain for the current administration , ” he wrote .
Sessions has claimed that he was referring to “ congressional colleagues ” in his letter , not Parnas and Fruman .
Text messages turned over by Parnas and released by House impeachment investigators last week show that he , Giuliani , and others worked through early 2019 to have the ambassador fired .
Some of the messages even suggest the ambassador was under surveillance in Kyiv — though @ @ @ @ @ @ @ t to be taken seriously .
Yovanovitch said that when she received a late-night phone call on April 24 , 2019 , telling her to return to Washington immediately , she was told there were questions about her “ security , ” as well as concerns about her “ up the street ” at the White House .

After the dinner guests are seated, Fruman appears to place his phone on the table with the camera facing up, so the video shows the ceiling and records the conversations.
The ambassador comes up approximately 42 minutes into the video, as Parnas and Trump discuss the oil industry in Ukraine, as well as Russia’s influence in the area. At the time, Parnas and Fruman had just formed a company to export gas to Eastern Europe.
"The biggest problem there — I think where we need to start is we gotta get rid of the ambassador,” Parnas says. “She's still left over from the Clinton administration. She's basically walking around telling everybody, ‘Wait, he's gonna get impeached, just wait’."
The line prompts laughter from the guests, and an unidentified person mentions that Trump has a new secretary of state. At that point, Trump says Yovanovitch should be dismissed.
“Excellent,” Parnas says.
Then another dinner guest congratulates the president on the confirmation of Mike Pompeo, who had been approved by the Senate days before to lead the State Department.
“Pompeo’s going to be good,” Trump says.
The spring of 2018 was a key time in Parnas and Fruman’s rise as major Republican donors. At the time, the South Florida business partners made a flurry of large donations to GOP candidates and causes. Some of the contributions — including one to a pro-Trump super PAC for $325,000 that prosecutors accused the men of falsely attributing to their energy company — landed the pair in jail last year.
The duo used their newfound political access to deride Yovanovitch to another powerful lawmaker in the weeks after they dined with Trump. In May 2018, Parnas and Fruman lambasted the ambassador during a meeting with then-Rep. Pete Sessions. Afterward, Sessions wrote a letter Pompeo urging him to replace her, as BuzzFeed News first reported last summer. “I have received notice from close companions that Ambassador Yovanovitch has spoken privately and repeatedly about her disdain for the current administration,” he wrote. Sessions has claimed that he was referring to “congressional colleagues” in his letter, not Parnas and Fruman.
Text messages turned over by Parnas and released by House impeachment investigators last week show that he, Giuliani, and others worked through early 2019 to have the ambassador fired. Some of the messages even suggest the ambassador was under surveillance in Kyiv — though Parnas has said the messages weren’t to be taken seriously.
Yovanovitch said that when she received a late-night phone call on April 24, 2019, telling her to return to Washington immediately, she was told there were questions about her “security,” as well as concerns about her “up the street” at the White House.


buzzfeed--2020-01-26--Mike Bloomberg Is Campaigning To Win Back Trump’s Jewish Supporters

Mike Bloomberg is launching a pitch to moderate Jewish voters aimed also at wooing away those who have supported Donald Trump .
Speaking at a Jewish center in Miami on Sunday , Bloomberg said he was committed to battling growing anti-Semitism , reiterated strong support for Israel , and said that while he opposed the Obama administration ’ s Iran nuclear deal he would seek to revive it .
The former New York mayor began with a thinly veiled reference to Bernie Sanders : “ I know I ’ m not the only Jewish candidate running for president .
But @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ’ t want to turn America into a kibbutz.
” Sanders , who briefly lived on a kibbutz in Israel , has broad appeal among a rising tide of progressive Jews , in part because he has been critical of the government of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and denounced the occupation , going so far as to say he could make US aid to the country conditional on improving conditions in Gaza and elsewhere .
Bloomberg ’ s pitch is far more in keeping with traditional Democratic rhetoric , and though he @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Sunday he also backed some of the president ’ s policies that have won him support among more conservative Jewish voters .
