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En la lista: Todo el mundo a barajar a Giuliani - Trump responde a las críticas de Pelosi - Gillibrand presionada por su giro a la izquierda - Dimite el diputado por Pensilvania Marino - Se busca al profesor Hinkle para interrogarle

TODO EL MUNDO HACE EL SHUFFLE DE GIULIANI
En un discurso pronunciado en una ceremonia al aire libre en un día caluroso del verano de 1986, el entonces presidente Ronald Reagan hizo una ocurrencia sobre el tiempo.

"Como comentó una vez un recién llegado a los veranos de Washington: 'No es el calor, es la humildad'", dijo Reagan entre risas. "Obviamente no llevaba mucho tiempo aquí, porque la humildad no abunda en esta ciudad".

Un tercio de siglo después, podemos informar de que la humildad no está regresando a Washington.

En el verano de 2017, escribimos sobre la todavía incipiente investigación del fiscal especial sobre las trampas rusas -antes de la primera acusación, antes de la primera declaración de culpabilidad, antes de la primera cara plantada en Facebook, antes de la primera marcha atrás de la Casa Blanca- que, se revelara lo que se revelara, habría una minoría sustancial de votantes a los que sencillamente no les importaría.

Y, a riesgo de mostrar nosotros mismos falta de humildad, hasta ahora los acontecimientos nos han dado la razón.

Tomemos sólo la respuesta oficial a la revelación de que funcionarios de la campaña de Trump invitaron a un agente ruso a una reunión en la Torre Trump: 1) No ocurrió, y habría sido un error. 2) Ocurrió, pero se trataba de política exterior. 3) Se trataba de conseguir trapos sucios sobre Hillary Clinton, pero Donald Trump no estaba al corriente. 4) Trump ayudó a redactar el desmentido inicial, deshonesto. 5) No sólo ocurrió, sino que fue inteligente y éticamente apropiado y cualquiera que diga lo contrario está siendo injusto.

Oh.

Como dijo Charles Krauthammer en su momento: "La colusión chapucera sigue siendo colusión". Pero en ese momento, ya estábamos en la senda de los defensores más incansables del presidente haciendo lo que en 2016 habría sido un argumento descalificador de que "la colusión no es un delito". Hablando de poner un listón bajo que superar: Técnicamente, ¡no somos delincuentes!

Vimos cómo se repetía el mismo ciclo una y otra vez, sobre todo en relación con el dinero pagado a una trabajadora sexual a cambio de su silencio sobre sus citas con Trump. 1) Era "absoluta e inequívocamente" falso que Trump tuviera un congreso con la trabajadora sexual. 2) Los informes sobre el dinero por silencio formaban parte de una "narrativa falsa". 3) Se pagó dinero, pero procedía de los fondos personales del abogado de Trump sin que éste lo supiera. 4) Trump sabía de los pagos y reembolsó a su abogado, pero fue legal. 5) Aunque fuera ilegal, la ley se aplica injustamente y, de todos modos, no se puede procesar a los presidentes en ejercicio.

Lo que empezó con una acusación de que la trabajadora sexual era una especie de estafadora o una chiflada, acabó confirmando la información inicial del WSJ y algo más. Pero para entonces, la defensa de Trump había cambiado a algo parecido al caso de la colusión: Todo el mundo lo hace y el otro bando es aún peor. Puede que no haya convencido a la mayoría de los estadounidenses, pero para los que ya estaban dispuestos a aceptar que "coludirse con Rusia no es técnicamente ilegal", era suficientemente bueno.

Lo que, por supuesto, nos lleva a la cara pública del equipo de defensa del presidente, Rudy Giuliani, y a las pruebas de que el presidente de la campaña de Trump compartió los datos de las encuestas de la campaña con un asociado del aparato de inteligencia ruso.

Al igual que hizo en el caso de la trabajadora sexual y otros avances graduales en el caso de la injerencia rusa en la campaña de 2016, Giuliani salió a las ondas para ofrecer un giro de 180 grados.

“I never said there was no collusion between the campaign or between people in the campaign,” Giuliani told CNN. When his interviewer expressed incredulity, Giuliani was adamant: “I have not. I said ‘the president of the United States.’”

Giuliani had last spring told the same network that he couldn’t be sure that some campaign flunky in “the outer orbit” or “50 rungs down” hadn’t been canoodling with the Kremlin. By the summer, he had shortened the ladder a bit, telling Fox News he could only vouch for “the top four or five people.” But facing evidence that the man on rung number one was conspiring, the answer is that the only meaningful participant in misconduct could be the president himself.

Oh.

