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On the roster: Senate Dems sweat Barr for muting Mueller - Q Poll: Biden way ahead, but signs of a Warren revival - Recruiting stumbles may shrink Dems’ Senate map - Trump, Dems find common ground on big spending - He’s been granted *ahem* hamnesty

SENATE DEMS SWEAT BARR FOR MUTING MUELLER
AP: “Attorney General William Barr pushed back Wednesday at complaints from Robert Mueller over his handling of the Russia investigation report, leveling his own criticism at the special counsel as simmering tensions between the Justice Department and Mueller’s team broke into public view in extraordinary fashion. Testifying for the first time since releasing Mueller’s report, Barr said he was surprised Mueller did not reach a conclusion on whether President Donald Trump had tried to obstruct justice, and that he felt compelled to step in with his own judgment that the president had committed no crime. Barr also complained that Mueller’s report did not, as requested, clearly flag sensitive material, creating weeks of work for the Justice Department as it moved to redact grand jury material that was not intended for the public.”

Barr may boycott House hearing - Politico: “The House Judiciary Committee on Wednesday teed up a clash with the Justice Department that could make Attorney General William Barr a no-show for his hearing before the Democrat-led panel. After a tense, party-line vote, the committee endorsed ground rules for Thursday’s hearing on special counsel Robert Mueller’s report that Barr has already objected to and over which he has threatened to boycott the hearing, according to aides. At issue is a Democratic demand to let committee lawyers question Barr for an hour after lawmakers have their chance to grill the attorney general. Barr said through a spokeswoman earlier this week that it would be inappropriate for staffers to participate in the questioning. Under the motion adopted by the committee, the time for questions will be equally divided between the Democratic and GOP staff attorneys.”

Democrats increasingly favor impeachment, most voters disagree - NPR: “Most Democrats want impeachment hearings to begin now that special counsel Robert Mueller's redacted findings are public, but that idea is still unpopular overall, according to a new NPR/PBS NewsHour/Marist poll. The results come as national Democratic Party leaders and 2020 presidential candidates are grappling with how to approach an issue that could ignite base voters but alienate a section of more moderate America. … Seven in 10 Democrats want Congress to begin impeachment hearings based on the findings in Mueller's report, but just 39% of Americans overall think impeachment hearings are the correct next step.”

Pelosi tries to run out the clock - Politico: “Speaker Nancy Pelosi and her leadership team are nowhere close to launching impeachment proceedings against President Donald Trump — with the chances diminishing as the 2020 election moves ever closer. Democratic lawmakers and senior aides say Pelosi and her deputies are unmoved despite a groundswell of impeachment talk among rank-and-file members who are infuriated by Trump’s stonewalling of congressional investigations. And absent any bombshell testimony from Attorney General William Barr or special counsel Robert Mueller stemming from his report, they say, senior Democrats view the approaching 2020 election season as a likely hard deadline for any impeachment push.”

Chait: What’s behind Trump’s stonewall strategy - New York Magazine: “Trump’s opposition to congressional oversight appears to be an extension of his business strategy of threatening counterparties with expensive, time-consuming lawsuits in order to shirk his obligations. It worked in business, because he could bully smaller contractors who couldn’t afford the legal bills of a protracted fight to obtain their promised payments. Congress doesn’t have that problem, but the courts might take long enough processing the ‘arguments’ that Trump can keep his scandals bottled up until after the election.”

THE RULEBOOK: AND YET…
“It is equally unnecessary to dilate on the appointment of senators by the State legislatures. … It is recommended by the double advantage of favoring a select appointment, and of giving to the State governments such an agency in the formation of the federal government as must secure the authority of the former, and may form a convenient link between the two systems.” – Alexander Hamilton or James Madison, Federalist No. 62

TIME OUT: MADE FOR HIS MOMENT
Atlantic: “When the 22-year-old director John Singleton was reportedly offered $100,000 to back away from directing his 1991 feature film, Boyz n the Hood, the newly minted film-school graduate balked in the Columbia Pictures office. ‘I said, ‘Well, we have to end this meeting right now because I’m doing this movie,’’ Singleton recalled in a 2003 documentary about the film, Friendly Fire: Making an Urban Legend. ‘This is the movie that I was born to make.’ The director, who died Monday afternoon at the age of 51, stunned studio executives and audiences alike with the nuanced drama about a group of young black men growing up in South Central Los Angeles. … For many black viewers, Boyz was one of precious few cinematic representations directed by someone with a personal knowledge of—and investment in—the wrenching material on-screen.”

