Trump’s shutdown has plunged the country into crisis with no end in sight, Michael Cohen refuses to testify because the President intimated his father-in-law, Mayor Pete Buttigieg announces for president, and Joe Biden has some Republican friends. Then we hear from listeners who called in to talk about how Trump’s shutdown is affecting their lives. Also – Pod Save America is going on tour! Get your tickets now: crooked.com/events.

Show Notes:

State of the Union: Civil War

• Washington Post: Pelosi tells Trump: No State of the Union address in the House until government is opened
• Vox: What the hell is going on with the State of the Union, explained
• Washington Post: The Trump-Pelosi State of the Union letter duel, annotated
• New York Magazine: Shutdown Pushes Trump’s Disapproval to All-Time High in Two Polls
• CBS News: Pelosi has edge over Trump on budget negotiations, CBS News poll shows
• Politico: Poll: Shutdown, Russia drive Trump to all-time high disapproval
• Associated Press: AP-NORC poll: Shutdown drags Trump approval to yearlong low
• CNN: Why Trump’s border wall is not just a wall
• Washington Post: ‘Crime will fall!’: Trump’s new rallying cry for border wall echoes old strategy of inflating dangers posed by immigrants
• Washington Post: The Trump-Pelosi war just intensified. We’re in for two years of crisis.
• Washington Post: Trump bluffed hard on his State of the Union, and Pelosi called

Vote on Thursday

• NBC News: Senate to vote on competing bills to end government shutdown
• CNN: McConnell sets up votes on Thursday on competing proposals to reopen government
• NBC News: Could Mitch McConnell still be the ‘guy who gets us out of shutdowns?
• Politico: Senate set to reject government funding plan it once embraced
• New York Times: House Democrats Increase Border Offer to $5.7 Billion, if Government Opens
• Vox: Moderate House Democrats want this shutdown to end — but they are sticking with Pelosi
• Politico: House Dems push new border security plan as shutdown staggers on
• Los Angeles Times: There’s an actual bipartisan proposal to end the shutdown, but it’s not Mitch McConnell’s – Op-Ed
• New York Times: Mitch McConnell Got Everything He Wanted. But at What Cost
• Vox: 7 reasons Trump can’t make an immigration deal
• The Hill: Top Dem: We would support $5.7B for a ‘smart wall’
• CNN: A dozen protesters arrested outside McConnell’s office during shutdown sit-in
• Huffington Post: Hundreds Of Federal Workers And Supporters Protest Shutdown In Senate Building
• Huffington Post: As The Government Shutdown Drags On, Food Assistance For Millions Could Run Out
• Washington Post: White House seeks list of programs that would be hurt if shutdown lasts into March
• Axios: A “go big” idea to end the shutdown
• Washington Post: Trump’s top economist says shutdown could stall the economy completely
• Washington Post: Lara Trump tells federal workers that their missed paychecks are sacrifices for the ‘future of our country’

Cohen

• New York Times: Michael Cohen Indefinitely Postpones Testimony to Congress, Citing Fears of Family’s Safety
• Washington Post: Ex-Trump fixer Michael Cohen will not testify before Congress next month, lawyer says
• Vox: Michael Cohen’s claim that President Trump is threatening his family, explained
• Axios: Michael Cohen postpones House testimony, blames Trump “threats”
• Washington Post: Michael Cohen won’t testify. Slowly but surely, Trump’s abuses of power keep mounting
• Washington Post: Adam Schiff’s warning now looks even more worrisome
• NBC News: Stormy Daniels bares expletives in scathing attack on Michael Cohen’s manhood
• Politico: Mueller speaks. But will he comment again?
• Politico: Manafort to confront lying charges in court Friday
• Empty Wheel: JEROME CORSI’S GAZILLION DOLLAR LAWSUIT AGAINST THE SAME MEDIA TARGETS THAT INDIVIDUAL-1 IS TARGETING
• Empty Wheel: HOW TRUMP “DIRECTED” DON JR’S JUNE 9 “NO FOLLOW-UP” FALSE STATEMENT TO CONGRESS
• The New Republic: How Trump Suborns Perjury

2020

• New York Times: Pete Buttigieg, Mayor of South Bend, Ind., Joins Democratic 2020 Race
• Washington Post: Pete Buttigieg joins the Democratic race for the 2020 presidential nomination
• Washington Post: Could Pete Buttigieg Become the First Millennial President?
• FiveThirtyEight: How Pete Buttigieg Could Win The 2020 Democratic Nomination
• NBC News: Meet Pete Buttigieg, gay Democratic candidate for president
• The Atlantic: Pete Buttigieg Thinks All the 2020 Democrats Are Too Old
• New York Times: The First Gay President? – Op-Ed
• New Yorker: Obama Reckons with a Trump Presidency
• CNN: How to pronounce Pete Buttigieg
• New York Times: Biden’s Paid Speech Buoyed the G.O.P. in Midwest Battleground
• New York Times: How Biden Has Paved the Way for a Possible Presidential Run
• New York Times: As Beto O’Rourke Weighs 2020 Run, Democrats Chafe at His Go-It-Alone Style
• New York Magazine: Biden and Beto Boosted GOP Candidates in 2018. That’s Disqualifying.
• Vanity Fair: JOE BIDEN’S G.O.P. BROMANCE MAY BE A 2020 LIABILITY
• Vanity Fair: “IF THIS WERE VEGAS, BIDEN IS THE ULTIMATE SELL-HIGH”: THE FORMER V.P. IS THE NOMINAL FRONT-RUNNER—WITH DOWNSIDES INCLUDING A FAMILY DIVORCE DRAMA
• New York Times: Why Biden Should Run – Op-Ed
• Huffington Post: Hugh Hewitt: Joe Biden Has ‘Transgendered Into’ Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez
• Washington Post: Joe Biden’s tough-on-crime past could haunt him in 2020
  
• Washington Post: Democrats and their voters have shifted left as 2020 nears. They’re betting the rest of the country follows
• CNN: The 2020 marathon has started with a sprint