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JIM LEHRER has died. He was 85. PBS NewsHour announcement … NYT obituary by Robert McFadden
NEXT WEEK is expected to be momentous in the Senate trial of President DONALD TRUMP. The president’s team could begin laying out their defense as soon as Saturday or Monday. Votes on witnesses could be Tuesday or Wednesday.
AT THE SAME TIME, halfway around the world, Israeli PM BENJAMIN NETANYAHU has a big Tuesday too: It’s the day the Knesset is slated to consider his request for immunity from corruption charges.
ON TUESDAY, in the middle of these two career-defining events, where will TRUMP and NETANYAHU be? In Washington, where they are currently expected to discuss their peace plans -- along with BIBI’S rival, BENNY GANTZ. What a strange coincidence. This is according to Channel 13’s Barak Ravid, Haaretz, i24 News and others. VP MIKE PENCE announced the visit in Jerusalem.
WHAT SENATE MINORITY LEADER CHUCK SCHUMER SAID THIS A.M. … FASCINATING EXCHANGE at a Capitol news conference in the 11 a.m. hour … AP’S ANDY TAYLOR: “You’ve been a politician for a long time. And you’ve seen good political environments, and you’ve had to carry both good messages and bad messages in those environments. You seem pretty confident right now with the argument you have on witnesses. Do you believe that the Republican position against witnesses is sustainable, politically?”
SCHUMER: “Look, I think it’s not sustainable substantively, for sure. And the American people seem to agree with us, and we are -- look, I don’t know what’ll happen. Am I certain that we’ll get those four Republicans? Absolutely not. Am I certain we won’t absolutely get those four Republicans? Certainly not. … When you have truth on your side, when you have facts on your side, you often win, because that’s the way -- my belief, God made the world. And that’s the way our republic is structured, so you just keep at it and keep at it and keep at it.
“And I can’t tell you the outcome, but I feel my whole caucus -- from one end to the other -- feels very confident of these arguments. We’re the ones out there. You don’t find many Republicans going and talking to the press, someone told me if you looked at who’s going on the shows, it’s overwhelmingly Democratic. Now, that’s because of the faith in argument that we have.” The full news conference
SEN. LINDSEY GRAHAM (R-S.C.) this morning:
-- ON DEMOCRATS WEDNESDAY: They did a “good job of creating a tapestry taking bits and pieces of evidence and emails and giving a rhetorical flourish, making the email come alive. Sometimes effectively sometimes a little over the top. But quite frankly, I thought they did a good job of taking bits and pieces of the evidence and creating a quilt out of it. So what I will tell my colleagues is the other side gets to talk and see if they can pull a thread here and there and see if it holds up.”
-- ON BIDEN: “I know a lot about the Trump family and their dealings in Russia. I don't know anything about the Biden connection to the Ukraine. So when the managers tell me this has been looked at and debunked -- by who? So that's becoming coming relevant because they talked about it almost 50 times -- that the president had no reason to believe that anything improper occurred in the Ukraine with the Biden's, and he was just out to create a political advantage. … I love Joe Biden. But I can tell you if the name was Trump there would be a lot of questions asked.”
TEAM BIDEN RESPONDS, from Andrew Bates: “As Kurt Volcker, Trump's former lead envoy to Ukraine, said in sworn testimony, 'The allegations against Vice President Biden are self-serving and non-credible.' And as we said in November, 'Lindsey Graham has forfeited his conscience to escape a primary. Republicans controlled both chambers of Congress for most of the last five years and said or did nothing to indicate they thought that this warranted attention. As recently as the fall, Lindsay Graham said that such an investigation would be a circus. What changed?’”
WHAT TO EXPECT DURING TODAY’S IMPEACHMENT TRIAL, from Andrew Desiderio and Kyle Cheney: “The House’s seven impeachment managers spent all day Wednesday piecing together their voluminous and complex case that Trump abused his power by pressuring Ukraine to investigate his Democratic rivals — and then tried to cover it up. Now, they’ll lay out the reasons they believe he should be ousted and barred from serving in federal office ever again.”
