Mueller-referred probe into Obama White House Counsel Greg Craig, Clinton-linked Tony Podesta heats up: report

An investigation referred to Justice Department prosecutors by Special Counsel Robert Mueller earlier this year into possible criminal activity by Clinton-linked Washington insider Tony Podesta and former Obama White House Counsel Greg Craig is heating up, according to a new report that underscores federal authorities' increasing enforcement of laws governing foreign business relationships.
The inquiries center not only on Craig and Podesta -- a Democratic lobbyist and co-founder of the onetime lobbying powerhouse known as the Podesta Group -- but also on Vin Weber, a former GOP congressman from Minnesota.
The probes had been quiet for months since Mueller referred them to authorities in New York City because they fell outside his mandate of determining whether the Trump campaign coordinated with Russia.
But in a flurry of new activity, Justice Department prosecutors in the last several weeks have begun interviewing witnesses and contacting lawyers to schedule additional questioning related to the Podesta Group and Mercury Public Affairs, people familiar with the inquiry anonymously told the Associated Press.
The apparent ramp-up comes as multiple reports and indications suggest that the Mueller probe into possible collusion in 2016 between the Russian government and President Trump's campaign is winding down.
The New York work underscores the broad effects of Mueller's investigation, extending well beyond that collusion question. Mueller has made clear he will not turn away if he discovers alleged crimes outside the scope of his inquiry; instead, he refers them out in investigations that may linger on even after the special counsel's work concludes. Other Justice Department referrals from Mueller have ended in guilty pleas, including the hush money payment case of Trump's former lawyer Michael Cohen.
STATE DEPT PROVIDED 'CLEARLY FALSE' DOCS TO DERAIL CLINTON DOC REQUESTS, 'SHOCKED' FEDERAL JUDGE SAYS
The investigation reflects how Mueller, in latching onto an obscure law, has shined a light on high-dollar lobbying practices that have helped foreign governments find powerful allies and advocates in Washington. It's a practice that has spanned both parties and enriched countless former government officials, who have leveraged their connections to influence American politics.
In New York, Mueller's referral prompted a fresh look at the lobbying firms of Podesta and Weber, who have faced scrutiny for their decisions not to register as foreign agents for Ukrainian lobbying work directed by ex-Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort.
Fox News first reported, and court filings later confirmed, that Podesta was offered "use immunity" by Mueller this summer to testify in the Washington, D.C., trial of Manafort that was planned at the time -- separate from the Virginia case in which he was convicted on bank and fraud charges.
Prosecutors typically offer witnesses immunity to legally prevent them from asserting their Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination to avoid testifying. "Use immunity" means prosecutors agreed not to use any statements Podesta would make on the witness stand against him in court.
"Use immunity" is not as expansive as "transactional immunity" -- which would have protected Podesta more broadly from being prosecuted on the subject matter of his testimony, even if prosecutors could independently confirm relevant details and didn't need to use his statements on the stand.
Manafort averted the D.C. trial by pleading guilty to two federal counts in September and agreeing to cooperate with the Mueller probe, meaning Podesta did not have to testify at all. That development seemingly rendered the immunity deal moot as to any potential future prosecutorial action involving Podesta.

An attorney for Greg Craig claims his client “was not required to register under the Foreign Agent Registration Act." (Facebook)

