Trump Cant Make America White Again Washington Post
Meanwhile, President Biden spoke to federal employees as part of an awards ceremony and will hosted a reception to mark the end of Ramadan ahead of a planned visit to Alabama on Tuesday to tour a Lockheed Martin facility that manufactures Javelin antitank missiles being sent to Ukraine. That visit is among a flurry of stepped-up gestures of solidarity with Ukraine from leading U.S. political figures amid a war with Russia with no end in sight. Over the weekend, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) visited with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky in Kyiv. Later this week, first lady Jill Biden is traveling to Romania and Slovakia to meet with Ukrainian refugees.
Welcome to Post Politics Now , a live experience from The Washington Post that puts the day's political headlines into context. Each weekday, we'll guide you through the news with assists from some of the best political reporters in the business providing insights and analysis.
Got a question about politics? Submit it here . At 3 p.m. weekdays, return to this space and we'll address what's on the mind of readers.
On our radar: Ohio and Indiana hold primaries, Biden traveling to Alabama
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Biden had a busy Monday: He presented the Presidential Rank Award to 230 winners and then hosted a reception to celebrate Eid al-Fitr. He also met with the parents of Austin Tice, the reporter who has spent almost a decade in captivity in Syria. Per the White House, Biden reiterated his commitment to continue to work to get Tice back home.
On Tuesday, Biden will be heading to Alabama to visit a Lockheed Martin facility that manufactures some of the weapon systems the administration has sent Ukraine. Here's what we we'll be watching Tuesday:
- It's primary time in Ohio and Indiana. Campaign season is here, with voters in 13 states headed to the polls this month. Ohio and Indiana will give us the first window into how this year's midterms will rollout with primaries Tuesday.
- Biden will likely say more on Ukraine. The president is, as we mentioned, visiting a factory that specializes in Javelin antitank missiles, which the United States has sent to Ukraine. His visit comes on the heels of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) signing a bill that gives him more power to accelerate the sending of weapons and aid to Ukraine. After his tour, Biden will deliver remarks highlighting his request to Congress to pass funding quickly to help Ukraine.
- Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg will testify before the Senate Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee. He'll be talking about the budget request.
- The Republicans running for their party's nomination in Georgia's 2022 Senate race will debate. The primary is set for May 24, and the winner will face incumbent Sen. Rafael Warnock (D) in November.
This just in: New York's disgraced lieutenant governor to be removed from ballot
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The New York legislature gave Gov. Kathy Hochul (D) the power to replace her scandal-tainted running mate ahead of the primary vote.
As Joanna Slater reports, Hochul will now be able to remove her handpicked lieutenant governor, Brian Benjamin, from the ballot. Even though Benjamin stepped down in April — after being arrested on corruption charges — replacing him on the ballot proved to be a whole new ordeal given that, under state election law, a party's designated candidate could be dropped only in rare circumstances.
Hochul, thus, had to make a case as to why he had to be replaced, Joanna explains:
Hochul appealed to legislators for help and on Monday, they delivered. The Democratic-controlled legislature approved a law that permits a candidate to decline a spot on the ballot if the person has been arrested or charged with a crime.
Hochul signed the bill Monday night.
While Hochul is still the favored candidate in the race, getting the legislature to help her tweak the ballot sparked immediate criticism that she was using lawmakers for her own political benefit. Per the AP, Hochul is now vetting a new candidate to take Benjamin's spot.
Benjamin, meanwhile, said he intended to withdraw from the ballot even though he expected to prove his innocence.
Read more from Joanna here.
This just in: Pelosi signs bill to accelerate aid for Ukraine
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House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) signed a bill Monday evening that will bolster Biden's authority to send critical defensive resources to Ukraine and other eastern European nations.
The House passed the bill last Thursday, an update to a World War II-era program that accelerates how weapons and other aid is sent to Ukraine.
Pelosi was joined at the signing by members of the congressional delegation that traveled with her this weekend to Ukraine and Poland.