FORMER NEW YORK GOP REP. JOHN FASO disclosed that he gave $2,445.34 to the Treasury because of a “payment relating to potentially inappropriate contribution from Igor Fruman.”
DID PRINCE CHARLES snub PENCE in Jerusalem? The video … KATIE WALDMAN, Pence’s press secretary, pointed to another photo of them chatting. @VPPressSec: “VP and Prince Charles spoke prior to entering the event floor and after his remarks as well.” Tweet, with photo
-- WAPO: “World leaders convene in Jerusalem to remember Holocaust and counter anti-Semitism,” by Steve Hendrix, Ruth Eglash and Ashley Parker in Jerusalem: “Vice President Pence and Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi were among the dignitaries and delegations filling Yad Vashem, the city’s somber memorial to the Holocaust’s 6 million Jewish victims, for the World Holocaust Forum, one of the largest international events ever hosted by Israel.
“Leaders of World War II’s four allied powers addressed the body, including Pence, Britain’s Prince Charles, French President Emmanuel Macron and Russian President Vladimir Putin, along with German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier, Israeli President Reuven Rivlin and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. … [Pence] and Netanyahu both singled out Iran as a particular threat.” WaPo
Good Thursday afternoon. LUNCHTIME CLICKER … WASHINGTONIAN’S top 100 restaurants list is on newsstands today. Top 10: Anju … The Dabney … Sushi Nakazawa … Komi … Elle … Poca Madre … Bresca … Bad Saint … Pineapple and Pearls … Cane. Top 20
DAILY RUDY -- “Rudy Giuliani Sidekick Lev Parnas Traces Part of Money Trail to Ukraine,” by Bloomberg’s Greg Farrell, Stephanie Baker, Ben Bartenstein and David Kocieniewski: “From fine whiskey to European flights to cigar bars, the tab for the Ukraine mission was starting to add up. Even one of President Donald Trump’s wealthiest contributors sounded peeved. ‘Just becoming expensive flying u guys everywhere LEV,’ wrote Harry Sargeant III, a Florida energy tycoon, in a pointed text to Lev Parnas, Rudy Giuliani’s advance man on the Ukraine operation.
“A trove of documents recently released by Parnas, including that text from April, provides some new details about the money web that helped support Giuliani’s work in Ukraine as President Trump’s personal lawyer. … Money flowed to Giuliani and his cohorts from home loans, friends, relative strangers and wealthy businessmen, some with interests in the gas and energy sector. It even came from a lawyer for an embattled Ukrainian energy tycoon fighting extradition to the U.S. on a conspiracy charge.” Bloomberg
TRUMP, INC. -- “Trump’s Doral Resort Spikes Its Room Rates Ahead Of His RNC Visit,” by HuffPost’s S.V. Date in Doral, Fla.: “The president’s Miami golf resort that puts money into his pocket more than doubled its room rates just before the White House announced his Thursday visit ― possibly increasing taxpayer costs for staff who must travel there in advance.
“Donald Trump’s plan to address the Republican National Committee’s winter meeting at Trump National Doral next to the Miami airport has been in the works since mid-January, about the same time that the resort raised the nightly rate for its least expensive rooms from $254 to $539. That higher figure is just under the maximum per-night rate federal government rules permit for a hotel in South Florida, and is triple the normal ‘per diem’ rate employees are supposed to follow.” HuffPost
HUAWEI OR THE HIGHWAY -- “Facing Pushback From Allies, U.S. Set for Broader Huawei Effort,” by WSJ’s Stu Woo in Beijing: “The U.S. is preparing for a longer and broader campaign to banish Huawei Technologies Co. from next-generation 5G cellular networks around the world, as Washington faces resistance on the front line of its lobbying campaign, according to people familiar with the matter.
