March 15, 2018 11:58 AM UTC

Get More Smarter on Thursday (March 15)

• 8 Comments
• by: Colorado Pols

Read this and then you can get back to pretending you aren’t watching March Madness. It’s time to Get More Smarter. If you think we missed something important, please include the link in the comments below (here’s a good example). If you are more of a visual learner, check out The Get More Smarter Show.

TOP OF MIND TODAY…

► Thousands of Colorado students joined their peers across the country in walking out of school on Wednesday as a protest of inaction from elected officials on gun violence; the Wall Street Journal estimates that more than 1 million students took part nationwide. CNN ponders the next steps in the movement to stop gun violence.

In the middle of Wednesday’s #NationalStudentWalkout, the NRA responded with this nonsense:

I’ll control my own guns, thank you. #2A #NRA pic.twitter.com/jqbZzwcWf6

— NRA (@NRA) March 14, 2018

► Students and others who wonder why Congress won’t do anything about gun violence need look no further than Sen. Cory Gardner (R-Yuma). This story is only going to get worse for Gardner.

► The Trump administration announced new sanctions against Russia over meddling in the 2016 election that President Trump won’t really admit actually happened. From the Washington Post:

The Trump administration on Thursday imposed fresh financial sanctions on Russian government hackers and spy agencies to punish Moscow for interfering in the 2016 presidential election, and for a cyberattack against Ukraine and other countries last year that officials have characterized as “the most destructive and costly” in history.

Sanctions also were imposed on individuals known as “trolls” and the Russian organizations that supported their efforts to undermine the election. Additionally, the administration alerted the public that Russia is targeting the U.S. energy grid with computer malware that could sabotage the systems.

Taken together, the moves represent the administration’s most significant actions to date against Russia for its aggression against the United States. They are intended to deter tampering with this year’s midterm elections while signaling to Russia that Washington will not allow its attacks to go unchallenged, officials said.

Get even more smarter after the jump…

IN CASE YOU ARE STANDING NEAR A WATER COOLER…

► President Trump bragged on Wednesday about lying to Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau. CNN’s Chris Cillizza found less much less amusing than did the President:

…there are two things that should trouble anyone about this episode with Trudeau.

The first is the context. This isn’t Trump at a campaign rally saying he had the best first year of any president. Or demanding that his press secretary say that his inauguration crowd was historically large. Those exaggerations and lies aren’t great but they don’t carry any huge impact on the world stage. This is the president of the United States dealing with another world leader on the crucial issue of trade.

Fibbing — or knowingly playing fast and loose with the facts — when talking to foreign leaders, however, has real world consequences, not the least of which is that they may view Trump (and the broader US) as unreliable. And if you can’t trust what your allies are telling you, are they your allies anymore?

The second impact of Trump’s comments to Trudeau is the seeming pride that Trump takes in either a) not knowing that we have a trade surplus with Canada or b) flat-out misleading Trudeau.

► Democrat Jared Polis submitted more than 33,000 signatures to the Secretary of State’s office in order to qualify him for the ballot in the Democratic gubernatorial primary.

Today we submitted 33,000 petitions to the Secretary of State to get on the ballot to be the next #COgov! This was a 100% grassroots effort. A HUGE thank you to our tireless field organizers and volunteers for their amazing work! #copolitics pic.twitter.com/saOhu14mBQ

— Polis for Colorado (@PolisForCO) March 15, 2018

This is not good news for supporters of Lieutenant Governor Donna Lynne, who has yet to submit her own signatures for ballot access. The deadline to submit signatures to the SOS office is Tuesday, March 20.

► Phil Weiser is the first Democratic candidate for Attorney General to submit petitions for ballot access.

► Stormy Daniels may yet bring down President Trump. Of course, Trump’s own attorneys aren’t doing him any favors. 

► Republican gubernatorial candidate Cynthia Coffman is pro-life. This week, anyway.

► Colorado Republicans are plenty nervous about a big loss in a special congressional race in Pennsylvania on Tuesday.

► Save the fishes.

► Republican gubernatorial candidate Walker Stapleton loves him some independent expenditures.

► A proposed fee increase for state parks, hunting and fishing licenses passed through a Senate committee with bipartisan support.

► Larry Kudlow will be President Trump’s new chief economic adviser.

► As the New York Times reports, special prosecutor Robert Mueller has subpoenaed the Trump organization:

The special counsel, Robert S. Mueller III, has subpoenaed the Trump Organization to turn over documents, including some related to Russia, according to two people briefed on the matter. The order is the first known time that the special counsel demanded documents directly related to President Trump’s businesses, bringing the investigation closer to the president.

The breadth of the subpoena was not clear, nor was it clear why Mr. Mueller issued it instead of simply asking for the documents from the company, an umbrella organization that oversees Mr. Trump’s business ventures. In the subpoena, delivered in recent weeks, Mr. Mueller ordered the Trump Organization to hand over all documents related to Russia and other topics he is investigating, the people said.

The subpoena is the latest indication that the investigation, which Mr. Trump’s lawyers once regularly assured him would be completed by now, will drag on for at least several more months. Word of the subpoena comes as Mr. Mueller appears to be broadening his investigation to examine the role foreign money may have played in funding Mr. Trump’s political activities. In recent weeks, Mr. Mueller’s investigators have questioned witnesses, including an adviser to the United Arab Emirates, about the flow of Emirati money into the United States.

► Denver teachers have moved closer to a potential strike, as CBS Denver reports:

► The Denver Post will cut 30 newsroom staffers — a massive blow to the Post’s ability to cover local news effectively.

Your Daily Dose Of ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ 

► President Trump is taking credit for Republicans almost-not-losing a special election in Pennsylvania. 

► The universe is controlled by Pi.

ICYMI

► John Bolton might be the next National Security Adviser because President Trump thinks he talks good on the television.

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