January 1, Trump Not Enough in LA Gov’s Race

This Day in History | 1973 

President Richard Nixon tells a group of newspaper editors “he’s not a crook” during a televised interview from Walt Disney World in Florida. 

Good morning Middle Americans, 

Republicans largely down played the loss of the Kentucky governors race as an anomaly. After all, out-going Kentucky Gov. Matt Bevin was one of the most unpopular governors in the country. 

But the results from last night’s governors race in Louisiana tell us something else. President Trump went there twice, had a couple of rallies over the last couple of months – but that still wasn’t enough to lift Republican Eddie Rispone to victory over Democrat John Bell Edwards. 

Also today, new developments in the impeachment inquiry. According to the New York Times, John Bolton met privately with President Trump about the withheld Ukraine aide. The question here, is there any record of that meeting. 

Finally, we have a story about landmark decision by a judge regarding the so-called Isis bride. 

Even though she was born in the U.S., she doesn’t get to come home, after fleeing to Syria to join the terror group.  The decision could drastically change the way the courts look at birth-right citizenship. 

Read all about it. 

– Fraser Dixon

Team Trump Fails in LA,  Dem Gov Wins

(AP) – Louisiana Gov. John Bel Edwards has stunned Republicans again, narrowly winning a second term Saturday as the Deep South’s only Democratic governor and handing Donald Trump another gubernatorial loss this year.

In the heart of Trump country, the moderate Edwards cobbled together enough cross-party support with his focus on bipartisan, state-specific issues to defeat Republican businessman Eddie Rispone, getting about 51% of the vote.

Coming after a defeat in the Kentucky governor’s race and sizable losses in Virginia’s legislative races, the Louisiana result seems certain to rattle Republicans as they head into the 2020 presidential election. Trump fought to return the seat to the GOP, making three trips to Louisiana to rally against Edwards.

Read more about the importance of the LA governor’s race here

Bolton Met Privately with Trump Withheld Aid

(New York Times) – John R. Bolton, President Trump’s national security adviser, met privately with the president in August as part of a bid to persuade Mr. Trump to release $391 million in security assistance to Ukraine, a senior National Security Council aide told House impeachment investigators last month. 

The meeting, which has not been previously reported, came as Mr. Bolton sought to marshal Mr. Trump’s cabinet secretaries and top national security advisers to convince the president that it was in the United States’ best interest to unfreeze the funds to help Ukraine defend itself against Russia. But Mr. Bolton emerged with Mr. Trump unmoved, and instructed the aide to look for new opportunities to get those officials in front of Mr. Trump.

Learn more from the New York Times here

Judge Rules NJ-Born ISIS Bride Not US Citizen

(Buzzfeed) – A federal judge ruled Thursday that Hoda Muthana, a US-born woman who left the country to join ISIS, is not an American citizen, and therefore the government has no obligation to facilitate her return or that of her 2-year-old son.

Judge Reggie Walton said there was sufficient evidence that Muthana had been born while her father, who once represented Yemen in the United Nations, still had diplomatic status in the US.

Find out more about the fate of the Isis “bride” here