Consider how far we’ve come in terms of the official position on these matters. 1) “No contacts took place” between the campaign and Russian operatives. 2) There was contact, but only incidental to normal campaign activities. 3) There was intentional contact for purposes of influencing the campaign but it never amounted to anything. 4) If the head of the campaign did seek to help the Russians interfere it was without the knowledge of the candidate. 5) Well… you know how these end by now.

The Giuliani shuffle is getting to be a well-known dance here in Washington. You make what sounds like a gaffe but is really just a way to move the goalposts from your client’s previously absolute, ironclad denials. Trump says “no collusion” and Giuliani says “funny thing about that…”

There’s nothing particularly novel about the maneuver – save for the frequency of its deployment – since that’s what lawyers for the rich and famous often do. What’s remarkable here is the audacity.

Trump’s famous joke/brag that he could murder a man in broad daylight and suffer no consequences with his core political supporters. And that has proven to be a pretty good description of how roughly a third of the electorate responds to various depredations and revelations. Never underestimate the strength of these voters’ hatreds for both the press and Democrats.

But imagine the hubris it would require to be caught again and again at this kind of revisionism. Caught repeatedly in dissembling and sometimes outright lying, Team Trump again asks to be taken at its word. That’s something more than chutzpah.

We hold with our old point that for millions of Americans, almost nothing the probe could uncover would be enough for them to abandon their man. But we’re adding a proviso: This kind of arrogance from an administration will rub bare the support of more lightly attached voters.

Worst, when the time arrives in the near future when the president may need to make a direct answer to charges he will be all out of dance moves.

THE RULEBOOK: GET ON THE SAME PAGE
“The power of prescribing by general laws, the manner in which the public acts, records and judicial proceedings of each State shall be proved, and the effect they shall have in other States, is an evident and valuable improvement on the clause relating to this subject in the articles of Confederation.” – James Madison, Federalist No. 42

TIME OUT: CHEERS TO YOU BETTY WHITE
In honor of Betty White’s 97th birthday today, a look back at a preview article of the PBS documentary about her impressive career and life from 2018. USA Today: “On Tuesday [Aug. 21, 2018], the beloved 96-year-old actress – an engaging personality whose fan base crosses many generations – gets a PBS tribute, ‘Betty White: First Lady of Television’ (check local listings). The documentary, filmed over 10 years by the team behind the series ‘Pioneers of Television,’ tracks White's historic entertainment career and includes interviews with friends and colleagues Mary Tyler Moore, Valerie Bertinelli, Ryan Reynolds, Tina Fey, Valerie Harper, Gavin MacLeod, Georgia Engel and Carl Reiner. As ‘First Lady’ illustrates, the five-time prime-time Emmy Award winner’s accomplishments are legion. … The title fits as an honorific, but literally, too. Over her eight-decade career, White was there for the infancy of television. Her first performance came in 1939 on an experimental broadcast, followed by a co-hosting gig on ‘Hollywood on Television’ in the 1940s and a sitcom, ‘Life With Elizabeth,’ which she starred in and produced in the early 1950s.”

Flag on the play? - Email us at HALFTIMEREPORT@FOXNEWS.COM with your tips, comments or questions.

SCOREBOARD
Trump job performance
Average approval: 39.8 percent
Average disapproval: 56.6 percent
Net Score: -17.4 points
Change from one week ago: down 6 points
[Average includes: Pew: 39% approve - 58% disapprove; Quinnipiac University: 41% approve - 55% disapprove; CNN: 37% approve - 57% disapprove; IBD: 42% approve - 54% disapprove; Gallup: 37% approve - 59% disapprove.]

TRUMP SWATS BACK AT PELOSI’S DISS
Fox News: “President Trump on Thursday abruptly denied military aircraft to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi for a foreign trip just minutes before the congressional delegation was set to depart, in a stunning response to her call to delay the State of the Union address amid the government shutdown. In a curt letter, Trump said her trip has been ‘postponed.’ ‘Due to the Shutdown, I am sorry to inform you that your trip to Brussels, Egypt, and Afghanistan has been postponed. We will reschedule this seven-day excursion when the Shutdown is over. In light of the 800,000 great American workers not receiving pay, I am sure you would agree that postponing this public relations event is totally appropriate,’ Trump wrote. … According to sources, the president pulled the plug on her aircraft as she was about to leave for her overseas trip. Her congressional delegation military aircraft was slated to leave at 3 p.m. ET, Fox News' John Roberts reports. A source also told Fox News that when moving to cancel the flight, the White House reasoned that the trip would keep Pelosi out of the country beyond next Tuesday night—when the next government pay period would occur.”

