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On the roster: Labor secretary in peril over pedophile plea deal - Time Out: R.I.P., Ross Perot - Steyer readies $100 million disruption of Dem field - McConnell gets challenger - Just your typical snake-carjacking-pole-vault story

LABOR SECRETARY IN PERIL OVER PEDOPHILE PLEA DEAL
Politico: “White House officials are closely watching the coverage of Labor Secretary Alex Acosta’s past involvement as a prosecutor in billionaire pedophile Jeffrey Epstein’s plea deal in 2008, concerned that the recent burst of negative publicity could harm him beyond repair… ‘The next 72 hours are critical for Acosta,’ said a former Trump adviser, who remains close to the White House. ‘This is a settled matter for people in the White House … but it’s usually the response that kills you.’ … Trump isn‘t likely to fire Acosta unless he remains a constant in the news, leading to more outrage by those who think Epstein, a billionaire who counts Trump and former President Bill Clinton as friends, was given a lenient sentence for his crimes. Some people have called for his resignation, but many Democrats and their allies, including the AFL-CIO, have stayed relatively quiet because they see Acosta’s tepid approach to deregulation as tolerable.”

Acosta defends - The Hill: “Labor Secretary Alex Acosta on Tuesday defended the 2008 non-prosecution agreement with billionaire financier Jeffrey Epstein, which he helped broker, but acknowledged new sex-crimes charges could ‘more fully bring him to justice.’ ‘The crimes committed by Epstein are horrific, and I am pleased that NY prosecutors are moving forward with a case based on new evidence,’ Acosta wrote in a string of tweets. ‘Now that new evidence and additional testimony is available, the NY prosecution offers an important opportunity to more fully bring him to justice.’”

Wasn’t in good shape before - Bloomberg: “Labor Secretary Alex Acosta’s standing in the Trump administration was in peril even before the indictment of Jeffrey Epstein cast a fresh spotlight on the former prosecutor’s role in a decade-old plea deal for the financier, according to several people familiar with the matter. Corporate lobbyists and some White House officials have grown frustrated that Acosta hasn’t moved fast enough on deregulation and other business-friendly initiatives, the people said. No decision has been made on Acosta’s future in the administration, they added, though two people said that his time is short.”

Barr recuses - Fox News: “Attorney General Bill Barr said Monday he has recused himself from the high-profile case against financier and registered sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, citing his past legal work. Barr, during a visit to South Carolina on Monday, was asked whether he planned to get involved in the Epstein case… ‘I’m recused from that matter because one of the law firms that represented Epstein long ago was a firm I subsequently joined for a period of time,’ Barr told reporters. Barr joined the law firm Kirkland & Ellis in 2009, which had represented Epstein during a separate case against him in 2008.”

White House: Trump hasn’t seen Epstein for at least 10 years - AP: “A top adviser to President Donald Trump says Trump hasn’t spoken to or had any contact with billionaire financier Jeffrey Epstein in ‘years and years and years.’ White House counselor Kellyanne Conway says Trump told her on Tuesday that he hasn’t spoken with or seen Epstein in 10 or 15 years. Conway adds that, like everyone else, the Republican president sees the sex trafficking charges against Epstein as ‘completely unconscionable and obviously criminal. Disgusting.’ Trump told New York magazine in 2002 that he’d known Epstein for 15 years and that Epstein was a ‘terrific guy’ and ‘a lot of fun to be with.’ Federal prosecutors say Epstein paid underage girls for massages and then molested them at his homes in Florida and New York.”

Bill Clinton tries to lowball his travels with pedophile - Daily Beast: “Former President Bill Clinton said Monday he knew nothing about Jeffrey Epstein’s ‘terrible crimes’ and tried to downplay the time he spent on the billionaire’s private plane. In a statement issued hours after Epstein was arraigned on a sex-trafficking indictment, Clinton said he took ‘a total of four trips’ with the financier in 2002 and 2003—to Europe, Asia and Africa. It’s not clear how many flights were involved in each trip or how that number would square with flight logs that reportedly show Clinton on 26 flights on Epstein’s plane between 2001 and 2003. Gawker reported in 2015 that the logs also appear to show Clinton on a 2002 domestic flight between Miami and Westchester County, with Epstein also on board.”

