1/ Trump mocked the #MeToo movement in a speech in Montana on Thursday, repeatedly attacked Elizabeth Warren over her heritage, suggested Maxine Waters had an I.Q. in the "mid-60s," derided both John McCain and George H.W. Bush, and vouched for Putin. "You know what? Putin's fine," Trump told the crowd, referring to his upcoming meeting with Putin. "He's fine. We're all fine. We're people. Will I be prepared? Totally prepared. I've been preparing for this stuff my whole life." (New York Times / CNN / Washington Post)
Trump challenged Sen. Elizabeth Warren to take a DNA test to prove that she has Native American ancestors, reviving his "Pocahontas" nickname for the Massachusetts Democrat, who has claimed Native American ancestry. Trump taunted Warren with an imaginary presidential debate, telling the crowd that he would toss her a DNA kit, "but we have to do it gently because we're in the #MeToo generation, so we have to be very gentle." He made a throwing motion and said: "We will very gently take that kit, and we will slowly toss it, hoping it doesn't hit her and injure her arm." (NBC News)
The 11 most dangerous things Donald Trump said in his Montana speech. (CNN)
2/ The U.S. and China each levied $34 billion in tariffs on each other's exports as Trump's trade war with China officially began today at 12:01 a.m. China's Ministry of Commerce accused the U.S. of "typical trade bullying" for having "launched the biggest trade war in economic history so far." Trump has threatened to target another $400 billion in Chinese products with tariffs if Beijing retaliates further. (New York Times / Wall Street Journal / Politico)
Russia imposed tariffs against U.S. goods in response to Trump's steel and aluminum tariffs. Russia's Economic Development Minister said that additional tariffs, ranging from 25 to 40%, have been applied to some U.S. construction equipment, oil and gas equipment, metal processing instruments, drilling equipment, and optical fiber. (The Independent)
3/ The U.S. Army started discharging some immigrant recruits who were promised a path to citizenship in exchange for enlisting. Some were labeled a security risk and discharged because they have relatives abroad. Others have been told they are being discharged because the Department of Defense had not completed their background checks. The number of soldiers who have been discharged is unclear, but immigration attorneys say they know of more than 40. It's also unclear whether there have been policy changes in any of the military branches. (Associated Press)
The Trump administration created a task force to revoke the citizenship of some naturalized immigrants and then eventually deport them. The U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services' new task force and will identify what it calls bad naturalization cases to refer to the Justice Department for denaturalization proceedings. The purported targets are people who had already been rejected by the U.S., but then created a new identity in order to gain citizenship afterward. (WNYC / CNN)
Trump's Mar-a-Lago Club applied for permission to hire 61 foreign workers to serve as waiters and cooks. The Florida resort requested H-2B visas, which are for temporary non-agricultural workers. In order to obtain H-2Bs, employers must prove that there are not enough US workers who are "able, willing, qualified, and available" to do the temporary work. (Washington Post / CNN / ABC News)
4/ The Trump administration requested more time to reunite families it separated at the border. The Justice Department said it has dedicated "immense" resources to reunifying families. A federal court ordered the administration to return all children under 5 to their parents by July 10, and all others by July 26. (Los Angeles Times / Washington Post / ABC News)
5/ Many of the records linking separated children to their parents have either disappeared or been destroyed, leaving the Department of Health and Human Services and the Department of Homeland Security scrambling to identify connections between family members. DNA testing is now being used on children and parents in an attempt to reunite migrant families separated at the US border. (New York Times / CNN)
poll/ 47% of voters overall prefer to vote for a Democrat over a Republican for the House in the midterms. 37% of voters prefer a Republican. (Washington Post)
59% of Democrats say the midterms are extremely important, compared with 46% of Republicans.
55% disapprove of the job Trump is doing, compared to 43% who approve. 54% of men approve; 32% of women approve.
69% of Americans oppose the policy that separating immigrant children from their parents, compared with 29% who support the policy.
52% agree with Trump that America's long-term trading partners have taken advantage of this country. 41% of Americans, however, approve of Trump's handling of trade issues.
Notables.
Michael Cohen doesn't expect Trump to offer him a presidential pardon. "I brought up the pardon, and he said, 'I don't think so. I just don't think so,'" said Cohen's friend. "[Cohen's] certain in his mind that he has been dismissed." Cohen has not been charged with a crime, but is under criminal investigation in New York. (CNN)
Peter Strzok will testify before the House Judiciary Committee next week. The FBI agent was the subject of criticism in the Department of Justice inspector general's report on the handling of the Clinton probe. Strzok has been criticized for sending text messages critical of Trump during the campaign. (CBS News)
Paul Manafort spends "at least 23 hours per day" in solitary confinement while he waits for his July 25 trial because "the facility cannot otherwise guarantee his safety." (Axios / New York Daily News)
A fourth Ohio State wrestler said Rep. Jim Jordan knew about sexual abuse when he was an assistant coach, because he took part in locker-room conversations where athletes discussed the abuse. (NBC News)
Trump on Jim Jordon: "I don't believe [the accusations] at all; I believe him. Jim Jordan is one of the most outstanding people I've met since I've been in Washington. I believe him 100 percent. No question in my mind. I believe Jim Jordan 100 percent. He's an outstanding man." (Washington Post)
Mike Pompeo brought Kim Jong-un an Elton John CD with the song "Rocket Man" on it. Trump called Kim "little rocket man" following a series of nuclear tests and missile launches by North Korea last year. (Chosun Ilbo / NBC News)
The unemployment rate ticked up to 4% after falling to 3.8% in May. The Labor Department reported 213,000 new jobs in June, down from 244,000 in May. (Politico)
London's mayor gave activists permission to launch the "Trump Baby" blimp when Trump visits the U.K. starting on July 13. The blimp will be allowed to fly for two hours at a maximum height of about 100 feet from Parliament Square Garden. (NPR)
Trump will almost entirely avoid London – and the planned protests against him – during his four-day visit to the UK next week. (The Guardian)
1/ Scott Pruitt resigned from the EPA following months of controversies regarding his spending, ethics and management at the agency. Andrew Wheeler will take over as acting administrator. In his resignation letter, Pruitt blamed "unrelenting attacks" on himself and his family. (New York Times / Washington Post / The Hill / Vox)
I have accepted the resignation of Scott Pruitt as the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency. Within the Agency Scott has done an outstanding job, and I will always be thankful to him for this. The Senate confirmed Deputy at EPA, Andrew Wheeler, will on Monday assume duties as the acting Administrator of the EPA. I have no doubt that Andy will continue on with our great and lasting EPA agenda. We have made tremendous progress and the future of the EPA is very bright! –TRUMP
I have accepted the resignation of Scott Pruitt as the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency. Within the Agency Scott has done an outstanding job, and I will always be thankful to him for this. The Senate confirmed Deputy at EPA, Andrew Wheeler, will...
...on Monday assume duties as the acting Administrator of the EPA. I have no doubt that Andy will continue on with our great and lasting EPA agenda. We have made tremendous progress and the future of the EPA is very bright!
One of Scott Pruitt's aides was fired last summer for questioning the practice of retroactively deleting meetings from the official calendar. Madeline Morris was Pruitt's senior scheduler and was fired after she raised objections about the deletions, which she believed were illegal. (New York Times)
How Andrew Wheeler differs from Scott Pruitt. Wheeler is viewed as a Washington insider who avoids the limelight and has spent years effectively navigating the rules. Wheeler is also a veteran coal lobbyist for Murray Energy, whose chief executive, Robert Murray, has been a supporter and adviser of Trump's. (New York Times)
2/ Senate Minority Leader Charles Schumer urged Trump to nominate federal Judge Merrick Garland to replace Justice Anthony Kennedy in a private phone call last week. Garland, Obama's nominee to the Supreme Court, was blocked by Senate Republicans in 2016. The conversation lasted less than five minutes. (Washington Post)
3/ Trump narrowed his Supreme Court shortlist to Brett Kavanaugh, Amy Coney Barrett and Raymond Kethledge and will announce his nominee on Monday, July 9, at 8 pm Eastern time. Aides, however, said they wouldn't be surprised if Trump announced his nominee ahead of the scheduled prime-time event. (ABC News / Axios / Vox)
Trump wants the whole package in a Supreme Court nominee, with the search process playing out like a political campaign as he considers a candidate's appearance as well as the look and feel of his or her family. (Politico)
4/ Trump asked his advisers last August why the U.S. couldn't invade Venezuela. Trump's aides, including then-national security adviser H. R. McMaster and then-secretary of state Rex Tillerson, warned against an invasion. One official said Trump was simply thinking "out loud." Trump, however, raised the issue three more times last year, including in September at a private dinner with the leaders from four Latin American countries during the U.N. General Assembly. Despite being briefed not to raise the possibility of an invasion at the dinner, the first thing Trump said was: "My staff told me not to say this." (Associated Press / CNN)
5/ Trump hired former Fox News executive Bill Shine to lead his communications team. Shine was forced to resign from Fox News in May 2017 over his mishandling of sexual harassment claims at the company. Shine will take over for Hope Hicks, who left in March. (Politico / CNBC / BuzzFeed News)
6/ Trump's first tariffs will hit $34 billion of Chinese imports starting tomorrow. China accused the United States of "opening fire" on the world with the tariffs and vowed to respond the moment the duties on Chinese goods kick in. (Washington Post / Reuters)
Mexico imposed the second part of their $3 billion retaliatory tariffs on U.S. goods in response to Trump's duties on Mexican steel and aluminum exports to the United States. (Politico)
7/ The owner of a Chinese factory says it has been hired to make flags for Trump's 2020 presidential campaign. The factory has reportedly made flags for the campaigns of both Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump in 2016. "We also make flags for Trump for 2020," the factory owner said. "It seems like he has another campaign going on in 2020. Isn't that right?" It is unclear whether the official Trump reelection organization is the one who ordered the flags. (The Hill / Business Insider)
Notables.
Robert Mueller is utilizing additional career Justice Department prosecutors, in a sign that he may soon hand off parts of his investigation. (Bloomberg / Axios)
Trump said he would decide by July 4th if he would sit down for an interview with Robert Mueller's team. Rudy Giuliani said there was "no decision" to announce. (CBS News)
Michael Cohen dropped the reference "personal attorney to President Donald J. Trump" from his social media accounts. His bio is now blank on Twitter with an image of an American flag. (CNN)
A federal judge rejected a Trump administration request to block three California sanctuary laws, allowing the state to counter Trump's crackdown on illegal immigration by limiting the kinds of immigration-related information state and local law enforcement can share with federal officials. (Politico / Associated Press)
Trump lied when he tweeted that Obama granted citizenship to 2,500 Iranians in an attempt to sweeten the Iran nuclear deal. Trump provided no evidence to support his tweet, but three senior Obama administration officials who were involved in the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action negotiations pushed back on the claim, which seems to have originated with a hard-line cleric in Iran's parliament. (Washington Post)
Trump's co-author for The Art of the Deal tweeted that Trump "is incapable of reading a book, much less writing one." The Twitter criticism came after Trump bragged about "my ability to write" and having "many best selling books." (HuffPost)
Wondering what happened to Day 531? WTF Just Happened Today publishes Monday-Friday, except on market holidays.
1/ The Trump administration will rescind Obama-era guidelines that encourage college admissions to consider race as a factor in order to diversify their student bodies. Trump administration officials contend the current policies "mislead schools to believe that legal forms of affirmative action are simpler to achieve than the law allows." The reversal would restore George W. Bush's policy that "strongly encourages the use of race-neutral methods" for student admissions. Jeff Sessions said Justice Department prosecutors will investigate and sue universities over discriminatory admissions policies. Schools that don't follow the new policy could also lose federal funding. (Wall Street Journal / New York Times / Reuters)
2/ Leaked copies of Michael Cohen's shredded documents were reconstructed by the FBI and appear to confirm Cohen's $62,500 payment to a former Playboy model on behalf of Republican fundraiser Elliot Broidy. The documents were seized during a raid by the FBI on Cohen's home and office in April and include handwritten notes about a taxi business, as well as insurance papers, correspondence from a woman described as a "vexatious litigant," who claims she is under government surveillance, and other documents that prosecutors already had in their possession. (BuzzFeed News)
READ: Michael Cohen's Reconstructed Shredded Documents. (DocumentCloud)
3/ Scott Pruitt and his aides kept "secret" calendars and schedules to hide controversial meetings and calls with industry representatives. Staffers routinely met in Pruitt's office to "scrub" records from Pruitt's calendar because they might "look bad." "We would have meetings [about] what we were going to take off on the official schedule," said Pruitt's former deputy chief of staff Kevin Chmielewski. "We had at one point three different schedules. One of them was one that no one else saw except three or four of us. It was a secret … and they would decide what to nix from the public calendar." (CNN)
4/ Two of Pruitt's top aides told congressional investigators that he leveraged his position for personal benefit and ignored warnings about potential ethical issues. The staffers testified to the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee last week, sharing details about Pruitt's spending and management decisions, his efforts to secure a six-figure job for his wife at a conservative political group, enlisting aides to perform personal tasks, and seeking high-end travel despite objections and warnings from staffers. (Washington Post)
5/ Scott Pruitt asked Trump this spring to fire Jeff Sessions and let him run the Department of Justice. Advisers shot down Pruitt's proposal to temporarily replace Sessions for 210 days under the Vacancies Reform Act, saying he would return to Oklahoma afterward to run for office. (CNN)
6/ ICE agents are forcing parents to choose between leaving the country with their children — or leaving the country without them. The new instructions from the Trump administration to agents don't allow parents separated under the "zero tolerance" policy to reunite with their children while they await a decision on asylum – effectively preventing them from making an asylum claim. (NBC News)
7/ A federal judge ordered the U.S. government to stop the blanket arrests of asylum seekers and immediately release or grant hearings to more than 1,000 asylum seekers who have been jailed without individualized case reviews. (Washington Post)
The White House used its official Twitter account to attack two Democratic senators who oppose Trump's immigration agenda, equating their criticisms of Immigration and Customs Enforcement with support for criminals. (New York Times)
8/ Trump threatened several NATO allies in June that they increase defense spending and meet their security obligation or face consequences. Trump hinted that one consequence could be an adjustment to the United States' military presence around the world. In his letter to German Chancellor Angela Merkel, Trump warned that it would "become increasingly difficult to justify to American citizens why some countries do not share NATO's collective security burden while American soldiers continue to sacrifice their lives overseas or come home gravely wounded." (New York Times)
NATO allies defend military spending amid Trump criticism. NATO officials are concerned that trans-Atlantic divisions over trade tariffs and the U.S. pullout from the Paris global climate agreement and the Iran nuclear deal could undermine alliance unity. (Washington Post)
9/ Trump ordered American flags to be lowered to half-staff to honor the victims of last week's shooting at the Capital Gazette newsroom, after initially denying the request last week. Annapolis mayor, Gavin Buckley, submitted the flag request through Maryland representatives in Congress and was told Monday that it had been denied. (New York Times)
poll/ 49% of voters say Trump is racist while 47% say he is not racist. 44% say the main motive for Trump's immigration policies are "racist beliefs." (Quinnipiac)
poll/ 58% of Americans disapprove of the way Trump has handled immigration, frequently describing the practice of separating children from their parents as "sad," "terrible," "bad," and "wrong." (Quinnipiac)
poll/ 64% of voters want Trump's Supreme Court nominee to "limit the amount of money corporations and unions can spend on political campaigns." The Supreme Court's 2010 Citizens United decision allowed businesses to spend unlimited money on political campaigns. (Daily Beast / Ipsos)
poll/ 62% of Americans say they want the Republican-led Senate to vote on Trump's Supreme Court nominee before the November midterm elections. 33% said the Senate should wait until after the elections. 66% of Democrats and 60% of Republicans said Trump's nominee would be an important factor in their vote in the midterms. (NBC News)
Notables.
Rep. Jim Jordan was accused of failing to stop sexual abuse by the team doctor when he was the Ohio State wrestling coach. Republican congressman from Ohio was the assistant wrestling coach at the university from 1986 to 1994 and has repeatedly said he didn't know about the abuse until former students began speaking out this spring. (NBC News)
Wilbur Ross shorted two more stocks – five in total – during his time as Commerce secretary. Ross maintains that made the trades to avoid the impression that his financial holdings were a conflict of interest. (CNBC)
Trump, again, criticized Harley-Davidson for moving some operations overseas in response to retaliatory EU tariffs against U.S. goods. Trump tweeted that he's talking with other motorcycle companies about moving them to the U.S. (CNBC)
The top aide to Rod Rosenstein will leave the Justice Department for a job in the private sector. The DOJ's previous third-in-command, Rachel Brand, resigned earlier this year. TALK: Who else has left the Trump administration. (NPR)
A federal judge set a pre-sentencing hearing for Michael Flynn. Trump's former national security adviser will head to court next Tuesday. Flynn pleaded guilty last December to one felony count of making false statements to the FBI. (Politico)
The Senate Intelligence Committee backed the intelligence community's assessment that Putin was trying to help Trump when Russia interfered in the 2016 presidential election, breaking with their House Republican counterparts. (Politico / CNN)
Trump plans to meet one-on-one with Putin during their July 16 summit in Helsinki, Finland. Some US officials expressed concern that without aides present, the meeting will be without an official record — making it difficult to determine whether they reached any agreements. (CNN)
1/ Michael Cohen will "put family and country first," saying his "first loyalty" isn't to Trump. "I will not be a punching bag as part of anyone's defense strategy," Cohen said. "I am not a villain of this story, and I will not allow others to try to depict me that way." Cohen, signaling his willingness to cooperate with Robert Mueller and federal prosecutors in the Southern District of New York, said his decision to cooperate will not be based on loyalty to Trump, but rather his attorney's legal advice. Guy Petrillo, who is expected to take over as Cohen's lead counsel this week, once led the criminal division of the U.S. Attorney's Office in Manhattan, which is the office currently investigating Cohen. (ABC News / Washington Post)
Paul Manafort's personal assistant gave the FBI access to his storage locker in Virginia. The judge rejected Manafort's argument that Robert Mueller had been improperly appointed and lacked authority to prosecute him. (Reuters)
Konstantin Kilimnik helped strategize Paul Manafort's lobbying to clients in Russia and Ukraine. Robert Mueller's team has alleged that Kilimnik's ties to Russian intelligence remained active through the 2016 U.S. presidential campaign, which Kilimnik has denied. Among Manafort's clients was Russian oligarch Oleg Deripaska and other wealthy Russians with close ties to Putin. (Associated Press)
Robert Mueller's team has likely already gained access to the NRA's tax filings and so-called "dark money" donors list, who financed $21 million of the group's $30 million-plus pro-Trump spending. The NRA's nonprofit status allowed it to hide those donors' names from the public, but not the IRS. Mueller's team is reportedly looking into NRA donors with links to Russia and whether they used the organization to illegally funnel foreign money to Trump's campaign. (McClatchy DC)
2/ Susan Collins will not support a Supreme Court nominee who has displayed "hostility" toward Roe v. Wade. "A candidate for this important position who would overturn Roe v. Wade would not be acceptable to me," Collins said, "because that would indicate an activist agenda that I don't want to see a judge have." Collins said she views Roe v. Wade as a precedent that should not be overturned. Trump, meanwhile, will not ask possible nominees for Justice Anthony Kennedy's seat whether they would overturn Roe v. Wade. (New York Times / ABC News / Reuters)
Trump wants to replace Justice Kennedy with someone who has a portfolio of academic writing — but he doesn't want to read any of it himself. Trump also said it's essential that his nominee be "not weak" and that they "interpret the Constitution the way the framers meant it to be." (Washington Post)
Trump will temporarily reorganize his White House staff to focus on confirming a Supreme Court nominee. Don McGahn, the White House counsel, will lead the process with Raj Shah, deputy press secretary, focusing on coordinating Trump's message. (New York Times)
3/ North Korea has increased its production of enriched uranium for nuclear weapons in recent months, leading U.S. intelligence officials to conclude that North Korea does not intend to surrender its nuclear stockpile and that it is trying to conceal the number of weapons and production facilities it has. Satellite imagery also shows that North Korea is finalizing the expansion of a ballistic missile manufacturing site; the expansion started after Kim Jong-un's summit with South Korean President Moon Jae-in but before he met Trump. (NBC News / Washington Post / CNN)
Trump's national security adviser believes North Korea could dismantle all of its nuclear weapons "in a year," despite signs of increased nuclear fuel production. John Bolton's timeline is at odds with what Secretary of State Mike Pompeo outlined to Congress recently. Pompeo said North Korean denuclearization could happen within two and a half years – or around the time Trump's first term ends. (New York Times / Reuters)
Trump may hold a second summit with Kim Jong-un in New York in September, when world leaders are in town for the U.N. General Assembly. (Axios)
4/ The Trump administration drafted a bill that would abandon America's commitment to the World Trade Organization. The bill, called the "United States Fair and Reciprocal Tariff Act," is affectionately referred to as the FART Act on Twitter and would allow Trump to unilaterally raise tariffs without congressional consent. The source described the bill as "insane." (Axios / Business Insider / The Guardian)
Trump's commerce secretary said Trump won't change his trade policy even if the stock market keeps falling. "There's no bright line level of the stock market that's going to change policy," Wilbur Ross said. Stocks slipped lower during the first trading day of the third quarter with markets concerned about Trump's tariffs. (CNBC)
5/ Trump said he's not happy with the revised NAFTA deal with Canada and Mexico and he won't sign it until after the midterm elections. "NAFTA, I could sign it tomorrow, but I’m not happy with it," Trump said. "I want to make it more fair, okay? I want to wait until after the election." (Washington Post)
6/ Canada imposed new tariffs on $12.5 billion worth of American exports and goods. The new tariffs are meant to be a proportional response to Trump's recent steel and aluminum tariffs. Some U.S. products, mostly steel and iron, will face 25% tariffs, and other imports, like ketchup, pizza, and dishwasher detergent, will face a 10% tariff. (CNN Money / Associated Press)
The U.S. Chamber of Commerce will launch a campaign to oppose Trump's trade tariff policies. The business lobbying giant is using a state-by-state analysis to argue that Trump is risking a global trade war that will affect the wallets of U.S. consumers. (Reuters)
7/ Trump tried to pretend that he never urged House Republicans to vote for an immigration bill — even though he tweeted that exact thing just three days earlier. On Saturday, Trump tweeted: "I never pushed the Republicans in the House to vote for the Immigration Bill, either GOODLATTE 1 or 2, because it could never have gotten enough Democrats as long as there is the 60 vote threshold." From Wednesday: "HOUSE REPUBLICANS SHOULD PASS THE STRONG BUT FAIR IMMIGRATION BILL, KNOWN AS GOODLATTE II, IN THEIR AFTERNOON VOTE TODAY, EVEN THOUGH THE DEMS WON'T LET IT PASS IN THE SENATE." (Politico / Slate)
HOUSE REPUBLICANS SHOULD PASS THE STRONG BUT FAIR IMMIGRATION BILL, KNOWN AS GOODLATTE II, IN THEIR AFTERNOON VOTE TODAY, EVEN THOUGH THE DEMS WON’T LET IT PASS IN THE SENATE. PASSAGE WILL SHOW THAT WE WANT STRONG BORDERS & SECURITY WHILE THE DEMS WANT OPEN BORDERS = CRIME. WIN!
I never pushed the Republicans in the House to vote for the Immigration Bill, either GOODLATTE 1 or 2, because it could never have gotten enough Democrats as long as there is the 60 vote threshold. I released many prior to the vote knowing we need more Republicans to win in Nov.
poll/ 63% of voters overall support the Supreme Court's decision on Roe v. Wade. Among Republicans, 58% disagree with the Supreme Court's decision. (Quinnipiac)
poll/ 47% of U.S. adults say they are "extremely proud" to be American – the lowest share since Gallup started asking that question nearly two decades ago. In particular, 32% of Democrats say they are "extremely proud" to be American — down from 56% in 2013. 74% of Republicans, meanwhile, say they're extremely proud to be Americans – up from 71% in 2013. (Gallup)
Notables.
Senior Border Patrol official Ronald D. Vitiello will replace Thomas D. Homan and serve as the new acting director of ICE. Vitiello currently serves as acting deputy commissioner of Customs and Border Protection; he previously served as the chief of the Border Patrol. Homan retired last month after serving as the acting head of ICE. The Senate must now approve a full-time director for ICE, and Vitiello is considered the leading candidate. (New York Times)
The White House is walking back Trump's call for Saudi Arabia to "increase oil production, maybe up to 2,000,000 barrels" per day, to make up for decreases in production by Iran and Venezuela. Trump claimed that he had spoken to Saudi Arabia's King Salman bin Abdulaziz and that Salman had agreed to Trump's request. The White House later issued a statement saying that, while Saudi Arabia has the capacity to increase production if necessary, the Saudis will use it "prudently" and only "if and when necessary to ensure market balance and stability, and in coordination with its producer partners, to respond to any eventuality." (HuffPost)
A podcast host tricked Trump into calling him from Air Force One by telling the White House switchboard operator that he had Sen. Bob Menendez on the line for him. The radio shock jock claimed to represent the Democratic senator from New Jersey and said he had an urgent legislative matter to discuss. The result was a six-minute phone conversation between Stuttering John and the President of the United States aboard Air Force One, during which they talked about immigration and the Supreme Court. The White House has since launched an internal investigation into how the comedian was able to get through to Trump so easily. (New York Times / Stuttering John Podcast / The Hill)
1/ Trump has been privately telling top White House officials that he wants the US to withdraw from the World Trade Organization. "He's [threatened to withdraw] 100 times," a person who's discussed the subject with Trump. "It would totally [screw] us as a country." Trump's economic advisers have pushed back when he raises the idea of withdrawing from the WTO. which regulates international trade. (Axios / CNN)
2/ The Trump administration ran a family separation "pilot program" months before the announcement of the "zero tolerance" policy. At least 1,768 children were separated from their parents between October 2016 and February 2018; it is not known how many of these separations took place after Trump took office because the Department of Homeland Security will not release month-by-month figures. An additional 2,342 children have been separated since May 5, bringing the total number of separated kids to more than 4,100. (NBC News)
3/ The Department of Justice is drafting a plan to overhaul the U.S. asylum policy, which would prevent people from getting asylum if they entered the country illegally. It would also make it extremely difficult for Central Americans to qualify for asylum, and would codify an opinion written by Jeff Sessions that restricts asylum for victims of domestic abuse and gang violence. (Vox)
The UN migration agency voted down Trump's candidate to lead the International Organization for Migration, which is responsible for coordinating assistance to migrants worldwide. (CNN)
Pence told the leaders of three Central American countries that "this exodus must end" and to respect U.S. borders. "Our nation needs your nations to do more," Pence added. (NBC News)
4/ Justice Anthony Kennedy's son, Justin, worked at Deutsche Bank for more than a decade, helping loan Trump more than $1 billion at a time when other banks wouldn't. Since 1998, Deutsche has helped loan Trump at least $2.5 billion, of which at least $130 million is still owed to the bank. In 2017, Deutsche Bank AG agreed to pay $425 million to New York's banking regulator over a money laundering scheme that helped Russian investors move $10 billion out of Russia. Trump later waived the fines for the bank after Robert Mueller issued a subpoena to Deutsche for the banking records of people affiliated with him. Following Trump's first address to Congress in February 2017, he stopped to tell Justice Kennedy: "Say hello to your boy. Special guy." (New York Times)
poll/ 67% of Americans do not want the Supreme Court to overturn Roe v. Wade. 53% of Republicans want to see Roe v. Wade overturned, while 81% of Democrats and 73% of independents do not. (Kaiser Family Foundation / Vox)
The Iowa Supreme Court ruled that a law requiring a 72-hour waiting period for women seeking an abortion was an unconstitutional burden. "Autonomy and dominion over one's body go to the very heart of what it means to be free," the justices wrote. "At stake in this case is the right to shape, for oneself, without unwarranted governmental intrusion, one’s own identity, destiny, and place in the world. Nothing could be more fundamental to the notion of liberty." (Associated Press)
Notables.
Rep. Maxine Waters cancelled multiple events after receiving what she described as a "very serious death threat" against her. Waters was scheduled to speak Friday at the conference of the National Organization of Black Elected Legislative Women in Birmingham and another event in Texas. Last week Waters encouraged protesters to confront Trump officials in public. (Washington Post / CNN)
George Papadopoulos will be sentenced by a federal judge in Washington, D.C., on Sept. 7. Papadopoulos pleaded guilty to lying to the FBI and has agreed to cooperate with Robert Mueller's investigation. (NBC News)
Trump wants to make a deal with Putin on Syria that would allow the US to "get out ASAP." Trump's plan would let the Russians help Syrian leader Bashar al-Assad take back a region where the US-led coalition is experiencing increased opposition from "an unidentified hostile force" despite a previous ceasefire. (CNN)
Trump's chief economic adviser lied on Fox Business that the federal budget deficit was "coming down rapidly," contradicting all available data. The deficit from January through April was $161 billion, up from $135 billion at the same point last year. The deficit in fiscal year 2017 was $665 billion. In fiscal year 2016, the deficit was $587 billion. The nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office projects that the deficit will climb to $1 trillion annually by 2020. There is no publicly available data to justify Larry Kudlow's claim. (Washington Post)
1/ Paul Manafort owed $10 million to Russian oligarch Oleg Deripaska, who was sanctioned by the U.S. in April 2018. The unsealed search warrant application from July 2017 shows that Deripaska financially backed Manafort's consulting work in Ukraine when it started in 2005-06. Robert Mueller also indicted Konstantin Kilimnik, a political operative who served as an intermediary between Manafort and Deripaska, as well as allegedly having ties to Russian spy agencies. The search warrant also confirmed that Mueller has been investigating Manafort's role in the June 2016 meeting at Trump Tower between Trump Jr. and a Russian lawyer. (Reuters)
Several billionaires with Kremlin ties attended exclusive, invitation-only receptions during Trump's inauguration festivities – events typically reserved for top donors and close political allies. Robert Mueller's team has expressed interest in the Russian guests who had no obvious place in Trump's diplomatic orbit (ABC News)
2/ Trump and Putin will meet on July 16 in Helsinki to discuss a "range of national security issues," as well as "further development of Russian-American relations." Before the summit meeting was announced, Trump reported via Twitter that "Russia continues to say they had nothing to do with Meddling in our Election!" He added: "Why isn't Hillary/Russia being looked at?" The Helsinki talks will follow a NATO meeting in Brussels on July 11 and 12. Trump told leaders at the recent G7 summit in Canada that "NATO is as bad as NAFTA," stoking fears that Trump plans to undercut the alliance's values and commitments. (New York Times / Washington Post / Axios)
Russia continues to say they had nothing to do with Meddling in our Election! Where is the DNC Server, and why didn’t Shady James Comey and the now disgraced FBI agents take and closely examine it? Why isn’t Hillary/Russia being looked at? So many questions, so much corruption!
