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Situational awareness - December 10, 2018
Good Monday morning from Salt Lake City.
Thanks for reading Utah's most reliable daily political newsletter. We help get you up to speed on the most important local and national political stories of the day. Follow our social media feeds on Twitter and Facebook.
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Monday's essentials: The Utahn in the middle of a crazy conspiracy theory. Love says Democrats are racist for targeting her in the 2018 election. Trump's legal risks grow following bombshell court filings in the Russia investigation.
TICK TOCK
49 days until the first day of the 2019 Utah Legislature (1/28/2019)
94 days until the final day of the 2019 Utah Legislature (3/14/2019)
175 days until the municipal election filing period opens (6/3/2019)
179 days until the municipal election filing period ends (6/7/2019)
246 days to the 2019 Utah primary elections (8/13/2019)
330 days to the 2019 municipal elections (11/5/2019)
420 days to the 2020 Iowa Caucuses (2/3/2020)
694 days until the 2020 presidential election (11/3/2020)
Today At Utah Policy
The Utahn caught up in a bonkers conspiracy theoryBy Bryan Schott, Managing Editor Utah US attorney John Huber is a key figure in an absolutely insane online conspiracy theory, and devotees are pinning their hopes squarely on his shoulders....
'Political Insiders' say budget surplus should be used for education, not tax cutsBy Bryan Schott, Managing Editor Last week state leaders announced they expect the state to have a $1.3 billion budget surplus in the coming year. That massive sum includes $675 million in new, ongoing money and another $646 million in one-time funds....
Curtis: 'We started this trade war, and we have to finish it'By Bryan Schott, Managing Editor Rep. John Curtis says the trade war between the U.S. and China is starting to hit some parts of the economy hard, but President Trump has no choice but to finish it....
Mia Love says Trump threw her under the bus because didn't want to share credit for Josh Holt's release (with video)By Bryan Schott, Managing Editor Outgoing 4th District Rep. Mia Love said Friday morning she felt like President Trump decided he didn't need her and threw her under the bus when he mocked her in his post-election news conference....
Colbert mocks Stewart for his jaw-dropping defense of Trump's reaction to Khashoggi killing (with video)By Bryan Schott, Managing Editor Rep. Chris Stewart is still taking heat for his shocking defense of President Donald Trump's inaction following revelations that Saudi Arabia was likely behind the murder of a U.S.-based journalist....
Farewell to the gentleman of the SenateBy Jared Whitley As a junior staffer working for Sen. Orrin Hatch in 2006, I saw a job opening one day on the Senate Judiciary Committee, where Arlen Specter was chairman. This could be my chance to get ahead, I thought....
OTHER UTAH HEADLINES
Deseret News
Pignanelli and Webb: Introspection on heroes and other current issues
Greg Bell: The complexity of poverty
Editorial: Utah budget is an image of prudence
Trump signs Hatch-sponsored child pornography victim assistance law
Report suggests ways to deal with high number of deaths in Utah's county jails
Utah Rep. Mia Love spent $2.2 million more than Ben McAdams in losing bid to keep 4th Congressional District seat
No more letter grades when Utah board rolls out new report cards for schools Jan. 3
School safety committee needs voices of teachers, school employees, students, board members say
Medical marijuana in Utah could mean retirement for generation of drug K-9s
Salt Lake Tribune
Op-ed: You could go to jail for what?
Editorial: Sales tax update won't come easy
For his protest against rising tourism, Utah rancher lets his cows do the, uh, talking
Landowner inside Bears Ears monument wants out of newly incorporated Bluff, raising questions about what is planned for the property
Gehrke: Why are Utah taxpayers being asked to fork over more than $56 million for Merit Medical?
