We are completing the first week of Morning Post and the three cheers on Friday! Jonathan Easley and Alexis Simendinger reported on this comprehensive morning email. He is the successor to Hill’s Tips for understanding the most important political and policy developments and upcoming news. The Ministry of Justice
We are completing the first week of Morning Post and the three cheers on Friday! Jonathan Easley and Alexis Simendinger reported on this comprehensive morning email.
He is the successor to Hill’s Tips for understanding the most important political and policy developments and upcoming news.
The Ministry of Justice submitted to the Congress a personal memo from the former FBI Director James Komi, which recorded seven dialogues with President Trump in early 2017 .
The document leaked almost immediately on Thursday night. Hill received a copy. Read here.
As Hill’s Katie Williams wrote, the 15-page note “has become a holy grail in the president’s attempt to thwart disputes over his campaigning and the judicial dispute in Russia ’s investigations .”
The bottom line is: Trump claims defense .
Trump’s allies agree. The readers of the Fox News Channel stated that the President has already removed all wrongdoing – there is nothing in the memo that suggests that Komi believes that Trump colludes with Russians or obstructs justice.
The leaders of the House of Representatives stated that the memorandum showed that Trump longed for Komi to investigate the charges against him to clear his name.
Democrats have different opinions.
The House Democracy Committee’s top Democrat, Congressman Elijah Cummings (D-Md.), said that the memorandum “provides strong evidence for what Comet President Trump has said,” and showed “flagrant denial of justice. Work hard.”
LEADING THE DAY
INSIDE THE MEMOS:
AP: In Comey’s memos, Trump fixates on “hookers” and frets over Flynn.
ROLE REVERSAL:
Comey’s book tour started triumphantly but hit a rough patch even before his private memos were released.
The bottom line: Referrals don’t guarantee that charges will be brought, but lying to federal investigators is a crime .
Meanwhile, it was a good day for Trump on the investigations front.
Miami Herald: Miami husband-and-wife legal duo to join Trump defense in Russia investigation .
But it wasn’t all good news.
SPONSORED CONTENT – CVS HEALTH
Chronic illness affects 1 in 2 Americans and accounts for more than 80% of all health care costs. Learn more about how we are saving lives and helping people manage their chronic conditions. Learn more.
THE BIG TWIST IN THE CAPITOL:
Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) and Majority Whip Steve Scalise (R-La.) are the frontrunners to succeed Speaker Paul Ryan (R-Wis.) as the next GOP leader.
But House conservatives tell The Hill that it’s possible the entire current leadership team could be overthrown, particularly if Republicans suffer heavy losses in the midterm elections and return next year in the minority.
The person to watch: Rep. Jim Jordan (R- Ohio).
The conservative group FreedomWorks launched a “Draft Jim Jordan ” effort on Thursday and is agitating for the vote to take place before the November elections, arguing that “selecting a truly conservative Speaker would change the entire momentum of the 2018 midterm election cycle.”
The Hill: Young GOP lawmakers want more power .
The Hill: GOP in retreat on ObamaCare .
CABINET WATCH:
State Department
CIA Director Mike Pompeo appears all but certain to win Senate confirmation to be secretary of State, following the first public vow of support from a Democrat, Sen. Heidi Heitkamp, who is running for re-election this year in North Dakota, The Hill’s Jordain Carney reports. Will other red-state Democrats – there are 10 total running for reelection in states Trump won in 2016 – follow her lead?
The Hill: Democrats mull audacious plan to block Pompeo.
The Hill (op-ed): Democrats have good reason to confirm Mike Pompeo.
Central Intelligence Agency
The Senate Intelligence Committee ’s confirmation hearing May 9 for Gina Haspel, nominated to succeed Pompeo, will be tense. Democratic senators are expected to press the 30-year CIA career officer about torture during the post- 9/11 Bush years. More than 40 advocacy groups are urging the Senate to defeat Haspel’s nomination.
Veterans Affairs Department
Trump’s nominee to lead the VA, Dr. Ronny Jackson, is prepping for a confirmation grilling April 25 before the Senate Veterans’ Affairs Committee.
Environmental Protection Agency
Scott Pruitt, embattled administrator of the EPA, remains on the ropes and a subject of multiple investigations. But Trump shows no signs of impatience with the Oklahoman.
Pruitt’s expenses, ethics, insistence on extensive personal security measures, decisions to misuse EPA programs to hike salaries for top EPA employees, and agency policies are under investigation. Internal emails show the EPA worked to limit the agency’s use of science, The Hill’s Miranda Green and Timothy Cama reported.
Reuters: EPA inspector general opens new probe into Pruitt’s travels.
TRUMP TUSSLES WITH CALIFORNIA (AND ITS GOVERNOR):
The president on Thursday said blue-state Californians are moving closer to his thinking about the security risks of defying Washington with policies that offer safe-harbors to undocumented immigrants in cities. And he may be right.
“If you look at what’s happening in California with sanctuary cities — people are really going the opposite way. They don’t want sanctuary cities,” Trump told reporters while traveling in Florida. “There’s a little bit of a revolution going on in California.”
A large academic study of California public opinion (2,440 respondents), conducted in December and reported this week, found that 59 percent of adults in the state believe it’s important to increase deportations of undocumented people .
IN FOCUS/SHARP TAKES
➔ Mueller protection: Proposed GOP Senate legislation to protect the special counsel investigation in the event the president attempts to halt it was punted to next week, reports The Hill’s Jordain Carney. Judiciary Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley (R- Iowa) backs it; Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) says it will not see a vote. Grassley cut loose, saying McConnell’s views “do not govern what happens here in the Judiciary Committee.”
➔ White House organization: Trump has upended his West Wing org chart by allowing national security adviser John Bolton and National Economic Council Director Larry Kudlow, two newcomers, to report directly to him, instead of through chief of staff John Kelly, CNN reported. Kelly is effectively demoted to another direct-report — the messy condition he tried to eradicate when he succeeded Reince Priebus.
Guaranteed ahead: Friction and more personnel departures (Trump is recasting his White House using a model known as “spokes of the wheel,” described by savvy former White House chiefs of staff as bad news for effective presidential management.)
The Hill: Staff changes upend White House cyber team.
➔ News round-up from State Watch this week (some curation by The Hill’s Reid Wilson):
OPINION
Europe ’s plea to Congress: Keep the Iran pact, by Delphine O ( France), Omid Nouripour ( Germany) and Richard Bacon (Great Britain), op-ed, The New York Times .
