Senate Intel chief out after feds raid home

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On the roster: Senate Intel chief out after feds raid home - I’ll Tell You What: Who’s zoomin’ who? - Trump blasts Fauci for urging caution on schools - Trump hits the trail in swing state Pennsylvania - Nope, nope, nope, nope, nope, nope…

SENATE INTEL CHIEF OUT AFTER FEDS RAID HOME
Fox News: “Republican Sen. Richard Burr has stepped aside as chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee amid an investigation into his stock sales during the early stages of the coronavirus outbreak. … The move comes after federal agents on Wednesday served a search warrant to Sen. Burr, R-N.C., at his Washington-area home. A law enforcement official familiar with the investigation confirmed to Fox News that FBI agents also confiscated the senator's cellphone. According to a senior DOJ official, the warrant was served on Burr’s lawyer and was approved at the highest levels of the department. The Los Angeles Times first reported these details. One official reportedly said agents served an earlier warrant to obtain information from the senator’s iCloud account. A law enforcement source told the paper that the Justice Department was reviewing communication between Burr and his broker.”

Judge mulls contempt charge for Flynn - Politico: “A federal judge is signaling that he might pursue perjury or contempt charges against former national security adviser Michael Flynn over his effort to abandon a guilty plea to a charge of lying to the FBI. The Justice Department moved last week to drop the prosecution of Flynn launched by special counsel Robert Mueller, but U.S. District Court Judge Emmet Sullivan slammed the brakes on that effort by announcing Wednesday evening that he is appointing a former federal judge to argue against the government’s unusual bid to dismiss the case against an ally of President Donald Trump. Sullivan’s order also directed the retired judge, John Gleeson, to recommend whether Flynn should face a criminal contempt charge for perjury — apparently for declaring under oath at two different court proceedings that he was guilty of lying to the FBI, before he reversed course in January and claimed he had never lied.”

Trump pressures Graham to call Obama to testify on Flynn case - Fox News: “President Trump on Thursday pressed Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Lindsey Graham to call former President Barack Obama to testify amid new developments surrounding the origins of the Russia investigation and efforts at the time to ‘unmask’ Michael Flynn's name in intelligence reports. ‘If I were a Senator or Congressman, the first person I would call to testify about the biggest political crime and scandal in the history of the USA, by FAR, is former President Obama,’ Trump tweeted Thursday. ‘He knew EVERYTHING.’ ‘Do it @LindseyGrahamSC, just do it,’ he continued. ‘No more Mr. Nice Guy. No more talk!’ The extraordinary demand comes as Trump has increasingly sought to link his predecessor to efforts to investigate his associates in 2016 and 2017, dubbing it ‘Obamagate.’”

Nadler demands Barr testify by June - NBC News: “Amid a growing controversy over the Justice Department's handling of several criminal cases involving former advisers to President Donald Trump, the chairman of the House Judiciary Committee is pressing for Attorney General William Barr to immediately testify when Washington reopens in early June. ‘Now that the District of Columbia has expanded the stay-at-home order until June 8, we expect to see Barr in front of our committee on June 9th — the very next day,’ Rep. Jerry Nadler, D-N.Y., told MSNBC on Wednesday, saying his office is in active communication with the Justice Department. Nadler volunteered that he would apply additional pressure if necessary, mentioning Congress' funding authority and its power to subpoena Barr.”

THE RULEBOOK: ONE FOR ALL
“It has often given me pleasure to observe that independent America was not composed of detached and distant territories, but that one connected, fertile, widespreading country was the portion of our western sons of liberty.” – John Jay, Federalist No. 2 

TIME OUT: ISHTAR? ISHTAR!
The AV Club: “It’s no easy task to describe Ishtar in a way that might get across, for someone who wasn’t around in 1987… Imagine a broad, cheerfully lowbrow big-budget comedy along the lines of Step Brothers or Talladega Nights, but instead of Will Ferrell and John C. Reilly, it stars Leonardo DiCaprio and Christian Bale… roughly comparable to ’80s Warren Beatty and Dustin Hoffman in terms of popularity, power, and prestige … and the movie’s budget were highly publicized as being north of $100 million … and reports were rampant of a troubled shoot involving bitter fights among the stars and director, and then the film opened and turned out to be deliberately, defiantly dumb… well, maybe you can comprehend Ishtar’s reputation as one of the biggest disasters of all time. That reputation is undeserved, though. … Sizable chunks of it are more loud than funny. Still, it’s … just as often distinctively, admirably goofy.”