Join Members of the Congressional delegation to Ukraine & Poland & me at the U.S. Capitol for a bill enrollment ceremony for the Ukraine Democracy Defense Lend-Lease Act of 2022, a bill reviving the Lend-Lease program to help Ukraine fight for freedom. https://t.co/0IPJlhGZkq
— Nancy Pelosi (@SpeakerPelosi) May 2, 2022
6:39 p.m.
Maxine Joselow :
Manchin gathers bipartisan group to talk energy — I'm here in the Capitol, where senators are trickling out of the bipartisan meeting on energy policy led by Sen. Joe Manchin III (D-W.Va.), a key swing vote on climate legislation in the evenly divided chamber. Reporters started laughing as Sen. James Inhofe (R-Okla.), who notoriously brought a snowball onto the Senate floor in 2015 to try to disprove climate change, stepped out of an elevator and headed in the opposite direction of the meeting. Sen. Mitt Romney (R-Utah) told reporters that it was a "very good meeting" but that talks are still in the early stages. Romney was one of four Republicans to attend, along with Sens. Lisa Murkowski (Alaska), Bill Cassidy (La.) and Dan Sullivan (Alaska). Manchin told reporters that a carbon border adjustment, which would impose a tax on carbon-intensive imported goods, came up at the meeting. "Everything's on the table," he said. "We're talking about everything." However, Manchin offered few specific details or assurances that more senators would join the discussion. And many climate advocates worry that time is slipping away to clinch a deal on Biden's stalled climate and social spending bill.
Maxine Joselow
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Reporter focusing on climate change and environment
Noted: The GOP has a Cawthorn problem that leaders hope voters will resolve
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Rep. Madison Cawthorn (R-N.C.) keeps getting accused of wrongdoing, and now Republican leaders are hoping that voters penalize him during this year's elections so they don't have to, Marianna Sotomayor, Leigh Ann Caldwell and Mike DeBonis report.
Over the past 16 months:
- Cawthorn has had guns confiscated at an airport (twice).
- He's been charged with driving with a revoked license in March after being given a speeding citation (twice).
- He's been accused of lying to Capitol Police.
- He's been accused of insider trading.
- He's been called a liar by House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) for claiming that Republican lawmakers invited him to an "orgy" and took drugs.
In terms of controversial decisions:
- He called Ukraine's Volodymyr Zelensky a "thug."
- He claimed to have been armed during the Jan. 6, 2021, insurrection.
- He decided to run in a different congressional district before realizing he has a better shot in his original because of redistricting.
Cawthorn has, so far, not faced any major consequences on the Hill for any of these behaviors. McCarthy did call him out for his statements on drugs and orgies, but he hasn't lost any significant power — he still sits on committees and has not been asked to step down by other Republicans.
But, as our colleagues report:
Privately, several Republicans have said they hope voters in Cawthorn's district penalize him in the May 17 Republican primary so Cawthorn's colleagues don't have to do something themselves.
"The voters of western North Carolina, ultimately, have to make that decision ... if they won't, it's up to leadership to deal with it," said Rep. Steve Womack (R-Ark.). "For our side, it's a leadership issue for us. … Lead on the issue, do the right thing."
Read more about the GOP's Cawthorn woes here.
The latest: Schumer calls Russian foreign minister's comparison of Zelensky to Hitler 'sickening'
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On the Senate floor Monday, Majority Leader Charles E. Schumer (D-N.Y.) condemned Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov's comments comparing Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky to Adolf Hitler, calling them "sickening."
Lavrov, Schumer said, did "what many others who now reside in the dust bin of history have done before him: resort to anti-Semitism to defend his nation's actions."
"As the highest-ranking Jewish elected official in the United States, I take particular umbrage at what Mr. Lavrov said," Schumer said.
President Vladimir Putin has excused the Russian invasion by falsely claiming that Ukraine is dominated and ruled by neo-Nazis. During an interview Sunday on Italian television, Lavrov was asked to justify Putin's claims in light of the fact that Zelensky is Jewish. That's when he made the comments that have earned him the condemnation of the United States and Israeli governments.