House Dems tack shutdown fix on disaster relief measure - The Hill: “The House passed a Democratic-backed emergency disaster relief bill on Wednesday that includes an amendment funding the federal government through early February. The bill passed in a 237-187 vote, with six Republicans joining Democrats in voting for the measure, which would reopen parts of the government and fund them through Feb. 8. The legislation introduced by House Appropriations Committee Chairwoman Nita Lowey (D-N.Y.) would provide $12.1 billion in disaster relief funding for areas impacted by Hurricane Florence, Hurricane Michael and the California wildfires, as well as other areas impacted by natural disasters last year. The measure is not expected to be taken up in the Senate, where Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) has vowed to not bring any spending measure to reopen the government to the floor unless President Trump has signaled he will sign it.”

Poll: Most Americans still oppose expanding border wall - Pew Research Center: “With the partial shutdown of the federal government in its third week, both opponents and supporters of expanding the U.S.-Mexico border wall overwhelmingly oppose making concessions to end the stalemate. A new Pew Research Center survey finds that majority of Americans (58%) continue to oppose substantially expanding the border wall, while 40% favor the proposal. Overall opinion on the wall is little changed from last year, but these views have never been more sharply divided along partisan lines: Republican support for the wall is at record high, while Democratic support has reached a new low. And both sides appear to be dug in: Nearly nine-in-ten (88%) opponents of expanding the border wall say it would not be acceptable to pass a bill that includes President Donald Trump’s request for wall funding, if that is the only way to end the shutdown.”

GILLIBRAND PRESSED ON LEFTWARD LURCH
Free Beacon: “Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (D., N.Y.) apologized for holding ‘callous’ views on immigration amidst a broader mea culpa over her formerly conservative views Wednesday on ‘The Rachel Maddow Show.’ … However, Maddow didn't let her off the hook for her old views on issues like guns and immigration in the introduction to their interview, discussing what she called Gillibrand's ‘conservative bona fides’ in unseating a GOP congressman in New York in 2006. Gillibrand used the expression ‘illegal aliens,’ now a huge no-no for progressives, called for making English the country's official language, and had an ‘A’ rating from the National Rifle Association. … Asked to explain her ‘transformation,’ Gillibrand told a familiar story about meeting families in Brooklyn that motivated her to fight more strongly against gun violence. ‘I recognized I didn't know everything about the whole state … I just knew I was wrong,’ she said, going on to tout being a ‘leader’ on gun control measures.”

Beto pens epic, rambling blog from road trip - Fox News: “Media darling and former Texas Senate candidate Beto O’Rourke is blogging his way through a classic American road trip, with a rambling essay telling readers he has ‘been stuck lately’ as he hits the road to meet people and break the funk (and maybe decide on a 2020 run). ‘Have been stuck lately. In and out of a funk. My last day of work was January 2nd. It’s been more than twenty years since I was last not working,’ he wrote in the Medium post. … In his Medium post, he didn't directly mention a 2020 bid, but indicated he’s wrestling with something as he journeys through locales in Kansas, Texas and New Mexico. ‘Maybe if I get moving, on the road, meet people, learn about what’s going on where they live, have some adventure, go where I don’t know and I’m not known, it’ll clear my head, reset, I’ll think new thoughts, break out of the loops I’ve been stuck in,’ he wrote. Those new thoughts are in ample supply. The former congressman went into minute detail about his journey through restaurants … as well as his experiences talking to people he meets on the road.”

Moulton heads to New Hampshire - Boston Globe: “US Representative Seth Moulton will travel to New Hampshire in two weeks, according to people familiar with the planning of his visit. The trip to the first-in-the-nation presidential primary state will likely restart buzz that the Salem Democrat is exploring a run for president. Moulton, 40, will address the Bedford (N.H.) Democratic Committee on Feb. 2, at a time a host of Democrats are exploring bids for president.”

Shutdown effects Trump’s 2020 campaign - Politico: “President Donald Trump’s insistence on shutting down much of the government inadvertently handed his reelection team the opening issue of the 2020 campaign. … But [Trump’s campaign aids] say they are trying to make the best of it by using the shutdown fight to fire up his core supporters, raise money and collect voter data that will aid his reelection fight. … As polling turns increasingly against the president, and White House officials try to find a solution to what some consider a pointless standoff, Trump aides and advisers are worried that the president is doing his 2020 Democratic challengers an early favor. … Trump allies say that he will win credit for fighting to fulfill a promise Trump he made to voters as a 2016 candidate. Trump’s 2020 campaign manager, Brad Parscale, has said several times that the campaign’s proprietary data show that the shutdown is a winning issue for the president.”