THE RULEBOOK: QUALITY COUNTS
“If, according to the noble precept, it be lawful to accept good advice even from an enemy, shall we set the ignoble example of refusing such advice even when it is offered by our friends? The prudent inquiry, in all cases, ought surely to be, not so much FROM WHOM the advice comes, as whether the advice be GOOD.” – James Madison, Federalist No. 40

TIME OUT: R.I.P., ROSS PEROT
NYT: “Ross Perot, the wiry Texas gadfly who made a fortune in computer services, amazed the nation with bizarre paramilitary missions to Vietnam and Iran and ran for president in 1992 and 1996 with populist talk of restoring Norman Rockwell’s America, died on Tuesday at his home in Dallas. He was 89. The cause was leukemia, a family spokesman, James Fuller, said. They called him the man from Texarkana, but he really came out of an era … when boys had paper routes, folks tuned in to the radio and patriots rolled up their sleeves for Uncle Sam and built innovative companies and a powerful nation. … He was no quitter: an Eagle Scout, a Navy officer out of Annapolis, a top I.B.M. salesman, the founder of wildly successful data processing enterprises, a crusader for education and against drugs, a billionaire philanthropist.”

[Listen to Chris’ interview with Tucker Carlson, who covered Perot on the campaign trail, on the billionaire’s life and political legacy - Fox News]

Flag on the play? - Email us at HALFTIMEREPORT@FOXNEWS.COM with your tips, comments or questions.

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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STEYER READIES $100 MILLION DISRUPTION OF DEM FIELD
NYT: “Tom Steyer, the former hedge fund investor turned impeachment activist, announced on Tuesday that he would challenge President Trump in 2020, reversing a previous decision not to enter the race. In a video announcing his campaign, Mr. Steyer positioned himself as a populist outsider, railing against corporate interests that he described as holding too much sway over the political system. … Included in the video were images of men who, Mr. Steyer seemed to imply, represented the excesses of corruption and greed, including Paul Manafort, Mr. Trump’s incarcerated former adviser; Bernard Madoff, the notorious Ponzi schemer; and Jeffrey Epstein, the investor who was indicted this week on charges of sex trafficking. … Yet his candidacy instantly transformed the financial shape of the primary. Alberto Lammers, a spokesman for his campaign, said Mr. Steyer planned to spend ‘at least $100 million’ on the race.”

Iowa, Nevada to launch caucus by phone for 2020 - AP: “Democrats in the early presidential contest states of Iowa and Nevada will be able to cast their votes over the telephone instead of showing up at their states' traditional neighborhood caucus meetings next February, according to plans unveiled by the state parties. The tele-caucus systems, the result of a mandate from the Democratic National Committee, are aimed at opening the local-level political gatherings to more people, especially evening shift-workers and people with disabilities, whom critics of the caucuses have long said are blocked from the process. The changes are expected to boost voter participation across the board, presenting a new opportunity for the Democratic Party's 2020 candidates to drive up support in the crucial early voting states. ‘This is a no-excuse option’ for participation, said Shelby Wiltz, the Nevada Democrats' caucus director. Party officials don't have an estimate of how many voters will take advantage of the call-in option. But in Iowa, some recent polls show as many as 20% of Democrats will participate virtually.”

Warren tries to beat the Beltway - Politico: “When Elizabeth Warren said earlier this year she was swearing off fundraisers, many Democratic strategists saw it as a sign of desperation from a flailing candidate. But that gamble against conventional wisdom — which is paying off handsomely, given the $19.1 million she raised in the second quarter — is far from the only way Warren is defying the traditional playbook for running a modern presidential campaign. The campaign has gone without an outside polling firm, and says it has no plans to hire one, even though it is standard operating procedure for most serious candidates. Instead of initially stockpiling resources for a home-stretch TV ad blitz, she's amassed a payroll of 300-plus staffers in the early months of the campaign… Taken together, Warren's approach is a rebuke of the consultant-heavy model of campaigns… If carried out for the duration, the moves would create the most robust in-house media production and buying team in recent presidential politics.”

Gillibrand has an ad - Fox News: “Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand accuses President Trump of broken promises in the first TV commercial of her Democratic presidential bid. Behind in the polls, the senator from New York’s campaign on Tuesday announced what they touted as the ‘first anti-Trump television attack ad of the 2020 presidential cycle.’ Gillibrand aides said that the 30-second spot, titled ‘I Promise,’ will run on cable TV and digital this week in the media markets in Pittsburgh, Pa.; Cleveland and Youngstown, Ohio; and Detroit, Lansing and Flint, Mich. Those media markets mirror a campaign bus tour Gillibrand will make on Thursday and Friday through the three Rust Belt states. … The commercial highlights what Gillibrand calls Trump’s broken promises on restoring manufacturing jobs, lowering prescription drug prices and building up the nation’s infrastructure.”

