RNC’s Kayleigh McEnany, White House’s Kevin Hassett, MD Comptroller Peter Franchot and Rep. Jim Jordan joined WMAL on Tuesday!

Mornings on the Mall

Tuesday, April 17, 2018

Hosts: Mary Walter and Vince Coglianese

Executive Producer: Heather Hunter

 

5am – A/B/C Supreme Court May Force Internet Businesses To Collect Sales Taxes. (Daily Wire) – On Tuesday, a case to come before the Supreme Court could result in many internet retailers being forced to collect state taxes on the wares they sell even if they do not have a physical presence in the state, like a store or a warehouse. In the case, titled South Dakota v. Wayfair, states are requesting the court overturn its earlier decision in 1992’s Quill Corporation vs. North Dakota, in which the court overruled the North Dakota Supreme Court’s decision that ruled that the Quill Corporation, an out-of-state mail-order office equipment retailer, had to collect a North Dakota use tax on Quill merchandise to be used within the state. The U.S. Supreme Court ruled that the use tax was unconstitutional because it interfered with interstate commerce, thus violating the Commerce Clause. The Court reversed the North Dakota Supreme Court’s decision by ruling in favor of the Quill Corporation. Deborah White, general counsel of the Retail Litigation Center, said that the 1992 ruling should be overruled, arguing, “That rule doesn’t make sense anymore in today’s world of e-commerce. A retailer today can transact a significant amount of business in a state without ever being physically present in the state.” If the states win the case, it would hurt retailers like Overstock.com Inc., Wayfair Inc., Newegg Inc., EBay Inc., Etsy Inc. as well as others. Amazon.com Inc. will also be hurt; as Bloomberg notes: “The company now charges consumers in every state that imposes a sales tax, but only when selling products that come from its own inventory. About half of Amazon’s sales involve goods owned by third-party merchants, many of which don’t collect tax.” Additionally, state and local governments could reap an extra $8 billion to $23 billion a year.

5am – D         US says California rejects proposed border duties for troops. SAN DIEGO (AP) — The Trump administration said Monday that California Gov. Jerry Brown rejected terms of the National Guard’s initial deployment to the Mexican border, but a state official said nothing was decided. “The governor determined that what we asked for is unsupportable, but we will have other iterations,” Ronald Vitiello, U.S. Customs and Border Protection’s acting deputy commissioner, told reporters in Washington. Brown elicited rare and effusive praise from President Donald Trump last week for pledging 400 troops to the Guard’s third large-scale border mission since 2006. But the Democratic governor conditioned his commitment on his state’s troops having nothing to do with immigration enforcement, even in a supporting role. Brown’s announcement last week did not address what specific jobs the California Guard would and would not do, nor answer the thorny question of how state officials would distinguish work related to immigration from other duties. Vitiello said the governor decided California will not accept terms of an initial troop rollout for the state that was similar to plans for the other three border states, Arizona, New Mexico and Texas. According to two U.S. officials, the initial jobs for those troops include fixing and maintaining vehicles, using remote-control surveillance cameras to report suspicious activity to U.S. Border Patrol agents, operating radios and providing “mission support,” which can include clerical work, buying gas and handling payrolls. The officials spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss the matter.

5am – E         FEC hit with lawsuit over ignoring civil complaint accusing Clinton, DNC in election scheme. (Fox News) — EXCLUSIVE: The Hillary Clinton Campaign and the Democratic National Committee allegedly used state chapters as strawmen to launder as much as $84 million in an effort to circumvent campaign donation limits, and the Federal Election Commission ignored complaints exposing the practice, a lawsuit filed Monday claims. The Committee to Defend the President (CDP), a political action committee formally known as Stop Hillary PAC, filed its complaint with the FEC in December 2017 with the claims that the Hillary Victory Fund (HVF) solicited cash from big-name donors, and allegedly sent that money through state chapters and back to the DNC before ending up with the Clinton campaign. As first reported by Fox News at the time, the CDP alleges in its complaint that about $84 million was funneled illegally from the DNC through state party chapters and back into the war chest of the Clinton campaign. The political action committee claims that even though the FEC acknowledged receipt of the complaint and claimed that an investigation would be conducted, the needle has barely moved. “The Clinton machine has escaped accountability for its illegal practices for far too long,” Ted Harvey, CDP chairman, said to Fox News. “After months of review, the FEC has refused to address the Clintons’ $84 million money laundering scheme that violated several campaign finance laws.”

