by Lowell
Here are a few national and Virginia news headlines, political and otherwise, for Monday, January 14.
- China’s exports shrink most in two years, raising risks to global economy
- The World’s Biggest Economies Are Moving Deeper Into a Slowdown
- Trump losing battle to avoid blame for shutdown as day 23 rolls on
- Trump Threatens to ‘Devastate Turkey Economically’ if It Attacks Kurds (“On Twitter, President Trump threatened the NATO ally and seemed to offer a blanket of protection for a band of American-backed militias in Syria.”)
- Pentagon Officials Fear Bolton’s Actions Increase Risk of Clash With Iran
- The anti-Europeans have a plan for crippling the European Union (“Nationalists and populists are coordinating their efforts ahead of a crucial European vote.”)
- The Trump-Putin revelations tell us what we knew all along (“Bring on more evidence, which will reveal more of what we already know.”)
- Revelations about Manafort’s 2016 interactions with Russian associate show special counsel’s intense focus on Russia contacts
- All signs point the same way: Vladimir Putin has compromising information on Donald Trump
- Here are 18 reasons Trump could be a Russian asset (“I can’t think of anything that would exonerate Trump aside from the difficulty of grasping what once would have seemed unimaginable: that a president of the United States could actually have been compromised by a hostile foreign power.”)
- Transcripts detail how FBI debated whether Trump was ‘following directions’ of Russia
- It’s Already Collusion (Strobe Talbott: “We don’t need news reports to tell us that Trump is giving Putin what he wants. Take it from this longtime Russia hand: It’s staring us in the face.”)
- Here are the 358 words Donald Trump said when asked if he works for Putin. (None of them were ‘no.’)(“Even when it’s a softball from a friend, Trump struggles to give a straight answer on the central national security question of the age.”)
- Mueller Draft Report Says Trump ‘Helped Putin Destabilize the United States’, Watergate Journalist Says
- House Democrats Analyze Subpoenaing Trump’s Interpreters in Putin Meetings
- Why is Trump “so chummy” with Putin? Dick Durbin tells Lindsey Graham to hold hearings (“Illinois Democrat suggests the incoming Senate Judiciary Committee chair should open a new Trump inquiry”)
- Kremlin Blessed Russia’s NRA Operation, U.S. Intel Report Says (“When Maria Butina and Alexander Torshin’s brought NRA bigwigs to Moscow, it wasn’t a rogue mission. It was okayed from the very top, according to a report reviewed by The Beast.”)
- Trump Confronts the Prospect of a ‘Nonstop’ War for Survival (“Questions about whether President Trump is a Russian agent made clear that the shutdown may be just a preliminary skirmish in this new era of divided government. With Democrats now in charge of the House, the president faces the prospect of an all-out political war, our correspondent writes in a news analysis.”)
- Top Democrats Warn Trump Over Comments on Michael Cohen (“Three Democratic House committee chairmen cautioned that any effort to discourage or influence a witness’s testimony could be construed as a crime.”)
- Cardinal Wuerl knew about Theodore McCarrick. And he lied about it.
- The media must not repeat its major failure from 2016 (Does anyone have any confidence in the Chris Cillizzas, Chuck Todds, etc. of the world?)
- Judge Blocks Trump Birth Control Policy In 13 States And D.C.
- No letup in Saudi crackdown on dissent, and no pushback from Trump administration (“As Secretary of State Mike Pompeo visits Riyadh, Saudi Arabia faces no penalties from Washington over its dismal human rights record.” Shameful.)
- ‘They screwed this whole thing up’: Inside the attempt to derail Trump’s erratic Syria withdrawal
- Why the FBI’s Counterintelligence Investigation Into President Trump Is Such a Big Deal
- Congress to face same question: When will shutdown end?
- Why Kamala And Beto May Have More Upside Than Joe And Bernie (“O’Rourke has one of the more obvious three-pronged coalitions: He’d hope to win on the basis of support from Millenials and Friends, Party Loyalists and Hispanics. The groups might support him for somewhat different reasons, and O’Rourke won’t win any of them without a fight, but he has a clearer path than the other Democrats we’ve mentioned so far.”)