Mike Pompeo: Trump will warn Putin that it is "completely unacceptable" to interfere in U.S. elections. "I'm confident that when the president meets with Vladimir Putin he will make clear that meddling in our elections is completely unacceptable," the secretary of state said. (Politico)
3/ Immigrant children as young as three are being ordered to appear in court for their own deportation hearings without legal representation. The children are being served with notices to appear in court, but they are not entitled to an attorney. Instead, they are given a list of legal services organizations that might help them. Requiring unaccompanied minors to go through deportation alone is not new, but the number of children who are affected by this process has gone up during the Trump presidency. (Texas Tribune)
4/ Federal officials have launched two reviews into Trump's handling of families at the border. The Government Accountability Office and the Health and Human Services inspector general both launched reviews. The GAO will audit the systems and processes used to track families as they were separated, while the HHS inspector general announced that it will review the safety and health protections in the agency's shelters for migrant children. (Politico)
5/ The Pentagon said the Department of Homeland Security requested that it help "house and care for an alien family population of up to 12,000 people." The Pentagon has been asked to "identify any available facilities that could be used for that purpose," and "identify available DoD land and construct semi-separate, soft-sided camp facilities capable of sheltering up to 4,000 people, at three separate locations." (CNN)
6/ Trump is considering Utah Senator Mike Lee to replace Justice Anthony Kennedy on the Supreme Court. Lee has publicly denounced Roe v. Wade. Mitch McConnell said Senate Republicans plan to hold a confirmation vote before November's midterms, when the party is at risk of losing its 51-to-49 majority. (Bloomberg / Washington Post)
Who's on Trump's short list to replace Supreme Court Justice Kennedy? Trump will replace Supreme Court Justice Anthony Kennedy with one of 25 people from a previously released list. "We have to pick one that's going to be there for 40 years, 45 years," Trump said. (Politico / NBC News)
The fate of the Supreme Court could hinge on Republican Senators Susan Collins and Lisa Murkowski. Republicans control the Senate by one seat and with Arizona Senator John McCain's absence the two moderate Republicans hold enormous sway over Trump's Supreme Court pick. (Politico)
poll/ 54% of Republicans think it's "very likely" that social media platforms intentionally censor political views they consider "objectionable." 64% of those surveyed believe tech companies support liberal views over conservative ones. (Axios)
Notables.
A former aide to Roger Stone was subpoenaed to appear before the grand jury in Robert Mueller's investigation and to hand over documents. Andrew Miller worked for Stone during the campaign and plans to argue that Mueller's appointment "was unconstitutional." (New York Times)
The House passed a resolution demanding that the Justice Department turn over documents related to the Russia investigation, potentially setting up Rod Rosenstein for impeachment if he doesn't comply within seven days. During a separate House Judiciary Committee meeting, Republicans accused Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein and FBI Director Christopher Wray of withholding details about surveillance tactics during the Russia investigation. (New York Times / Washington Post / NBC News)
A former ICE spokesman turned whistleblower was interrupted at his home by Homeland Security officials during a television interview. James Schwab was explaining why he quit in March following pressure from the Trump administration "to flat-out lie" when DHS unexpectedly interrupted the interview. (CBS News)
Lawmakers introduced a bipartisan bill to make Puerto Rico the nation's 51st state by 2021. The Puerto Rico Admission Act of 2018 was authored by Puerto Rico's resident commissioner, Jennifer González-Colón, a Republican nonvoting member of Congress. The bill is cosponsored by 22 Republicans and 14 Democrats, and calls for the creation of a task force of nine members of Congress to look into the changes necessary to incorporate Puerto Rico as a state. (NBC News)
Trump's pick to run the IRS owns properties at the Trump International Hotel Waikiki and Tower in Hawaii. Chuck Rettig had previously disclosed his 50% stake in a pair of Honolulu rental units, but he did not specify their location. Rettig is scheduled to testify in front of the Senate Finance Committee today, where his ownership of the Trump-branded hotel properties is expected to come up during questioning. (Politico)
Nearly 600 protesters were arrested by Capitol Police for unlawfully demonstrating against Trump's immigration policies inside the Hart Senate Office Building. Chanting "WE CARE" and "ABOLISH ICE," the protesters demanded that Congress end Trump's policies that criminalize and detain undocumented immigrants and separate detained families. (ABC News)
Two days ago, former Breitbart writer Milo Yiannopoulos encouraged "vigilante squads to start gunning journalists down on sight." Today, at least five people were killed and several others "gravely injured" in a shooting at the Capital Gazette newspaper in Annapolis, Maryland. (The Observer / Capital Gazette / New York Times / Baltimore Sun)
1/ Justice Anthony Kennedy will retire from the Supreme Court at the end of July, giving Trump a second chance to fundamentally shift the court to the right for decades by creating a five-member conservative majority. Kennedy was the court's leading champion of gay rights, who also joined the court's liberals in cases on abortion, affirmative action and the death penalty. Kennedy's decision to retire will impact the midterm elections, as Democrats and Republicans seek control of the Senate, which confirms Supreme Court justices. Senate Democrats currently lack the number of votes needed to deny the seat to Trump's nominee. (CNBC / Washington Post / New York Times)
What Kennedy's departure from the Supreme Court will mean for abortion, gay rights, and more. Kennedy has been the swing vote on many of the Court’s most ideologically charged decisions. (Vox)
Mitch McConnell promised a Senate vote on a new Supreme Court nominee by the fall. Trump added that the search for Kennedy's successor will begin "immediately." (The Hill / New York Times)
Charles Schumer called McConnell's determination to vote a Supreme Court nominee before the November midterm elections the "height of hypocrisy" for Republicans. McConnell kept Justice Antonin Scalia's seat vacant for more than a year after he died, arguing that voters should weigh in during the 2016 presidential election on the ideological balance of the high court. (The Hill)
2/ The House rejected the latest Republican immigration bill in a 301 to 121 vote despite a last-minute tweet, all caps tweet of support from Trump. Lawmakers will now leave for their 10-day Fourth of July recess with no resolution on the fate of the Dreamers, who were brought to the country illegally as children. (CNBC / New York Times / Washington Post)
HOUSE REPUBLICANS SHOULD PASS THE STRONG BUT FAIR IMMIGRATION BILL, KNOWN AS GOODLATTE II, IN THEIR AFTERNOON VOTE TODAY, EVEN THOUGH THE DEMS WON’T LET IT PASS IN THE SENATE. PASSAGE WILL SHOW THAT WE WANT STRONG BORDERS & SECURITY WHILE THE DEMS WANT OPEN BORDERS = CRIME. WIN!
3/ A federal judge ordered the federal government to reunite migrant families separated under the Trump administration's "zero tolerance" policy and to end most family separations. U.S. District Court Judge Dana Sabraw issued a nationwide injunction requiring that all children under the age of five be reunited with their parents within 14 days and that older children be reunited within 30 days, and temporarily stopping the practice of separating children from their parents. The judge also ordered that all children who have been separated be allowed to talk to their parents within 10 days. (Politico / New York Times / CNN / Washington Post)
Melania Trump will visit more immigration holding centers this week. [Editor's note: I really don't care, do u?] (Politico)
4/ Jeff Sessions called the outrage over separating migrant children from their families a "radicalized" issue championed by the "lunatic fringe" living in "gated communities." Sessions was speaking to the Criminal Justice Legal Foundation in Los Angeles where he suggested that those those who condemn the division of families who cross the border illegally are hypocrites. "These same people live in gated communities, many of them, and are featured at events where you have to have an ID to even come in and hear them speak," Sessions said, "They like a little security around themselves, and if you try to scale the fence, believe me, they'll be even too happy to have you arrested and separated from your children." (Washington Post / New York Daily News)
AG Sessions on immigration: "The rhetoric we hear from the other side on this issue—as on so many others—has become radicalized. We hear views on television today that are on the lunatic fringe, frankly. And what is perhaps more galling is the hypocrisy." pic.twitter.com/wspedYyhvr
5/ The Supreme Court ruled that non-union public-sector workers cannot be required to pay union fees despite being represented by the union in collective bargaining negotiations. A 1977 decision made the distinction that forcing nonmembers to pay for a union's political activities violated the First Amendment, but that it was constitutional to require nonmembers to help pay for the union's collective bargaining efforts. More than one-third of public employees are unionized, and public-sector unions stand to lose tens of millions of dollars as a result of the ruling. (New York Times / Washington Post / Wall Street Journal / NBC News)
6/ A former Fox News executive is expected to be the next White House communications director. Bill Shine was forced out as Fox News co-president for how he handled sexual harassment claims at the network. Shine is good friends with Sean Hannity. (CNN / Washington Post / New York Times)
7/ Trump will meet Putin in the next few weeks, according to national security adviser John Bolton. The meeting is expected to take place in mid-July, when Trump will be in Europe for a previously scheduled NATO summit in Brussels on July 11-12. America's European allies are worried that Trump's meeting with Putin will undermine the NATO summit in the same way Trump clashed with allies at the G7 summit and then praised dictator Kim Jong-un. Asked why the meeting was taking place, Bolton replied: "I'd like to hear someone say this is a bad idea." (New York Times / CNN / Axios / Washington Post / Wall Street Journal)
8/ First-time candidate Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez defeated 10-term incumbent Joe Crowley in the Democratic primary for New York's 14th Congressional District on Tuesday. Ocasio-Cortez's grassroots victory is being called one of the most shocking political upsets of the year, marking the first time in 14 years that a member of Crowley's own party attempted to unseat him. Crowley outspent Ocasio-Cortez by a 10-to-1 margin. (CNN / Vox)
Top takeaways from Tuesday's primaries. (Politico)
Former NAACP chief Ben Jealous won Maryland's Democratic primary for governor and will now take on Republican Gov. Larry Hogan in the November election. Jealous promised to deliver a progressive agenda that includes free college, legal marijuana and a $15-an-hour minimum wage. (Baltimore Sun)
poll/ 37% of voters support the GOP tax overhaul – down from 44% in April. 55% of voters say they have not noticed an increase in their paychecks as a result of the law. (Politico)
poll/ 74% of voters support Trump's decision to reverse his administration's own policy of separating children from their family when they're caught crossing the border illegally. 44% approve of the way Trump is handling immigration, compared to 48% who disapprove. (Politico)
poll/ 92% of Republicans believe the news media frequently and intentionally reports false or misleading stories. Overall, 65% of Americans think fake news is reported because "people have an agenda," 30% believe it's due to laziness or "poor fact-checking," and 3% think fake news is reported by accident. (Axios)
Notables.
Sarah Huckabee Sanders will receive temporary Secret Service protection for an unspecified period of time. The protective detail comes days after Sanders was asked to leave the Red Hen restaurant in Lexington, VA, over her role in the Trump administration. (CNN)
Conservatives unsuccessfully lobbied Scott Pruitt last year to remove a career staffer in hopes of derailing the 13-agency National Climate Assessment, which concluded that human activity is "extremely likely" to be driving climate change. Conservatives wanted Pruitt to "recall and replace" the staffer, who worked for the committee overseeing the congressionally mandated report. (Politico)
The man charged with murder of a woman at last year's "Unite the Right" rally in Charlottesville, Virginia, now faces federal hate crime charges. The Department of Justice indicted James Alex Fields Jr. with a hate crime resulting in death, 29 charges for hate crimes involving an attempt to kill dozens of people, and one charge of "racially motivated violent interference" with a federally protected activity. (Associated Press / Vox / New York Times)
Trump's voter fraud commission was ordered to hand over documents demanded by Democrats by July 18. The now-defunct Presidential Advisory Commission on Election Integrity was set up after Trump's inauguration in order to investigate his unfounded claims of widespread voter fraud in the 2016 election. It was dissolved after some states refused to hand over voter information. (The Hill)
North Korea continues to make upgrades to its nuclear reactor "at a rapid pace," despite pledging to denuclearize. Satellite imagery shows infrastructure improvements to the site, including the cooling system for the plutonium production reactor. (The Guardian)
Trump made 103 false statements last week, setting a new one-week record for his presidency. His previous record for false claims in a week was 60, which he set in early March. By some counts, that brings Trump's total to 1,829 false claims in the first 521 days of his presidency, an average of 3.5 per day. Other counts put the number of false or misleading statements above 3,000. (Toronto Star)
1/ The Supreme Court upheld the third iteration of Trump's travel ban in a 5-4 ruling along ideological lines. The ban was issued last fall and prevented travelers from eight counties – including six majority-Muslim countries – from entering the U.S. Several states challenged the ban, claiming the order constituted a "Muslim ban," violated Trump's executive authority and the Constitution, and harmed U.S. citizens and educational institutions. Trump seemed surprised by the decision, tweeting "SUPREME COURT UPHOLDS TRUMP TRAVEL BAN. Wow!" (CNN / Washington Post / New York Times / CNBC)
2/ The Supreme Court ruled that "crisis pregnancy centers" don't have to provide women with information about the availability of abortions. California required that centers post notices about state-offered abortion, contraception and prenatal services available to low-income women, and to provide phone numbers for more information. The National Institute of Family and Life Advocates argued that the law violated their right to free speech by forcing them to convey messages at odds with their beliefs. The Supreme Court agreed in a 5-4 vote. "Crisis pregnancy centers" are essentially anti-abortion facilities that seek to prevent abortions that are often located next to or across the street from a traditional, full-service women's reproductive health center. (Washington Post / New York Times / NPR)
3/ Robert Mueller's team plans to produce conclusions and possible indictments related to the Trump-Russia investigation by fall. Mueller and investigators will then determine whether there is sufficient evidence to conclude that Trump attempted to obstruct justice. At least 13 people associated with Trump's presidential campaign had suspicious contacts with Russians. (Bloomberg)
Michael Cohen wants to prevent prosecutors from reviewing 12,000 files from the more than four million seized by authorities as part of their criminal investigation. Cohen claims the documents either are covered by attorney-client privilege or are part of legal work being done in preparation for litigation. (Reuters)
A federal judge refused to dismiss charges brought against Paul Manafort by Robert Mueller. Manafort's lawyers tried to discredit Mueller's probe by accusing Rod Rosenstein of violating Justice Department rules governing the appointment of special counsels. (Associated Press / Reuters / Politico)
4/ Seventeen states sued the Trump administration to force officials to reunite migrant families who have been separated at the U.S.-Mexico border. The Health and Human Services Secretary, however, said the Trump administration will not reunite any children with parents held in detention facilities unless current federal law changes or their parents drop their asylum claims and agree to be deported. (Reuters / NBC News / Los Angeles Times)
5/ Facebook, Amazon, Apple, Google, Microsoft, Oath, Snap and Twitter met with the FBI and the Department of Homeland Security to discuss the upcoming midterm elections in an effort to ensure there is not a repeat of Russian interference. The eight tech companies shared details about disinformation campaigns they were witnessing on their platforms. However, neither the FBI nor the DHS provided the tech companies with information about specific threats, prompting frustration from Silicon Valley that intelligence officials weren't preparing them for the midterm elections. (New York Times / Washington Post)
Reality Winner was sentenced to 63 months in prison for leaking to the media a classified report about Russian interference in the 2016 election. The report described hacks by the GRU against local election officials and a company that sold voter registration-related software. (New York Times)
poll/ 55% of Americans see U.S. democracy as "weak" and 68% believe it's "getting weaker." 50% say America is in "real danger of becoming a nondemocratic, authoritarian country." (Democracy Project)
Notables.
Sean Spicer seeks "Common Ground" in his new talk show, where he plans to interview notable guests in an informal setting. The pilot shoots in July. "In this current environment," Spicer said, "I think it's important to have a platform where we can have civil, respectful, and informative discussions on the issues of the day." (New York Times)
Trump threatened a "big tax" on Harley-Davidson, "like never before," for planning to relocate some of its production overseas in response to retaliatory tariffs it faces in the escalating trade dispute between the US and the European Union. Trump accused the company of using tariffs "as an excuse" and that moving its motorcycle production overseas "will be the beginning of the end." (ABC News / The Guardian)
Federal debt is expected to exceed the size of the economy within a decade due to recent changes to tax and spending laws. The nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office said "the prospect of large and growing debt poses substantial risks" that include an increasing likelihood of a fiscal crisis. (Politico / Los Angeles Times)
The United Nations estimates 18.25 million Americans are living in "extreme poverty." The Trump administration called the estimate "exaggerated" and that only 250,000 Americans live in extreme poverty. (Washington Post)
Fox News suspended Trump's former deputy campaign manager for telling a black Democratic strategist "You're out of your cotton-picking mind" during a segment on Fox & Friends Weekend. David Bossie has been suspended for two weeks. (Daily Beast)
A Chicago bar banned Make America Great Again hats in an effort to maintain "a classy environment." Since the announcement, the bar has not had to enforce the rule. (NBC Chicago)
1/ Trump: "We must immediately" send immigrants who illegally enter the U.S. "back from where they came" with "no Judges or Court Cases." Trump likened immigrants and asylum seekers to intruders trying to "break into" the country, saying "we cannot allow all of these people to invade our Country. When somebody comes in, we must immediately, with no Judges or Court Cases, bring them back from where they came." (Reuters / Washington Post / New York Times)
We cannot allow all of these people to invade our Country. When somebody comes in, we must immediately, with no Judges or Court Cases, bring them back from where they came. Our system is a mockery to good immigration policy and Law and Order. Most children come without parents...
....Our Immigration policy, laughed at all over the world, is very unfair to all of those people who have gone through the system legally and are waiting on line for years! Immigration must be based on merit - we need people who will help to Make America Great Again!
2/ Sarah Huckabee Sanders claimed that "just because you don't see a judge doesn't mean you don't receive due process," as she defended Trump's statement that people who illegally cross the border should be removed "with no Judges or Court Cases." Trump tweeted that "hiring manythousands [sic] of judges, and going through a long and complicated legal process, is not the way to go - will always be disfunctional [sic]. People must simply be stopped at the Border and told they cannot come into the U.S. illegally." (The Hill / ABC News)
Hiring manythousands of judges, and going through a long and complicated legal process, is not the way to go - will always be disfunctional. People must simply be stopped at the Border and told they cannot come into the U.S. illegally. Children brought back to their country......
....If this is done, illegal immigration will be stopped in it’s tracks - and at very little, by comparison, cost. This is the only real answer - and we must continue to BUILD THE WALL!
3/ The commissioner of U.S. Customs and Border Protection will stop referring immigrants with children to the Justice Department for prosecution until CBP and the DOJ can "agree on a policy that would allow parents to be prosecuted without separating them from their children." Sarah Huckabee Sanders said there was no change to the administration's "zero tolerance" policy and that "we're not changing the policy. We're simply out of resources." Jeff Sessions, meanwhile, told a group of school resources offers in Reno, Nevada that "we're going to continue to prosecute those adults who enter here illegally. We're going to do everything in our power, however, to avoid separating families. All federal agencies are working hard to accomplish this goal." (New York Times / CNN)
The Department of Homeland Security said it's reunited 522 children with parents. 2,053 separated children remain in the care of the Department of Health and Human Services. The government "knows the location of all children in its custody and is working to reunite them with their families," according to a DHS fact sheet. (Reuters / New York Times)
Jeff Sessions warned activists against "obstructing" ICE or Border Patrol, saying "free speech, assembly, and protest are and will be protected," but other crimes will not be tolerated." Activists online have threatened to dox ICE employees and publicly shame those who work for the agency. (Politico)
4/ Sarah Huckabee Sanders was kicked out of a Virginia restaurant because she publicly defends the Trump administration's "inhumane and unethical" policies. The Red Hen's owner, though "not a huge fan of confrontation," said, "This feels like the moment in our democracy when people have to make uncomfortable actions and decisions to uphold their morals." The owner's actions "say far more about her than about me," Sanders tweeted. Trump criticized the restaurant on Twitter, saying that "the Red Hen Restaurant should focus more on cleaning its filthy canopies, doors and windows (badly needs a paint job) rather than refusing to serve a fine person." He then offered his personal advice to those dining out: "I always had a rule, if a restaurant is dirty on the outside, it is dirty on the inside!" (The Guardian / New York Times / Washington Post / Associated Press)
Last night I was told by the owner of Red Hen in Lexington, VA to leave because I work for @POTUS and I politely left. Her actions say far more about her than about me. I always do my best to treat people, including those I disagree with, respectfully and will continue to do so
The Red Hen Restaurant should focus more on cleaning its filthy canopies, doors and windows (badly needs a paint job) rather than refusing to serve a fine person like Sarah Huckabee Sanders. I always had a rule, if a restaurant is dirty on the outside, it is dirty on the inside!
5/ Trump ally and Blackwater founder Erik Prince provided Robert Mueller with "total access to his phone and computer." Mueller's team has been scrutinizing allegations that Prince tried to establish a backchannel between the Trump administration and the Kremlin during a January 2017 meeting in the Seychelles. In April 2017, it was reported that the United Arab Emirates had arranged the meeting between Prince and a Russian close to Putin. The two-day meeting took place about nine days before Trump's inauguration. Last week, Prince said he had "spoken voluntarily to Congress" and has "cooperated with the special counsel." (ABC News)
6/ Trump plans to block Chinese companies from investing in U.S. technology firms and on the technologies that can be sold to China. The Dow dropped more than 300 points in response to the aggressive restrictions favored by U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer and White House trade adviser Peter Navarro over the more conservative approach favored by Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin. On Sunday, Trump warned America's trade partners to remove trade barriers and tariffs or face the consequences. (Wall Street Journal / Politico / CNBC / MarketWatch)
The United States is insisting that all countries that have placed artificial Trade Barriers and Tariffs on goods going into their country, remove those Barriers & Tariffs or be met with more than Reciprocity by the U.S.A. Trade must be fair and no longer a one way street!
Harley-Davidson will shift some production of motorcycles for European customers out of the U.S. to avoid E.U. retaliatory tariffs, saying it stood to lose as much as $100 million a year. (CNN Money)
poll/ 51% of Americans approve of Trump's handling of the economy. 54% believe the economy is in good or excellent condition. (CNBC)
The bond market's yield curve is warning of a possible recession. Wall Street is watching the gap between two-year and 10-year interest rates shrink. When long-term interest rates will fall below short-term rates, the yield curve has "inverted" and it's "a powerful signal of recessions." Curve inversions have “correctly signaled all nine recessions since 1955. (New York Times)
poll/ Trump's job approval ratings fell to 41%, down four percentage points from his personal best of a 45% approval from a week ago. (Gallup / The Hill)
Notables.
Trump has sidelined James Mattis and is no longer listening to or including his defense secretary on several major foreign policy issues. Trump is relying on his own instincts or those of National Security Adviser John Bolton or Secretary of State Mike Pompeo over Mattis's advice. "They don't really see eye to eye," said a former senior White House official. (NBC News)
Scott Pruitt considered hiring a friend of the lobbyist couple that owned the condominium he was renting in D.C. for $50 a night, according to previously undisclosed emails. The records also show communications about the lobbyist's client's interests, suggesting a closer relationship between Pruitt and the agency than previously acknowledged. (New York Times)
Pruitt is facing another probe from the Office of Special Counsel into claims that he retaliated against a handful of EPA employees who pushed back against his spending and management. At least six current and former agency officials were fired or reassigned for questioning Pruitt's need for 24-hour security protection, as well as for questioning his spending practices. The OSC probe is the latest in the list of roughly two dozen other inquiries into Pruitt's actions as head of the EPA. (Politico)
The Supreme Court granted an appeal for a florist who refused to sell flowers to a gay couple, sending the case back to the Washington state courts "for further consideration in light" of the June 4th decision in favor of a Colorado baker who refused to make a cake for a gay wedding. (NBC News)
The Supreme Court mostly upheld congressional and state legislative districts in Texas that trial courts previously ruled discriminatory. The Supreme Court also declined to rule on North Carolina redistricting plan that a lower court had found overly favored Republicans (New York Times / Washington Post)
The FBI turned over to House Republicans classified documents related to the Russia investigation, including the details about the FBI's justification to obtain a court-authorized warrant to spy on a former Trump campaign aide in October 2016. Lawmakers had threatened to hold Justice Department officials in contempt of Congress or impeach them if they didn't comply with the document request. (Politico / Associated Press)
Robert Mueller wants George Papadopoulos to be sentenced in September on the false-statement felony charge he pleaded guilty to last fall. Papadopoulos could be the second defendant sentenced in the investigation into possible collusion between the Trump campaign and Russia. (Politico)
Trump called Rep. Maxine Waters "an extraordinarily low IQ person" after the California Democrat called on her supporters to confront Trump officials in public spaces like restaurants to protest the administration's policies. (ABC News / Washington Times / CNN)
1/ Paul Ryan abruptly delayed a vote on a "compromise" immigration package until next week, as Republicans search for a way to get 218 votes to pass the measure. The bill would provide $25 billion for Trump's border wall, offer a pathway to citizenship for Dreamers, and keep migrant families together in detention centers. It was the second time the bill has been delayed this week. (Politico / Washington Post / New York Times)
2/ Trump told Republicans to "stop wasting their time on Immigration" until after the midterms, predicting that more Republicans will be elected to Congress, and accusing Democrats of creating "phony stories of sadness and grief" on the border. Three days ago, Trump tweeted that "now is the best opportunity ever for Congress to change the ridiculous and obsolete laws on immigration." Trump's comments came shortly after Republican House leaders postponed a vote on a broad immigration bill. (NBC News / Washington Post)
Republicans should stop wasting their time on Immigration until after we elect more Senators and Congressmen/women in November. Dems are just playing games, have no intention of doing anything to solves this decades old problem. We can pass great legislation after the Red Wave!
We must maintain a Strong Southern Border. We cannot allow our Country to be overrun by illegal immigrants as the Democrats tell their phony stories of sadness and grief, hoping it will help them in the elections. Obama and others had the same pictures, and did nothing about it!
3/ Trump autographed photos of Americans who were killed by undocumented immigrants. Trump autographed 11 photos, which were held up by family members during a White House event. (CNBC)
4/ About 500 of the more than 2,300 children who were separated from their parents have been reunited. The Department of Homeland Security said it has stopped referring members of detained families to the Department of Justice for prosecution. (ABC News)
5/ The Pentagon will house up to 20,000 unaccompanied migrant children at military bases "for occupancy as early as July through December 31, 2018." The Navy is also preparing plans to construct "temporary and austere" tent cities to house 25,000 migrants at abandoned airfields in Florida and Alabama. The proposed plans also call for camps near San Francisco and at Camp Pendleton along the Southern California coast that would hold as many as 47,000 people each. (New York Times / Washington Post / Time)
6/ The National Enquirer regularly sent Michael Cohen copies of stories related to Trump in advance of publication during the 2016 presidential campaign. The company denied the practice, but three sources say it continued even after Trump took office. If "it was a story specifically about Trump," one person said, "then it was sent over to Michael, and as long as there were no objections from him, the story could be published." Cohen's efforts to limit negative stories about Trump during the campaign has prosecutors looking into whether he broke campaign finance laws. (Washington Post)
Comedian Tom Arnold after meeting with Michael Cohen: "This dude has all the tapes – this dude has everything" and they are teaming up to "take down" Trump. Arnold met with Cohen as part of a show he is working on for Vice, in which he searches for incriminating videos of the president. (NBC News / The Hill)
Robert Mueller's team is worried about whether "widespread media attention" has biased potential jurors for Paul Manafort's upcoming criminal trial. (Politico)
poll/ 41% of Americans approve of the way Robert Mueller is handling the Russia investigation, down from 48% in March. 55% of Americans, however, believe Mueller's investigation is a serious matter that he should continue to investigate. 35% think the investigation is an effort to discredit Trump's presidency. (CNN)
poll/ 42% of Americans say Trump should be impeached and removed from office. The public support is on par with a March 1974 poll that found 43% of Americans supported impeaching Richard Nixon – five months before he resigned. Trump's approval rating stands at 39%. (CNN)
Notables.
Former Trump campaign manager Corey Lewandowski was dropped by his speakers bureau following his "womp womp" comment about a 10-year-old girl with Down syndrome who had been separated from her parents at the border. (CNN)
The House passed a package of bills to address the opioid epidemic, which killed 42,000 people in 2016. (NBC News)
The New York Police Department was sued for refusing to disclose information about Trump's handgun licenses after a Freedom of Information Law request. Trump Jr. and Eric Trump also have guns. (New York Post)
The Supreme Court ruled that the government generally needs a warrant to obtain cellphone location data used to track the past location of criminal suspects. (Reuters / Washington Post / New York Times)
The Treasury Department changed a Nevada county's zoning designation after lobbying by Nevada Republicans and a GOP donor. (Washington Post)
Trump tweeted another tariff threat targeting automobile imports from Europe. Trump's threat to impose a 20% tariff on autos comes in response to Europe imposing tariffs on $3.2 billion in U.S. goods. (CNBC / Washington Post)
The EPA claims Scott Pruitt has sent one email during his first 10 months in office, according to a Freedom of Information Act request by the Sierra Club. (Politico)
1/ Melania Trump made an unannounced trip to the southern border to visit a detention center for immigrant children wearing a jacket that says "I really don't care, do u?" Melania was seen wearing the $39 jacket from Zara as she boarded her plane from Andrews Air Force Base where the temperature was 80 degrees, but was changed her outfit before she disembarked in McAllen, Texas. Her spokeswoman responded to questions about the jacket with: "It's a jacket." Donald Trump, meanwhile, tweeted that Melania's jacket "refers to the Fake News Media." (CNN / New York Times / Variety / Daily Mail)
"As the temperature climbed to 80 degrees at Joint Base Andrews near Washington, Mrs. Trump boarded her plane wearing an olive green coat that read, in white capital letters, “I really don’t care. Do U?” @katierogershttps://t.co/Rd7zeok6xK
FLOTUS spox confirms Mrs. Trump wore a jacket to visit border kids that reads: "I really don't care. Do you?" Spox says: "It's a jacket. There was no hidden message. After today's important visit to Texas, I hope the media isn't going to choose to focus on her wardrobe." pic.twitter.com/Bp4Z8n455G
“I REALLY DON’T CARE, DO U?” written on the back of Melania’s jacket, refers to the Fake News Media. Melania has learned how dishonest they are, and she truly no longer cares!