PENNSYLVANIA REP. MARINO RESIGNS
[Pa.] Centre Daily Times: “Congressman Tom Marino, R-Williamsport, announced his resignation from the U.S. House of Representatives Thursday. In a statement, he said he would be officially stepping down Wednesday, Jan. 23. ‘Having spent over two decades serving the public, I have chosen to take a position in the private sector where I can use both my legal and business experience to create jobs around the nation,’ he said in the statement. ‘I want to thank the people of the 12th Congressional District of Pennsylvania for the faith they have placed in me to represent them in Congress. It truly has been one of the greatest honors of my life.’ … Marino served in the House of Representatives since 2010, winning re-election four times — most recently in the 2018 Congressional election, where he defeated Democratic challenger Marc Friedenberg of Ferguson Township.”

Schumer begins recruiting for McCain Senate seat - The Hill: “Senate Democratic Leader Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.) is recruiting Rep. Ruben Gallego (Ariz.), a rising Democratic star in the House, to run for the Arizona Senate seat long held by John McCain. Schumer and Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee (DSCC) Chairwoman Catherine Cortez Masto (Nev.) met with Gallego at the DSCC headquarters Wednesday evening about running for the seat. ‘It went great,’ Gallego said of the meeting. ‘I’m strongly considering it.’ ‘I’m basically making the final decision and we’ll have that in the next couple weeks,’ he added. … Schumer and Cortez Masto have also met recently with retired astronaut-turned-gun control advocate Mark Kelly and former Republican state attorney general Grant Woods, who are both mulling potential Senate bids, according to a DSCC aide.”

THE JUDGE’S RULING: THE FBI’S ‘HOW TO’ INVESTIGATE
This week Fox News Senior Judicial Analyst Judge Andrew Napolitano explains how the FBI went to the FISA court in Washington DC to allegedly investigate President Trump: “The FBI conducts generally two types of investigations -- criminal and counterintelligence. Criminal investigations are intended to find the people who have already committed particular crimes… A counterintelligence investigation is aimed at shoring up national security by looking at people who may be breaching it. …The origins of criminal and counterintelligence investigations are often murky and at times inscrutable. There are two legal standards for commencing any investigation of anyone. The first is ‘articulable suspicion.’ … The other requirement is that the articulable suspicion be accepted by a prosecutor, as the FBI alone cannot commence any investigation. … Whatever this investigation was -- and for whatever purposes it was commenced -- it was relatively short-lived in the hands of those FBI officials who suspected Trump's motivations.” More here.

PLAY-BY-PLAY
Dem Rep. Ilhan Omar doubles down on claim that Sen. Lindsey Graham is ‘compromised’ - The Week

Timothy Carney: ‘Why Ex-Churchgoers Flocked to Trump’ - The American Conservative

David French: ‘The Power of Lovability Over Likability’ - National Review

Pence says the U.S. is waiting on NoKo for next steps toward denuclearization - USA Today

Dems attack Trump’s EPA nominee on coal lobbying - WaPo

AUDIBLE: AND NOT IN A GOOD WAY
“We are getting crushed!” – President Trump reportedly said to acting chief of staff, Mick Mulvaney, after watching coverage of the shutdown recently, according to the NYT.

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PROFESSOR HINKLE WANTED FOR QUESTIONING
WJW: “A driver was dealt a dose of instant karma when the person tried to topple a snowman with their vehicle on Monday. Cory Lutz of Kentucky told FOX 8 that [he, his finance, and his fiancé’s sister] … wanted to make the most of the winter wonderland. And, of course, that included building a snowman. They used a stump in Lutz’s front yard as the base for their towering 9-foot tall snowman called Frosty. … He came home Monday to find a set of tire tracks in his yard that abruptly ended at the base of the snowman. The stump was exposed and now featured a snowy imprint of a bumper. ‘Apparently Frosty had been handing out life lessons to surprised 4×4 vandals. ‘You reap what you sow!’ Still standing, and still smiling – He certainly had the last laugh!’ Lutz said.”

AND NOW, A WORD FROM CHARLES…
“Let’s understand something about the fight to fill the Supreme Court seat of Antonin (‘Nino’) Scalia. This is about nothing but raw power. Any appeal you hear to high principle is phony — brazenly, embarrassingly so.” – Charles Krauthammer (1950-2018) writing in the Washington Post on Feb. 18, 2016.

Chris Stirewalt is the politics editor for Fox News. Brianna McClelland contributed to this report. Want FOX News Halftime Report in your inbox every day? Sign up here.