An election win means bonuses for Ben McAdams' campaign consultants and staff
On national TV, Mia Love says Trump is not racist but Democrats are
Herriman mayor won't face criminal charges, but the city isn't done discussing his unauthorized spending
Legacy Parkway's truck ban and low speed limit will disappear without action by the Utah Legislature
Salt Lake County is now minority Mormon, and the impacts are far reaching
Other
Ogden kids more likely to live in poverty than in the rest of Weber County, Utah (Standard-Examiner)
Many in Weber County's Utah House delegation will be new, joining familiar faces (Standard-Examiner)
NATIONAL HEADLINES
Nick Ayers, the most likely replacement for John Kelly as White House chief of staff, said Sunday he won't take the job. Instead, he will leave the administration at the end of the year to head up a pro-Trump outside group -
https://wapo.st/2G9f90m
Congress has until the end of next week to pass a spending bill to avoid a partial government shutdown. But, Democrats in Congress don't trust President Trump to keep his word on any possible agreement -
https://politi.co/2GagGDd
Russians interacted with at least 14 Trump associates during the 2016 campaign and transition after Trump won -
https://wapo.st/2GbJ0VO
President Trump's advisers are adopting a "shrugged shoulders" strategy when it comes to the findings in the Russia investigation, calculating that his base will believe whatever he tells them to believe -
https://wapo.st/2G76hbG
After Michael Cohen, Donald Trump's former personal lawyer, pleaded guilty to violating campaign finance laws, federal prosecutors are now scrutinizing what role the Trump Organization may have played in the crimes -
http://bit.ly/2G5VAFZ
Democratic Rep. Adam Schiff, who will head up the House Intelligence Committee next year, says President Trump could face a "real prospect of jail time" once he leaves office as a result of the Russia investigation -
https://cbsn.ws/2G7ZjmD
The FBI's counterintelligence investigation into possible ties between the Trump campaign and Russia initially focused on four Americans according to former FBI Director James Comey's closed-door testimony to Congress last week -
http://bit.ly/2G6G5ha
Democratic Rep. Jerrold Nadler, the incoming head of the House Judiciary Committee, says the allegations from last week's court filings in the Russia investigation could result in an impeachable offense by President Trump, but it's unclear how Congress should proceed -
https://lat.ms/2GjiidQ
"I can't breathe." Those were the final words of journalist Jamal Khashoggi after he was attacked by a Saudi hit squad in the country's consulate in Istanbul according to a leaked transcript of a recording of his alleged murder -
https://cnn.it/2Ga1fLw
President Trump's son-in-law Jared Kushner gave advice to Saudi Prince Mohammed bin Salman on how to handle the outrage over Jamal Khashoggi's murder -
http://bit.ly/2GahUOP
An "unprecedented" number of Democrats in Congress are considering a run for president in 2020 -
https://wapo.st/2G6PPrC
The Trump administration signed on to a proposal put forward by Saudi Arabia and Russia to weaken language in a landmark climate change report -
https://wapo.st/2G7f4dB ON THIS DAY IN HISTORY
1817 - Mississippi becomes the 20th state.
1868 - The first traffic lights are installed outside the Palace of Westminster in London.
1869 - The Territory of Wyoming granted women the right to vote.
1884 - Mark Twain's Adventures of Huckleberry Finn is published.
1898 - The Treaty of Paris is signed, officially ending the Spanish-American War. It gave Guam, Puerto Rico and the Philippines to the United States.
1906 - President Theodore Roosevelt becomes the first American to win the Nobel Peace Prize for his role in the mediation of the Russo-Japanese War.
1936 - Britain's King Edward VII abdicated the throne to marry American divorcee Wallis Simpson.
1984 - The National Science Foundation reported the discovery of the first planet outside of the solar system - 21 million light-years from Earth.
Policy News
Utah Foundation names new board leadership At its Board of Trustees meeting December 6, Utah Foundation announced the following new officers....
Give a lifesaving gift this holiday season at the 19th annual Reach Out Utah Blood Drive Being a hero isn't out of reach for those who give blood or platelets with the American Red Cross at the 19th annual FOX 13 Reach Out Utah Blood Drive Tuesday, Dec. 18, from 6 a.m. to 6 p.m., at the Red Cross Salt Lake City Blood Donation Center, 6616 S. 900 E.
More National Headlines
Dershowitz: Mueller Has Come Up With Far Less Than He Hoped For (RealClearPolitics)
Comey: Anti-Trump FBI agent 'helped draft' letter 'that Hillary Clinton blames for her defeat' (Washington Examiner)
'Amazon will go bankrupt': Jeff Bezos keeps talking about Amazon's inevitable death (Business Insider)
Far right breakthrough in Andaluca send shockwave through Spanish politics (Guardian)
More than a thousand arrested in Paris 'Yellow Vest' protests (France24)
Macron's Defeat in Paris Sounds Alarm for Europe (Bloomberg)
Rahm Emanuel to Democrats: 'Don't focus immediately on Trump' (CNN)
Cory Booker will decide whether to run for president 'over the holidays' (ABC News)
Meet Mark Milley, Trump's Pick For Joint Chiefs Chairman (NPR)
Ayers not taking job as White House chief of staff (CNN)
Amazon touted as big win for NY, but math is more complex (Associated Press)
Life
"Life is the art of drawing without an eraser." John W. Gardner
Otezla
"So not only is the president a wannabe dictator who thinks he can jail whoever he wants, he also genuinely believes all the insane stuff he sees on Fox News. Trump probably sits there all day watching Fox and shouting to his aides: 'Prosecute Hillary! Stop the caravan! And ask my doctor if Otezla is right for me! Why can't I have Otezla?'" - SETH MEYERS
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