Mueller's team has since said Manafort violated that agreement, and the Special Counsel's office is set to file a sentencing memorandum in Manafort's case on Friday that is expected to include prosecutors' recommended sentence for him.
Podesta is a longtime Democratic operative whose brother, John Podesta, ran Hillary Clinton's 2016 presidential campaign; Weber is a former Republican congressman from Minnesota. Neither man has been charged with any crimes. Their firms have defended the decisions by saying they relied on the advice of outside attorneys.
Mueller's referral also involved Craig, a former White House counsel for President Barack Obama. Craig supervised a report authored on behalf of the Ukrainian government, and Mueller's team has said Manafort helped Ukraine hide that it paid more than $4 million for the work. CNN reported in September that prosecutors were weighing charges against Craig.
MUELLER MEMO SAYS EX-NATIONAL SECURITY ADVISER PROVIDED 'SUBSTANTIAL ASSISTANCE' TO INVESTIGATORS ON MULTIPLE PROBES
It's unclear if the renewed interest will produce charges or if prosecutors are merely following up on Mueller's referral.
Lawyers for Weber and Craig and a spokeswoman for Podesta declined to comment. The U.S. attorney's office in Manhattan didn't return an email seeking comment.
Mercury spokesman Michael McKeon said the firm has "always welcomed any inquiry since we acted appropriately at every step of the process, including hiring a top lawyer in Washington and following his advice. We'll continue to cooperate as we have previously."
Foreign lobbying work was central to Mueller's case against Manafort and his longtime associate Rick Gates, two high-profile Trump campaign officials who pleaded guilty earlier this year and have been interviewed extensively by prosecutors.
The Podestas have been frequent targets of Trump and his associates, who have repeatedly demanded to know why Tony Podesta has not been arrested and charged. Trump confidant Roger Stone, for instance, has insisted a 2016 tweet of his that appeared to presage the release by WikiLeaks of John Podesta's emails — "Trust me, it will soon the Podesta's time in the barrel" — was instead a reference to the brothers' foreign connections getting them into the hot seat.
ROGER STONE TO PLEAD FIFTH TO AVOID TESTIFYING, PROVIDING DOCS TO SENATE JUDICIARY COMMITTEE
Stone's legal team announced in a letter Tuesday that Stone would assert his Fifth Amendment right not to testify or provide documents to a Senate committee investigating potential collusion between the president's team and Russia.
"Mr. Stone's invocation of his Fifth Amendment privilege must be understood by all to be the assertion of a Constitutional right by an innocent citizen who denounces secrecy," Stone's attorney, Grant Smith, said in the statement. He also called the Senate Judiciary Committee's requests a "fishing expedition" that is "far too overboard, far too overreaching, far too wide-ranging."
In September, Manafort admitted to directing Mercury and the Podesta Group to lobby in the U.S. on behalf of a Ukrainian political party and Ukraine's government, then led by President Viktor Yanukovych, Manafort's longtime political patron.

Tony Podesta's firm is facing scrutiny from the Robert Mueller probe. (Facebook)

While doing the lobbying, neither the Podesta Group nor Mercury registered as foreign agents under a U.S. law known as the Foreign Agents Registration Act, or FARA, which requires lobbyists to declare publicly if they represent foreign leaders, governments or their political parties.
LAWYER WITH OBAMA, CLINTON TIES MAY FACE FEDERAL CHARGES
The Justice Department has rarely prosecuted such cases, which carry up to five years in prison, but has taken a more aggressive tack lately.
To secretly fund the lobbying and to avoid registration with the Justice Department, Manafort said he along with unidentified "others" arranged for the firms to be hired by a Brussels-based nonprofit, the European Centre for a Modern Ukraine, rather than the Ukrainian political interests directly.
Mercury and Podesta, which were paid a combined $2 million on the project, then registered under a less stringent lobbying law that doesn't require as much public disclosure as FARA.
Both firms have said they registered under the Lobbying Disclosure Act, rather than FARA, on the advice of lawyers at Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom, Craig's former firm.
Gates admitted in his plea deal that he lied to Mercury's attorneys about the project, a fact the lobbying firm has publicly highlighted. The Podesta Group has said it was misled by the European Centre for a Modern Ukraine, citing a written certification from the nonprofit stating it wasn't directed or controlled by the Ukrainian Party of Regions, one of Manafort's clients.
Both firms have since registered under FARA. But in court papers filed alongside Manafort's plea agreement, Mueller's prosecutors suggested the firms were aware they were working on Ukraine's behalf.
Prosecutors say employees of both companies "referred to the client in ways that made clear they knew it was Ukraine." One Mercury employee said the nonprofit was the client "in name only," likening the situation to "Alice in Wonderland." A Podesta employee referred to the nonprofit's certification that it wasn't related to the Ukrainian political party as a "fig leaf on a fig leaf."
Mueller's team also noted that "the head of" the Podesta Group, an apparent reference to Tony Podesta, told his team to think the president of Ukraine is the client.

