Congress?s Trump Investigation Is Going to Hurt Trump, Not Congress

“Do you think that Congress should do more to investigate Michael Cohen’s claims about President Trump’s unethical and illegal behavior, or don’t you think so?” Fifty-eight percent say yes, 35 percent say no. The last people in the world who should feel nervous about the political ramifications are the Democrats in Congress.Wilbur Ross gets another smackdown in court, but the Supreme Court will ultimately decide whether a citizenship question can appear on the censusA federal judge in San Francisco has blocked a Trump administration move to include a citizenship question in the 2020 census, calling the proposal “arbitrary and capricious” and saying it would harm the state of California and be “contrary to the Constitution.”In a ruling released Wednesday, U.S. District Judge Richard Seeborg said that Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross had failed to justify his decision to include a citizenship question in the upcoming census.The judge said such a question would ultimately hamper the department’s constitutional mandate to conduct an accurate count of the nation’s population by causing noncitizens to avoid enumeration. The count occurs every 10 years.“A significant differential undercount, particularly impacting noncitizen and Latino communities, will result from the inclusion of a citizenship question on the 2020 Census,” Seeborg wrote.Obama posts his thoughts on the Dem primary, with a shoutout to a certain websiteAs Democrats enter the presidential primary season, here’s an article that captures some of my thoughts on the process pretty well: http://nymag.com/…/will-2020-democrats-help-trump-by-destro…It goes without saying that the stakes couldn’t be higher in 2020, and I’m excited by the slate of extraordinary candidates who have thrown (or appear to be getting ready to throw) their hats in the ring. Representative Ayanna Pressley, Democrat of Massachusetts, said she told leadership that there must be “equity in our outrage,” noting that Ms. Omar, a Minnesotan and one of the first two Muslim women elected to Congress, was being attacked for her faith.Bloomberg(’s Money) 2020Michael Bloomberg announced yesterday that he would not run for president, but would devote some of his considerable economic firepower to helping elect Democrats next year. Unclear if that means much in terms of voters.Bruce Reed was also advising Tom Steyer, so take from that what you will.On the other hand, both Bernie and Warren loved the idea of running against Bloomberg, so they’re the ones who are most obviously hurt here, at least in terms of losing a foil.Does Bloomberg’s exit say anything about the limits of huge money in presidential politics?Don’t think so. When they failed, they basically just threw up their hands and directed a lot of money to anti-Hillary super PACs. Bloomberg is a bit more forward-facing than a lot of these people, of course.The thing about the Bloomberg news is that, though few Democrats will say it out loud right now because of the taboo on talking positively re: money in politics, they’re pretty uniformly happy with the prospect of him pouring a ton of money into their 2020 efforts, without his own messy candidacy complicating things.I’m also aware that you and I both think a contested convention is more feasible in 2020 than at any time in living memory (feasible, not likely). Thirty-five Democratic senators (out of 48 Democrats total) and 168 Democratic House Reps (out of 235) are sponsors or co-sponsors.Nielsen gets a grilling from House DemocratsHouse Democrats repeatedly clashed with Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen over whether detention facilities for migrant children separated from their families at the U.S.-Mexico border are akin to cages.Representative Bonnie Watson Coleman of New Jersey asked Nielsen at a House Homeland Security Committee hearing on Wednesday what made the detention centers for children different from “cages you’d put your dogs in.”Nielsen said they were “larger,” had “facilities” and provide “room to sit, to stand, to lay down.”Committee Chairman Bennie Thompson told Nielsen that he wanted her to “admit that the cages exist” and cautioned her to not mislead the committee.DNC rejects FNCA novel theory for why Trump paid Stormy Daniels to keep quiet about their affairI honestly think this president loves his family. If he does so — and stays out of any new trouble — prosecutors would drop all felony counts against Schock, leaving him with a clean record.Brazil’s new far-right president out-crazies Trump by posting a graphic photo of a man urinating on another man to illustrate the decadence of Brazilian CarnivalGood news, America: A book about the deranged Qanon conspiracy theory is lighting up the Amazon book chartsPeace-loving Republicans are going to town on Ilhan OmarThe drawn-out saga at Masterpiece Cakeshop is overThe court struggles between the state’s Civil Rights Commission and a little cake shop in Lakewood will cease after Colorado Attorney General Phil Weiser announced a truce between state agencies and Jack Phillips, the owner of Masterpiece Cakeshop.Phillips sued the Civil Rights Commission to ask they never be allowed to bring a discrimination suit again against his shop after the Supreme Court ruled last year that the commission had mishandled the case - punting any far-reaching decisions about religious freedom and business owners. He filed a federal suit complaining that the Civil Rights Commission was harassing him and asked they be barred from bringing complaints against his business in the future.The state Attorney General’s office said Phillips will voluntarily drop his federal lawsuit and the stat’s commission will dismiss their administrative action against Masterpiece Cakeshop and Phillips.Classy anti-gun reform tactics on display in New Hampshire yesterdayFor a lot of workers, there’s a big catch to Amazon’s wage increasesIn response to public pressure and increasing scrutiny over the pay of its warehouse workers, Amazon enacted a $15 minimum wage for all its employees on 1 November, including workers at grocery chain Whole Foods which it purchased in 2017.All Whole Foods employees paid less than $15 an hour saw their wages increase to at least that, while all other team members received a $1-an-hour wage increase and team leaders received a $2-an-hour increase.But since the wage increase, Whole Food employees have told the Guardian that they have experienced widespread cuts that have reduced schedule shifts across many stores, often negating wage gains for employees.“My hours went from 30 to 20 a week,” said one Whole Foods employee in Illinois.The new GOP stonewalling strategy extends to JaredThe top White House lawyer on Tuesday said the Trump administration will refuse to provide Congress with information about senior adviser Jared Kushner’s security clearance, slamming House Democrats for “overly intrusive document requests.”White House Counsel Pat Cipollone said the administration would brief the House Oversight Committee about the White House’s process for granting security clearances, but he balked at the committee’s demand for information specific to Kushner, setting up a potential subpoena fight between the powerful House panel and the White House.“These actions suggest that the Committee is not interested in proper oversight, but rather seeks information that it knows cannot be provided consistent with applicable law,” Cipollone wrote in a letter to Oversight Committee Chairman Elijah Cummings.