The Hill’s Morning Report — Mar-a-Lago documents drama rattles some in GOP
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Secrets and eyes, politics and whys.
Former President Trump’s cartons of U.S. classified and intelligence documents, now in the hands of the Justice Department, present legal and political challenges for Attorney General Merrick Garland and his team as they ponder a court deadline this week that’s akin to three-dimensional chess for the executive branch.
DOJ’s choice about whether to appeal an order to select an independent reviewer to examine the materials seized on Aug. 8 at Mar-a-Lago could impact future presidents, stall an investigation involving allegedly mishandled U.S. intelligence and hand the former president and his allies months of political openings to stoke distrust of the FBI and the Biden administration.
On Capitol Hill, Senate Republicans are scrambling to play defense without knowing exactly what Trump removed from the White House, how his retention of sensitive materials may have compromised U.S. secrets and whether he is guilty of actions that would result in criminal penalties for any lesser current or former U.S. official. Trump’s documents drama could pose complex legal, international and political repercussions for his future — in 2024 and beyond.
Ahead of the midterm contests, Republican senators want to talk about President Biden’s economic record and inflation but instead are barraged with questions about Trump’s decision to stash more than 300 classified documents at his personal residence, reports The Hill’s Alexander Bolton.
“It’s stunning, it’s outrageous that highly sensitive documents of the United States of America were kept in an insecure place. That’s why we have laws to prevent it,” Sen. Mitt Romney (R-Utah) told The Hill.
“I think classified information is supposed to be handled in a certain way and obviously we understand that here,” Senate Republican Whip John Thune (S.D) added, referring to a secure facility in the Capitol that must be used by senators to review sensitive intelligence documents. “The rules … are pretty clear.”
▪ Politico: GOP offers strained Trump defenses in the Mar-a-Lago probe — for now.
▪ The Hill: Florida judge throws Trump, DOJ curveball with special master decision, according to legal experts.
▪ The New York Times: Garland faces tough calls in weighing a response to a judge’s Trump ruling.
The Justice Department has until Friday to propose a specific independent reviewer or appeal a judge’s ruling in Trump’s favor that involves his claims of potential attorney-client privilege and executive privilege. The unusual legal questions presented have become a test of Trump’s (and perhaps any future president’s) post-White House powers (The Washington Post).
The New Yorker Q&A reports on where the Trump documents investigation could head: “On Friday, if the government doesn’t make an immediate appeal, or if it does but still goes ahead and makes the filing, it will want to be pressing for some pretty tight timelines on any special master to complete the review, because what the government does not want to have is this dragging out,” explained Mary McCord, a former assistant U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia and a former acting assistant attorney general for national security. McCord is Georgetown University Law Center executive director of the nonpartisan Institute for Constitutional Advocacy and Protection.
With 61 days to go until Nov. 8, election handicappers and political strategists predict Republican candidates remain favored to win control of the House this year, even if by a smaller margin than projected as the summer began. In Republicans’ favor: Democratic retirements and gerrymandered districts. The Hill’s Max Greenwood unpacks the political conditions for Republican candidates.
▪ Yahoo News: Biden leads Trump by 6 points in a hypothetical 2024 rematch, the widest margin in six months, according to the latest Yahoo News-YouGov poll.
▪ Reuters explainer: What’s at stake in the 2022 congressional elections.
▪ Politico: Democratic governors in the big battlegrounds are looking strong — but the GOP is expanding the map.
Related Articles
▪ Politico: Pennsylvania Lt. Gov. John Fetterman (D), vying for a Senate seat, said during an interview that he will debate GOP opponent Mehmet Oz this fall once they iron out accommodations for Fetterman’s “auditory processing” challenges caused by a stroke.
▪ The New York Times: There is no law barring a convicted or imprisoned felon from becoming president. With that in mind, some in Congress want to disqualify Trump in 2024 as an “insurrectionist” under a clause in the Constitution.
▪ The Hill: Biden sparks debate with Marine backdrop to combative address.
▪ The Hill and The Associated Press: Gloves off in new Biden midterm strategy.