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SCOREBOARD 
PRESIDENTIAL POWER RANKINGS
(270 electoral votes needed to win)
Toss-up (103 electoral votes): Wisconsin (10), Ohio (18), Florida (29), Arizona (11), Pennsylvania (20), North Carolina (15)
Lean R/Likely R: (186 electoral votes) 
Lean D/Likely D (249 electoral votes)
[Full rankings here.] 

TRUMP JOB PERFORMANCE
Average approval: 44.6 percent
Average disapproval: 50.8 percent
Net Score: -6.2 points
Change from one week ago: ↓ 1.4 points  
[Average includes: CNN: 46% approve - 51% disapprove; CNBC: 46% approve - 54% disapprove; Monmouth University: 44% approve - 51% disapprove; PRRI: 43% approve - 54% disapprove; IBD: 44% approve - 44% disapprove.] 

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I’LL TELL YOU WHAT: WHO’S ZOOMIN’ WHO?
This week, Dana Perino and Chris Stirewalt update one another on their weekend birthday celebrations and highlight the importance of resilience. They discuss widespread American unemployment and economic uncertainty and updates from the 2020 election including: California congressional seats, a leaked Obama tape, partisanship with mail-in voting, and Joe Biden as an underdog in his basement. Plus, Chris stares down presidential nominee trivia. LISTEN AND SUBSCRIBE HERE 

TRUMP BLASTS FAUCI FOR URGING CAUTION ON SCHOOLS
AP: “President Donald Trump called on governors across the nation to work to reopen schools that were closed because of the coronavirus, pointedly taking issue with Dr. Anthony Fauci’s caution against moving too quickly in sending students back to class. The president accused Fauci of wanting ‘to play all sides of the equation.’ … Fauci had urged caution in testimony before a Senate committee Tuesday, although he made clear that he believes reopening decisions will likely differ from one region to the next. … ‘To me, it’s not an acceptable answer,’ Trump said of Fauci on Wednesday. He said the coronavirus has ‘had very little impact on young people,’ although there is growing concern over cases of a mysterious inflammatory syndrome in young people that is thought to be related to the virus. Speaking of Fauci, Trump told Maria Bartiromo in an interview for Fox Business Network’s ‘Mornings with Maria’ that ‘I totally disagree with him on schools.’”

Unemployment still roaring - Politico: “Workers filed nearly 3 million new unemployment claims last week, the Labor Department reported Thursday, signaling that a wave of coronavirus-induced layoffs is continuing as the country struggles to reopen for business. The latest number, which covers the week ending May 9, pushed the two-month tally of unemployment claims to 36.5 million, reflecting a jobless rate that the Bureau of Labor Statistics acknowledged last week is the worst since the Great Depression of the 1930s. The figure is ‘another sickening punch to the gut,’ Mark Hamrick, senior economic analyst for Bankrate, said in a statement. ‘And, we need to be braced for more incoming body blows with respect to economic data,’ he said. As high as the official unemployment rate is — BLS said it reached 14.7 percent in April — that likely understates the damage, because large numbers of people misclassified themselves as employed but absent from work, artificially suppressing the jobless rate by about five percentage points.”

Ousted vaccine chief warns ‘window of opportunity is closing’ - Politico: “The Trump administration missed early warning signs of the severity of the coronavirus pandemic that has killed tens of thousands of Americans so far, ousted vaccine expert Rick Bright will tell a House panel on Thursday morning. The crisis could worsen significantly without fast federal action, according to written testimony from Bright, who was abruptly removed as director of the Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority in April. He has alleged in a formal complaint that his demotion from the agency that oversees more than a billion dollars in grants for coronavirus tests, drugs and vaccines was driven by political pressure. … Bright's prepared remarks laid out four actions he feels the government must take while it waits for a coronavirus cure. Those include increasing public education, ramping up production of essential equipment and supplies, guiding equitable distribution of those supplies to tamp down on inter-state competition and instituting a national testing strategy.”

