Impeachment maven Steyer readying 2020 run after all

Billionaire investor and Democratic activist Tom Steyer, center, arrives to speak to the Iowa Latino and Asian Coalition, Wednesday, Jan. 9, 2019, at the Statehouse in Des Moines, Iowa. (AP Photo/Charlie Neibergall)

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On the roster: Impeachment maven Steyer readying 2020 run after all - Kobach candidacy means Senate headaches for GOP - Trump lawyers fight clock to keep records from House - Audible: Thanks but no thanks - Beware the pungent seagull

IMPEACHMENT MAVEN STEYER READYING 2020 RUN AFTER ALL
Atlantic: “The presidential-campaign announcements may not be over yet—with the latest potentially coming from a person who ruled out a run just a few months ago. The billionaire investor Tom Steyer, who in the past decade has been both the top Democratic donor in the country and the prime engine for pushing for the impeachment of President Donald Trump, appears ready to become Democratic candidate No. 26. Last week in San Francisco, Steyer told staffers at two progressive organizations he funds, Need to Impeach and NextGen America, that he is launching a 2020 campaign, and that he plans to make the formal announcement this Tuesday. … The 2020 race has remained alluring, though, especially considering that there won’t be an open Democratic race for California governor until 2026 and that he’s unlikely to be the top pick for a California Senate seat.”

Swal-won’t - LAT: “Rep. Eric Swalwell is expected to abandon his uphill run for president on Monday and announce that he will instead seek a fifth term in the House. Swalwell’s plans were confirmed by a Capitol Hill source with knowledge of his intentions. As expectations grew that Swalwell would exit the race, another candidate, who’d earlier said he would not mount a presidential run, was planning to announce he’d changed his mind. … Swalwell, the Bay Area congressman, has languished for months near the bottom of the polls in the 2020 race for the Democratic presidential nomination. Swalwell, 38, of Dublin, Calif., had sought to cast himself as the candidate of a younger generation but was eclipsed by Mayor Pete Buttigieg of South Bend, Ind., and former Rep. Beto O’Rourke of Texas.”

Dems audition for black women - WaPo: “It was Gospel Sunday at the Essence Festival, one of the nation’s largest annual gatherings of African American women, and on the bill was an empowerment talk with Tyler Perry… But first, sandwiched in between all-black gospel choir and Perry, was Pete Buttigieg. … Buttigeig’s appearance came a day after six other candidates spoke at the festival, each appealing to black women in different ways. Sens. Kamala D. Harris (D-Calif.), Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) and Cory Booker (D-N.J.) pitched policy proposals aimed at closing the racial wealth gap. New York Mayor Bill de Blasio argued for universal health care. Former congressman Beto O’Rourke (D-Tex.) championed his support for a new voting rights act. And Sen. Michael F. Bennet (D-Colo.) invoked the road trip he’d taken to the festival… At the Essence Festival, some attendees suggested that [Joe] Biden’s relationship with Obama was not enough to excuse his recent missteps and, in fact, made them more glaring.”

Biden backs down - Fox News: “Former Vice President Joe Biden admitted Sunday why he waited weeks to apologize for comments about working with segregationist lawmakers in his early days in the U.S. Senate. He said his apology Saturday, delivered to a mostly black audience of several hundred in Sumter, S.C., was ‘the first opportunity we had to do it in a fulsome way.’ … Saturday he said that he understood his remarks could have been offensive to some people. ‘Was I wrong a few weeks ago?’ Biden asked the Sumter audience during the first day of a weekend visit to South Carolina. ‘Yes, I was. I regret it, and I’m sorry for any of the pain of misconception that caused anybody.’ Biden on Sunday was continuing his campaign tour of South Carolina, the first Southern state to vote in next year’s primary and a crucial proving ground for candidates seeking the support of black Democrats.”

Marianne Williamson campaign sends fundraising email for Mike Gravel - The Hill: “Author and 2020 Democratic presidential candidate Marianne Williamson’s campaign used a fundraising email sent out Sunday to help one of her primary opponents garner enough donors to qualify for the next round of debates. Williamson’s campaign email Sunday asked recipients to support former Sen. Mike Gravel (D-Alaska), who is roughly 10,000 individual donors short of the threshold to qualify for the next round of Democratic debates, slated to be held at the end of July. ‘You may not have heard of him because he hasn’t yet qualified for any debates,’ the email reads, referring to Gravel. ‘But his voice is important.’ The email, signed by Williamson, touts Gravel’s body of work in Congress and ‘diverse and provocative’ voice as reasons he should be on the debate stage next to her.”

Amash seeks re-election as indy, but doesn’t rule out presidential run - Fox News: “Just days after announcing he was leaving the GOP over his disagreements with President Trump and the party’s top brass, Rep. Justin Amash, I-Mich., said on Sunday that he is not ruling out a possible White House run in 2020. Amash, who was long the most vocal critic of Trump within the Republican Party, said on CNN’s ‘State of the Union’ that he would consider running for president as an independent. ‘I still wouldn't rule anything like that out, I believe I have to use my skills, my public influence, where it serves the country best,’ Amash said. ‘And I believe I have to defend the Constitution in whichever way that works best.’ Amash did confirm that he plans to defend his congressional seat as an independent and is ‘very confident’ he will win despite leaving the party. He faces Republican challenger Jim Lowe.”

