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Thursday's Mini-Report, 7.7.16
Today's edition of quick hits:
* Minnesota: "Outrage continued to grow Thursday over the fatal shooting of a Minnesota man whose girlfriend captured the aftermath of the incident on live video. Philando Castile's grief-stricken girlfriend, Diamond Reynolds, claims he was shot five times during a traffic stop in Falcon Heights, a suburb of the Twin Cities."
* Related news: "An 'appalled' Minnesota Gov. Mark Dayton said Thursday that police wouldn't have shot and killed Philando Castile if he'd been white and called for justice 'with the greatest sense of time urgency.'"
* Baton Rouge: "In the end, Alton Sterling lay nearly spread-eagle on the pavement outside the Triple S Food Mart early Tuesday, a wide bloodstain on the front of his red shirt as a police officer called on his radio, 'Shots fired. Shots fired,' then shouted an expletive. Moments before, Sterling, pinned to the ground, had been struggling with two Baton Rouge police officers on top of him. Then at least six shots rang out."
* A statement from President Obama: "All Americans should be deeply troubled by the fatal shootings of Alton Sterling in Baton Rouge, Louisiana and Philando Castile in Falcon Heights, Minnesota. We've seen such tragedies far too many times, and our hearts go out to the families and communities who've suffered such a painful loss."
* That's that: "No charges will be brought against Hillary Clinton after the FBI found there's no evidence she committed a crime by using a personal email server while she was secretary of state, Attorney General Loretta Lynch announced Wednesday."
* In advance of Jobs Day tomorrow: "The number of Americans filing for unemployment benefits unexpectedly fell last week, offering further confirmation that the labor market remains on solid footing despite tepid job gains in May.... Claims have now been below 300,000, a threshold associated with a healthy labor market, for 70 straight weeks, the longest stretch since 1973."
* United Kingdom: "Britain on Thursday moved a step closer to having its second female prime minister as the contest to lead the country's ruling Conservative party narrowed to two women. Theresa May and Andrea Leadsom emerged as the favorites in a ballot of lawmakers that was triggered by David Cameron's resignation over last month's Brexit vote."
GOP accidentally does Clinton a favor with James Comey hearing
Congressional Republicans had a nice, simple morality tale to tell. The main narrative was a little thin -- any story built around email server protocols is going to be dry -- but GOP lawmakers had clearly identified protagonists and antagonists. Just as importantly, they'd convinced much of the media that their tale was as important as it was riveting.
Today, however, Republicans lost the plot.
On Tuesday, FBI Director James Comey announced that while Hillary Clinton's email server protocols were careless, no sane prosecutor would find her actions worthy of an indictment. House Republicans, who were counting on an indictment to improve the GOP's election chances, were apoplectic and hastily threw together a hearing, forcing Comey to go to Capitol Hill to explain himself.
What Republicans didn't realize is the degree to which they were doing Clinton and Democrats a favor. NBC News reported on the proceedings:
FBI director James Comey stuck to his guns Thursday and defended his decision not to charge Hillary Clinton with a crime for her use of a private email server while serving as secretary of state.Summoned to appear before the Republican-led House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, Comey insisted again that Clinton "did not break the law" and that there was not enough evidence to charge her with a crime. "That's just the way it is," Comey said.
I honestly have no idea what Republicans thought they were going to achieve with this spectacle. Did GOP lawmakers expect Comey to declare, "Now that you've yelled at me for a few hours, I've changed my mind and now support criminal charges against Clinton"?
Before the hearing Republicans had a series of fairly specific talking points: Clinton lied to the FBI; she created a national security threat; she plays by a different set of rules than everyone else. But instead of simply repeating those talking points, GOP lawmakers invited the FBI director -- a lifelong Republican, whom GOP officials have repeatedly praised for his honesty -- to testify about how wrong the party's arguments are.
"We have no basis to believe she lied to the FBI," Comey said. Asked about Clinton benefiting from a different set of rules, he responded, "It's not true." Asked about classified emails, Comey said there were only three messages -- each of which were not properly marked classified when she received them.
In other words, congressional Republicans had the bright idea of holding a hearing with a credible witness who was perfectly happy to explain to them how wrong they are.
