Importantville: Hill's presser—SCOTUS final 4—New ads in #INSen
By @AdamWren & design by Kris Davidson
Days to Midterm Election: 120
Striking an aggrieved and defiant tone, Indiana Attorney General Curtis Hill this morning attacked the media for its focus on “sensationalism” and “complete destruction” nearly a week after allegations surfaced that he inappropriately touched three legislative staffers and a state lawmaker.
Watch Hill’s remarks here.
In an eight-minute address, Hill, looking somber, said of the allegations: “I never dreamed this could happen to me.” He accused Gov. Eric Holcomb of rushing to judgement in calling for Hill’s resignation. Hill, now facing an inspector general investigation, said he remains “falsely accused.”
Hill also said he was with Trump-Pence Indiana Campaign Vice Chairman Tony Samuel on March 15 at A.J.’s Lounge, raising the possibility of an eyewitness in his favor. It remains unclear where Samuel was at the time the alleged touching took place.
Hill did not answer shouted questions, including one from the AP asking whether his accusers are “liars.”
What Hill didn’t talk about: What happened inside A.J.’s Lounge that night.
Also: You can’t easily walk from the Statehouse to A.J.’s. How did Hill get there that night? And how did he get home?
“A week ago I had a name,” Hill said, “and I want my name back.”
NEXT SHOE TO DROP? Indiana Democrat Party Chairman John Zody delivered a public records request to Hill’s office this morning.
What Zody wants:
Correspondence and information pertaining to staff turnover rates in the Office of the Indiana Attorney General.
Documentation relating to any state resources utilized by you or your office to facilitate your activities, travel or schedule on March 14 and March 15, 2018.
Good Monday morning, and welcome to Importantville. We’re in for another big news week: Trump will announce his SCOTUS pick tonight. We’re likely to get more Hill news. And we could see a first look at #INSEN fundraising numbers.
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WHERE’S VEEP? He’ll be lunching with the president—and will be perhaps the last voice in Trump’s ear before his SCOTUS pick—and then will join Trump in the East Room before tonight’s announcement at 9 p.m.
SCOTUS final four
The short shortlist: Brett Kavanaugh, Amy Coney Barrett, Thomas Hardiman and Raymond Kethledge.
Smart money seems to be on Hardiman now. That could change.
Per Dallas Morning News, on pool duty, Trump said:
I'm getting very close to making a final decision.
I'll probably be decided tonight or tomorrow sometime by 12 o'clock. I think we're all going to be meeting at 9 o'clock.
Per The New York Times, why it might be Hardiman:
The runner-up last year was Judge Thomas M. Hardiman. While a late addition to Mr. Trump’s final four this time around, in recent days the president has expressed fresh interest in him, according to people close to the selection process.
Importantville Take: Why Coney Barrett is Trump’s Pick
She is a favorite of Trump’s base;
She is the youngest jurist on Trump’s shortlist;
She is a Notre Dame grad with sterling legal credentials and a relatively short paper trail; and
She’s already been confirmed by a red state Democrat— Sen. Joe Donnelly.
Importantville Take: Why Coney Barrett isn’t Trump’s Pick
She is the youngest on Trump’s shortlist;
She is a Notre Dame grad with sterling legal credentials and a relatively short paper trail (Trump, it’s been reported, wants an Ivy Leaguer. Her short tenure makes her less experienced than other contenders.); and
Trump could pick Barrett when/if another justice retires.
In other SCOTUS news, the Judicial Crisis Network, a conservative political group, announced a $1.4 million ad spend in Indiana, Alabama, North Dakota, and West Virginia. The ad will be a bio spot on Trump’s pick. Can you spot what these states have in common?
Donnelly’s tough vote
Per The New York Times:
Democratic senators running for re-election in Trump Country face an agonizing choice over President Trump’s coming Supreme Court nominee: Vote to confirm the pick and risk demoralizing Democratic voters ahead of the midterm elections, or stick with the party and possibly sacrifice their own seats — and any chance at a Democratic majority in 2019.
The actions of a handful of Senate Democrats struggling to hold their seats in red states where Mr. Trump remains popular — notably Heidi Heitkamp of North Dakota, Joe Donnelly of Indiana and Joe Manchin III of West Virginia — will have broad implications for the party at a critical political juncture.
