A Week Of Comey Mania But How Much Clarity?

Barbara Bush never minced words [NPR Politics]( --------------------------------------------------------------- [The Damascus sky lights up with missile fire as a U.S.-led coalition launches an attack early Saturday, targeting different parts of the Syrian capital.]( Joe Raedle/Getty Images The Big Picture: Poll On Impeachment And Midterms One of the overlooked stories of [the week of Comey Mania]( was a new [NPR/PBS NewsHour/Marist poll]( that showed pushing impeachment would be a political loser for Democrats. It’s an important finding because the backdrop of many conversations with liberals and progressive Democrats about the [Mueller Russia investigation]( is getting President Trump out of office. Democrats have a better than even-money chance at this point of taking back control of the House this fall, but Democrats might want to think twice about campaigning on impeachment and following through. — Domenico Montanaro, NPR's lead political editor --------------------------------------------------------------- [Barbara Bush (shown here at the White House in 1989) met her husband, former President George H.W. Bush, at a dance when she was 16.] Bob Daugherty/AP ICYMI: Top Stories Trump willing to walk: At a joint press conference with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, President Trump said he [would walk away from a planned meeting with North Korea’s leader]( Kim Jong Un, if it looked like they wouldn’t be able to reach a deal. Trump also answered questions from reporters about the special counsel’s probe of Russian interference in the 2016 election. He (again) said the Russia matter is a “hoax” but stopped short of saying he would fire special counsel Robert Mueller or Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein, writes NPR’s Scott Horsley and Ayesha Rascoe. Guns as a voting, cultural issue: A new NPR/PBS Newshour/Marist poll finds the number of voters who say a candidate’s position on gun policy will be a major factor in deciding whom to vote for has [dropped 13 points]( since February, when a shooting at a Florida high school sparked outrage, reports NPR’s Jessica Taylor. Still, a majority of Americans want stricter gun control, including teens. Gun control rallies and school walkouts have been [a moment of political awakening for teens]( writes NPR’s Asma Khalid, but what kind of lasting political impact will this have on a new generation of first-time voters? The case of John Doe, U.S. citizen: A federal judge blocked the U.S. government from transferring an American citizen being [held without charge]( by the U.S. military in Iraq to another country. U.S. District Judge Tanya S. Chutkan issued the preliminary injunction just minutes before the 8 p.m. deadline Thursday to stop the transfer. In a court filing earlier this week, a State Department official said the U.S. had negotiated an agreement to transfer the man to an unnamed “receiving country.” But as NPR’s Ryan Lucas reports, the detainee has made clear through his lawyers that he doesn’t want to be transferred. Tax Day snafu: As if filing taxes isn’t stressful enough on its own, this year millions of Americans were thwarted when they went online to file their tax returns Tuesday. For nearly 11 hours, the IRS was unable to accept tax returns electronically. NPR’s Brian Naylor reports on [what went wrong](. And if you’re one of the millions of Americans who filed an extension for your taxes, don’t worry, you’re not alone. President Trump, who has kept information about his tax returns under wraps, also [filed an extension]( and will file his returns by Oct. 15, writes NPR’s Ayesha Rascoe. Oh baby!: Sen. Tammy Duckworth, D-Ill., gave birth to her second child, Maile, on April 9. The Senate voted unanimously on Wednesday evening to change its rules, which allowed only senators and staff into the Senate chamber during votes, in order for lawmakers to [now bring children]( under the age of 1 with them, writes NPR’s Kelsey Snell. In response to the change, Duckworth thanked her colleagues for “helping bring the Senate into the 21st Century by recognizing that sometimes new parents also have responsibilities at work.” Wife of one president, mother of another: Former first lady Barbara Bush died Tuesday at the age of 92. She will [go down in history]( as one of just two women to be both the wife of a U.S. president and also the mother of one, writes NPR’s Tovia Smith. Bush told Terry Gross in 1994 that she grew up [thinking she’d become a nurse](. She said, “But then I met that marvelous George [H.W.] Bush and the nursing went out the window.” And as NPR intern Audrey McNamara reports, Mrs. Bush [never minced words](. — Barbara Sprunt, NPR Politics producer --------------------------------------------------------------- [The U.S. Capitol is seen at dusk in Washington, D.C. on February 6, 2018.] Drew Angerer/Getty Images The Russia Imbroglio: Does Comey Bring Clarity? President Trump, then-chief of staff Reince Priebus and then-FBI Director James Comey were sitting together in the Oval Office. Trump, [in Comey's telling]( was monologuing as the former FBI director says he often did. Trump, as Comey described, was preoccupied in their discussions about the salacious allegations about him in the infamous Russia dossier. NPR has not detailed them because the dossier remains partly unverified and the details about which aspects the FBI has corroborated are secret. Trump kept broaching the story with Comey to deny it, as Comey wrote: "The president said 'the hookers thing' is nonsense but that Putin had told him 'we have some of the most beautiful hookers in the world.' (He did not say when Putin had told him this and I don't recall [redacted])." This moment is the Russia imbroglio in a nutshell: a simultaneously outrageous and baffling puzzle piece without important context which is itself an incomplete bit of information. Comey's memo is dated Feb. 8, 2017. Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin had an officially announced phone conversation [a few days before](. So was Putin cracking jokes with Trump about the appearance of the Christopher Steele dossier earlier in January? Do Trump and Putin have a relationship in which the Russian president feels comfortable making jokes about a subject with which Trump himself — per Comey — was so uncomfortable and so concerned? Or did Putin make this comment to Trump in another time and another place, before Trump was president? Did Putin actually make this comment? Did Trump actually make this comment? The public depends for so much of its understanding of the Russia imbroglio on Comey's accounts, Comey's perspectives and the basic facts that Comey offers. Trump and his supporters deny them, although they seldom offer their own versions of events. [Read the full imbroglio update on NPR.org](. The week in Comey: - Memos released: [Trump acknowledged Flynn had "judgment issues"]( - Fresh Air: [The FBI isn't "on anybody's side"]( - Morning Edition: [Comey says FBI "would be worse today" if not for his actions]( (Read the [full transcript]( - NPR reviews 'A Higher Loyalty': [Comey describes an "unethical, and untethered" president]( - A look back: [The Comey saga, in timeline form]( Briefly: - DNC sues: ["Conspiracy" alleged between Russia and Trump camp]( - New Trump lawyers: [Giuliani among 3 lawyers joining legal team]( - McConnell not on board: [Republicans push bill to protect Mueller]( [poll shows GOP voters souring on Mueller, FBI]( - Cohen's full plate: Longtime Trump personal lawyer [drops suits over dossier]( as he spars with prosecutors [over seized materials]( - Tough legal times for McCabe: Ex-G-man [sets up legal defense fund]( as he [faces criminal referral](. — Philip Ewing, NPR's national security editor [Facebook]( [Twitter]( [Instagram]( You received this message because you're subscribed to our Politics emails. | [Unsubscribe]( | [Privacy Policy]( | NPR 1111 N. 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