LEADING THE DAY
➤ CONGRESS
Senate Majority Leader Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.) promised on Wednesday to pass a side deal he struck this summer with Sen. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.). The hitch: opposition from progressive Democrats in the House and Senate.
Schumer said he will attach permitting reform legislation that would speed the development of fossil fuel and other energy projects to the stopgap spending measure Congress must approve to keep the federal government funded beyond Sept. 30 (The Hill).
The Washington Post: Senate negotiators push toward a same-sex marriage vote this month, possibly as early as next week, with GOP support.
The Senate Judiciary Committee today is expected to mark up a proposed bipartisan Journalism Competition and Preservation Act that aims to give news outlets power to negotiate with tech giants such as Google and Facebook to distribute their content and local news (The Hill).
A delegation of U.S. lawmakers arrived in Taiwan on Wednesday on a previously unannounced trip, the latest group of senior U.S. officials to visit the island and defy Beijing, which has reacted with anger to such exchanges. The de facto U.S. Embassy in Taiwan said eight lawmakers, led by Rep. Stephanie Murphy (D-Fla.), a member of the House Armed Services Committee, would be staying until Friday as part of a larger visit to the Indo-Pacific region (Reuters).
IN FOCUS/SHARP TAKES
➤ ADMINISTRATION
On canvas, former President Obama is a portrait almost in black and white, his gaze steady and inscrutable, his posture relaxed and self-contained against a white background, his tie the same steely gray as his hair.
Michelle Obama, who for eight years with her husband appeared to be a study in motion and energy, is seated and still, depicted in vivid color on a White House Red Room sofa, attired in a pale blue evening gown, both shoulders bare.
In the halls of 1600 Pennsylvania Ave., the 44th president and the former first lady will be frozen in time as the contemporary pathbreakers they were and are, depicted among iconic visages of predecessors, including Abraham Lincoln and Jacqueline Kennedy.
On Wednesday during a “hanging” ceremony full of bonhomie in the East Room hosted by Bidenand first lady Jill Biden, guests applauded the official White House portraits of the former president painted by Robert McCurdy, and of Michelle Obama, painted by artist Sharon Sprung. The Obamas selected the artists, each of whom worked from photographs.
The Hill: “I want to thank Sharon Sprung for capturing everything I love about Michelle. Her grace, her intelligence, and the fact that she is fine,” Obama said, to appreciative clapping.
The nonprofit White House Historical Association helps manage the portrait process and since the 1960s has paid for most of those in the collection through private donations and merchandise sales. Other portraits of the Obamas remain popular with traveling exhibits from the National Portrait Gallery collection. Those works by artists Kehinde Wiley and Amy Sherald return to Washington in November.
The Associated Press published a short video tour of White House portraits HERE, and the White House Historical Association created a longer video showcase HERE.
▪ The Hill’s In the Know: Here are the official White House portraits of Barack and Michelle Obama.
▪ Reuters: The White House event included a Trump barb and a tan-suit joke.
OPINION
■ A better strategy to rein in Big Tech: Congress should pass the Open Apps Market Act, by Joel Thayer, opinion contributor, The Hill. https://bit.ly/3BlYXDk
■ Oklahoma embarks on a grotesque execution-spree, by The Washington Post editorial board. https://wapo.st/3D5ELXG
WHERE AND WHEN
The House will meet on Friday at 9 a.m. for a pro forma session and return to work in the Capitol on Sept. 13.
The Senate convenes at 10 a.m. and will resume consideration of the nomination of Andre Mathis to be a United States circuit judge for the 6th Circuit.
The president will receive the President’s Daily Brief at 9 a.m. Biden will promote the nationwide availability and accessibility of updated COVID-19 vaccine boosters during a Roosevelt Room speech at 1:45 p.m. The president will headline a Democratic National Committee fundraising event at 7 p.m. in Montgomery County, Md., and return to the White House.
Vice President Harris will speak in Houston at the National Baptist Convention 142nd Annual Session at noon local time.
Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen is in Dearborn, Mich., to deliver a 2 p.m. speech at Ford Motor Co.’s Rouge Electric Vehicle Center about the administration’s economic growth strategy and the Inflation Reduction Act’s alternative fuel incentives for vehicles and transportation (Detroit News). Yellen also will meet with representatives of small businesses that are recipients of Detroit’s Motor City Match grant program, expanded by the city through $15 million in American Rescue Plan funding.
Economic indicator: The Labor Department at 8:30 a.m. will report on filings for unemployment benefits during the week ending Sept. 3.
Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Mark Milley will hold a press conference at 9:45 a.m. EDT at Ramstein Air Force Base in Germany following a Ukraine Defense Contact Group meeting.
The White House daily press briefing is scheduled at 12:30 p.m.
🖥 Hill.TV’s “Rising” program features news and interviews at http://thehill.com/hilltv, on YouTube and on Facebook at 10:30 a.m. ET. Also, check out the “Rising” podcast here.
ELSEWHERE
➤ INTERNATIONAL
Eager to preserve international unity among allies in support of Ukraine, Biden today will host a call among Group of Seven, European Union and NATO allies (Bloomberg News).
During a Wednesday meeting of the U.N. Security Council, the United States formally accused Russia of a war crime by forcibly deporting “hundreds of thousands” of Ukrainians to Russia, including children, and said it has information that Russian officials are overseeing so-called filtration operations.
“These operations aim to identify individuals Russia deems insufficiently compliant or compatible to its control,” U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Linda Thomas-Greenfield told her counterparts (Reuters). The United States is among 45 nations coordinating the investigation of alleged Russian war crimes in Ukraine. Russia dismissed the allegation as “fantasy,” calling it the latest invention in a Western disinformation campaign (Politico).
Russian President Vladimir Putin, during a defiant speech on Wednesday to an economic forum in Vladivostok, called Western sanctions “stupid” and threatened to halt all energy sales to Russia’s critics if they move forward with a cap on oil prices proposed by the Group of Seven industrialized economic powers.
“I’m sure we have not lost anything and will not lose anything,” Putin said of Russia’s prospects despite war with Ukraine, heavy military casualties and punishing international sanctions. “The main thing is strengthening our sovereignty, and this is the inevitable result of what is happening now” (The Washington Post).
Putin’s power over natural gas supplies is weakening, according to European Union leaders (The New York Times), who say they plan to cap Russian natural gas prices after Putin threatened to cut off all energy supplies if the EU takes such a step. The specter of energy rationing in some of the world’s richest countries this winter is the talk of Europe (Reuters).
Putin and Chinese President Xi Jinping will meet next week in Uzbekistan at the Shanghai Cooperation Organization summit, Russian Ambassador to China Andrei Denisov announced on Wednesday (The Associated Press). The two leaders last met in February weeks before Russia invaded Ukraine. Moscow and Beijing have increasingly aligned their foreign policies to oppose liberal democratic forces in Asia, Europe and beyond, making a stand for authoritarian rule with tight borders and little regard for free speech, minority rights or opposition politics.
In rare public comments, Ukraine’s military commander in chief, Valeriy Zaluzhnyi, warned on Wednesday of the threat of Russia using nuclear weapons in Ukraine, which he said would create the risk of a “limited” nuclear conflict with other powers (Reuters).
➤ ECONOMY
💰 Wage increases for job-switchers compared with compensation for employees who have not pulled up stakes indicate the monetary benefits of moving on in a tight labor market. Research shows millennials and Gen Zers have taken advantage of the current labor shortages, switching jobs more frequently than their older colleagues and, in return, reaped pay hikes and other benefits. If the U.S. economy contracts, the labor market will likely take a hit, according to economists. That means the window of opportunity for job hoppers to leverage demand for their skills, especially those workers at the bottom of the income ladder, will begin to close (The Hill).