California Democrat accepts top aide's resignation after his $400G harassment settlement is revealed

U.S. Sen. Kamala Harris, D-Calif., speaks at the "Families Belong Together: Freedom for Immigrants" March in Los Angeles.

A senior adviser to U.S. Sen. Kamala Harris, D-Calif., resigned Wednesday over inquiries about a $400,000 harassment lawsuit against him while working at the California Department of Justice.
Larry Wallace resigned after the Sacramento Bee asked about the 2017 settlement, the paper reported.
"We were unaware of this issue and take accusations of harassment extremely seriously," Harris spokeswoman Lily Adams said. "This evening, Mr. Wallace offered his resignation to the senator, and she accepted it."
The lawsuit filed by Danielle Hartley accused Wallace of demeaning her based on her gender while she worked for him as his assistant.
DEMOCRAT KAMALA HARRIS COULD LOSE SEAT ON SENATE JUDICIARY COMMITTEE, REPORT SAYS
Hartley said Wallace placed his computer printer under his desk and often asked her to crawl under and refill it with paper as he sat and watched, sometimes with other men in the room. Wallace refused to move the printer to another location when Hartley asked him to do so, according to the suit.
The suit also said Wallace had Hartley run his personal errands, including booking flights for his children and washing and performing maintenance on his car. When she would return from the assigned tasks, the lawsuit states, “co-workers would make hostile comments to her including, ‘Are you walking the walk of shame?’”
She said she reported the alleged harassment in 2011, but was retaliated against. Hartley was involuntarily transferred to another office at the state Department of Justice at the end of 2014, the suit said.
Xavier Becerra, who succeeded Harris as California’s attorney general, said Hartley “unreasonably failed to utilize the procedures during the period of time, and after, the alleged harassment or discrimination was occurring."
Wallace previously served as director of the Division of Law Enforcement under then-California Attorney General Harris and worked for her during her tenure as district attorney for San Francisco.
Harris has been a vocal supporter of the #MeToo movement and is contemplating whether to launch a 2020 presidential bid. In June, she introduced legislation to ban forced nondisclosure agreements in harassment settlements.
KAMALA HARRIS, AMID 2020 RUMORS, FLOATS $500 A MONTH TAX CREDIT
Hartley is barred from discussing the settlement amount and agreed not to apply for jobs with the state Justice Department. Neither she nor Wallace commented to the Bee.

russian cartoons 2018

Moscow receives notification U.S. is ditching key arms treaty

U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo speaks during a media conference after a meeting of NATO foreign ministers at NATO headquarters in Brussels on Tuesday.

MOSCOW — The Russian Foreign Ministry says it has received official notification from the United States that it intends to walk out of a key Cold War-era treaty.
U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo announced at a NATO meeting Tuesday that Washington would suspend its obligations under the 1987 Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty (INF) in 60 days due to Russia's alleged "cheating."
Russia has denied U.S. and NATO allegations that it is violating the landmark treaty that banned an entire class of weapons.
Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova told reporters on Wednesday that Moscow has been received an official notice from Washington that quotes unspecified evidence of Russian violations. Zakharova insisted that Russia has always respected the treaty and considers it "one of the key pillars of strategic stability and international security."

Climate watchdog Bernie Sanders spent nearly $300G on private air travel in October: reports

Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., speaks at a George Washington University in an undated photo. (Associated Press)

