It’s been more than a year since any sort of “war room” has been run out of the basement of Stephen Bannon’s Capitol Hill townhouse. But a new radio show featuring the former White House official and other loyalists of the commander-in-chief now aims to undermine the ongoing impeachment inquiry into President Donald Trump is now being broadcast from there. [NYTimes]
Happy Wednesday!
Topping the news: The American Civil Liberties Union of Utah has identified a number of irregularities — including potential electioneering — in the early voting process for an already-controversial special election in San Juan County. [Trib]
-> City Councilwoman Erin Mendenhall has a slight lead over Sen. Luz Escamilla in the race to become Salt Lake City’s next mayor, though the recent poll also shows that 21% of voters surveyed remain undecided. [Trib] [DNews] [Fox13]
-> At a debate Wednesday, the candidates for mayor both said they support increased enforcement to keep e-scooters off the sidewalks. [Trib]
-> One-third of voters would likely vote for Gov. Jon Huntsman Jr. as Utah’s next governor, according to a new Salt Lake Chamber Poll. [DNews]
Tweets of the day: From @waltshaub: “I declare executive privilege. Also, thumb war.”
-> From @gtconway3d: “We can confidently say that Mexico is never going to pay for a wall with Colorado.”
-> From @irin: “AOC versus Zuck is the young millennial-old millennial showdown we don’t even deserve.”
Congratulations: To Andrea and Thom Carter, who gave birth to their first child, a baby boy, on Oct. 23. Thom is the executive director of the Utah Clean Air Partnership (UCAIR).
Also in the news: The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is defending its objections to a proposed rule banning conversion therapy on LGBTQ children. [Fox13] [DNews]
-> Even though he doesn’t live within the district’s confines, a West Valley City man says he has the right stuff to win over voters in the race for Utah’s 1st Congressional District in the U.S. House of Representatives, a seat now held by retiring Rep. Rob Bishop. [StandEx]
-> The U.S. Census Bureau is looking for Utahns to fill 5,000 spots as census takers, and the pay isn’t too shabby. [Trib]
-> Proposition 3, a measure calling for a study of Weber County’s three-member commission form of government, is stirring up mixed reviews from the existing slate of commissioners in Weber County, with two currently opposing it. [StandEx]
-> Utah law says there can’t be a sale on alcohol, so the Utah Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control plans to offer a “price reduction” in anticipation of 3.2 beer going away. [Fox13]
-> The Utah Transit Authority Board awarded a train operator Wednesday for his help preventing a near-fatal crash with a car earlier this month. [Trib]
-> A second round of tests conducted on South Jordan’s water supply came back clean Wednesday afternoon, leading the city to declare it both “safe to drink” and “safe to use.” [Trib] [ABC4]
-> The numbers the Utah Legislature’s new tax scheme relies on don’t add up, argues Tribune columnist Robert Gehrke. [Trib]
-> Tribune cartoonist Pat Bagley envisions the rich finding a new way to pay for tax cuts. [Trib]
Nationally: About two dozen Republican lawmakers pushed past Capitol Police officers to stage an attention-grabbing protest of a deposition crucial to the impeachment inquiry into Trump. [NYTimes] [CNN]
-> Testimony from a top United States diplomat Tuesday undercuts the president’s argument that there could not have been a quid pro quo because the Ukranians had no knowledge of assistance being withheld. William B. Taylor Jr. says freezing the aid was directly linked to Trump’s requests. [NYTimes] [WaPost]
-> A federal judge ruled that the State Department has 30 days to release Ukraine-related records, including communications between Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and the president’s personal lawyer, Rudy Giuliani. [CNN]
-> Half of Americans say the president should be impeached and removed from office, according to a new CNN poll. [CNN]
-> The Trump administration is in a legal dispute with California in which the Justice Department says one of the state’s climate initiatives is unlawful because it involves Quebec, Canada. [NYTimes]
-> The United States is expected to formally withdraw from the Paris Agreement on climate change. [NYTimes]
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-- Taylor Stevens and Clara Hatcher
Follow @sltribpolitics