7. Both sides of the aisle prefer their side dig in and give little on the government shutdown
— Republicans now favor a wall by 16 points more than they did May of 2016, while 63 percent think it is unacceptable to end the shutdown without some wall funding.
— Democrats remain opposed to a wall with only six percent in favor, while 84 percent oppose ending the shutdown by funding the wall.
6. The Treasury secretary is floating the idea that it is time to kill some or all tariffs
— Secretary Steven Mnuchin wants to scale back the tariffs on Chinese imports to pull China back to the negotiating table and give a boost to markets rattled by trade tariffs.
— If Mnuchin is successful in ending tariffs, Wall Street is expected to react positively to the development because the market jumped on the speculation.
5. Voter fraud is real — an Alabama mayor did it and is now going to jail
— The mayor of Gordon, Alabama, was convicted Wednesday of unlawfully falsifying ballots when he was elected in 2016, an election he won by 16 votes.
— Elbert Melton was arrested for absentee ballot fraud. He also was charged with stealing $1,700 that belonged to the town.
4. President Donald Trump unveils new defensive missile defense; Democrats don’t like it
— During a speech at the Pentagon, Trump said the U.S. would have an unrivaled missile defense system to protect against increasingly harder to detect missiles. He outlined, “Our goal is simple: to ensure that we can detect and destroy any missile launched against the United States — anywhere, anytime, anyplace.”
— Despite fears that Trump is a Russian asset, or otherwise compromised, Democrats like Rep. Adam Smith (D-WA) were “gravely concerned” that Trump was preparing to create the program that would antagonize Russia.
3. Alabama Congressman Mo Brooks (R-Huntsville) and Senator Doug Jones (D-AL) push back on Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s State of the Union gambit
— After calling Pelosi out for what he called a “hyper-partisan and shameless” move, Brooks implored Vice President Mike Pence and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell to invite him to deliver it in the Senate chamber.
— Pelosi asked the president to delay the SOTU, and Jones made it clear this was a petty and silly move by calling it a “sideshow.” He added, “We have to go ahead and go forward with those things that we can go forward with.”
2. Trump and Pelosi flex their muscles at each other on day 28 of the partial government shutdown
— After Pelosi went after the SOTU, President Trump waited until she was headed towards a fueled and prepped 757 for a Congressional junket and he pulled the plug, forcing the delegation to exit their busses and head home.
— Trump handwrote Pelosi a letter that included, “Due to the Shutdown, I am sorry to inform you that your trip to Brussels, Egypt, and Afghanistan has been postponed.” He concluded, “Obviously, if you would like to make your journey by flying commercial, that would certainly be your prerogative.”
1. Bombshell report claims President Donald Trump instructed his “fixer” to lie to Congress, which would be a crime
— The allegation is the first real “evidence” that the president himself attempted to obstruct justice and special counsel investigations into Russia’s interference in the 2016 election by instructing Michael Cohen to lie.
— The story claims there is evidence that this happened including, multiple witnesses from the Trump organization, internal e-mails. text messages and “cache of other documents.”
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