6am – A/B     HANNITY – COHEN:

• Judge rejects Trump’s bid to block access to Cohen materials (The Hill) — A federal judge dealt a blow to Michael Cohen, the president’s embattled personal lawyer, in a closely watched court decision on Monday afternoon. Judge Kimba Wood of federal District Court in Manhattan denied an attempt by Cohen and President Trump to stop prosecutors from reviewing the materials that the FBI seized from his office, home and hotel room last week, according to multiple reports. Cohen’s legal team had asked for a temporary restraining order so that they could review the files and then turn over to prosecutors those that were “responsive, non-privileged items” — a request the government called unprecedented. But in a victory for Cohen, Wood did order the government to create a database of what was taken from Cohen and share it with his legal team, according to The Associated Press. Wood did not make a final decision on Cohen’s request that she appoint a neutral third party known as a “special master” to sift out privileged materials. Prosecutors have said a standard “taint team” can review Cohen’s materials and decide what is privileged and cannot be given to criminal investigators. Wood professed confidence in the S. attorney’s office handling the case but noted that there might be a role for a special master to ensure the “perception of fairness.”
• Judge Says Trump and Cohen Can’t Yet Review Materials Seized by F.B.I. (NY Times) — A federal judge in Manhattan indicated on Monday that she was not prepared to grant President Trump exclusive first access to documents seized in F.B.I. raids on the office of his personal lawyer, and said that she was considering appointing an independent lawyer to assist in reviewing the seized materials. Feeling her way toward a resolution of the high-stakes clash involving Mr. Trump and the federal prosecutors investigating the lawyer, Michael D. Cohen, the judge, Kimba M. Wood, did not grant Mr. Trump’s request to review the trove of materials ahead of prosecutors. But she also decided that prosecutors would not immediately have access to the materials and that Mr. Trump would ultimately receive copies of the documents that pertain to him. The courtroom battle over what to do with the seized material came one week after federal agents, in an extraordinary move, descended on Mr. Cohen’s properties and walked away with 10 boxes of documents and as many as a dozen electronic devices, including cellphones and computer hard drives.
• Judge In Cohen Case Was Almost Bill Clinton’s AG Nominee (Daily Caller) — Judge Kimba Wood, who is presiding over the case against President Donald Trump’s personal attorney Michael Cohen, was nearly nominated by then-President Bill Clinton to serve as attorney general in 1993. Wood was hand-picked by Hillary Clinton, who had been asked to submit a list of possible nominees for her husband’s consideration. Wood first raised eyebrows when the Clinton White House learned that she had trained to be a Playboy bunny while still a student. She was later forced to withdraw herself from consideration when it was revealed that she had employed an illegal immigrant as a nanny.

6am – C         LYRICA MADE HIM GAY. (Daily Mail) — A young man claims that he has become gay after taking pain-killers when he broke his foot in a go-karting accident. Unemployed Scott Purdy, 23, says he was a hot-blooded heterosexual and enjoyed dating women before he started taking Pregabalin, also known as Lyrica.  But he claims he quickly lost his sexual attraction to women and broke up with his girlfriend of six months when prescribed the drug earlier this year.

6am – D         Fewer People Watched Comey’s ABC Interview Than Country Music Awards, Stormy Daniels 60 Minutes Interview. (Daily Caller) — ABC’s Sunday night interview with James Comey earned the network a ratings boost, yet fewer people watched the former FBI director’s conversation with George Stephanopoulos than both the 2018 Academy of Country Music Awards and “60 Minutes” sit-down with Stormy Daniels the previous month. According to The Hollywood Reporter, ABC “averaged 9.8 million viewers and a 2.4 rating” in the A25-54 demographic. Conversely, the 2018 AMCs, which aired on CBS, averaged 12.08 million.

Reba McEntire Reveals Why She Won’t Tackle Politics While Hosting ACM Awards. (Us Magazine) — Nearly every award show host begins their dialogue with a joke about the state of America. But don’t expect Reba McEntire to be anything like the others. The country icon is returning to host the Academy of Country Music Awards for the 15th time on Sunday, April 15, and tells Us Weekly she has no plans to make the show political. “This year the idea is to have fun. There’s a lot of political things you can address, stuff going on in the world. That’s not our theme; our theme is to have fun, not to be mean, not to be catty, just to have a great night of entertainment, great music, seeing everybody and introducing new music,” she tells Us in an exclusive interview.

6am – E         WOMAN BUYS ISLAND & MAKES IT IN TO A FEMALE ONLY RESORT (CNBC) — SuperShe Island is tucked away in the Baltic Sea off the coast of Finland. The 8.4-acre (literal) no man’s land features four newly renovated cabins and can accommodate 10 people. Its amenities give five-star resorts a run for their money, with Finnish saunas, spa-like facilities and beautifully decorated rooms. Daily wellness activities on the island include yoga, meditation, farm-to-table dining, cooking classes, fitness classes, nature activities and more.