"So what if Zelensky is Jewish?" Lavrov said, according to a translation of his remarks, which he made in Russian. "The fact does not negate the Nazi elements in Ukraine. I believe that Hitler also had Jewish blood."
Your questions, answered: Why is the Fulton County district attorney's investigation of Trump taking so long?
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Why has it taken a year and a half for the Fulton County district attorney to get a grand jury investigation into former president Donald Trump started? — From a reader
In Georgia, Fulton County District Attorney Fani T. Willis (D) has been investigating whether Trump or his allies committed any crimes in their efforts to overturn the results of the 2020 election in the state.
Willis first announced the investigation Feb. 10, 2021, the day she asked Georgia officials to preserve any records they may have in connection with Trump's efforts.
That means it's been a little over a year since the investigation began. What is just getting started is a new phase in the process — on Monday, the DA announced that a special grand jury has been selected to hear the evidence Willis and her team have collected.
As our colleague Matt Zapotosky noted earlier Monday, the jurors — a "group of regular people" — will consider the evidence as prosecutors work to determine whether they should ask for criminal charges. This jury can issue subpoenas, which means witnesses could be forced to testify or turn over documents in connection with the investigation. Willis has said that witnesses called on by investigators have refused to cooperate, so the grand jury may help accelerate this.
As the Atlanta Journal-Constitution explains, the jury will have 12 months to conduct this investigation, which, like other grand jury investigations, will be conducted in secret.
It is key to remember, however, that while this grand jury has investigative authority and subpoena power, it can't bring an indictment. The group can only make suggestions of possible charges, which prosecutors can then choose to accept or ignore. To press charges, the prosecutors will have to lay their case again before a different grand jury.
So yes, reader, this process is long and slightly convoluted. We probably will not hear the end of it for months.
This just in: Harris tests negative for coronavirus, will mask upon return to work
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Vice President Harris tested negative for the coronavirus Monday, spokeswoman Kirsten Allen said.
Harris will return to work in person and, in accordance with CDC guidelines, will wear a "well-fitting mask" for the 10-day period.
Harris first tested positive six days ago and initially exhibited no symptoms, Allen said then. She has not been in Biden's proximity since her diagnosis and has isolated in her residence. She's fully vaccinated and boosted.
The latest: Biden lunches with Bill Clinton
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Former president Bill Clinton had lunch with Biden at the White House on Monday, Michael Scherer reports.
"The president is hosting former president Clinton for lunch this afternoon. He's looking forward to catching up and discussing a range of issues," said a White House official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss the president's private schedule.
As Michael notes, their meeting comes days after the two crossed paths at Madeleine Albright's funeral and at a time when Biden is about to enter a midterm campaign season that shares similarities for the field Democrats entered during the midterm election of Clinton's first presidential term, in 1994.
At her daily press briefing Monday afternoon, White House press secretary Jen Psaki said Biden and Clinton had "talked about having lunch just a few weeks ago, so this is an opportunity to do exactly that."
"I'm sure they will have a wide-ranging discussion," Psaki said, adding that Biden has had "a number of conversations" with Clinton "over the course of time since his time in office."
Psaki also noted that Biden had lunch last week with former president Barack Obama.
Per Michael:
Amid broad concerns about Clinton's aggressive legislative agenda, Republicans won a net gain of eight Senate seats and 54 House seats in that election, a so-called "Republican revolution" that set the tone for the rest of Clinton's first term. After the losses, Clinton adjusted his approach to the presidency and easily won reelection in 1996.
Read more about the lunch here.
2:20 p.m.
Marianna Sotomayor :
The signal Pelosi wanted to send — Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) led five House Democrats on a surprise trip to Kyiv, Ukraine, over the weekend, a significant signal to the world that the U.S. Congress remains firmly behind Ukrainians in the war with Russia. The trip came just as Congress is considering another aid package that would send billions in security, economic and humanitarian assistance to Ukraine. Biden has asked for $33 billion, but Congress is still negotiating how much to appropriate because it's unlikely this will be the last financial package it will send. The Pelosi-led congressional delegation also visited Warsaw to discuss the U.S.-Polish relationship as Russia continues to threaten the NATO country. At the conclusion of the trip, Pelosi noted how "proud" she was of the delegation, which did not include Republicans. A Pelosi aide noted that "multiple House Republicans were invited on this trip," which was described as a delegation visiting Poland. Security precautions prevented the lawmakers from disclosing that they would also visit Ukraine, about which they were told moments before they left the United States. "Every effort was made to make this a bipartisan delegation," the aide said.