After making a couple of Jewish jokes ( referencing both the Torah and pickles ) , Bloomberg said at the event , which launched “ United for Mike , ” a new coalition targeting Jewish Americans , that he “ will always have Israel ’ s back .
I will never impose conditions on our military aid , including missile defense – no matter who is prime minister.
” He then @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Iran deal originally , ” saying it was not strong enough , before criticizing Trump ’ s decision to unilaterally withdraw from it .
An aide to Bloomberg told BuzzFeed News : “ Mike supports rejoining the nuclear deal , and then aggressively negotiating to improve it.
” Bloomberg also singled out Trump ’ s controversial decision to move the US embassy to Jerusalem .
“ There are those who will cite the embassy move to as a reason to support the president , ” Bloomberg said .
“ And to that I @ @ @ @ @ @ @ elected you will never have to choose between supporting Israel and supporting our values here at home.
” An aide told BuzzFeed News that “ Mike believes that moving the US embassy there was the right thing to do , but it was a mistake to do so unilaterally and outside the context of the broader Israeli-Palestinian dialogue.
” Bloomberg linked an increase in anti-Semitic attacks , and hate crimes more broadly , with Trump ’ s presidency .
“ Anti-Semitism is hardly the exclusive domain of one political party .
It can @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the left – on town squares and campus quads , ” he said .
“ When the president calls his supporters ‘ real Americans ’ — an echo of the language that nativists , anti-Semites , and the KKK used for many decades — he undermines our fundamental national values .
When he is silent – and even supportive , through his words and tweets – as racist groups spread hate , he puts the public safety of our communities at risk.
” There is just no escaping the direct line between his @ @ @ @ @ @ @ violent attacks targeted at minority groups across the country , ” he said .
Many of the moves Trump has undertaken , including in Israel , have been designed to appeal to his evangelical base , and while he has denounced anti-Semitism he has also repeatedly trafficked in anti-Semitic tropes .
Managing to both disparage Democrats and trade on anti-Semitic tropes of Jewish loyalty , he said last year : “ In my opinion , if you vote for a Democrat , you 're being very disloyal to Jewish people and you 're @ @ @ @ @ @ @ to Gallup , around 65 % of Jewish Americans identify as or lean towards Democrats , while 30 % identify with or lean towards the Republican Party .
Trump ’ s approval rating is lower among Jews than among Americans at large , according to Gallup , which found only 29 % approved in the first half of last year , compared to 42 % more broadly .
Bloomberg , who entered the race late and is skipping the early states including Iowa and New Hampshire , could be seeking to capitalize on @ @ @ @ @ @ @ was targeting Trump voters in particular , the aide said : “ The campaign would welcome the support of all Jewish voters — regardless of who they voted for in the past.
” Rep. Max Rose of Staten Island , who earlier this month became the first member of Congress to endorse Bloomberg , gave the former mayor credit for rebuilding New York after Sept. 11 ( a mantle often worn by Trump ’ s lawyer , Rudy Giuliani ) , and said “ America now finds itself at a similar fork in @ @ @ @ @ @ @ scary moment , ” Rose said .
“ I ’ ve got Jews in my community who are afraid to go outside with their kippah on , afraid to speak Hebrew in public , afraid to congregate together .
And Mike Bloomberg is the type of leader who is well versed in these issues and able to rise above the partisan fray so that we are not attributing it to one side of the political spectrum or the other , we ’ re not using Israel as a political football.
” He praised @ @ @ @ @ @ @ “ political courage ” and appeal to various audiences .
“ It doesn ’ t seem like people often want to speak about this but if you want to get a piece of legislation signed in 2021 by the president of the United States , you ’ re going to have to get conservative Democrats and Republicans on board .
Plain and simple , and that ’ s going to require leadership .
”

Michael Bloomberg is launching a pitch to moderate Jewish voters aimed also at wooing away those who have supported Donald Trump.
Speaking at a Jewish center in Miami on Sunday, Bloomberg said he was committed to battling growing anti-Semitism, reiterated strong support for Israel, and said that while he opposed the Obama administration’s Iran nuclear deal he would seek to revive it.
