Senator Amy Klobuchar (D-MN) probably wasn’t expecting this when she agreed to appear on Tuesday morning on The View via satellite from New Hampshire.Following an opening segment that contained mostly softball questions about the state of the Democratic primary race, the show turned things over to co-host Sunny Hostin after a break. Noting that “you need African-American support to become the Democratic nominee,” Hostin told Klobuchar, “Your tough on crime approach when you were a county attorney in Minnesota is criticized for disproportionately harming black and brown people, and when I look at that record, you know, you failed to prosecute a single killing by the police during the eight years you headed prosecutions, and there were more than two dozen police-involved killings in that period.” Amy Klobuchar Schools Meghan McCain on Impeachment“How do you defend that record?” Hostin asked.“We all know there is systematic racism in this criminal justice system, there's no doubt about that,” Klobuchar replied, going on to defend her record of prosecuting white-collar criminals and decreasing incarceration rates for African-Americans. “But there is so much more work that we have to do,” she added, “and that's why when I got to the U.S. Senate, I started working on things like the First Step Act, which we passed, which has decreased the criminal penalties and allowed some nonviolent offenders to get out of prison.” If she thought that was going to be it on that topic, she was very wrong. Hostin proceeded to bring up Klobuchar’s prosecution of 16-year-old Myon Burrell, a black teenager who is now serving a life sentence for murder despite evidence that suggests he could be innocent. “It gives me no pleasure to say this because as you know, I was a prosecutor as well,” Hostin said. “I have reviewed the facts of that case, and it is one of the most flawed investigations and prosecutions that I think I have ever seen.” As the mother of a black teenager, she called the case her “worst nightmare.” As she has done before, Klobuchar called for all of the evidence to be “immediately reviewed” in that case, but that was not enough for Hostin, who said, “You're a U.S. senator now. You're a powerful woman. What do you plan to do to right this wrong?” Hostin continued to press the candidate on the specifics of that case to the point that moderator Joy Behar jumped in from off-screen with, “Are we prosecuting Amy Klobuchar today?” With that, Hostin ceded the floor to Meghan McCain, but before Klobuchar signed off, she said, “I look forward to coming into the studio, Sunny and I can talk more.”“She’s tough. Sunny Hostin is tough,” Behar added with a laugh. “We’ll be right back.” Alec Baldwin and ‘The View’ Clash With Meghan McCain Over Rush Limbaugh HonorRead more at The Daily Beast.Got a tip? Send it to The Daily Beast hereGet our top stories in your inbox every day. Sign up now!Daily Beast Membership: Beast Inside goes deeper on the stories that matter to you. Learn more.

President Trump and his re-election campaign are trying to cash in on leaked audio and video revealing billionaire Democratic presidential candidate and former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg defending the "stop and frisk" policy he supported as mayor in an effort to reduce crime.The comments, which include Bloomberg saying the New York Police Department stop white people too often and minorities too little, have been subject to backlash, including from Trump. Earlier Tuesday he posted and then deleted a tweet calling Bloomberg a racist, but it looks like he found a way to continue to amplify that message without using his own words. Not long afterwards, Trump retweeted a post with an image of him playing golf with Bloomberg. The president focused on insulting his potential challenger's club speed and physical stature, but people were quick to point out the hashtag in the original post.> Note the hashtag in the quote tweet. This comes after Trump himself wrote, and deleted, a tweet saying Bloomberg was racist. pic.twitter.com/K2X2ZIh31s> > -- Grace Segers (@Grace_Segers) February 11, 2020While Bloomberg has faced staunch criticism for the policy, not all observers think Trump is the person who should be calling him out on it. The president has been accused of racism himself before and during his tenure in the Oval Office, and he's also expressed support for stop and frisk. > Trump can go after Bloomberg on his description of the policy, but Trump is in a glass house here. It's not like people didn't know what stop-and-frisk did. And Trump supported it.> > Also: Central Park 5.> > -- Aaron Blake (@AaronBlake) February 11, 2020More stories from theweek.com The White House will reportedly dismiss another official over role in impeachment investigation Why Wall Street isn't freaking out about Bernie Sanders President Bloomberg?

