George H.W. Bush leaves a complicated legacy, Michael Cohen’s guilty plea pieces together a conspiracy that implicates Trump, and Republicans respond to their midterm defeats with power grabs in Wisconsin and Michigan. Then Congressman Hakeem Jeffries talks to Jon F. about his new position as Chair of the House Democratic Caucus, as well as the party’s message and strategy in 2019.

Show Notes:

George H.W. Bush

• Washington Post: President George H.W. Bush will lie in state at the Capitol. Here’s what you need to know.
• New York Times: Jon Meacham: George H.W. Bush and the Price of Politics
• The Atlantic: A Kinder, Gentler Republican President Is Dead
• Washington Post: ‘Honorable, gracious and decent’: In death, Bush becomes a yardstick for President Trump
• New York Times: It’s Now Donald Trump’s America. But George Bush’s Stamp Endures
• New York Times: A kinder gentler nation? Maybe for a few days.
• Washington Post: Bill Clinton: George H.W. Bush’s Oval Office note to me revealed the heart of who he was
• Washington Post: George H.W. Bush represented a different kind of Republicanism
• The Atlantic: What the Tributes to George H. W. Bush Are Missing
• New York Times: The Patrician President and the Reporerette: A Screwball Story
• Washington Post: George H.W. Bush, 41st president of the United States, dies at 94
• New York Times: George Bush, Who Steered Nation in Tumultuous Times, Is Dead at 94
• Vox: George H.W. Bush was a champion for people with disabilities
• New York Times: Lawmakers Discuss Deal to Push Back Shutdown Deadline While Mourning Bush
• Politico: Is History Being Too Kind to George H.W. Bush?
• Vox: Eight women say George HW Bush groped them. Their claims deserve to be remembered as we assess his legacy.
• The Atlantic: The last WASP president
• The Atlantic: The Soft Lighting of a President’s Legacy
• Vanity Fair: “FOR THE HONOR OF THE THING”: THE PARADOX OF GEORGE HERBERT WALKER BUSH, THE LAST OF A WASPY BREED
• Vox: George H.W. Bush’s “Willie Horton” ad will always be the reference point for dog whistle racism
• The Nation: It’s a disgrace to celebrate George H. W. Bush on World AIDS Day
• Washington Examiner: “AP deletes controversial tweet on George H.W. Bush’s death”
• Mashable: Twitter grapples with the mixed legacy of President George H.W. Bush

The Trump investigation

• Buzzfeed: The Trump Organization Planned To Give Vladimir Putin The $50 Million Penthouse In Trump Tower Moscow
• Bloomberg: Trump Firm Eyed Giving Putin $50 Million Penthouse, Broker Says
• Washington Post: Is floating a $50 million Trump Tower penthouse for Vladimir Putin illegal?
• FCPA Professor Blog: Trump, The $50 Million Dollar Moscow Penthouse, And The FCPA
• New York Law Journal: FCPA Standstill
• Vox: Trump Tower Moscow, and Michael Cohen’s lies about it, explained
• New York Magazine: What Does Trump Tower Moscow Mean to the Mueller Investigation?
• Empty Wheel: JULY 22, 2016: THE SATER AND COHEN DEAL GETS HANDED OFF TO MILLIAN AND PAPADOPOULOS?
• Lawfare: There’s a Lot Going On in Michael Cohen’s Sentencing Memo
• Washington Post: 3 takeaways about Trump’s role in Cohen’s lies, from Cohen’s new filing
• The Atlantic: Michael Cohen Takes Mueller Inside the Trump Organization
• New Yorker: Michael Cohen’s Disclosures Raise Serious Questions About Donald Trump and His Business Interests
• New Yorker: The Legal Perils That Michael Cohen’s Guilty Plea Poses for Donald Trump
• Vox: What does Michael Cohen’s plea deal mean for Trump? I asked 9 legal experts.
• Wall Street Journal: Cohen Says Trump Remained Involved in Moscow Tower Project During Campaign
• Vanity Fair: “TRUMP WAS TOTALLY CAUGHT OFF GUARD BY THE COHEN PLEA”: INSIDE TRUMPWORLD, SOME FEAR MUELLER HAS LAID A PERJURY TRAP
• Bloomberg: Trump Keeps Making the Case for Impeachment – Opinion
• Vanity Fair: GOVERNMENT EMPLOYEES TOLD TO KEEP QUIET AS TRUMP COMES UNGLUED
• Huffington Post: How Michael Cohen’s Plea Deal Implicates Donald Trump Jr.
• CNN: Donald Trump Jr., Trump Org. in spotlight after Cohen plea
• USA Today: Senate panel reviews Donald Trump Jr.’s testimony after Michael Cohen pleads guilty to lying to Congress
• NBC News: Lawyer: Cohen’s statements do not contradict Trump Jr. on Russia deals
• Washington Post: Cohen’s new plea deal may be only the tip of the iceberg
• CNN: Comey says he will testify after legal challenge