2/ The Trump administration has not provided a plan to reunite at least 2,300 undocumented children with their families. The executive order Trump signed yesterday temporarily stopped his policy of separating children from their parents at the border, but does not address the uniting of families already separated. Instead, existing policies put the onus on parents to find their children in Department of Health and Human Services custody. In a letter to Trump, House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer said: "It seems that the administration lacks a plan, intention, and a sense of urgency to begin reuniting these children." (CNN / Politico / Los Angeles Times)
Ivanka Trump thanked her dad for ending his family separation policy while calling on Congress to "find a lasting solution that is consistent with our shared values." (HuffPost)
Thank you @POTUS for taking critical action ending family separation at our border. Congress must now act + find a lasting solution that is consistent with our shared values;the same values that so many come here seeking as they endeavor to create a better life for their families
3/ Immigrants as young as 14 years old who are being housed at a detention center in Virginia say they were beaten while in handcuffs, stripped nude, and placed in cold solitary confinement cells for extended periods of time. The abuse claims are detailed in federal court filings, which include allegations from multiple detainees that guards stripped them of their clothes, strapped them to chairs, and placed bags over their heads. (Associated Press)
Hundreds of separated children have been sent to New York even after Trump signed an executive order ending his administration's policy of separating parents and children who have illegally crossed the border. New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio said Cayuga Centers in East Harlem is currently caring for 239 children separated from their parents at the border. The center has cared for 350 children in total over the last two months. Cayuga Centers has $76 million in contracts with the federal government to care for immigrant children. (New York Times / New York Daily News)
4/ Border Patrol will stop sending parents illegally crossing into the U.S. with children to federal courthouses for prosecution because ICE lacks the detention capacity needed. Solo adults who cross illegally will continue to face misdemeanor charges under the Trump administration's "zero tolerance" policy. (Washington Post)
The Defense Department sent 21 military lawyers to Arizona, Texas and New Mexico to help prosecute illegal immigration cases. Lawyers will be given basic training in immigration law and federal criminal procedure in order to help the current federal prosecutors. (NBC News)
The Defense Department will house up to 20,000 unaccompanied migrant children on military bases starting "as early as July through December 31, 2018." (Washington Post)
5/ Trump questioned the "purpose" of two House immigration bills that he previously said he supported "1,000 percent." Trump tweeted that both bills don't matter, because they will likely fail in the Senate where Republicans hold 51 seats, but need 60 votes. Hours later, the House voted down its conservative immigration bill and then postponed a vote on a Republican compromise measure. Trump repeated his call to eliminate the filibuster, telling Republicans that "it is killing you!" and that Senate Democrats "are only looking to obstruct," because they think it "is good for them" in the midterm elections. (CNBC / NBC News / Politico)
What is the purpose of the House doing good immigration bills when you need 9 votes by Democrats in the Senate, and the Dems are only looking to Obstruct (which they feel is good for them in the Mid-Terms). Republicans must get rid of the stupid Filibuster Rule-it is killing you!
After Trump ended his administration's practice of separating immigrant children from their parents, he says that "we're sending them the hell back" and that "the border is going to be just as tough as it has been." (ABC News)
6/ Trump accused Democratic leaders via Twitter of being unwilling to negotiate a "real deal" on immigration. Last year, Trump appeared to have reached a deal with House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi and Senate Minority Leader Charles Schumer that would have addressed the "Dreamers'" situation. The White House later backed off, saying they wanted to take a hard-line position on immigration. Trump also tweeted that "we should be changing our laws, building the Wall, hire Border Agents and Ice and not let people come into our country." (Washington Post / New York Times)
We shouldn’t be hiring judges by the thousands, as our ridiculous immigration laws demand, we should be changing our laws, building the Wall, hire Border Agents and Ice and not let people come into our country based on the legal phrase they are told to say as their password.
The Border has been a big mess and problem for many years. At some point Schumer and Pelosi, who are weak on Crime and Border security, will be forced to do a real deal, so easy, that solves this long time problem. Schumer used to want Border security - now he’ll take Crime!
poll/ 57% of Texas voters oppose the practice of separating children from their parents at the border. 28% support the practice. (Texas Tribune)
poll/ More Democrats and independents now say immigration is the most important issue facing the country. 18% of Democrats and 11% of independents say immigration is their highest priority, up 10 and 4 percentage points since last week, respectively. (Axios)
Notables.
Trump will meet with Putin next month in Vienna, either before the NATO summit in Brussels on July 11 or after Trump's visit to the U.K. on July 13. Both the White House and the Kremlin declined to comment, but Trump's national security adviser, John Bolton, will visit Moscow next week. (Bloomberg / New York Times)
A federal judge denied Paul Manafort's request to suppress evidence seized from a storage unit by Robert Mueller's investigators. Manafort argued that the evidence was improperly seized after an FBI agent convinced one of Manafort's employees to open the storage unit, instead of asking Manafort for permission or seeking a warrant. Judge Amy Berman Jackson rejected that argument, saying, "Law enforcement agents do not need a warrant to enter a location if they have voluntary consent." (Reuters)
The Trump Organization and Kushner Companies dropped plans for a joint oceanfront hotel at the Jersey Shore, terminating an arrangement where the Trumps would manage a hotel the Kushners were building. (New York Times)
Defense Secretary Jim Mattis said he was unaware of any steps taken by North Korea towards denuclearization since Trump's summit with Kim Jong Un, who pledged to dismantle one of his missile installations. (Reuters / The Guardian)
The "Unite the Right" organizer received initial approval to hold a "white civil rights" rally on the National Mall on August 12. The National Park Service approved Jason Kessler's request but has not issued a permit, yet. The "Unite the Right" rally in Charlottesville last year led to violence as white nationalist marchers clashed with counter-protesters. (Washington Post)
Scott Pruitt spent more than $4.6 million in taxpayer money on security, including $2,749.62 on "tactical pants" and "tactical polos." The amount represents a $1.1 million increase in Pruitt's total security costs disclosures from last month. Pruitt's security expenditures also include $80,000 on radios, $700 on shoulder holsters for the radios, a kit to break down doors, and more. (The Intercept)
The White House plans to merge the Education and Labor Departments. The new, combined agency will be announced as part of a broader government reorganization plan. Congress would likely have to approve the merger, but it remains unclear whether lawmakers would be in favor of such a major reorganization of the government so close to the midterm elections. (Politico / Reuters / Wall Street Journal)
The Supreme Court rules that states can charge people to pay sales tax when they make online purchases, overruling a pair of decades-old decisions that if a business was shipping to a state where the business didn't have a physical presence, the business didn't have to collect sales tax for the state. (Associated Press)
1/ Trump signed an executive order to reverse his administration's policy of separating families at the border. Trump said that while the order "will solve that problem" of children being separated from their parents, it wouldn't end his administration's "zero tolerance" policy of prosecuting everyone caught attempting to cross the U.S.-Mexico border illegally. The plan potentially violates a 1997 consent decree that prohibits the federal government from keeping children in immigration detention for more than 20 days. (New York Times / Politico / Washington Post / NBC News)
2/ Separating migrant children from their parents costs the Trump administration more than keeping them with their parents. The "tent cities" to house children cost $775 per person per night, compared with $256 per person per night to hold the children in a permanent housing facility. To house children with their family costs $298 per person per night. The increased cost is due to additional security, air conditioning, medical workers, and other government contractors to staff the tent cities. (NBC News)
Babies and young children separated from their families at the border are being sent to "tender age" shelters in South Texas. Doctors and lawyers who visited the shelters described the facilities as clean and safe, but that the kids were hysterical, crying and acting out. (Associated Press)
Corey Lewandowski replied "womp womp" to mention of a 10-year-old girl with Down syndrome being separated from her parents by the Trump administration's immigration policy. Trump's former campaign manager later clarified his remark, saying he simply "mocked a liberal who attempted to politicize children as opposed to discussing the real issue which is fixing a broken immigration system." (Politico)
Kirstjen Nielsen was heckled by protesters who chanted "Shame!" and "End family separation!" while she was having dinner at a Mexican restaurant in Washington, D.C. Diners at the restaurant applauded the protesters. The Homeland Security secretary paid her check and was escorted out of the restaurant by Secret Service agents after 15 minutes of chanting. (Washington Post / Politico)
3/ Michael Cohen resigned from his post as the deputy finance chair of the Republican National Committee's Finance Committee. Cohen cited the ongoing special counsel investigation as one reason for his departure. (ABC News / Politico)
4/ Federal prosecutors subpoenaed the publisher of the National Enquirer as part of their Michael Cohen investigation. Investigators requested information regarding American Media Inc.'s August 2016 payment to former Playboy model Karen McDougal for the rights to her story alleging an affair with Trump. Prosecutors want to know if Cohen coordinated with American Media to pay McDougal and whether the payment violated campaign finance laws. (Wall Street Journal)
5/ Michael Bloomberg will spend $80 million to support Democratic congressional candidates in the 2018 midterms in order to flip the House of Representatives. (New York Times)
poll/ 51% of Americans say they are "more enthusiastic about voting than usual" in the midterm elections. In particular, 68% of voters are focused on which party controls Congress. 60% of voters say they consider their midterm vote either a vote either for Trump (26%) or against him (34%). (Pew Research Center)
Notables.
The Senate rejected a White House plan to cut $15 billion in previously approved spending from the budget. The House had approved the rescissions package earlier this month, but the measure failed after two Republicans joined all Democrats in voting no. (Washington Post / CNN)
A lobbyist for the Russian oligarch Oleg Deripaska visited Julian Assange nine times at the Ecuadorian embassy in London last year. Adam Waldman had more meetings with Assange in 2017 than almost anyone else. Deripaska is currently subject to U.S. sanctions. (The Guardian)
The Trump administration released its report on toxic water contamination, months after White House officials said they feared the findings would spark a "public relations nightmare." (Politico)
Trump rescinded Obama's rules meant to protect the Great Lakes and the oceans bordering the U.S. The order encourages more drilling and other industrial uses of the oceans and Great Lakes. (The Hill)
1/ Michael Cohen has signaled that he is "willing to give" investigators information on Trump in order to alleviate pressure on himself and his family. Cohen has hired New York lawyer Guy Petrillo to represent him in the federal investigation into his business dealings and wants Trump to pay his legal fees. (CNN / Wall Street Journal)
2/ Trump accused Democrats of wanting "illegal immigrants … to pour into and infest our country." Trump also rejected a proposal by Senator Ted Cruz to end family separations, calling the plan to hire thousands of new immigration judges "crazy" and suggesting the judges could be corrupt. Trump argued that undocumented immigrants could "game the system" by taking counsel from immigration lawyers and reading statements prepared for them. (CNN / BuzzFeed News / New York Times / Washington Post)
Democrats are the problem. They don’t care about crime and want illegal immigrants, no matter how bad they may be, to pour into and infest our Country, like MS-13. They can’t win on their terrible policies, so they view them as potential voters!
3/ The Trump administration has lost track of nearly 6,000 unaccompanied migrant children – thousands more than the Department of Health and Human Services had previously acknowledged. HHS placed more than 42,497 unaccompanied children with sponsors in fiscal year 2017. Officials tasked with reaching out to sponsors and children to check on their well-being said 14% of calls were not returned – meaning the Trump administration has lost track of 5,949 children. (McClatchy DC)
4/ More than 600 members of Jeff Sessions' church filed a formal complaint accusing him of "child abuse," "immorality," and "racial discrimination" for his "zero-tolerance" immigration policy that has led to children getting separated from their parents at the U.S.-Mexico border. (ABC News)
A bipartisan group of former U.S. attorneys called on Jeff Sessions to end the policy of separating families at the border. "Like a majority of Americans," they wrote, "we are appalled that your Zero Tolerance policy has resulted in the unnecessary trauma and suffering of innocent children." (Medium)
5/ Trump threatened to shut down the government in September if Congress doesn't provide $25 billion for his border wall. Senators are currently willing to send Trump $1.6 billion this fall. If Trump follows through with his threat, a government shutdown would happen weeks before the midterm elections. (Politico)
Trump Jr. has withdrawn from a fundraiser for George P. Bush because of criticism from the Bush family over immigration policy. Yesterday, Jeb Bush tweeted: "Children shouldn't be used as a negotiating tool. @realDonaldTrump should end this heartless policy and Congress should get an immigration deal done that provides for asylum reform, border security and a path to citizenship for Dreamers." (CNN)
6/ The U.S. backed out of the United Nations Human Rights Council. Nikki Haley, the U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, called the council "a cesspool of political bias" that is a "hypocritical and self-serving organization that makes a mockery of human rights" and "is not worthy of its name." The withdrawal comes a day after the U.N.'s human rights chief called Trump's policy of separating children from parents crossing the southern border illegally "unconscionable." (Bloomberg / Politico / Reuters / ABC News / Washington Post / CNN)
7/ Trump threatened China with another $200 billion in tariffs if Beijing refuses to narrow the trade deficit, which he says has put the U.S. "at a permanent and unfair disadvantage." China's Commerce Ministry accused Trump of initiating a trade war. In total, the Trump administration has threatened to impose tariffs on as much as $450 billion worth of goods. The U.S. imported $505 billion in goods from China last year. (New York Times / Washington Post / CNBC)
The Dow fell nearly 300 points after Trump asked for $200 billion worth of additional tariffs on Chinese goods. The index erased all of its gains for the year and was on pace to post a six-day losing streak, its longest since March 2017. (CNBC)
Notables.
The Trump administration rolled back consumer protections mandated by the Affordable Care Act that health plans provide certain "essential health benefits" like mental health care, emergency services, maternity and newborn care and prescription drugs. The new rule will make it easier for small businesses to set up health insurance plans that are cheaper, but offer fewer benefits. (New York Times)
Former CIA engineer Joshua Schulte was indicted on charges that he was responsible for providing classified documents to Wikileaks. Schulte faces a grand jury indictment for handing over a massive trove of U.S. government hacking tools known as "Vault 7" to Wikileaks, the details of which were published by the organization in March 2017. Schulte was already facing child pornography charges in New York. (Politico)
A foundation established by Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke and run by his wife is spearheading a real-estate deal backed by the chairman of the oil giant Halliburton, which stands to benefit directly from any decision by the Interior Department to open public lands for oil exploration. Zinke and his wife also own the property next door to the proposed resort. (Politico)
Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross shorted stock in a Kremlin-linked shipping firm after learning that journalists were investigating his offshore investments in Navigator Holdings. (Forbes / New York Times)
The Trump administration intentionally nominated a Consumer Financial Protection Bureau director who might not be confirmed by the Senate, which would allow Mick Mulvaney to stay at the bureau for as long as two more years. (Wall Street Journal)
The Senate passed a defense budget bill to reinstate penalties against Chinese telecom giant ZTE. The vote is a rebuke of Trump's attempt to make a deal with ZTE. (ABC News)
Erik Prince has "spoken voluntarily to Congress" and has "cooperated with the special counsel" as part of the ongoing investigation into the Trump campaign's ties to Russia during the 2016 election. Prince reportedly met with Trump Jr., George Nader, and Israeli social media specialist Joel Zamel at a secret meeting in the Seychelles during the campaign. He also met with Russian sovereign wealth fund manager Kirill Dmitriev during the transition period to set up a backchannel between the Trump administration and Russia. (Daily Beast)
Rudy Giuliani said he was just posturing when he called on Trump to suspend Robert Mueller's investigation. "That's what I'm supposed to do," Giuliani said. "What am I supposed to say? (Politico)
Trump's 2020 reelection campaign manager called on Trump to fire Jeff Sessions and end Robert Mueller's investigation. "Time to fire Sessions," Brad Parscale said in his tweet. "End the Mueller investigation You can't obstruct something that was phony against you The IG report gives @realDonaldTrump the truth to end it all." (Politico / Washington Post)
John Kelly has given up hope of trying to control Trump and has resigned himself to the possibility of Trump being impeached. The two are reportedly "barely tolerating one another." (Politico / Vox)
1/ Hundreds of children separated from their parents are living inside cages in an old warehouse in south Texas while they wait to be turned over to shelters funded by the Department of Health and Human Services. The cages were described as the the type you'd see at a batting cage or a dog kennel. More than 1,100 people are being held inside the facility, which is divided into separate wings for unaccompanied children, solo adults, and mothers and fathers with children. (Associated Press / NBC News)
Ann Coulter called the children crying at the border after being separated from parents "child actors." Trump Jr., meanwhile, liked a Breitbart tweet that quoted Coulter, who said the separated children had been "coached" by liberals and "given scripts to read." (The Hill / Newsweek)
Audio from inside a U.S. Customs and Border Protection facility captures a Border Patrol agent joking above crying children: "Well, we have an orchestra here. What's missing is a conductor." (ProPublica)
2/ Lawmakers from both parties demanded that Trump stop his policy of separating children from their parents at the border. Republican lawmakers, Laura Bush, a conservative newspaper, and a former Trump adviser joined with Democrats in condemning the policy that has removed nearly 2,000 children from their parents over the last six weeks. Melania Trump, meanwhile, placed the blame on "both sides," saying that she "hates to see children separated from their families and hopes both sides of the aisle can finally come together." (New York Times)
New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo said he will not deploy National Guard troops from his state to the U.S.-Mexico border, citing the Trump administration's "zero tolerance" immigration policy as justification for the move. (The Hill)
Massachusetts Gov. Charlie Baker canceled the deployment of the state's National Guard troops to the border, "because the federal government's current actions are resulting in the inhumane treatment of children." (WGBH)
Colorado Gov. John Hickenlooper signed an executive order barring state resources from being used for the purpose of separating children from their families for violating federal immigration law. (ABC News)
All four living former first ladies condemn Trump's border policy. (NBC News)
Jeb Bush called on Trump to end the "heartless policy" of separating parents and children who cross the U.S. border illegally, saying "children shouldn't be used as a negotiating tool." (Politico)
3/ The White House continued to falsely blame Democrats for the Trump administration's policy of separating migrant children from their families. The separations stem from Jeff Sessions' "zero-tolerance" policy announced last month. Via tweet, Trump blamed Democrats for being "weak and ineffective with Border Security and Crime" while urging them to agree to immigration legislation and to fund his border wall. Trump added that "the United States will not be a migrant camp… not on my watch." (Washington Post / New York Times / NBC News)
The Democrats should get together with their Republican counterparts and work something out on Border Security & Safety. Don’t wait until after the election because you are going to lose!
Why don’t the Democrats give us the votes to fix the world’s worst immigration laws? Where is the outcry for the killings and crime being caused by gangs and thugs, including MS-13, coming into our country illegally?
It is the Democrats fault for being weak and ineffective with Boarder Security and Crime. Tell them to start thinking about the people devastated by Crime coming from illegal immigration. Change the laws!
Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen defended the Trump administration's immigration policy, saying "we will not apologize for the job we do or for the job law enforcement does for doing the job that the American people expect us to do." Nielsen added: "Illegal actions have and must have consequences. No more free passes, no more get out of jail free cards." (CNN)
4/ The United Nations' top human rights official called for the U.S. to immediately stop separating children from their families at the border. Zeid Ra'ad al-Hussein condemned the practice as "government-sanctioned child abuse," saying "the thought that any state would seek to deter parents by inflicting such abuse on children is unconscionable." Nikki Haley, U.S. ambassador to the U.N., called al-Hussein's statement hypocritical, saying that "neither the United Nations nor anyone else will dictate how the United States upholds its borders." (New York Times / The Hill)
5/ Trump warned that the U.S. must avoid Europe's immigration problems, falsely claiming that "crime in Germany is way up." The opposite, however, is true. Germany's crime rate has fallen to its lowest level since 1992. (New York Times / Vox)
The people of Germany are turning against their leadership as migration is rocking the already tenuous Berlin coalition. Crime in Germany is way up. Big mistake made all over Europe in allowing millions of people in who have so strongly and violently changed their culture!
6/ The Trump administration thought its zero-tolerance policy would deter immigrants from trying to enter the country illegally. Instead, internal Department of Homeland Security documents show a 5% uptick in the number of people caught crossing the border illegally since April, when Jeff Sessions' policy was announced. (CNN)
7/ White House policy adviser Stephen Miller said the Trump administration is planning additional immigration crackdowns before the midterm elections. Miller and officials from the Justice Department, Department of Labor, Department of Homeland Security, and the Office of Management and Budget have been meeting for months to find ways to use executive authority and rule changes to strengthen hard-line U.S. immigration policies. (Politico)
8/ Peter Strzok said he would be willing to testify without immunity and without invoking the 5th Amendment before the House Judiciary Committee and any other congressional committee. Strzok was removed from Robert Mueller's investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 election for sending anti-Trump texts. Strzok's lawyer said: "He thinks that his position, character and actions have all been misrepresented and caricatured, and he wants an opportunity to remedy that." Trump, meanwhile, tweeted that Strzok was a "sick loser." (Washington Post / CNN)
Why was the FBI’s sick loser, Peter Strzok, working on the totally discredited Mueller team of 13 Angry & Conflicted Democrats, when Strzok was giving Crooked Hillary a free pass yet telling his lover, lawyer Lisa Page, that “we’ll stop” Trump from becoming President? Witch Hunt!
“The highest level of bias I’ve ever witnessed in any law enforcement officer.” Trey Gowdy on the FBI’s own, Peter Strzok. Also remember that they all worked for Slippery James Comey and that Comey is best friends with Robert Mueller. A really sick deal, isn’t it?
9/ Roger Stone met during the 2016 campaign with a Russian national who wanted Trump to pay $2 million for the political dirt on Hillary Clinton. Stone failed to disclose the May 2016 meeting with Henry Greenberg, who also goes by the name Henry Oknyansky, to congressional investigators. The meeting was set up by Trump campaign aide Michael Caputo. Stone rejected the offer, and soon after Caputo texted Stone asking if anything interesting came of the meeting. Stone replied: "waste of time." Both Stone and Caputo did not disclose the Greenberg meeting during testimony before the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence. Caputo said he failed to disclose the encounter because he had "simply forgotten" about the meeting. Mueller is now investigating the previously undisclosed meeting. (Washington Post / NBC News)
Roger Stone is "not concerned" that he failed to tell Congress about his 2016 meeting with a Russian national offering dirt on Hillary Clinton. "I just didn't remember. 2016 was a pretty busy year," Stone said. "I don't think a failure of memory constitutes a perjury." (ABC News)
poll/ 56% of Americans oppose the Trump administration's "zero tolerance" policy of separating undocumented children from their parents. 27% of respondents, meanwhile, said they agreed with the policy. (Daily Beast)
poll/ 54% of Americans believe it's unlikely that Trump's sit-down with North Korea's Kim Jong Un will lead Pyongyang to give up its nuclear arms. 42%, however, believe the meeting lessened the chance of war. (ABC News)
poll/ 57% of Americans approve of how Canadian prime minister Justin Trudeau is handling Trump's personal attack and trade dispute. 37% approve of how Trump is handling the situation. (Globalnews.ca)
poll/ 45% of Americans approve of Trump's job performance, his highest approval rating since shortly after he took office. 50% disapprove. (Gallup / The Hill)
Notables.
The Supreme Court declined to decide two challenges to partisan gerrymandering, allowing controversial district maps to stand and be used in the midterm elections. The justices sidestepped the question of whether the the maps are legal. (New York Times / Washington Post / CNN)
The Justice Department asked the Supreme Court to overturn a nationwide injunction that blocks the government from punishing sanctuary cities for declining to help the federal government enforce immigration laws. (NBC News)
FBI Director Christopher Wray stands by Special Counsel Robert Mueller, saying "I do not believe Special Counsel Mueller is on a witch hunt." (Bloomberg)
Trump signed a space policy directive making it easier for commercial companies to operate in space. The directive also asks NASA to establish new guidelines to avoid the creation of new space debris. (Politico)
Trump directed the Department of Defense and the Pentagon to establish a Space Force as the sixth branch of the Armed Forces, saying: "We are going to have the Air Force and we're going to have the Space Force, separate but equal. It is going to be something, so important." (The Verge / CNBC)
The Trump Tower in Chicago has never followed EPA rules for documenting how its use of the Chicago River for cooling water impacts fish. The Trump International Hotel and Tower is one of the largest users of Chicago River water for its cooling systems and is the only one that has failed to comply with the fish-protecting regulations. (Chicago Tribune)
Steve Bannon said Trump has never lied to the American people, because he "speaks in a particular vernacular that connects to people in this country." In reality, Trump has made more than 3,000 false or misleading claims since taking office. (ABC News / PolitiFact)
1/ A federal judge revoked Paul Manafort's bail and sent him to jail while he awaits trial after Robert Mueller accused Trump's former campaign chief of witness tampering. "I cannot turn a blind eye to this," Judge Amy Berman Jackson said. Manafort had posted a $10 million bond to remain at home while awaiting his September trial on charges that include money laundering and false statements. He will now remain in pretrial detention until his trial. (New York Times / NBC News / Washington Post)
2/ Rudy Giuliani on Mueller's investigation: "When the whole thing is over, things might get cleaned up with some presidential pardons." The comment came shortly after Manafort was sent to jail and his bail revoked following an attempt to tamper with two witnesses in the Russia investigation. Giuliani claimed he had seen no evidence to warrant Manafort being sent to jail. (New York Daily News / Axios)
3/ Giuliani called on Jeff Sessions and Rod Rosenstein to "redeem themselves" by suspending the Robert Mueller investigation today. Giuliani also called for Peter Strzok to be put in jail over a series of text messages he exchanged with fellow FBI agent Lisa Page during the 2016 election campaign. "Mueller should be suspended and honest people should be brought in, impartial people to investigate these people like Strzok," Giuliani said. "Strzok should be in jail by the end of next week." (Politico)
4/ A federal judge refused to grant Michael Cohen a restraining order against Michael Avenatti to stop him from speaking to the media about the Stormy Daniels case. Cohen argued that Avenatti's "publicity tour" of more that 100 television interviews since March is unethical, and harms Cohen's ability to have a fair trial by turning the case into a "media circus." U.S. District Judge James Otero said Cohen had not shown he would suffer "immediate, irreparable injury." (Politico / CNN / Reuters)
5/ Federal prosecutors have pieced together 16 pages of shredded documents seized from Michael Cohen and recovered 731 pages of encrypted text messages during the FBI's April raids of his home, office, and hotel room. Cohen has argued that most of the material is subject to attorney-client privilege. (New York Daily News / Business Insider / BuzzFeed News)
Michael Cohen has told family and friends that he is willing to cooperate with federal investigators. The treatment from Trump and Rudy Giuliani has left Cohen feeling isolated, angry, and more open to cooperating. Cohen has not met with prosecutors to discuss any potential deal and is currently looking for a new legal team. (CNN)
Federal prosecutors are investigating whether Cohen violated federal disclosure laws as part of his consulting deals, including whether he lobbied for domestic or foreign clients without properly registering. (Wall Street Journal)
6/ Trump "certainly wouldn't sign" the Republican immigration proposal that would protect young undocumented migrants and end the policy of separating families at the southern border. Paul Ryan plans to bring up two immigration measures for a vote next week: a hard-line conservative bill, which will likely fail, and "a very good compromise" bill. Trump said he "wouldn't sign the more moderate one." The White House, meanwhile, tried to walk back the comments, saying Trump "misunderstood the question." (Reuters / New York Times / The Guardian / Washington Post / The Hill)
7/ Homeland Security has separated at least 2,000 children from parents at the border since the Justice Department implemented its "zero tolerance" policy. Under its new policy, the Justice Department charges every adult caught crossing the border illegally with federal crimes and separates them from their children, as opposed to referring those with children to immigration courts. (Associated Press / CNN)
8/ The Trump administration announced a 25% tariff on $50 billion worth of Chinese imports as Trump vowed to respond to what he called China's unfair trade practices. China retaliated with $50 billion worth of tariffs with "equal scale, equal intensity" on U.S. imports, calling Trump "fickle" and "provoking a trade war." The Dow fell 250 points in response to rising trade tensions. (Associated Press / Bloomberg / CNBC)
German Chancellor Angela Merkel hinted of an escalation in the trade dispute between the U.S. and the European Union. Merkel warned that Europe's strategic interests are tied to the future of the car industry shortly after Trump cited national security concerns as a reason to place tariffs on German cars. "We should think about the strategic significance of the auto industry for the European Union," Merkel said, "so we can prepare an exchange with the U.S." (Reuters)
9/ Trump held an interview with "Fox and Friends" on the White House lawn after musing on Twitter that "maybe I'll have to make an unannounced trip down to see them" and live-tweeting segments from the show. Trump called James Comey a criminal, said the FBI is a "den of thieves," blamed Democrats for the separation of families at the US border, said it's "great to give" Kim Jong-un credibility, and again blamed Obama for Russia's annexation of Crimea. (New York Times / CNN / Vox / The Hill)
Wow, the highest rated (by far) morning show, @foxandfriends, is on the Front Lawn of the White House. Maybe I’ll have to take an unannounced trip down to see them?
Trump called a CBS News reporter "so obnoxious" and told her to be "quiet at least five times." CBS correspondent Weijia Jiang tried to ask Trump "why he declared the nuclear threat from North Korea was already 'over.'" (The Hill)
Trump said he wants "my people" to "sit up at attention" like the North Koreans do when Kim Jong Un speaks. When asked by reporters to clarify what he meant by "my people," he replied: "You don't understand sarcasm." (The Hill / CNN)
Notables.
