The White House has instructed two former aides, Hope Hicks and Annie Donaldson, not to turn over documents to Congress in response to a subpoena, NBC News reports.
Hicks, former White House director of communications, and Annie Donaldson, former chief of staff to former White House counsel Don McGahn, received subpoenas in May from the House Judiciary Committee for testimony and documents as part of its ongoing investigation into President Trump, with the committee setting a June 4 deadline for the documents. Hicks and Donaldson have now been instructed not to turn over documents related to their time in the administration, with the White House mentioning executive privilege as a reason not to do so while not asserting executive privilege, reports CNN.
Judiciary Committee Chair Jerrold Nadler (D-N.Y.) blasted Trump in a statement, saying that the president has "no lawful basis for preventing these witnesses from complying with our request." Nadler did say, however, that Hicks has agreed to turn over some documents related to her time working for the Trump 2016 presidential campaign. "I thank her for that show of good faith," Nadler said.
This is the latest move from the White House to block the Judiciary Committee's investigation, with McGahn having previously been instructed not to turn over documents or testify. The House plans to vote to hold McGahn in contempt, and when CNN asked Nadler whether Hicks and Donaldson will be held in contempt as well if they rebuff Congress' subpoena, he said, "I assume so." Brendan Morrow
Don't get your hopes up for a running mate announcement from presumptive Democratic nominee Joe Biden this week.
Although Biden last week said that he was "going to have a choice" for his vice president pick "in the first week in August," The Washington Post reports that his search has been "extended," and the campaign is "signaling that it will likely wait until the second week of August" to tap his running mate. ABC News similarly writes that "it's looking like" the announcement won't happen this week.
As the search continues, Biden is expected to interview "five or six finalists," but he seems to be "entering the final phase of the search without a clear favorite," the Post reports. Last week, Politico reported that Biden's "biggest concern is that there is nobody on his list with whom he has any previous deep relationship," with this report suggesting a dark horse could potentially emerge.
Meanwhile, Politico reports that although the buzz has recently centered around Sen. Kamala Harris (D-Calif.), Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), Rep. Karen Bass (D-Calif.), Sen. Tammy Duckworth (D-Ill.), and former National Security Adviser Susan Rice, one Biden aide claims that "11 women remain in the mix."
But as the knives come out for some of the leading contenders during Biden's extended search, Rep. James Clyburn (D-S.C.) told the Post the situation has become "messier than it should be," and ABC News observes that "with just two weeks left before his convention, the coming time crunch could fray party unity at a moment his campaign needs it most." Brendan Morrow
"Picture this Thanksgiving: turkey, football (maybe), tenser-than-usual interactions with relatives," media columnist Ben Smith writes at The New York Times. "And perhaps a new tradition: finding out who actually won the presidential election."
The COVID-19 pandemic is expected to prompt a surge in mail-in voting, at a time when the U.S. Postal Service is grappling with service-slowing cost-cutting measures handed down by the new postmaster general, Louis DeJoy, a major donor to President Trump. Key states like Pennsylvania may be counting those ballots for weeks after Election Day, and with Trump filling that time tweeting more "false allegations about fraud," Smith writes, "the last barriers between American democracy and a deep political crisis may be television news."
TV hosts, election analysts, network chiefs, and social media executives exude "blithe confidence" about their ability to handle an election that won't be decided for days or weeks, Smith writes, but there's "near panic among some of the people paying the closest attention."
"The nerds are freaking out," Brandon Finnigan, the founder of Decision Desk HQ, told the Times. "I don't think it's penetrated enough in the average viewer's mind that there's not going to be an election night. The usual razzmatazz of a panel sitting around discussing election results — that's dead."
Media companies can prepare their viewers and change how they report election results, "but what the moment calls for, most of all, is patience," Smith writes. "And good luck with that."
"Nobody I talked to had any real idea how cable talkers or Twitter take-mongers would fill hours, days, and, possibly, weeks of counting or how to apply a sober, careful lens to the wild allegations — rigged voting machines, mysterious buses of outsiders turning up at poll sites — that surface every election night, only to dissolve in the light of day," Smith said. But one war game of an election in which Joe Biden wins a big popular majority and tiny electoral college loss ended with the U.S. military casting the deciding vote. Read more at The New York Times. Peter Weber
John Hume, who won the Nobel Peace Prize for his work ending "The Troubles" in his native Northern Ireland, died on Monday after a short illness, The New York Times reports. He was 83. Hume, a moderate Roman Catholic politician, worked doggedly for peace, inspired by the late U.S. civil rights leader Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Hume played a major role in peace talks that led to the 1998 Good Friday Agreement. Former Prime Minister Tony Blair called Hume a "political titan" who "refused to believe the future had to be the same as the past," the BBC reports. Hume's family said it seemed "particularly apt for these strange and fearful days to remember the phrase that gave hope to John and so many of us through dark times: We shall overcome." Harold Maass