55yrs ago today I was released from Parchman Penitentiary after being arrested in Jackson for using "white" restroom pic.twitter.com/i4CMCrJ3Lh
— John Lewis (@repjohnlewis) July 7, 2016
Paul Ryan, GOP settle on a new anti-Clinton scheme
For many years, once the national conventions wrap up, major-party presidential nominees have received high-level intelligence briefings ahead of the election. The goal is entirely practical: if someone is poised to possibly become president, it's important that they're up to speed and fully prepared on Inauguration Day.
This year, however, isn't a normal year, and several prominent figures -- some in intelligence agencies, some Bush/Cheney administration veterans -- have expressed concern about sharing sensitive information with Donald Trump. The man isn't exactly known for his careful restraint.
And it's against this backdrop that congressional Republicans have decided they don't want Hillary Clinton to have classified briefings, either.
House Speaker Paul Ryan says Hillary Clinton can't be trusted with classified information and is formally asking federal intelligence officials to deny the former secretary of State briefings during the fall campaign, a typical practice for both party's nominees.In a letter to Director of National Intelligence James Clapper dated Wednesday and released on Thursday, Ryan wrote that the FBI's admonishment of Clinton this week over her lax email practices as secretary of state needs to carry repercussions.
It's not just the Speaker of the House who believes he's in a position to judge who should and shouldn't receive intelligence briefings -- Senate Republicans are making the same demands.
If I had to guess, I'd say GOP lawmakers don't actually care whether or not Clinton receives these pre-election briefings, and it's likely they don't believe their own talking points. Republicans are looking for a way to make headlines, and some GOP press secretaries probably argued that this stunt was the best way to keep the email story alive for another day or two.
But that doesn't change the fact that it's a pretty dumb pitch.
Following odd tirade, is there 'something wrong with' Trump?
When Donald Trump initially went after Judge Gonzalo Curiel with racially charged criticisms, he created a controversy -- which he immediately made worse by re-emphasizing the same points, over and over again, in subsequent days. The Republican candidate was convinced there was nothing wrong with what he was saying, so he had no qualms about sticking to his offensive line.
We saw those same instincts on display last night in Ohio. NBC News reported:
Less than an hour after Attorney General Lynch recommended no charges against Hillary Clinton, Donald Trump spoke at length about almost everything else.What began as a point-by-point take down of the inconsistencies in the former secretary of state's statements about her server versus what was found by the FBI quickly devolved into a loop-the-loop of tangents, grievances and alternative headlines.
Trump wanted to talk about the anti-Semitic image in his recent tweet, and his belief that his campaign shouldn't have deleted his original message. Trump wanted to talk about the parts of Saddam Hussein's record he agrees with. Trump wanted to talk about how much he likes the Brexit policy he knows little about.
Trump wanted to accuse his critics of "racial profiling," a phrase the GOP candidate likes to use, though it's not clear he knows what it means. Trump wanted to list the various Jewish people he knows personally.
The Washington Post added this gem of a sentence: "At one point he also swatted at a mosquito, then pretended the bug was Clinton and spoke to it."
The Atlantic's James Fallows, watching this spectacle unfold, wrote, "It would be rash ever to declare Peak Trump. But really, there is something wrong with this man." MSNBC's Chris Hayes added, "I've been watching these now for 13 months ... and that was the most unhinged thing that I've seen from him. It was all over the place. It was like Charlie Sheen during his 'Winning' tour."
And then it got worse.
"At one point he also swatted at a mosquito, then pretended the bug was Clinton and spoke to it." https://t.co/4FyUV1e0vU
— Jill Colvin (@colvinj) July 7, 2016
Thursday's Campaign Round-Up, 7.7.16
Today's installment of campaign-related news items from across the country.
* Donald Trump was on Capitol Hill this morning, where he met for the first time with the House Republican conference. It was a closed-door gathering, though "at least 200" GOP lawmakers were reportedly in attendance.
* At a campaign event late yesterday, Trump campaigned alongside Newt Gingrich, and the presumptive Republican nominee told supporters, "I can tell you, in one form or another, Newt Gingrich is going to be involved with our government."
* Bernie Sanders talked to CNN's Wolf Blitzer yesterday, and when the host said, in reference to Hillary Clinton, "She won fair and square, right?" the senator replied, "Yep." Sanders added, however, "The nomination is not the only aspect of what politics is about."
* Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker (R), a longtime Trump critic, endorsed his former foe on Twitter yesterday, but he did so in the weakest way possible. "Last August, I said I'd support the GOP nominee," the governor wrote. "It's now clear who the RNC delegates will vote to nominate. And he is better than she is." Note, Walker couldn't even bring himself to mention Trump's name.