A decision by one or all of them to try to bolster their standing with Republican-leaning voters in their states by backing the president’s nominee would undermine Democratic leaders as they try to sustain party unity. And if their votes put the president’s choice on the court, it could hasten the move to the left by the party’s aggressive activist core, while intensifying the clamor for new, more confrontational leadership.
But if they hold together on a “no” vote, those senators could not only surrender their own seats, but by expanding the Republican majority, they could also narrow the path of Democrats to a Senate majority for years to come by ceding those states to Republicans.
Knowing Amy Barrett
From Barrett’s hometown paper, the South Bend Tribune:
Notre Dame law professor John Nagle helped recruit Amy Coney Barrett to the faculty in 2001. At the time, she was working for a law firm in Washington, D.C.
Since moving to South Bend in 2002, Barrett has worked over the last five years with Nagle on a long-term research project examining how Congress interprets the Constitution. They spent time meeting at Martin’s Side Door Deli, or over coffee — often with one of her daughters in tow — at a local Starbucks.
But Barrett’s popularity with students sometimes made things tough for Nagle.
“I think the most vivid memory I have is how difficult it was to get into Amy’s office to see her because the line of students would be quite long,” Nagle said with a laugh. “Sometimes it was students with questions about course material, but oftentimes it was students seeking her advice and her mentoring.”
On Monday, Barrett could become President Donald Trump’s nominee to replace retiring Justice Anthony Kennedy on the U.S. Supreme Court. She is believed to be one of the president’s top three choices. If she is nominated, and then confirmed by the Senate, it would mean a lifetime appointment to the highest court in the land and put her at the forefront of the justice system’s most high profile cases.
Her legal writings and speeches have been pored over in recent days by legal experts and political pundits to offer a glimpse into her thoughts on key issues, including an indication of how she would rule on challenges to Roe v. Wade, the precedent case that legalized abortion nationwide.
#INSen fundraising
We’ll likely get fresh quarterly numbers later this week. All eyes on Braun’s haul. Here’s an interesting benchmark for just how much money we could see sloshing around in Indiana:
Meanwhile, over in #FLSEN, @ScottforFlorida release hitting inboxes this morning announcing “a record of more than $10.7 million in less than three months – a historic amount that surpasses any other national Senate campaign.”
July 9, 2018Update from the frontlines of Trump’s Trade War
From The New York Times:
Brent Bible, a farmer who cultivates 5,000 acres of corn and soy in western Indiana, said the trade war was already damaging his farm and the broader agricultural economy. More than half of American soybeans that are exported go to China, giving the country influence over the price of the American crop. Trade worries have pushed down the price of soybeans roughly 15 percent in recent months, erasing his typical yearly profit margin of 8 percent to 10 percent.
Mr. Bible said farmers are now putting off purchases of tractors, grain storage facilities and other items to make ends meet.
“If we’re not spending money,” he said, “then other industries aren’t making any money off of us, either.”
From the AP:
Jimmy Tosh’s sprawling hog farm in rural Tennessee is an unlikely battleground in the fight for control of the U.S. Senate.
Yet his 15,000 acres (6,000 hectares) two hours west of Nashville showcase the practical risks of President Donald Trump’s trade policies and the political threat to red-state Republican Senate candidates such as Tennessee’s Marsha Blackburn.
SOUNDBITE THAT COULD BITE BRAUN: From AP's dispatch on the trade war….
Could see this in a Donnelly ad if things get worse:
Indiana, where Republican Senate candidate Mike Braun is trying to defeat Democratic Sen. Joe Donnelly, has more than 812,000 jobs tied to global trade, the Chamber found. In April, Braun said concerns about the tariffs were being “overdramatized.”
PARADE CIRCUIT: A Madison Republican writes Importantville:
Donnelly and a pretty strong campaign team were in Madison (Jefferson County) tonight. We have a huge parade (for a small town) and Braun was conspicuously absent...local party didn't even have his signs. I'm sure Jefferson County is a lock for Braun, but I'm a Republican and was disappointed. Donnelly has surprisingly made a number of stops here over his term. We saw nothing of Lugar, little of Coats, little of Young, but quite a bit of Donnelly.
That’s all for today. Have a good Monday. Send tips to cadamwren@gmail.com.