by Caleb Howe | Oct 21st, 2018, 5:14 pm

-snip-

Schiff noted that there will never be “absolute certainty” on this because there will no confessions, and that Trump will “accept” their denials “much as he’s accepted Putin’s denials, and Kim’s denials.” He said that it can be dealt with seriously and there can be a real consequence to send a message. He then said the “Trump family” has communicated a message to the Saudi government that it’s “carte blanche for the Saudi family. They can do what they want where they want and the U.S. will never stand up to them.”

Stephanopoulos turned to King for a response. “Other Democrats, Congressman King, have said part of the reason for that is that the Trump organization, the Trump family is actually profiting from their ties to the Saudis,” he said. “Should the president release all information related to his financial ties to the Saudi Kingdom?” That’s when Congressman King cut loose on Obama.

“First of all I think it’s wrong to inject partisanship into this right now. Nobody was more supportive of the Saudis than President Obama, the large arms deals under President Obama,” he said. “He fought us tooth and nail, attacked the Congress when we allowed 9/11 victims to sue the Saudis. He went out of his way to shield the Saudis.”

He argued that now isn’t the time to question the motive of the President. “If you want to do it three or four months from now, do it,” he said. “The fact is right now the president is in a very delicate diplomatic spot, the same as President Obama was. And I think at least for this let’s have a certain time out on making the partisan shots.

He said Trump should be the “President of all the people at this moment,” he said. He then reiterated that he took heat from the Obama administration and repeated that it was a sign of “how strongly [Obama] felt about shielding the Saudis.”

more + video
https://www.mediaite.com/tv/gop-rep-peter-king-roasts-president-for-shielding-saudi-arabia-president-obama-that-is/

Source: Mediate




by Amy Russo | Oct 21st, 2018, 4:16 pm

President Donald Trump launched a Twitter attack Sunday against a growing Central American migrant caravan hoping to enter the U.S., stating he plans to block it.

https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/1054087893034172418

The Commander-in-Chief then followed-up on that post with a frustrated message calling the caravan “a disgrace to the Democrat Party,” adding, “Change the immigration laws NOW!”

https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/1054088531629490178

The group of migrants, which has swelled to 5,000 according to the Associated Press, intends to reach the U.S., having overcome efforts by Mexican officials to thwart it.

In a bold assertion made yesterday, Trump told reporters “in many cases, these are hardened criminals.”

Read more: https://www.mediaite.com/online/trump-rails-against-migrant-caravan-in-twitter-tirade-a-disgrace-to-the-democrat-party/

Chris Wallace corners GOP’s Martha McSally for move to strip pre-existing conditions — so she calls him a liar

https://www.rawstory.com/2018/10/chris-wallace-corners-gops-martha-mcsally-move-strip-pre-existing-conditions-calls-liar/

Source: The Hill



BY BRETT SAMUELS - 10/21/18 10:35 AM EDT

Rep. Adam Schiff (D-Calif.) on Sunday questioned whether the Trump administration's rhetoric and actions toward Saudi Arabia may be influenced by the Trump family's finances, and called for Congress to look into the matter.

Schiff, the ranking Democrat on the House Intelligence Committee, said on ABC's "This Week" that "we in the intelligence community" should look into the killing of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi.

"We also ought to determine whether financial motives are motivating the president and the first family," he continued.

"This is the very problem with the president not releasing his tax returns," Schiff said. "It leaves the American people wondering, is U.S.-Saudi policy being driven by something other than national interests."

https://twitter.com/ThisWeekABC/status/1054009484287168512

Read more: https://thehill.com/homenews/sunday-talk-shows/412430-schiff-questions-whether-trump-financial-motives-influence-policy

Mike Allen 31 mins ago

President Trump and top Republicans, concerned about huge House losses this fall, are tossing out new ideas by the day in hopes of saving their majority.

What they're saying: Trump told reporters in Nevada yesterday that he and House Republican leaders are working "around the clock" on "a very major tax cut for middle-income people. And if we do that, it'll be sometime just prior, I would say, to November." But Republicans on the Hill seemed to know nothing about it, and both chambers are out until after midterms.

Trump is keeping up his drumbeat of dire warnings about the "very tough criminal elements within the caravan" of Central American migrants — about 2,000 of whom made it into Mexico yesterday. Trump has suggested without evidence that the caravan was instigated by Democrats, and said the migrants are "not coming into this country": "I would call in military and I would seal off the border."

Trump rallies feature "FINISH THE WALL" signs, and House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy this month introduced the "Build the Wall, Enforce the Law Act of 2018" to fully fund the wall, "bringing the total amount of funding to $25 billion."

