New York voters weigh the appeal of having a Trump investigator in Congress

Comment

Aloha, Early Birds! What are your plans for today? Are you poring over this explosive whistleblower complaint from a Twitter hacker named “Mudge?” Are you making arrangements to attend the Congressional Black Caucus’s 51st annual legislative conference? Let us know! Tips: earlytips@washpost.com. Thanks for hanging with us. ?

In today’s edition … The Post’s Jeff Stein and Danielle Douglas-Gabriel report President Biden is nearing a decision on canceling $10,000 in student loans as his allies feud … The latest on the legal maneuvering around the Mar-a-Lago documents … but first …

New York voters weigh the appeal of having a Trump investigator in Congress

Today’s Democratic primary for an open seat in New York City has turned into a bruising campaign between Dan Goldman, a former federal prosecutor who’s contributed nearly $4 million to his own campaign, and an array of other Democrats who’ve accused him of trying to buy the seat, including Rep. Mondaire Jones (D-N.Y.).

But the race will also test whether Democrats will reward candidates whose calling card is playing a role in investigating Donald Trump as the former president teases another run for the White House while he faces a slew of legal problems, including the recent search of his Mar-a-Lago resort by the FBI.

Goldman, 46, is running on his experience as Democrats’ lead counsel during Trump’s first impeachment. One of his TV ads includes a clip of him testifying before the House Judiciary Committee and boasts that “Dan Goldman proved the case against Trump.”

And the New York Times cited Goldman’s impeachment bona fides when its editorial board endorsed him this month — a coveted prize in New York’s 10th Congressional District, which includes some of Manhattan and Brooklyn’s wealthiest, most liberal neighborhoods.

“Dan, from the very beginning, has been running this race predicated on the fact that the biggest concern facing us right now is an authoritarian Republican Party,” Simone Kanter, a Goldman campaign spokesman, told The Early. “The fight that happened during impeachment — that Dan played a star role in — is one that is ongoing and will become even more prevalent should (a) Donald run again, and (b) should the Republicans win the majority in November.”

Candidates running on impeachment, investigations

Goldman is one of a small handful of House and Senate candidates this cycle who played a central role in impeaching Trump or investigating him — although not all of them have made their experience the central theme of their campaign.

Rep. Jerry Nadler (D-N.Y.), who’s facing a tough primary today against Rep. Carolyn Maloney (D-N.Y.) and Suraj Patel, a lawyer and former White House aide, has reminded voters of his role in impeaching Trump twice as House Judiciary Committee chairman.

And John Wood, a former senior investigative counsel on the House committee investigating the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the Capitol, is running a long-shot campaign for an open Senate seat in Missouri. He’s trying to appeal to voters who are dissatisfied with state Attorney General Eric Schmitt, the Republican nominee, who led an amicus brief backing a lawsuit to overturn the 2020 election results.

“The old saying is ‘all elections are local,’ but I don’t really buy that,” said former senator John Danforth (R-Mo.), who’s backing Wood. “There are just an awful lot of people who think — and rightfully so — that something terrible has happened to American politics.”

Wood has praised Rep. Liz Cheney (R-Wyo.), the Jan. 6 committee’s vice chairwoman, who lost her primary last week, and has criticized Schmitt as “entirely beholden to Donald Trump.”

While the economy and other issues are “extremely important” to voters, Wood told the Early, “long-term, I think, protecting our democracy and protecting our Constitution and healing our country are the most important things.”