Republican power grab

• Esquire: Republicans Are Running Riot in Lame-Duck State Legislature Sessions
• Mother Jones: Wisconsin’s GOP Aims to Strip Power From the Incoming Democratic Governor
• Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Tony Evers says he will ‘take any steps possible’ to prevent GOP plan to take away his power
• Detroit News: GOP moves to dilute power of governor, AG, secretary of state
• Slate: Michigan Republicans Are Undertaking a Diabolical Plan to Kill a Popular Minimum-Wage Ballot Measure
• The Hill: Michigan Republicans introduce bills seeking to curtail powers of incoming Democrats
• Michigan Public Radio: Republican legislature seeks to influence ballot measures in lame duck session
• Madison365: Rally Planned to Protest “Republican Power Grab”

North Carolina

• Vox: There’s something very weird going on with this House election in North Carolina
• New Yorker: Allegations of G.O.P. Election Fraud Shake North Carolina’s Ninth District
• Raleigh News and Observer: Amidst social media controversy, NC Board of Elections chair resigns
• Washington Post: North Carolina elections board chairman resigns, says he doesn’t want his partisan views to hurt election fraud investigation
• FiveThirtyEight: What The Heck Is Happening In That North Carolina House Race?
• New York Times: Lasting Rancor Over Voting Issues Puts a Spotlight on a Georgia Runoff
• Atlanta Magazine: What you need to know before Tuesday’s runoff elections
• New York Times: Despite Big House Losses, G.O.P. Shows No Signs of Course Correction
• The Atlantic: Republicans Didn’t Learn Anything From the Midterms

Paul Ryan & the GOP

• Associated Press: In Washington Post interview, Paul Ryan lists immigration, debt as biggest regrets
• Vox: Paul Ryan really wishes the House speaker would fix immigration and the debt
• Washington Post: The last stand of Congress’s Never Trump brigade
• CNBC: The all-Republican government will end as it began under Trump, in disarray
• Slate: Never Trumpers for Trump – How Trump’s conservative critics became wingmen for the president’s supporters.
• Politico: GOP governors call out Trump after midterm drubbing
• The Hill: GOP governors raise concerns about midterm losses at annual winter meeting
• FiveThirtyEight: The Senate Will Be Competitive Again In 2020, But Republicans Are Favored
• Politico: Inside the GOP’s California nightmare

Hakeem Jeffries

• Vox: The next generation of Democratic congressional leadership is coming into view
• Washington Post: Many Democrats want their leadership to look more like their voters. Is Hakeem Jeffries the answer?
• New York Times: Hakeem Jeffries Emerges as New Face of House Democrats
• The Hill: Hakeem Jeffries defeats Barbara Lee to become Dem caucus chair
• Washington Post: With ranks growing, Congressional Black Caucus poised to flex its muscle
• Washington Post: Can Democrats Keep it Together?
• The Intercept: JOE CROWLEY’S PARTING SHOT: OUSTED BY OCASIO-CORTEZ, HE UNDERMINED BARBARA LEE IN HOUSE LEADERSHIP RACE
• Think Progress: Joe Crowley isn’t handling his loss to Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez too well
• The Intercept: PRO-CHARTER SCHOOL DEMOCRATS, EMBATTLED IN THE TRUMP ERA, SCORE A WIN WITH HAKEEM JEFFRIES
• Huffington Post: Despite A Big Setback, Progressives Increase Their Leadership Clout In New Congress
• Business Insider: GOP slams new top House Democrat Hakeem Jeffries for calling Trump a ‘racial arsonist’