(thread) Backstory of the Milley pardon

In late 2020, Gen. Milley began to express private concern about Pres. Trump's conduct. Those concerns became alarm by Jan. 2021 and Milley took steps to reassure foreign military leaders that the U.S. was stable. cnn.com/2021/09/14/pol… Milley was not the only one alarmed. Based on our reporting for "Peril," CIA Director Gina Haspel, for instance, told Milley, “We are on the way to a right-wing coup.” cc: @realBobWoodward
washingtonpost.com/politics/2021/…

News: the infamous Willard "war room" is being revived & reorganized ahead of tonight's election results.

Steve Bannon tells @CBSNews this morning he will be at the Willard, where he was on Jan. 5, 2021.

"Unlike in 2020, we will secure Trump's victory this time," Bannon says. Bannon, who was just released from prison, says he will be gathering tonight with allies, overlooking the Ellipse, the site of where Trump gave his Jan. 6, 2021 speech. Another "war room," this time for 2024.

From this afternoon @CBSNews

CBS: Will you debate VP Harris?

Trump: "I don’t know who I'm going to debate.  So far, we haven’t determined who is going to be on that side.  But I think whoever it is, I’d like to debate.  Yeah, sure." More:

CBS: Does it change how you see this whole race?

Trump: "No.  It’s policy. The policies is still bad... The policies whether its him or her wouldn’t be any different.  She was in charge of the border.  She was the border czar, she was the worst ever..."

My latest reporting...

+ President Biden is deeply frustrated in Delaware this weekend with those he perceives as unhelpful and who he believes are participating in an informal, somewhat slow-moving, misguided revolt against his candidacy + Biden and members of his inner circle believe both former Speaker Pelosi and former President Obama are privately underestimating his political appeal and the strength of his coalition, especially against Trump, and believe they and others are being too muted on Dem. dissent

Years ago, in 2013, I spoke w/ Trump about wrestling. He had just been part of WWE Hall of Fame ceremony. His adviser Sam Nunberg, who had been first introduced to Trump through wrestling, was talking up Trump’s base of support in that community as Trump mulled a visit to Iowa… I’ll always recall Trump talking about the power of TV, both for wrestling and The Apprentice. And for him. He was confident those things might mean more in terms of winning power than any GOP endorsement. He said wrestling fans “get me.” He was also still promoting birtherism.

(thread) Will be on @FaceTheNation at 10:30 a.m. ET

Some reporting notes from this weekend...

Re: Hunter/S.C. news, spoke w/ several Biden advisers and top Dem strategists. They see public and private polling plus focus group data that shows most voters aren't focused on H.B. Inside Biden WH, the SC news wasn't welcomed and there is an ack. that it could lead to a drip, drip scenario on DOJ front. And they know H.B. issues are deeply personal for the pres. But they also believe Rs on trail and on the Hill will overplay the issue, esp if imp. pursued.

(thread) Ahead of a possible Trump indictment on a Jan. 6 conspiracy, a review, in chronological order, of reporting I've picked up in recent days... what have witnesses been asked about? What has come under scrutiny during the investigation? What matters?

1) Hours after the... 1) Hours after polls close Nov. 3, shortly after 2 a.m. Nov. 4, Trump falsely claims he won. What was discussed in the campaign war rooms in both the Map Room and in the EEOB? What did Trump say? What pressure was put on Fox execs, DOJ officials, and political officials?

Hearing from 2 sources, familiar with the special counsel grand jury on J6, that Trump's consideration of using purported fed. authority to seize voting machines is under scrutiny. SC probing whether there was criminal intent to build a premise for delay/block in certification... Why this matter... investigators, I'm told, are interested in whether Trump was CHOOSING, verbally and in documented exchanges, to buy into S. Powell/Flynn suggestion that, by claiming voting machines were problematic, the election had to be sent back to the states...

NEWS (thread): I've been hearing for months that some major GOP donors are interested in recruiting a late entry into 2024 race, even in early 2024, if Trump is convicted or continues to face legal challenges yet dominates the field. Two names routinely come up: Kemp, Youngkin... Today @CBSNews had an exclusive, lengthy sitdown with Gov. Brian Kemp of GA, who has clashed with Trump over 2020 but is widely seen on right as fellow conservative, be it on handling the pandemic or social issues. I asked him about my latest reporting on the late-entry talk...

(Thread) learning some new things this morning about WHY this all happened and the motivation, especially for the audio from 2021 discussing classified material. In short, it comes down to one person: *Milley.* Trump loathed his coverage in press, in books, per multiple sources… As Trump fumed in post-presidency period about Milley, in his view, being cast as a hero and himself as an insurrectionist, he began to talk regularly about Milley in 2021, dismissing him and bringing up stories that made Milley seem unintelligent and untrustworthy, per sources

(thread/tonight) What I'm hearing... Trump is frustrated not just with the indictment but with people in his inner circle who reassured him for months that it was very unlikely to happen... source close to Trump says "too much happy talk for way too long" about what could happen A second source close to Trump says "Trusty knows the special counsel" and is expected to try to work with Rowley and Blanche to figure out exactly how to play the next step, which will be a move to dismiss/formal attempt to question special counsel and especially DOJ's Bratt...

