The squeeze is on Paul Manafort, the former chairman of Donald Trump’s campaign who has become a major target of special counsel Robert Mueller’s aggressive investigation. The latest details from the Washington Post describe email evidence that Manafort offered “private briefings” about the Trump campaign to a Kremlin-backed billionaire.
According to the Post’s sources, Manafort sent an email in July 2016 to an intermediary of Oleg Deripaska, the Russian oligarch. “If he needs private briefings we can accommodate,” the Trump campaign chairman wrote.
Among other emails the Mueller investigation is examining, Manafort and a Kiev-based employee appear to reference Deripaska without mentioning him by name.
I asked Maloni what Manafort meant when he asked how he could use his new role with the Trump campaign to “get whole” with Deripaska, a client of Manafort’s since at least 2005. Maloni replied he would “look into it.”
Mark It Down—“We think this has a very good chance.” – Donald Trump, on the likelihood of the Graham-Cassidy health-care bill passing, September 20, 2017.
Health-Care Watch—My colleague John McCormack continues his coverage Graham-Cassidy’s unlikely emergence as a real possibility. His latest notes how Kentucky senator Rand Paul has flip-flopped on the idea of supporting the “best that you can get” principle of repealing and replacing Obamacare. While Paul publicly advocated and voted for the so-called skinny repeal of the health-care law earlier this summer, he’s been opposed to Graham-Cassidy for not doing enough.
“Paul’s decision to support ‘skinny repeal’ but oppose Graham-Cassidy is more than a bit puzzling because Graham-Cassidy would repeal more of Obamacare than the ‘skinny repeal’ would have,” McCormack writes. “Both bills would axe individual mandate, the employer mandate, the medical device tax, and federal funding for Planned Parenthood.” Read the whole thing for the ways in which Graham-Cassidy does more to repeal Obamacare—and achieve conservative health-care policy goals—than the skinny repeal Paul voted for in July.
Health and Human Services secretary Tom Price is in hot water after taking five private flights for business trips last week, as Politico reported Tuesday.
Although not illegal, the flights, which Price took to meet with health-care leaders in New Hampshire and Pennsylvania, represent a break from the actions of his predecessors, who typically used much cheaper commercial travel.
In a statement, HHS spokeswoman Charmaine Yoest said that “the travel department continues to check every possible source for travel needs including commercial, but commercial travel is not always feasible.” Yoest also compared Price’s meetings outside D.C. to President Trump’s desire to “move power out of Washington and return it to the American people.”
“Secretary Price will continue meeting with the American people outside of the Beltway to hear their concerns and ensure HHS makes decisions that best provide for their needs,” she added.
As CNBC noted, Price once criticized government private planes as an “example of fiscal irresponsibility run amok.”
Iran Deal Watch—From the New York Times: “President Trump is seeking to revisit the nuclear agreement with Iran to toughen its provisions rather than scrap it right away as he has threatened, enlisting allies to pressure Tehran to return to the negotiating table . . .”
Must-Watch Mashup—David Rutz at the Washington Free Beacon has a pretty hilarious video mashing up the infamous Bill O’Reilly “we’ll do it live” freakout with a similar, recently-surfaced clip from MSNBC host Lawrence O’Donnell. Just watch it.
The Republican primary runoff for Alabama’s special election to complete Jeff Sessions’ Senate term has tightened considerably over the past week. Former state supreme court chief justice Roy Moore still holds a sizeable lead over incumbent Luther Strange. With less than a week to go until the September 26 runoff primary, Moore leads Strange by eight points, which is down from 19 points a month ago.
On Thursday, the candidates will face off in their only debate of the cycle. After that, Moore will hold a high-profile rally in Montgomery with Sarah Palin and Sebastian Gorka, the former Trump White House official.
President Trump, meanwhile, continues to support Strange (including two Wednesday tweets noting that Alabama is “sooo lucky” to have him and reminding voters that the NRA has endorsed Strange). Vice President Mike Pence will travel to Birmingham on Monday for a rally with Strange. Senate leadership has invested millions in supporting Strange, who was appointed to the Sessions seat by Governor Robert Bentley, who resigned in disgrace in April. Strange had served as Alabama’s attorney general.
According to Moore’s longtime adviser Dean Young, Strange’s supporters in the GOP establishment should be worried.
“All the establishment are going crazy,” Young said in an interview with the Washington Examiner’s David Drucker Tuesday. “When it comes to his beliefs, if they think for one second they can put some kind of moderate liberal judge on the Supreme Court that believes in abortion, or believes that marriage is between two people of the same sex—you know, fake marriage—if they think that he would vote for that, he’s not going to budge.”
The electoral currents at play here are a bit confusing. While Trump supports Strange, the pro-Trump super PAC, Great America Alliance, and some of his core allies are campaigning for Moore.
Feature of the Day—“Beware the Open-Plan Kitchen” by Caitlin Flanagan in New York.
Song of the Day—“September” by Earth, Wind & Fire.