The former New York mayor began with a thinly veiled reference to Bernie Sanders: “I know I’m not the only Jewish candidate running for president. But I am the only one who doesn’t want to turn America into a kibbutz.” Sanders, who briefly lived on a kibbutz in Israel, has broad appeal among a rising tide of progressive Jews, in part because he has been critical of the government of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and denounced the occupation, going so far as to say he could make US aid to the country conditional on improving conditions in Gaza and elsewhere.
Bloomberg’s pitch is far more in keeping with traditional Democratic rhetoric, and though he repeatedly criticized Trump and his approach on Sunday he also backed some of the president’s policies that have won him support among more conservative Jewish voters.
After making a couple of Jewish jokes (referencing both the Torah and pickles), Bloomberg said at the event, which launched “United for Mike,” a new coalition targeting Jewish Americans, that he “will always have Israel’s back. I will never impose conditions on our military aid, including missile defense — no matter who is prime minister.” He then reminded the crowd he was against the Iran deal originally, saying it was not strong enough, before criticizing Trump’s decision to unilaterally withdraw from it. An aide to Bloomberg told BuzzFeed News: “Mike supports rejoining the nuclear deal, and then aggressively negotiating to improve it.”
Bloomberg also singled out Trump’s controversial decision to move the US embassy to Jerusalem. “There are those who will cite the embassy move to as a reason to support the president,” Bloomberg said. “And to that I say very clearly: If I am elected, you will never have to choose between supporting Israel and supporting our values here at home.” An aide told BuzzFeed News that “Mike believes that moving the US embassy there was the right thing to do, but it was a mistake to do so unilaterally and outside the context of the broader Israeli–Palestinian dialogue.”
Bloomberg linked an increase in anti-Semitic attacks, and hate crimes more broadly, with Trump’s presidency. “Anti-Semitism is hardly the exclusive domain of one political party. It can be found on both the right and the left — on town squares and campus quads,” he said. “When the president calls his supporters ‘real Americans’ — an echo of the language that nativists, anti-Semites, and the KKK used for many decades — he undermines our fundamental national values. When he is silent — and even supportive, through his words and tweets — as racist groups spread hate, he puts the public safety of our communities at risk.”
There is just no escaping the direct line between his conduct in office and the rise of violent attacks targeted at minority groups across the country,” he said.
Many of the moves Trump has undertaken, including in Israel, have been designed to appeal to his evangelical base, and while he has denounced anti-Semitism he has also repeatedly trafficked in anti-Semitic tropes. Managing to both disparage Democrats and trade on anti-Semitic tropes of Jewish loyalty, he said last year: “In my opinion, if you vote for a Democrat, you're being very disloyal to Jewish people and you're being very disloyal to Israel.”
According to Gallup, around 65% of Jewish Americans identify as or lean toward Democrats, while 30% identify with or lean toward the Republican Party. Trump’s approval rating is lower among Jews than among Americans at large, according to Gallup, which found only 29% approved in the first half of last year, compared to 42% more broadly.
Bloomberg, who entered the race late and is skipping the early states including Iowa and New Hampshire, could be seeking to capitalize on that.
Asked if the Bloomberg campaign was targeting Trump voters in particular, the aide said: “The campaign would welcome the support of all Jewish voters — regardless of who they voted for in the past.”
Rep. Max Rose of Staten Island, who earlier this month became the first member of Congress to endorse Bloomberg, gave the former mayor credit for rebuilding New York after Sept. 11 (a mantle often worn by Trump’s lawyer Rudy Giuliani) and said, “America now finds itself at a similar fork in the road.”
“This is a scary moment,” Rose said. “I’ve got Jews in my community who are afraid to go outside with their kippah on, afraid to speak Hebrew in public, afraid to congregate together. And Mike Bloomberg is the type of leader who is well versed in these issues and able to rise above the partisan fray so that we are not attributing it to one side of the political spectrum or the other, we’re not using Israel as a political football.”
