Tipsheet: Dems see GOP effort to drive them to impeach Trump

View in your browser     Dems see GOP effort to drive them to impeach Trump BY MIKE LILLIS AND CRISTINA MARCOS House Democratic leaders facing liberal calls for impeaching President Trump are confronting increasing pressure from an unlikely faction: Republicans who appear eager to goad them into it.   Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) and her leadership team have repeatedly sought to defuse the appeals for impeachment hearings, deeming them premature, and some Democrats sense the Republicans are setting a political trap to boost their ally in the White House. Read the full story here     Anticipation builds for Mueller testimony BY BRETT SAMUELS AND MORGAN CHALFANT Democrats’ anticipation for public testimony by special counsel Robert Mueller is building by the minute. Read the full story here     Mike Enzi announces he'll retire from Senate after 2020 BY TAL AXELROD Sen. Mike Enzi (R-Wyo.) announced Saturday that he will retire from the Senate at the end of his current term, capping off a 22-year career in Washington. Read the full story here     Zinke: Hard for Dem lawmaker to think straight 'from bottom of bottle' BY MIRANDA GREEN Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke sent a jaw-dropping counterpunch to a top Democratic lawmaker, saying it was hard for Rep. Raúl Grijalva (D-Ariz.) to "think straight from the bottom of the bottle." Read the full story here       Venezuela tests Trump-Bolton relationship BY ELLEN MITCHELL   President Trump and national security adviser John Bolton's relationship is being put to the test by the escalating crisis in Venezuela. Read the full story here     Republican senator calls for hearing on military intervention in Venezuela BY RACHEL FRAZIN Sen. Todd Young (R-Ind.) on Saturday called on leaders of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee to hold a hearing next week with Trump administration officials about a potential U.S. military intervention in Venezuela.  Read the full story here     Union support won't come easy for Biden BY JONATHAN EASLEY AND MAX GREENWOOD Former Vice President Joe Biden is casting himself as a “union man” in his pursuit of the Democratic presidential nomination, but there’s no guarantee he’ll be able to rely on the labor movement to power his primary campaign. Read the full story here     Trump: I am 'looking hard' at bipartisan infrastructure plan BY TAL AXELROD President Trump said Saturday that he is "looking hard" at an infrastructure plan that would cost between $1 trillion and $2 trillion, days after Democratic congressional leaders said they reached an agreement with the president to seek a deal on a $2 trillion infrastructure bill. Read the full story here     Trump goes on tear, sharing tweets about Putin, North Korea's Kim and far-right YouTube star BY TAL AXELROD President Trump went on a tear on Twitter on Saturday morning, renewing his attacks on the press and voicing his confidence in U.S. relations with Russia and North Korea. Read the full story here     Trump voices confidence in Kim after North Korea's latest launch: 'I am with him' BY JESSE BYRNES AND TAL AXELROD President Trump on Saturday voiced confidence in North Korea's Kim Jong Un after the country fired what officials said were multiple projectiles toward Japan. Read the full story here     Senate Democrats missed the point with their questions for William Barr BY JONATHAN TURLEY Opinion | What makes the request by Harris and her colleagues even more curious is the omission of the more obvious question. Why didn’t Mueller reach a decision? As I wrote on the day that Barr released his summary of the Mueller report to Congress, it is perfectly incomprehensible that Mueller did not reach a conclusion. After reading his report, his reasons for refusing are even more inscrutable. Read the full story here     When it comes to North Korea — distrust, but verify BY KEVIN WALLING Opinion | At this critical impasse, the Trump Administration must make several strategic changes to its negotiating posture including greater collaboration with our allies, shifting away from our current praise of the regime, actually talking about key verification mechanisms (as in the case of the JCPOA) and not sidelining our own specialists in the field. Read the full story here     The Washington Post: Biden’s strong debut puts pressure on others vying to challenge Trump BY SEAN SULLIVAN AND MATT VISER The former vice president has benefited from the dynamic of the 2020 primary season: Democrats have put forth a diverse slate of candidates, generating excitement across the party. But no standout has emerged with staying power, creating the vacuum into which Joe Biden has slipped.  Read the full story here     The New York Times: Biden thinks Trump is the problem, not all Republicans. Other Democrats disagree. BY SHANE GOLDMACHER Joseph R. Biden Jr. is defending his friendliness toward Republicans in Washington, saying President Trump doesn’t represent them. Read the full story here     The Wall Street Journal: Tech executive charts old and new path toward vice presidency BY REID J. EPSTEIN David Blake is launching a campaign to bring back the days of electing the veep by popular vote. Read the full story here     The Associated Press: Fines, jail time? Trump team resists oversight, Dems dig in BY LISA MASCARO They’re talking at the Capitol about jailing people. Imposing steep fines. All sorts of extraordinary, if long-shot measures to force the White House to comply with Democratic lawmakers’ request for information about President Donald Trump stemming from the special counsel’s Russia investigation. Read the full story here     Reuters: Turkey says it will not bow to US sanctions over S-400 deal BY TUVAN GUMRUKCU Turkey will never bow to U.S. sanctions over its agreement to purchase Russian S-400 defense systems, Turkish Vice President Fuat Oktay said on Sunday in reference to a deal that has strained ties between the NATO allies. Read the full story here   Did a friend forward you this email? 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