TRUMP HITS THE TRAIL IN SWING STATE PENNSYLVANIA
Fox News: “President Trump plans to be in Pennsylvania on Thursday, three days after asserting on Twitter that the state’s residents have grown frustrated with their Democrat governor’s coronavirus shutdown rules. ‘The great people of Pennsylvania want their freedom now,’ the president wrote Monday, ‘and they are fully aware of what that entails.’ The scheduled trip also follows a protest in late April that saw hundreds of demonstrators gather outside the Statehouse in Harrisburg, where they called for Gov. Tom Wolf to loosen the state’s stay-at-home order. Trump is scheduled to visit Owens & Minor Inc. in Upper Macungie Township, near Allentown, according to FOX 29 of Philadelphia. The company distributes medical equipment, which became a key commodity during the virus outbreak as the nation’s hospitals grappled with surges in patients.”

Biden leans left - NYT: “Throughout the Democratic presidential primary, Joseph R. Biden Jr.’s rivals criticized his focus on restoring America to the pre-Trump era... But as he steps into the general election having vanquished the party’s left wing, and the nation reels from a pandemic that has devastated the economy, Mr. Biden is striking fewer of the moderate notes that won him the nomination, instead courting progressives with a new openness to systemic disruption. The clearest sign of that shift came on Wednesday, when Mr. Biden announced a slate of joint policy task forces with Senator Bernie Sanders focused on issues ranging from climate change to criminal justice reform. The task force members include stalwart Biden allies, but also a who’s who of ‘Medicare for all’ champions, advocates for eliminating college debt, and critics of the Obama administration’s immigration policy — the kind of activists who have long been skeptical of Mr. Biden’s more incremental instincts.”

Poll shows Trump ahead in battleground states - CNN: “Presumptive Democratic nominee Joe Biden's lead over President Donald Trump now stands at five points, but Trump has an edge in the critical battleground states that could decide the electoral college, according to a new CNN poll conducted by SSRS. In the new poll, 51% of registered voters nationwide back Biden, while 46% say they prefer Trump, while in the battlegrounds, 52% favor Trump and 45% Biden. Partisans are deeply entrenched in their corners, with 95% of Democrats behind Biden and the same share of Republicans behind Trump. The two are close among independents (50% back Trump, 46% Biden, not a large enough difference to be considered a lead), but Biden's edge currently rests on the larger share of voters who identify as Democrats.”

Team Trump looks for summer reset - WSJ: “The mega rallies are on ice. A flashy convention is in question. Battleground states are harder to visit. With coronavirus upending traditional campaigning, President Trump and his re-election advisers are strategizing on how to salvage the summer of 2020. Their discussions involve how to socially distance rallies, how to pull off an in-person convention and how to get Mr. Trump back on the trail in a way that doesn’t prompt backlash.”

McConnell still pushing for Pompeo Kansas Senate run - Politico: “Senate Republicans have a problem in Kansas. And they still think Mike Pompeo is the solution. Staring at a messy primary, a credible Democratic challenger and a real battle for Senate control, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell is pushing for the secretary of State to jump into the race with just weeks to go until the filing deadline. … While Pompeo has indicated to McConnell that he would not take the plunge, a looming June 1 deadline and an increasingly difficult landscape for the GOP have added a new sense of urgency to the race. Through a months-long advocacy campaign, McConnell successfully convinced the White House that the Kansas race is an issue for Republicans. And some people close to Trump are still pushing for Pompeo to get in and simplify things for the party, according to multiple people familiar with the situation.”

It’s official, Mike Garcia wins, flips California House seat - CBS News: “Republican veteran Mike Garcia held onto his lead in California's special election for the 25th Congressional District, and will become the first Republican to flip a seat held by a Democrat in the state since 1998, winning former Representative Katie Hill's seat. Garcia stopped short of a full-fledged victory speech on a call with supporters late Tuesday night… On Wednesday afternoon, [Democrat Christy] Smith officially conceded, and in a Facebook statement said while ‘it is critical’ all the remaining votes should be counted, ‘the current tally shows Mike Garcia is the likely victor.’ Garcia's victory was a welcome sign for House Republicans, coming in a district Hillary Clinton had won by 7 points in 2016, and in a race for a seat that had been held by a Democrat.”

