Senate Democrats struggle to focus on 2018 as they’re urged to attack Trump

Senate Democrats have a difficult midterm election ahead and Sen. Amy Klobuchar of Minnesota is troubled that once again the Midwest will be forgotten.

Klobuchar, along with fellow Midwest Democrat Sherrod Brown, stressed the need Tuesday for Democrats to focus on the economy and workers who feel left behind rather than chase every outrageous statement tweeted by President Trump.

"The Midwest can't be left behind at the gas station in 2018 and in 2020,” said Klobuchar, speaking at a conference hosted by the Center for American Progress.

Capturing the rift between Democrats over how to win in 2018, an audience member asked Klobuchar and others on her panel why lawmakers weren’t pushing back against Trump’s bullying.

“Every time he bullies, 10 million people use the same hashtag and then that is trending on twitter,” the questioner said. “It gives us a united voice to call him out every single time.”

Klobuchar said Democrats are confronting Trump, but it can’t be the focus.

“I promise you if that’s all we do, is to follow him down every rabbit hole that’s not how we change the country,” Klobuchar said. And it’s not how Democrats will win majorities, or at the very least hold onto their current seats, she said.

To win, Klobuchar said, Democrats need to lend support to Democratic Sens. Tammy Baldwin of Wisconsin, Heidi Heitkamp of North Dakota, Claire McCaskill of Missouri, and Debbie Stabenow of Michigan, who are facing tough re-election battles in states Trump won.

“We could literally lose about a third of the women in the Senate if we don’t win this election,” she said.

Klobuchar said Democrats like herself, running in Midwest, have to make a decision every day when they wake up to either spend time rebutting every shocking tweet from Trump or to focus on the issues important to their constituents.

“They have got to focus on what their citizens think and what they want to hear about is the economy and their plans for it,” Klobuchar said. “They don’t want to hear about Donald Trump every single minute. I’m telling you right now that’s not what they want to hear about.”

Klobuchar is up for re-election and though she’s expected to win it’s not lost on her that Hillary Clinton’s smallest margin of victory in any state was in Minnesota.

Voters are “not asking me about Russian bots, they’re asking me about soybean exports," she said. Democrats can’t spend their time “bemoaning the fact” Trump’s in the White House. “He's there and we have to present an alternative,” she said.

For Brown the alternative is to show all workers, not just blue collar ones, that you’re on their side.

“Are you on the side of Wall Street or are you fighting for the little guy?" he said. Brown is one of the 10 Senate Democrats up for re-election in a state Trump won.

Trump “won communities he had no business winning” in Brown’s state and so Democrats have to counter that by talking about “higher minimum wage” and “stronger unionism.”

Brown took a shot at the coasts, and those within the party who call his state the rust belt, saying it “diminishes” Ohio and it “demeans what we do.”

“If we’re going to be a progressive movement, and it’s about civil rights and human rights, it’s also about worker rights and trade unionism and it’s about raising wages,” Brown said. “I don’t talk about Clinton voters or Trump voters. I don’t talk about about white workers and black workers and Latino workers — I talk about workers."

Democrats need to “sell” that message and if they do, Brown said, “we’re going to have some wins in 2018 that will surprise people.”

An attempt to unite the competing Democratic messages came later from a 2020 presidential hopeful, Sen. Cory Booker, D-N.J.

Booker covered as many bases as possible when addressing the progressive audience at CAP’s conference in Washington, arguing Democrats can be loud on climate change and show voters in the Midwest that it is an economic issue, and disproportionately hurts poor communities.

“I’ve read books like ‘Hillbilly Elegy’ and everything I can to try to understand other folks and when I’m reading books like that I’m thinking to myself, ‘Oh my god, these folks have so much in common with folks that live in my neighborhood,’” Booker said, referring to the memoir by J.D. Vance praised for its ability to explain Trump voters.

“We in this country have a common pain, but we are lacking a sense of common purpose that drove this country forward generation after generation,” Booker said.

https:// www.washingtonexaminer.com/news/campaigns/senate-democrats-struggle-to-focus-on-2018-as-theyre-urged-to-attack-trump

Congress Is Taking Fresh Look At Fusion GPS Founder’s Testimony

Congressional investigators are taking a new look at Glenn Simpson’s testimony

Simpson founded Fusion GPS and testified “a human source from inside the Trump organization” provided information to the FBI

Sources close to Fusion GPS backpedaled from Simpson’s statement

Congressional investigators are taking a fresh look at testimony provided in 2017 by Glenn Simpson, the founder of the opposition firm that commissioned the Steele dossier.

In particular, investigators are looking at Simpson’s claim in an Aug. 22 interview that he had learned from dossier author Christopher Steele that the FBI had corroborated parts of the dossier with information from a source within President Donald Trump’s campaign.