EPA senior staffers said they frequently felt pressured by Scott Pruitt to help in personal matters and obtain special favors for his family. The officials said Pruitt "had a clear sense of entitlement." (New York Times)
Trump took credit for winning the bid to host the 2026 World Cup with Canada and Mexico. "Thank you for all of the compliments on getting the World Cup to come to the U.S.A., Mexico and Canada," Trump tweeted. "I worked hard on this, along with a Great Team of talented people." (Politico)
The Trump administration is expected to withdraw from the UN Human Rights Council due to "chronic anti-Israel bias." (Reuters)
A U.S. District Court judge ruled that a Russian company is not entitled to review grand jury materials. Concord Management and Consulting LLC has been charged with meddling in the 2016 U.S. presidential election. (Reuters)
Trump's 2020 re-election is working with a company run by former Cambridge Analytica officials. At least four former Cambridge Analytica employees are affiliated with Data Propria, which specializes in voter and consumer targeting similar to Cambridge Analytica. (Associated Press)
1/ The New York State attorney general sued Trump and his three eldest children for "persistent illegal conduct" at the Donald J. Trump Foundation. The lawsuit alleges that Trump repeatedly misused the nonprofit, violating campaign finance laws, engaging in self-dealing to decorate one of his golf clubs, and illegally coordinating with his presidential campaign to stage a multimillion-dollar giveaway during a 2016 campaign event. The state asked to dissolve the foundation and distribute its remaining $1 million in assets to other charities, and force Trump to pay at least $2.8 million in restitution and penalties. Trump attacked the lawsuit on Twitter, calling it an attempt by the "sleazy New York Democrats" to damage him. He vowed not to settle the case. (New York Times / Washington Post)
The sleazy New York Democrats, and their now disgraced (and run out of town) A.G. Eric Schneiderman, are doing everything they can to sue me on a foundation that took in $18,800,000 and gave out to charity more money than it took in, $19,200,000. I won’t settle this case!...
....Schneiderman, who ran the Clinton campaign in New York, never had the guts to bring this ridiculous case, which lingered in their office for almost 2 years. Now he resigned his office in disgrace, and his disciples brought it when we would not settle.
2/ The Inspector General Report: James Comey "deviated" from FBI and Justice Department procedures while investigating Hillary Clinton and her use of a private email server. The report concluded that Comey's decisions were not "the result of political bias," but that his "decisions negatively impacted the perception of the FBI and the department as fair administrators of justice." Trump has argued that FBI agents tried to rig the Clinton investigation to help her win the presidency. The report also concludes that the text messages exchanged by FBI officials Peter Strzok and Lisa Page did not improperly affect the investigation, but "the conduct by these employees cast a cloud over the entire FBI investigation." (Bloomberg / New York Times)
Comey Responds: I was wrong, but disagree with some of the conclusions. (New York Times)
I respect the DOJ IG office, which is why I urged them to do this review. The conclusions are reasonable, even though I disagree with some. People of good faith can see an unprecedented situation differently. I pray no Director faces it again. Thanks to IG’s people for hard work.
Comey used a personal Gmail account to conduct official FBI business while serving as the agency's director, which was "inconsistent" with a policy by the Justice Department. (CNBC)
3/ Sarah Huckabee Sanders and deputy press secretary Raj Shah are planning to leave the White House,according to a CBS News report. Sanders plans to leave by the end of the year, while Shah hasn't settled on an exact date. Sanders denied the report, tweeting: "Does @CBSNews know something I don't about my plans and my future? I was at my daughter's year-end Kindergarten event and they ran a story about my 'plans to leave the WH' without even talking to me. I love my job and am honored to work for @POTUS." (CBS News)
The White House sent out a flyer asking if conservatives are "interested in a job at the White House." The email, advertising a job fair, promises "representatives from across the Trump administration will be there to meet job seekers of every experience level." (Politico)
Marc Short, the White House's top liaison to Capitol Hill, will leave his job this summer citing "diminishing returns" of pushing Trump's agenda. (Wall Street Journal)
4/ Jeff Sessions cited the Bible in his defense of the Trump administration's policy of separating undocumented immigrant children from their families. Sessions invoked the Apostle Paul for his "clear and wise command" to say people should "obey the laws of the government because God has ordained the government for his purposes." Sarah Huckabee Sanders also defended separating parents from their children, saying it's "very biblical to enforce the law." She then proceeded to blame on Democrats for refusing to "close the immigration loophole." (NBC News / Talking Points Memo / Axios / CNBC)
5/ White House Counsel Don McGahn recused his entire staff from Robert Mueller's investigation last summer because many staffers "had been significant participants" in the firings of Michael Flynn and James Comey. Former White House lawyer Ty Cobb said McGahn's recusal was a key reason why he was hired last summer to manage Trump's response to the Russia investigation. (Politico)
Trump Jr. told the hosts of "Fox and Friends" that "it would be stupid" of Trump to agree to an interview with Robert Mueller. "I don't think any proper lawyer would say, 'Hey, you should go do it,' because it's not about collusion anymore," Trump Jr. said. "It's about, 'Can we get him to say something that may be interpreted as somewhat off or inaccurate, and after 50,000 questions, maybe you make a mistake, and that's how we get you, and that's ridiculous." (Politico)
6/ The White House launched a campaign to discredit Michael Cohen as speculation that he is preparing to flip on Trump continues to mount. The plan involves discrediting Cohen by arguing that whatever compromising information he shares with prosecutors about Trump is a lie meant to please Mueller in order to save his own skin. The plan includes everything from Trump's tweets, to comments from Alan Dershowitz, to front-page stories in the National Enquirer, all apparently intended to cast doubt on Cohen's credibility and motives. (Washington Post)
Michael Cohen believes Trump and his allies are turning against him and that he feels increasingly isolated. (CBS News)
Notables.
John Kelly revoked Rudy Giuliani's son's West Wing access after Trump ordered Andrew Giuliani be promoted to special assistant to the president. (Axios)
The New York Court Appeals denied Trump's motion to dismiss Summer Zervos' defamation lawsuit against him. This is the third time Trump has tried and failed to get the case tossed or delayed. (ABC News / Vox)
The Justice Department will not stop the AT&T-Time Warner merger, clearing the way for the deal to be completed as soon as Friday. (CNBC / Reuters)
Trump told G7 leaders that Crimea is Russian because everyone who lives there speaks Russian. In 2014, Russia invaded and annexed Crimea from Ukraine, leading to international condemnation and sanctions, and directly leading to Russia being kicked out of the then-G8. (BuzzFeed News)
Mike Pompeo said sanctions on North Korea will remain until the country has completely denuclearized. The statement contradicts North Korean state media reports that Kim and Trump agreed to a plan of "step-by-step and simultaneous action" to achieve peace and denuclearization on the Korean peninsula. (Reuters)
Representative Darrell Issa is a candidate to run the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. The California Republican would replace Mick Mulvaney, the agency's interim leader. (Bloomberg)
The Supreme Court struck down Minnesota's law barring voters from wearing political badges, buttons and other insignia inside a polling place. The court's 7-2 decision said Minnesota's interpretation of the word "political" was too broad. (NPR)
A construction company owned by the Chinese government was hired to work on the Trump golf club development in Dubai. China State Construction Engineering Corp. received a $19.6 million contract from DAMAC Properties, a Trump Organization partner. (McClatchy DC)
1/ Michael Cohen is expected to cooperate with federal prosecutors in the criminal investigation into his business dealings as the law firm handling his case is not expected to represent him moving forward. No replacement counsel has been named at this time. Cohen has until Friday to complete a review of over 3.7 million documents seized in the April 9 raids of his New York properties and law office. (ABC News / Wall Street Journal / CNBC)
2/ A State Department appointee has been compiling a list of career diplomats who are loyal to Trump. Mari Stull, better known as the wine blogger "Vino Vixen," has been reviewing social media posts from State Department staffers and UN workers for signs of deviating political views. Stull was appointed two months ago by the Trump administration. (Foreign Policy)
3/ Trump Twitter declared there is "no longer a Nuclear Threat from North Korea" a day after meeting with Kim Jong Un. Trump said that "everybody can now feel much safer than the day I took office," and claimed his meeting with Kim was an "interesting and very positive experience." He urged Americans to "sleep well tonight!" (CNN / Washington Post)
Just landed - a long trip, but everybody can now feel much safer than the day I took office. There is no longer a Nuclear Threat from North Korea. Meeting with Kim Jong Un was an interesting and very positive experience. North Korea has great potential for the future!
Before taking office people were assuming that we were going to War with North Korea. President Obama said that North Korea was our biggest and most dangerous problem. No longer - sleep well tonight!
4/ Rod Rosenstein plans to call on the House general counsel to investigate the conduct of House Intelligence Committee staff. Committee staffers claimed Rosenstein threatened to "subpoena" emails, phone records and other documents during a tense meeting earlier this year, which one aide described as a "personal attack." The Justice Department disputes the account, saying Rosenstein "was making the point – after being threatened with contempt" by House Republicans that "he would have the right to defend himself, including requesting production of relevant emails and text messages and calling them as witnesses to demonstrate that their allegations are false." (CNN)
5/ Former FBI deputy director Andrew McCabe is suing the Justice Department and the FBI. His lawyers claim McCabe has been denied access to materials related to his firing that he needs to defend himself in connection with allegations of misconduct. McCabe was fired from the FBI in March, less than two days shy of his retirement date. (Politico / CNN)
6/ Robert Mueller revealed new evidence that Paul Manafort directed an unregistered lobbying campaign in the U.S. on behalf of Ukrainian president Viktor Yanukovych. Mueller's team released two memos from 2013 that detail Manafort's involvement in influencing debate in Congress and the press about the imprisonment of Yanukovych's main political rival, Yulia Tymoshenko. (Politico)
Mueller filed a request for 150 blank subpoenas in the Eastern District of Virginia, where Paul Manafort lives. The two-page filing says each subpoena recipient must appear in the Alexandria, Va., courthouse on July 25 to testify in the case. The 150 blank subpoenas represent 75 total possible witnesses. (Washington Examiner)
7/ Mueller's office claimed that Russian intelligence agencies are trying to meddle in the 2018 U.S. midterm elections. Prosecutors are trying to block foreign intelligence agencies and defendants from seeing evidence in the investigation of interference in the 2016 election, lest this "result in the release of information that would assist foreign intelligence services" and others in future operations against the U.S. Last February, Mueller obtained a grand jury indictment of three Russian companies and 13 Russian individuals on charges they sought to influence the 2016 presidential race. The only defendant in that case is the Russian firm Concord Management and Consulting, which is controlled by Yevgeny Prigozhin, a Russian businessman known as Putin's chef. The pretrial process entitles a defendant the material assembled during the investigation. (Politico)
poll/ 36% of voters overall have an unfavorable view of Robert Mueller's probe, while 32% of voters hold a favorable view, and 32% don't have an opinion. Mueller's unfavorable numbers have hit highs among Republicans (53%), Democrats (24%), and independents (33%) from this time last year. (Politico)
poll/ 43% of Ohio voters approve of the job Trump is doing while 54% disapprove. In the 2016 election, 51% of Ohio voters voted for Trump, while 43% voted for Clinton. (Quinnipiac)
Notables.
The Federal Reserve will raise interest rates today to 2% – the highest level since the 2008 financial crisis. The rate increase will be the second one this year, and the seventh since the end of the Great Recession. (New York Times)
ZTE lost nearly $3 billion in market value after lawmakers restored penalties on the telecom and smartphone maker for violating American sanctions on Iran and North Korea. Last week, the Trump administration made a deal to save the firm. (New York Times)
Scott Pruitt had an EPA aide contact Republican donors in order to get his wife a job. Marlyn Pruitt eventually worked "temporarily as an independent contractor" for the Judicial Crisis Network, a conservative political group which was one of Pruitt's Oklahoma-based PACs. JCN said it was pleased with Marlyn's work. (Washington Post)
The House will vote next week on two competing immigration bills after Republican moderates fell two votes short of forcing a vote on bipartisan measures aimed at directly helping young immigrants brought to the country illegally as children. (New York Times / Washington Post)
1/ The Justice Department argued that Trump could continue to profit from foreign governments visiting his hotel in Washington, D.C., if he didn't explicitly provide something in return. A federal judge criticized the argument that Trump's financial interest in the Trump International Hotel in D.C. is constitutional. The lawsuit, brought by the District of Columbia and the state of Maryland, claims that Trump's profits from the hotel violate the Emoluments Clause, which prohibits government employees from receiving financial benefits outside of their official salary. The judge promised to decide by the end of the July whether to allow the case to proceed to the next stage. (New York Times / BuzzFeed News / CNN)
2/ Michael Cohen told friends he believes he will soon be indicted and arrested as part of Robert Mueller's investigation into possible collusion between the Trump's campaign and Russia. Investigators are probing Cohen for bank fraud, wire fraud and campaign finance violations. (NY Daily News)
Michael Avenatti claimed that the Russian government is trying to plant false stories about him in the press. Avenatti said people in the Russian government claimed that he traveled to Moscow and had questionable encounters with women there, and that he previously represented Russian and Ukrainian legal interests before the U.S. government. "I've never been to Moscow in my life," Avenatti said. "I've never traveled to Russia in my life." (Daily Beast)
3/ Jared Kushner and Ivanka Trump earned at least $82 million in outside income while serving as Trump's advisers during 2017. Kushner reported more than $5 million in income from a Kushner Companies apartment complex in Plainsboro, N.J. (Washington Post)
4/ Ivanka Trump personally made $3.9 million last year from her stake in the Trump International Hotel. She made an additional $5 million from businesses connected to her personal brand, as well as roughly $2 million in 2017 in pay and severance from the Trump Payroll Corp. Her reported income in 2017 was up "substantially" from spring 2017, when she reported about $2.4 million in income from the hotel since it opened in September 2016. (Politico)
5/ Democrats on the Senate Intelligence Committee want to interview Ivanka Trump as part of the investigation into Russian election interference. The committee wants to interview Ivanka about "two separate national security questions." Sen. Ron Wyden said investigators should ask about her role in connecting a Russian weightlifter, Dmitry Klokov, with Michael Cohen. Klokov offered to connect her father to Putin in order to facilitate building a Trump Tower in Moscow1. The other issue Wyden said investigators should ask about is China's decision to grant Ivanka trademarks around the same time her father promised to help Chinese telecom manufacturer ZTE stay in business. (BuzzFeed News)
6/ The Senate blocked Trump's deal with Chinese telecom giant ZTE. The Senate's move comes less than a week after Trump struck a deal with ZTE that would keep the company in business with U.S. companies and markets2. The ZTE deal would have forced the company to pay $1 billion in penalties, reorganize itself, and insert U.S. compliance officers into the company in exchange for access to U.S. consumers. ZTE is considered by the U.S. intelligence community to be a mechanism for espionage by selling phones that can be tracked and enabled to steal intellectual property. (NBC News)
7/ Trumps said Justin Trudeau's comment that Canada "will not be pushed around" will end up costing Canadians "a lot of money." Trump added that Trudeau "probably didn't know that Air Force One has about 20 televisions," in reference to Trudeau's comment after the G7 meeting that the aluminum and steel tariffs imposed by the U.S. on Canada on national security grounds were insulting. Trump added the Trudeau "learned" his lesson for criticizing him. (CNBC / Globe and Mail)
White House trade adviser Peter Navarro apologized for his "special place in hell" comments directed at Canadian prime minister Justin Trudeau. (Reuters)
8/ A federal judge ordered Robert Mueller to identify all the key figures referred to but not named in an indictment accusing Paul Manafort of acting as an unregistered foreign agent of Ukraine and of laundering millions of dollars. Mueller's team has until Friday to turn over the names to Manafort's lawyers. (Politico / CNBC / Washington Post / Bloomberg)
Paul Manafort will be arraigned on Friday for witness tampering charges lodged by Robert Mueller. It's the third superseding indictment by Mueller against Manafort and the arraignment coincides with Manafort's previously scheduled hearing on whether his $10 million bail should be revoked due to witness tampering accusations. (Reuters)
🇰🇵🇺🇸 Dept. of USA vs DPRK.
Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un signed a joint statement agreeing to pursue the denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula. In the agreement, Kim vows to give up his nuclear weapons program in exchange for U.S. security guarantees, but fell short of outlining concrete measures. (NBC News)
Trump believes Kim Jong Un will give up his nuclear weapons because they have a "terrific relationship" and he's "developed a very special bond" with the North Korean leader. Trump said Kim "reaffirmed" his commitment to the denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula and that "we're ready to write a new chapter between our nations." (Washington Post / New York Times)
Trump agreed to suspend regular military exercises with South Korea as part of his concessions to Kim Jong Un, contradicting Defense Secretary Jim Mattis's campaign to make U.S. troops more combat-ready. Trump described the decision as "very expensive" but also "very provocative." Trump's decision caused consternation among some military experts, who believe the troops provide security for South Korea and Japan. Trump used the term "war games," a phrase preferred by Pyongyang, which characterizes them as rehearsals for an invasion. (New York Times / Politico / Associated Press)
Trump claimed that Kim Jong Un "loves his people" and the imprisoned North Koreans are "going to be one of the great winners" of the denuclearization talks. Trump said life is "rough" in North Korea, but that "it's rough in a lot of places, by the way, not just there." Human Rights Watch describes North Korea as "one of the most repressive authoritarian states in the world." (Washington Post / CBS News / CNN)
Trump didn't use notes for his meeting with Kim Jong Un because he has "one of the great memories of all time." Trump characterized his meeting with Kim as a "great conversation." (The Hill)
Trump pitched Kim Jong Un that North Korea "could have the best hotels in the world." Trump showed Kim a "tape that was done on the highest level of future development." (ABC News)
The White House restricted press access to parts of Trump's summit with Kim Jong Un. The Associated Press, Reuters and Bloomberg were kept out of the pool, as were the representatives for radio and the foreign press corps. (Associated Press)
The White House made a Hollywood-style movie trailer to depict a story about "two men, two leaders and one destiny." The short video shows images of warplanes and artillery with a narrator suggesting that "a new world can begin today, one of friendship, respect and goodwill." Some journalists assumed they were watching a propaganda films by Pyongyang. (Associated Press / Washington Post)
Read the full text of the joint statement signed by Trump and Kim. (Politico)
Trump's economic adviser suffered a heart attack. Larry Kudlow is currently being treated at Walter Reed Medical Center in Maryland. A White House spokesperson said Kudlow is "doing well" after suffering a "very mild heart attack." (Politico / Bloomberg / CNBC)
The Department of Justice will likely issue a public report next month on foreign efforts to interfere in U.S. elections and how to combat them. Jeff Sessions convened a cyber-digital task force in February, after facing criticism from Democrats that not enough was being done to address future foreign interference. (The Hill)
A federal judge ruled that AT&T can move forward with its $85 billion acquisition of Time Warner. AT&T has agreed not to complete the acquisition for six days to allow time for an appeal from the Justice Department. (CNN)
Ted Cruz defended the Trump administration's policy of separating families at the border, saying it can be avoided if people stop crossing the border illegally. The separation happens regardless of whether a migrant is seeking asylum. (The Hill)
The Trump administration is looking to build tent cities to shelter the growing number of migrant children being held in detention. The Department of Health and Human Services is considering building a tent city to hold between 1,000 and 5,000 children at Fort Bliss, an Army base near El Paso. (McClatchy DC)
Day 503: Obsessed. Ivanka Trump connected Michael Cohen with a Russian who offered to introduce Trump to Putin during the campaign in 2015 in order to facilitate a 100-story Trump Tower in Moscow. ↩
Day 480: A fucked-up feedback loop. Trump instructed the Commerce Department to help ZTE – the world's fourth-largest maker of cellphones – get "back into business" after the Chinese company was penalized for violating U.S. sanctions against North Korea and Iran. ↩
1/ Trump refused to endorse the G7 statement, threatened to impose tariffs on foreign auto imports, and accused Justin Trudeau of being "meek," "very dishonest and weak" after Canada's prime minister pledged to retaliate against U.S. tariffs on steel and aluminum products. In a pair of tweets aboard Air Force One, Trump said he believes that countries are ripping off the U.S. through high tariffs and threatened to stop all trade with any country that did not lower or eliminate tariffs. The pair of tweets came hours after Trump and European leaders had agreed on a joint communiqué, which included a pledge to engage in "free, fair, and mutually beneficial trade and investment." (Washington Post / New York Times / Wall Street Journal / NBC News)
PM Justin Trudeau of Canada acted so meek and mild during our @G7 meetings only to give a news conference after I left saying that, “US Tariffs were kind of insulting” and he “will not be pushed around.” Very dishonest & weak. Our Tariffs are in response to his of 270% on dairy!
Based on Justin’s false statements at his news conference, and the fact that Canada is charging massive Tariffs to our U.S. farmers, workers and companies, I have instructed our U.S. Reps not to endorse the Communique as we look at Tariffs on automobiles flooding the U.S. Market!
Trump delivered "a long, frank rant" to trade allies at the G7 that the United States has been treated unfairly by its trading partners. (Reuters)
German Chancellor Angela Merkel says she found the G-7 summit with U.S. President Donald Trump a "sobering" and "depressing" experience and adds that European leaders won't be "taken advantage of" on trade https://t.co/O2uYHz3raVpic.twitter.com/6aZ9usXKcE
German chancellor Angela Merkel said Europe will implement counter-measures against U.S. tariffs on steel and aluminum. Merkel characterized Trump's Twitter withdrawal as "sobering and a bit depressing." (Reuters)
In April, Trump told French president Emmanuel Macron that the European Union is "worse than China." In their bilateral meeting in the White House's Cabinet Room, Macron said to Trump, "Let's work together, we both have a China problem." Trump "then went on a rant about Germany and cars." (Axios)
France: Trump's "incoherence and inconsistency" would not upend international cooperation, said a statement released by French president Macron's office. It added that partnerships "cannot depend on fits of anger or little words. Let us be serious and worthy of our people." (Politico)
2/ Trump's economic adviser accused Justin Trudeau of "betrayal" for making Trump look weak before his summit with North Korean leader Kim Jong-Un. Trudeau promised to "move forward with retaliatory measures" in response to Trump's decision to impose tariffs on steel and aluminum imports from Canada, the European Union and Mexico. Trudeau called the tariffs "kind of insulting" and saying that Canadians "are nice" but "we will not be pushed around." Larry Kudlow said Trudeau "stabbed us in the back," and that Trump "is not going to let a Canadian prime minister push him around. He is not going to permit any show of weakness on a trip to negotiate with North Korea." Kudlow went on to call Trudeau "amateurish" and "sophomoric." (New York Times / Reuters / CNN)
Trump's "bully" attack on Trudeau outrages Canadians. "It was extremely undiplomatic and antagonistic," Frank McKenna, a former Canadian ambassador to the United States, said. "It was disrespectful and ill informed." (New York Times / Washington Post)
Secretary of State Mike Pompeo is "unconcerned" about the diplomatic crisis caused by Trump's insults directed at the Canadian prime minister, saying "there are always irritants in relationships." (Washington Post)
3/ White House trade adviser Peter Navarro: "There's a special place in hell" for Trudeau and world leaders who double cross Trump. "And that's what bad-faith Justin Trudeau did with that stunt press conference." When asked whether the president agreed, Navarro said the sentiment came "right from Air Force One." (Politico)
Putin: Criticism of Russia's "so-called destabilizing efforts" in the West is "unfounded," and that "this creative babbling" by world leaders has so far "led to nothing." Putin said he'd welcome a meeting with Trump. (Politico)
4/ Jeff Sessions ordered immigration judges to stop granting asylum to most victims of domestic abuse and gang violence. The move effectively blocks tens of thousands of people – women in particular – from seeking refuge in America. Sessions ruled that a 2014 Board of Immigration Appeals decision protecting women from Central America from domestic violence was wrongly decided, saying victims of "private" crimes like domestic violence do not qualify for asylum. Immigration courts are housed under the Justice Department – not the judiciary branch – which means Sessions has the authority to refer cases to himself and overturn earlier decisions. (New York Times / Los Angeles Times / CNN)
5/ Trump will leave the North Korea summit a day early because nuclear negotiations have moved "more quickly than expected." The White House said Trump and Kim Jong Un will hold a one-on-one meeting, accompanied only by translators, followed by a "working lunch" with an expanded group of officials. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo lowered expectations, saying the summit might yield little in the way of concrete success. (Associated Press / Politico)
🔮 Live Updates: Trump will meet Kim Jong Un at 9 a.m. on Tuesday — 9 p.m. Eastern on Monday in the first-ever meeting between leaders of their two countries. (New York Times / CNN)
Trump will not bring up human rights issues at the North Korea summit. Kim Jong Un's country has committed "unspeakable atrocities" on a scale reminiscent of Nazi Germany, according to a 2014 United Nations investigation. (NBC News)
Trump is willing to consider establishing official relations with North Korea and eventually opening an embassy in Pyongyang. "It would all depend what he gets in return," said a source close to the White House. "Denuclearization would have to be happening." (Axios)
Sean Hannity will host Trump's first sit-down TV interview following his summit with North Korea. Hannity is already in Singapore. (Axios)
poll/ 26% of voters think Trump will demand too much to secure a deal with North Korea. 31% believe Trump will secure a deal that is either fair or better for the U.S. (NBC News)
✏️ Notables.
A federal judge ruled that the Trump and Michael Cohen legal teams cannot secretly object to documents protected by the attorney-client privilege, which were seized from Cohen during a series of raids by the authorities in April. Judge Kimba Wood ruled that the legal teams had to publicly submit their objections to the special master "except for those portions that divulge 'the substance of the contested documents.'" (New York Times)
The millionaire businessman who bankrolled the Brexit campaign "met Russian officials multiple times before Brexit vote." Arron Banks gave about $16 million to the campaign, becoming the biggest donor in UK history. (The Guardian)
Several prominent Russians, including some in Putin's inner circle, met with NRA officials during the 2016 U.S. election campaign. The contacts have emerged as the Justice Department investigates whether Russian banker and lifetime NRA member Alexander Torshin illegally channeled money through the gun rights group to help Trump's 2016 presidential bid. (McClatchy DC)
The Treasury Department has imposed sanctions on five Russian entities and three individuals, saying they worked with Moscow's intelligence service on ways to conduct cyber attacks against the U.S. and its allies. (Reuters / CNN)
The Supreme Court upheld Ohio's method of purging voters from its voting rolls. The court ruled that a state may kick people off the rolls if they don't vote in a few elections and fail to respond to notices from election officials. The vote was 5 to 4, with the more conservative justices in the majority. (Washington Post / New York Times)
The FCC's repeal of net neutrality rules took effect today. The rules prohibited internet providers such as AT&T, Charter, Comcast and Verizon from charging more for certain content and required providers to treat all web traffic equally. (New York Times)
A federal judge is set to rule on Tuesday on whether AT&T can buy Time Warner for $85 billion, which was announced in October 2016. AT&T is the country's second-largest wireless network and would gain content trove from Time Warner, which includes HBO and CNN. The Justice Department, which filed the lawsuit, argued that the consolidation could harm its rivals. (Washington Post)
Comcast plans to make an all-cash offer for Twenty-First Century Fox if AT&T's bid for Time Warner is approved. Comcast is preparing to raise $60 billion in a deal for Fox while simultaneously pursuing a $31 billion offer for the 61% of Sky that Fox doesn't already own. (CNBC)
Betsy DeVos reinstated a for-profit college accreditor a month after an Education Department report said the organization failed to meet federal standards. The Accrediting Council for Independent Colleges and Schools failed to meet 57 of the 93 criteria that accreditors are required to meet under federal law. (Politico)
Nearly 1,800 immigrant families were separated at the U.S.-Mexico border from October 2016 through February of this year. (Reuters)
Trump routinely rips up papers that need to be preserved. He does it so much that some aides are specifically tasked with taping the papers back together. (Politico / New York Post)
Several West Wing aides, including John Kelly, are said to be eyeing the exits as Trump has grown more emboldened to act on instinct alone. Kelly told visiting senators last week that the White House was "a miserable place to work." (New York Times)
👀 Watching.
A list of stories I'm keeping an eye on.
💬 What stories are you noticing? Let me know using the chat icon in the lower right-hand corner.
1/ Robert Mueller filed witness tampering criminal charges against Paul Manafort and Russian national Konstantin Kilimnik. The superseding indictment charges the two men with obstructing justice, conspiracy to obstruct justice, and witness tampering. Kilimnik was indicted as part of the existing money laundering case against Manafort, who is also accused of illegal foreign lobbying and lying to federal officials. It's the first time Kilimnik was named, who was referred to as "Person A" and described as having links to Russian spy agencies in previous court filings. (CNBC / Bloomberg / New York Times / Washington Post / CNN / Reuters)
2/ A former Senate Intelligence Committee aide was arrested and charged with lying to the FBI about contacts with three reporters as part of an investigation into leaks of classified information. James Wolfe repeatedly denied contacts with the reporters despite having been in a three-year relationship with New York Times reporter Ali Watkins. The Justice Department seized Watkins' phone and email records, which news media advocates consider to be an intrusion of First Amendment freedoms. (New York Times / NPR / NBC News)
3/ Trump called on the G7 to reinstate Russia after it was kicked out for annexing Crimea four years ago, putting him at odds with world leaders who have insisted that Moscow remain ostracized. "Russia should be in this meeting," Trump said. "Why are we having a meeting without Russia being in the meeting? … Whether you like it or not, and it may not be politically correct, but we have a world to run." Trump also threatened to withdraw from the North American Free Trade Agreement, and is now engaged in a series of trade wars with numerous countries in Europe, North America and Asia. Trump will leave the G7 summit early. (Washington Post / New York Times / Politico)
4/ The Trump administration will not defend the Affordable Care Act's individual mandate from a legal challenge to its constitutionality brought by Texas and 19 other states. The Justice Department said the ACA provision requiring most Americans to buy health insurance has become unconstitutional. The Supreme Court upheld the individual mandate in 2012 as the government's power to tax. The Justice Department argues that since Congress repealed the tax last year, the mandate and the law's consumer protections are no longer justified. California and 15 other states have filed a brief defending the law and its consumer protections. (Washington Post / New York Times / Politico / Axios)
5/ Stormy Daniels' former attorney filed a defamation claim against her and Michael Avenatti. Keith Davidson's lawsuit against Daniels and Avenatti is in response to Daniels' accusation that he colluded with Michael Cohen to help Trump. Davidson filed a separate claim against Cohen for allegedly illegally recording their phone calls. (CNN)
6/ Rudy Giuliani claimed Melania Trump "believes her husband, and she knows it’s untrue [that Trump had an affair with Stormy Daniels]." Melania's office responded: "I don't believe Mrs. Trump has ever discussed her thoughts on anything with Mr. Giuliani." (ABC News / New York Times)
Robert Mueller sees Giuliani as more of a spokesman than a lawyer with legal authority due to his haphazard approach to making demands and then changing what he wants. (Bloomberg)
poll/ 48% of voters favor the Democratic candidate in their congressional district while 39% favor the Republican. The 9-point lead is up from a 5-point edge Democrats held in March (46-41%). (Fox News)
poll/ 67% of voters say the country would be better off if more women were elected to political office. 24% of voters disagree. 87% of Democrats and 49% of Republicans say the country would be better off with more women in office. (NBC News)
Notables.
