Tax reform might not be finished this year. Friday morning's must-read news roundup from UtahPolicy.com

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Situational awareness - October 11, 2019

Good morning from Salt Lake City and TGIF!

Thanks for reading Utah's must-read daily political news rundown. Please encourage your friends and colleagues to sign up for our emails.

Here are the stories you need to pay attention to this morning:

Friday trivia

Today's political headscratcher comes from subscriber Ron Fox.

What former Utah Republican Party Executive Director got his mug on the cover of Time Magazine and appeared in the classic comedy movie Airplane for his "taxing" work. (Taxing is a clue to the answer)

The first reader to send in the correct answer via email at bschott@utahpolicy.com gets to ask next week's question.

Good luck.

TICK TOCK

Days to the 2019 Utah municipal elections: 25 (11/5/2019)

Days to the first day of the 2020 Utah Legislature: 108 (1/27/2020)

Days to the Utah presidential primaries: 144 (3/3/2020)

Days to the 2020 Utah primary elections: 263 (6/23/2020)

Days to the 2020 election: 389 (11/3/2020)

Today At Utah Policy

OTHER UTAH HEADLINES

Deseret News

Salt Lake Tribune

Other

NATIONAL HEADLINES

While you were sleeping

An Iranian oil tanker was hit by missiles causing an oil spill in the Red Sea according to state media. Details about what happened remained murky Friday morning [AP].

What in the world is happening with Rudy Giuliani?

Two men who worked with President Donald Trump's lawyer Rudy Giuliani to dig up damaging information on Joe Biden and his son were arrested on Thursday as part of a scheme to illegally funnel foreign donations into Republican campaigns [New York Times].

The two associates of Giuliani were apprehended as they were attempting to flee the country on one-way tickets to Vienna, Austria. Giuliani was preparing to also fly to Vienna the very next day but said the two trips were unrelated [The Atlantic].

Federal investigators are scrutinizing Giuliani's financial dealings following the arrest of two of his associates for violating campaign finance laws [Bloomberg].

In a 2017 Oval Office meeting, Giuliani pressed then-Secretary of State Rex Tillerson for help in securing the release of one of his clients as part of a potential prison swap with Turkey [Washington Post].

Ukraine scandal

At least four national security officials raised the alarm by the Trump administration's efforts to pressure Ukraine to investigate political rivals that they consulted with a White House lawyer both before and after President Trump's July 25 phone call with the Ukrainian president [Washington Post].

Fiona Hill, President Trump's former top aide on Russia and Europe, plans to tell Congress next week that Rudy Giuliani and E.U. ambassador Gordon Sonland were running a shadow policy on Ukraine outside of regular National Security Council and White House processes [NBC News].

The former U.S. ambassador to Ukraine was removed from her post after insisting that Rudy Giuliani's overtures toward Ukrainian officials to start investigations into Trump's political rivals be made through official channels [AP].

Impeachment

Seventeen prosecutors who worked on the Watergate investigation wrote a blistering op-ed Thursday night saying they believe President Trump should be impeached [Washington Post].

House Democrats subpoena Energy Secretary Rick Perry for Ukraine documents as part of their impeachment inquiry [CNN].

President Trump's decision to add former U.S. Rep. Trey Gowdy to his impeachment defense team is drawing ridicule from some of his supporters. "Trey Gowdy doesn't know s***," said one backer [Yahoo!].

Syria

Sen. Lindsey Graham called Trump's decision to pull U.S. troops out of northern Syria, effectively abandoning our Kurdish allies, "the biggest blunder of his presidency" [Washington Post].

Trump rages

At his first rally after House Democrats began their impeachment inquiry into him, President Trump lashed out calling Democrats "very sick and deranged people" who were pushing to "erase your vote" with their impeachment drive. He also slammed Rep. Ilhan Omar as a "fraud" and a "disgrace" [New York Times].

Seems like a bad idea

A Facebook policy allows politicians to lie in ads on the social media platform. Democrats worry it will give President Trump's campaign free rein to use the website as a disinformation machine [Washington Post].

This doesn't seem...normal

Attorney General William Barr met privately with Fox News head Rupert Murdock in New York on Wednesday. It wasn't clear what was discussed [New York Times].

China

President Trump says there may be a "mini deal" made with China as trade negotiations between the two countries continue [Politico].

Climate

The International Monetary Fund says the world needs a massive carbon tax within the next 10 years to help stave off the effects of climate change [Washington Post].

BUSINESS HEADLINES

Policy News

More National Headlines

ON THIS DAY IN HISTORY

1910 - President Theodore Roosevelt becomes the first U.S. President to take flight on an airplane.

1962 - Pope John XXIII convened the first session of the Roman Catholic Church's 21 Ecumenical Council, better known as Vatican II.

1975 - "Saturday Night Live" premiered on NBC with George Carlin as host and musicians Janis Ian and Billy Preston.

1986 - President Ronald Reagan and Soviet Leader Mikhail Gorbachev meet in Reykjavik, Iceland to discuss arms control and human rights.

1991 - Testifying before the Senate Judiciary Committee, law professor Anita Hill accused Supreme Court nominee Clarence Thomas of sexually harassing her; Thomas reappeared before the panel to denounce the proceedings as a "high-tech lynching."

Wise Words

"The philosophy of the school room in one generation will be the philosophy of government in the next."Abraham Lincoln

Lighter Side

"In the middle of being investigated for asking foreign countries for election help, Trump publicly asked foreign countries for election help. That's like chugging a beer while taking a breathalyzer test."- JIMMY FALLON

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