Troy Price, the chairman of the Iowa Democratic Party, has resigned, following the absolute clusterfuck that was the Iowa caucuses. Technical glitches stemming from an app used to record results triggered long delays, causing the caucus results to remain inconclusive for almost a week.
In a statement, Price wrote, “The fact is that Democrats deserved better than what happened on caucus night. As chair of this party, I am deeply sorry for what happened and bear the responsibility for any failures on behalf of the Iowa Democratic Party.”
The self-flagellation continued: “While it is my desire to stay in this role and see this process through to completion, I do believe it is time for the Iowa Democratic Party to begin looking forward, and my presence in my current role makes that more difficult.”
In the press conferences that followed the Iowa caucus, Price made valiant, if insufficient, attempts at damage control. As much as he emphasized his pride in Iowa voters, the avoidable errors were too glaring to avoid, especially when Price admitted that he never once tried out the doomed app. His fate was clear from the jump.
Sorry, dude!
Attorney General William Barr has finally agreed to let the House Judiciary Committee drag him. Barr will testify before the committee on March 31 to address the Trump administration’s possible interference in a criminal case involving President Trump’s old pal, Roger Stone. Stone was convicted in 2019 of lying before Congress and threatening a witness.
The Department of Justice asked a federal court to dramatically reduce Stone’s sentence, a move so brazen that all four prosecutors working the case quit in protest. Congressional Democrats want answers, and Barr will reportedly humor them.
Of course, this agreement comes nearly a year after Democrats first requested Barr’s testimony, in the wake of the release of the Mueller report. Barr refused to testify. But perhaps post-impeachment acquittal, Barr feels as emboldened as President Trump does, even in the face of the litany of questions he’ll be bombarded with, many of which will likely have nothing to do with Stone at all.
From Politico:
In a letter to Barr confirming his appearance, the Democrats on the House Judiciary Committee indicated they’d press Barr about Stone as well as the removal of the U.S. attorney of D.C. Jessie Liu, who oversaw a slew of sensitive cases that grew out of Mueller’s probe of Russian interference in the 2016 election, including the Stone case. The committee also foreshadowed pressing Barr on broader concerns about political influence seeping into the Justice Department.
[…]
In addition to Stone and Liu, Democrats have a long list of issues they’re likely to press Barr on, including his involvement in decisions surrounding Trump’s decision to withhold military funds from Ukraine last year, and his handling of a whistleblower complaint about the episode that DOJ determined should be withheld from Congress, overruling an intelligence community inspector general.
Can’t wait for… nothing of consequence to happen yet again.
- Your evening zen: Reporters grilling Mike Bloomberg over recently unearthed racist remarks he made about stop-and-frisk, while Bloomberg fumbles for the answer that will make him look the least ghoulish.
- And here’s Pete Buttigieg dodging a question about why the youths don’t like him:
- Get ready for some potential Iowa-flavored fuckery at the Nevada caucuses on Saturday. [Courthouse News]
- Deval Patrick ended his presidential campaign on Tuesday, but you probably forgot he was running at all. [NPR]
- Tulsi Gabbard is still in the race though…