(thread) Have covered Christie closely since his run for governor in 2009. Watching his NH town hall tonight. He's now in the race. A few observations... he's starting this bid on low simmer. Reintroducing himself to voters, casting himself as a thoughtful, seasoned GOP hand... At age 60, after failed bid in 2016 and the scars of the bridge scandal still there, he's not entering with a rah-rah or bombastic message. This isn't (yet) the fiery Christie of 2010/2011. But there are echoes of his 2013 reelect in this 2024 campaign pitch...

Standby… BREAKING: Trump’s lawyers just spotted by @CBSNews entering the Justice Department, per @RobLegare who is on site… comes as sources tell me the special counsel is moving toward a charging decision in the classified documents case

(thread) This Pence development today is significant and potentially historic. A former vice president is now willing, within certain specified constitutional grounds his lawyers fought to arrange, to testify about potential illegal acts by a president.
cbsnews.com/news/mike-penc… Trump's lawyers might try to appeal Pence's decision, but they keep losing efforts to assert exec. priv. with this grand jury.

That means Pence could appear before Jan. 6 grand jury in the coming weeks to testify under oath about what exactly Trump did and said in private.

Updates:

1. NY criminal grand jury on 2016 Stormy payments

An indictment of Trump possible in coming days, but grand jury was not convened today, making ETA of a vote on Trump indictment TBD. Not clear what is delaying DA Bragg, if anything, or if more witnesses will be called. 2. Federal grand jury on Trump's classified documents, special counsel

Trump's lawyer in the case, Evan Corcoran, has been ordered by an appeals court to provide any evidence about Trump's handling of records, notes of mtgs., audio files, etc. And to testify about all the above.

Former ambassador ⁦@NikkiHaley⁩ in snowy Nevada, Iowa tonight. Starts speech by talking up ⁦@IowaStateU⁩ basketball team’s latest victory and her bio. Tells crowd she grew up near farms, didn’t go to Ivy League, was outsider in SC GOP before being elected governor… Haley is not running against Trump. Or DeSantis. Or anyone. Talking up rec, nodding twd some policy stances (broadly hawkish on foreign policy but also a bit 'America First' in rhetoric) and traditional GOP on fiscal policy, calling for some changes to long term fed spending...

As several observers have noted today, there are various ways the Pence subpoena issue could play out in court. Trump side raises privlege questions, which special counsel is taking steps to address and prompt Pence to testify. But Pence lawyer Emmet Flood's "speech & debate" ... argument looms over a possible Pence appearance and could lead to more deliberation over the scope of questioning, particularly regarding Jan. 6/congressional certification-related questions.

BREAKING NEWS: In recent days, federal prosecutors have asked the chief judge in Washington, D.C.’s federal court to compel former Vice President Mike Pence to comply with a grand jury subpoena and testify as a witness in Special Counsel Jack Smith’s investigation... Per 3 people familiar with the investigation, the motion to compel Pence’s testimony – filed in secret to Chief Judge Beryl Howell in recent days – came after lawyers for former President Donald Trump asserted executive privilege in response to Pence’s subpoena... w/ @RobLegare

Good morning from outside the Fulton County courthouse, awaiting the special grand jury’s report on Trump and his efforts to overturn the 2020 election… due to a judge’s order, we expect a partial release of the report today ⁦@CBSNews⁩ In filing today, Fulton County (Ga.) special grand jury report, partially released, reveals the grand jury has concluded "we find by a unanimous vote that no widespread fraud took place in the Georgia 2020 presidential election that could result in overturning that election."

(thread) Good morning from Charleston. Covering Haley's first event as a 2024 candidate. Some notes from the notebooks over the years... I first interviewed her more than a decade ago, in 2010, as she was running for governor. That bid made her a party star. By the end of it... she was being touted as a possible VP contender for the 2012 cycle. She was seen at the time as part of the tea-party movement, particularly b/c Palin endorsed her in May 2010, which generated a lot of news. But she notably never fully drifted from the Republican establishment...

New statement from Pence adviser Devin O'Malley: "Following the discovery and disclosure of a small number of potentially classified documents that had inadvertently been transported to his home in Indiana, Vice President Pence and his legal team have fully cooperated... " "... with the appropriate authorities and agreed to a consensual search of his residence that took place today. The Department of Justice completed a thorough and unrestricted search of five hours and removed one document with classified markings and six additional pages... "