Tag: 2020 election

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Poll: Trump Trails Generic Democrat In Ohio

A new Public Policy Polling survey shows Donald Trump trailing a generic Democratic opponent 47-48 percent and his favorable/unfavorable rating is underwater at 47-51 percent. Innovation Ohio notes that among vital independent voters, Trump trails a generic Democrat 37-51 percent. “Ohio is a must-win state for President Trump. His poor numbers in this poll help to explain his early spending on TV and digital ads here,” said Innovation Ohio President Janetta King. Trump won Ohio in 2016 decisively by 8 points. Tested against five Democratic candidates Trump couldn’t break through the 47 percent mark.

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Ukraine Prosecutor: Hunter Biden “Did Not Violate Anything”

L-R Donald Trump, Rudy Giuliani (screen captures)
A former Ukraine prosecutor says Hunter Biden ‘did not violate anything’ in regard to Donald Trump’s ongoing allegations about the son of former Vice President Joe Biden. From MSN.com:

“From the perspective of Ukrainian legislation, he did not violate anything,” former Ukrainian prosecutor general Yuri Lutsenko told The Washington Post in his first interview since the disclosure of a whistleblower complaint alleging pressure by President Trump on Ukraine’s president, Volodymr Zelensky.

Lutsenko’s comments about Hunter Biden — which echo what he told Bloomberg News in May — were significant, because Trump and his personal attorney Giuliani have sought to stir up suspicions about both Hunter and former vice president Joe Biden’s conduct in Ukraine in recent weeks. Joe Biden is leading Trump in many opinion polls ahead of the 2020 election.

Hunter Biden has denied any wrongdoing, and there is no evidence he was involved in any lawbreaking in his work in Ukraine with the country’s largest private gas company.

Giuliani has alleged that Hunter Biden was involved in corruption during his nearly five years on the board of Burisma, the Ukrainian gas company. Giuliani has not offered any evidence.

Burisma’s owner came under scrutiny by Lutsenko’s predecessors for possible abuse of power and unlawful enrichment, but Hunter Biden was never accused of any wrongdoing in the investigation.

“Hunter Biden cannot be responsible for violations of the management of Burisma that took place two years before his arrival,” Lutsenko said.

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Elizabeth Warren Pulls In $24.6 Million In Q3

Elizabeth Warren’s campaign announced on Friday that it raised $24.6 million in the third quarter of 2019. That puts the Massachusetts senator just behind Bernie Sanders, who pulled in $25.3 million. The vast majority of those funds were from small-dollar donations – the average contribution was $26. More than 300,000 new supporters donated for the first time in the third quarter. “This means our grassroots movement is in an incredible position,” the campaign said in a statement, “to double down on our investments in grassroots organizing.” Fund-raising totals announced by other Democratic candidates: • Mayor Pete Buttigieg: $19.1 million • Former Vice President Joe Biden: $15.2 million • Sen. Kamala Harris: $11.6 million • Former tech executive Andrew Yang: $10 million • Sen. Cory Booker: $6 million • Author Marianne Williamson: $3 million

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Sanders, Buttigieg Announce Big Campaign Fundraising Results

L-R Sen. Bernie Sanders, Mayor Pete Buttigieg
As we begin a new quarter, Democratic candidates are touting their fundraising prowess with email blasts. Mayor Pete Buttigieg’s campaign writes that Pete for America pulled in over $19 million during the 3rd quarter, which brings his total haul from the beginning of the year to more than $51 million. And Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) announced his campaign took in $24.8 million in the 3rd quarter. More to come…the day is early.

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Former Ukraine Prosecutor Told Giuliani ‘No Evidence Of Wrongdoing’ By Bidens

Donald Trump (screen capture)

Yuri Lutsenko, the former prosecutor general for Ukraine, says he repeatedly rebuffed demands by Rudy Giuliani to investigate Joe Biden and his son, insisting he had seen no evidence of wrongdoing that he could pursue.

From the Los Angeles Times:

In an interview, Yuri Lutsenko said while he was Ukraine’s prosecutor general he told Rudolph W. Giuliani that he would be happy to cooperate if the FBI or other U.S. authorities began their own investigation of the former vice president and his son Hunter but insisted they had not broken any Ukrainian laws to his knowledge.

Lutsenko, who was fired as prosecutor general last month, said he had urged Giuliani to launch a U.S. inquiry and go to court if he had any evidence but not to use Ukraine to conduct a political vendetta that could affect the U.S. election.

“I said, ‘Let’s put this through prosecutors, not through presidents,’ ” Lutsenko told The Times.

“I told him I could not start an investigation just for the interests of an American official,” he said.

The revelations are at the heart of the House impeachment inquiry into whether Trump improperly delayed congressionally mandated military aid to Ukraine while urging leaders there to help find dirt on his political opponents to boost his 2020 reelection bid.

Giuliani had reportedly been pushing Lutsenko to investigate the Bidens for over a year. Lutsenko described Giuliani as “obsessed” with finding dirt on the Bidens.

And then there’s this from Richard Engel, NBC News chief foreign correspondent:

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South Carolina & Nevada Polls Show Two Different Races

Sen. Elizabeth Warren surges past former Vice President Joe Biden in latest Iowa poll

Sen. Elizabeth Warren surges past former Vice President Joe Biden in latest Iowa poll The first polls from CNN/SRSS on the upcoming South Carolina Democratic primary and the Nevada Democratic caucuses show two very different races. In South Carolina, former Vice President Joe Biden is miles ahead of everyone. Biden garners 37 percent support compared to Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren’s 16 percent support. Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders pulled 11 percent support, and no other candidate got above 5 percent. But in Nevada, it’s Biden and Sanders neck-and-neck with 22 percent, and Warren at 18% among likely Democratic caucus-goers. No one else received more than 5 percent in Nevada.