THE JUDGE’S RULING: TO GOVERN OR BE GOVERNED
This week Fox News Senior Judicial Analyst Judge Andrew Napolitano explains whether the government works for us, or if Americans work for it: “To Thomas Jefferson, the fulcrum between the people and the government they have elected was fear. He argued succinctly that the government would only respect liberty if it feared losing power. Today, the relationship between people and government is power. Does the government have the power to tell us how to make personal choices, or do we have the power to tell the government to take a hike? Stated differently, does the government work for us or do we work for the government?” More here.

PLAY-BY-PLAY
Trump looks for indefinite extension of quarantine border restrictions - NYT

Pelosi pushes proxy voting - Politico

AUDIBLE: WHEN THE COOKIE FALLS
“The chips are starting to crumble!” – Eric Trump, the president’s middle son, in a tweet accusing the Clinton campaign of misdeeds in 2016. 

FROM THE BLEACHERS
“Re: The reader who said President Obama's remarks about the current administration's coronavirus response were ‘unseemly,’ and your response. … [You] wrote this: ‘Democrats who may have cheered at Obama’s indirect entry to the fray or those who would welcome unprecedented behavior in unprecedented times ought to remember that the norms and traditions of our presidency and government are nearly as important as the constitutional limits on those institutions. If we let them slide in trying times, they won’t be there to protect us in the next crisis.’ Isn't the degradation of those very norms and traditions by Trump, not Obama, the Cliffs Notes version of the past 3 1/2 years? My more mature side says that my team still has to do the right thing, even and especially in the face of bad behavior on the other side, but man, this administration makes the high road a tough one to travel. I often agree with you, often disagree with you, and probably vote differently than the majority of your readers, but I enjoy your column and read it every day. Stay well!” – Angela Simpson, Burlington, Vt.

[Ed. note: Thank you, Ms. Simpson! I don’t care how our readers vote, or even if they vote at all. I am always struck by their (your) loveliness, thoughtfulness, patriotic grace and intellect. I can think of few populations as erudite, funny and enjoyable to write for as you people. We talked about the dangers of negative partisanship to the republic a bit at the top of the note, but you’re asking about something slightly different: Don’t unprecedented behaviors in others merit unprecedented responses? And the answer is the same as for most things when dealing with human beings: Maybe, depending on when, how, how much, how often, executed in what manner etc. What did former President Obama get out of his bank-shot blast at Trump? I think if it resulted in anything it was a small diminution of his stature. There’s no American who follows politics who wonders what Obama or any of the other living presidents thinks about Trump. Nor is there any doubt what he thinks about them. Trump has explicitly said or implied that his two most recent predecessors should all have been removed from office and scoffs at the suggestion that he might call them for advice as would be the norm. But the attacks have mostly been a one-way street. It no doubt made Obama’s former staffers feel good to hear the boss rip on Trump -- a satisfying taste of political red meat. But it didn’t do anything for anybody, except for maybe Trump. One day, Trump will not be president. And on that day, his successor will want the chance to operate without his predecessor going out and leading a political movement against him or cutting down what he or she does or having our enemies looking to exploit such divisions. Whether or not Trump follows precedent and avoids commenting publicly will be beyond his successors’ control. Certainly, Teddy Roosevelt could not resist such selfishness. Nor could his cousin, Franklin, resist the desire to seek a third term and then a fourth. But it was George Washington whom we expect to be the model for his successors not a pair of vainglorious New Yorkers. He gave a farewell address and retired from public life after two terms. That’s what he felt he owed his successor, even when John Adams blundered, but more importantly, what Washington felt he owed the republic. He believed America could sort itself out, and that if it couldn’t do so without him, we were doomed anyway. In our system, no man can be allowed to become indispensable.]