He praised what he saw as Bloomberg’s “political courage” and appeal to various audiences. “It doesn’t seem like people often want to speak about this but if you want to get a piece of legislation signed in 2021 by the president of the United States, you’re going to have to get conservative Democrats and Republicans on board. Plain and simple, and that’s going to require leadership.”


buzzfeed--2020-01-26--Democrats Say Trump’s Lawyers Just Made A Great Case — For Calling Witnesses and Documents


buzzfeed--2020-01-27--"Things Are Gonna Get Crazy": Bernie Sanders' Camp Is Warning Supporters About A Backlash

ANKENY , Iowa — Across the room , sheets of paper taped to the wall reminded volunteers to organize with respect : “ When you are tempted to make a statement , ” one read , “ ask a question.
” Supporters gathered in the center of the room , waiting to knock on doors here in Ankeny , heard staffers speak of a welcoming movement .
And Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez urged the crowd to stay “ focused ” on their own campaign — and be “ happy ” and “ joyous ” while doing it .
“ Positivity is @ @ @ @ @ @ @ this movement , ” the congresswoman said .
Just eight days remain until the primary begins here in Iowa — and Bernie Sanders is leading the polls .
For some Democrats , it ’ s a scenario they say they ’ ve dreaded and feared : waking up to the reality that the 78-year-old Vermont senator , an independent who has reshaped party policy and promised to bring a revolution to Washington , has a real shot at capturing the nomination .
For the Sanders campaign , it ’ s been part rallying @ @ @ @ @ @ @ across Iowa this weekend , the candidate and his top surrogates repeatedly warned of a coming fight with forces that would try to stop them , at points celebrating the clash , at points cautioning supporters to stay positive .
With the series of polls showing Sanders at the top of the field in the first states — two more came out on Sunday alone , along with a national poll that has Sanders and Biden nearly tied — there is a feeling of palpable anticipation inside and around the campaign over what @ @ @ @ @ @ @ coming .
“ In these last eight days , things are gon na get crazy , ” Ocasio-Cortez said on Sunday .
“ I do n't even know what 's gon na happen .
And that 's why we 've got ta stay focused and committed as possible.
” “ And let 's make it joyous , y'all , ” she said to cheers .
“ Let 's make it joyous.
” Some rivals are already trying to capitalize on establishment anxiety .
Pete Buttigieg asked supporters twice on Saturday to fend off @ @ @ @ @ @ @ s campaign .
“ If things stay steady until the Iowa Caucuses in just nine days , Bernie Sanders could be the nominee of our party , ” one fundraising email read .
And Amy Klobuchar is warning that having Sanders at the top of the ballot could hurt Democrats running in other races .
`` I do n't come from a state as blue as Vermont , '' she said when asked about Sanders by reporters in Iowa .
“ It looks like our opponents are pretty nervous that we ’ re @ @ @ @ @ @ @ in response , along with an image of Buttigieg ’ s fundraising appeal .
“ Good !
Let ’ s keep up the pressure.
” At a rally on Saturday night , a crowd of 1,400 in Ames cheered Sanders on as he spoke of the concerns about his candidacy .
“ We are taking on the Democratic establishment , and all across the country , let me tell you that the big money interests are getting very nervous .
They ’ re looking at recent polls in New Hampshire and in Iowa @ @ @ @ @ @ @ my god , Sanders can win , ’ ” the senator said , feigning panic .
Michael Moore , the documentary filmmaker who joined Sanders and Ocasio-Cortez at seven campaign stops this weekend , told supporters , “ The knives are out.
” “ The rich woke up this morning , and they read these articles and they 're like , ‘ Oh no , oh no , what are we going to do ?
’ So we 'll see what they 're going to do.
” A few days earlier , Moore @ @ @ @ @ @ @ had been sending daily talking points to surrogates “ admonishing us not to say one negative word about any of the other candidates.
” Moore , a voluble and aggressive surrogate on the campaign trail , arrived in Iowa prepared to rebut a range of potential attacks against the campaign .
At his hotel on Sunday morning , he told crowds , he encountered a person who asked him why Sanders didn ’ t do more to help Hillary Clinton after she won the nomination in 2016 .