Bernie Sanders is so concerned about climate change that he spent nearly $300,000 on private air travel in October so he could speak to audiences in nine battleground states prior to November's midterm elections.
The independent U.S. senator from Vermont also used the opportunity to test the waters for a potential 2020 presidential run, according to reports.
Sanders’ 2018 campaign committee issued an Oct. 10 payment of $297,685 to New York-based Apollo Jets, a charter jet company used by retired sports stars Derek Jeter and Shaquille O’Neal, according to federal campaign reports obtained by VTDigger.org, a watchdog news site in Vermont.
“This expense was for transportation for the senator’s nine-day, nine-state tour to support Democratic candidates up and down the ballot ahead of Election Day,” said Arianna Jones, senior communications adviser for Friends of Bernie Sanders.
“This cost covered the entirety of the tour from Indiana, Michigan, Wisconsin, Iowa, South Carolina, Colorado, Nevada, Arizona, California, and back to Vermont,” Jones continued. “The senator participated in 25 events.”
Jones said the charter jets were necessary so Sanders could campaign for candidates and get back to Vermont to join the state Democratic Party's campaign efforts.
The Sanders campaign purchased nearly $5,000 in carbon offsets to balance out the emissions produced from the travel. A carbon offset is a reduction in emissions to compensate for emissions elsewhere.
Sanders has been vocal about the need to curb the effects of climate change, calling it the “single greatest threat facing our planet.”
The same day his campaign paid Apollo Jets, Sanders called climate change a "planetary crisis" in a tweet.
"Climate change is a planetary crisis. Our task is clear. We must take on the fossil fuel industry that’s largely responsible for global emissions and accelerate our transition toward energy efficiency and sustainable energy sources,” Sanders wrote.
“He wanted to go where he thinks he can be helpful in energizing the base and bringing in young people and independent voters and working-class voters who supported him,” said Jeff Weaver, Sanders’ 2016 campaign manager and longtime political adviser.
The campaign also paid $13,500 to Virginia-based travel agency Metropolitan Travel at the end of September.
In July 2017, the Sanders campaign paid $37,567 to Apollo Jets, the Washington Free Beacon reported.
During the 2016 presidential election, Sanders spent $5.2 million on private jet services in a six-month period from the end of 2015 to mid-2016.

Gregg Jarrett: Mueller strikes out trying to nail Trump – Flynn sentencing memo is a big nothing

Gregg Jarrett Fox News

A sentencing memo that Special Counsel Robert Mueller filed in U.S. District Court in Washington Tuesday recommending little or no prison time for President Trump’s former National Security Adviser Michael Flynn doesn’t implicate the president in any wrongdoing.
The memo isn’t a “smoking gun” showing President Trump colluded with Russians to win the 2016 presidential election or did anything else illegal. In fact, the memo isn’t even a squirt gun. In terms of President Trump’s conduct, it amounts to nothing of any significance.
In recommending that Flynn – who served as President Trump’s national security adviser for just 24 days – get a sentence ranging from no prison time to six months at most, the memo filed by Mueller said Flynn has offered "substantial" help to investigators about "several ongoing investigations."
“Given the defendant’s substantial assistance and other considerations set forth below, a sentence at the low end of the guideline range – including a sentence that does not impose a term of incarceration – is appropriate and warranted," the memo states.
The sentencing memo says that Flynn was interviewed 19 times by prosecutors on Mueller’s team and other Justice Department lawyers. But crucially, the memo doesn’t specify anything that Flynn told Muller’s team regarding allegations against President Trump or anything else.
Flynn, who succumbed to Mueller's intense pressure by pleading guilty to making a false statement to the FBI, has cooperated with the special counsel's investigation into alleged Trump-Russia collusion to avoid a long prison sentence.
However, the sentencing memo and a heavily redacted addendum filed by Mueller suggest that Flynn provided absolutely no meaningful information that Trump conspired or coordinated with Russia to win the 2016 presidential election.
Flynn pleaded guilty in last December to making false statements to the FBI with regard to his communications with Russian Ambassador to the U.S. Sergey Kislyak.
Flynn and Kislyak allegedly spoke in late 2016 about the U.S. sanctions the Obama administration had placed on Russia. Flynn was fired on Feb. 13, 2017, for misleading Vice President Mike Pence and other Trump administration officials about his talks with Kislyak.
Flynn also admitted to making false statements about his work as an unregistered foreign agent to benefit the Turkish government. But there is no connection between that work and President Trump.

The memo isn’t a “smoking gun” showing President Trump colluded with Russians to win the 2016 presidential election or did anything else illegal. In fact, the memo isn’t even a squirt gun.

