Day 244: Nothing there.
1/ Paul Manafort’s spokesman responded to reports of Manafort’s wiretapping, arguing “it is a felony to reveal the existence of a FISA warrant.” Jason Maloni said DOJ should “immediately conduct an investigation into these leaks and to examine the motivations behind a previous administration’s effort to surveil a political opponent.” The original FISA warrant was granted before Trump declared his candidacy. (CBS News)
2/ Special counsel Robert Mueller sent a document to the White House requesting details on Trump’s behavior in office. The request encompasses Trump’s Oval Office meeting with Sergey Lavrov and Sergey Kislyak the day after the firing of James Comey, as well as documents concerning the firing of Mike Flynn and the administration’s response to news of the 2016 Trump Tower meeting organized by Donald Trump Jr. (New York Times)
3/ Mueller interviewed Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein about the Comey firing. The interview occurred in June or July. Since Jeff Sessions recused himself from the investigation, Rosenstein is ultimately in charge of overseeing the Russia probe. (Wall Street Journal)
4/ The Senate will likely begin voting on the latest bill to repeal the Affordable Care Act next Wednesday. The Graham-Cassidy plan has received pushback from a variety of legislators, as well as from a bipartisan group of 10 governors. Lamar Alexander and Patty Murray continue to negotiate for a bipartisan approach to health care reform. (Axios / Washington Post)
5/ The Trump administration is shifting oversight of international gun sales from State to the Commerce Department. The move will make it easier to sell non-military firearms to foreign buyers. An administration official, noting the increased flexibility, said, “You could really turn the spigot on if you do it the right way.” (Reuters)
6/ Erdoğan said Trump apologized to him for the indictment of Turkish security personnel following their clash with anti-Erdoğan protesters in Washington in May. The Turkish president also said Trump told him “he was going to follow up on this issue when we come to the United States within the framework of an official visit.” The White House denied the apology had occurred. (The Guardian)
7/ Department of Health and Human Services Secretary Tom Price reportedly spent tens of thousands of dollars on private flights last week, breaking with his predecessors. Price did not comment on the expenditures, but a spokesman said charter flights are acceptable when “commercial aircraft cannot reasonably accommodate travel requirements.” Price flew to Maine, New Hampshire, and Pennsylvania. (Politico)
8/ Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro called Trump “the new Hitler” following Trump’s speech at the United Nations. Trump has openly criticized the Maduro regime for weeks, citing the decline of democracy in the Latin American country. Said Maduro: “Nobody threatens Venezuela and nobody owns Venezuela.” (NBC News)
9/ At a United Nations luncheon, Melania Trump condemned bullying. Her speech follows a previous pledge to launch a White House anti-bullying initiative. In her speech, Trump argued that children should never “feel hungry, stalked, frightened, terrorized, bullied, isolated or afraid, with nowhere to turn.” (Politico)
poll/ Nearly half of voters support “a single-payer health care system, where all Americans would get their health insurance from one government plan.” Only 35 percent of voters oppose such a plan. (Politico/Morning Consult)