Immigration and Customs Enforcement is temporarily sending about 1,600 detainees to five federal prisons while they await civil immigration court hearings. It's the first large-scale use of federal prisons to hold detainees. (Reuters)
Trump said he is considering posthumously pardoning boxer Muhammad Ali, who was convicted in 1967 after refusing military service in Vietnam. Ali's attorney called it "unnecessary." Ali is one of 3,000 individuals Trump is considering pardoning. (CNN)
Trump wants to ask NFL players and other athletes who kneel during the National Anthem to recommend people they think he should pardon due to unfair treatment by the justice system. (CNN)
Trump said he likely will support a congressional effort to end the federal ban on marijuana, putting him at odds with Jeff Sessions on the issue. (Los Angeles Times)
Scott Pruitt had aides frequently fetch him protein bars, sweets, cookies, and Greek yogurt. Pruitt would often direct an aide to brew him pour-over coffee. (Daily Beast)
After both the Warriors and the Cavaliers said they don't want to be invited to the White House after the NBA finals, Trump says the Warriors and the Cavaliers won't be invited to the White House. (CNBC)
Mitt Romney predicted that Trump will win reelection in 2020, citing an improving economy and the likelihood that Democrats will choose an outside-the-mainstream candidate. (Politico)
1/ Rudy Giuliani to Stormy Daniels: "I don't respect a porn star the way I respect a career woman or a woman of substance." He added that being a porn star "entitles you to no degree of giving your credibility any weight." Daniels' attorney, Michael Avenatti, called Giuliani an "absolute, disgusting pig" and demanded Trump fire him "immediately." He added that "it doesn't matter what a woman's profession is. It has nothing to do with their credibility or whether they should be respected." Giuliani defended his statement, saying: "I don't have to undermine her credibility. She's done it by lying." (NBC News / ABC News / CNN)
Trump has appeared in three softcore porn videos. (CNN)
2/ The Justice Department will brief lawmakers next week about the FBI's use of an informant in connection with its investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 election. The new offer is a concession to Republican demands for more information about the probe. The Justice Department and FBI "are prepared to brief members on certain questions specifically raised by the speaker and other members" and allow lawmakers "to review certain supporting documents that were made available during the prior briefing." Democrats are concerned that the briefings could allow Trump's legal team access to sensitive details of the investigation. (Washington Post / CNBC)
Paul Ryan insisted that there was "no evidence of collusion" between Trump's campaign and Russia, but that there is "more digging to do." (Associated Press)
The classified briefing comes a day after Paul Ryan disputed Trump's assertion that FBI "spies" had infiltrated his campaign, saying evidence suggested the Bureau had acted appropriately. (Wall Street Journal)
Officials from the Justice Department and the FBI will brief the Republican and Democratic "Gang of Eight" leaders from the House and Senate and the intelligence committees. The documents won't be shared with other lawmakers. (Bloomberg)
3/ Adam Schiff called on Republicans to release the House Intelligence Committee interview transcripts related to the Russia investigation, saying they could shed "additional light on the issues of collusion and obstruction of justice." Schiff said some witnesses "may have testified untruthfully" and that Robert Mueller and his team "should consider whether perjury charges are warranted." (NBC News)
4/ Sean Hannity suggested that witnesses in Robert Mueller's probe "follow Hillary Clinton's lead" by destroying their personal phones before handing them over to prosecutors. Hannity told witnesses to "delete all your emails and then acid-wash your emails and hard drives on the phones, then take your phones and bash them with a hammer to little itsy bitsy pieces." Hand them over to Mueller, Hannity continued, "and say, Hillary Rodham Clinton, this is equal justice under the law." Hannity later insisted that he was kidding. (The Hill / Business Insider)
George Papadopoulos' Russian contact called him "unprofessional" and "unprepared," adding that "we did not close the door to the guy, but we did not take it seriously." (CNN)
5/ Colin Kaepernick's lawyers plan to subpoena Trump and Pence as part of his collusion case against the NFL in an attempt to gain information about Trump's political involvement with NFL owners. One of Kaepernick's attorneys recently claimed that an unnamed NFL owner admitted under oath during a deposition that he decided not to offer Kaepernick a contract after Trump called for the firing of players who refused to stand for the national anthem. (Yahoo! Sports / USA Today / Axios)
6/ France and Germany won't sign the joint G7 statement without major concessions from the U.S. on tariffs, the Iran nuclear deal, and the Paris climate accord. The joint statement details a range of policy issues that all leaders of the G7 group agree on. French president Emmanuel Macron urged the other members of the G7 to stand up to the U.S. over Trump's decision to impose steel and aluminum tariffs against the European Union, Canada, and Mexico. The G7 summit is scheduled for June 8-9 in Quebec. (Bloomberg / Politico)
A White House analysis concluded that Trump's tariffs will hurt economic growth. Top White House officials, however, insist that Trump's trade approach will be "massively good for the U.S. economy." (New York Times)
U.S. renewable energy companies shelved more than $2.5 billion in renewable energy projects following Trump's tariff on imported solar panels. (Reuters)
7/ Trump complained to aides about having to spend two days in Canada for the G7 summit, saying the Friday trip is a distraction from his upcoming meeting with North Korea. White House staff has discussed sending Pence to Canada instead of Trump. (Washington Post)
8/ Trump's new national security adviser has not had a Cabinet-level National Security Council meeting on North Korea in his two months on the job. In April, Trump blamed John Bolton for derailing the upcoming summit with North Korea after Bolton said the U.S. would make no concessions unless North Korea denuclearized. Trump instead has driven the preparation for the summit almost exclusively on his own, consulting with Secretary of State Mike Pompeo. (Politico)
poll/ 48% of voters say they're more likely to back a congressional candidate who promises to serve as a check on Trump. 53% say they're less likely to vote for a candidate who supports Trump on most issues. (NBC News)
🐊 Dept. of Swamp Things.
Mick Mulvaney fired all 25 members of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau's advisory board days after some of the members criticized his leadership as acting director of the watchdog agency. The CFPB plans to revamp the Consumer Advisory Board in the fall by hiring all new members. "The outspoken members of the Consumer Advisory Board seem more concerned about protecting their taxpayer funded junkets to Washington, D.C., and being wined and dined by the Bureau than protecting consumers," said a spokesperson for the agency. (Washington Post)
Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross says the U.S. has signed a deal with Chinese telecom giant ZTE to end the crippling sanctions against the company. The deal includes a $1 billion penalty against ZTE and requires that U.S.-chosen compliance officers be placed inside the company. ZTE will also be required to change its board of directors and executive team within 30 days. (CNBC)
The Trump administration will scale back how the federal government evaluates hundreds of potentially toxic chemicals. Instead of assessing the risk of potential chemical exposure in the air, ground or water, the EPA will focus on possible harm caused by direct contact. (New York Times)
A U.S. district judge ordered the EPA to provide documents used by Scott Pruitt to claim that human behavior is not a "primary contributor" to climate change. (Scientific American / The Hill)
The White House asked Scott Pruitt to stop visiting a West Wing restaurant. Pruitt has complained that EPA doesn't have a cafeteria of its own or private dining quarters. (Politico)
Pruitt had his 24/7 security detail pick up his dry cleaning and help him find his favorite moisturizing lotion. The protective detail cost taxpayers nearly $3.5 million during Pruitt's first year on the job. (Washington Post)
1/ Stormy Daniels filed a new lawsuit against her former attorney and Michael Cohen, saying the two men "colluded" and "acted in concert" to "manipulate" her in order to benefit Trump. The lawsuit alleges that as a part of the effort to deny Trump's affair with Daniels, her former attorney, Keith Davidson, and Cohen "hatched a plan to have Ms. Clifford appear on Mr. Sean Hannity's program to falsely deny the accuracy of the In Touch article" in January. In Touch magazine published excerpts from its 2011 interview with Daniels in which she said she had an affair with Trump starting in 2006. It was revealed in April that Cohen also represents Hannity. Daniels' current attorney, Michael Avenatti, called the private messages evidence that "prior denials by Mr. Trump and Mr. Cohen relating to what Mr. Trump knew, and about the honesty of my client, were absolute lies," adding that "there was a significant cover-up here as part of an attempt to deceive the American people and Mrs. Trump and we intend on getting to the bottom of it." (New York Times / NBC News / CNN)
2/ Ivanka Trump connected Michael Cohen with a Russian who offered to introduce Trump to Putin during the campaign in 2015 in order to facilitate a 100-story Trump Tower in Moscow. Mueller's team and congressional investigators have reviewed emails and questioned witnesses about the interaction. There is no evidence that Ivanka's contact with former Olympic weightlifter Dmitry Klokov was illegal or election related. (BuzzFeed News)
3/ Robert Mueller requested that witnesses turn in their personal phones so investigators can inspect their encrypted messages on WhatsApp, Confide, Signal and Dust. The revelation comes as the special counsel filed a claim that Paul Manafort tampered with witnesses through the same types of programs. (CNBC)
4/ Giuliani claimed Mueller's team is "trying very, very hard to frame [Trump] to get him in trouble when he hasn't done anything wrong." He added that Mueller's team "can't emotionally come to grips with the fact that this whole thing with Russian collusion didn't happen. They are trying to invent theories of obstruction of justice." Giuliani also reiterated the claim that Trump has the power to pardon himself, but won't do so because "he's innocent" and "he hasn't done anything wrong." (Associated Press)
5/ Paul Ryan agreed that there is "no evidence" to support claims that the FBI spied on Trump's 2016 campaign for political purposes by using a confidential informant to contact members of the campaign while investigating its ties to Russia. Ryan added that Trump should not try to pardon himself, saying, "I don't know the technical answer to that question, but I think obviously the answer is he shouldn't. And no one is above the law." (New York Times / Politico)
Notables.
The Justice Department's internal watchdog has concluded that James Comey defied authority while FBI director and was "insubordinate" at times. (ABC News)
Mexico imposed new tariffs on roughly $3 billion worth of American pork, steel, cheese, and other goods in response to Trump's steel and aluminum tariffs, complicating efforts to renegotiate NAFTA with Mexico and Canada. Trump's chief economic adviser, Larry Kudlow, said the president's "preference now, and he asked me to convey this, is to actually negotiate with Mexico and Canada separately." (New York Times)
Facebook has had data-sharing agreements with at least four Chinese electronics companies since 2010, including Huawei, which has close ties to the Chinese government and was flagged by U.S. intelligence agencies as a national security threat. The partnerships with Huawei, Lenovo, Oppo and TCL are all still active, but Facebook says it plans to wind down the deal with Huawei by the end of the week. (New York Times)
More than 118,000 California primary voters were left off the voter rolls due to a random printing error. Those voters can still cast provisional ballots, but the process of counting and verifying a large number of provisional ballots could delay the vote tally in some local races. "We apologize for the inconvenience and concern this has caused," said the Los Angeles County Clerk in a statement. "Voters should be assured their vote will be counted." (CNN / Politico)
Trump commuted Alice Marie Johnson's life sentence for a nonviolent drug crime after meeting with Kim Kardashian last week to discuss the case. A White House official said Trump is "obsessed" with his power to pardon people, describing pardons as Trump's new "favorite thing" to talk about. The administration has prepared the pardoning paperwork for at least 30 people. (Washington Post / CNN / Associated Press)
Scott Pruitt's top aide resigned from the EPA shortly after portions of her House Oversight Committee testimony were made public in which she says regularly did personal tasks for Pruitt. Millan Hupp for Pruitt in Oklahoma before joining him in Washington. (The Atlantic)
Jeff Sessions defended the Trump administration policy of separating migrant children from their families when they arrive at the southern U.S. border. "If people don't want to be separated from their children, they should not bring them with them," Sessions said. "We've got to get this message out. You're not given immunity." (Washington Post)
The Trump communications aide who mocked John McCain's deteriorating health has left the White House. The White House said Kelly Sadler is "no longer employed within the executive office of the president," but two people familiar with Sadler's departure said she was not fired because of her comments about McCain. Instead, they suggested that Sadler was pushed out for accusing her boss, White House strategic communications director Mercedes Schlapp, of leaking her McCain comments to the press. (New York Times / CNN)
1/ Trump blamed Jeff Sessions for the ongoing Russia investigation into possible collusion, lamented asking Sessions to lead the Justice Department, and suggested that the probe would have been shut down by now if Sessions had not recused himself. In a tweet, Trump said the "Russian Witch Hunt Hoax continues, all because Jeff Sessions didn't tell me he was going to recuse himself." (Washington Post / Reuters / Politico)
The Russian Witch Hunt Hoax continues, all because Jeff Sessions didn’t tell me he was going to recuse himself...I would have quickly picked someone else. So much time and money wasted, so many lives ruined...and Sessions knew better than most that there was No Collusion!
Trump demanded to know "what is taking so long" in the release of the Justice Department inspector general's report into the FBI's investigation into Hillary Clinton's use of a private email server. He complained about "numerous delays" and said he hopes it's not being "made weaker." (Politico / The Guardian / Washington Post)
What is taking so long with the Inspector General’s Report on Crooked Hillary and Slippery James Comey. Numerous delays. Hope Report is not being changed and made weaker! There are so many horrible things to tell, the public has the right to know. Transparency!
George Papadopoulos' wife asked Trump to pardon her husband, who pleaded guilty last year to lying to the FBI about his contacts with Russians. (The Hill)
The Trump administration ended its effort to appoint the Justice Department's No. 3 official after at least two potential candidates said they weren't interested in the position. The associate attorney general position would be responsible for overseeing the Mueller probe if Rod Rosenstein were to depart. (Wall Street Journal)
2/ Robert Mueller's team accused Paul Manafort of felony witness tampering in his federal tax and money laundering case. Prosecutors say Manafort attempted to contact witnesses by phone through an intermediary and through an encrypted messaging program in order to "suborn perjury," otherwise known as trying to convince someone to lie under oath. (New York Times / Reuters / The Atlantic)
3/ A federal judge scheduled a hearing for June 15 on whether to revoke bail for Manafort for allegedly trying to tamper with potential witnesses while on a $10 million pretrial release. Judge Amy Berman is expected to rule on whether Manafort will have to go to jail pending his trial or whether the terms of his bail are further restricted. (NBC News / CNBC)
4/ Putin claimed that he and Trump have a close working relationship and "regularly talk over the phone." When asked why there has not been a bilateral summit between Putin and the Trump administration, he said "this is the result of the ongoing acute political struggle in the United States." Putin continued: "Indeed, Donald Trump and I have, firstly, met more than once at various international venues and secondly, we regularly talk over the phone." (Axios / Kremlin Presidential Executive Office)
5/ Mitch McConnell canceled most of the Senate's August recess due to "the historic obstruction by Senate Democrats of the president's nominees, and the goal of passing appropriations bills prior to the end of the fiscal year." The move will keep Democrats up for re-election off the campaign trail while pushing through confirmations for as many of Trump's judicial and executive branch nominees as possible. (CNBC / Axios / Politico)
6/ A New York state judge has ruled that Trump can be deposed in a defamation lawsuit brought last year by Summer Zervos, the former contestant on "The Apprentice" who accused Trump of kissing and groping her. The judge set a Jan. 31, 2019, deadline for discovery in the lawsuit and ordered both parties to submit to depositions. Zervos sued Trump for defamation after he called her accusations "100% false" and began calling her "phony people coming up with phony allegations." (Politico / BuzzFeed News / The Hill)
7/ Trump canceled the Philadelphia Eagles planned White House visit to celebrate their Super Bowl championship less than 24 hours before the players were expected to arrive. Several Eagles players said they would skip the ceremony. Trump had "insist[ed] that they proudly stand for the National Anthem, hand on heart." (Philly.com / Washington Post)
The Philadelphia Eagles Football Team was invited to the White House. Unfortunately, only a small number of players decided to come, and we canceled the event. Staying in the Locker Room for the playing of our National Anthem is as disrespectful to our country as kneeling. Sorry!
LeBron James said neither the Cleveland Cavaliers nor the Golden State Warriors want an invite to the White House. "I know no matter who wins this series, no one wants an invite anyway. It won't be Cleveland or Golden State going." Golden State Warriors head coach Steve Kerr added that "it will be nice when things get back to normal in three years." LeBron called Trump a "bum" last year after Trump disinvited Stephen Curry and the Warriors from the White House. (CBS Boston / The Hill)
8/ Betsy DeVos told lawmakers that the White House's school safety commission will not examine the role of guns in school violence, saying "that is not part of the commission's charge, per se." Trump established the Federal Commission on School Safety in the wake of the shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Fla. to "study and make recommendations" on a variety of topics, including age restrictions for certain gun purchases." (Associated Press / Politico / The Hill)
.@SenatorLeahy: "Will your commission look at the role of fire arms as it relates to gun violence in our schools?"@BetsyDeVosED: “That is not part of the commission’s charge, per sey.”
Sen. Leahy: "I see…So, you're studying gun violence but not considering the role of guns." pic.twitter.com/vKMnMaduuf
poll/ Overall 68% of Americans feel worn out by the news these days. 62% of those who follow the news most of the time report feeling fatigued by the news, while 78% of those who follow the news less often report being worn out. 34% say they follow the news only when something important is happening. (Pew Research Center)
👋 The antidote to news fatigue. Share the gift of WTF Just Happened Today with a friend or family members. Subscribe for free here.
Notables.
Hundreds of migrant children have spent more than the legal maximum of 72 hours in custody at U.S. border stations. Border agents and child welfare workers are running out of space to keep the children who have been separated from their parents at the border under the Trump administration's "zero tolerance" policy. (NBC News)
The Justice Department will appeal a ruling that Trump can't block people on Twitter based on their political views. The seven original plaintiffs in the suit against Trump have had their accounts unblocked, but the DOJ will still contest the ruling in federal appeals court. (Reuters)
David Koch will retire from Koch Industries and other Koch-affiliated groups due to health reasons. Koch was diagnosed with prostate cancer more than two decades ago. (CNBC / New York Times)
Scott Pruitt had an EPA aide arrange a meeting for his wife about becoming a Chick-fil-A franchisee. Pruitt's wife "started, but did not complete, the Chick-fil-A franchisee application," a company representative said. (Washington Post)
Melania Trump made her first public appearance since surgery for a kidney ailment in mid-May. (ABC News)
Sarah Huckabee Sanders called herself "an honest person" while refusing to correct her August 2017 statement that Trump wasn't involved in drafting a misleading statement about Trump Jr.'s meeting with a Russian lawyer at Trump Tower. (Politico / CNN)
1/ Trump tweeted that Robert Mueller's appointment is "totally UNCONSTITUTIONAL!" and asserted that he has the "absolute right to PARDON myself." Trump, however, said he would "play the game" because he has "done nothing wrong." Over the weekend, Giuliani said Trump "probably" has the power to pardon himself, but that it would be "unthinkable" for him to do so and would "lead to probably an immediate impeachment." He added that Trump "has no need to do that. He didn't do anything wrong." (New York Times / CNBC / CNN / Washington Post)
As has been stated by numerous legal scholars, I have the absolute right to PARDON myself, but why would I do that when I have done nothing wrong? In the meantime, the never ending Witch Hunt, led by 13 very Angry and Conflicted Democrats (& others) continues into the mid-terms!
The appointment of the Special Counsel is totally UNCONSTITUTIONAL! Despite that, we play the game because I, unlike the Democrats, have done nothing wrong!
2/ Trump's lawyers sent a 20-page letter to Mueller's office asserting that Trump cannot be compelled to testify. The letter also argues that it's impossible for Trump to obstruct justice in the Russia investigation because the U.S. Constitution empowers the president to, "if he wished, terminate the inquiry, or even exercise his power to pardon." Giuliani responded to news of the leaked letter, saying that "if Mueller tries to subpoena us, we're going to court" and that "our recollection keeps changing" about the 2016 Trump Tower meeting and that "this is the reason you don't let this president testify in the special counsel's Russia investigation." The letter confirms that Trump dictated a "short but accurate" statement issued by Trump Jr. about his 2016 Trump Tower meeting with a Russian lawyer who an intermediary claimed had "dirt" on Hillary Clinton. (New York Times / ABC News)
There was No Collusion with Russia (except by the Democrats). When will this very expensive Witch Hunt Hoax ever end? So bad for our Country. Is the Special Counsel/Justice Department leaking my lawyers letters to the Fake News Media? Should be looking at Dems corruption instead?
Asked about shifting explanations for statement on Trump Tower meeting, Rudy Giuliani tells @GStephanopoulos:
"This is the reason you don't let the president testify. Our recollection keeps changing, or we're not even asked a question and somebody makes an assumption." pic.twitter.com/3czEBygCWa
Annotated: The Trump Lawyers' Confidential Memo to Mueller. (New York Times)
3/ Sarah Huckabee Sanders refused to answers about her August 2017 claim that Trump "certainly didn't dictate" the Trump Tower statement. At the time, Sanders said Trump only "weighed in" on Trump Jr.'s statement about the Russia meeting, saying "the statement that Don Jr. issued is true, there's no inaccuracy in the statement." (The Hill)
Day 194: Dictated. Trump personally dictated Trump Jr.'s statement about his meeting with the Russian lawyer, saying they had "primarily discussed a program about the adoption of Russian children" when they met in June 2016. Sarah Huckabee Sanders said Trump only "weighed in" on Trump Jr.'s statement about the Russia meeting. (What The Fuck Just Happened Today)
4/ Giuliani bragged that Trump could shoot James Comey in the Oval Office and still wouldn't be indicted for it. "In no case can he be subpoenaed or indicted," Giuliani said. "I don’t know how you can indict while he’s in office. No matter what it is." Giuliani claimed that the only way Trump could be indicted is if he is impeached first. "If he shot James Comey, he’d be impeached the next day," Giuliani said. "Impeach him, and then you can do whatever you want to do to him." (HuffPost / The Hill)
5/ The White House ordered Cabinet members to publicly support Trump's decision to withdraw from the Paris climate deal last year. Emails reveal that the White House told all of Trump's top secretaries to "prep statements of support for the decision being announced," saying there were "no exceptions." (The Hill / E&E News)
Notables.
Trump's phone call with French President Emmanuel Macron on trade and immigration was described as "terrible" after Macron candidly criticized Trump's policies. (CNN)
The White House is "very concerned" about Trump's base showing up for the midterm elections in November, according to Rick Santorum. (Washington Examiner)
The Koch brothers unveiled a multiyear, multimillion-dollar campaign to oppose Trump's tariffs on imported steel and aluminum. (CNBC)
Scott Pruitt tasked an EPA aide with finding a discount on a used "Trump Home Luxury Plush Euro Pillow Top" mattress for personal use from the Trump International Hotel in Washington. (Washington Post / New York Times)
The Pentagon's inspector general is investigating Ronny Jackson, Trump's one-time personal White House physician whose nomination as Veterans Affairs secretary was withdrawn amid allegations of misconduct and poor administration of the White House medical office. (CNN / CBS News)
The Supreme Court ruled in favor of the Colorado baker who refused to create a wedding cake for a gay couple based on his Christian beliefs. The justices, in a 7-2 decision, said the Colorado Civil Rights Commission showed hostility toward religion when it found that baker Jack Phillips violated the state's anti-discrimination law. The state law bars businesses from refusing service based on race, sex, marital status or sexual orientation. (Reuters)
Melania Trump will skip the G7 summit in Quebec and does not plan to attend the planned June 12 summit in Singapore with North Korea. Melania has not been seen in public since May 10. (Reuters / ABC News)
Trump to Kim Kardashian: You and Kanye West are boosting my popularity with African-Americans. Trump's approval among African-Americans is up from 12% in April to 18% in May. (Bloomberg)
1/ The European Union opened a case at the World Trade Organization in response to Trump's steel and aluminum tariffs. The EU is also expected to announce retaliatory tariffs against the U.S. on products such as Levi's jeans, bourbon whiskey, cranberries, and peanut butter. "The European Union is not at war with anyone," said the EU high representative on foreign policy. "We don’t want to be; for us this is out of the question … The European Union is a peace project, including on trade." (The Guardian)
Trump's tariffs on US allies will shrink the savings Americans gained from tax cuts. "Combined with additional tariffs on Chinese imports and retaliatory steps taken by U.S. allies, economists across the political spectrum agree these levies will have a negative impact." (CNBC)
2/ Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau refused to attend a meeting with Trump to discuss the renegotiation of NAFTA because Mike Pence told him the meeting would only happen if Trudeau agreed to include a five-year sunset clause into the deal. Trudeau said it was a "totally unacceptable" precondition. "I had to highlight there was no possibility of any Canadian prime minister signing a NAFTA deal that included a five-year sunset clause and obviously the visit didn't happen," Trudeau said. (Tampa Bay Times)
3/ American employers added 223,000 jobs in May, bringing the national unemployment rate to an 18-year low of 3.8 percent. Average hourly pay rose by 2.7 percent compared to last year, but pay rates remain below typical levels when the unemployment rate is this low. Some economists are concerned that Trump's aggressive actions on international trade could disrupt the recent economic progress, but most employers have not suspended hiring yet. (Associated Press / CNN Money)
4/ Trump broke with decades of protocol by publicly commenting on the jobs report data 69 minutes before they were released by the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Treasury yields shot up just seconds after Trump tweeted that he was "looking forward to seeing the employment numbers at 8:30 this morning." Ari Fleischer, former press secretary to George W. Bush, said Trump's tweet was "certainly a no-no. The advance info is sacrosanct – not to be shared." Labor Department rules state that executive branch employees are barred from publicly commenting on jobs reports until "at least one hour" after its official release. (Washington Post / Politico / ABC News)
5/ The Pentagon says 499 civilians were killed and 169 were injured in U.S. military operations during Trump's first year in office. The report also says that "more than 450 reports of civilian casualties from 2017 remained to be assessed," which suggests those numbers may be low. The report includes both air strikes and ground combat operations. There were also 11,585 more drone strikes in Iraq, Syria, and Afghanistan last year than there were in 2016. (CNN)
6/ Jared Kushner's close friend Andrew Gerson has come under scrutiny from Robert Mueller's team. Mueller is interested in Gerson's supposed knowledge of meetings in January 2017 between Trump associates and foreign officials in the Seychelles. Gerson was in the Seychelles around the same time that Erik Prince secretly met with Russian and UAE officials, including Crown Prince Mohamed bin Zayed al-Nahyan of Abu Dhabi, also known as MBZ. Gerson met with MBZ and Lebanese-American businessman George Nader, who organized the meeting with Erik Prince. (NBC News / Daily Beast)
7/ Trump announced that the June 12 nuclear summit with North Korea is now back on, less than a week after he canceled it via letter to Kim Jong Un. "We’re over that," Trump told reporters, "totally over that, and now we’re going to deal and we’re really going to start a process." (New York Times / CNN / ABC News)
8/ Trump made 3,251 false or misleading statements during his first 497 days in office — an average of more than 6.5 false or misleading claims per day. During his first 100 days, Trump made an average of 4.9 claims a day. His average for May 2018 was about eight per day, including a record 35 false or misleading claims in a single day at his rally in Nashville on May 29. (Washington Post)
Notables
Prosecutors from the U.S. Attorney's Office in D.C. recently interviewed James Comey as part of a probe into whether Andrew McCabe broke the law by lying to federal agents. The decision to interview Comey suggests prosecutors are seriously considering whether to charge McCabe with a crime. The Inspector General accused McCabe of lying to investigators on four occasions about authorizing a disclosure to the media. McCabe was under oath for three of those instances. (Washington Post)
Scott Pruitt spent $1,560 on twelve custom fountain pens from a D.C. jewelry store called The Tiny Jewel Box. The exchange reveals that Pruitt's top aides were the ones signing off on such lavish purchases, contradicting Pruitt's previous claims. (Washington Post)
A federal study found signs of sophisticated cellphone surveillance devices operating near the White House and other sensitive locations in the D.C. area last year. Authorities aren't sure who the culprit is or where it came from, but the breach is virtually unstoppable. (Washington Post)
The price tag for the Mueller investigation so far is about $16.7 million, while the security and travel costs for Trump's visits to Mar-a-Lago have cost $17 million. (Washington Post)
Trump called for Samantha Bee to lose her job over her comments about Ivanka Trump. Trump claimed there was a "total double standard" when it comes to the reaction to Bee's comments versus the reaction to Roseanne Barr's racist tweet. "Why aren’t they firing no talent Samantha Bee for the horrible language used on her low ratings show?" Trump tweeted. "A total double standard but that’s O.K., we are Winning, and will be doing so for a long time to come!" (ABC News / CNN / Washington Post)
After receiving a full pardon from Trump for violating campaign finance laws, Dinesh D'Souza said his pardon is proof that Trump wants him to have "a bigger voice than ever" in the conservative movement. D'Souza on Fox and Friends: "The president said, 'Dinesh, you have been a great voice for freedom. And he said that 'I got to tell you man-to-man, you’ve been screwed.'" (The Hill)
An independent candidate for Virginia's 10th Congressional District named Nathan Larson admitted he's a pedophile. Larson ran multiple online forums for pedophiles and misogynists, including incels. Larson has also bragged online about raping his ex-wife and wanting to have sex with their 3-year-old daughter. (HuffPost)
At least eight white nationalists are running in 2018 for federal and state offices across the country. Many of them are running openly on messages of hate, including one who is preaching Holocaust denial and wants to make Chicago's neighborhoods 90 percent white. (NBC San Diego)
1/ Former acting FBI director Andrew McCabe wrote a confidential memo about a May 2017 conversation he had with Rod Rosenstein regarding the firing of James Comey. The memo says Trump originally asked Rosenstein to reference Russia in the public memo used to justify firing Comey. McCabe thought that seemed like evidence that Comey's firing was actually about the Russia investigation and that Rosenstein was helping to provide a cover story by writing about the Clinton investigation. (New York Times)
2/ Trump repeatedly pressured Jeff Sessions to reclaim control over the Russia investigation on at least four separate occasions. Three of those occasions were in-person, and the fourth was over the phone. The constant pressure made several other officials uncomfortable at the time, because they felt it was improper and could present its own legal and political problems. Two sources familiar with the conversations said Trump never directly ordered Sessions to reinsert himself into the investigation, but would instead ask Sessions whether he had "thought about" stepping back in. (Axios)
Trump once again claimed that he did not fire James Comey because of the Russia investigation, despite his earlier admissions that the investigation was at least part of his decision-making. "Not that it matters," Trump tweeted, "but I never fired James Comey because of Russia! The Corrupt Mainstream Media loves to keep pushing that narrative, but they know it is not true!" (The Hill)
3/ The White House announced a new 10% tariff on metal imports from the European Union, Canada, and Mexico, which supply nearly half of all U.S. metal imports. The steel and aluminum tariffs will go into effect at midnight on Thursday. The European Union immediately announced that it would impose countermeasures against the U.S. as a response. (New York Times / Washington Post / CNBC)
4/ Trump is preparing to block German luxury carmakers from the United States. Trump told French president Emmanuel Macron last month that he planned to stop Mercedes-Benz from driving down Fifth Avenue in New York. No further details are currently available about the specific policies Trump might pursue in order to effectively prevent German automakers from selling in the U.S. (NBC News / WirtschaftsWoche)
5/ Trump offered a full pardon to conservative pundit Dinesh D'Souza for violating campaign finance laws. D'Souza illegally used straw donors to funnel additional money into the campaign of a GOP Senate candidate in 2012, and pleaded guilty to the charges in 2014. He was sentenced to five years of probation and a $30,000 fine. "Will be giving a Full Pardon to Dinesh D’Souza today," Trump tweeted. "He was treated very unfairly by our government!" (Washington Post)
6/ Trump is also considering pardoning Martha Stewart commuting the sentence of former Democratic Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich. Trump brought up the commutation and additional pardon while talking to reporters on Air Force One, shortly after he announced D'Souza's pardon via Twitter. Blagojevich began a 14-year prison sentence for corruption in 2012 and was scheduled to get out in 2024. Stewart was convicted in 2004 of obstruction of justice and lying to the government about her insider trading. Blagojevich is a former contestant on "The Apprentice," and Trump said Stewart "used to be one of my biggest fans." (Associated Press)
President Trump keeps pardoning his political friends. Beyond breaking the seal on the pardon power much earlier in his presidency, publicly teasing them before carrying through, and so far using them for very political ends, Trump's pardons are also different because they have occurred one at a time. (CNN)
7/ Audio recordings of Michael Cohen making legal threats to a reporter have been released to the public for the first time. The recording features Cohen threatening a then-Daily Beast reporter with legal action in 2015 over an article the reporter wrote about one of Cohen's clients at the time. "Mark my words," Cohen warns, "I will make sure that you and I meet one day while we're in the courthouse, and I will take you for every penny you still don't have." Cohen continues: "And I will come after the Daily Beast and everybody else that you possibly know." (NPR)
The FBI is reconstructing shredded documents seized last month in the raids on Michael Cohen's apartment, office, and hotel room. A small amount of shredded materials were seized, and agents are currently working to piece together the contents of at least one paper shredder that was recovered during the raid. (The Hill)
8/ The largest federal employees union in the country is suing Trump to block an executive order that severely restricts the time employees are allowed to spend on union activities while on the clock. The suit, filed by the American Federation of Government Employees, claims the president's order violates the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution and goes beyond the constitutional powers of the executive branch. (Washington Post)
9/ The White House is not cooperating with the Government Accountability Office, the government's chief watchdog. The GAO's general counsel sent a letter to White House counsel Don McGahn earlier this month and said attorneys for the White House and the National Security Council "will not respond to inquiries or otherwise engage with GAO staff during the course of our reviews." The GAO says it has inquired about vacancies at the inspector general's office, the president's security and travel costs, and the NSC's conflict-prevention efforts abroad, but staff have "either refused to have any discussion … or not responded at all." (Politico)
Notables.