“U.K. officials have indicated they would restrict but not forbid the use of Huawei equipment. The Trump administration sees Britain and Germany as bellwethers that could prompt other nations to welcome Huawei, a giant maker of cellular equipment that the U.S. considers a spying threat. …
“British officials have played down a warning from Washington that the U.S. could reassess how it shares intelligence with the U.K. The White House as well as lawmakers say they may escalate the pressure by telling Britain, which is looking to forge trade deals after it leaves the European Union this month, that accepting Huawei could impact economic ties.” WSJ
THE TRUMP ADMINISTRATION -- “Trump promised his mileage standards would make cars cheaper and safer. New documents raise doubts about that,” by WaPo’s Juliet Eilperin and Brady Dennis: “The revised Safer Affordable Fuel-Efficient (SAFE) Vehicles rule, which has not been released publicly, would require automakers to increase the average fuel efficiency of the nation’s fleets by 1.5 percent a year between Model Year 2021 and 2026. Rules put in place by the Obama administration, by comparison, require a nearly 5 percent annual increase.
“If finalized, the proposal would mandate more progress on fuel efficiency than the Trump administration’s initial effort to freeze fuel standards in the years ahead. But the new analysis, outlined in a letter Wednesday by Sen. Thomas R. Carper (D-Del.), projects that the benefits of Trump’s proposed rollback would not significantly outweigh the costs. Trump’s approach would lower the sticker price of new cars, according to the documents, but drivers would spend more at the gas pump over time by driving less efficient vehicles.” WaPo
-- “Trump administration cracks down on birth tourism,” by Rebecca Rainey: “The State Department released a rule today that will make it harder for pregnant foreigners to travel to the U.S. in what the Trump administration says is an effort to crack down on ‘birth tourism.’
“The final rule, which will go into effect tomorrow, clarifies that if consular officers have ‘reason to believe’ a traveler seeking a nonimmigrant tourist or business visa will give birth during their stay in the United States, the officers will presume they are doing so ‘for the primary purpose of obtaining U.S. citizenship for the child.’ The visa applicant will then have to prove to the officer ‘a legitimate primary purpose’ for their travel.” POLITICO … The rule
JUICY YAHOO EXCLUSY -- “The inside story of how the U.S. gave up a chance to kill Soleimani in 2007,” by Zach Dorfman and Sean Naylor: “One afternoon in Baghdad in the final months of 2007, a few members of a U.S. special operations task force were monitoring the feed from a Predator drone over the Iraqi capital, scanning for signs of trouble, when they spotted a large crowd gathering in the neighborhood of Sadr City. …
“‘We said, “holy s***, it’s Soleimani, pressing flesh with a bunch of people,”’ said the former U.S. intelligence officer. The drone tracking Soleimani was armed with missiles, and the U.S. military could have killed the Iranian commander — and probably many others — instantly. … But, even if Soleimani had been alone, the task force members present knew that the Quds Force commander was ‘untouchable,’ said the former intelligence officer. As they watched, Soleimani parted the crowd, stepped into a building and was gone.” Yahoo
11 DAYS TO IOWA … BLOOMBERG’S SPRINT TO THE LEFT -- “Bloomberg borrows Bernie’s rhetoric,” by Sally Goldenberg: “The Democratic presidential primary is turning billionaire Mike Bloomberg, one of the world’s richest men, into an economic populist. Gone are the strident defenses of the rich for their contributions to the economy, and the spats with working-class unions that came to sculpt Bloomberg's public persona during his three terms as New York City mayor.