6am – F         Study: People with less political knowledge think they know a lot about politics. (PsychPost) — People who know less about politics are more confident about their political knowledge, according to research published in the scientific journal Political Psychology.  The new study found that this effect was exacerbated when partisan identities were activated. “The Dunning-Kruger effect holds that individuals with little knowledge about a topic will be, paradoxically, the most confident that they know a lot about the topic. Knowledgeable individuals will also discount their knowledgeability,” explained study author Ian Anson, an assistant professor at the University of Maryland, Baltimore County.

7am – A         INTERVIEW – KAYLEIGH MCENANY – RNC Spokesperson and author of new book “The New American Revolution: The Making of a Populist Movement”  @kayleighmcenany – discussed tax cut, GOP tax cuts and midterms.

• Poll: Americans now prefer GOP over Dems on taxes, but tax bill still unpopular
• RNC’s $250 million midterm plan: Republican National Committee hopes to close that gap by pouring a quarter-billion dollars into its ground game.

7am – B         PHILLY STARBUCKS NEWS:

• Philadelphia Starbucks manager ‘no longer works’ at location where cops arrested two black men as protests continue. (NY Daily News) – The Philadelphia Starbucks manager who called the police on two black men — which went viral and sparked nationwide outrage — was removed from the coffee house that was flooded with protesters Monday.
• Photo of Philly Starbucks protester with megaphone kicks off caption contest
• Starbucks promises staff training after racial-profiling incident (WUSA) – The CEO of Starbucks is pledging to institute training for his employees after a video of two African-American men being arrested Thursday for sitting in a Philadelphia store sparked demonstrations and calls for a company boycott. Kevin Johnson said in a Good Morning America interview on Monday that the training would address “unconscious bias.” He also discussed instituting training for store managers on guidelines for handling situations in the coffee shops that warrant calling the police.
• TOURE: Black Coffee and White Fear Made a Toxic Mix at That Philadelphia Starbucks

7am – C         Here’s Why You Should Be Skeptical Of That Michael Cohen Prague Story. (Daily Caller) — McClatchy reporters Peter Stone and Greg Gordon rocked the political world Friday when they reported special counsel Robert Mueller has evidence Michael Cohen, President Donald Trump’s personal lawyer, visited Prague in the summer of 2016. The report appeared to confirm one of the infamous Trump-Russia dossier’s key allegations: that Cohen met in Prague with a Kremlin official about Russian meddling in the 2016 presidential election. The development would be significant because Cohen has adamantly denied making the Prague trip. But three days later, no other news outlet has confirmed the report, and there are reasons to be skeptical. A spokesperson for the special counsel’s office wouldn’t comment on the Cohen-Prague story specifically, but told The Daily Caller News Foundation that “many stories” about the Russia investigation have been “inaccurate.” “What I have been telling all reporters is that many stories about our investigation have been inaccurate. Be very cautious about any source that claims to have knowledge about our investigation and dig deep into what they claim before reporting on it,” the spokesperson said. “If another outlet reports something, don’t run with it unless you have your own sourcing to back it up.”

7am – D         INTERVIEW – KEVIN HASSETT –  chairman of the Council of Economic Advisers for the White House – reflected on Tax Day and GOP tax cuts.

• Poll: Americans now prefer GOP over Dems on taxes, but tax bill still unpopular. (NBC News) — Americans now say that Republicans are better equipped than Democrats to handle the economy and taxes, according to a new survey. Thirty-five percent of respondents in a NBC News/Wall Street Journal poll said that they prefer the GOP to handle the economy, while 28 percent said they prefer Democrats.
• Republicans regain advantage on dealing with the economy. (NBC News) — WASHINGTON — In a reversal, Americans now prefer Republicans over Democrats as the party best equipped to deal with the economy and taxes, according to the latest NBC News/Wall Street Journal poll. The survey, which was conducted April 8-11, shows that 35 percent of Americans believe the GOP is the better of the two major parties to handle the economy, compared with 28 percent who name Democrats — a seven point advantage for Republicans. In December, Democrats held a five-point edge on this question, with 35 percent picking Democrats and 30 percent choosing Republicans. On dealing with taxes, Republicans now have a slim two-point advantage over Democrats, with 31 percent saying the GOP will do a better job on the issue compared with 29 percent who name Democrats instead. In December, days before lawmakers passed a sweeping tax overhaul, Democrats enjoyed a four-point advantage on the same question.

