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Trump alleges 'presidential harassment' as Dems launch probes -- and voters may agree: Guy Benson

As House Democrats expand their investigations into President Trump, there may be an opposite effect among undecided voters, Townhall.com politics editor Guy Benson suggested Tuesday.
This week, the House Judiciary Committee sent letters to 81 Trump associates and entities in search of documents for various investigations. Trump has repeatedly slammed the “stone cold crazy” Democrats and deemed their recent expansion as “presidential harassment.”
During Tuesday's "Special Report" All-Star panel, Benson -- along with Federalist senior editor Mollie Hemingway and Reuters White House correspondent Jeff Mason -- weighed in on the potential political consequences Democrats might face if their wave of investigations into the president backfires.
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Benson noted the Democrats’ sudden ”moving on” from the Mueller probe amid shifting expectations that the report will be a “dud.” He then credited former Obama adviser David Axelrod, who tweeted that Democrats “run the risk” of irritating the public with their various investigations.
“Some unaffiliated people and undecided voters might come around to the ‘harassment, witch hunt’ mentality,” Benson told the panel.
Hemingway expressed a similar sentiment, insisting that Trump's “presidential harassment’ claim will work in his favor because the investigations into Trump’s business “fits that narrative” of congressional overreach rather than “legitimate oversight.”
Meanwhile, Mason recalled Trump’s rhetoric after the midterms, when he proposed that he and Democrats work together -- or else very little legislation will get done.

Trump fulfills terminally ill man's dying wish with phone call

In this undated selfie provided by Bridgette Hoskie, her brother Jay Barrett and herself pose for the photo. Barrett, a terminally ill Connecticut man who's a big supporter of President Donald Trump, is getting a bucket list wish fulfilled, with help from his Democratic sister. (Bridgette Hoskie via AP)

President Trump and Eric Trump fulfilled a terminally ill Connecticut man's dying wish with a phone call on Tuesday evening -- and all it took was a little help from the man's sister, an elected Democrat.
44-year-old Jay Barrett, of West Haven, who has cystic fibrosis, left a hospital to begin palliative care at his sister's home last weekend and asked for some sort of contact with the president before he dies.
His sister, West Haven City Councilwoman Bridgette Hoskie, who describes herself as "100 percent Democrat," went on social media to help make it happen. Friends and other supporters sent emails to the White House and its online petition system.
The efforts paid off Tuesday night when Barrett received a surprise call from Trump. According to Barrett, Hoskie handed him a phone and he heard an understated greeting: “I’m the secretary for the president of the United States. Do you have time to talk to him?”
Barrett was ecstatic.
"Alright Jay, you look handsome to me. I just saw a picture of you.” Trump began, in a video of the call posted to YouTube.
Barrett responded: "Oh, you're giving me kind honors. I look like sh--." That prompted Trump to laugh and ask, "How are you doing? How is it going Jay? ... You’re a champ. You’re fighting it right?”
"That’s what the Irish do -- right?” Barrett answered.
"Yeah that’s what the Irish do -- you better believe it," Trump said.
"Mr. President, through thick and thin, you know there's been a lot of thicks, and there's been a lot of thins, I support you," Barrett told the president.
“I wish you could come to a rally. I wish you could come," Trump said. "I know you like that stuff and I wish you could. ... It sounds like you have a great sister, Jay.”
Trump promised Jay that when he has a rally nearby, he'll "be sitting front, row center.” Trump added, "I know where you live" and that he was very familiar with the area.

"You're my kind of man, Jay. ... I'm very proud of you."
— President Trump

Barrett told Trump he's planned on coming down to Washington, D.C. “between now and my expiration date.”
"You're my kind of man, Jay. ... I'm very proud of you," Trump said. "I'll talk to you again, Jay, OK? You keep that fight going. We both fight."
Barrett told the New Haven Register that he also received calls from Eric Trump and U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development regional chief Lynne Patton on Monday.
Eric Trump "told me they're pulling for me and praying," Barrett said.
Patton, who is from New Haven, said she's coming to Connecticut on Saturday to give Barrett a signed gift from the president. She also reached out to the Trump family after a Register story about Barrett's wish was posted online.
Barrett, who for most of his life considered himself an independent, said he'd voted for President Barack Obama in 2008 but didn't like many of his policies, including the Affordable Care Act, also known as ObamaCare.
Barrett said he came to realize he was a Republican and fell in love with Trump's style at the launch of his campaign, and later, because of his policies.
His original goal was to get to Washington to meet the president in person and shake his hand, but he said he's grateful for anything.
Even though he's supposed to have only six months to live, Barrett said he intends to be around to vote in 2020.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Ocasio-Cortez says she was not invited to Bernie Sanders’ kickoff rally

Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., said in a weekend interview that she did not attend the kickoff rally for Bernie Sanders' second presidential campaign.
The freshman lawmaker sat down with NY1’s Errol Louis, host of “Inside City Hall,” for a Sunday interview that aired Tuesday night.
When asked whether she attended Sanders’ rally in Brooklyn on Saturday, she said: “I did not. Yesterday was my day to take care of myself.”
“I assume he asked you to be there,” Louis responded.
“Um, he, he didn’t, actually,” Ocasio-Cortez responded. “I think that, we’ve been, uh, so we’ve been in active conversation, I’ve been speaking with him and several other of the 2020 (presidential) candidates.”
She went on to say that endorsing a candidate “very early in this race” prevents the Democratic Party from having conversations on issues like income inequality, criminal justice, immigration, and the environment.
She later conceded that she will eventually endorse a candidate before the New York Democratic primary.
The interview comes amid a complaint filed with the Federal Election Commission this week that Ocasio-Cortez violated campaign finance law by being part of an "off-the-books operation" to spend hundreds of thousands of dollars on candidates last year. She denied the allegations on Tuesday.
Fox News' Alex Pappas contributed to this report.

Hillary Clinton wasn’t trying to ‘close the door’ on 2020 when she said she was not running: report

What a difference a day makes.
Hillary Clinton made headlines Monday when she told a local New York news channel that she would not run for president in 2020.
"I'm not running, but I'm going to keep on working and speaking and standing up for what I believe," the former presidential nominee told News 12 Westchester. She insisted that she would remain relevant and has no plans of "going anywhere."
But late Tuesday, Maggie Haberman, a political reporter for the New York Times, tweeted that she spoke with a person close to the former secretary of state. The unnamed source said Clinton was not trying to "be emphatic and close the door on running" with the comment and was apparently "surprised" at the reaction.
"The person also says [Clinton] is extremely unlikely to run, but that she remains bothered that she's expected to close the door on it when, say, John Kerry isn't. She has told her team she is waiting at least to see the Mueller report," Haberman tweeted.
There is little buzz about a potential Kerry announcement, but there is clear interest in a potential Joe Biden bid. Recent polls have him leading the field of Democrats who have already announced. With Michael Bloomberg out of the way, there seems to be a clear path for a more centrist Democrat.
Those interested in Biden's decision include New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo and former Virginia Gov. Terry McAuliffe, who are reportedly in "wait-and-see" mode on their own potential candidacies until Biden ends his "Hamlet act," according to Politico.
Clinton told News 12 Westchester on Monday that there is a lot at stake for the country.
"We've just gotten so polarized,” she said.  “We've gotten into really opposing camps unlike anything I've ever seen in my adult life."
President Trump said earlier that Clinton would “be sorely missed” in 2020. Clinton appeared to respond to Trump's comment with a gif from "Mean Girls," asking, "Why are you so obsessed with me?"