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SCOREBOARD
Trump job performance
Average approval: 42.4 percent
Average disapproval: 53 percent
Net Score: -10.6 points
Change from one week ago: down 1.4 points
[Average includes: CNN: 43% approve - 52% disapprove; NPR/PBS/Marist: 42% approve - 54% disapprove; WaPo/ABC News: 42% approve - 54% disapprove; Fox News: 45% approve - 51% disapprove; Monmouth University: 40% approve - 54% disapprove.]

Q POLL: BIDEN WAY AHEAD, BUT SIGNS OF A WARREN REVIVAL
Quinnipiac University: “Former Vice President Joseph Biden is surging among Democrats and voters leaning Democratic, with 38 percent of the vote, followed by 12 percent for Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren, 11 percent for Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders and 10 percent for South Bend Mayor Pete Buttigieg, according to a Quinnipiac University National Poll released today. California Sen. Kamala Harris has 8 percent of Democrats and Democratic leaners, with 5 percent for former U.S. Rep. Beto O'Rourke of Texas. No other Democratic contender gets more than 2 percent. … In [Tuesday’s] survey among Democrats and Democratic leaners: 56 percent say Biden has the best chance to beat President Donald Trump, followed by Sanders at 12 percent; 44 percent say Biden would be the best leader, with Sanders and Warren at 11 percent each; 23 percent say Biden has the best policy ideas, with Warren at 19 percent.”

Buttigieg bashed for allowing exemptions in vaccination rules - Fox News: “South Bend mayor and Democratic presidential candidate Pete Buttigieg drew some backlash for his stance on mandatory vaccinations. Buzzfeed reported that Buttigieg supports states' rights to mandate vaccinations, but also supports ‘some exceptions.’ ‘The law of the land for more than a century has been that states may enforce mandatory vaccination for public safety to prevent the spread of a dangerous disease. Pete does support some exceptions, except during a public health emergency to prevent an outbreak,’ a spokesman for the South Bend mayor told Buzzfeed. The 37-year-old progressive listed personal/religious exemptions, but reiterated that there must be ‘no public health crisis’ for the exemptions to be honored.”

Gillibrand’s latest: Feds to dole out money for campaign donations - NBC News: “Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand, D-N.Y., unveiled a plan on Wednesday to give every voter up to $600 in what she calls ‘Democracy Dollars’ that they can donate to federal candidates for office. In an exclusive interview with NBC News to discuss the roll out of her first major 2020 policy initiative, Gillibrand said her ‘Clean Elections Plan’ would help reduce the influence of big money in politics. … Under Gillibrand's plan, every eligible voter could register for vouchers to donate up to $100 in a primary election and $100 in a general election each cycle, either all at once or in $10 increments to one or more candidates over time. Each participant would get a separate $200 pool for House, Senate and presidential contests for a total maximum donation of $600 for those federal offices.”

RECRUITING STUMBLES MAY SHRINK DEMS’ SENATE MAP
Politico: “Senate Democrats' bid to take back the majority is running into a big roadblock: Some of their most coveted recruiting targets are refusing to run. … [S]o far, a number of the party’s high-profile recruits have said no to Minority Leader Chuck Schumer and the party’s campaign arm. Stacey Abrams, a rising star in the party after nearly winning the Georgia governor’s race last year, passed on a Senate run Tuesday… Hours later, Rep. Cindy Axne, who flipped a swing district last year, confirmed she was running for the House again — and not challenging Iowa's first-term Republican senator, Joni Ernst. Democrats haven’t struck out everywhere: Former astronaut Mark Kelly in Arizona was a huge get in a critical battleground state. But three Democrats in other key states have passed on Senate bids to run for president despite the crowded field, and the party has missed out on its top recruits in Georgia and North Carolina.”

