Trump Appointee Ousted After Comments Exposed

Trump administration appointee Carl Higbie resigned Thursday as chief of external affairs for the federal government's volunteer service organization after a CNN KFile review of racist, sexist, anti-Muslim and anti-LGBT comments he made on the radio.

"Effective immediately, Carl Higbie has resigned as Chief of External Affairs at CNCS," Samantha Jo Warfield, a spokesperson for CNCS, said in a statement.

The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Higbie's resignation.

Higbie, a former Navy SEAL and conservative media personality, was a surrogate for Trump during the 2016 presidential campaign, appearing on cable news and serving as the spokesman for the Trump-aligned Great America PAC. He was appointed to the Corporation for National and Community Service (CNCS) in 2017 to direct the public image and messaging of the federal department that manages millions of Americans in volunteer services like AmeriCorps and Senior Corps.

CNCS, formed in 1993, connects volunteers with service opportunities, often in the neediest areas across the country. According to the organization's website, the projects are mainly focused on six priority areas: disaster services, economic opportunity, education, environmental stewardship, healthy futures, and veterans and military families.


http://www.cnn.com/2018/01/18/politics/kfile-carl-higbie-on-the-radio/index.html

Hungarian Police Have Warrant for Gorka

Former Trump White House staffer Sebastian Gorka has an active warrant out for his arrest in Hungary, BuzzFeed News reports.

“Gorka, whose exact role in the White House while serving as a deputy assistant to the president was never entirely clear, apparently is in trouble with the law over a charge of ‘firearm or ammunition abuse.'”


https://politicalwire.com/2018/01/18/hungarian-police-arrest-warrant-ex-trump-adviser/

Tom Cotton has issued do-not-call-or-write notice to some constituents

Sen. Tom Cotton (R-AR) has issued a cease-and-desist letter to Ozark Indivisible, an activist group that has been pressing members of Congress from Arkansas on health care, immigration and other issues, the Arkansas Times reports.


https://politicalwire.com/2018/01/18/cotton-threatens-activist-group-no-call-order/

PA-18: Republicans Dispatch Trump to Save a House Seat

“Republicans are scrambling to save a heavily conservative House seat in western Pennsylvania, dispatching President Trump to the district on Thursday while preparing a multimillion-dollar advertising campaign to stave off another embarrassing special election defeat in a district that was gerrymandered to stay Republican,” the New York Times reports.

“Holding just a 24-seat majority, with retirements of veteran lawmakers piling up, House Republicans can scarcely allow Democrats to snatch a seat they have not even competed for in recent elections.”

“And Mr. Trump is loath to suffer another electoral humiliation, particularly in a district that he carried by 19 percentage points in 2016.”



https://politicalwire.com/2018/01/17/republicans-dispatch-trump-save-house-seat/

Question for lawyers out there re. Mueller and Bannon

What kind of deal would a prosecutor agree to that allows one to avoid testifying in front of a grand jury?

Florida: Democrat Margaret Good fundraising coming on strong as HD 72 special election heats up

iesta Key Democrat Margaret Good raised nearly twice as much campaign money than Republican James Buchanan in December in the special election for House District 72.

Good raised $106,830 in December, Buchanan $55,000. Libertarian Alison Foxall raised $3,480 last month.

The special election will take place on Feb. 13 to replace Republican Alex Miller, who stepped down unexpectedly from the seat late last summer.

Buchanan,the son of U.S. Rep. Vern Buchanan, was the early favorite in the race, as Republicans have generally dominated legislative elections in the Sarasota area (the district encompasses parts of Sarasota and western Sarasota County, as well as all of Siesta Key).

Buchanan also had a head start in fundraising, as he began campaigning for the House District 71 last March. He switched to the HD 72 seat in September once it became an open seat.

And while Buchanan’s $282,630 leads the race in fundraising, Good actually has more cash-on-hand with just over four weeks before the election.


http://floridapolitics.com/archives/253373-democrat-margaret-good-fundraising-coming-strong-hd-72-special-election-heats

Obama/Holder group contributed to tonight's Wiscnosin victory.

The district has been a Dem target in recent cycles, but Republicans held onto it for a variety of reasons. In addition to Harsdorf’s deep ties to the district, it is covered by the Twin Cities media market, which makes it expensive for TV ads, and is expansive, which makes it difficult to cover on doors.

Harsdorf, who first took the seat in 2000, won re-election to the northwestern Wisconsin district in 2016 with 63.2 percent of the vote. It’s a district Donald Trump won by 17.1 points in 2016 and fellow Republican Mitt Romney took by 6.4 points in 2012.

Dems got outside help from groups such as the National Democratic Redistricting Committee, which put $10,000 into digital ads backing Schachtner. Dems also sought to focus their efforts on targeting their voters through digital ads, doors and calls



https://www.wispolitics.com/2018/dem-schachtner-wins-10th-sd-special-election/

MN-SEN: Tim Pawlenty will not run.

(CNN)Republican former Gov. Tim Pawlenty, who had been considered a potential high-profile candidate in a key race, says he will not run for the Senate this year in Minnesota.

Speaking on Fox Business Network, Pawlenty said: "I am very interested in public service and service for the common good, there are a lot of different ways to do that, but I'll tell you today that running for the United States Senate in 2018 won't be part of those plans."

The Minnesota Senate seat has emerged as an unexpected pickup opportunity for Republicans in a potentially punishing midterm election year after Democratic Sen. Al Franken's abrupt resignation following sexual misconduct allegations.

Republicans had been attempting to persuade the former governor to jump into the race -- with outreach by a roster of party leaders, donors and Republican activists, according to multiple sources familiar with the discussions.


http://www.cnn.com/2018/01/16/politics/tim-pawlenty-senate/index.html

Wisconsin Dems flip State Senate seat from red to blue.

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