The sentencing memo – less than six pages long – makes no mention of any evidence Flynn might have given to support Mueller's mandate. The addendum – five pages long – is so heavily redacted with infamous black lines that it is difficult to comprehend. But it appears that Flynn offered prosecutors assistance in two areas.
First, Flynn contributed something to an unidentified criminal case that is not being handled by the special counsel and, thus, not directly collusion-related.
Second, Flynn seems to have answered candid questions about the Trump transition team's conversations with foreign governments after the presidential election in 2016 and before Inauguration Day. Again, this would not be relevant to "collusion" to win the election because the election was already over.
The documents filed in court Tuesday make a passing reference to the Logan Act, which prohibits private citizens from interfering in diplomatic disputes with foreign governments. But no one has ever been convicted under the act, passed in 1799. Lawyers, judges, and constitutional scholars regard the law as unconstitutional.
Nevertheless, this long dormant law does not apply to members of presidential transition teams who are acting not as private citizens, but as incoming government representatives of the person about to assume the presidency. They would therefore be constitutionally authorized to conduct foreign affairs. Every president-elect has his transition members engage with foreign governments to prepare for the challenges that lay ahead.
Not even Mueller would be foolish enough to bring a case under the Logan Act, especially since Flynn did not interfere in a diplomatic dispute under the meaning of the act. To the contrary, Flynn sought ways to de-escalate tensions over U.S. sanctions President Obama imposed on Russia by asking the Russian government to limit its response "in a reciprocal manner."
By doing this, Flynn was acting for the benefit of the U.S. government and in a manner not inconsistent with the Obama administration's wishes and policy.
Flynn's other contact with Russia, also referenced in the court documents, dealt with a United Nations Security Council resolution condemning Israeli settlements on the West Bank.  However, this, too, would not fall under the Logan Act, since the U.S. took no position on the U.N. resolution. By abstaining, it neither supported the resolution nor opposed it.
And since the U.N. measure imposed no sanctions, it was nothing more than an idle diplomatic statement. Flynn, or anyone else in the incoming Trump administration, can hardly be accused of interfering.
There are other reasons to believe that Flynn’s "substantial assistance" to the Mueller investigation had nothing to do with "collusion" with the Russians. He was never charged with the underlying crime, whatever that is.
Moreover, since Mueller is moving ahead with sentencing, he will not be using Flynn as a witness. This indicates that Flynn has nothing of significance that would be useful in any potential prosecution.
Flynn should never have been prosecuted. The FBI agents who interviewed him concluded that he was telling the truth. This was confirmed by both former FBI Director James Comey and his deputy, Andrew McCabe, when they testified before congressional investigators. Had Mueller been forced to prove his case in court, he would have lost.
The law requires that a false statement be made "willfully and knowingly" (18 U.S.C. 1001).  If Flynn’s recollection of the conversation with Russian Ambassador Kislyak is inconsistent with a transcript of their conversation, secretly recorded, it is not a crime. If Flynn interpreted his discussion differently than the FBI, it is also not a crime.
As I explained in my book, “The Russia Hoax: The Illicit Scheme to Clear Hillary Clinton and Frame Donald Trump,” Flynn pleaded guilty not because he lied, but because Mueller crushed him financially and threatened to take legal action against the retired Army general's son.
With his assets dwindling – and forced to sell his home to pay his mounting legal bills – Flynn finally surrendered under the intense emotional strain and monetary pressures.
Flynn's decision was understandable. Mueller's actions were, and are, unconscionable and wrong.               

On Tuesday night Trump attorney Rudy Giuliani likened the offenses Flynn pleaded guilty to committing to “spitting on the sidewalk, with major repercussions for many.”
The former New York City mayor said nothing in the Flynn sentencing memo even suggested Trump presidential campaign or candidate Trump colluded with Russia, and said Mueller’s team was made up of “overzealous media inspired prosecutors. They are sick puppies.”

Giuliani was right. But, of course, that won’t stop the anti-Trump media frenzy of demonizing President Trump on a daily basis and trying to convince the American people – without evidence – that he is an illegitimate president put into the Oval Office by Russia.