THE RULEBOOK: ON THE VIRUE OF CONSUMPTION TAXES
“The amount to be contributed by each citizen will in a degree be at his own option, and can be regulated by an attention to his resources. The rich may be extravagant, the poor can be frugal; and private oppression may always be avoided by a judicious selection of objects proper for such impositions.” – Alexander Hamilton, Federalist No. 21

TIME OUT: BACKYARD HISTORY
NYT: “For seven generations, members of the Monroetown descendant community have lived less than 10 miles away from Highland [James Monroe’s plantation], yet until three years ago there had never been a conversation between them and the museum. Now, they are working together to change the way slavery is presented at the former presidential plantation. … As president, Monroe supported abolition, but he enslaved up to 250 people in his lifetime. Daily tours and the Highland website note the contradiction. Visitors are now told about the nearby descendant community. They are also told about two enslaved men by name – Peter Mallory and George – who built Monroe’s guesthouse. A space under the porch of the guesthouse is being refashioned to reflect its former use as slave quarters. Biographies of the enslaved will soon be presented, and [Monroe’s alma mater] William & Mary will begin recording the oral histories of the descendants.”

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SCOREBOARD
Trump job performance
Average approval: 43.6 percent
Average disapproval: 51 percent
Net Score: -7.4 points
Change from one week ago: no change 
[Average includes: ABC News/WaPo: 47% approve - 50% disapprove; CNN: 45% approve - 51% disapprove; Gallup: 41% approve - 54% disapprove; IBD: 43% approve - 49% disapprove; Monmouth University: 42% approve - 51% disapprove.]

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KOBACH CANDIDACY MEANS SENATE HEADACHES FOR GOP
Kansas City Star: “Kris Kobach appears to be running for U.S. Senate [from Kansas] and to have launched his campaign by misspelling his own name. A campaign committee named Kobach for Senate filed with the Federal Election Commission Monday morning, hours before Kobach was scheduled to give a speech in Leavenworth … an inauspicious start to his campaign to replace retiring Republican Sen. Pat Roberts. The spelling was corrected about an hour later. Kobach’s candidacy faced immediate criticism from the GOP establishment in both Kansas and Washington, which is looking to defend its Senate majority in 2020. … The backlash from national GOP officials is similar to the resistance against Judge Roy Moore in Alabama, who has announced a second candidacy for the Senate. … The FEC filing comes less than a year after Kobach lost the 2018 race for governor to Democrat Laura Kelly in a state where Republicans outnumber Democrats 2 to 1.”

Defeated GOP congressman announces Senate run against Warner - WaPo: “Republican Scott Taylor, a former congressman from Virginia Beach, said Monday he is challenging Democratic Sen. Mark R. Warner, who is seeking a third term in 2020. Taylor, an ex-Navy SEAL, served one term in Congress and was defeated last year by Rep. Elaine Luria, a Democrat. He made the Senate announcement on ‘Fox & Friends.’ … Taylor’s congressional campaign was embroiled in a scandal over forced signatures on election petitions. In May, a special prosecutor filed two charges of election fraud against a campaign staffer for Taylor but did not say whether Taylor broke any laws.”

TRUMP LAWYERS FIGHT CLOCK TO KEEP RECORDS FROM HOUSE
Bloomberg: “Time is tight for Donald Trump’s lawyers in their fight to keep the president’s financial records out of the hands of congressional Democrats. Attorneys for the president on Friday will ask a U.S. appeals court panel in Washington to reverse a trial judge’s decision giving a House committee access to documents dating back to 2011, currently held by Trump’s longtime accounting firm, Mazars USA LLP. If the panel rules against them, the lawyers might not get another shot. The Supreme Court, seeing settled law in the case, wouldn’t be eager to take it up, some legal experts say, making the appeals court ruling final. Either way, the outcome of the Mazars dispute, and of two others involving the president’s records, will likely have far-reaching consequences. ‘We are talking about rulings that could have significant constitutional implications going forward for the balance of powers,’ said Matt Dallek, a political historian at George Washington University.”

Federal grand jury investigating top GOP fundraiser - AP: “A federal grand jury in New York is investigating top Republican fundraiser Elliott Broidy, examining whether he used his position as vice chair of President Donald Trump’s inaugural committee to drum up business deals with foreign leaders, according to documents obtained by The Associated Press and people familiar with the matter. A wide-ranging subpoena the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Brooklyn recently sent to Trump’s inaugural committee seeks records relating to 20 individuals and businesses. All have connections to Broidy, his investment and defense contracting firms, and foreign officials he pursued deals with — including the current president of Angola and two politicians in Romania. Prosecutors appear to be investigating whether Broidy exploited his access to Trump for personal gain and violated the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, which makes it illegal for U.S. citizens to offer foreign officials ‘anything of value’ to gain a business advantage.”

