The Daily Kos Elections Morning Digest is compiled by David Nir, Jeff Singer, Stephen Wolf, and Carolyn Fiddler, with additional contributions from David Jarman, Steve Singiser, Daniel Donner, James Lambert, David Beard, and Arjun Jaikumar.
Leading Off
●NY-11: The nasty June 26 GOP primary between Rep. Dan Donovan and former Rep. Mike Grimm for New York's 11th Congressional District somehow got even nastier at a debate this week. Grimm, who spent seven months in prison on 2015 after pleading guilty to tax evasion charges and resigning from this Staten Island-based seat, leveled the astounding charge that Donovan had offered to seek a pardon for him from Donald Trump in exchange for Grimm sitting out the race.
Campaign ActionThis would be an incredibly serious issue if true. Politico writes that, if Donovan had indeed offered to help Grimm so that he'd drop out, it would violate congressional ethics rules that prevent members from using their position for personal gain. However, Donovan very much insists this isn't what happened at all.
Donovan told Politico that he did raise the issue of a pardon for Grimm with Trump last summer, before Grimm entered the race, but he denied doing it for political reasons. Instead, Donovan said he had asked Trump about granting clemency to Grimm as a "favor" to former Staten Island Borough President Guy Molinari, who was close to both men until he sided with Grimm in the primary.
Donovan says he only mentioned that Molinari, who has known Trump for decades, might reach out to him about "a pardon for somebody," but oddly, at the same time, Donovan claims he poormouthed Molinari as a "never-Trumper" to Trump himself. And Trump, who's been eager to pardon all manner of undeserving criminals, never did a thing for Grimm.
Both Donovan and Grimm agree that the two did meet in person some time before Grimm kicked off his primary bid. Donovan relayed to Politico that he told Grimm that he'd raised the matter with Trump and been told by a staffer that he should go through the Department of Justice. The incumbent says that right after he gave contact information for the Justice Department's pardon to Grimm, Grimm told him that "he wants to run against me."
Grimm, of course, described this encounter very differently on Monday, telling Donovan, "You hugged me, you kissed me," and added, "You even had a piece of paper and said, 'I spoke to [Trump's] staff." Donovan said in response that he passed along details about the pardon office and wasn't actually trying to help Grimm. Grimm countered by saying he'd "let everybody else decide" what Donovan was up to before adding, "Danny, you look like a fool right now."