“I too wish for a return to quaint days when norms and standards were followed or at least given lip service. But isn't it a bit rich for the GOP, Trump, and his supporters to rage on this issue? Their standard bearer explicitly ran as the person who would shatter norms and has done so in a way that will likely have lasting damage to our constitutional structure. It's the classic ‘okay as long as it's my side’ thinking. Democrats have made a habit of unilateral disarmament. In the new (but not so new) era of bloodthirsty tribalism, maybe it's time for them to start playing like the other side. Kudos to Obama for passive aggressively taking the gloves off (albeit four years late).” – Ryan Stewart, Saint Paul, Minn.

[Ed. note: I wonder if you can hear how much you sound like Trump supporters did in 2016? We’re too nice, you tell your fellow Democrats, we ought to be just as rotten as those other bastards. When you heard it four years ago it probably sounded crazy because you likely saw Obama as a good man, well intentioned and fighting against dangerous forces. But that’s how Trump supporters see their man. If we get too good at excusing ourselves from the high standards to which our form of citizenship calls us we will be ruined. This is banana republic thinking and will be the undoing of our country if we keep it up.] 

“No less than Jimmy Carter was a co-author on a bipartisan report in 2005 cited in the April 10, 2020 WSJ article by John Lott, that details the multiple potentials and evidence for fraud in mail-in voting. Might be worth a look if you haven't already. Long admirer of your writing skills and gift for prose. Keep it up.” – Philip Berger, Scottsdale, Ariz.

[Ed. note: There is LOTS of evidence of how mail-in ballots can be fraudulently deployed. Just last year, we saw the results of a House election in North Carolina thrown out because of mail-ballot fraud. But in-person voting is also susceptible to fraud, just different kinds. Scholars passionately disagree over how much fraud occurs in the nation as a whole, but recent history certainly points to lots of localized examples of in-person election fraud. It may be helpful for you to think of fraud as being like fleas. They are a likely consequence of getting a dog, but treatable and preventable -- certainly not a reason unto themselves to eschew dog ownership. Combating fraud in mail-in elections requires different tools -- e.g. two-factor authentication, more thorough canvassing -- but can be addressed. That’s a different question, however, than whether mail-in voting favors one party or another. And on that point, there is no evidence that there is any partisan lean. There’s no reason I’ve seen for either party to cheer or fear more mail-in ballots.]

“If President Trump would lose the election this year, in 4 years could he not run again in 2024? And if he won, could he run again in 2028? This has never happened, so I was wondering if the 2 - 4 year terms still applies since the first 8 years were not continuous?” – Larry Braud, Baton Rouge, La.

[Ed. note: Well, it’s true that both parties have been on a senior-citizen kick of late, but it would seem surprising to swear in two 78-year-olds in a row, but who knows? If Biden beat Trump this fall, Trump could certainly seek the presidency again in 2024. That’s exactly what one of America’s chronically underrated presidents, Grover Cleveland, did in 1892 after getting nipped in his re-elect by Benjamin Harrison in 1888. Now, your second question -- whether Trump could seek a third term in 2028 at age 82 if he won in 2024 -- butts up against the 22nd Amendment which says that no one can be elected president more than twice, irrespective of sequence.]

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

NOPE, NOPE, NOPE, NOPE, NOPE, NOPE…
Washingtonian: “A few weeks ago, the Inn at Little Washington sent out an email blast announcing that the luxury Rappahannock County destination would be reopening for dinner on May 15. Then Virginia governor Ralph Northam threw a hitch into chef Patrick O’Connell’s plans: Diners can sit outside only for ‘phase one’ of the reopening, and those patios can be filled only to 50 percent capacity. The al fresco mandate wouldn’t work for the Inn’s lavish three-Michelin-star property, so they hopefully pushed the debut to May 29. But the 50-percent-empty thing? O’Connell has a plan. Instead of letting tables sit vacant, the whimsical chef plans to outfit his dining rooms with mannequins. That’s right, life-size human dolls… The chef (who majored in drama in college) has been working with Shirlington’s Signature Theatre to get the faux humans costumed in 1940s-era garb. Servers will be instructed to pour them wine and to ask them about their evening. Here’s hoping the actual diners don’t have any doll phobias.”

AND NOW A WORD FROM CHARLES…
“Environmental sensitivity is now as required an attitude in polite society as is, say, belief in democracy or aversion to polyester.” – Charles Krauthammer (1950-2018) writing in Time magazine on June 17, 1991.

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.