| | | | | First lady Melania Trump arrives to speak during a town hall event about opiod abuse Tuesday in Las Vegas. Credit: Brendan Smialowski/AFP/Getty Images | | What Washington is Talking About:
The House is expected to vote today on the For The People Act; Michael Cohen is back on the Hill to testify behind closed doors before the House Intelligence Committee; and a raccoon got into the nest of Liberty and Justice, two bald eagles that live in southwest Washington, and cracked their eggs.
What America is Talking About:
Debating the merits of 21-year-old Kylie Jenner being named the youngest-ever "self-made" billionaire; this moment in Gayle King's interview with R. Kelly where he stands up and shouts and King remains cool, composed, and professional as always; and today is the first day of Lent.
How Ivanka Got Her Security Clearance:
Three sources told CNN that President Trump pressured his then-chief of staff John Kelly and White House counsel Don McGahn to issue Ivanka Trump a security clearance despite their recommendations against it. The news follows the New York Times' report last week that Trump also pressured Kelly to grant Jared Kushner a high security clearance, which Trump denied.
AOC on Why She Responds to Critics on Twitter:
Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez said the reason she responds to critics and attacks on Twitter is because she grew up watching "bad-faith attacks" on Democrats including Speaker Pelosi, former President Obama, and Hillary Clinton that were largely ignored.
"I feel like what I've chosen to do is break this fourth wall a little bit and respond to them because we saw how completely unfounded attacks, like the birther movement with President Obama, they were ignored because it was beneath the president to respond to these things but then they started to grow and as we say, they grow legs and start walking around," she told New York 1. "I think that sometimes we have to take a little bit of a different tact and just squash it early and respond to them and not be afraid to say, 'You sound ridiculous.'" | | Credit: @NY1/Twitter
Charges Against Schock Could be Dropped:
Former Rep. Aaron Schock could get all felony counts against him dropped. Federal prosecutors in Chicago said they'll do that if Schock pays back $42,000 to the IRS and $68,000 to his campaign fund, per the Chicago Tribune.
Google is Straight Up Banning Political Ads in Canada:
Here's one way to deal with online political ads. Because of new Canadian legislation that requires that platforms track political and partisan ads they run, Google says it will just not run any ahead of Canada's October election.
"We've come to the decision that the best way for Google to comply with the Elections Act in the 2019 election cycle is actually to stop accepting elections ads as defined in the legislation," Colin McKay, Google's chief of public policy and government relations, told the Globe and Mail.
Queer Eye is Coming to D.C.:
The cast of Netflix's "Queer Eye" is being honored next month at the Newseum and Freedom Forum Institute's Free Expression Awards. Also being honored at the April 4 awards ceremony are #MeToo founder Tarana Burke and "PBS NewsHour" anchor Judy Woodruff, among others. | |
Ready For It?:
It looks like the midterms were just the beginning of Taylor Swift's political advocacy, and she'll be back for 2020. Swift wrote a list of "30 Things I Learned Before Turning 30" for Elle and No. 28 was about finding her voice in politics. She said she plans to "do more to help" in next year's "big race."
"I'm finding my voice in terms of politics," Swift wrote. "I took a lot of time educating myself on the political system and the branches of government that are signing off on bills that affect our day-to-day life. I saw so many issues that put our most vulnerable citizens at risk, and felt like I had to speak up to try and help make a change. Only as someone approaching 30 did I feel informed enough to speak about it to my 114 million followers. Invoking racism and provoking fear through thinly veiled messaging is not what I want from our leaders, and I realized that it actually is my responsibility to use my influence against that disgusting rhetoric. I'm going to do more to help. We have a big race coming up next year." | | Credit: @taylorswift/Instagram
A few other interesting things she said she learned: for No. 9, Swift said she learned how to make easy cocktails "because ... 2016" and for No. 13 (her lucky number) she wrote that she believes sexual assault victims "because I know firsthand about the shame and stigma that comes with raising your hand and saying 'This happened to me.'"
Show Me the Tubmans:
The last we heard about the $20 bill redesign with Harriet Tubman was in January 2018, when Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said they hadn't made any decisions about it. Well, more than a year later, nothing's changed, the Treasury Department told CNN.
The new bill was first proposed in 2016 under the Obama administration, but Trump has been an outspoken supporter of the former president who's the current face on the bill, Andrew Jackson. And per Omarosa's book "Unhinged," Trump allegedly told her, "You want me to put that face on the $20 bill?" I'm going to go ahead and predict it's unlikely we'll be getting a Tubman $20 during the Trump administration. But at least Washington will always have this Tubman $20 mural by street artist Naturel on M St. NE between 3rd and 4th streets.
Street Art Sighting:
This mural of the Statue of Liberty and a bald eagle in the desert is by Se Phoenix and is located at the intersection of 14th St. and Sheridan in Phoenix. You'll also notice all the butterflies in the mural. The Monarch butterfly was adopted as a symbol of immigration activists because of its annual migration across North America, from Canada to Mexico. | | Credit: Hunter Schwarz
Tag or DM me your political street art sightings @hunterschwarz on Twitter or Instagram, or email me at coverlinehunter@cnn.com.
Kate Bennett is off. Her section will return Thursday. | | | | | | |
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