TRUMP, DEMS FIND COMMON GROUND ON BIG SPENDING
AP: “In a rare moment of bipartisanship in polarized Washington, President Donald Trump and Democratic congressional leaders agreed Tuesday to work toward a $2 trillion infrastructure plan to rebuild roads and bridges, provide clean water and extend broadband coverage — but they put off the thorny matter of how to pay for it. Both sides seemed determined to show a willingness to work with the other, even as tensions between the White House and congressional Democrats have only intensified with the release of special counsel Robert Mueller’s redacted report on Russia meddling in the 2016 elections. Democrats have multiple investigations of the Trump administration underway, and Trump’s White House is strongly resisting them. … ‘We did come to one agreement: that the agreement would be big and bold,’ [Nancy] Pelosi said. [Chuck] Schumer added that: ‘In previous meetings, the president has said, ‘If these investigations continue, I can’t work with you.’’ But this time, Schumer said, ‘He didn’t bring it up.’”

Away from cameras, Trump makes nice - WaPo: “House Majority Leader Steny H. Hoyer had a very clear wish on the eve of Tuesday’s meeting with President Trump: No cameras, no live TV. … With Hoyer’s wish granted, Trump and a dozen congressional Democrats sat behind closed doors at a White House meeting that by all accounts was cordial and productive. … Chances are this deal collapses well before the next meeting of this same group, tentatively set for three weeks off. Republicans back at the Capitol demonstrated little appetite for such an expensive project. But the meeting served as the latest example of how differently Trump acts around House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) and Senate Minority Leader Charles E. Schumer (D-N.Y.), depending on the optics. Give him a closed room, no TV cameras, without conservative handlers around … and Trump turns into the wheeler and dealer of the Manhattan real estate world.”

PLAY-BY-PLAY
Colorado joins Super Tuesday delegate rush - Denver Post

Republican fight opens way for Dems in N.C. special election - Roll Call

New super PAC suggests Hogan bid may be serious - WashEx

AUDIBLE: TURTLE SOUP
“Mitch McConnell has effectively turned the United States Senate into a very expensive lunch club.” – Sen. Chris Murphy, D-Conn., told reporters on Tuesday.

FROM THE BLEACHERS
“Having been introduced to the Halftime Report as a listener to ITYW, I have found that the HR gives invaluable insight to the bizarrity that we face each and every day. What I find indispensable are the quotations from founding fathers, and pull-quotes from Charles Krauthammer--it proves that even death could not stop his wisdom from propagating. May the run of engagement for both the podcast and the newsletter be long and glorious.” – Travis Eberle, Kent, Wash.

[Ed. note: Hear, hear, Mr. Eberle! I think Charles would have been among peers had he been writing alongside Messrs. Hamilton, Madison and Jay.]

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

HE’S BEEN GRANTED *AHEM* HAMNESTY
UPI: “A loose pig in an Illinois town has been evading capture for months and has become an unofficial local mascot dubbed ‘Porkchop.’ Herrin residents said they first spotted Porkchop the pig running loose around the start of the year, and Animal Control Officer Madalyn Holden said the fugitive hog has been keeping just out of reach of authorities. … ‘[The owner] can't catch the pig and we can't catch the pig, so it's a citizen at this point for all we know.’ Locals have been keeping track of Porkchop sightings on a Facebook group, where multiple residents detailed their unsuccessful attempts to corral the pig. Holden said the pig's size has increased since the first sightings. … ‘She goes to the park and roots around and eats there.’ Holden said the pig appears friendly, but she cautioned people with pets and small children to be careful around the loose animal.”

AND NOW, A WORD FROM CHARLES…
“Sympathy is fine. But if we ‘squander’ it when we go to war to avenge our dead and prevent the next crop of dead, then to hell with sympathy.” – Charles Krauthammer (1950-2018) writing for Time magazine on Nov. 9, 2003.

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.