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The Latest In Donald Trump / Ukraine Debacle

Trump walks past reporters with no comment

The latest news regarding the newly-announced official impeachment inquiry investigating allegations that Donald Trump used the presidency to encourage Ukraine to help dig up dirt on former Vice President Joe Biden: • The whistle-blower’s complaint has been released to the public. You can, and should, read the full document here. The whistle-blower states that he had “received information from multiple U.S. Government officials that the President of the United States is using the power of his office to solicit interference from a foreign country in the 2020 U.S. election.” The complaint also asserts that several in the White House were “deeply disturbed by what happened on that phone call” and there was an attempt to cover it up. • The New York Times also reports the whistle-blower who filed the initial complaint is a C.I.A. agent who was detailed to work at the White House for a period of time. According to the Times, the complaint seems to suggest “he was an analyst by training and made clear he was steeped in details of American foreign policy toward Europe, demonstrating a sophisticated understanding of Ukrainian politics and at least some knowledge of the law.” • Law & Crime shares that Trump spoke about the unnamed whistle-blower today to a group of staffers from the United States Mission to the United Nations. A recording of Trump’s remarks show he wanted to know who the Ukraine whistleblower’s source or sources were “because that’s close to a spy.” The Donald also said in the “old days when we were smart” spies and traitors were treated “a little differently.” Many interpreted those words as a threat which could be seen as witness tampering and/or obstruction of justice.

• A new Morning Consult poll conducted over the last two days shows Americans split over whether they want to see Congress begin impeachment proceedings to remove Donald Trump from office. According to the survey of over 1,600 registered voters, 43 percent support impeachment, and 43 percent oppose it. What’s noteworthy here is that constitutes a 13 point net swing in favor of impeachment from another poll conducted over the weekend. The figure for support rose 7 points, while opposition dropped 6 points. (image via Flickr/White House – public domain)

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Warren Passes Biden In New National Poll

Sen. Elizabeth Warren surges past former Vice President Joe Biden in latest Iowa poll

Sen. Elizabeth Warren surges past former Vice President Joe Biden in latest Iowa poll A new national poll by Quinnipiac shows Sen. Elizabeth Warren in the number one spot among Democratic White House contenders. Among Democrats and Democratic-leaning voters, Warren garnered 27 percent support with former Vice President Joe Biden at 25 percent. Sen. Bernie Sanders came in a distant 3rd at 16 percent support. Mayor Pete Buttigieg received 7 percent, and Sen. Kamala Harris just 3 percent. RealClearPolitics average of polls shows Biden around 28.4 percent and Warren at 21.7 percent support.

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News Round-Up: September 24, 2019

Michael and I visiting a church Portofino
Some news items you might have missed: • Throwback Thursday: Remembering that time Michael and I visited Portofino in 2018 and stopped by a beautiful little church (above). We were happily surprised when Michael didn’t spontaneously combust 🙂 • Tuscon.com: Arizona Gov. Doug Ducey says he’s “against discrimination in all its forms” but won’t support extending state laws to prohibit discrimination against LGBTQ people. He does support the recent Arizona Supreme Court ruling that allows Christian owners of a calligraphy firm to refuse to prepare wedding invitations for same-sex couples. • Sacramento Bee: The 1st District Court of Appeal in San Francisco ruled that a Sacramento-area transgender man can sue Mercy San Juan Medical Center over the last-minute cancellation of his hysterectomy, overturning a lower-court ruling that dismissed the case. The patient contends his surgery was canceled due to anti-transgender bias. • Politico: White House hopeful Elizabeth Warren has announced a $10 million ad buy in early voting states. • HuffPost: Focus Features’ Downton Abbey ruled over the box office competition in North America this past weekend. The big-screen continuation of the popular British TV show beat expectations with $31 million when it debuted in 3,079 theaters, setting a new opening weekend record for the studio. • Washington Post: A new study shows 78 percent of the most influential jobs in Donald Trump’s White House have turned over during his tenure, a figure higher than those for the entire first terms of the previous four administrations. • National Voter Registration Day: President Barack Obama (and I) want to encourage you to not only register to vote, but VOTE! Check to see if you’re registered by clicking over to IWillVote.com OR text VOTER to 26797 to make sure you are registered to vote and get alerts for all your elections.

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Trump Admits He Froze $400 Million In Promised Aid To Ukraine

NBC News reports Donald Trump has admitted to freezing nearly $400 million in military aid to Ukraine.

And in doing so, has come up with a new rationale for pressing the country to investigate Joe Biden and his son.

President Donald Trump on Tuesday confirmed reports that his administration froze nearly $400 million in aid to Ukraine. But he gave a new reason for doing so: He said he wanted European countries to contribute money, too, and did not want the U.S. to do so alone.

The freeze came before a July phone call in which he reportedly pressured the Eastern European nation’s leader to investigate the family of political rival Joe Biden.

“As far as withholding funds, those funds were paid,” Trump said. “They were fully paid. But my complaint has always been — and I’d withhold again, and I’ll continue to withhold until such time as Europe and other nations contribute to Ukraine because they’re not doing it.”

“Very important, I want other countries to put up money,” he added. “I think it’s unfair that we put up the money. Then other people call me. They said, ‘Oh, let it go.’ And I let it go. But we paid the money, the money was paid.”

Trump was responding to reporting by the Washington Post that Trump instructed his acting chief of staff, Mick Mulvaney, to withhold nearly $400 million in promised military aid a week before the Donald spoke to the Ukrainian president.