-Day 33 of the #TrumpShutdown
-Blocked From Giving SOTU in House
-Approval Rating Plummets to 36%
-Fed Workers #OccupyHart in Protest
-Cohen Delays Testimony Out of Fear
-US Economy Could See Zero Growth
-Uninsured Rate Rises to 4 Year High
Day 689 of NO EVIDENCE produced by Trump that his phones were tapped by Obama.
The FISA warrant Trump referenced targeted Carter Page. #TrumpLies
Day 477 since the deadliest mass shooting on U.S soil in Las Vegas that killed 58, injuring 546.
Although a bump stock ban takes effect in 55 days, Congress must take action to prevent future mass shootings. #NeverForget #NeverAgain #EnoughIsEnough
Police confirm that five people were killed in a bank shooting in Sebring, Florida on Wednesday. The 21-year-old suspect is in custody.
twitter.com/i/events/10881…
Sebring bank shooting: 5 dead after gunman opens fire inside SunTrust branch.
As the NRA works overtime to pretend no issue with guns in gun violence, here we go again.
bit.ly/2FLuLG9
The mass shooting/mass murder in Sebring, Florida is the *19th* mass shooting of 2019.
There have already been 5 mass shootings in Florida so far this year, more than 25% of all incidents, according to @GunDeaths.
No other state has more than 2.
gunviolencearchive.org/reports/mass-s…
FYI: The Trump admin has quietly resumed separating immigrant families at the border.
At one agency, the children were put into temporary foster care and shelters with little or no indication that they arrived at the border with their parents: propub.li/2QcsPvY
Reminder: The Trump administration is systematically locking up thousands of children at unheard of rates - now almost 15,000 are in U.S. custody.
The government classifies these children as "unaccompanied"
n.pr/2BdhcL8
Thousands more kids may have been separated from their parents at the border under the Trump administration than was previously thought, according to an internal government report.
abcn.ws/2DmTr5t
Trump has had more interactions with the North Koreans than he has with Democratic leaders over the shutdown in the last two weeks cnn.com/2019/01/23/pol…
North Korea's Kim Jong-un expresses "great satisfaction" after receiving letter from Trump - AFP
Shinzo Abe says he's confident he's in sync with Mr. Trump on North Korea.
But privately, Japanese officials and analysts worry that Trump will make a deal that leaves Japan vulnerable to a missile strike from the North.
nyti.ms/2FSbDWq
Source close to Cohen tells @KatyTurNBC that wife & father-in-law are particularly scared; wife scared about physically showing up to the hearing, thought she could get hurt.
They feel directly targeted by Trump: “The threats are real. Trump knows what he’s doing.”
As a reminder, Trump told @JudgeJeanine last weekend that media and prosecutors ought to be looking into Cohen's family, suggesting a look at private citizens.
One in a series of suggestions that Cohen family be pursued that Trump has made.
Ex-federal prosecutor Joyce Vance: "Prosecutors take these situations with an incredible amount of seriousness…There is a crime here…It's 18 U.S. Code 1512…Using intimidation or even attempting to use intimidation…could constitute a crime of witness tampering." @MSNBC
18 U.S. Code § 1512 - Tampering with a witness, victim, or an informant
Whoever knowingly uses intimidation, threatens, or corruptly persuades another person, or attempts to ...
(1) influence, delay, or prevent the testimony of any person in an official proceeding
"The general consensus on the committee, for the members I have spoken to, is that we will subpoena [Michael Cohen]," Rep. Stephen Lynch, a senior member of the Oversight Committee.
"We can assure him his safety will be our utmost concern."
politico.com/story/2019/01/…
Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu says Turkey is preparing to take steps to launch an international investigation into the killing of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi abcn.ws/2FQdOcZ
Day 33 since Congress & Trump have not agreed on a spending bill.
Government agencies are now shut down.
More than 800,000 government workers to work without pay because of the #TrumpShutdown
As we wind down day 33 of the #TrumpShutdown, let's not forget:
"I will be the one to shut it down. I'm not going to blame you for it."
As the #TrumpShutdown enters its 33rd day, the rest of Trump's agenda has been sidelined and his presidency has become, as one administration official put it, a one-issue White House. nyti.ms/2S4yG6W?smid=n…
Air Traffic Controllers, Pilots, Flight Attendants on the #TrumpShutdown:
"In our risk averse industry, we cannot even calculate the level of risk currently at play, nor predict the point at which the entire system will break. It is unprecedented."
bit.ly/2T9UFql
The Coast Guard's top admiral says members of the armed forces shouldn't be expected to shoulder the burden of the #TrumpShutdown
"I find it unacceptable that Coast Guard men & women have to rely on food pantries and donations to get through"
washingtonpost.com/national-secur…
Hundreds of IRS employees are skipping work because of the #TrumpShutdown, citing financial hardship, and a surge of absences is expected as part of a coordinated protest.
That could delay tax refunds. washingtonpost.com/business/econo…
Buried at the bottom of this great scoop: USDA meat inspectors also have begun calling in sick because of the #TrumpShutdown — in numbers large enough to trigger an agency crackdown
wapo.st/2FTd9aT?tid=ss…
Federal workers at risk of losing dental and vision benefits unless they pay premiums normally deducted from paychecks, per letter from VA and MD Senators -->
scribd.com/document/39808…
Furloughed federal workers stage lunch hour protest in Hart Senate Office Building.