MCCONNELL GETS CHALLENGER
Louisville Courier Journal: “Kentucky Democrat Amy McGrath is suiting up to enter the 2020 U.S. Senate race against Republican Majority Leader Mitch McConnell. The former Marine fighter pilot ended months of speculation over whether she would make a run for one of the Bluegrass State’s top seats in Washington, making the announcement with a video posted to YouTube early Tuesday morning ahead of an appearance on MSNBC’s Morning Joe. In the video, McGrath says she wrote to McConnell when she was 13 telling him she wanted to fly combat jets and fight for the U.S. when she was an adult. ‘He never wrote back,’ she says in the video. ‘I'm Amy McGrath, and I've often wondered, how many other people did Mitch McConnell never take the time to write back or even think about?’ McGrath's name has been bounced around as a possible contender for the Democratic nomination since her failed 2018 attempt to knock off Rep. Andy Barr in Kentucky's 6th Congressional District.”

Republicans push Pompeo to solve their Kansas woes - Politico: “Kris Kobach, the polarizing former Kansas secretary of state, launched a campaign for Senate on Monday — alarming Republicans who fear his candidacy could put the GOP-held open seat in jeopardy next fall. Kobach is the third Republican to announce a run for the seat held by Sen. Pat Roberts, who is not seeking reelection next year. Kobach just lost a statewide race — the 2018 contest for governor to Democrat Laura Kelly — and some Republicans worry that the otherwise safe Kansas seat could become competitive if Kobach emerges from a GOP primary, which could imperil the party’s Senate majority. Republican leaders’ preferred candidate is Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, a former Kansas congressman and key ally to President Donald Trump. … If Pompeo doesn’t run, a crowded field of candidates is likely…”

Team MAGA tries to thwart top GOP female recruit in runoff race today - Roll Call: “Voters in eastern North Carolina are heading to the polls [today] for a low-profile special election with a lot at stake. Regardless of who wins the Republican primary runoff, the 3rd District seat formerly held by the late Rep. Walter B. Jones will almost certainly remain in GOP hands after the special general election on Sept. 10. … State Rep. Greg Murphy, a urological surgeon, has the backing of the political arm of the hard-line conservative House Freedom Caucus. The group’s current chairman, North Carolina Rep. Mark Meadows, and its former chairman, Ohio Rep. Jim Jordan, have both campaigned for him in the district. But all 13 Republican women in the House, including the sole female member of the Freedom Caucus, have sided with pediatrician Joan Perry, who represents the House GOP’s best chance of adding another woman to its conference.”

PLAY-BY-PLAY
Trump campaign dives into dogfight over Pennsylvania GOP leadership - Politico

Dems ready subpoenas ready for Kushner, Lewandowski, Kelly and other top Trumpworld figures - Washington Times

Barr to try again on Census citizenship question - AP

AUDIBLE: *GRIMACE EMOJI*
“You are who?” – A patron at a beer hall and distillery in West Des Moines, Iowa asked former Gov. John Hickenlooper per the WaPo.

FROM THE BLEACHERS
“I am a 26 year old civil engineer currently living in the best city in the country, Pittsburgh, but I was born and raised in Johnstown, PA. I have been afforded the privilege of getting accepted to grad school at Duke for the upcoming fall. The passion with which you speak about West Virginia inspired me to make the drive from Pittsburgh to Durham several times instead of flying. I can attest that the landscape of the WV mountains is truly remarkable! Everybody should consider making the trip to New River Gorge. I genuinely appreciate the insight you bring to the political discussion and look forward to the I'll Tell You What podcast every week! Also, I found Every Man a King a very enjoyable read and it has been passed around my entire office. My question/suggestion: Have you ever considered either writing a book or creating a podcast about the founding fathers?” – Nicholas McCombie, Pittsburgh, Pa.

[Ed. note: That was so nice of you to say that I’m going to forget entirely that you’re a Dukie (I just hope you didn’t go to Pitt, too)! I’m so glad you enjoyed “Almost Heaven.” I am so proud of my state and wish more Americans could see the reality and not just politicians and reporters looking for ways to exploit the human misery of the poorest and most vulnerable of my fellow Mountaineers. There’s got to be a balance. I’m mulling my next book project and have nosed around a few topics. It probably won’t be a biography, though… I’m intrigued with your idea about a Founding Fathers podcast. I may have to take it up with his eminence Jason Bonewald. #content]

“I’d like to understand how the Dems can consistently deride Pres. Trump’s border policies and government warnings of an impending (and now existing) crisis at the border, then turn around and suddenly (the stickler word is ‘suddenly’) declare we have a humanitarian border crisis… and then not vote for funding to solve that crisis. I pick the Dems here as the most recent example, but I believe the Republicans follow a similar Playbook on occasion. How can these folks play this type of game with these real issues? Who, in their right mind, would elect and then re-elect folks with this mindset? It is no wonder that compromise and real governing are now confined to the waste heap.” – Rick Randell, Bradenton, Fla.