Major sex crimes charges against politically connected billionaire - Miami Herald: “Jeffrey Epstein spent a second night in a New York jail cell Sunday, with a federal indictment expected to be unsealed Monday, charging him with sex offenses involving underage girls he and others allegedly trafficked in New York and Florida, sources have told the Miami Herald. ... Although details of the case remain undisclosed, there are indications that others involved in his crimes could be charged or named as cooperating witnesses. … The Epstein case drew scrutiny following an investigation published in November by the Miami Herald, called Perversion of Justice, that examined the ways in which the U.S. attorney for the Southern District of Florida, Alexander Acosta, worked in conjunction with Epstein’s lawyers to engineer the non-prosecution agreement — and keep it secret from Epstein’s victims so they could not object. Acosta is now President Trump’s secretary of labor.”

PLAY-BY-PLAY
Pergram: Immigration is central issue, few in Washington have wherewithal to solve it - Fox News

AUDIBLE: THANKS BUT NO THANKS
“Over the years they've been either defeated, retired or died ... And those don’t seem like great options right now to me.” – Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, talking to the WaPo about other New England Republicans.

FROM THE BLEACHERS
“Hi Chris, I would like to know what happens to any remaining campaign funds that are raised by individual candidates after that candidate is no longer in the race? Thank you for your Halftime Report each day! I look forward to it!” – Nancy Hartley, New Ross, Ind.

[Ed. note: Federal election law allows candidates to roll over monies raised for one federal office for another. If you start out running for president, those funds are available for a Senate or House run in the current year or a future cycle, but not a gubernatorial race, which would fall under the individual fundraising rules of each state. Thank you also for your very kind words and for your continued support!]

“Chris, have you read any of the recent Autobiography of Mark Twain volumes? I ask because I think that you, as a ‘Never Teddy’ Republican, might appreciate the words of disapprobation Mr. Clemens flings at TR, his public image, and his adventures presentation in the press. He also has some political commentary arguing against Roosevelt's antitrust and international actions. (Clemens had pals among some of the biggest businessmen such as Andrew Carnegie and Henry Rogers.) The way he talks about our 26th president sounds quite contemporary, comparable to the way #45 is often derided. The best commentaries are in the third volume, featuring Twain's autobiographical dictations from 1907-08.  If only they could have been recorded and preserved for an audio book. To hear the sarcasm and anger in his voice would be quite something to compare to today's broadcast & podcast pundits! If you haven't read these, I hope you get a chance to search them out and enjoy. The entire volume can be a bit of a chore, but the Roosevelt portions are great.” – Michael Grabowski, Mission Viejo, Calif.

[Ed. note: Well, first off I’m no Republican – Never Teddy or otherwise. You people are free to choose whomever you like for your political offices. I will remain happily aloof from that choosing. As I like to say, I’m like the weather man. I don’t get to decide if it will rain or shine. I just tell you what the auguries indicate. As we last week quoted Bob Hope saying, “No one party can fool all of the people all of the time. That’s why we have two parties.” But yes, I have had more than a bellyful of the reflexive modern worship of TR. He was a solipsist of the first waters whose paternalistic populism represented just as radical of a break with the American system as that of Woodrow Wilson. And I hope that in time history continues to warm to William Taft, who was willing to sacrifice his own chances at a second term to stand up to Roosevelt’s bullying bluster. So I am well suited indeed for Twain’s lacerations. But I had avoided the autobiography for exactly the reason you identified. Piled together, the three volumes would look about like the U.S. tax code. With your encouragement, though, I will dive in. I hope you already read 2016’s “Chasing the Last Laugh” about Twain’s late-career world tour – a very fun read.]       

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BEWARE THE PUNGENT SEAGULL 
WaPo: “A sunburst-colored bird was stranded on a British highway when passersby spotted him, which wasn’t difficult. The Good Samaritans called an animal rescue hospital to report the bird, along with a strange description of his appearance: He was a vivid but uneven orange, like a winged Cheeto. Was he some exotic bird that escaped from a zoo? An illegal pet from the Amazon that flew the coop? Neither, it turns out. The bird was an ordinary gull with an uncommon problem that turned him the color of a weathered traffic cone, rendering him flightless. ‘He had somehow gotten himself covered in curry or turmeric! It was all over his feathers, preventing him from flying properly,’ the animal Buckinghamshire hospital Tiggywinkles Wildlife Hospital (really) said July 1 on Facebook. ‘We have no idea how he got into this predicament but thankfully, apart from the vibrant colour and pungent smell, he was healthy.’”

AND NOW, A WORD FROM CHARLES…
“Want to truly honor the dead? Show solidarity with the living — Israel and its 6 million Jews. Make ‘never again’ more than an empty phrase.” – Charles Krauthammer (1950-2018) writing in the Washington Post on Jan. 30, 2015. 

Chris Stirewalt is the politics editor for Fox News. Brianna McClelland contributed to this report. Want FOX News Halftime Report in your inbox every day? Sign up here.