Shaking fists, they chant, "No more food banks. We need paychecks." #OccupyHart #TrumpShutdown
33 minutes of silent protest in Hart Senate Office Building for each day of the #TrumpShutdown.
Federal workers from various unions holding plates to show they need to feed their families. #OccupyHart
Lara Trump tells 800,000 struggling federal employees who are working without pay that it's just "a little bit of pain" for them but "this is so much bigger than any one person."
#ToneDeaf #OutOfTouch #TrumpShutdown
newsweek.com/shutdown-lara-…
Chair of WH Council of Economic Advisors @WhiteHouseCEA said if the #TrumpShutdown lasts until end of Q1 — “Yes” the U.S. economy could see zero growth. Zero. WATCH:
Trump's approval rating has dropped to 36% in a new CBS poll. 59% disapprove.
71% of Americans say the wall is not worth the shutdown.
Only 28% say the wall is worth it.
47% say Pelosi is handling negotiations better than Trump.
cbsnews.com/news/pelosi-ha…
Trump responded to @SpeakerPelosi on the State of the Union - saying he’s still coming Jan. 29
@SpeakerPelosi rejected Trump's bid to deliver SOTU in House chamber.
"I look forward to welcoming you to the House on a mutually agreeable date for this address *when government has been opened*," she wrote
Nancy Pelosi: "There is serious and justified concern that this president would shut down the government any time he does not get his way legislatively.
That is why we must hold the line on this shutdown." Via ABC
Trump seems to give up on doing the SOTU in the Capitol, telling reporters "we'll do something in the alternative" and that it's "sad" he won't be doing the speech in the "beautiful" Capitol.
Or, you could drop the charade, open the government and pay federal workers.
If Trump comes away from the shutdown with a "win", he'll keep taking more hostages
nymag.com/intelligencer/…
Tim Kaine again asked for consent to take up a House-passed bill that would fund every agency & department impacted by the shutdown except DHS.
McConnell objected again.
It's the 4th time McConnell has blocked a bill to reopen most of government.
thehill.com/blogs/floor-ac…
The White House is requesting a list of programs that would be hurt if the government shutdown lasts into March or April, a sign that it's bracing for a lengthy funding lapse, WaPo reports.
Shouldn't they have already known this? washingtonpost.com/business/econo…
Bread lines...televised Cabinet flattery sessions...centrally-planned economic industrial policy: Under Republican leadership, the US is turning into Republicans’ scariest 30-year-old Soviet fever dreams.
washingtonpost.com/opinions/the-g…
USA Today Editorial Board: Trump pursued a deal in Russia and hid it from voters usatoday.com/story/opinion/…
Ex-FBI counter-intel chief warns Trump is ‘the greatest threat of all’ facing America
rawstory.com/2019/01/ex-fbi…
RNC Resolutions Committee voted unanimously to “undivided support” for Trump and his “effective presidency," clearing way for passage before full GOP governing body on Friday.
Makes you wonder: When will the GOP push for Trump to remain in office, indefinitely?
Trump administration waives federal nondiscrimination law for South Carolina foster care agency, allows discrimination against Jewish, Muslim families interc.pt/2MraIgW
Brynn Tannehill, a transgender ex-naval aviator on the Supreme Court decision: "The court is saying that government discrimination based not on evidence, but solely on animus against transgender people, is permissible." nytimes.com/2019/01/22/opi…
Seven million more Americans are uninsured now than when Trump was elected.
The current number of uninsured is the highest since early 2014, according to latest Gallup.
Is this making America great?
bit.ly/2RK0nCr
As part of House Oversight Committee's investigation into security clearances, the Committee is demanding docs from the NRA relating to John Bolton's foreign contacts.
NPR has the letter Elijah Cummings sent to the NRA president.
npr.org/2019/01/23/687…
The House Judiciary Committee wants to know if acting A.G. Matt Whitaker has ever been briefed on Mueller's probe and, if so, whether Whitaker shared any such info with Trump or his lawyers. It's one of many questions the Committee plans to ask.
washingtonpost.com/world/national…
"Some of Trump’s allies have suggested that Giuliani be barred from evening interviews because of concerns that he was going on TV after drinking, according to three Republicans close to the White House.” apnews.com/1b3a0037c65941…
NBC's Pete Williams: Judge orders former Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort to court hearing Friday on whether he failed to cooperate with Mueller's prosecutors
Trump has officially recognized the President of the Venezuelan National Assembly, Juan Guaido, as the Interim President of Venezuela.
After Trump and several other leaders recognize Venezuelan opposition leader as legitimate president of Venezuela, Nicolás Maduro says he is breaking off relations with US and gives US diplomatic personnel 72 hours to leave country.
In case you missed yesterday's thread:
There does not appear to be historical precedent for a House speaker denying use of the chamber to a president for the State of the Union, per congressional historians washingtonpost.com/politics/trump…
Trump backs down and says he will wait to give his State of the Union after the shutdown is over, as Pelosi insisted.
See how easy it is to just tell Trump, NO?!?
Here's looking at you, Republicans.