“ I said , ‘ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , because I happen to carry this with me , ’ ” he said , brandishing two pieces of paper at the podium in a routine he repeated from town halls to canvass launches .
On one sheet , he had written a list of 10 cities where he said Clinton held rallies for Barack Obama after she lost the nomination in 2008 — a gesture Moore praised at length .
( Clinton held 46 events for Obama that year , according to a former Clinton campaign staffer who provided an accounting of @ @ @ @ @ @ @ On the other sheet : a list of the 42 cities where Sanders held a rally for Clinton in 2016 .
“ If anybody says this to you , ” Moore said of the claim that Sanders didn ’ t campaign for Clinton , “ please point out how gracious she was to Barack Obama and how incredible — there are some days here when Bernie did four cities in one day for Hillary Clinton , ” Moore said .
“ These are the facts .
I ’ ll post ’ em on @ @ @ @ @ @ @ his first presidential bid four years ago , critics have accused Sanders supporters of aggressive and insensitive online discourse .
Earlier this month , after Elizabeth Warren said she remembered Sanders telling her that he didn ’ t believe a woman could win the presidential election , Sanders supporters leapt to his defense online , calling Warren a liar and sending her a barrage of snake emojis on Twitter .
Sanders and his campaign staff have urged his supporters to exercise respect and avoid any personal attacks .
After one prominent supporter , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , wrote in an op-ed that Joe Biden had a “ big corruption problem , ” Sanders issued an apology and made a direct appeal to his followers .
“ Please , engage in civil discourse , ” he said in a CBS News interview .
Sanders has still willingly feuded with Biden over policy , with his campaign continuing a days-long dispute over their social security records on Sunday night .
“ Joe Biden continues trying to hide his efforts to help Republicans cut Social Security , ” Sanders campaign manager Faiz @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Biden ’ s comments that Sanders has not been “ consistent ” on social security .
Here on Sunday , at the first of five stops with Sanders before the senator returns to Washington to participate in the ongoing impeachment trial , Ocasio-Cortez told volunteers that a positive campaign would welcome new voters .
“ This should be about celebration , ” Ocasio-Cortez said at the field office in Ankeny .
“ This is a celebration !
We are establishing and reestablishing and reinvigorating our democracy here in this country .
This is @ @ @ @ @ @ @ celebration of one another is what brings people in.
” The 11 candidates in the race have largely declined to attack Sanders directly .
The Buttigieg campaign ’ s email about Sanders didn ’ t come up at his town hall the next day in Des Moines .
Asked by reporters if Democrats have underestimated Sanders , the former mayor said only , “ It ’ s a terrible mistake to not take any candidate seriously.
” “ This is the heat of competition , ” said Buttigieg .

ANKENY, Iowa — Across the room, sheets of paper taped to the wall reminded volunteers to organize with respect: “When you are tempted to make a statement,” one read, “ask a question.” Supporters gathered in the center of the room, waiting to knock on doors here in Ankeny, heard staffers speak of a welcoming movement. And Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez urged the crowd to stay “focused” on their own campaign — and be “happy” and “joyous” while doing it.
“Positivity is going to be what brings people into this movement,” the New York representative said.
Just eight days remain until the primary begins here in Iowa — and Sen. Bernie Sanders is leading the polls. For some Democrats, it’s a scenario they say they’ve dreaded and feared: waking up to the reality that the 78-year-old Vermont senator, an independent who has reshaped party policy and promised to bring a revolution to Washington, has a real shot at capturing the nomination. For the Sanders campaign, it’s been part rallying cry, part admonition: At events across Iowa this weekend, the candidate and his top surrogates repeatedly warned of a coming fight with forces that would try to stop them, at points celebrating the clash, at points cautioning supporters to stay positive.
With the series of polls showing Sanders at the top of the field in the first states — two more came out on Sunday alone, along with a national poll that has Sanders and Biden nearly tied — there is a feeling of palpable anticipation inside and around the campaign over what backlash, if any, might be coming.