Marianna Sotomayor
,
Congressional reporter covering the House of Representatives
The latest: Former NYPD officer found guilty in the first Jan. 6 police assault trial
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A retired New York Police Department officer became the first person convicted on charges of assaulting a police officer in the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the Capitol.
After deliberating for about three hours, a federal jury found that Thomas Webster, a former NYPD officer, assaulted D.C. police officer Noah Rathbun with an aluminum Marine Corps flagpole, Spencer S. Hsu reports. Webster was found guilty of interfering with police in a riot, trespassing, and disorderly and violent conduct while carrying a deadly or dangerous weapon on Capitol grounds.
As Spencer notes, the former NYPD officer — who once served on former New York mayor Mike Bloomberg's security detail — is the first of about 150 defendants charged with assaulting an officer to take his case to a jury and the first to argue self-defense.
From Spencer:
Federal juries in Washington have now found all four defendants who have gone to trial on felony charges guilty in the rioting that began after then-president Donald Trump urged supporters to go to the Capitol where Congress was confirming President Biden's 2020 election victory.
U.S. District Judge Amit P. Mehta set sentencing in September.
Joanna Burger, a U.S. Capitol Police officer who testified during the trial, gave insight into what was going on in defending officers' minds that day:
"All of our commands were ineffective. No one was listening," testified Joanna Burger, a U.S. Capitol Police officer standing next to Rathbun. "They didn't care if they had to hurt us to get to lawmakers."
She said officers faced hostile crowds on all sides and a shower of tossed metal pipes, wood, glass and plastic bottles.
"The threat … " Burger said," it was all around us at that point."
Webster's trial may be a window in what is to come for the hundreds of defendants charged in the deadly riot. Read more from Spencer here.
Noted: Complaint alleges largest individual contribution to pro-Trump super PAC part of 'straw donor scheme'
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The largest individual contribution to Make America Great Again, Again! — the Trump-approved super PAC — arrived last November from a little-known, Florida-based group called ML Organization LLC.
The Post's Isaac Stanley-Becker reports that a complaint with the Federal Election Commission, filed Monday by the nonprofit Campaign Legal Center, argues that the $500,000 donation represents a straw donor scheme masking the true source of the money. Federal law prohibits making a contribution in another person's name.
According to the complaint: "There is no record of ML Organization having any activities or generating any income" since it was registered as a Delaware LLC in April 2018. It has no website or other online presence, the complaint notes.
"Overall, the available information supports the conclusion that ML Organization did not have the means to contribute $500,000 … absent an infusion of funds provided to it for that specific purpose," the complaint alleges.
Federal filings show ML Organization reported an address in Boca Raton, Fla., that is owned by William Pulte, according to the complaint. Pulte, who did not respond to a request for comment, is a philanthropist and grandson of the founder of PulteGroup, a home construction and real estate giant.
A website identifies Pulte as the CEO of Pulte Capital and founder of Twitter Philanthropy, which "encourages users to highlight and participate in random acts of kindness for those that are truly in need."
Federal records show he has made a handful of other contributions to federal candidates or committees, including nearly $30,000 to the Republican National Committee in 2019 and several thousand dollars to Trump's reelection effort.
Make America Great Again, Again! is not named as a respondent in the complaint. Its chairwoman, Pam Bondi, did not respond to a request for comment.
The latest: Jan. 6 committee asks Reps. Biggs, Brooks and Jackson to cooperate
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The House select committee investigating the Jan. 6 insurrection said Monday that it has requested the cooperation of three Republican House members — Reps. Andy Biggs (Ariz.), Mo Brooks (Ala.) and Ronny Jackson (Tex.) — in its investigation.