Republicans warn of Democratic-incited violence, real and figurative, with Trump tweeting about "the Democrats new Mob Rule strategy," Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell decrying "mob behavior," and Republican groups and candidates invoking the "mob" online and on the trail.

more
https://www.axios.com/2018-midterm-elections-trump-republicans-strategy-bec0d08c-84c6-44ff-8591-656f8262e1a3.html

BY EMILY BIRNBAUM - 10/21/18 10:37 AM EDT

Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) on Sunday said President Trump is neither friend nor foe, but he is "the president" with an agenda that Cruz stands behind.

"Is [Trump] your friend, is he your foe?" ABC's Paula Faris asked Cruz. "How do you describe the relationship?"

"He's the president," Cruz replied. "I work with the president in delivering on our promises."

"What I told the president the week after the election, I said, 'Mr. President, I want to do everything humanly possible to roll up my sleeves and lead the fight in the Senate to deliver on our promises,'" Cruz continued.

He listed what he sees as key elements of Trump's agenda - "to cut taxes, to cut job-filing regulations, to secure the border, to confirm strong constitutionalists to the Supreme Court and the federal courts, to rebuild our military."

more
https://thehill.com/homenews/campaign/412431-cruz-trump-isnt-friend-or-foe-he-is-the-president

Source: NBC News




Two weeks out, Democrats retain an edge but "unprecedented enthusiasm" is fueling both parties.

by Mark Murray / Oct. 21, 2018 / 9:00 AM EDT

WASHINGTON — Fueled by increased enthusiasm from women, Latinos and young voters for the upcoming midterm election, Democrats hold a 9-point lead among likely voters over Republicans in congressional preference, according to the latest national NBC News/Wall Street Journal poll.

But nearly two weeks before Election Day, the same poll also shows President Donald Trump at his highest job rating yet as president, as well as Republicans with their largest lead on the economy in the poll’s history. And in the most competitive House battlegrounds — many of which take place on traditionally Republican turf — congressional preference is tied.

“It’s a barnburner,” says Republican pollster Bill McInturff, who conducted the survey with Democratic pollster Fred Yang and Hart Research Associates.

Yang adds, “The current data shows that the Democratic advantage has ebbed but still with a large advantage. And the GOP shows some life.”



Read more: https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/first-read/nbc-wsj-poll-democrats-hold-nine-point-advantage-midterm-elections-n922266

BY AVERY ANAPOL - 10/21/18 10:15 AM EDT

The former US ambassador to Mexico has penned an op-ed for the New York Times detailing what she describes as “extreme” chaos in the Trump administration.

Roberta Jacobson left the Trump administration in May, and writes in the new op-ed that she felt “glad to escape the disorder” when she departed her post.

“Some chaos is normal at the start of an administration,” she writes. “But it has been extreme under Mr. Trump.” Jacobson, who served at the State Department for 30 years, did not mention Trump in her original announcement about her retirement.

In the New York Times piece, Jacobson details a number of examples where she says she observed disconnect within the administration and with other nations, and says the “disarray” she witnessed “wasn’t pretty.”

“The disconnect between the State Department and the White House seems intentional, leaving ambassadors in impossible positions and our allies across the globe infuriated, alienated and bewildered,” she writes.

She criticizes Trump for declining to warn her about his early plans to exit NAFTA, and for not filling more than two dozen ambassador posts, including some in “vitally important countries.”

Jacobson writes that she has “doubts” about Trump’s new trade agreement with Canada and Mexico, and that she thinks the administration is destroying the trust between Mexico and the US.

“Believing deeply in the United States-Mexico relationship, I cannot pretend anything less than relief at no longer having to defend the indefensible,” she writes.

https://thehill.com/homenews/administration/412428-former-trump-ambassador-to-mexico-pens-op-ed-detailing-extreme-chaos

Source: The Hill



O'Rourke declines to respond to Trump attacks: There's enough 'bitterness, name-calling, partisanship'

BY EMILY BIRNBAUM - 10/21/18 10:17 AM EDT

Senate candidate Rep. Beto O'Rourke (D-Texas) on Sunday declined to respond to President Trump's attacks on his character, saying he doesn't want to add to the "bitterness, name-calling [and] partisanship."

Trump in recent days has called O'Rourke a "flake" and a "total lightweight."

"I don’t know that it makes any sense to respond," O'Rourke told ABC News's Paula Faris in an interview that aired Sunday.

"The bitterness, name-calling, partisanship … you can add more to it or you can stay focused on the future and why you did this in the first place," he said.

https://twitter.com/ThisWeekABC/status/1054014261364576257

Read more: https://thehill.com/homenews/campaign/412429-orourke-declines-to-respond-to-trump-attacks-theres-enough-bitterness-name