Mike Pompeo's meeting with a high-ranking North Korean official ended two hours earlier than planned because the talks "went well" and "made progress," according to a U.S. official. (Associated Press)
The White House once cited the FBI's informant in Trump's campaign in order to help advance Trump's trade agenda with China. A White House press release from August 14, 2017 features Stefan Halper as a prominent voice of support for Trump's call to investigate allegations that China was stealing U.S. intellectual property. (Politico)
Newly-released voter registration data from California show the Republican party trailing behind both Democrats and "no party preference" voters. The California Republican Party has effectively been relegated to third-party status, falling behind independent voters by at least 73,000, leaving them with only 25.1 percent of registered California voters. (Politico)
The White House has been sending its talking points about the Iran deal to foreign policy heavyweights on both sides of the aisle, including former Obama administration officials and advisers for Hillary Clinton's presidential campaign. White House communications aide Kelly Sadler forgot to BCC recipients of an email blast about Trump's Iran strategy, revealing the uncharacteristically inclusive email list and confusing frequent critics of the administration. (Politico)
Samantha Bee apologized for calling Ivanka Trump a "feckless cunt" during a segment on her show about immigration issues. Bee was referring to a photo Ivanka posted that depicts her holding her child amidst a flurry of news stories about migrant children being separated from their mothers at the southern border. (New York Times / Daily Beast)
Joy Reid's blog published a Photoshopped image of John McCain as the Virginia Tech shooter in October 2007. The post is one of several archived items from Reid's now-defunct website that have continued to resurface in recent months. (BuzzFeed News)
1/ Robert Mueller is investigating Trump's request to Jeff Sessions that he reverse his decision to recuse himself from the Russia investigation in March 2017. Trump berated Sessions in public and in private over his decision to step away, but Sessions refused Trump's request. Mueller is investigating the previously unreported confrontation as part of the ongoing obstruction of justice probe. Mueller's interest in Sessions suggests the investigation may be even more broad than Trump's interactions with and subsequent firing of James Comey. (New York Times / Washington Post)
Trump again expresses regret for choosing Jeff Sessions as attorney general. Trump said Wednesday that he wishes he had picked someone else to be attorney general. (Washington Post)
2/ Federal prosecutors investigating Michael Cohen are set to receive 1 million files from three of Cohen's cell phones that were seized last month in raids on his apartment, office, and hotel room. A court filing submitted by special master Barbara Jones on Tuesday says investigators for the U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York have already received nearly 300,000 pieces of potential evidence from the raids. So far, only 252 seized items have been flagged by Cohen's or Trump's attorneys as privileged materials. An additional 292,006 items were turned over to prosecutors on May 23. (Washington Post)
3/ A federal judge in Manhattan ordered Michael Cohen's lawyers to complete their review of the huge trove of seized documents and data within two weeks. Judge Kimba Wood warned that she would allow the government to take control of the review process if Cohen's attorney's don't meet her June 15 deadline. The purpose of the review is to determine whether any of the materials seized by the FBI last month should be protected under attorney-client privilege. (New York Times / Washington Post)
4/ The Senate Intelligence Committee wants to interview Roger Stone. The committee also wants Stone's attorneys to hand over certain electronic communications. The email from the committee to Stone's lawyers includes a list of search terms it wants his attorneys to use to identify which communications to hand over. Stone says he hopes the interview with the committee will be public, and that he has "already begun to think about what to wear." (Daily Beast)
5/ Trump bragged about a classified battle between U.S. forces and Russian mercenaries in Syria while speaking to donors at a closed-door fundraiser. Trump said he was amazed by the actions of American F-18 pilots, suggested that the strikes lasted "10 minutes," and claimed they killed up to 300 Russians. The details of the battle remain classified. (Politico)
6/ The Trump administration will impose restrictions on Chinese visas as part of its attempt to counter alleged theft of U.S. intellectual property by Beijing. Under the new policy, U.S. consular officers may limit how long the visas will be valid, instead of simply issuing them for the maximum possible length. Chinese graduate students studying robotics, aviation, and other high-tech fields will be limited to one-year visas. Chinese citizens seeking visas will require clearance from multiple U.S. agencies in order to work as researchers or managers at certain companies. The restrictions are set to go into effect on June 11. (Associated Press)
7/ A new U.S. intelligence assessment concludes that North Korea does not intend to give up its nuclear arsenal any time soon. The CIA analysis is consistent with expert opinion on the subject, but it conflicts with Trump's recent claims that Kim intends to give up his nuclear stockpile in the near future. The assessment does note, however, that Kim Jong Un might open up a burger joint inside North Korea as a display of good will. (NBC News)
8/ Senior House Republican Trey Gowdy said the "FBI did exactly what my fellow citizens would want them to do when they got the information they got" from an informant inside Trump's 2016 campaign. Gowdy attended last week's highly classified Justice Department briefing about the FBI informant who approached multiple members of Trump's foreign policy team, including Carter Page and George Papadopoulos. Contrary to Trump and Giuliani's "spygate" conspiracy claims, Gowdy said the effort to place an informant inside the campaign had "nothing to do with Donald Trump." (Politico / Daily Beast / Washington Post)
9/ Trump accused Democrats of siding with MS-13 gang members over the American people during a rally in Nashville. "They don’t want the wall, they want open borders," Trump said. "They’re more interested in taking care of criminals than they are in taking care of you." Trump also reiterated his claim that immigrants who commit crimes are "animals," turning it into a chant for the crowd: “What was the name?” Trump called to the crowd. “Animals!” they shouted back. Trump also called Marsha Blackburn's Democratic opponent Phil Bredesen "an absolute, total tool" of Chuck Schumer, and referred to the House Democratic leader as "the MS-13 lover Nancy Pelosi." (New York Times)
10/ Federal bank regulators announced a plan to considerably weaken the Volcker Rule, which was put in place after the financial crisis to prevent risky trading. The rule also dictates that banks can't be the ones to make the rules about what constitutes a risky trade. The revisions make it so banks no longer have to prove that each trade serves a clear purpose — that it's not just a speculative bet. (New York Times)
Notables.
Missouri Gov. Eric Greitens resigned after a series of personal and political scandals. He gave a brief but defiant statement at the governor's office on Tuesday: "I am not perfect, but I have not broken any laws," he said. Greiten's resignation will go into effect on Friday at 5 p.m. (Washington Post)
Kim Kardashian will meet with Trump at the White House and ask him to pardon a woman serving a life sentence without parole for a first-time drug offense. The meeting is the result of months of back-channel talks between Kardashian and Jared Kushner. (Vanity Fair)
The Russian journalist who was believed to have been killed yesterday in Kiev showed up at a press conference today, very much alive. Arkady Babchenko apologized to friends and family who believed he was dead. "I'm still alive," he said. Babchenko's death was faked as part of a sting operation by the Ukrainian Security Service. (NPR / Associated Press)
Ivanka Trump abruptly left a conference call about an upcoming fitness event after reporters asked her about her company's trademarks in China. A White House official previously said Ivanka would take a few questions before leaving for a meeting, but reporters started asking questions about the trademarks, which she refused to answer. Ivanka was gone by the time they got around to questions about her father's fitness regime. (New York Times / CBS News)
Paul Manafort's friends launched a legal defense fund to help Manafort fight the charges brought against him by the special counsel. In an email announcement, fund organizers wrote, "The Defense Fund is urging anyone who values civil liberties and wishes to show the 'Deep State' that they cannot exert their will on ordinary citizens, to join them in supporting the Manafort family as they grapple against the Special Counsel to clear their name." (NPR / BuzzFeed News)
Trump complained that Bob Iger, the CEO of Disney, apologized to Valerie Jarret for Roseanne's racist tweets but hasn't apologized to Trump for all the mean jokes people have made about him on Disney-owned networks. During a press conference, Sarah Huckabee Sanders went through a laundry list of things Trumps feels warrant an apology from Iger. (Boston Globe / Salon)
1/ The U.S. Office of Refugee Resettlement lost track of nearly 1,500 unaccompanied immigrant children between October and December of 2017. The acting assistant secretary of the Administration of Children and Families, Steven Wagner, claimed during testimony in April that the agency was not legally responsible for the 1,475 missing children. "I understand that it has been [the Department of Health and Human Service's] long-standing interpretation of the law that ORR is not legally responsible for children after they are released from ORR care," Wagner said. The children are not lost, said Deputy HHS Secretary Eric Hargan, their sponsors "simply did not respond or could not be reached when this voluntary call was made." The comments come as the Trump administration have been defending the policy of separating immigrant children from their families as part of increased border enforcement efforts at the U.S.-Mexico border. (CNN / Reuters / NPR)
How federal authorities track undocumented minors. "My experience both in the Obama administration and under prior administrations, both Republican and Democratic," said former head of the Office of Refugee Resettlement under Obama, Bob Carey, "was that the law was not interpreted in the same way. And children were not being separated from their parents unless there was a very strong body of evidence that indicated that they were not their parents." (NPR)
ACLU: Border patrol beat, kicked and threatened migrant children with sexual abuse during Obama administration. Migrant children under the care of United States Customs and Border Protection were allegedly beaten, threatened with sexual violence and repeatedly assaulted while in custody between 2009 and 2014, according to a report from the ACLU. (Newsweek)
2/ The White House said it "continues to actively prepare" for the proposed-but-canceled summit between Trump and Kim Jong Un in Singapore on June 12. White House officials have been characterizing the cancellation letter Trump sent to Kim as a negotiating tactic, one that is purportedly designed to bring the North back to the table. (Associated Press)
A nuclear weapons expert says North Korean disarmament could take up to 15 years to complete. Former director of the Los Alamos weapons laboratory in New Mexico, Siegfried S. Hecker, is warning that North Korea's sprawling atomic complex could take 15 years to dismantle, and argues that the best the United States can hope for is a phased denuclearization that goes after the most dangerous parts of the North’s program first. (New York Times)
We have put a great team together for our talks with North Korea. Meetings are currently taking place concerning Summit, and more. Kim Young Chol, the Vice Chairman of North Korea, heading now to New York. Solid response to my letter, thank you!
3/ A top North Korean official is headed to New York to discuss the possibility of reviving the canceled nuclear summit with Kim Jong Un. Kim Yong Chol is a vice chairman of the North Korean ruling party's central committee on inter-Korean relations, and is expected to meet with Mike Pompeo this week to try and dispel skepticism and develop a joint agenda that would put the June 12 nuclear summit back on the table. (Associated Press / New York Times / ABC News)
4/ Rep. Thomas Garrett of Virginia announced that he is an alcoholic and will not seek reelection in November. Unnamed former staffers recently accused Garrett and his wife of mistreating them and making them into their personal servants while they worked for Garrett's office. Garrett insists his departure from politics was spurred solely by his addiction. Garrett will be the 48th Republican to retire or refuse to seek reelection to the House this year. (Washington Post)
5/ Rep. Ryan Costello of Pennsylvania will not seek reelection in November, because "all I do is answer questions about Donald Trump." Costello, a Republican from Pennsylvania's 6th congressional district, originally announced in March that he would not be running for Congress again this year. "No matter what I say or do," Costello said recently, "I feel all I do is answer questions about Donald Trump rather than health insurance or tax policy." Costello also cited the Pennsylvania Supreme Court's decision to redraw the his district as a major factor in his decision not to run again. (CNN / The Hill)
6/ Trump will impose investment restrictions against China, file litigation against China at the World Trade Organization, and impose tariffs on $50 billion worth of Chinese goods by the end of June. The trade dispute between Trump and China had become somewhat muted in recent weeks, and Washington and Beijing announced a tentative solution to their dispute just days ago. Trump's decision, however, contradicts that truce and is seen as an escalation in an ongoing tit-for-tat between the two largest economies in the world. (Politico / CNBC)
7/ China awarded Ivanka Trump's company seven new trademarks just days before her father vowed to find a way to save the Chinese telecom giant ZTE, even though the company violated U.S. sanctions against countries like Iran and North Korea. The trademarks span a wide range of businesses, including books, housewares, and cushions. Ivanka Trump already held more than a dozen trademarks in China, as well as multiple pending trademark applications. Her father holds more than 100 trademarks in China. (New York Times / The Guardian)
8/ More than 60 House Democrats are calling for an ethics probe into the "extremely short time frame" between Trump's pledge to save ZTE and a $500 million loan made by the Chinese government to an Indonesian theme park that includes Trump Organization properties. Trump vowed to save ZTE just three days after China approved the massive loan to the theme park, which will include a Trump-branded hotel and golf course, as well as residences and shops. Democrats sent a letter to the U.S. Office of Government Ethics calling for an investigation into the timing of Trump's statements. "We believe that these events raise several potential constitutional and ethical violations," the letter reads. Rep. David Cicilline of Rhode Island tweeted out the full text of the letter on Sunday. (Newsweek)
9/ Trump claimed that Robert Mueller's team will meddle in the 2018 midterm elections in favor of Democrats. "The 13 Angry Democrats (plus people who worked 8 years for Obama) working on the rigged Russia Witch Hunt," Trump tweeted, "will be MEDDLING with the mid-term elections, especially now that Republicans (stay tough!) are taking the lead in Polls. There was no Collusion, except by the Democrats!" (CNN / Washington Post)
10/ Giuliani admitted that Trump's "Spygate" conspiracy theory is part of a public relations campaign aimed at discrediting the Mueller investigation in the eyes of the public. Dana Bash pressed Giuliani to acknowledge that he and Trump were using a "very specific, very political strategy to undermine [the Mueller] investigation" and using political tactics to shape public opinion. "It is for public opinion," Giuliani admitted, "because eventually the decision here is going to be impeach or not impeach." He continued: "Members of Congress, Democrats and Republicans, are going to be informed a lot by their constituents. And so our jury is — as it should be — is the American people." (New York Magazine / The Guardian / CNN)
poll/ Roughly 4 out of 5 gun owners and non-gun owners in the U.S. support the following gun control measures: universal background checks, stronger accountability for missing guns, a safety test for concealed carry permits, improved mental health reporting, preventing people with temporary domestic violence restraining orders from obtaining guns, and a civil process that allows families to petition the court to remove a firearm from someone deemed to be at serious risk of harming themselves or others. (Reuters)
poll/ Twenty-two percent of Republicans think Trump provides somewhat or very little moral leadership. Fifty-nine percent of Americans believe that, and 60% of Independents and 91% of Democrats feel the same way. (CNN)
Notables.
Former President George H.W. Bush was taken to a hospital in Maine on Sunday after he experienced low blood pressure and fatigue. Bush will likely remain in the hospital for observation over the next few days. “The former president is awake and alert, and not in any discomfort,” a family spokesperson wrote on Twitter. (Reuters)
Rudy Giuliani was booed at Yankee Stadium when the announcer wished him a happy 74th birthday over the loudspeaker. (NY Daily News)
The U.S. Supreme Court refused to hear a challenge to Arkansas' restrictive abortion law. The law requires providers of medication-based abortions, which use pills to induce abortions in the first nine weeks of pregnancy, to have contracts with doctors who have admitting privileges at a hospital in the state. (New York Times)
The Supreme Court ruled that in general, police must get a warrant in order to search someone's driveway. The Court ruled that Officer David Rhodes violated the law when he entered the property of a Virginia motorcyclist without a warrant or an invitation. (New York Times / Collins v. Virginia)
The Trump administration refused to acknowledge the conclusions of the scientific community when it comes to dealing with climate change. An internal White House memo revealed the only three options the administration is considering when it comes to dealing with federal climate science reports. They are: (1) consider "debating" the established climate science; (2) cast doubt on scientists' conclusions; and (3) simply ignore those conclusions. (The Guardian)
A new Harvard study estimates at least 4,645 people died as a result of Hurricane Maria. The official U.S. government death toll still only lists 64 people. (Washington Post)
Roseanne Barr tweeted that former Obama adviser Valerie Jarrett was a cross between Planet of the Apes and the Muslim Brotherhood. Barr later apologized on Twitter, but ABC still cancelled the show "Roseanne" hours after the racist tweet and her subsequent apology. (Snopes / NPR / New York Times / ABC News)
A GOP Congresswoman from Tennessee said pornography was a "big part" of the reason for the recent spike in school shootings. Rep. Diane Black: “It’s available on the shelf when you walk in the grocery store. Yeah, you have to reach up to get it, but there’s pornography there,” she said. “All of this is available without parental guidance. I think that is a big part of the root cause.” (HuffPost)
1/ Mitch McConnell said he supports the Mueller investigation and that nothing in Thursday's secret briefing on the Russia probe changed his mind. "The two investigations going on that I think will give us the answers to the questions that you raise — the [inspector general] investigation in the Justice Department and the Mueller investigation," McConnell said. "I support both of them, and I don't really have anything to add to this subject based upon the Gang of Eight briefing that we had today, which was classified." (NPR / NBC News)
After a closed-door briefing with top Justice Department officials, Congressional Democrats said there is "no evidence" that the FBI placed a spy in the Trump campaign. "Nothing we heard today has changed our view that there is no evidence to support any allegation that the FBI or any intelligence agency placed a spy in the Trump campaign or otherwise failed to follow appropriate procedures and protocols," said Adam Schiff. (The Hill)
Lindsey Graham: "A confidential informant is not a spy." Graham undercut Trump during an interview and issued a subtly strong rebuke of Trump's evidence-free claim that the FBI was “spying” on his presidential campaign. (Washington Post)
2/ The head of the national Border Patrol union called Trump's decision to deploy the National Guard to the U.S.-Mexico border "a colossal waste of resources." Roughly 1,600 National Guard troops were deployed to the border in April. "We have seen no benefit," said union president Brandon Judd. Another 750 troops may soon be added to fill support roles and the total deployment could reach nearly 4,000 troops, according to Army Lt. Col. Jamie Davis. (Los Angeles Times)
3/ Trump wanted to call off the North Korean summit before Kim Jong Un could beat him to the punch. "There was no hint of this yesterday," said a person briefed on the summit preparations. Defense Secretary James Mattis was not involved in the discussions on Wednesday about canceling the meeting, but Trump said he called Mattis about it Thursday morning. The decision happened so quickly that the White House was unable to give congressional leaders and key allies advance notice, and the letter to Kim was sent out while more than two dozen foreign journalists and several U.S. citizens were still inside North Korea covering the demolition of a nuclear test site. (NBC News / Politico)
A day after he bailed on a summit with North Korea’s leader, Trump is now saying that the meeting could still take place after all. “We’ll see what happens. We are talking to them now,” Trump said. “They very much want to do it. We’d like to do it.” He added: "It could even be the 12th." (Washington Post)
Trump’s cancellation of the summit with Kim raises fears of renewed tensions and destabilization between the two countries. Trump left the door open for the summit to be rescheduled, but senior White House aides said rescheduling the meeting was highly unlikely, at least not any time soon. (Washington Post)
‘A lot of dial tones’: The inside story of how Trump’s North Korea summit fell apart. “Trump has a morbid fear of being humiliated and shamed," said Tony Schwartz, who co-authored "The Art of the Deal" with Trump. "This is showing who’s the biggest and the strongest, so he is exquisitely sensitive to the possibility that he would end up looking weak and small. There is nothing more unacceptable to Trump than that." (Washington Post)
4/ Mueller's team has been investigating Roger Stone's finances as part of the probe into possible collusion between the Trump campaign and the Russians during the 2016 election. Mueller has questioned Stone's associates about his finances, including his tax returns. Stone claims he has not been contacted by the special counsel's office, and that he played no role in colluding with Russia. (CNN)
5/ Roger Stone tried to get damaging information on Hillary Clinton from Julian Assange during the 2016 campaign. Emails revealed that Stone used a mutual acquaintance as an intermediary between himself and Assange in order to ask Assange for any emails related to Clinton's role in disrupting a purported peace deal in Libya while she was serving as secretary of state in 2011. Stone testified last year that he had only "wanted confirmation" that Assange had information about Clinton in his possession. (Wall Street Journal / CNN)
Assange's refuge inside the Ecuadorian embassy in London is "in jeopardy." Sources say his current situation is "unusually bad" and that Assange could leave the embassy "any day now," either because he will be forced out or made to feel so restricted that he might just choose to leave on his own. (CNN)
6/ A Russian billionaire with ties to the Kremlin met with Michael Cohen at Trump Tower 11 days before Trump's inauguration. Viktor Vekselberg met with Cohen to discuss their mutual desire to improve Russia's relationship with the U.S. under the incoming Trump administration, according to Andrew Intrater. Intrater is an American businessman who invests money on behalf of Vekselberg and was present at the meeting in question. A few days after Trump's inauguration, Intrater’s private equity firm, Columbus Nova, signed a $1 million consulting contract with Cohen. (New York Times)
7/ The Trump administration told lawmakers that it has reached a deal to keep Chinese telecom giant ZTE alive. The deal would allow ZTE to pay a fine as punishment for violating international sanctions against Iran and North Korea. ZTE would also have to make changes to its management team, hire American compliance officers and place them at the firm. In exchange, ZTE would be again able to do business with American companies. The deal is expected to face considerable resistance from Congress. (New York Times)
8/ Someone has been circulating letters to dozens of wealthy entrepreneurs in China and offering access to the Trump administration in exchange for a $100,000 contribution to Trump's reelection campaign. Republican Party officials say they had nothing to do with the letter, which is one of at least three such offers that have been circulated in the past week. The letter promises a handshake and a one-on-one photo with the president in exchange for $100,000 donation — a “VVIP” trip “to be remembered for a lifetime.” (Washington Post)
9/ Internal documents from inside a shadowy Israeli firm reveal details of a plot to discredit Obama officials involved in the Iran deal and, ultimately, the deal itself. Black Cube operatives befriended architects of the deal and their associates and tried to obtain evidence of improper behavior, including financial or sexual impropriety. Black Cube has two arms, one for corporate clients and one for government and political actors, and is the same Israeli private intelligence and investigation firm hired by Harvey Weinstein to intimidate and disparage his accusers. The plan to sabotage the Iran deal is the first public example of the firm’s attempts to meddle in U.S. politics. (NBC News)
NOTABLES.
The suspect in the shooting that injured three people at an Indiana middle school is now in custody. At least three people, including a teacher and a student, were injured in the shooting. (CNN)
A group of Republican lawmakers and advocacy groups plan to release a new proposal in yet another attempt to repeal the Affordable Care Act and replace it with a different plan. The replacement plan is aimed at giving individual states more control over healthcare policy and is the product of eight months of behind-the-scenes planning by a coalition of conservative organizations. (Wall Street Journal / MarketWatch)
Harvey Weinstein turned himself in to police and was arrested by the NYPD on charges of rape, criminal sex acts, and other lower level sex abuse and sexual misconduct charges. The charges stem from his 2004 encounters with actress Lucia Evans and another woman who has not been identified or spoken publicly. Evans confirmed that she was pressing charges. "At a certain point," Evans said, "you have to think about the greater good of humanity, of womankind." (NBC News / CBS News / CNN)
Former staffers for Republican Congressman Tom Garrett say Garrett and his wife made them their personal servants, often ordering them to pick up groceries, clothes, and even dog poop — all during work hours. Garrett and his wife are both known to have explosive tempers, and the aides say they were afraid that Garrett might prevent them from advancing in their careers if they refused his or his wife’s orders. (Politico)
Trump nominated immigration hard-liner Ronald Mortensen to become the next assistant secretary of state for the Bureau of Population, Refugees and Migration. Mortensen has been highly critical of the DACA program. Among other things, Mortensen has claimed that "Illegal aliens commit felonies in order to get jobs," that "illegal immigration and high levels of identity theft go hand-in-hand," and that "children are prime targets" of identity theft committed by undocumented immigrants. (CNN)
The Republican nominee for a US House seat in Illinois is a 9/11 truther who once claimed that Beyonce had ties to the Illuminati. Bill Fawell, who is running against incumbent Democrat Cheri Bustos in Illinois' 17th District, won an uncontested primary in March. Fawell said Jay-Z "has a long history of serving up the godless Illuminati" and shared a YouTube video that claimed Beyonce's halftime performance at the Super Bowl used Illuminati symbolism. (CNN)
Montana Democrats called for a Congressional ethics probe of Rep. Greg Gianforte to determine whether he "violated House Ethics Rules by making false statements to the police and the public" regarding Gianforte's assault of a reporter and other actions last year. (CNN)
A turf war between Jared Kushner and Jeff Sessions drove the director of the federal prison system to resign. Mark Inch told Rod Rosenstein that he was tired of administration officials flouting "departmental norms," and complained that Sessions had excluded him from major staffing, budget, and policy decisions. Inch also felt excluded by Kushner when it came to drafting prison reform legislation. (New York Times)
🙃 WTF, right?
Don't forget: We're off next Monday for Memorial Day. We'll pick things back up again on Tuesday.
Editor's note: This post originally stated that Vekselberg met with Cohen 11 days before Trump's election. Vekselberg actually met with Cohen 11 days before Trump's inauguration.
1/ Trump canceled the planned nuclear summit with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un and accused North Korea of "tremendous anger and open hostility." In a letter to Kim, Trump wrote: "Sadly, based on the tremendous anger and open hostility displayed in your most recent statement, I feel it is inappropriate, at this time, to have this long-planned meeting." Trump was apparently referring to North Korea's recent statement, in which it called Mike Pence a "political dummy." Most of the letter uses seemingly friendly language, but Trump also appeared to include a veiled threat that the U.S. might someday use its nuclear weapons against North Korea, if necessary: "You talk about your nuclear capabilities," Trump wrote, "but ours are so massive and powerful that I pray to God they will never have to be used." (CNBC / NPR)
President Trump cancels historic meeting with North Korean leader due to "tremendous anger and open hostility" in recent statement by North Korea.