Simpson, who runs Fusion GPS, told the panel that “a human source from inside the Trump organization” had provided information to the FBI that backed up some of the dossier. The person was “someone like us who decided to pick up the phone and report something,” he said.

Sources close to Fusion GPS quickly backpedaled from Simpson’s statement when a transcript of his testimony was released in January.

The sources told news outlets Simpson was mistaken. There was no mole inside the Trump campaign. Instead, he was referring to George Papadopoulos, a Trump campaign adviser whose encounter with an Australian diplomat in May 2016 was reportedly the catalyst for the FBI’s counterintelligence investigation. The diplomat, Alexander Downer, reportedly claimed that Papadopoulos discussed Russian dirt on former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.

The Senate Judiciary Committee and House Intelligence Committee are looking again at Simpson’s claims and questioning whether he was actually telling the truth during his testimony last summer.

One indication that Simpson’s initial testimony was accurate is a letter his lawyer sent to the Senate Judiciary Committee in January, shortly after the release of Simpson’s interview transcript.

“Mr. Simpson stands by his testimony,” Joshua Levy, the lawyer for Fusion, wrote to the committee on Jan. 18. The lawyer had been asked in a Jan. 11 letter whether Simpson’s testimony about the secret source was a mischaracterization, as news reports claimed.

The chairman of the House Intelligence Committee is also revisiting the Simpson testimony.

“Glenn Simpson said that in what was closed testimony. Then it became public. Now he’s confirmed that he was telling Congress the truth, which is probably a good idea,” California Rep. Devin Nunes said on “Fox & Friends” Tuesday. “We believe he was telling the truth. And what we’re trying to do is get the documents to figure out — did they actually have, what methods were used to open this counter intelligence investigation?

“I think if the campaign was somehow set up, I think that would be a problem. Right? If they were somehow meetings that occurred and all of this was a setup,” Nunes, a Republican, added. “Because we have yet to see any credible evidence or intelligence that led to the opening of this investigation.”

Andrew McCarthy, a senior fellow at the National Review Institute, wrote Saturday in National Review that he now believes Simpson’s initial testimony was not a mistake. McCarthy, a former federal prosecutor, thinks Simpson realized the significance of his statement and walked it back after the testimony was released.

McCarthy noted the heated battle between the House Intelligence Committee and the Justice Department over documents related to a top-secret FBI and CIA source whose existence was revealed on May 8. The source, who is American, has provided information about the Trump campaign to the special counsel’s office, The Washington Post reported.

The DOJ is resisting efforts to provide information about the source, saying that doing so would endanger their life.

Levy did not respond to a request for comment.

http:// dailycaller.com/2018/05/15/congress-glenn-simpson-testimony/

EXCLUSIVE: Memo Details EPA Leaker’s Plan To ‘Retaliate’ Against Scott Pruitt

Former Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) official Kevin Chmielewski threatened to “retaliate” against Administrator Scott Pruitt and others over a pay dispute, according to a memo The Daily Caller News Foundation obtained.

“I’m going to make sure everyone knows what he’s doing,” Chmielewski said on a Jan. 27 phone call with Nino Perrotta, the former special agent in charge of Pruitt’s security detail, according to the memo.

Chmielewski leaked information to the media about Pruitt and his close aides, and he gave Democratic lawmakers a laundry list of allegations against the former Oklahoma attorney general. Chmielewski left EPA in March.

The memo, dated Jan. 29, 2018, details two phone calls Perrotta had with Chmielewski, a former EPA official who turned whistleblower. Chmielewski made the call from Japan, where was doing advance work for Vice President Mike Pence. Perrotta authored the memo and sent it to EPA Chief of Staff Ryan Jackson and senior officials at the Office of Criminal Enforcement. TheDCNF only published portions of the memo, as it contained identifying markers.

During the first call, Chmielewski blamed EPA staffers Millan Hupp and Helena Wooden-Aguilar for the fact he had not been paid.

Hupp and Wooden-Aguilar “were about to get into some serious trouble,” Chmielewski told Perrotta. Hupp “was about to get fired for fucking with my pay,” he added, according to the memo.

On the call, Perrotta advised Chmielewski to follow EPA protocols and meet with Wooden-Aguilar to solve his pay dispute, but Chmielewski claimed she would not meet with him. Chmielewski said Vice President Mike Pence’s office was going to get involved in the matter, the memo reads.

Perrotta’s memo sheds light on a possible reason for Chmielewski’s targeting of Hupp. Hupp, who followed Pruitt from Oklahoma, has come up in previous news coverage, including one about her helping Pruitt find a new D.C. housing rental and another about about two close Pruitt aides who got pay raises over White House objections.

Chmielewski also mentioned Hupp by name in testimony to Democratic lawmakers, including accusing Pruitt of ordering his chief of staff to give Hupp “his title and a pay increase.”