- What ‘Lanes’ Will the 2020 Democratic Candidates Run In? (“Bernie Sanders will anchor the progressive lane, with potential competition from Elizabeth Warren, Tulsi Gabbard, Jeff Merkley and Sherrod Brown. If there’s a moderate lane, Joe Biden will be the pace-setter, with dark-horse House members John Delaney and Seth Moulton, former governor John Hickenlooper, and possibly Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti, all following in his wake. Down the road, Amy Klobuchar and Beto O’Rourke might appeal to moderate voters and opinion-leaders if Biden doesn’t run or does poorly. Kirsten Gillibrand, Cory Booker, and Pete Buttigieg are hard to pigeonhole ideologically. They, along with O’Rourke, Warren, Klobuchar, and multiple dark-horses (including 2004 nominee John Kerry) have potential as “party unity” candidates — a lane that tends to form late in the nomination cycle.”)
- President Trump can’t stop U.S. coal plants from retiring (“More U.S. coal-fired power plants were shut in President Donald Trump’s first two years than were retired in the whole of Barack Obama’s first term, despite the Republican’s efforts to prop up the industry to keep a campaign promise to coal-mining states.” Haha, Economics>Trump)
- Florida restored voting rights to former felons. Now the GOP wants to thwart reform. (“Will GOP politicians reverse voters’ will by blocking ex-convicts from casting ballots?”)
- Tulsi Gabbard once touted working for anti-gay group that backed conversion therapy
- Wall Impasse Frustrates Many Newly Elected House Democrats (Get a grip, Nancy Pelosi knows exactly what she’s doing on this. Also, it’s 100% the fault of Trump, McConnell, Ryan, etc.)
- Atlantic Coast Pipeline’s motion for clarification denied (“The following statement was issued by Dominion Energy spokesperson Karl Neddenien in response to the US Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit’s order, issued on Friday 11 January 2019, that denied Atlantic Coast Pipeline’s motion for clarification on the court’s stay of the US Fish & Wildlife Service’s Biological Opinion and Incidental Take Statement”)
- Nice guy, sharp elbows: Virginia Gov. Northam scores big in first year (Northam: “The Republicans are going to have to make a decision, are we going to support some of these measures or are we going to play hardball? And I think if they play hardball — and again, I’m not here to give advice to anybody — but if they do play hardball, I think they’re going to see the impact of that in the November elections.”
- Chuck Todd Asks Tim Kaine if FBI ‘Overreacted’ By Investigating Trump As Russian Agent (Chuckles strikes again. WTF?)
- Kaine blasts Trump ‘temper tantrum’
- Video: Kaine on Meet the Press – Trump Is Hurting Hardworking Public Safety Professionals
- Our View: A first step for Virginia and FOI
- Video: On Fox “News” (Where Else?), Rep. “Bob” Wittman (R-VA01) Spews Nonsense, Hypocritical B.S.
- New Virginia reps weigh in on government shutdown
- Riggleman: My pledge to the 5th District (The proof is in the pudding, dude. You can start by putting pressure on YOUR PARTY to reopen the government NOW.)
- Editorial: Bright lights in the General Assembly (Good work by Delegates Roem and Hurst!)
- White supremacist from Charlottesville parking garage beating sentenced to 4 years in prison (“Unlike the three men who helped him beat DeAndre Harris, Daniel Borden struck a plea deal.”)
- Editorial: Expand UVA-Wise? Virginia needs more urgency
- School closings and delays for Jan. 14 (Arlington, Alexandria, Fairfax, Loudoun, Prince William, Stafford, Fredericksburg, Spotsylvania, Rappahannock, Fauquier, Manassas, etc.)
- Richmond braces for icy Monday commute after 107 weekend crashes
- Quiet, cool weather for a few days but then another weekend storm may threaten
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