Rep. Bennie G. Thompson (D-Miss.), the committee chair, and Rep. Liz Cheney (R-Wyo.), vice chair, said in a statement that the three Republicans, who were close allies of former president Donald Trump, have been found to have "information relevant to our investigation into the facts, circumstances and causes of January 6th."
The committee is seeking information from members of Congress who participated in meetings at the White House or talked to Trump in the days leading up to the attack, as well as those connected to the pro-Trump rally on the Ellipse that preceded the attack.
Biggs, Brooks and Jackson are members of the conservative House Freedom Caucus and have echoed Trump's false claims that the 2020 election was stolen from him.
Biggs, who chairs the caucus, was connected to the planning of a rally at the Ellipse, near the White House, by a right-wing activist who said Biggs aided him. A spokesman for Biggs denied his involvement.
Brooks, meanwhile, lost Trump's endorsement in March, a move the congressman attributed to his refusal to help Trump undo the results of the 2020 election. While Brooks said this in March, in December 2020, he was among the Republicans who met with Trump at the White House to discuss plans to overturn the election. He also addressed the crowd at the Ellipse, encouraging them to "start taking down names and kicking a--."
In its letter to Jackson, the Jan. 6 committee said it is seeking information regarding the lawmaker's contact with the extremist group Oath Keepers. It cited "encrypted messages asking members of the organization to provide you personally with security assistance," including one suggesting that Jackson had "critical data to protect." ... In a statement Monday, Jackson lashed out at the select committee, calling it "illegitimate" and declining to cooperate ...
In its letter to Biggs, the panel said text messages indicate the Arizona Republican was seeking to persuade state-level officials of the false notion that the 2020 election was stolen. ...
And in its request to Brooks, the Jan. 6 committee cited a recent interview in which the Alabama lawmaker said Trump has repeatedly asked him to "rescind the election of 2020."
Analysis: Polling suggests both favor and fear of Ukraine war escalation
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As noted here earlier, The Post has polling out today about how Americans feel about the war in Ukraine.
Writing in The Daily 202, The Post's Olivier Knox notes some of the contradictions in the numbers and what that means for Biden. Among them: Americans apparently both favor and fear escalation of the conflict.
On the one hand, healthy majorities of Americans back providing more military support to the Ukrainian government (55 percent), increasing sanctions on Russia (67 percent) and providing more humanitarian aid to Ukraine (76 percent).
On the other hand, 66 percent of Americans worry that economic sanctions on Russia will inflate food and energy prices in the United States. And about 8 in 10 worry the war could expand into countries beyond Ukraine, that U.S. forces might get involved in the fighting and that Russia might use nuclear weapons.
You can read Olivier's full piece here.
11:21 a.m.
Caroline Kitchener :
Plans to fight for national abortion ban are in the works — So far, states have taken the lead on abortion restrictions, rushing to pass all kinds of abortion bans that could take effect if the Supreme Court rolls back Roe v. Wade this summer. Restrictions on abortions have been largely made state by state for 50 years. There has been very little national legislation with any kind of momentum. That could change soon. I published a story today showing how top antiabortion leaders have been meeting behind the scenes with GOP lawmakers to plot a possible nationwide abortion ban. That hasn't been previously reported, but it wasn't particularly surprising. When I meet with antiabortion lawmakers in red states, I always ask: What comes next if the Supreme Court overturns Roe? If that happens, abortion is likely to be banned or severely restricted in at least 26 states. That's not enough for the antiabortion leaders I talk to. They see the procedure as murder and want it to be outlawed everywhere. It's important to note that this kind of nationwide ban will be incredibly difficult to pass. It would require 60 votes in the Senate and a Republican president. Still, I'll be watching the effort closely, especially as it's discussed in the midterm elections. Antiabortion leaders plan to use a potential nationwide ban as a rallying cry to motivate conservatives — it will be interesting to see how that plays out.
Caroline Kitchener
,
Reporter focusing on the politics of abortion
11:05 a.m.