Giuliani says Flynn offenses like 'spitting on the sidewalk,' calls Mueller team 'sick puppies'

President Trump's attorney Rudolph Giuliani told Fox News on Tuesday night that former National Security Adviser Michael Flynn had admitted to offenses comparable to "spitting on the sidewalk" after Special Counsel Robert Mueller recommended minimal prison time for the former three-star Army general.
In a sentencing memorandum and a heavily redacted addendum filed Tuesday evening, Mueller's team said Flynn had met with investigators 19 times and provided "substantial" help to investigators about "several ongoing investigations." In addition, prosecutors said Flynn had provided "firsthand information about the content and context of interactions between the [Trump] transition team and Russian government officials."
In response, Giuliani told Fox News that nothing in the sentencing memo suggested collusion between Trump and Russian officials. The former New York City mayor lambasted the Mueller team as "overzealous media-inspired prosecutors."
"They are sick puppies," said Giuliani, who added: "This whole thing started as an orchestrated attempt to take the president out of office as an insurance policy."
Trump has been quick to express his displeasure at former surrogates who have cooperated with the Mueller probe. Earlier this week, the president lashed out at his former legal fixer, Michael Cohen, saying he is making up "stories" to get a reduced prison sentence after his latest guilty plea to lying to Congress. Trump also praised longtime confidante Roger Stone for saying he would "never testify against Trump," adding in his tweet, "Nice to know some people still have 'guts!'"
MUELLER SAYS FLYNN GAVE 'SUBSTANTIAL' HELP TO FEDS
By contrast, the president has been more sympathetic toward Flynn, repeatedly lamenting how his life has been destroyed by the special counsel's probe. At one point, he tried to protect Flynn by asking then-FBI Director James Comey to drop an investigation into his alleged false statements, according to a memo Comey wrote after the February 2017 encounter.
That episode, which Trump has denied, is among those under scrutiny by Mueller as he looks into whether the president tried to obstruct the Russia investigation.
ROGER STONE TO PLEAD THE FIFTH IN SENATE RUSSIA PROBE
Flynn was forced to resign his post on Feb. 13, 2017, after news reports revealed that Obama administration officials had warned the Trump White House about Flynn's false statements. The White House has said Flynn misled officials-- including Vice President Mike Pence -- about the content of his conversations. Mueller's filing Tuesday matched that explanation, saying: "Several senior members of the transition team publicly repeated false information conveyed to them by [Flynn] about communications between him and the Russian ambassador [to the U.S., Sergey Kislyak]" regarding sanctions levied by the Obama administration on the Kremlin in response to election interference.
Flynn pleaded guilty in December of last year to lying to the FBI about conversations with Kislyak. He also admitted to making false statements about unregistered foreign agent work he performed for the benefit of the Turkish government. Flynn was under investigation by the Justice Department for that work when he became national security adviser.

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Ballot harvesting bounty: How Dems apparently used election law change to rout California Republicans

An Orange County registrar pop-up voting location is seen at the Golden West College in Huntington Beach, Calif., Sunday, Nov. 4, 2018. (AP Photo/Amy Taxin)