[Ed. note: There are a lot of good things to say about the two-party system, but there are some pretty awful things, too. In this era of apocalyptic pronouncements from both sides about the dangers of the other side, there’s little incentive for leaders to compromise. We talk a great deal about what is needed to repair our broken political system. I increasingly think that the answer lies in moving away from primary elections for choosing party candidates.]

“I was surprised to see the Hamilton quote regarding consumption taxes. As a long time FairTax advocate, I assumed it was a relatively new idea. I would also point out that Andrew Yang’s proposal to give everyone $1,000 per month is along the lines of the FairTax (if not Hamilton). In effect, these types of proposals (Yang and FairTax) would eliminate all or most taxes on basic needs (food, shelter) by ‘prebating’ an amount representing the tax portion of the cost of basic needs. I would be interested to hear your views on the FairTax.” – Pat Conroy, West Lake Hills, Texas

[Ed. note: Income taxes are a relatively new idea compared to consumption taxes. The first kinds of taxation were income taxes in a sense. You had to give certain shares of what you raised or grew to your rulers, temporal and spiritual. As we moved away from such taxes, taxes on consumption, including tariffs, came very much into favor. We didn’t get to the idea of an income tax really until popular sentiment demanded government expenditures beyond what consumption taxes could reliably deliver. As for my views, Mr. Conroy, I would only say that opinions are luxury items. I try not to have more than I can afford!]

“Your article stated: ‘As president, Monroe supported abolition, but he enslaved up to 250 people in his lifetime.’ I think that could have been stated with a lot more accuracy. I think it rather likely that he purchased people who had ALREADY been enslaved (usually in Africa) rather than going there or anywhere else and enslaving them himself. Remember, ‘enslaving’ is an action verb meaning to place into slavery. It doesn't mean to keep in slavery.” – Dave Jeffries, Rapid City, S.D.

[Ed. note: I hear you, but I think you’re slicing it pretty thin, Mr. Jeffries. While it would have been more accurate to say that Monroe “kept enslaved” those human beings rather than taking them captive himself, I’m not going to quibble too much with the author of the fine piece you’re referring to. She addresses more interesting questions about the nature of family and identity for the descendants of slaves. It’s a thoughtful and nuanced story about those descendants, but very little about Monroe. His own story on the issue of slavery is fascinating and too-little told itself. Monroe generally gets short shrift because of inevitable comparisons to his fellow Virginian founders, Washington, Jefferson and Madison, but really was a great president in his own right. (UVA’s short biography is a great place to start for anyone looking for a fuller picture.) But his position on slavery – a slave-owning abolitionist who signed the Missouri compromise into law – reflects the awful complexities of his time. In many ways, Monroe presaged the dilemma Abraham Lincoln would face 41 years later. Would it be Union and slavery or disunion and abolition? In our ongoing effort to understand the shifting arguments around America’s original sin, Monroe is a wonderful place to start.]

Share your color commentary: Email us at HALFTIMEREPORT@FOXNEWS.COM and please make sure to include your name and hometown.

JUST YOUR TYPICAL SNAKE-CARJACKING-POLE-VAULT STORY
AP: “Police say a woman stole a vehicle after throwing a nonpoisonous snake at the driver, then crashed through barricades set up for a pole vaulting exhibition in a South Carolina city. In a news release, Greenville Police identified the suspect as 29-year-old Hilmary Moreno-Berrios. They she was hurt in Friday’s crash, and released from the hospital on Monday. Authorities say Moreno-Berrios demanded a woman’s keys and threw a live, black snake at her. They say she then drove the stolen SUV with the snake still in it into barriers set up for the Liberty Bridge Jump-Off. Moreno-Berrios is charged with carjacking, malicious damage to property and five traffic violations. It wasn’t known if she had a lawyer. Police say the snake was released in nearby woods.”

AND NOW, A WORD FROM CHARLES…
“There are wars of choice, and there are wars of necessity. Wars of choice – Vietnam, Kosovo, even the Gulf War – are fought for reasons of principle, ideology, geopolitics or sometimes pure humanitarianism. Passivity might cost us in the long run. But we do not have to go to war. A war of necessity is a life-or-death struggle in which the safety and security of the homeland are at stake. The war on terrorism is such a war.” – Charles Krauthammer (1950-2018) writing for Time magazine on Oct. 28, 2001.

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.