(Bloomberg) -- House Republicans are putting two of Donald Trump’s most outspoken defenders into position to take leading roles in challenging any investigations of the president launched by Democrats between now and Election Day.Representatives Jim Jordan of Ohio and Mark Meadows of North Carolina were designated the ranking Republicans on the Judiciary and Oversight committees respectively by House GOP members Tuesday. The two committees will be main venues for Democratic post-impeachment probes of the president.Former GOP Representative Dennis Ross, who served in Congress from 2011 through 2019, said Jordan and Meadows will be in a position to throw sand in the gears of Democratic plans and serve as the White House’s eyes and ears amid any investigation.”Politically, this is a good thing for the president,” Ross, now director of the American Center for Political Leadership at Southeastern University in Lakeland, Florida, said.Jordan and Meadows were ubiquitous during the House impeachment hearings on cable news programs and Twitter. Jordan was temporarily placed on the Intelligence Committee during public hearings by GOP leaders to cross-examine witnesses and challenge evidence. During the Senate trial, both were designated by Trump to serve as defense advisers and public surrogates.“I’m going to go fight for the things I think are important to the folks I represent, important to the conference, important to Republican and important to Americans,” Jordan said.Oversight Chairwoman Carolyn Maloney and Judiciary Chairman Jerrold Nadler, both New York Democrats, have said there would be no letup in scrutiny of Trump and his administration despite his acquittal last week in the Senate impeachment trial.Their committees will keep seeking a wide range of evidence and testimony as they look into Trump’s administration, his policies and his businesses and finances, though no specific investigations have been announced by the panels or House leaders.House Democrats also plan to keep a focus on Trump’s conduct in dealing with Ukraine, and Nadler hasn’t ruled out trying to subpoena former National Security Advisor John Bolton and other witnesses who were blocked by Trump from testifying during the impeachment inquiry. There also are multiple court cases running on separate tracks seeking access to the president’s tax returns, testimony from former White House officials and financial records to show whether the president is unlawfully profiting from foreign governments that could trigger investigations.In a move made with the blessing of House Republican leader Kevin McCarthy, Jordan will be leaving the top Republican spot on the Oversight Committee to moving up on Judiciary, replacing Representative Doug Collins who is stepping down in March to run for Senate in Georgia. Meadows, who isn’t seeking re-election in November, will replace Jordan as ranking Republican on Oversight.“It’s an important job, and I appreciated that Kevin and the steering committee has given it a thumbs up,” Jordan said.Meadows was with Trump at a rally in New Hampshire on Monday and didn’t respond to a request for comment.Most Democrats declined Monday to comment on the committee changes, including both Nadler and Maloney, through their spokesmen. Democratic Representative Jim Himes of Connecticut, said Republicans have been playing defense for Trump since he took office.”So it’s nothing new,” Himes said. “It’s obviously inconsistent with the role of Congress. We’re supposed to do oversight.”Senate CoordinationAs members of the minority party in the House, Jordan and Meadows can’t stop Nadler and Maloney from issuing committee subpoenas or initiating investigations and hearings. But they can make their own subpoena requests as a way to deliver a counter message even if they’re rejected and deliver minority reports in an effort to rebut Democratic findings.Their most effective tool may be coordinating with Senate Republicans, who can run parallel investigations more favorable to the president.Senate Judiciary Chairman Lindsey Graham, a South Carolina Republican, has said he would hold hearings on Hunter Biden’s work on the board of a Ukrainian energy company. Separately, GOP Senators Chuck Grassley of Iowa, chairman of the Finance Committee, and Ron Johnson of Wisconsin, chairman of the Homeland Security Committee, have asked the U.S. Secret Service to provide records of Hunter Biden’s travel when his father, Joe Biden, was vice president.Johnson said Monday that the investigation would examine “potentially misuse of agencies, possible corruption, whether Hunter’s involvement affected the Obama administration’s decisions related to Ukraine. I’ve got a lot of unanswered questions.”Trump’s request to Ukraine’s president to investigate Hunter Biden and the actions of Joe Biden, a potential 2020 challenger to Trump, was central to the impeachment charges brought against him by the Democratic House majority.Jordan and Meadows are likely “to work with their Senate counterparts who, as we’ve seen recently with Hunter Biden’s records, have no hesitations about using their perches to investigate Trump’s political rivals,” said Kurt Bardella, a former senior adviser to House Oversight and Government Reform Committee Republicans who has since switched parties. “Going forward, I expect we’ll see a lot of coordination between Senate majority and House minority.”Meadows and Jordan were among the Republican lawmakers who drew praise from Trump last week when the president held a post-acquittal celebration at the White House.Meadows stood up at the White House event to tell Trump that the backing of Republicans in the room “is a small reflection of the kind of support you have all across the country. We’ve got your back.”(Updates with House GOP making move official in second paragraph)\--With assistance from Emily Wilkins.To contact the reporter on this story: Billy House in Washington at bhouse5@bloomberg.netTo contact the editors responsible for this story: Joe Sobczyk at jsobczyk@bloomberg.net, John HarneyFor more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.comSubscribe now to stay ahead with the most trusted business news source.©2020 Bloomberg L.P.