“In their place, the businessman whose extreme wealth has allowed him to circumvent some of the traditional rigors of campaigning is making assertions that sound more like Bernie Sanders than Wall Street’s defender in chief. In a Democratic Party where progressive populism has taken hold and several leading candidates like Sanders and Elizabeth Warren are railing against the concentration of wealth in the hands of a few billionaires, Bloomberg’s evolution is something of a political necessity.” POLITICO
-- NATASHA KORECKI: “Bill Bradley, the former senator and White House hopeful, is endorsing Joe Biden for president and will campaign for him in New Hampshire in the coming weeks. Bradley, who ran an unsuccessful progressive primary bid against then-Vice President Al Gore in 2000, told POLITICO he views Biden as the only candidate in the field who can beat Donald Trump and unite the country.” POLITICO
19 DAYS TO NEW HAMPSHIRE … WBUR has Bernie Sanders commanding 29% of likely Democratic primary voters in its latest New Hampshire poll, followed by Pete Buttigieg at 17%, Joe Biden at 14% and Elizabeth Warren at 13%. WBUR … The poll
SAD NEWS -- “Firefighting plane crashes in Australia, killing 3 Americans,” by AP’s Rod McGuirk in Sydney: “New South Wales Premier Gladys Berejiklian confirmed the crash deaths in the state’s Snowy Monaro region, which came as Australia grapples with an unprecedented fire season that has left a large swath of destruction. Coulson Aviation in the U.S. state of Oregon said in a statement that one of its Lockheed large air tankers was lost after it left Richmond in New South Wales with retardant for a firebombing mission.” AP
FOR YOUR RADAR -- “Climate Change Could Cause the Next Financial Meltdown,” by NYT’s Jack Ewing in Frankfurt: “The book-length report, published by the Bank for International Settlements in Basel, Switzerland, signals what could be the overriding theme for central banks in the decade to come. … Central banks spent much of the last 10 years hauling their economies out of a deep financial crisis that began in 2008. They may well spend the next decade coping with the disruptive effects of climate change and technology, the report said.” NYT … The report
INSANELY WELL-TIMED DEEP DIVE -- “Operation Encore and the Saudi Connection: A Secret History of the 9/11 Investigation,” by Tim Golden and Sebastian Rotella for ProPublica and the NYT Magazine: “The FBI has disputed the idea that foreign-policy considerations significantly influenced its investigation. In interviews, current and former bureau officials and federal prosecutors insisted to us that they never would have hesitated to pursue any Saudi who could have been solidly linked to the 9/11 plot, even if that person never faced trial in the United States. …
“But others who worked on the matter, including some at the FBI’s highest levels, say that the United States’ complex and often-troubled relationship with the Saudi regime was an unavoidable fact throughout their investigations. … The Encore investigation exposed a bitter rift within the bureau over the Saudi connection. It illuminated a series of missed opportunities to resolve questions about links between one of Washington’s closest allies and the deadliest attack in the nation’s history.” ProPublica
ROADSHOW -- “The wildly popular Obama portraits are going on a year-long tour to museums across the country,” by WaPo’s Peggy McGlone: “The tour will begin at the Art Institute of Chicago (June 18-Aug. 15, 2021) before moving to the Brooklyn Museum (Aug. 27-Oct. 24, 2021), the Los Angeles County Museum of Art (Nov. 5-Jan. 2, 2022), the High Museum of Art in Atlanta (Jan. 14-March 13, 2022) and the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston (March 25-May 30, 2022).” WaPo
MEDIAWATCH -- Wes Morgan is leaving POLITICO where he has been a defense reporter. He will be working on “The Hardest Place,” on the history of American involvement in Afghanistan’s Pech Valley, out September 2020 from Random House.
TRANSITION -- Michael Nyenhuis is now president and CEO of UNICEF USA. He previously was president and CEO of Americares.
SPOTTED at the Financial Times and CNBC’s annual reception at the Steigenberger Grandhotel Belvédère in Davos on Wednesday night, co-hosted by John Ridding and Mark Hoffman: Jamie Dimon, Richard Edelman, Roula Khalaf, James Gorman, Tsuneo Kita, Adena Friedman, Lord Jitesh Gadhia, Anthony Scaramucci, Zak Brown, Mika Hakkinen, Gillian Tett, Kevin Ulrich, Rana Foroohar, Andrew Ross Sorkin, Joe Kernan, Tony Fratto and Troy Gayeski.
SPOTTED at a goodbye party at the Monocle on Wednesday night for Stacy Rich, who left the Senate after 17 years, most recently serving as leadership staff director for Sen. Patty Murray (D-Wash.): Mindi Linquist, Todd Webster, Mike Spahn, Mindy Myers, Eli Zupnick, Helen Hare, Scott Mulhauser, Kara Carscaden, Beth Burke, Marina Orcutt, Kerry Arndt, Bill Sweeney, Kim Lipsky, Meredith Mellody, Ben Merkel and Mairead Lynn.
BIRTHWEEK (was Friday): Maury Povich … (was Wednesday): FDA Commissioner Stephen Hahn
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