đ Away Message: Iâm currently away from home and internet access has proven inconsistent, which means there will be no update for Thursday, May 29. I'll be back on Monday, June 2. Thanks for understanding! âMATT
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A political newsletter for normal people
WTF Just Happened Today? is a sane, once-a-day newsletter helping normal people make sense of the news. Curated daily and delivered to 200,000+ people every afternoon around 3 pm Pacific.
Day 349: Treasonous.
1/ Steve Bannon called the Trump Tower meeting with Russians âtreasonous,â âunpatriotic,â and âbad shit.â He added: âThe three senior guys in the campaign thought it was a good idea to meet with a foreign government inside Trump Tower ⊠with no lawyers ⊠You should have called the FBI immediately.â Bannonâs comments come from forthcoming book the Fire and Fury: Inside the Trump White House, by Michael Wolff. (The Guardian)
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2/ Trump responds: âSteve Bannon has nothing to do with me or my Presidency. When he was fired, he not only lost his job, he lost his mind.â Trumpâs statement added: âSteve was rarely in a one-on-one meeting with me and only pretends to have had influence to fool a few people with no access and no clue, whom he helped write phony books.â (Bloomberg / Politico)
JUST IN: President Trump statement on Steve Bannon: "When he was fired, he not only lost his job, he lost his mind." pic.twitter.com/LxZoBI5Ng4
â NBC News (@NBCNews) January 3, 2018
3/ Paul Manafort sued Robert Mueller, Rod Rosenstein, and the Justice Department. The lawsuit challenges the authority given to Mueller by Rosenstein, and argues that Muellerâs decision to charge Manafort with alleged money laundering crimes had nothing to do with the 2016 campaign and went too far. (CNN / New York Times)
4/ Trump taunts North Korea: My âNuclear Buttonâ is âmuch bigger and more powerfulâ than Kim Jong-unâs â and âmy Button works!â Trumpâs tweet came after Kim said he has a ânuclear button on the desk in my officeâ and âall of the mainland United States is within the range of our nuclear strike.â (New York Times / The Hill)
North Korean Leader Kim Jong Un just stated that the âNuclear Button is on his desk at all times.â Will someone from his depleted and food starved regime please inform him that I too have a Nuclear Button, but it is a much bigger & more powerful one than his, and my Button works!
â Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 3, 2018
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A House Democrat called on lawmakers to pass a measure restricting Trumpâs ability to launch a preemptive nuclear strike on North Korea without congressional approval. (The Hill)
5/ Fusion GPS defended the dossier of alleged Trump-Russia ties and called on Republicans to release the firmâs testimony. âThe attack on our firm,â the Fusion GPS founders wrote in a New York Times Op-Ed, âis a diversionary tactic by Republicans who donât want to investigate Donald Trumpâs ties to Russia.â Glenn Simpson and Peter Fritsch write they hired Christopher Steele to investigate Trumpâs repeated efforts âto do deals in a notoriously corrupt police state that most serious investors shun.â They added: âAs we told the Senate Judiciary Committee in August, our sources said the dossier was taken so seriously because it corroborated reports the [FBI] had received from other sources, including one inside the Trump camp,â referring to a drunk George Papadopoulos, who bragged about Russia having political dirt on Hillary Clinton to one of Australiaâs top diplomats. (New York Times)
6/ Trump tweets that the âcorrupt media awardsâ will be presented to the âfake news mediaâ next week. In November, Trump suggested there should be a contest among news networks, except for Fox News, for a âFake News Trophy.â A Rasmussen poll conducted after Trumpâs suggestion found that most Americans would award Fox News the trophy. âTHE MOST DISHONEST AND CORRUPT MEDIA AWARDS OF THE YEARâ will be presented Monday at 5:00 pm ET. (The Hill)
I will be announcing THE MOST DISHONEST & CORRUPT MEDIA AWARDS OF THE YEAR on Monday at 5:00 oâclock. Subjects will cover Dishonesty & Bad Reporting in various categories from the Fake News Media. Stay tuned!
â Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 3, 2018
We should have a contest as to which of the Networks, plus CNN and not including Fox, is the most dishonest, corrupt and/or distorted in its political coverage of your favorite President (me). They are all bad. Winner to receive the FAKE NEWS TROPHY!
â Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) November 27, 2017
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Notables.
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In 2017 US manufacturing had its strongest year since 2004. (Bloomberg)
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Trumpâs pick to run Immigration and Customs Enforcement called for politicians in sanctuary cities to be charged with crimes. Thomas Homan said the Department of Justice needs âto file charges against the sanctuary citiesâ and âhold back their funding,â and the politicians enforcing sanctuary city policies need to be held âpersonally accountable.â (The Hill)
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Rupert Murdoch called Trump a âfucking idiotâ after a conversation about immigration. âMurdoch suggested [in a Dec. 2016 phone call] that taking a liberal approach to H-1B visas, which open Americaâs doors to select immigrants, might be hard to square with his promises to build a wall and close the borders. But Trump seemed unconcerned, assuring Murdoch, âWeâll figure it out.â âWhat a fucking idiot,â said Murdoch, shrugging, as he got off the phone.â (New York Magazine)
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Democrats Doug Jones and Tina Smith will both be sworn into the Senate today, narrowing the GOP majority. (NPR)
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North Korea and South Korea established contact on a hotline thatâs been dormant for almost two years. (CNN)
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Sheriff David Clarke was temporarily blocked from tweeting after Twitter users complained that three of his messages violated the terms of service. Clarke was placed in read-only mode until he deleted three tweets that called for violence against members of the media. (CNN)
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The National Security Agency is losing its top talent because of low pay, slumping morale, and unpopular reorganization. (Washington Post)
A political newsletter for normal people
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