A minor change in California’s election laws may had a major effect on last month’s midterm elections that saw Democrats steamroll their Republican rivals and claim all but seven of the Golden State’s 53 House seats.
Despite holding substantial leads on Election Day, many Republican candidates in California saw their advantage shrink, and then disappear, as late arriving Democratic votes were counted in the weeks following the election. While no hard evidence is available, many observers point to the Democrats use of “ballot harvesting” as a key to their success in the elections.
“Anecdotally there was a lot of evidence that ballot harvesting was going on,” Neal Kelley, the registrar for voters in Southern California’s Orange County, told Fox News.
In Orange County – once seen as a Republican stronghold in the state– every House seat went to a Democrat after an unprecedented “250,000” vote-by-mail drop-offs were counted, the San Francisco Chronicle reported.
“People were carrying in stacks of 100 and 200 of them. We had had multiple people calling to ask if these people were allowed to do this,” Kelley said.
Two years ago, California Gov. Jerry Brown signed into law AB1921, which legalized the so-called practice of “ballot harvesting.” Previously, only a family member or someone living in the same household was permitted to drop off mail ballots for a voter, but the new allowed anyone – including political operatives – to collect and return them for a voter.
California Democratic Assemblywoman Lorena Gonzalez did not respond to Fox News’ request for comment, but in the past Democrats in the state argued that the bill, which was passed on a party line vote, was meant to make it easier for people to vote.
But following the drubbing they took in the midterms, some Republican leaders in Washington have expressed confusion over what happened in California.
“We were only down 26 seats (nationally) the night of the election and three weeks later, we lost basically every California race,” outgoing House Speaker Paul Ryan, R-Wisc., told the Washington Post. “Point being, when you have candidates that win the absentee ballot vote, win the day of the vote, and then lose three weeks later because of provisionals, that’s really bizarre.”
Ryan added: “When you win the absentee ballots and you win the in-person vote, where I come from, you win the election…I’m not saying there’s anything nefarious about it, because I just don’t know, but we believed we were up about six seats in California the night of the election, now I think we lost just about every single one of those.”
While Ryan may have been taken off guard by the system in California, the state’s GOP was not.
“To say we were caught flat-footed by this is just not true,” Matt Fleming, a spokesman for the California GOP, told Fox News. “We were well aware of this, we even did it ourselves, we pay attention to election laws.”
Echoing Ryan, Fleming blamed the GOP’s losses in California on changing demographics in the state, a large cash infusion for Democratic candidates and a heightened enthusiasm among the Democratic base in the run-up to the election.
“Democrats’ desire to send a message to the president and the blue wave that occurred everywhere but in the US Senate, really affected the outcome,” he said.
Democrats say that ballot harvesting was only part of a larger ground game they employed to help win over voters in California.
“We beat Republicans on the ground, fair and square,” Katie Merrill, a Democratic consultant, told the San Francisco Chronicle. “Many of the field plans included [ballot harvesting] as an option to deliver voters or their ballots” to the polls.
In one anecdote, Democratic volunteers in Orange County visited a home four times to speak with the owner’s 18-year-old daughter – a no preference voter – to see if she wanted them to pick up her ballot for her.
“We were not wasting time talking to people who weren’t going to vote for Democrats,” Merrill said.
Despite being stung by the Democratic ground game and ballot harvesting moves, some Republicans admitted they were – at least a little bit – impressed by how the Democrats pulled off their near sweep of the House in California.
“I have a little bit of professional admiration for how well the Democrats executed their plan,” Dale Neugebauer, a longtime Republican strategist, told the Chronicle.
“The Democrats are creating a new, highly efficient tool to turn out voters,” Neugebauer added. “If Republicans can’t find a way to match it, we’re going to lose more elections all over the country.”

Bush family wants funeral that avoids anti-Trump sentiment: report

The Bush family contacted the White House this past summer saying that President Trump would be welcome at George H.W. Bush’s funeral and assured Trump that the focus would be on the 41st U.S. president’s life rather than their disagreements, The Washington Post reported, citing a former administration official.
"This will be about the celebration of the noble public service that George H.W. Bush gave. It’s not going to be about anybody else. I don’t think it’s going to be about Trump," a former Bush associate told Politico.
A person close to the funeral preparations told The Post that the tone of Wednesday’s funeral at the Washington National Cathedral will reflect the sense of propriety of Bush, who "wouldn't want anyone there to feel uncomfortable, including the incumbent president."
“If anybody at any time knew anything about the 41st president of the United States, they would completely and totally understand that he would welcome the current occupant 100 percent,” an aide in the office of the former president told the publication. “This is the way the country says goodbye to presidents.”
Trump had the final say over important funeral details, the person said, including providing Air Force One to carry the former president’s body from Texas to Washington for the funeral and back to Texas on Thursday for another service and burial.
The Trump White House has accommodated all the Bush family’s requests for the state funeral. The Bush family will be able to stay at Blair House, the official guesthouse across the street from the White House, a person familiar with the planning told The Post.
First lady Melania Trump, who represented the White House at former first lady Barbara Bush’s funeral in April, was struck by the Bush family’s graciousness toward her, one official told The Post. She conveyed that to the president, who did not attend that funeral, the official said.