Tag: White House Correspondents’ Association

Those who spent the last two years pushing the narrative that the Trump campaign colluded with Russia during the 2016 presidential election need to be held accountable, the Federalist senior editor Mollie Hemingway argued Friday. Earlier in the day, the office of Special Counsel Robert Mueller handed in its report on the Russia investigation to the Department of Justice and it was announced that no new indictments would be forthcoming. During Friday's All-Star panel segment on Fox News' "Special Report with Bret Baier," Hemingway -- along with Washington Free Beacon editor-in-chief Matthew Continetti and Reuters White House correspondent Jeff Mason -- weighed in on the breaking news that reverberated throughout Washington. Hemingway began by noting that the “Russia narrative” predates the Mueller probe, having begun circulating during the 2016 election after the creation of the infamous Clinton campaign-funded Steele dossier, which pushed the theory that then-Republican candidate Donald Trump was a “Russian agent.” “We have, for the last three years ... frequently [witnessed] hysteria about treasonous collusion with Russia to steal the 2016 election,” Hemingway told the panel. “The fact [is] that there are no more indictments coming and the fact [is] that all of the indictments that we’ve seen thus far have been for process crimes or things unrelated to what we were told by so many people in the media was ‘treasonous collusion’ to steal the 2016 election.” “If there is nothing there that matches what we’ve heard from the media for many years, there needs to be a reckoning and the people who spread this theory both inside and outside the government who were not critical and who did not behave appropriately need to be held accountable,” she added. "The people who spread this theory both inside and outside the government ... and who did not behave appropriately need to be held accountable." — Mollie Hemingway, senior editor, the Federalist Mason told the panel that there’s likely “some relief” in the White House, particularly from Jared Kushner, the president's son-in-law and top adviser. And while he insisted it was “too early” to draw major conclusions, he later added that those who attacked Mueller’s credibility throughout his investigation will have to walk back their hostility if he concludes that there was no collusion, including President Trump. Meanwhile, Continetti suggested that the Mueller report could be the “greatest anticlimax in American history,” and that the entire investigation could be “for nothing” because it was “an investigation without a crime.” He did, however, insist that the “battle will continue” as the White House will fight Congress on transparency of the Mueller findings.

Washington is one of the only places in America where an election transforms the city’s social life. Take Juleanna Glover, one of the city’s most well-known hostesses. And I haven’t been to an actual dinner party in two years where any of the Trump officials are. “We’re not trained to deal with this,” Maria Trabocchi, a co-owner of Fiola and several sister restaurants, told The Washington Post. Jared and Ivanka are particularly well-known for using their home to entertain strategically. There are a few public bars and restaurants that Trump swampists can call their own. Someone said to me, ‘It’s our place, it’s not their place!’ ” The Mnuchins and Jared and Ivanka are regularly spotted there. Nuschese told me that Trump himself, unlike Bill Clinton, George W. Bush, and Barack Obama, hasn’t yet dined there. Rima hosts an annual gala on behalf of the Kuwait-America Foundation, which promotes ties between the two countries, and in the Obama years it attracted members of the administration. “Now she hangs with Ivanka and Kellyanne and Jared,” said the prominent D.C. hostess.

The Harvard Institute of Politics announced its new slate of fall fellows in a video the organization tweeted on Monday. The five resident fellows, who remain on campus for the duration of the semester, come from a variety of backgrounds, including journalism and public office. They include: Journalist Margaret Talev, a senior White House correspondent for Bloomberg and a CNN political analyst, who served as president of the White House Correspondents Association; Amy Dacey, former CEO of the Democratic National Committee and former executive director of Emily’s List; activist Brittany Packnett, the vice president of national community alliances for Teach for America and cofounder of Campaign Zero, which is focused on solutions to ending police violence, according to the organization’s website. Retired politician Joseph J. Heck is the only former congressman among this year’s fellows. A physician and former US representative for Nevada’s third district, Heck was also a brigadier general in the US Army. John Noonan, currently a senior defense adviser for Senator Tom Cotton (R-Ark. ), previously advised 2016 presidential candidate Jeb Bush on issues of national security and served as a defense policy adviser to Mitt Romney during Romney’s 2012 presidential campaign. All three visiting fellows this fall are current or former mayors: Antonio Villaraigosa of Los Angeles; Mitchell “Mitch” Landrieu of New Orleans; and Michael Nutter of Philadelphia. They will co-lead a study group on Politics, Potholes, and Public Service, according to the Institute’s website. Kaya Williams can be reached at kaya.williams@globe.com.