The letter Trump sent to Kim Jong Un canceling the summit, annotated. (Washington Post)
Trump dictated 'every word' of the letter canceling North Korea summit. (The Hill)
North Korea demolished its nuclear test site just hours before Trump announced that he was canceling the proposed nuclear summit. North Korea officially closed down the site with a series of explosions that caused landslides near the tunnel entrances to the facility. The closure of the site is not irreversible, and several follow-up measures would be required in order to ensure the facility meets Trump's demands for true denuclearization. Kim also did not invite international nuclear weapons inspectors to the demolition. (Associated Press)
2/ Trump says the U.S. military "is ready if necessary" to respond to any provocation by North Korea after Trump cancelled the proposed North Korean nuclear summit. "I've spoken to General Mattis and the Joint Chiefs of Staff," Trump said during a press conference, "and our military, which is by far the most powerful anywhere in the world that has been greatly enhanced recently, as you all know, is ready if necessary." Trump also said he consulted with Japan and South Korea which, according to Trump, are prepared to respond in the event that Kim Jong Un commits any "foolish or reckless acts" in response to Trump calling off the summit. (NBC News)
South Korean President Moon Jae-In said he was "very perplexed" by Trump's decision to cancel the summit. Moon called the cancellation "very regrettable." He continued: "Denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula and the establishment of permanent peace are historic tasks that can neither be abandoned nor delayed." (NPR / Yonhap)
The Dow Jones industrial average dropped 250 points after Trump called off the North Korean nuclear summit. The S&P 500 fell 0.9 percent as a continued drop in oil prices and bond yields dragged down energy and financials stocks, respectively. (CNBC)
The commemorative North Korea summit coins are now being sold at a discount. The White House Gift Shop put its commemorative coins on sale for $19.95 — down from $24.95 — after Trump announced he was canceling the proposed summit. (Daily Beast)
3/ Trump said migrant children entering the country at the southern border are "not innocent," and warned that letting them in exposes the nation to increased gang crime. "They look so innocent," Trump said at a roundtable meeting at the Morrelly Homeland Security Center. He added: "They're not innocent." (Washington Post)
4/ Trump insisted that he will not sign any immigration bill that emerges from Congress unless it includes "a real wall" on the southern border. Trump was responding to an ongoing effort in the House to force a vote on certain bills aimed at protecting young undocumented immigrants from deportation. Factions of the House GOP are at odds over certain provisions in the various bills under consideration, including whether or not to provide permanent legal status for "Dreamers" under the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program. (Washington Post)
House Republicans holds last-ditch immigration talks as internal showdown looms. House GOP leaders have temporarily halted an internal rebellion to force votes next month on protecting young undocumented immigrants from deportation while they negotiate with the GOP renegades to find a different path forward. (Washington Post)
The House broke for an 11-day recess as majority Republicans remain deadlocked over proposed legislation to protect "Dreamers" from deportation. So far, 23 House Republicans have signed a petition to force a debate and votes on a series of immigration bills as soon as next month. (Reuters)
5/ Trump called for sweeping changes to the U.S. immigration legal process and questioned why immigrants should go through the legal system at all. "Other countries have what's called security people," Trump said. "People who stand there and say you can't come in. We have thousands of judges and they need thousands of more judges. The whole system is corrupt." Trump also suggested eliminating courts and judges from the immigration process: "Whoever heard of a system where you put people through trials? Where do these judges come from?" He continued: "So it's ridiculous, we're going to change the system. We have no choice for the good of our country." (CNN)
6/ Trump said athletes who refuse to stand for the national anthem shouldn't be allowed to play and suggested that maybe they "shouldn't be in the country." Trump said he doesn't like the provision in the NFL's new policy that allows players to remain in the locker room while the anthem is played. "I don't think people should be staying in locker rooms," Trump said, "but still I think it's good. You have to stand, proudly, for the national anthem or you shouldn't be playing, you shouldn't be there, maybe you shouldn't be in the country." (Washington Post / NPR / Fox News)
7/ The FBI seized control of a key server in Russia's global botnet of 500,000 hacked routers. One of the goals of the operation was to use the information from the seized server to build a comprehensive list of victims in order to short-circuit the Kremlin's ability to reinfect targets. The FBI went after a complicated malware program called "VPN Filter" that has been linked to the Russian hacking group responsible for the breach of the DNC and the Clinton campaign during the 2016 election. (Daily Beast)
8/ Trump signed the largest rollback of federal banking regulations since the 2008 financial crisis. The legislation exempts scores of banks from strict federal regulations put in place under the Dodd-Frank Act. The bill eases restrictions on all but the largest banks and raises the standard by which banks are designated too important to fail by $250 billion, up from $50 billion. It also eases the reporting requirements for mortgage loan data for the overwhelming majority of banks. The bill was co-authored by three Senate Democrats and passed the Senate in March before clearing the House on Tuesday. (The Hill / CNN / Chicago Tribune / CNBC)
Notables.
An ally of Vladimir Putin suggested that the meeting in the Seychelles with Blackwater founder Erik Prince was more than a simple chance encounter "over a beer," as Prince told Congress. Kirill Dmitriev, a Russian fund manager who was present at the January 2017 meeting, said he had wanted to meet with Prince in order to improve relations between the U.S and Russia. (ABC News)
Jared Kushner spent nearly seven hours with Mueller's team in April for his second interview with the special counsel. Both times, Kushner met with investigators as a witness, not a target, of the investigation. The most recent interview focused on the 2016 campaign, the transition, the firing of James Comey, and other topics. Kushner's financial dealings and family business were not discussed. (ABC News)
GOP Rep. Tom Garrett may not run for reelection in November. Garrett abruptly split with his chief of staff on Tuesday and has been unable to raise as much money as his Democratic opponent in Virginia's 5th congressional district. (Politico)
Newly obtained documents and interviews provide the first public on-the-ground accounting of a battle between American forces and around 500 pro-Syrian government forces and Russian mercenaries. The incident was one of the single-bloodiest battles the American military has faced in Syria since deploying to the country to fight the Islamic State. (New York Times)
Democrats will be allowed to join Republicans at today's White House briefing on the secret FBI source who aided Mueller's Russia probe. After a day of negotiations, the White House reversed its earlier decision to only invite Republican lawmakers the briefing. (Washington Post)
Trump is considering imposing new tariffs on imported cars. Trump told Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross to consider an investigation into additional protections for domestic automakers, saying American auto workers have "waited long enough." (NPR)
Trump's ban on global abortion funding has led to more abortions. Healthcare workers in Kenya say Trump's "Mexico City" policy of cutting abortion funding has left thousands of women in Kenya without access to contraception, forcing many to rely on risky, backstreet abortions as a form of birth control. (CNN)
1/ Michael Cohen's business partner took a plea deal that requires him to cooperate with the government as a potential witness in state and federal investigations. Evgeny Freidman is a Russian immigrant known as the "Taxi King," and he specifically agreed to assist government prosecutors in state or federal investigations, according to a person briefed on the matter. Freidman was disbarred earlier this month, has been accused of failing to pay $5 million in taxes, and is facing multiple counts of criminal tax fraud and one of grand larceny. Freidman's cooperation is seen as potential leverage to pressure Cohen into working with Mueller's team on the investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 elections. (New York Times / Washington Post / Politico / CNBC / Vox)
Cohen distances himself from business associate who struck plea deal. (The Hill)
Who is Evgeny Freidman? Michael Cohen's "Taxi King" business partner may be key to Russia investigation. (Newsweek)
2/ Cohen received a secret payment of at least $400,000 to arrange talks between Trump and the president of Ukraine. The payment was arranged by intermediaries acting on behalf of Ukrainian president Petro Poroshenko. The meetings occurred at the White House last June. Cohen has denied the allegation. There is no indication that Trump was aware of the payment. (BBC)
3/ Robert Mueller asked the courts to begin the sentencing process for former Trump campaign adviser George Papadopoulos. Mueller asked the judge to order a standard investigative report and to begin moving forward with sentencing process. The judge will ultimately decide what Papadopoulos' sentence will be. Papadopoulos has been cooperating with the special counsel for months, but the move suggests that his cooperation may no longer be necessary. (CNN)
4/ A federal district court judge ruled that Trump can't block people on Twitter over their political views. Judge Buchwald of the Southern District of New York said Trump's Twitter account is a public forum and blocking people based on their political opinions amounts to viewpoint discrimination and a violation of the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution. (The Hill)
5/ Trump said he constantly bashes the press in order to "demean" and "discredit" journalists so the public won't believe "negative stories" about him. Lesley Stahl says she asked Trump, "Why are you doing it over and over?" She continued: "And he said: 'You know why I do it? I do it to discredit you all and demean you all so that when you write negative stories about me no one will believe you.'" (Yahoo! Finance)
6/ The White House did not invite Democrats to a private briefing on the FBI informant involved in the investigation into the Trump campaign's contacts with Russians during and after the 2016 election. Two senior House Republicans were invited to the briefing, which was coordinated by John Kelly and will be held on Thursday. Democrats are demanding that Democratic lawmakers be included in the briefing. Sarah Huckabee-Sanders said Democrats weren't invited because they didn't specifically ask for details about the informant. (Politico)
Donald Trump turned a rumor into a full-blown government conspiracy in just 5 days. Trump went from having heard a rumor about the FBI's use of a confidential source to claiming that it was an intentional and political attempt to install a "spy" within his ranks on behalf of Obama's Justice Department. (Politico)
7/ John Kelly signed off on a plan to fire a handful of mid-level and junior aides after Trump demanded changes to the White House communications team in order to limit the leaks coming out of his administration. The plan would remove some of the department's low-level employees, while keeping high-level staffers such as Sarah Huckabee-Sanders and other officials on board. (Politico)
8/ Jared Kushner’s prison reform plan passedin the House of Representatives with bipartisan support. The "First Step Act," which has Trump's support, passed with a 360-59 vote. The bill would provide training programs for prisoners and would be the first major bipartisan success for the Trump administration. Mitch McConnell, however, has indicated that he is unlikely to bring up the bill in the Senate unless Republicans can find a way to resolve their differences. (Politico)
Congress’s prison reform bill, explained: The First Step Act has Trump’s support — but faces some Democratic opposition. (Vox)
Is the “First Step Act” real reform? The bill addresses the dire need for rehabilitative services in the federal prison system, proves there is strong bipartisan support for at least modest criminal justice reform and underscores a strategic debate that has split the Democratic Party. (The Marshall Project)
9/ Scott Pruitt spent at least $9,600 on decorations and furniture for his personal office. Pruitt bought Smithsonian artwork, a refurbished desk, and other framed items. He paid the Smithsonian Institution $1,950 in labor and delivery charges to rent out three art pieces for his executive suite, and spent more than $2,500 on frames for various items, including a photo of himself with Trump and an American flag. The internal document with the list of expenditures also confirmed earlier reports that Pruitt spent $2,963 on a standing "captain's" desk and $2,075 on a different desk. (The Hill)
poll/ A majority of Americans — 59% — don't think Mueller's investigation into Russia and the 2016 presidential campaign has uncovered evidence of any crimes, even though the special counsel has already secured five guilty pleas and issued 17 criminal indictments. (Vox / Navigator Research)
poll/ Thirty-six percent of voters say they would vote for Trump over a generic Democratic candidate in 2020. Forty-four percent would choose the generic Democrat, and 20 percent of voters remain undecided. (Politico)
Notables.
Jared Kushner received his security clearance after a year of background checks conducted by the FBI. (New York Times / CNN)
NFL teams will be fined if players kneel during the national anthem. Players will be allowed to remain in the locker room during the anthem, but their teams will be fined by the NFL if they go out and kneel on the field. (New York Times)
Mike Pompeo says the U.S. will fight back against what he called "continued efforts" by Russia to interfere in the 2018 midterm elections. Pompeo did not provide any details as to what the "appropriate measures" would entail, but he said the U.S. has so far been unable to establish "effective deterrence" to halt Russia's efforts. (Associated Press)
Senate negotiators have released legislation to overhaul policies for handling sexual harassment complaints in Congress. The deal includes requirements that lawmakers be held personally liable for some financial settlements, and requires lawmakers to repay any awards and settlements stemming from acts of harassment that they personally commit. (NPR)
New Jersey Attorney General Gurbir Grewal says he is ready to fill the prosecutorial void left in the wake of Eric Schneiderman’s sudden resignation earlier this month. Grewal has jurisdiction over 20 Trump properties. (Politico)
A sinkhole appeared on the White House lawn near the office of White House deputy press secretary Hogan Gridley. (CBS News)
Michael Avenatti's law firm was hit with a $10-million judgment in U.S. Bankruptcy Court. (Los Angeles Times)
Trump offered his support to Tomi Lahren after someone threw a drink at the Fox News pundit while she was eating at a restaurant in Minneapolis over the weekend. (Washington Post)
Stacey Abrams won the Democratic nomination to become the next governor of Georgia, making her the first African American woman to be a major party nominee in the state. (New York Times)
1/ Trump uses White House cellphones that lack the proper security features required to protect his communications, thus leaving him open to potential hacking or surveillance. Trump uses at least two different iPhones — one for calls and one for Twitter and news — and has resisted staff efforts to beef up phone security. Aides have urged Trump to swap out his Twitter phone on a monthly basis, but Trump argues the disruption is "too inconvenient." Trump has gone as long as five months without a Twitter-phone security check-up. (Politico)
Trump is essentially doing the same thing he demanded Hillary Clinton be locked up for doing. Trump's actions are identical to Clinton’s, but Trump's situation is an easier target for foreign hackers, especially since Trump is particularly vulnerable to espionage and blackmail due to his concealed business interests and alleged adultery. (New York Magazine)
Trump's communication security practices illustrate the clear double standard between Hillary Clinton’s emails and his own cell phones. Whether or not convenience was actually Clinton's reasoning for the use of her private server is a fair question, but there are still clear parallels between what Trump attacked Clinton for and what he's doing now. (Washington Post)
The White House pushed back on the report that Trump's cell phones are not secure: “The White House is confident in the security protocols in place for the President’s use of communications devices,” a senior White House official said. (ABC News)
2/ White House employees who draft tweets for Trump intentionally incorporate poor grammar and spelling errors to mimic their boss. Overuse of exclamation points, random capitalization of words, and use of fragmented sentences are all elements of a process intended to make the tweets appear genuine. (Boston Globe)
3/ The EPA barred the Associated Press and CNN from a national summit on harmful water contaminants convened by Scott Pruitt. One AP reporter was grabbed by the shoulders and forcibly removed from the building after asking to speak to a public affairs representative. "This was simply an issue of the room reaching capacity," said EPA spokesperson Jahan Wilcox. Wilcox later announced the afternoon session would be open to all press. (Associated Press / NBC News / Axios / CNBC)
4/ The Interior Department plans to reverse a 2015 ban prohibiting hunters on some public lands in Alaska from using cruel hunting techniques, including the use of spotlights to shoot mother black bears and cubs during hibernation, the hunting of black bears with dogs, the killing of wolves and pups in their dens, and the use of motor boats to kill swimming caribou. The Interior Department will accept public comments on the proposed rule changes for the next 60 days. (NBC News)
5/ The Government Accountability Office approved a proposal to cut more than $7 billion in unused funding from the Children's Health Insurance Program. The GAO report approved the vast majority of the Trump administration's $15.3 billion plan to reduce government spending. The plan will likely avoid filibuster in the Senate and is expected to pass with a simple majority vote. The House version of the bill has been drafted and is expected to head to the floor in June. (Politico)
6/ Elliot Broidy's company received its largest U.S. government payout while Broidy was selling access to Trump to Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates. In 2017, in addition to securing nearly $1 billion in contracts from Saudi Arabia and the UAE (in exchange for lobbying against Qatar), Broidy and George Nader locked down more than $4 million in contracts from the Department of Defense. The most Circinus LCC had received in defense contracts prior to Broidy's lobbying work in Washington, D.C. was $7,501. (Daily Beast)
More evidence that Broidy may Have been covering for Trump in that Playmate affair. (New York Magazine)
7/ A bipartisan group of lawmakers say they will try to stop Trump from reducing penalties against ZTE, the Chinese telecom giant. "We will begin working on veto-proof congressional action," Marco Rubio tweeted. Dick Durbin said lawmakers are considering several options and plan to act "soon." (Reuters)
Here is #ZTE timeline: Violated U.S. sanction laws & got caught lying & covering up. Paid $1billion fine & agreed to discipline employees. But then lied again & instead of discipline gave those employees bonuses. Now we are offering same deal of fine & employee discipline?
China has already reduced its import tariff on passenger cars from 25% to 15% following a truce between Trump and Chinese officials. The move opens up a market that has been a major target of the United States in its ongoing trade battle with the world’s second-largest economy. (Bloomberg)
How China acquires ‘the crown jewels’ of U.S. technology: The U.S. frequently fails to police foreign deals over the cutting-edge software that powers the military and American economic strength. (Politico)
8/ James Clapper said the FBI did not spy on the Trump campaign at any point. "They were not," Clapper told The View. "They were spying — a term I don't particularly like — on what the Russians were doing." (Politico / The Hill)
James Clapper: Trump tweets are a 'disturbing assault' on the Justice Department's independence. (CNN)
9/ Harley-Davidson took a tax cut, closed a factory in Kansas City, and rewarded its shareholders with a $700-million stock buyback plan. Following the windfall of the federal tax bill, the company laid off 800 workers, moved its factory to Pennsylvania, and announced a dividend increase and stock buyback plan for 15 million of its shares. (Vox)
An increase in gas prices easily outpaces the benefits of the tax bill for lower-income Americans. It’s not yet clear whether — or how much — this is a function of the Iran deal as opposed to the normal increases typically seen during the summer months. (Washington Post)
Gas prices reach $5 per gallon in Manhattan. One gas station in Manhattan’s Hell’s Kitchen neighborhood listed its gasoline for $4.999 per gallon. (The Hill)
Notables.
The Supreme Court ruled in a 5–4 decision that private-sector workers may not band together to challenge violations of federal labor laws. In the majority opinion, Justice Neil Gorsuch argued the 1925 Federal Arbitration Act trumps the National Labor Relations Act. As such, employees who sign agreements to arbitrate claims must waive their rights to join a class action lawsuit and instead go through arbitration on an individual basis. (NPR / Politico)
Purdue Pharma hired Giuliani in the mid-2000s to head off a federal investigation into its marketing of OxyContin, which has been at the center of the national opioid crisis. Purdue turned OxyContin into a multibillion-dollar drug after its launch in 1996 and undertook an unprecedented marketing campaign to pitch the painkiller to doctors. (The Guardian)
Bob Corker turned down an offer to become the next U.S. ambassador to Australia. "I had a number of conversations with both President Trump and [Mike] Pompeo," Corker said. "At the end of the day though … it just felt like it wasn't the right step." (The Tennessean)
Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen pushed back on the intelligence community's assessment that Vladimir Putin intervened in the 2016 presidential elections in an attempt to help Trump and hurt Clinton. "I don't believe that I have seen that conclusion … that the specific intent was to help President Trump win," Nielsen said. (CNN)
Senior GOP lawmakers are questioning Paul Ryan's ability to lead the party through the 2018 midterm elections. While Ryan continues to insist he is not planning on stepping down as Speaker, many Republicans — including moderates — have become increasingly willing to defy Ryan, whom they view as a lame-duck leader of the party. (Politico)
1/ Trump demanded that the Justice Department investigate whether the FBI "infiltrated or surveilled" his presidential campaign under Obama's orders. After accusing the FBI on Friday of sending a "spy" to infiltrate his campaign, Trump tweeted Sunday afternoon: "I hereby demand, and will do so officially tomorrow, that the Department of Justice look into whether or not the FBI/DOJ infiltrated or surveilled the Trump Campaign for Political Purposes, and if any such demands or requests were made by people within the Obama Administration!" The FBI opened its counterintelligence investigation into Russia's efforts to influence the 2016 campaign on July 31, 2016. They sent an informant, a retired American professor, to talk to George Papadopoulos, Carter Page, and Sam Clovis after receiving evidence that the pair had contacts linked to Russia during the campaign. (New York Times / Washington Post)
Reports are there was indeed at least one FBI representative implanted, for political purposes, into my campaign for president. It took place very early on, and long before the phony Russia Hoax became a “hot” Fake News story. If true - all time biggest political scandal!
I hereby demand, and will do so officially tomorrow, that the Department of Justice look into whether or not the FBI/DOJ infiltrated or surveilled the Trump Campaign for Political Purposes - and if any such demands or requests were made by people within the Obama Administration!
2/ The Justice Department asked the inspector general to review the FBI's counterintelligence investigation of the 2016 Trump campaign hours after Trump demanded that the agency investigate whether his campaign was "infiltrated" by the FBI. Rod Rosenstein said in a statement: "If anyone did infiltrate or surveil participants in a presidential campaign for inappropriate purposes, we need to know about it and take appropriate action." The suspected informant is Stefan Halper, an American who was a foreign policy scholar at the University of Cambridge until 2015. (Washington Post / New York Times / Wall Street Journal)
3/ Rod Rosenstein, FBI Director Christopher Wray and Director of National Intelligence Dan Coats met with Trump at the White House. The meeting comes a day after Trump tweeted that he would "demand" the Justice Department investigate whether his campaign was improperly "infiltrated or surveilled" for political purposes. Rosenstein agreed that John Kelly would set up a meeting where congressional leaders can review "highly classified and other information they have requested" related to the Russia probe. (ABC News / CBS News / CNN / Bloomberg)
4/ Rudy Giuliani: Robert Mueller will end his investigation into possible obstruction of justice by Sept. 1 if Trump agrees to sit down with investigators for an interview. A source familiar with the probe called the deadline "entirely made-up" and "another apparent effort to pressure the special counsel to hasten the end of his work." Giuliani added that questions about the FBI informant who approached campaign aides in 2016 need "to be cleared up before we even approach the idea of doing an interview" because Trump could be "walking into a trap." (New York Times / Reuters / Washington Post / Wall Street Journal)
5/ Three months before the 2016 election, Trump Jr. met with representatives of Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates who offered to help the Trump campaign, proposing a multimillion-dollar social media manipulation campaign. The group comprised Joel Zamel, an Israeli specialist in social media manipulation; George Nader, an emissary for two wealthy Arab princes; and Erik Prince, the former head of Blackwater and brother of Education Secretary Betsy DeVos. Following the meeting, Nader became a close ally of Trump campaign advisers. While it's illegal for foreign governments or individuals to be involved in American elections, two people familiar with the meetings said Trump campaign officials weren't bothered by the idea of cooperation with foreigners. (New York Times)
6/ Robert Mueller expanded his probe into Joel Zamel's role. Mueller has issued a subpoena for documents related to Zamel's work, but not for Zamel himself. Zamel previously met with Mueller's team to discuss his relationship with George Nader, who paid Zamel $2 million shortly after Trump was elected. The payment has been described as unrelated to the campaign. (Wall Street Journal)
Notables.
Incoming NRA president Oliver North blamed school shootings on "youngsters who are steeped in a culture of violence" and young boys who have "been on Ritalin" since early childhood. "They've been drugged in many cases," North said. North, who is best known for his role in the Iran-Contra "guns for drugs" scandal, told Fox News, "You are not going to fix it by taking away the rights of law-abiding citizens." (Washington Post)
Texas Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick blamed school shootings on violent video games, removing religion from schools, abortion, broken families, too many entrances to schools, unarmed teachers, and irresponsible gun owners. Patrick did not blame guns for school shootings. (CNN)
Trump signed a bill that will undo efforts by the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau to discourage discrimination in auto lending. CFPB acting Director Mick Mulvaney called the guidelines "misguided" while praising the rollback. (Politico)
A border patrol agent detained two U.S. citizens after overhearing them speaking Spanish at a gas station in Montana last week. (Slate)
Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said the US will aim to "crush" Iran with economic and military pressure if it doesn't change its behavior in the Middle East. Pompeo demanded that Iran halt all uranium enrichment, stop its ballistic-missile program and give nuclear inspectors access to the entire country. (Bloomberg / CNN)
The Trump administration suspended its plan to impose tariffs on China. Steven Mnuchin, the Treasury secretary, said: "We're putting the trade war on hold." (New York Times)
The RNC paid roughly half a million dollars to a law firm representing former White House communications director Hope Hicks and others involved in the Russia probe. Trout Cacheris & Janis received $451,780 from the RNC after Hicks hired the firm's founder as her personal attorney in September. The money used to pay the firm was originally meant to be used for election recounts and other legal matters, but RNC officials concluded that the money could be used to pay for the president's legal fees. (Washington Post)
1/ The Trump administration will withhold federal funding for family planning clinics that provide abortions or refer patients to places that perform them in a change to how Title X family planning funds are awarded. The rule will resurrect a Reagan-era policy that requires abortion services to have "separate personnel" and require a "bright line" of "physical separation" from other family planning services. Title X serves about 4 million women a year and costs taxpayers about $260 million. (New York Times / Washington Post / Associated Press)
2/ Trump tweets: The Justice Department put "an embedded informant" inside his campaign in order to "spy" on him in an effort to "frame" him "for crimes he didn't commit." Giuliani tried to clarify Trump's tweets, saying the president doesn't "know for sure" if there was an FBI informant in his campaign. He added that Trump's legal team was told "off the record" that there was not one informant but two informants. Trump tweeted that if the reports are true, then it would be the "all time biggest political scandal!" He called the allegations "really bad stuff!" (NBC News / Washington Post)
Wow, word seems to be coming out that the Obama FBI “SPIED ON THE TRUMP CAMPAIGN WITH AN EMBEDDED INFORMANT.” Andrew McCarthy says, “There’s probably no doubt that they had at least one confidential informant in the campaign.” If so, this is bigger than Watergate!
“Apparently the DOJ put a Spy in the Trump Campaign. This has never been done before and by any means necessary, they are out to frame Donald Trump for crimes he didn’t commit.” David Asman @LouDobbs@GreggJarrett Really bad stuff!
Reports are there was indeed at least one FBI representative implanted, for political purposes, into my campaign for president. It took place very early on, and long before the phony Russia Hoax became a “hot” Fake News story. If true - all time biggest political scandal!
3/ Trump Jr. called a blocked number before and after the June 2016 meeting at Trump Tower. On June 6, Trump Jr. was in contact with a blocked number for three to four minutes. Immediately after ending that call, Trump Jr. called Emin Agalarov, the pop star son of Russian oligarch Aras Agalarov. Two hours after the Trump Tower meeting occurred on June 9th, Trump Jr. placed another call to a blocked number that lasted three minutes. Then-candidate Trump spent that day at Trump Tower, where the private residence has a blocked number, and held no public events. (CNN / Washington Post)
4/ Rudy Giuliani: A president can commit obstruction of justice, contradicting Trump's now-former lawyer John Dowd, who said that "the president cannot obstruct justice because he is the chief law enforcement officer." According to Giuliani, Mueller's appointment was "really about the firing of Comey," which wouldn't count as obstruction – regardless of Trump's reason for doing so – because Comey was "replaced by somebody else on an acting position immediately." (CNBC / Washington Post)
Avenatti to Giuliani: "Please retire. Today." You're becoming an "embarrassment." (The Hill)
Dear Dazed Rudy: Please retire. Today. You had a good run for many years. But you are distracting from that and quickly becoming an embarrassment. A never ending joke. Don’t let this serve as your legacy. The time has come.
— Michael Avenatti (@MichaelAvenatti) May 18, 2018
5/ Giuliani said Robert Mueller agreed to limit the scope of a potential interview with Trump to two topics instead of five. Mueller, according to Giuliani, is not interested in Michael Cohen or his business dealings. "The main focus we want is Russia," Giuliani said, adding: "The President would testify tomorrow if it was about the truth. The truth is he had nothing to do with Russia. The President is not going to lie." (CNN / Associated Press)
Mueller subpoenaed another Roger Stone assistant. John Kakanis has worked as a driver, accountant, and operative for Stone was questioned by the FBI on the topics of possible Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election, the WikiLeaks website, its founder Julian Assange, and the hacker or hackers who call themselves Guccifer 2.0. (Reuters)
6/ Summer School: Trump's lawyers are planning a series of summer prep sessions to get the president ready for a possible sit-down interview with Mueller. The planning meetings will be held during off-hours at the White House and will mirror his 2016 debate preparation, where aides briefed Trump in short sessions over many weeks. (Politico)
7/ Michael Cohen's suspicious activity reports (SARs) aren't missing – the Treasury Department has restricted access to them. Earlier this week, a law enforcement official admitted to leaking some of Cohen's banking records over concerns they had been removed from a Treasury Department database as part of a cover-up. The official could only access one SAR related to Cohen, but knew that two more should have been available. The Treasury Department also restricted some law enforcement agencies from accessing the database despite memorandums of understanding that allow agencies, including the DEA, the FBI, and the IRS, to access the information. (BuzzFeed News)
🤔 Let's work together to answer your vexing questions about the curious case of Cohen's SARs, where Avenatti got his information, and whether Mueller may already have Coehn's reports. (WTF Community Center)
8/ At least 10 people were killed and 10 more wounded in a shooting at a high school in Santa Fe, Texas. Trump offered his "support to everyone affected" and said mass shootings have been "going on too long in our country." Hillary Clinton, meanwhile, called for legislative action, saying that by failing to act, "we are failing our children." And, in an open letter to Trump and federal lawmakers, New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo wrote: "You were elected to lead – do something." (New York Times / CNN / The Hill / ABC News)
An armed man ranting "anti-Trump" rhetoric opened fire on police officers at the Trump National Doral Miami Golf Club in South Florida before he was wounded and apprehended. (New York Times / Sun Sentinel)
Notables.
Trump personally asked the postmaster general to double the rate the Postal Service charges Amazon.com. Megan Brennan has resisted, explaining multiple times that the rates are bound by contracts and must be reviewed by a regulatory commission. Brennan also told Trump that the Amazon relationship is beneficial for the Postal Service. (Washington Post)
Senate Democrats called for a multi-agency inspector general investigation into the Trump administration's failure to implement mandated sanctions against Russia. In a letter addressed to the inspectors general of the State Department, Treasury Department and Intelligence Community, Democratic lawmakers said the administration has not complied with the Countering America's Adversaries Through Sanctions Act. (Daily Beast)
Cambridge Analytica and SCL Group filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy. Emerdata, a company that was registered in August with Jennifer and Rebekah Mercer on the board, is footing the legal bills for the two companies. (BuzzFeed News / CNN)
Trump tapped Robert Wilkie as next Veterans Affairs secretary after conduct issues sank Ronny Jackson's nomination. Wilkie has been leading the VA in an acting capacity since March. (Politico)
The White House is considering shrinking its communications team in part to reduce the number of leaks. While most staffers are not expected to be fired outright, there's a sense that a few staffers will pay a price for the leaked comment about John McCain's brain cancer – even if there's no evidence they were involved in the leak. (Politico / CNN)
Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross tried to demonstrate how benign the effects of a 25% levy on steel imports and 10% tariff on aluminum would be by holding up a can of Campbell's Soup. Today, Campbell said it expects profits to decline by 5% to 6% this year – worse than earlier projections of between 1% and 3%. (CNBC)
The House failed to pass the Republican-written farm bill. The measure died in a 198 to 213 vote that saw 30 House Republicans join 183 Democrats in voting against the legislation. The House Freedom Caucus wanted assurances that the House would vote on a tough immigration plan in exchange for their votes, which they didn't receive. (CNBC / Washington Post)
1/ Trump marked Robert Mueller's one-year anniversary as special counsel by offering "congratulations" to America on "the greatest Witch Hunt in American History." Trump charged that the FBI had "SPIED" on his campaign with an "EMBEDDED INFORMANT," which makes the Russia investigation "bigger than Watergate!" Trump claimed he's had the "most successful first 17 month Administration in U.S. history," overcome a "disgusting, illegal and unwarranted Witch Hunt," and noted there is "still No Collusion and No Obstruction." He added that "the only Collusion was that done by Democrats who were unable to win an Election despite the spending of far more money!" (New York Times / Washington Post / CNN / NBC News)
Congratulations America, we are now into the second year of the greatest Witch Hunt in American History...and there is still No Collusion and No Obstruction. The only Collusion was that done by Democrats who were unable to win an Election despite the spending of far more money!
