Good morning. Here’s your Early Warning for Friday, 26 April 2019.
Politics & Governance
Virginia Democratic Congressman Gerry Connolly warned that Congress and the White House were headed towards a constitutional crisis over the Trump administration’s unwillingness to comply with Congressional subpoenas. I’ve included three quotes under ‘Far Left Daily’ and will have further thoughts in today’s National Intelligence Bulletin.
President Trump appeared on FoxNews‘ “Hannity” last night to discuss the years-long investigation. “This was a coup. This was an attempted overthrow of the United States government.” Numerous right wing pundits are reporting that the Trump administration, specifically Justice Department Inspector General Michael Horowitz and Justice Department attorney John Huber, are getting ready to drop bombshells about the origins of the Trump-Russia collusion investigation, which will uncover significant wrong-doing on behalf of the FBI.
Far Left Daily
“A respect for the limits of your branch of government, a respect for the role of other branches of government, is sort of the oil that makes the machinery work. … Absent that this breaks down. And I think we’re definitely seeing that.” – Rep. Gerald Connolly (D-VA)
“I think we are about to enter a constitutional crisis. When the president of the United States says, ‘I’m not going to comply with any subpoena request of the legislative branch,’ you are in a constitutional crisis.” – Rep. Gerald Connolly (D-VA)
“We will do whatever it takes to compel compliance. We will put them in jail, we will fine them, we will hold them in contempt. There is apparently a little room in the Capitol where somebody can be held. It looks like we’re going to need a bigger room.” – Rep. Gerald Connolly (D-VA)
“The carpenter can’t run out of inches. The stadium can’t run out of points. The airline can’t run out of [frequent flyer] miles. And the USA can’t run out of dollars.” – Economist Stephanie Kelton, who supports Modern Monetary Theory
“It’s weird to see Democrats running for president who think that, once Trump is defeated, Mitch McConnell will be so grateful that the black stain is cast out of our land that he will reward Trump’s vanquisher by allowing them to confirm even a single cabinet secretary or judge.” – Ian Millhiser, ThinkProgress
“[The Southern District of New York] is very aggressive and independent, well-staffed… So, it’s not over. But for the moment, this phase is over.” – Bob Woodward, speaking about the SDNY’s investigations in the Trump Organization
“Biden’s gonna get bad press coverage because the mainstream media thinks he’s a boring story and the left-leaning media doesn’t think he’s woke enough. Not entirely unlike Clinton in 2016 although she had other factors that made it worse for her (including her gender).” – Nate Silver, 538 Project
“Yes [ICE will exist under a O’Rourke administration], but it will not employ those [deportation] practices that we’ve seen not just under this administration but under the previous administration.” – Robert Francis “Beto” O’Rourke, saying he will not deport illegal immigrants
Economy/Finance
Strategic/Defense Situational Awareness
U.S. falls behind Russia, China in nuclear arsenal modernization
Notable Quotable
“The ‘woke’ social justice movement rules today’s Democrats, and the party’s candidates are ranked for fitness on a crude, ever-shifting scale of “intersectionality,” used to determine who is most oppressed. If a candidate can claim oppression based on race, gender or sexuality, he or she can move forward. If he is deemed to have ‘privilege,’ God help him.” – Eddie Scarry in the New York Post, writing about Joe Biden’s coming conflict with social justice warriors
