Today in one sentence: The Justice Department released a previously classified application to wiretap Carter Page; Trump – providing no evidence – claimed the released documents prove the Justice Department and FBI "misled the courts"; Trump called Russia's interference in the 2016 election "all a big hoax" and renewed his call to end the Mueller investigation, tweet-claiming that it's "totally conflicted and discredited."

1/ The Justice Department released a previously classified application to wiretap Carter Page, which shows that “the FBI believes Page has been the subject of targeted recruitment by the Russian government” to “undermine and influence the outcome of the 2016 U.S. presidential election.” According to the October 2016 Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act application, the FBI believed “the Russian government’s efforts are being coordinated with Page and perhaps other individuals associated” with the Trump campaign to establish “relationships with Russian government officials, including Russian intelligence officers.” The application says that Page “has been collaborating and conspiring with the Russian government.” (New York Times / Washington Post / ABC News)

2/ Trump – providing no evidence – claimed the released documents prove the Justice Department and FBI “misled the Court” as a “pretext to SPY on the Trump Team.” Trump, dismissing the claims in the FISA application, charged that it shows his campaign “was illegally being spied upon (surveillance) for the political gain of Crooked Hillary Clinton and the DNC.” (New York Times)

3/ Trump tweeted that Russia’s interference in the 2016 election was “all a big hoax,” again reversing his position on whether he believes the U.S. intelligence community’s conclusion that Russia interfered in the election. Instead, Trump deflected and placed blame on Obama, asking: “Why didn’t he do something about it? Why didn’t he tell our campaign?” Answering his own questions, Trump posited that it was because Obama “thought Crooked Hillary was going to win!!!” (Washington Post)

4/ Trump renewed his call to end the Robert Mueller investigation, tweet-claiming that it’s “totally conflicted and discredited.” Trump cited the release of the FISA application to wiretap Carter Page, who was under suspicion by the FBI of being a Russian agent, as evidence that the investigation is both “a fraud and a hoax.” (Politico / Washington Post)

5/ Carter Page acknowledged working as “an informal adviser to the staff of the Kremlin” in a 2013 letter. On Sunday, Page said “there may have been a loose conversation” with Russian officials,” but dismissed allegations that he was a Russian agent as “spin,” a “ridiculous smear campaign” and “literally a complete joke.” (Politico)

6/ A federal judge granted immunity to five witnesses expected to testify in the Paul Manafort trial. Judge T. S. Ellis approved Robert Mueller’s request and ordered that the names of the five prospective witnesses be made public, as well as the names of all 30 prospective witnesses for the trial. The trial was delayed until July 31. (ABC News / CNBC / CNN / Washington Post)

7/ Russia’s foreign minister told Mike Pompeo that the charges against Maria Butina were “fabricated” and she should be released. Butina was charged in federal court last week of acting as a Russian agent “for the purpose of advancing the interests of the Russian federation.” Butina told the Senate Intelligence Committee in April that she received financial support from Konstantin Nikolaev, a Russian billionaire “with deep ties to the Russian Presidential Administration.” While Nikolaev has never met Trump, his son, who is studying in the U.S., volunteered for Trump’s 2016 campaign and was spotted at the Trump International Hotel in Washington during the inauguration. (New York Times / Washington Post)

  • The Senate Intelligence Committee last year requested details on any financial transactions by Maria Butina and Alexander Torshin that banks deemed to be “suspicious” or “derogatory.” (BuzzFeed News)

8/ In an all-caps tweet, Trump threatened Iran with “CONSEQUENCES THE LIKES OF WHICH FEW THROUGHOUT HISTORY HAVE EVER SUFFERED.” The tweet was in response to a speech by President Hassan Rouhani, who warned the U.S. that any conflict with Iran would result in the “mother of all wars.” Trump responded, informing Rouhani to “NEVER, EVER THREATEN THE UNITED STATES AGAIN” and to “BE CAUTIOUS!” (New York Times)

poll/ 50% of Americans disapprove of Trump’s handling of his meeting with Putin, while 33% approve. (Washington Post)

poll/ 52% of voters disapprove of Trump while 45% approve. Among Republican voters, 88% approve of Trump – the highest of his presidency. (NBC News)

poll/ 56% of voters disapprove of Trump’s doubting the U.S. intelligence community’s conclusions that Russia tried to influence the 2016 election. 29% approve. (ABC News)

Notables.

  1. Trump suggested that Michael Cohen could face consequences for recording a discussion they had two months before the 2016 election about paying a former Playboy model who said she had an affair with Trump. Trump tweeted that it’s “inconceivable that a lawyer would tape a client,” calling it both “totally unheard of and perhaps illegal.” New York state law allows one party to a conversation to tape it without the other knowing. Trump added: “The good news is that your favorite president did nothing wrong!”(New York Times)

  2. Trump’s lawyers waived his attorney-client privilege regarding the taped conversation he had with Michael Cohen in September 2016, in which they discussed payments to an ex-Playboy model. (CNN)

  3. At least 12 audio tapes from Cohen were released to federal prosecutors. The tapes were seized by the FBI in the raids on Cohen’s home and office in April. The Justice Department is considering whether the payments to Karen McDougal violated federal campaign finance laws. (The Guardian / Politico / The Hill)

  4. Robert Mueller wants to subpoena Kristin Davis, the former prostitution mogul who went to prison after being linked to former New York Gov. Eliot Spitzer. When Davis ran for New York governor in 2010, her campaign manager was Andrew Miller, who was subpoenaed by Mueller a month ago. Roger Stone worked for her campaign pro bono. Miller is also a former Stone aide. (TMZ / New York Times)

  5. Brett Kavanaugh suggested several years ago that the unanimous SCOTUS decision that forced Richard Nixon to turn over the Watergate tapes may have been wrongly decided. In a 1999 transcript, Kavanaugh asked, “Should U.S. v. Nixon be overruled on the ground that the case was a nonjusticiable intrabranch dispute? Maybe so.” He also said, “Nixon took away the power of the president to control information in the executive branch by holding that the courts had power and jurisdiction to order the president to disclose information in response to a subpoena sought by a subordinate executive branch official.” (Associated Press)

  6. Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke dismissed the benefits of national monuments, instead focusing on the value of logging, ranching and energy development that could be unlocked if their designations were changed. In April, President Trump signed an executive order instructing Zinke to review 27 national monuments established over a period of 21 years. (Washington Post)

  7. John Kelly signed off on an effort to remove three officials loyal to Scott Pruitt after the EPA secretary resigned earlier this month. The White House removed the trio, in what one administration official described as a “purge.” (Daily Beast)

  8. Trump has complained privately about the lack of progress on North Korea, despite publicly declaring that the country is no longer a nuclear threat and that the crisis had been “largely solved.” North Koreans have canceled meetings, asked for more money, failed to maintain communication, and haven’t demolished a missile-engine testing facility that Trump promised would be destroyed. (Washington Post)

  9. Trump is considering revoking the security clearances of James Comey, former CIA Director John Brennan, former Director of National Intelligence James Clapper, and other Obama-era national security officials who have criticized him. Sarah Huckabee Sanders said Trump believed that the former officials “politicized” their positions by accusing him of inappropriate contact with Russia. (Bloomberg / Politico)