7am – E         PULITZER PRIZES:

• WASHPOST & NY TIMES ON TRUMP-RUSSIA COVERAGE: The New York Times and The Washington Post each won a Pulitzer Prize for national reporting on Monday, capping a newsroom battle last year for scoops on links between Donald Trump’s presidential campaign and Russia, the focus of an ongoing special counsel investigation into the 2016 election.
• Ronan Farrow, New York Times Awarded Pulitzer Prize for Breaking Harvey Weinstein Scandal.
• KENDRICK LAMAR: In nonjournalism categories, rap star Kendrick Lamar was awarded the Pulitzer for music, becoming the first non-classical or non-jazz artist to win the prize.
• BRIT HUME: Brit Hume rolling eyes at NYT & WaPo’s Trump/Russia Pulitzer TRIGGERS blue check journos
  • The New York Times @nytimes: The New York Times shares the Pulitzer in National Reporting with The @WashingtonPost for coverage that unearthed possible ties between Russia and President Trump’s inner circle https://nyti.ms/2HELPMp 4:02 PM – Apr 16, 2018
  • Brit Hume @brithume: Remember when they only gave out prizes for stories after they panned out? Good times. 8:14 PM – Apr 16, 2018 · Florida, USA  
  • Steve Schmidt @SteveSchmidtSES 11h Replying to @brithume: Are you suggesting there are no ties between Russians and the Presidents inner circle ? I don’t understand your point
  • Brit Hume @brithume: Reread the Times’ tweet. It speaks of “possible ties.” Perhaps you should ask the Times what they mean. 8:23 PM – Apr 16, 2018 · Florida, USA

8am – A         INTERVIEW – MD COMPTROLLER PETER FRANCHOT—discussed Tax Day in Maryland.

• Comptroller Franchot suspends 20 tax preparers ahead of filing deadline.  (April 13, 2018)  As tax season winds down, state Comptroller Peter Franchot has suspended 20 tax preparers in Maryland, Virginia and Georgia because of a “high volume” of questionable income tax returns. Franchot’s office had already suspended 54 tax preparers during the 2018 tax season prior to Friday’s announcement. Tax returns are due on April 17.  Combined with the prior two years, the Comptroller’s Office has suspended 149 tax preparers since 2016. The businesses were sent a written notice of the action after they were identified by the comptroller’s fraud unit. The agency has a review process that provides an opportunity for blocked preparers to have their filing privileges restored.

8am – B         HANNITY – COHEN:

• Judge rejects Trump’s bid to block access to Cohen materials
• Judge Says Trump and Cohen Can’t Yet Review Materials Seized by F.B.I.
• Judge In Cohen Case Was Almost Bill Clinton’s AG Nominee

8am – C         BRYCE HARPER’S BROKEN BAT HOMER:

• Bryce Harper really just broke his bat while crushing a 405’ foot homer. Unbelievable. #Nats
• Nationals storm back to beat Mets, 8-6, and stop the bleeding. (Washington Post) — As the Washington Nationals beat the New York Mets, 8-6, in the most dramatic victory of their young season, with their biggest comeback to win since 2016, that invisible hand finally seemed to give the would-be World Series contenders a much-needed poke. For the first time all season, the Nationals looked like a group that could pick itself up. For the first time all season, they looked like a team ready to fight back.
• Bryce Harper, you are ridiculous.  Bryce Harper Hits Broken Bat Home Run In Citi Field. (SI) — Bryce Harper hit his eighth home run of the season Monday when he took Jacob deGrom deep in the first inning to give the Nationals a 1-0 lead over the Mets. While Harper getting his MLB-leading eighth homer in just 17 games is certainly impressive, the fact that he hit a long ball with a broken field at Citi Field is much more important. On the first pitch of his at-bat, Harper smacked the ball 406 feet to rightfield to get the scoring started in the game despite his bat shattering upon contact. This was the 2015 NL MVP’s second homer in as many games.

8am – D         INTERVIEW – REP. JIM JORDAN – (R-OH) — co-founder of the House Freedom Caucus and member of the House Oversight and Government Reform  @Jim_Jordan ‏

• House Freedom Caucus co-founder Jim Jordan “open to running” for speaker
• GOP leadership race: House Speaker Paul Ryan says he’ll hang up his gavel at the end of the year, and wants his deputy, Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy, to succeed him. But that doesn’t make it a done deal. Members of the House Freedom Caucus are pushing one of their own, Rep. Jim Jordan.

8am – E         CA NEWS:

• US says California rejects proposed border duties for troops. SAN DIEGO (AP) — The Trump administration said Monday that California Gov. Jerry Brown rejected terms of the National Guard’s initial deployment to the Mexican border, but a state official said nothing was decided.
• 3 Californias? The initiative to break up the state may be on the ballot in November. Should the country’s most populous state be split into three separate states? California voters might be able to make that decision this fall. A local venture capitalist’s proposal to break up California, “CAL 3,” gained nearly double the necessary signatures to get it on the ballot in November, which will allow state voters to decide on the partition.