“In these last eight days, things are gonna get crazy,” Ocasio-Cortez said on Sunday. “I don't even know what's gonna happen. And that's why we've gotta stay focused and committed as possible.”
“And let's make it joyous, y'all,” she said to cheers. “Let's make it joyous.”
Some rivals are already trying to capitalize on establishment anxiety. Pete Buttigieg asked supporters twice on Saturday to fend off Sanders by contributing to the mayor’s campaign.
“If things stay steady until the Iowa Caucuses in just nine days, Bernie Sanders could be the nominee of our party,” one fundraising email read.
And Amy Klobuchar is warning that having Sanders at the top of the ballot could hurt Democrats running in other races. "I don't come from a state as blue as Vermont," she said when asked about Sanders by reporters in Iowa.
“It looks like our opponents are pretty nervous that we’re going to win,” Sanders tweeted in response, along with an image of Buttigieg’s fundraising appeal. “Good! Let’s keep up the pressure.”
At a rally on Saturday night, a crowd of 1,400 people in Ames cheered Sanders on as he spoke of the concerns about his candidacy. “We are taking on the Democratic establishment, and all across the country, let me tell you that the big money interests are getting very nervous. They’re looking at recent polls in New Hampshire and in Iowa and they’re saying ‘Oh my god, Sanders can win,’” the senator said, feigning panic.
Michael Moore, the documentary filmmaker who joined Sanders and Ocasio-Cortez at seven campaign stops this weekend, told supporters, “The knives are out.”
He added, “The rich woke up this morning, and they read these articles and they're like, ‘Oh no, oh no, what are we going to do?’ So we'll see what they're going to do.”
A few days earlier, Moore told an audience that the Sanders campaign had been sending daily talking points to surrogates “admonishing us not to say one negative word about any of the other candidates.”
Moore, a voluble and aggressive surrogate on the campaign trail, arrived in Iowa prepared to rebut a range of potential attacks against the campaign. At his hotel on Sunday morning, he told crowds, he encountered a person who asked him why Sanders didn’t do more to help Hillary Clinton after she won the nomination in 2016.
“I said, ‘I’m glad you said that, because I happen to carry this with me,’” he said, brandishing two pieces of paper at the podium in a routine he has repeated from town halls to canvass launches.
On one sheet, he had written a list of 10 cities where he said Clinton held rallies for Barack Obama after she lost the nomination in 2008 — a gesture Moore praised at length. (Clinton held 46 events for Obama that year, according to a former Clinton campaign staffer who provided an accounting of her political events that year.) On the other sheet: a list of the 42 cities where Sanders held a rally for Clinton in 2016.
“If anybody says this to you,” Moore said of the claim that Sanders didn’t campaign for Clinton, “please point out how gracious she was to Barack Obama and how incredible — there are some days here when Bernie did four cities in one day for Hillary Clinton,” Moore said.
“These are the facts. I’ll post ’em on my site.”
In this campaign and his first presidential bid four years ago, critics have accused Sanders supporters of aggressive and insensitive online discourse. Earlier this month, Sen. Elizabeth Warren said she remembered Sanders telling her that he didn’t believe a woman could win the presidential election; in response, his supporters leaped to his defense online, calling her a liar and sending her a barrage of snake emojis on Twitter.
Sanders and his campaign staffers have urged his supporters to exercise respect and avoid any personal attacks. After one of his prominent supporters, former New York gubernatorial candidate Zephyr Teachout, wrote in an op-ed that Joe Biden had a “big corruption problem,” Sanders issued an apology and made a direct appeal to his followers.
“Please engage in civil discourse,” he said in a CBS News interview.
Sanders has still willingly feuded with Biden over policy, with his campaign continuing a days-long dispute over their social security records on Sunday night. “Joe Biden continues trying to hide his efforts to help Republicans cut Social Security,” Sanders' campaign manager, Faiz Shakir, said in a statement responding to the former vice president's comments that the Vermont senator has not been “consistent” on social security.
