| | | | 'Impeachment territory': California's top cop unloads on Trump | | California Attorney Xavier Becerra suggested President Donald Trump is already in "impeachment territory" for his conduct regarding the special counsel investigation into Russia's meddling in the 2016 campaign.
"I don't think we've ever seen this degree of communication ... with a foreign government intent on influencing an election," Becerra told me during an interview Saturday afternoon at Politicon, an annual gathering of political types from across the ideological spectrum in Pasadena, California.
"That's the thing with Donald Trump," Becerra added. "He's said so many things that are untrue."
Becerra's comments were striking coming from the top law enforcement officer in the country's largest state -- although he did stop short of calling for Trump's impeachment. Earlier this month, California Democratic Rep. Brad Sherman introduced an article of impeachment in the House, accusing Trump of obstructing justice with regard to Bob Mueller's special counsel investigation.
Becerra cast himself in the interview as on the front lines of the resistance to Trump's agenda -- on everything from environmental standards to sanctuary cities to the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program. On Friday, Becerra joined with 19 other attorneys general, signing onto a letter urging Trump to leave thew DACA program in place.
He also repeatedly hammered Trump in often-personal terms, describing him as "an adolescent" and a "feral cat." Added Becerra: "It's hard to grab a hold of him."
We reached out to the White House for comment on Becerra's remarks.
Becerra was less willing to offer a critique of his party, dodging questions about what Democrats did wrong in the 2016 election. But, he did note that the party needed to grow a "spine" on issues important to the middle class -- a process he acknowledged was ongoing.
-- Chris (with an assist from CNN's Daniella Diaz) | | SPOTTED: 'MAKE AMERICA GLAM AGAIN' | | In between attending and covering panels, Saba and CNN's Daniella Diaz, Sophie Tatum and Caroline Kenny spent much of Saturday snapping pictures and talking to attendees. Here's a round-up of some of the best things they saw:
-"Impeachmint Tea" sign.
-Artist Rick Rebel posing in front of an American flag and saying "Make America glam again."
-Three Canadians dressed as former Presidents George Washignton and Abe Lincoln and Alexander Hamilton.
-An 18-year-old Tomi Lahren fan from Michigan, sporting a Tomi-filled T-shirt. | | | "Americans don't want to kill each other.
This is not 'The Purge.'"
-Tomi Lahren in conversation with Chelsea Handler at packed POLITICON panel | | As we mentioned in yesterday's Point, Anthony Scaramucci aka the Mooch aka the new White House communications director bailed on Politicon after The New Yorker's Ryan Lizza published a piece Thursday night detailing a phone conversation he had the previous evening with Scaramucci.
(In case you need a refresher, here's Chris' story highlighting the most bananas quotes from the piece, ranked).
Politicon organizers sent this statement to us:
"While Anthony Scaramucci decided to cancel his scheduled appearance at Politicon this year, the beauty of Politicon is that we have dozens of huge names that political junkies will love, from Chelsea Handler, James Carville, America Ferrera, Cenk Uygur, and Rob Reiner to Ann Coulter, Roger Stone, Tomi Lahren, Ben Shapiro, and Ana Navarro. At least now we don't have to worry about violating any local obscenity laws!"
But just because he wasn't there, doesn't mean he wasn't forgotten.
When Pod Save America hosts asked "Where's the Mooch?" the audience booed. Jon Lovett, one of the show's co-hosts, went on to throw shade at the spokesman: "Cancel on an event the day before? Are you not a professional?"
Later, when wandering the Exhibition Hall, Saba spotted Mooch ... kind of. Politicon had a photobooth set up (above), where attendees could get GIFs of themselves in front of a White House-esque podium. The Mooch, Sean Spicer and Sarah Huckabee Sanders cut outs were available for people to pose with. | | | Even if you didn't watch "The O.C," there's no way you haven't heard Phantom Planet's "California." We're still in L.A. so that's our pick of the day. | | | The Pod Save America squad -- Jon Favreau, Lovett and Tommy Vietor -- drew huge crowds on Saturday, with people lined up early to get a good view of the former Obama administration members. They did a live taping of their podcast, featuring guests Joy Reid and Symone D. Sanders. | | During a morning panel with CNN's Maeve Reston called "How Democrats Can Emerge from the Wilderness," political consultant Rob Stutzman said this of #2020:
"To me, what I would worry about as a Republican, would be a Gov. John Hickenlooper."
We asked CNN's Eric Bradner, our resident 2020 expert, his thoughts on the Colorado Democrat. Here's what he said in an email:
Hickenlooper's really interesting -- he comes up a LOT (as does Steve Bullock) in conversations with Democratic strategists who think a) Biden won't run and b) the Warrens and Harrises of the party are too liberal/can't win back working-class whites.
However, he also seems to be thinking about running against Cory Gardner in 2020. 2020 could be a bloodbath for Republicans, with Gardner, Ernst, Tillis, etc. up and a potentially extremely unpopular Trump on the ticket.
Republicans love Hickenlooper. He's like Kasich: The guy the opposing party thinks his own party ought to elevate. | |  | | Hey! You're that guy! Right there! There you are! Be that guy -- or gal. Subscribe to The Point. | | | Get the Nightcap, a comprehensive summary of the most important political news, delivered to your inbox daily. | | | | | |
No comments:
Post a Comment