Impeachment Was Unpopular Before Pelosi Acted: Campaign Update

(Bloomberg) -- Most Americans remain opposed to impeachment, with 37% saying President Donald Trump should be removed from office and 57% saying he should not, according to a poll released Wednesday.

Quinnipiac University conducted the survey from Sept. 19 to 23, as new developments regarding a conversation that the president had with Ukraine’s leader unfolded.

The poll doesn’t capture the latest events including House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s decision to begin impeachment proceedings and the release by the White House of the transcript of a telephone call in which Trump asked the Ukrainian president to look into the business dealings of former Vice President Joe Biden’s son Hunter.

Still, the numbers are up slightly from two months ago. Then, 32% of voters favored impeachment while 60% opposed, according to a previous Quinnipiac poll. The biggest shift has come from Democrats, who have gone from 61% for impeachment to 73%.

The poll has an overall margin of error of 3.2 percentage points.

Trump Manhattan Fundraiser to Raise $5 Million (7:39 p.m.)

President Donald Trump on Wednesday evening attended a campaign fundraiser at the Manhattan home of hedge fund founder John Paulson that will raise $5 million, according to two people familiar with the matter.

Another event, at Cipriani 42nd Street on Thursday, is expected to raise at least $3 million, the people said.

Paulson, a billionaire and the founder of Paulson & Co., has been a Trump supporter since he first ran in 2016, and was an economic adviser to the campaign.

The money will go toward the Trump Victory fund, which benefits the president’s re-election campaign and the Republican National Committee, according to a Republican familiar with the arrangement. -- Jennifer Jacobs

Trump Reaps $5 Million After Impeachment Drive: 3:58 P.M.

The Trump campaign and the Republican National Committee raised $5 million in the 24 hours after House Speaker Nancy Pelosi announced she was opening a formal impeachment inquiry.
“Huge groundswell of support,” campaign manager Brad Parscale tweeted in announcing the haul, which he said included donors from all 50 states. The total is far short of the $24.8 million Trump raised in less than 24 hours when he officially relaunched his re-election bid.

The fundraising effort began within minutes of Pelosi’s announcement Tuesday that the House inquiry would examine Trump’s interactions with Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskiy. A text message to supporters Tuesday afternoon said, “Nancy just called for impeachment,” and asked them to make a donation, with $45 the suggested amount.

The campaign also sent an email to supporters Wednesday after the White House released the text of Trump’s conversation with Zelenskiy. “I’ve done nothing wrong,” the solicitation says, “Trust me, you saw the transcript.” That pitch asked for donations of $5 and up. -- Bill Allison

Elizabeth Warren’s Having a Good Week in Polls (11:14 a.m.)

Elizabeth Warren has had quite the week for positive polls.

She’s leading by 9 points over Joe Biden in California in a Los Angeles Times/University of California Berkeley poll out Wednesday, giving her an early lead in the country’s largest Democratic state. She also has moved to the front in the first two nominating contests in Iowa and New Hampshire, according to polls out in the last week.

The Massachusetts senator was at 29% among likely California Democratic primary voters, up from 18% in June. She was followed by Biden at 20%, a drop of 2 points, and Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders at 19%. Senator Kamala Harris only had 8% support in her home state, down from 13% in June.

The California poll was conducted Sept. 13-18, before the stories about President Donald Trump’s request to Ukraine that its government investigate Biden’s son Hunter broke. It has a margin of error of plus or minus 3 percentage points. -- Emma Kinery

Warren Tied With Biden in New National Poll (6:51 a.m.)

Elizabeth Warren is essentially tied with Joe Biden nationwide, continuing a surge in surveys that showed her ahead in Iowa and New Hampshire, according to a Quinnipiac poll released Wednesday.
The survey will fuel questions about whether the former vice president is losing his perch as the front-runner in the race for the 2020 Democratic nomination.

The poll showed Warren with support from 27% of Democratic and Democratic-leaning voters, compared with 25% for Biden. That’s well within the margin of error of the survey of 4.9% but represents the first time a candidate other than Biden has held a numerical lead since Quinnipiac began its survey in March.

Warren has been riding a wave of momentum since the last Democratic debate earlier this month in Houston. -- Kathleen Hunter

COMING UP

The United Food and Commercial Workers union will host forums in Iowa and Michigan with Democratic presidential candidates on Sept. 29 and Oct. 13. Michael Bennet, Joe Biden, Cory Booker, Pete Buttigieg, Kamala Harris, Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren have confirmed that they will attend.

--With assistance from Kathleen Hunter, Emma Kinery, Bill Allison and Jennifer Jacobs.

To contact the reporter on this story: Gregory Korte in Washington at gkorte@bloomberg.net

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Wendy Benjaminson at wbenjaminson@bloomberg.net, Max Berley, John Harney

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