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Situational awareness - October 2, 2019

Wednesday, October 2, 2019 - 10:00am
Utah Policy

Good Wednesday morning from Salt Lake City

Thanks for reading Utah's must-read daily political news rundown. Please encourage your friends and colleagues to sign up for our emails.

Here are the stories you need to pay attention to this morning:

  • Three donors helped the Utah GOP pay off a majority of their outstanding debt.
  • The State Department inspector general has requested an "urgent" meeting with congressional committees regarding documents related to Ukraine.
  • President Trump calls the impeachment inquiry by Congress a "coup."

TICK TOCK

Days to the 2019 Utah municipal elections: 34 (11/5/2019)

Days to the first day of the 2020 Utah Legislature: 117 (1/27/2020)

Days to the Utah presidential primaries: 153 (3/3/2020)

Days to the 2020 Utah primary elections: 272 (6/23/2020)

Days to the 2020 election: 398 (11/3/2020)

Today At Utah Policy

Here's how the Utah GOP was able to pay off $135,000 in outstanding debt
By Bob Bernick, Contributing Editor
It was quite the amazing financial comeback, how then-newly-elected state GOP chair Derek Brown raised around $135,000 in just a few months last spring to retire the Utah Republican Party's debt.

Utah Democrats are starving for attention - Bernick and Schott on politics
By Bryan Schott, Managing Editor
Greg Hughes racks up some big fundraising numbers as he prepares to run for governor in 2020. We examine how that could shake up the early stages of the race.

OTHER UTAH HEADLINES

Deseret News

Salt Lake Tribune

Other

NATIONAL HEADLINES

Another crazy day in the Trump-Ukraine scandal

The State Department's inspector general has requested to give an "urgent" briefing to several House and Senate committees on Wednesday about documents related to the State Department and Ukraine [ABC News].

Congress and the State Department are brawling over whether officials of that department will be allowed to testify in the impeachment inquiry. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo sent a letter to the House Intelligence Committee saying five officials called to give depositions will not appear. House investigators warned Pompeo to stop interfering with their probe [WaPo].

President Donald Trump said on Tuesday he should be allowed to "interview" the whistleblower who raised questions about his actions toward Ukraine [NYT].

President Trump says the impeachment inquiry against him is a coup by Democrats who want to overturn the 2016 election [The Hill].

Republican Sen. Chuck Grassley broke with President Trump on Tuesday, defending the anonymous whistleblower at the center of the impeachment inquiry [NBC News].

Kurt Volker, the former U.S. special envoy to Ukraine who resigned last week after his name appeared in the whistleblower complaint, will testify in the House's impeachment inquiry on Thursday [NBC News].

Democrats are warning President Trump's attacks on the whistleblower are putting that person's safety at risk [The Hill].

Attorney General William Barr traveled to Italy this summer to meet with Italian secret service agents to investigate the origins of special counsel Robert Mueller's investigation into possible connections between the Trump campaign and Russia [Daily Beast].

Whiskey. Tango. Foxtrot.

President Trump suggested that soldiers along the border with Mexico shoot migrants in the legs to slow them down. He also came close to shutting down the entire U.S.-Mexico border last March [NYT].

Polls

Support for impeaching President Trump hits a new high. 46% of Americans say Congress should begin impeachment proceedings [Politico].

Hmmm

The House Ways and Means Committee is considering whether to make public a whistleblower complaint about possible misconduct in the IRS auditing of President Trump [Bloomberg].

Ghost bookings

House investigators are looking into allegations that groups, including at least one foreign government, tried to curry favor with President Trump by booking blocks of rooms at his hotels but never staying at them [Politico].

Wow!

The security detail for Education Secretary Betsy DeVos cost taxpayers more than $6 million last year. The security arrangements are projected to cost nearly $8 million over the next year [Politico].

2020

President Trump's re-election campaign and the Republican National Committee raised $125 million in the third quarter [Politico].

A federal judge has blocked California's law requiring President Trump to turn over his tax returns to appear on the ballot in 2020 [CNN].

North Korea

North Korea tested an underwater launched missile just days before resuming talks with the U.S. about denuclearization [ABC News].

Economy

Manufacturing activity in the U.S. fell to its worst level in a decade [CNN].

President Trump again attacked the Federal Reserve following the disappointing manufacturing news [CNBC].

President Trump's tariffs may have forced a U.S. steel company into bankruptcy [Slate].

BUSINESS HEADLINES

Policy News

Romney Statement on 70th Anniversary of the People's Republic of China
U.S. Senator Mitt Romney (R-UT) released the following statement regarding the 70th Anniversary of the People's Republic of China:

Romney, Lee working to ensure program at Utah's Hill Air Force Base stays on track
U.S. Senators Mitt Romney (R-UT) and Mike Lee (R-UT) joined a bipartisan group of his colleagues in urging the Secretary of Defense to prevent any delays for the Ground Based Strategic Deterrent (GBSD), which will replace the Minuteman III Intercontinental Ballistic Missile (ICBM).

GS&O tackles the New York City Marathon
EDCUtah's Colby Cooley and Mike Flynn were joined by GOED's Tom Wadsworth and Ginger Chinn for a marathon Global Strategy & Outreach (GS&O) trip to New York City and surrounding metros last week.

Treasurer Damschen announces record-breaking Permanent State School Fund distribution to Utah schools
Utah State Treasurer David Damschen announced that the Permanent State School Fund will make the largest-ever distribution to Utah schools next year.

Utah leads out to reduce foster care and separation of families
Utah became one of the few states in the nation to formally implement the Family First Prevention Services Act on Oct. 1, the earliest possible start date. The new financing structure offers Utah's Department of Human Services unprecedented support to access services that prevent children from entering foster care.

 

More National Headlines

 

ON THIS DAY IN HISTORY

1789 - George Washington sends proposed Constitutional Amendments (The Bill of Rights) to the states for ratification.

1919 - President Woodrow Wilson suffers a massive stroke, leaving him incapacitated for several weeks.

1950 - The Peanuts comic strip by Charles M. Schulz is first published.

1967 - Thurgood Marshall was sworn in as the first African-American justice of the Supreme Court.

1970 - A plane carrying the Wichita State University football team crashes in Colorado killing 31 people.

1980 - Michael Myers becomes the first member of either chamber of Congress to be expelled since the Civil War. He was kicked out for his involvement in the Abscam scandal where he was videotaped accepting a $50,000 bribe from undercover FBI agents.

Wise Words

Motivation

 

"What lies behind you and what lies in front of you, pales in comparison to what lies inside of you."Ralph Waldo Emerson

Lighter Side

Hiding Records

 

"Initially, they tried to hide the records in the White House air vents, but Melania was already hiding in them."- JIMMY KIMMEL