Here on Sunday, at the first of five stops with Sanders before he returns to Washington to participate in the ongoing impeachment trial, Ocasio-Cortez told volunteers that a positive campaign would welcome new voters.
“This should be about celebration,” Ocasio-Cortez said at the field office in Ankeny. “This is a celebration! We are establishing and reestablishing and reinvigorating our democracy here in this country. This is joyous. This is happy. That celebration of one another is what brings people in.”
The 11 candidates in the race have largely declined to attack Sanders directly.
The Buttigieg campaign’s email about Sanders didn’t come up at his town hall the next day in Des Moines. Asked by reporters if Democrats have underestimated Sanders, the former mayor said only, “It’s a terrible mistake to not take any candidate seriously.”
“This is the heat of competition,” said Buttigieg.


buzzfeed--2020-01-27--Here's The Recording Of Trump Saying He Wanted To "Get Rid Of" A Top US Ambassador


buzzfeed--2020-01-27--Donald Trump Is Flooding Iowa Because He Can’t Not Be The Center Of Attention

President Donald Trump is flooding Iowa ahead of the state ’ s caucuses in what his campaign is calling a test run for November 2020 but is also a means of trying to give the president what he wants : all the attention on himself .
Trump will be holding a rally in Des Moines on Jan. 30 , and more than 80 surrogates — including his sons Donald Trump Jr. and Eric Trump and their partners Kimberly Guilfoyle and Lara Trump ( both women are official members of his reelection campaign ) — will swarm the state on caucus @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Iowa caucuses are a chance to flex the organizational muscles of President Trump ’ s campaign , ” his campaign spokesperson , Tim Murtaugh , told BuzzFeed News .
“ The caucuses will be a good workout for our ground game as we prepare to win Iowa in November.
” Several members of Trump ’ s cabinet — including Education Secretary Betsy DeVos , Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross , Housing and Urban Development Secretary Ben Carson , as well as Trump ’ s acting chief of staff Mick Mulvaney — will be heading @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ’ s loudest supporters in Congress , heightened since the House launched an impeachment inquiry against him , will also be on hand , including Reps. Liz Cheney , Jim Jordan , Mark Meadows , Matt Gaetz , and Elise Stefanik .
Jerry Falwell Jr. and Mike Lindell , the inventor of MyPillow , whose ads feature incessantly on Fox News and who has been a regular at Trump rallies , are also heading to Iowa .
Trump is not actually in any danger in the state ’ s Republican caucuses .
Two @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Joe Walsh and former Massachusetts governor Bill Weld — are running against Trump for the Republican nomination , but they ’ ve barely gotten any traction .
This giant Trump push isn ’ t really about being scared of either of them .
“ Our Caucus Day operation is just a preview of what is to come , ” campaign manager Brad Parscale said in a statement .
“ We are putting the Democrats on notice — good luck trying to keep up with this formidable re-election machine.
” The focus on Iowa @ @ @ @ @ @ @ president as it is about flexing the muscles of the campaign , which has raised much more money than any of the potential Democratic nominees so far .
Battling impeachment in DC , while personally loathe to lose any of the spotlight , Trump ’ s effort in Iowa will be an attempt to try to ensure that Democrats can ’ t steal the day .
In the past , Trump has held rallies in the middle of massive news events , only to squander the opportunity to set a new narrative , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ to an adoring crowd that boosts his ego .
Speaking in Minneapolis in mid-October , at his first rally since the House announced it would launch an impeachment inquiry against him , Trump famously reenacted text messages between former FBI employees Lisa Page and Peter Strzok before accusing Democrats of being “ on a crusade to destroy our democracy , ” renewing his attacks on Reps. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Ilhan Omar .
At a rally in Battle Creek , Michigan , on Dec. 18 , the day the House voted to impeach him @ @ @ @ @ @ @ lightbulbs and home appliances than the process in DC .
“ Dishwashers , we did the dishwasher , right ?
You press it — remember the dishwasher , you press it , boom , they 'd be like an explosion.
” He spoke for more than an hour both times , appearing to revel in the distraction and the immediate attention .
Trump has been working to wiggle his way into the Democratic primary for months .