* Symone Sanders, Bernie Sanders' former national press secretary, is taking on a new role with the Democratic National Convention Committee.
* Marco Rubio had said he planned to attend the Republican National Convention, but much like his promise not to run for re-election, the senator has apparently changed his mind.
* In Nevada's closely watched U.S. Senate race, former Attorney General Catherine Cortez Masto (D) launched a new television ad this week, touting praise she's received from Nevada's Republican governor, Brian Sandoval.
Wednesday's Mini-Report, 7.6.16
Today's edition of quick hits:
* Baton Rouge: "The U.S. Justice Department will lead a civil rights investigation into the death of a black man shot multiple times by police during a confrontation at a Louisiana convenience store. Graphic cellphone video circulating online, recorded by a witness early Tuesday, appears to show Alton Sterling, 37, being tackled and shot as two cops pin him to the ground before he is killed. Authorities said he was armed."
* Afghanistan: "President Obama said Wednesday he will slow the U.S. troop drawdown from Afghanistan, announcing that some 8,400 troops will remain there when he leaves office next year. 'I will not allow Afghanistan to be used as a safe haven for terrorists again,' Obama said, adding that over the years he has made several 'adjustments' in their strategy."
* An ongoing scandal: "An exhaustive inquiry on Britain's role in the Iraq War delivered a scathing critique of the government, intelligence and 'inadequate' military preparation for what it billed as a failed intervention. The Iraq Inquiry -- also known as the Chilcot report -- took seven years to complete at a cost of around $13.5 million."
* North Korea: "The U.S. is imposing sanctions on North Korean leader Kim Jong Un and 10 other top officials for human rights abuses. The penalties are escalation of Washington's effort to isolate Kim's government. The Treasury Department says it's blacklisting Kim for human rights violations by his government and the ruling Communist Party."
* GOP leadership vs. Freedom Caucus on guns: "House Republican leaders' plan to hold a vote on a gun-control proposal this week is on hold amid objections from conservatives concerned with the legislation and a broader package of counterterrorism measures."
* Seems like a dumb ruling: "A federal appeals court has ruled that consumers must be allowed to buy certain types of health insurance that do not meet the stringent standards of the Affordable Care Act, deciding that the administration had gone beyond the terms of federal law."
* Interesting report about an under-appreciated story: "A test of America's homeland missile defense system found a problem. Why did the Pentagon call it a success?"
As contenders quit, Trump's challenge is finding a willing VP
In 12 days, the Republican National Convention will get underway, and before the festivities begin, we'll probably know who Donald Trump has chosen as his running mate. Between now and then, all the presumptive GOP has to do is choose a partner -- and hope he or she is amenable.
That last part may be easier said than done. A variety of prominent Republicans have already said they're simply not interested, including Sen. Rob Portman (R-Ohio), South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley (R), Ohio Gov. John Kasich (R), New Mexico Gov. Susana Martinez (R), and Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.). Today, as the Washington Post reported, the list got a little longer.
Sen. Bob Corker (R-Tenn.), the chairman of the powerful Senate Foreign Relations Committee who has recently emerged as a finalist in the search for Donald Trump's running mate, told The Washington Post in an interview Wednesday that he has taken himself out of consideration for the position.Corker said that he informed the presumptive Republican presidential nominee of his decision during their day together on Tuesday, when the senator had a series of meetings with campaign officials in New York and then flew with Trump to an evening rally in North Carolina.
This doesn't come as too big of a surprise -- if you saw Corker and Trump together yesterday, you know the two didn't seem especially comfortable around each other -- but the senator did fit the mold for the kind of person Trump is reportedly looking for. Indeed, given Corker's lengthy career in government, quiet demeanor, and interest in foreign policy, the senator brings qualities to the table that Trump desperately needs.
But in the end, Corker didn't want the gig. Neither, evidently, does Sen. Joni Ernst (R-Iowa), who's been under consideration despite only one year on Capitol Hill, but who told Politico she's already conveyed to Trump that she's focused on her Senate duties. "I think that President Trump will need some great assistance in the United States Senate and I can provide that," she added.
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About The Rachel Maddow Show
Launched in 2008, “The Rachel Maddow Show” follows the machinations of policy making in America, from local political activism to international diplomacy. Rachel Maddow looks past the distractions of political theater and stunts and focuses on the legislative proposals and policies that shape American life - as well as the people making and influencing those policies and their ultimate outcome, intended or otherwise.
