On Politics A.M.: Pelosi Points to Possible Bribery Charge Against Trump

2019年11月15日星期五

November 15, 2019

Good Friday morning. Here are some of the stories making news in Washington and politics today.

Speaker Nancy Pelosi sharpened the focus of Democrats' impeachment case against President Trump on Thursday, accusing him of committing bribery when he withheld vital military assistance from Ukraine at the same time he was seeking its commitment to publicly investigate his political rivals.
This impeachment inquiry is the first in half a century to involve an issue of geopolitical gravity: whether the president was undercutting American national interests — containing Russia — to bolster his campaign.

Republicans are weighing whether to draw out the impeachment proceeding, hindering the presidential campaigns of several Senate Democrats, or seek a quicker resolution.

Mr. Trump asked the Supreme Court on Thursday to bar his accounting firm from turning over eight years of his tax returns to Manhattan prosecutors.

Former Gov. Deval Patrick of Massachusetts began a self-acknowledged long-shot bid for the Democratic presidential primary on Thursday, filing paperwork for the primary less than three months before the votes will be cast.

Senators Julián Castro and Kamala Harris are pitching themselves partially on being a "first," but neither is gaining traction. Symbolism is not carrying the weight it once did.
Senator Elizabeth Warren's proposed wealth tax would slow the United States economy, reducing growth by nearly 0.2 percentage points a year over the course of a decade, an outside analysis of the plan estimates. The model did not assess growth effects from Ms. Warren's spending plans, which critics said undercut its findings.

Mr. Trump touched down in Louisiana on Thursday, two days before the election for governor there, in an effort to push Eddie Rispone, the Republican nominee, to victory and flex his own political muscle at a moment when Democrats are accelerating their impeachment inquiry.

Michael Bloomberg, who made his billions in the towel-snapping culture of Wall Street decades before #MeToo, has a history of making crude comments toward women. This aspect of his past will very likely draw intense scrutiny should he run for president.