Attacking Democrats has long been a feature of Trump ’ s speeches and tweets , complete @ @ @ @ @ @ @ campaign have been painting the candidates with a broad brush as “ Radical Left , ” and have recently begun to focus more on Bernie Sanders , adding to his obsession with Joe Biden , which is at the center of the impeachment inquiry .
Trump is expected to return to DC after his rally , while his surrogates will be in Iowa the day of the caucus on Feb 3 .
He is expected to give his State of the Union address the following day .

President Donald Trump is flooding Iowa ahead of the state’s caucuses in what his campaign is calling a test run for November 2020 but is also a means of trying to give the president what he wants: all the attention on himself.
Trump will be holding a rally in Des Moines on Jan. 30, and more than 80 surrogates — including his sons Donald Trump Jr. and Eric Trump and their partners Kimberly Guilfoyle and Lara Trump (both women are official members of his reelection campaign) — will swarm the state on caucus day, Feb. 3.
“The Iowa caucuses are a chance to flex the organizational muscles of President Trump’s campaign,” his campaign spokesperson, Tim Murtaugh, told BuzzFeed News. “The caucuses will be a good workout for our ground game as we prepare to win Iowa in November.”
Several members of Trump’s cabinet — including Education Secretary Betsy DeVos, Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross, Housing and Urban Development Secretary Ben Carson, as well as Trump’s acting chief of staff Mick Mulvaney — will be heading to Iowa. Some of the president’s loudest supporters in Congress, heightened since the House launched an impeachment inquiry against him, will also be on hand, including Reps. Liz Cheney, Jim Jordan, Mark Meadows, Matt Gaetz, and Elise Stefanik. Jerry Falwell Jr. and Mike Lindell, the inventor of MyPillow, whose ads feature incessantly on Fox News and who has been a regular at Trump rallies, are also heading to Iowa.
Trump is not actually in any danger in the state’s Republican caucuses. Two Republicans — former member of the House Joe Walsh and former Massachusetts governor Bill Weld — are running against Trump for the Republican nomination, but they’ve barely gotten any traction. This giant Trump push isn’t really about being scared of either of them.
“Our Caucus Day operation is just a preview of what is to come,” campaign manager Brad Parscale said in a statement. “We are putting the Democrats on notice — good luck trying to keep up with this formidable re-election machine.”
The focus on Iowa is just as much about pleasing the president as it is about flexing the muscles of the campaign, which has raised much more money than any of the potential Democratic nominees so far.
Battling impeachment in DC, while personally loathe to lose any of the spotlight, Trump’s effort in Iowa will be an attempt to try to ensure that Democrats can’t steal the day. In the past, Trump has held rallies in the middle of massive news events, only to squander the opportunity to set a new narrative, rambling instead about wind turbines and dishwashers to an adoring crowd that boosts his ego.
Speaking in Minneapolis in mid-October, at his first rally since the House announced it would launch an impeachment inquiry against him, Trump famously reenacted text messages between former FBI employees Lisa Page and Peter Strzok before accusing Democrats of being “on a crusade to destroy our democracy,” renewing his attacks on Reps. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Ilhan Omar. At a rally in Battle Creek, Michigan, on Dec. 18, the day the House voted to impeach him, Trump spent more time focused on lightbulbs and home appliances than the process in DC. “Dishwashers, we did the dishwasher, right? You press it — remember the dishwasher, you press it, boom, they'd be like an explosion.” He spoke for more than an hour both times, appearing to revel in the distraction and the immediate attention.
Trump has been working to wiggle his way into the Democratic primary for months. Attacking Democrats has long been a feature of Trump’s speeches and tweets, complete with ever-lengthening nicknames. He and his campaign have been painting the candidates with a broad brush as “Radical Left,” and have recently begun to focus more on Bernie Sanders, adding to his obsession with Joe Biden, which is at the center of the impeachment inquiry.
Trump is expected to return to DC after his rally, while his surrogates will be in Iowa the day of the caucus on Feb 3. He is expected to give his State of the Union address the following day.