The House GOP has selected two of President Donald Trump’s fiercest allies to serve as the top Republicans on a pair of key congressional committees, placing the lawmakers directly on the frontlines of beating back Democratic oversight efforts.

During a closed-door conference meeting on Tuesday, House Republicans unanimously approved Rep. Jim Jordan of Ohio to be the ranking member on the powerful Judiciary Committee and retiring Rep. Mark Meadows of North Carolina to be the ranking member on the Oversight Committee, according to sources inside the room. The GOP Steering Committee, which includes top members of leadership, recommended the moves last week.

The reshuffling comes after Rep. Doug Collins (R-Ga.), currently the top Republican on the Judiciary panel, decided to launch a Senate bid last month. Under current GOP conference rules, Collins is required to step down from his top post while he seeks higher office. But Collins won’t turn over the ranking member reins until March 12, with leadership agreeing to give him some time to transition his staff.

“Jordan has done an excellent job,” said House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) at his weekly press conference. “The one thing I would take away from all this: we have a united Republican party. Much different in contrast to the Democratic party, where they have their own civil war.”

McCarthy’s blessing is just the latest example of how far his relationship with Jordan and Meadows has come: Jordan unsuccessfully challenged McCarthy for minority leader in 2018. Jordan then expressed interest in the ranking member role on the Judiciary Committee, but ended up running for Oversight instead.

And Jordan and Meadows, co-founders of the conservative House Freedom Caucus, were long a thorn in the side of GOP leadership when Republicans were in the majority. But McCarthy’s newfound alliance with the duo — which started when Trump won the White House but has only strengthened in the minority — is sure to earn the minority leader some major points with conservatives down the road.

With Jordan and Meadows being elevated to their new roles, the White House will have some of their top attack dogs in key defender roles. The House Judiciary Committee has jurisdiction over a wide range of hot-button issues, including impeachment, guns and immigration, while the influential Oversight panel has broad investigative authorities.

Jordan, who came to Congress in 2007, has been one of Trump’s most aggressive defenders in the House and was even temporarily placed on the House Intelligence Committee for the public impeachment hearings. Trump and his allies wanted Jordan on the panel because they consider him to be one of their most effective members at combatting Democrats. And Jordan has also become a fundraising power house, raking in $1.4 million in the last three months of 2019 — an new all-time high for him.

Meadows, meanwhile, was one of Trump’s earliest supporters on Capitol Hill and has become one of his closest confidants. He is set to retire at the end of this year and has signaled interest in a job in the Trump administration.

“It’s an honor that @GOPLeader and our colleagues on the Steering Committee have given me the chance to help lead @JudiciaryGOP,” Jordan tweeted.

A Quinnipiac University poll released Monday had universally bad news for former Vice President Joe Biden, right as he heads into the New Hampshire primaries. Nationally, the poll found, Biden dropped into second place at 17 percent, the new frontrunner being Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), with 25 percent. Relative newcomer Mike Bloomberg, the billionaire former New York City mayor who is significantly outspending everyone in the race, comes in third at 15 percent, followed by Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) at 14 percent.But losing his national lead isn't the worst news for Biden. After New Hampshire, where Biden has low exceptions, comes South Carolina, where Biden's strong support among African American voters was expected to keep him on top. According to the Quinnipiac poll, as Axios noted Tuesday, his black firewall is burning. Biden's support among black Democrats dropped to 27 percent in the new poll, from 51 percent in December. And it appears that much of that support shifted to Bloomberg, who jumped to 22 percent support among black voters, followed by Sanders (19 percent), Warren (8 percent), and former Mayor Pete Buttigieg (4 percent). All the Democrats beat President Trump in head-to-head matchups, but Bloomberg's 51-42 percent margin of victory was the largest.Oddsmakers now have Bloomberg in second place for the Democratic nomination, after Sanders, Axios reports.The sample size of black voters in the poll probably wasn't very large, though. Quinnipiac conducted its poll Feb. 5-9 among 1,519 registered voters, 665 of whom are Democrats and Democratic-leaning independents. It has an overall margin of error of ±2.5 percentage points and a ±3.8 point margin of error for the Democrats and Democratic leaners.More stories from theweek.com The White House will reportedly dismiss another official over role in impeachment investigation Why Wall Street isn't freaking out about Bernie Sanders President Bloomberg?