⛽ Inflation: U.S. gasoline prices keep tumbling. The average price of a gallon of gas was $3.76 per gallon on Wednesday, according to AAA’s gas price tracker. That’s a decrease of $1.26 per gallon since prices reached a peak in mid-June. If oil prices continue to decline, drivers will likely continue to see pump prices drop further, AAA predicts. … Federal Reserve Vice Chair Lael Brainard on Wednesday added her voice to those reinforcing expectations that the central bank later this month will opt for a third consecutive 0.75 percentage point rate rise. “We are in this for as long as it takes to get inflation down,” she said (Financial Times). The Fed concludes a two-day meeting on Sept. 21.
➤ TECH
Apple had a surprise in store on Wednesday: No U.S. price hikes for its newest iPhone, despite inflation and supply chain challenges (CNBC). Want to learn more about what the company unveiled? CNBC dissects the devices, displays, developments and trends, which Apple CEO Tim Cook touted at the company’s annual iPhone launch event. Think themes: personal health data (Apple Insider) and safety features (CNBC).
➤ PANDEMIC & HEALTH
New York Gov. Kathy Hochul (D) on Wednesday lifted a mask mandate covering New York transit, which commuters disliked and found confusing. “We haven’t seen any [COVID-19] spikes, and also people are getting back to work, back to school,” she said during a press conference at a health center in New York City, shortly before receiving her omicron-targeted booster that’s being made available this week. “We have to restore some normalcy to our lives” (Bloomberg News).
China’s continued COVID-19 lockdowns will likely lead to long-lasting political and economic consequences, Foreign Policy reported on Wednesday in its China Brief.
🦠 Sen. Jon Ossoff (D-Ga.) tested positive for COVID-19 while traveling in India for an eight-day economic itinerary and will isolate there and return to the United States next week, his staff said on Wednesday (The Hill). … Sen. Bob Menendez (D-N.J.) also tested positive for the coronavirus, his office announced on Wednesday (The Hill).
Total U.S. coronavirus deaths reported as of this morning, according to Johns Hopkins University (trackers all vary slightly): 1,048,989. Current average U.S. COVID-19 daily deaths are 336, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
The Hill: A United States District Court in Texas on Wednesday ruled against the Affordable Care Act’s mandatory coverage of HIV prevention drugs. The administration says it is reviewing the opinion.
➤ STATE WATCH
California is in the news today because of extreme heat, drought, wildfires and coping woes, including threats of rolling blackouts and restrictions on electricity and water. Here are five things to know about conditions in the Golden State (The Hill) and a look at how California is responding to record high temperatures (The Hill).
As weather-related hazards appear nationwide, the focus on energy and water now and in the future continues to be shadowed by past decisions, or rather, indecision. For The Atlantic, Robinson Meyer reports that the U.S. electricity industry knew about the dangers of climate change 40 years ago and denied them anyway.
In Nevada, police on Wednesday arrested Clark County Public Administrator Robert Telles, 45, in connection with the slaying of Las Vegas Review-Journal reporter Jeff German, who had written stories about alleged bullying and favoritism in the politician’s office. Police made the arrest on suspicion of murder after serving a search warrant at Telles’ home. He is to appear in court today. German was found stabbed to death outside his residence on Saturday and was likely killed on Friday (NBC News).
THE CLOSER
Take our Morning Report Quiz
And finally … 🏈 It’s Thursday, which means it’s time for this week’s Morning Report Quiz! Inspired by the momentous news that Football Is Back, we’re looking for smart guesses about the NFL and the upcoming season.
Email your responses to asimendinger@thehill.com and/or aweaver@thehill.com, and please add “Quiz” to subject lines. Winners who submit correct answers will enjoy some richly deserved newsletter fame on Friday.
The Washington Commanders take the field under the franchise’s new nickname this weekend — but that’s not the only change. What color alternate jersey did the team roll out for the upcoming season?
Silver
Gold
Black
Alternate burgundy
How many NFL teams made head coaching changes ahead of the 2022 season?
Six
Eight
Ten
Twelve
Which of the following is a rule change that goes into effect this season?
Teams can wear alternate helmet designs during season
Kickoffs take place from the 30-yard line
Coaches may now challenge four plays per game
None of the above
Super Bowl LVII this season will be held in Glendale, Ariz. How many Super Bowls have been played in the greater Phoenix area?
Zero
Three
Six
Eight
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