Matt Zapotosky :
What is the special grand jury investigating Trump in Georgia? — Prosecutors in Fulton County, Ga., on Monday are convening a special grand jury to advance District Attorney Fani T. Willis's investigation into Donald Trump's efforts to overturn his loss in that state in the 2020 presidential election. This is a group of regular people — numbering between 16 and 23 — who will consider evidence in the case as prosecutors work to determine whether they should ask for criminal charges against anyone. Most important, the grand jury can issue subpoenas, forcing witnesses to testify or turn over documents important to the investigation. Willis has said previously the panel was needed because a "significant number of witnesses and prospective witnesses have refused to cooperate with the investigation absent a subpoena requiring their testimony." State and federal prosecutors use grand juries regularly, and typically each grand jury considers a wide range of cases, such as killings, robberies or other crimes the government is investigating. Their work concludes when they vote on whether to issue an indictment, and very often they simply do what prosecutors ask of them. This grand jury, which can last up to 12 months, is different in that it will be focused on a single investigation. It is investigating possible violations of Georgia state law, including whether anyone illegally solicited election fraud, made false statements to state and local government officials, made threats or participated in a criminal conspiracy. In particular, it is looking at calls Trump made to try to pressure state officials to overturn Joe Biden's win or take other, similar steps. Like other grand juries, it will conduct its work in secret, although because of the nature of the investigation, it will face heightened scrutiny.
Matt Zapotosky
,
National security reporter covering the Justice Department
10:00 a.m.
Mike DeBonis :
The week ahead on Capitol Hill — The House is on recess this week, though key leaders and staff are expected to try to make progress toward passing deals to fund Ukraine aid and covid relief when lawmakers return next week. The Senate is in, and the main floor business of the week is to finish setting up a conference with the House to resolve difference on sprawling industrial policy legislation, which passed the House as the America COMPETES Act and the Senate as the U.S. Innovation and Competition Act. The bills are both meant to help the domestic semiconductor industry, fund scientific research and otherwise boost U.S. industry against China. But before the two chambers can hash it all out, senators will vote on 28 nonbinding "motions to instruct" that are more about political point-scoring than influencing the actual legislation. Nominations will also be on the Senate agenda this week, but it's not clear which ones will actually reach the finish line. Senate Majority Leader Charles E. Schumer (D-N.Y.) had hoped to confirm three Federal Reserve nominees and a new Federal Trade Commission member after having to delay votes last week due to two Democratic senators reporting covid cases. Those plans were again thrown into limbo Sunday evening, however, when Sen. Michael F. Bennet (D-Colo.) announced that he, too, had tested positive. Meanwhile, budget season is getting underway, which means a parade of Cabinet officials will appear before various Senate committees this week to plead for fatter budgets — and field all sorts of other inquiries.
Mike DeBonis
,
Congressional reporter covering the House of Representatives
9:00 a.m.
Cleve R. Wootson Jr. :
The week ahead at the White House — This week President Biden ventures into a region of the country that heavily favored Donald Trump in the 2020 election. On Tuesday, Biden heads to a Lockheed Martin facility near Troy, Ala. The factory makes javelin missiles, which have been particularly effective when used by Ukrainian forces against Russian troops. Politically, it is also a venture into an area where Biden lost by large margins in the 2020 election. Republican Gov. Kay Ivey has already said she will not attend the event, citing "prior commitments." Before that, on Monday, Biden will present the Presidential Rank Awards to winners from 37 federal agencies. The award is one of the most prestigious in the career civil service. Later Monday, he, the first lady and the second gentleman will host a ceremony to celebrate Eid al-Fitr, which marks the end of Ramadan fasting in the Islamic tradition. Vice President Harris, who tested positive for the coronavirus last week, is not scheduled to attend. On Thursday, the Bidens will host a Cinco de Mayo event in the Rose Garden. The White House has not released its schedule for Friday.
Cleve R. Wootson Jr.
,
White House, politics, political campaigns, criminal justice, equity
Source: https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2022/05/02/biden-javelins-first-lady-refugees/
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