Democrats have used Chmielewski’s testimony to amplify their calls for Pruitt’s resignation. White House officials are also reportedly calling for Pruitt’s removal, but President Donald Trump has remained steadfast in his support.

Chmielewski also targeted former top EPA official Samantha Dravis, who resigned in April. He also alleged Pruitt was doing “illegal shit,” which he planned on revealing.

Perrotta advised Chmielewski “his approach was not wise” and said these pay issues were the result of “actions he failed to take prior to departing from Israel.” Chmielewski “did not care” since Pence’s office was involved and would get back at Hupp for “trying to stab me,” the former EPA official replied.

When Perrotta told Chmielewski to rethink his actions, the former Trump campaign veteran said, “It’s too late,” according to the memo.

Chmielewski called Perrotta the next day, Jan. 28, where “he again stated how he was going to leak unfavorable information about the Administrator,” the memo reads. Perrotta then warned Chmielewski he would have to report him to EPA officials for “his tone and statement.”

Jackson did not respond to TheDCNF’s request for comment.

In a recent interview, Perrotta told TheDCNF he believed Chmielewski turned on Trump’s administration “because of that January call” where he said he’d notify EPA leadership. Perrotta mentioned the existence of the January memo during that interview.

“I found that to be very, very bizarre,” Perrotta said. “If you have differences, it should be aired through your chain of command.”

http:// dailycaller.com/2018/05/14/exclusive-kevin-chmielewski-retaliate-against-scott-pruitt-memo/

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Daily on Energy: Scott Pruitt’s ethics challenges a delight for Democrats

PRUITT’S ETHICS CHALLENGES A DELIGHT FOR DEMOCRATS: Some senators have made poking at Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Scott Pruitt a major part of their job, especially during his recent spate of Capitol Hill visits.

• Pruitt vs. hump day: On Wednesday, Pruitt is scheduled to visit the Senate to defend his fiscal 2019 budget priorities, but all some lawmakers want to do is grill him over his numerous scandals involving excess spending, lobbyists planning lavish trips abroad, and big pay raises for his favorite staff.

• It’s all about the transgressions: Sen. Tom Udall, D-N.M., sent out a statement Tuesday morning announcing his plans to take Pruitt to task over his “ethical transgressions.” Pruitt is set to testify before the Appropriations Committee on Wednesday.

Udall is the top Democrat on the Appropriations panel for Interior, Environment, and Related Agencies, which is holding the hearing.

• Snowball effect: Although Udall says he also will ask Pruitt about his fiscal 2019 budget priorities, the questions about his ethics issues likely will set the tone for the hearing.

• House delves into policy: Also on Wednesday, the House Energy and Commerce Committee will hold a hearing on EPA reforms for power plants, with Pruitt’s air chief, Bill Wehrum, testifying.

https:// www.washingtonexaminer.com/daily-on-energy-scott-pruitts-ethics-challenges-a-delight-for-democrats

US sanctions head of Iran Central Bank

The Department of Treasury on Tuesday sanctioned the governor of the Central Bank of Iran for allegedly funneling millions of dollars to support Hezbollah.

The Treasury labeled Valiollah Seif, governor of Iran’s Central Bank, and a second official at the bank, Ali Tarzali, as “specially designated global terrorists” for their role in the scheme.

According to the Treasury, the two helped the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps-Qods Force in support Hezbollah. Seif allegedly “covertly funneled millions of dollars” for the IRGC-QF through the al-Bilad Islamic Bank, an institution based in Iraq, to “enrich and support” Hezbollah.

Al-Bilad Islamic Bank was also sanctioned Tuesday.

“It is appalling, but not surprising, that Iran’s senior-most banking official would conspire with the IRGC-QF to facilitate funding of terror groups like Hizballah, and it undermines any credibility he could claim in protecting the integrity of the institution as a central bank governor,” Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin said in a statement. “The United States will not permit Iran’s increasingly brazen abuse of the international financial system. The global community must remain vigilant against Iran’s deceptive efforts to provide financial support to its terrorist proxies.”

The sanctions cut off Iran’s use of a “critical banking network,” the Treasury Department said, and seek to “stifle Iran’s ability to abuse the U.S. and regional financial systems.”

The action from the Trump administration comes after President Trump said the U.S. would be withdrawing from the Iran nuclear deal. As part of the withdrawal, some sanctions will be re-imposed within 90 days and others within 180 days from Trump’s announcement.

The Central Bank of Iran was not sanctioned as part of the administration’s announcement Tuesday, but the Treasury said that as of Aug. 7, the U.S. government will re-impose sanctions that extend to some of the Central Bank of Iran’s transactions. As of Nov. 5, additional sanctions will be re-imposed on specific people who engage in significant transactions with the Central Bank.

https:// www.washingtonexaminer.com/news/us-sanctions-head-of-iran-central-bank