Despite the disgusting, illegal and unwarranted Witch Hunt, we have had the most successful first 17 month Administration in U.S. history - by far! Sorry to the Fake News Media and “Haters,” but that’s the way it is!
The Secret Origins of the Trump Investigation. Days after the F.B.I. closed its investigation into Hillary Clinton in 2016, agents began scrutinizing the presidential campaign of her Republican rival, Donald J. Trump. (New York Times)
Inside year one of the Mueller investigation. As the Mueller probe hits its one-year anniversary, the special counsel's team has brought charges against 22 people and companies, notched five guilty pleas and seen one person sentenced. While a number of those charges were related to Russia's interference in the 2016 presidential election, so far none of them has extended to potential collusion between the Russian government and Trump associates. (CNN)
Is Trump's rhetoric about an informant in his campaign warranted? On the first anniversary of the appointment of special counsel Robert S. Mueller III to take over the investigation of Russian interference in the 2016 presidential campaign and any overlap with Donald Trump’s campaign, now-President Trump used his preferred political superlatives to disparage that inquiry on Twitter. (Washington Post)
✨ Last Year Today: Rod Rosenstein appointed former FBI Director Bob Mueller to oversee the investigation of Russian interference in the 2016 election. (WTF Just Happened Today)
2/ Mueller's office filed under seal an unredacted memorandum that outlines the scope of his probe into Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election. The filing was made as part of Mueller's criminal case against Paul Manafort, and was requested by the judge overseeing the case. (Reuters)
Manafort's former son-in-law cut a plea deal with the Justice Department, requiring him cooperate with other criminal probes. Jeffrey Yohai, a former business partner of Manafort, divorced Manafort's daughter last August. (Reuters)
Mueller's team is examining a series of meetings that took place in the Seychelles, which have been characterized as an attempt by the U.S. to set up a backchannel with Russia. A Russian plane, owned by Andrei Skoch, a Russian billionaire and deputy in the Russian State Duma, the country's legislative body, flew into the Seychelles a day prior to the 2017 meeting. (NJ.com)
3/ Trump referred to some undocumented immigrants as "animals," saying "these aren't people. These are animals." Trump also suggested that the mayor of Oakland, California, should be charged with obstruction of justice for warning her constituents about ICE raids in February. "You talk about obstruction of justice," said Trump. "I would recommend that you look into obstruction of justice for the mayor of Oakland." (New York Times / Washington Post)
Kellyanne Conway: Trump is owed an apology from those who criticized him for calling undocumented immigrants "animals," because he was referring to gang members. (The Hill)
Others who rushed to judgment to get the President rather than to get the story owe @POTUS - and the grieving loved ones who have lost family members to gang violence - an apology. https://t.co/vLU4SgKpux
4/ Michael Avenatti: Two more women claim they have agreements with either Trump or Michael Cohen to stay quiet about an affair with the president. Avenatti said he is in talks with the two women, but has not confirmed the allegations and is working to substantiate their claims. (The Hill)
A New York appeals court rejected Trump's request to stay proceedings in a defamation suit filed by a former contestant on "The Apprentice" who claimed he sexually harassed her. (Washington Post)
5/ The unnamed law enforcement official who leaked confidential financial records about Michael Cohen and his shell company last week did so because the official was worried that information was being withheld from law enforcement. Two suspicious activity reports filed by Cohen's bank were missing from the database managed by the Treasury Department's Financial Crimes Enforcement Network. "I have never seen something pulled off the system," the official said. "That system is a safeguard for the bank. It's a stockpile of information. When something's not there that should be, I immediately became concerned." The official continued: "That's why I came forward." (New Yorker)
6/ Michael Cohen solicited a payment of at least $1 million from the Qatari government in late 2016. Cohen offered to provide access and advice about the then-incoming Trump administration in exchange. Qatar declined the offer, which came following a Dec. 12, 2016, meeting at Trump Tower between Qatar's foreign minister and Michael Flynn. Cohen didn't attend the meeting, but did speak separately to Ahmed al-Rumaihi, who was head of the Qatari sovereign wealth fund at the time. (Washington Post / Reuters)
Jared Kushner's family company is close to a deal with the Qatar government to bailout the family's financially troubled tower in New York City. The building generates about half its annual mortgage payment, and 30% of the 41-story tower is vacant. (New York Times)
7/ The Cambridge Analytica whistleblower testified to the Senate Judiciary Committee that the data company offered services intended to discourage voting and suppress voter turnout. Christopher Wylie didn't provide specifics about the services offered by Cambridge Analytica, but he did allege that African-American communities were particular targets of the company's "voter disengagement tactics." He also said that political action committees requested such voter suppression services from Cambridge Analytica. (CNN)
Paul Ryan postponed a congressional briefing on election security. Democrats pressed GOP leadership to make the briefing classified so that officials could go into sufficient detail about the scope of the threat and the Trump administration's efforts to protect digital election systems from hackers. (The Hill)
poll/ 13% of Americans consider Trump honest and trustworthy – down 3 points since February 2017. (The Hill)
Notables.
The Senate confirmed Gina Haspel as the next CIA director, approving her nomination in a 54 to 45 vote despite bipartisan concerns about her role in the agency's detention and interrogation programs. (Washington Post / New York Times)
North Korea called the South Korean government "ignorant and incompetent" and threatened to break off peace talks with the South if they don't halt U.S.-South Korean air combat drills. (Reuters)
Scott Pruitt hired a white-collar defense lawyer to help him navigate a dozen federal investigations into his activity and behavior as EPA administrator. (Politico)
Trump blamed Democrats for immigration laws that force federal immigration agents to break up families, saying "we have to break up families. The Democrats gave us that law. It's a horrible thing, we have to break up families. That Democrats gave us that law and they don't want to do anything about it." (CNN)
The White House canceled its daily communications morning meeting in response to the leak of a joke about John McCain being close to death. (New York Times)
A Republican lawmaker suggested that rocks falling in the ocean are causing sea levels to rise. Representative Mo Brooks from Alabama: "Every time you have that soil or rock or whatever it is that is deposited into the seas, that forces the sea levels to rise, because now you have less space in those oceans, because the bottom is moving up." (Science)
👀 Watching.
A list of stories I'm keeping an eye on.
💬 What stories are you noticing? Let me know using the chat icon in the lower right-hand corner.
1/ Trump "fully reimbursed" Michael Cohen between $100,001 and $250,000 in 2017 for an unspecified payment to a third party in 2016, according to Trump's financial disclosure report. The disclosure corroborates Rudy Giuliani's claim that Trump personally reimbursed Cohen between $460,000 or $470,000 for "incidental expenses" that he had incurred on Trump's behalf. Trump reported assets of at least $1.4 billion and income of at least $593.3 million for the 2016 calendar year and the early months of 2017. Trump owes at least $310 million to various financial institutions, including $130 million to Deutsche Bank. (CNBC / New York Times)
2/ The Senate Intelligence Committee endorsed the U.S. intelligence community's assessment that Russia interfered in the 2016 presidential election in order to help Trump and hurt Hillary Clinton. The Senate committee's bipartisan conclusion contradicts Republicans on the House Intelligence Committee, who dispute the intelligence community's findings that Putin was trying to help Trump. "We see no reason to dispute the conclusions," the Senate committee's chairman, Richard Burr, said. "There is no doubt that Russia undertook an unprecedented effort to interfere with our 2016 elections." (Washington Post / Politico / CNN / Wall Street Journal)
3/ Senate Judiciary Democrats say the evidence is clear that the Trump campaign "was willing to accept Russia's assistance." The committee's preliminary findings on the Trump Tower meeting also suggest they found "evidence of multiple contacts" between the Trump campaign and Russia, including "offers of assistance and purported overtures from Vladimir Putin." The committee also found that Trump Jr. and the White House misled the public about the June 9, 2016, meeting with Russians at Trump Tower, and that Trump Jr., Paul Manafort, and Jared Kushner were frustrated "that more damaging information was not produced" at the meeting. (Feinstein / Senate.gov)
Senate Judiciary Democrats: "In its investigation so far, the Committee has found evidence of multiple contacts between the Trump campaign and Russian government officials or their intermediaries, including offers of assistance and purported overtures from Vladimir Putin." pic.twitter.com/fXPsBjzypl
Senate Judiciary Dem statement on transcripts released today: “[T]he Committee has found evidence of multiple contacts between the Trump campaign and Russian government officials or their intermediaries, including offers of assistance and purported overtures from Vladimir Putin" pic.twitter.com/G1Q11AsZSi
The Senate Judiciary Committee released more than 2,500 pages of testimony related to their investigation into the June 2016 Trump Tower meeting between Trump Jr., Jared Kushner, Paul Manafort and the Russian lawyer, Natalia Veselnitskaya, a self-described Kremlin informant. Trump Jr. was promised damaging information about Hillary Clinton, but testimony largely confirms that Veselnitskaya did not provide dirt that could be used in the campaign. (New York Times / Washington Post)
7 things we learned from the Trump Tower meeting testimony. (Washington Post)
4/ Trump Jr. told the Senate Judiciary Committee he never mentioned the Trump Tower meeting to his father or the offer of compromising information about Hillary Clinton. He also said he couldn't "recall" if he discussed the Russia investigation with his father. Trump Jr. told the committee he didn't think there was anything wrong with meeting a Russian lawyer at Trump Tower ahead of the 2016 presidential election, saying "I didn't think that listening to someone with information relevant to the fitness and character of a presidential candidate would be an issue, no." (Associated Press)
5/ Former secretary of state Rex Tillerson warned of a "growing crisis in ethics and integrity" among U.S. leaders during a commencement address at the Virginia Military Institute. Tillerson did not mention Trump by name, but insisted that "a common set of facts" are essential to maintaining a free society. (Politico)
6/ Robert Mueller issued two subpoenas to Roger Stone's social media consultant. Mueller has been probing whether anyone associated with the Trump campaign may have helped WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange or the Russians with the release of the hacked DNC emails. In particular, Mueller wants to know if Stone had advance knowledge of the hacked emails. Mueller has also been requesting interviews with former employees and friends of Stone in recent weeks, asking them about Stone's ties to Russia and Assange. (Reuters / Bloomberg)
7/ Mueller's team told Trump's attorneys they can't indict a president, according to Rudy Giuliani. "All they get to do is write a report," Giuliani said. "They can't indict. At least they acknowledged that to us after some battling, they acknowledged that to us." Mueller's conclusion is likely based on Justice Department guidelines and is not an assessment of the evidence the special counsel has compiled. (CNN)
8/ The White House brushed aside North Korea's threat to cancel the summit meeting between Trump and Kim Jong Un, saying that "this is something that we fully expected," and Trump remains "hopeful" that the June 12 meeting will happen. "We'll see what happens," Trump told reporters, adding that he will insist on North Korean "denuclearization" as a condition of talks. North Korea said Kim could withdraw from the meeting over Trump's demand that it unilaterally abandon its nuclear arsenal. (New York Times / USA Today)
poll/ 50% of voters have either "a lot" or "some" confidence in Trump's ability to handle North Korea. 32% of voters think Trump should meet with Kim Jong Un only if North Korea makes concessions on its nuclear weapons program beforehand, while 47% say Trump should meet with Kim regardless. (Politico)
✏️ Notables.
The top lawyer for the Swiss drugmaker Novartis resigned in connection with the $1.2 million deal he co-signed with Michael Cohen, calling the deal a mistake. "Although the contract was legally in order," Felix Ehrat said, "it was an error." He continued: "As a co-signatory with our former CEO, I take personal responsibility to bring the public debate on this matter to an end." (Reuters)
The FBI and Justice Department are investigating Cambridge Analytica and are looking to question former employees and banks that did business with the data firm. Few details about the investigation are available as investigators work to get an overview of the company and its business dealings. (New York Times)
Trump demanded that Congress make progress on the southern border wall and crack down on sanctuary cities during an event outside the Capitol honoring police officers. He also called for an end to so-called "catch and release" immigration laws. Trump reiterated his calls for the border wall during a private lunch with Senate Republicans. (The Hill)
Democrats flipped another seat in the Pennsylvania House of Representatives, bringing the total number of state legislative flips to 41 since Trump's inauguration. (Daily Beast)
The Senate has voted to save net neutrality by rolling back the FCC's Restoring Internet Freedom Order. The House, however, does not intend to take similar action. (NPR / The Verge)
Scott Pruitt said that one of his top aides helped him search for housing last year, but said she had done so "on personal time" and he did not pay her for the help. Democratic senators say the help constitutes a gift, which would be a violation of federal law. (Washington Post)
👀 Watching.
A running list of stories I'm keeping an eye on.
💬 What stories are you noticing? Let me know using the chat icon in the lower right-hand corner.
1/ Gina Haspel said that "with the benefit of hindsight" torture was a bad idea and "not one the CIA should have undertaken," in a letter to Mark Warner, the top Democrat on the Senate Intelligence Committee. The committee will vote on her nomination on Wednesday. She appeared to have secured enough votes to be confirmed as the next CIA director after Warner signaled his support for Haspel. (New York Times / Washington Post / CNN)
2/ The Trump administration eliminated the White House's top cybersecurity policy role. In an email to National Security Council staff, John Bolton, Trump's new national security adviser, said the decision is part of an effort to "streamline authority" for the senior directors who lead most NSC teams. (Politico)
3/ A federal judge rejected Paul Manafort's request to dismiss criminal charges brought by Robert Mueller. Manafort claimed that Mueller's charges of money laundering and failing to register as a foreign agent for a Ukrainian political party had exceeded his prosecutorial powers. Manafort has also filed a motion to dismiss another criminal case involving tax and bank-fraud charges. (Reuters / Politico)
4/ Michael Cohen claimed in a January 2017 interview that the Trump Organization had no recent relationship or business dealings with Russia. Cohen, however, sent emails during Trump's 2016 presidential campaign seeking the assistance of the Kremlin in an effort to build a Trump Tower in Moscow. Trump launched his presidential campaign on June 16, 2015. The Moscow project was dropped in January 2016. (CNN)
5/ Obama's ethics chief accused Trump of violating the emoluments clause for a Trump-branded golf course and hotel in Indonesia partially funded by the Chinese government. Norm Eisen tweeted: "See you in court Mr. Trump." Adam Schiff also said he believes Trump is in "violation of the emoluments clause" after he said he wants to help Chinese telecommunications company ZTE get "back into business." Earlier this year the U.S. Commerce Department prohibited U.S. companies from selling to ZTE because the firm violated American sanctions on Iran. (The Hill / New York Times / South China Morning Post)
This is a violation of the Emoluments Clause. A big one. See you in court Mr. Trump https://t.co/JuSmCYChyh
Rep. Adam Schiff on President Trump's attempt at a deal with Chinese company ZTE: "I certainly view this as a violation of the Emoluments Clause, yes" https://t.co/AvakVRNzYdpic.twitter.com/eMAfNLjzFv
6/ A Qatari investor confirmed that he attended meetings at Trump Tower in December 2016 with Trump transition officials. Ahmed Al-Rumaihi's statement comes after Michael Avenatti tweeted: "Why was Ahmed Al-Rumaihi meeting with Michael Cohen and Michael Flynn in December 2016 and why did Mr. Al-Rumaihi later brag about bribing administration officials according to a sworn declaration filed in court?" Al-Rumaihi said he attended multiple meetings on December 12th, including one with Michael Cohen, but "did not participate in any meetings with Michael Flynn." (CNN)
7/ North Korea threatened to cancel the summit between Trump and Kim Jong Un, citing joint U.S.-South Korean military drills as a "provocation" and a preparation for an invasion. North Korea also cancelled scheduled talks with South Korea today. (Axios / CNBC / New York Times / Yonhap)
8/ The Trump administration is preparing to shelter migrant children on military bases as part of its effort to split up families who cross the border illegally. The Department of Health and Human Services plans to visit four military installations in Texas and Arkansas in the next two weeks to evaluate their suitability for child shelters. (Washington Post)
poll/ 52% of Americans disapprove of Trump's job performance, which Trump called his "best poll numbers in a year." 44% approve of his job performance, which is his highest point in 14 months. Trump added: "The People truly get it!" (The Hill / Fox News)
Can you believe that with all of the made up, unsourced stories I get from the Fake News Media, together with the $10,000,000 Russian Witch Hunt (there is no Collusion), I now have my best Poll Numbers in a year. Much of the Media may be corrupt, but the People truly get it!
Michael Avenatti threatened to sue the Daily Caller for libel after the site published an article that claimed "Avenatti's past is littered with lawsuits, jilted business partners and bankruptcy filings." Avenatti fired back: "Just like there is nothing wrong with calling out unethical attorneys, there is nothing wrong with calling out unethical journalists." (Washington Post)
The White House blamed Hamas propaganda for the death of more than 50 Palestinians near the Gaza border. "Hamas is intentionally and cynically provoking this response" of Palestinians protesting the opening of the new American embassy in Jerusalem, White House spokesperson Raj Shah said, adding that the clashes were "a gruesome and unfortunate propaganda attempt" by the Hamas leadership. (HuffPost)
The U.S. blocked a United Nations Security Council resolution calling for an investigation into the 58 Palestinians killed by Israeli troops during protests along the Gaza border. (Axios / The Hill)
A Ukrainian politician involved in the controversial plan to resolve Ukraine's conflict with Russian-backed rebels has been called to testify before a grand jury as part of the special counsel's investigation. Andrii Artemenko did not give any details about his upcoming grand jury appearance, but he said he assumes he will be asked about his communications with Michael Cohen from early 2017. Artemenko said he plans to cooperate with the subpoena and appear in person. (Politico)
California and 18 other states filed papers to block the Trump administration from changing the requirements for Title X, which provides family planning services for more than four million uninsured and under-insured people. The Trump administration action threatens funding for birth control, sexually transmitted disease testing, breast and cervical cancer screenings, and infertility treatment. (Los Angeles Times)
Seven Republican governors signed onto a letter in support of Trump's nomination to receive the Nobel Peace Prize for his "unprecedented victory for global peace and security" in negotiations with North Korea. (The Hill)
Watching.
A list of stories I'm keeping an eye on.
💬 What stories are you noticing? Let me know using the chat icon in the lower right-hand corner.
1/ Trump and Sean Hannity often speak by phone several times a day, and the two speak most weeknights after Hannity's show on Fox News is over. Current and former White House officials say the conversations help Trump "decompress" at the end of the day since "he doesn't live with his wife." One former White House official called the talks with Hannity "a fucked-up feedback loop" that puts Trump "in a weird headspace." Hannity is one of a few dozen callers who have been cleared to use Trump's official White House phone line. (New York Magazine)
2/ The White House declined to apologize for Kelly Sadler's "joke" that John McCain's opinion "doesn't matter, because he's dying anyway." Instead, Sarah Huckabee Sanders said it was "selfish" for her staff to use the "inappropriate" comment as justification for leaking it to the press. "I am sure this conversation is going to leak, too. And that's just disgusting." (ABC News / New York Times / Axios)
3/ A Trump administration official proposed collecting and analyzing the communications of White House staff in order to identify leakers last year. Ezra Cohen-Watnick wanted to implement the "insider threat" detection program in order to find leakers or those disloyal to Trump. Cohen-Watnick worked as the senior director for intelligence on the National Security Council at the time. One current White House official said, "To cover my tracks [when leaking], I usually pay attention to other staffers' idioms and use that in my background quotes. That throws the scent off me." (Daily Beast / Axios)
4/ A former senior Trump campaign and transition aide is helping a Russian oligarch's company shed US sanctions. Bryan Lanza is lobbying on behalf of the chairman of EN+ Group, an energy and aluminum firm controlled by Oleg Deripaska, who was the target of US sanctions imposed last month. The company wants to reduce Deripaska's ownership in the company enough to be freed from US sanctions. (CNN)
5/ A Russian company indicted by Robert Mueller accused the special counsel of inventing a "make-believe crime" in order "to justify his own existence." Concord Management is challenging the legal basis of Mueller's charge that the company funded Moscow's effort to disrupt the 2016 U.S. presidential election. Concord is one of three Russian businesses and 13 Russian individuals indicted in February for funding for a Russian troll farm that directed a social media campaign aimed at sowing discord among Americans and at favoring Trump over Hillary Clinton. Concord is owned by Yevgeny Prigozhin, a wealthy businessman who is known as Putin's chef. (New York Times / Politico)
6/ Trump's first campaign manager, Corey Lewandowski, is going to work for Mike Pence's political action committee. Trump asked Lewandowski to join Pence's Great America Committee PAC, which is aimed at helping the Trump re-election effort as well as enhancing Pence's profile with both Republicans and Trump's base. Some Republicans, however, see Pence's moves as an attempt to take control over the party and separate Trump from his base. (NBC News / New York Times)
7/ Betsy DeVos scaled back the Education Department team responsible for investigating for-profit colleges accused of widespread fraud. The rollback "effectively killed investigations" into for-profit colleges where DeVos' top hires previously worked. (New York Times)
✏️ Notables.
At least 43 Palestinians were killed in Gaza as protests broke out over the US relocating its Embassy to Jerusalem – making it the deadliest day there since the 2014 Gaza war. (CNN / New York Times)
Trump is required to disclose all liabilities that exceeded $10,000 at any time during calendar year 2017, even if he repaid them later that year, under the Ethics in Government Act. This includes his debt to Michael Cohen for the $130,000 payment to Stormy Daniels and any others he may have left out on the financial disclosure report he filed on June 14, 2017. (USA Today)
Scott Pruitt and the White House blocked the publication of a federal health study on a nationwide water-contamination crisis, because it would cause a "public relations nightmare." The draft study remains unpublished three months later, and the Department of Health and Human Services says it has no scheduled date to release for public comment the study on a class of toxic chemicals that have contaminated water supplies. (Politico)
Melania Trump underwent kidney surgery for a "benign kidney condition" and is reportedly recovering without trouble at a military hospital outside the capital. (New York Times)
In December 2016, members of the Trump transition team met with a Qatari diplomat who was recently accused in a lawsuit of attempting to bribe Trump officials. Michael Avenatti shared photos of Michael Cohen and Michael Flynn meeting with a person who appears to be Ahmed Al-Rumaihi, the man in charge of a division of Qatar's sovereign wealth fund. The meeting was previously unreported. Rapper and actor Ice Cube, along with his business partner Jeff Kwatinetz, recently filed a $1.2 billion lawsuit alleging that Al-Rumaihi and other Qatari officials tried to buy access to people connected to Trump. (Mother Jones)
Top Republican donors have withheld their support for Senate and House Republicans over frustration with the new tax law. While the corporate tax rate was slashed from 35% to 21%, hedge funds are largely taxed at the top individual rate, which dropped from 39.6% to 37%. (CNN)
National security adviser John Bolton doubled down on Trump's threat that European countries could be sanctioned by the US if they continue to be involved with Iran. (Politico)
Trump instructed the Commerce Department to help ZTE – the world's fourth-largest maker of cellphones – get "back into business" after the Chinese company was penalized for violating U.S. sanctions against North Korea and Iran. Trump said he was working with President Xi to end a ban on export privileges, because "too many jobs in China lost." (NPR)
👀 Watching.
A list of stories I'm keeping an eye on.
💬 What stories are you noticing? Let me know using the chat icon in the lower right-hand corner.
1/ In 2014, the FBI warned that Viktor Vekselberg might be acting on behalf of Russia's intelligence services, saying a foundation he controlled "may be a means for the Russian government to access our nation's sensitive or classified research, development facilities and dual-use technologies with military and commercial applications." Earlier this week Michael Avenatti released a dossier that claims Columbus Nova, a Vekselberg company, made more than eight payments to Essential Consultants, totaling more than $1 million in payments between 2016 and 2017. Essential Consultants is owned by Michael Cohen, who is Trump's personal lawyer. Avenatti suggested that the Columbus Nova funds could have been used to reimburse Cohen for the $130,000 payment to Stormy Daniels in exchange for her silence about her alleged affair with Trump. (NPR)
🚨 That Michael Cohen x Russia x Stormy Daniels thing: What we know so far. (WTF Just Happened Today)
2/ AT&T paid Michael Cohen $600,000 to provide advice about the company's proposed merger with Time Warner, which required the approval from antitrust regulators. Trump had voiced opposition to the $85 billion merger on the campaign trail, and his administration ultimately opposed the deal. In a memo to employees, AT&T's CEO said they made a "big mistake" hiring Cohen for advice on working with the Trump administration. (Washington Post / Reuters)
3/ A non-partisan Washington ethics group wants Congress and the Justice Department to investigate whether Michael Cohen should have registered as a lobbyist and disclosed his work with foreign clients. (ABC News)
4/ Robert Mueller's team is investigating several Trump inauguration donors, including Andrew Intrater and Leonard Blavatnik, a dual U.S. and British citizen with business ties to Russia. Intrater is the CEO of Columbus Nova, a U.S.-based affiliate of the the Renova Group, which is controlled by Viktor Vekselberg. In particular, Intrater made a $250,000 donation to the Trump inauguration committee in early January 2017, and later made two more donations: a $35,000 to the Trump Victory fundraising committee and $29,600 to the Republican National Committee. Blavatnik gave $1 million to Trump's inaugural fund through his company, Access Industries. Mueller's team also questioned Thomas Barrack, a longtime Trump friend and confidant who oversaw the $107 million inaugural fundraising effort. (ABC News)
5/ Congress is considering a "Plan B" to protect Mueller's work if Trump fires the special counsel or Rod Rosenstein, who oversees the probe. The discussions "involve assuring the evidence is preserved and reports are done if the special counsel is fired or other political interference is undertaken by the president," Senator Richard Blumenthal said. Mitch McConnell refused to bring a Senate Judiciary Committee bill up for a floor vote last month, and House Republicans have refused to consider any legislation to protect the Mueller probe. (NBC News)
6/ Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen drafted a resignation letter and nearly quit after Trump berated her for more than 30 minutes in front of his entire Cabinet. Trump singled Nielsen out for what he called her failure to secure the nation's borders after illegal crossings along the Mexico border topped 50,000 for the second consecutive month. Sarah Huckabee Sanders described Trump's tirade as his commitment "to fixing our broken immigration system and our porous borders." (New York Times / Washington Post / Politico)
7/ A White House official mocked John McCain's brain cancer diagnosis, saying his opposition to Trump's nominee for CIA director "doesn't matter, he's dying anyway." The White House didn't deny special assistant Kelly Sadler's comment about McCain's opposition to Gina Haspel. Meghan McCain called on the Trump administration to fire Sadler, saying "I don't understand what kind of environment you're working in when that would be acceptable and then you can come to work the next day and still have a job." (The Hill / CNN)
poll/ 44.7% of independent voters in Florida, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin believe Robert Mueller is more honest and trustworthy than Trump – up 4 points since February. Overall, 37.8% of voters in the four swing states say Trump is more honest and trustworthy, while 37.3% say Mueller is. (Axios / Firehouse Strategies)
Notables.
John Kelly claims he's never seriously considered leaving his job as Trump's chief of staff. Kelly suggested that he is in lock-step with Trump and has a close relationship. "In retrospect, I wish I had been here from day one," Kelly said. "I think in some cases in terms of staffing or serving the president that first six months was pretty chaotic and there were people some people hired that maybe shouldn't have." (NPR)
Kelly said undocumented immigrants coming to the U.S. "don't integrate well [because] they don't have skills" to assimilate into "our modern society." Kelly previously criticized undocumented immigrants as being "too afraid" or "too lazy" to sign up for the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program. (CNN)
Trump's new national security adviser disbanded the global health security team a day after the World Health Organization declared a new Ebola outbreak in the Congo. John Bolton's restructuring of the team, intended to "streamline" the National Security Council and "combine a handful of offices with similar mission sets," caused Tim Ziemer, head of global health security and biodefense, to resign. Ziemer was responsible for leading the U.S. response to global pandemic diseases. Nobody is taking over his role. (Washington Post / The Atlantic / HuffPost)
Watching.
A list of stories I'm keeping an eye on.
💬 What stories are you noticing? Let me know using the chat icon in the lower right-hand corner.
1/ Mike Pence: It's time for Robert Mueller to "wrap it up" because it's "been about a year since this investigation began." He added that the Trump administration has "fully cooperated" with the probe, which Trump has frequently referred to as a "witch hunt." (Washington Post / Associated Press / CNN)
2/ Rudy Giuliani: Trump "wasn't aware" that Michael Cohen pitched his access to the President to potential clients following the 2016 election in order to land consulting deals. "I talked to the President only one time about this and that was the first day it came out and he wasn't aware of that situation," Giuliani said. AT&T and Novartis were among the companies that hired Cohen's consulting firm, Essential Consultants, for "insights" about how the Trump administration would approach certain policy matters. (CNN)
3/ The Russia-linked company that hired Michael Cohen registered a number of alt-right websites during the 2016 elections. Columbus Nova is listed as the registrant behind a handful of website domains named after the alt-right movement, including Alt-right.co, Alternate-right.com, Alternate-rt.com, Alt-rite.com, and others. The brother of Andrew Intrater, Columbus Nova's U.S. CEO, is named in the registration databases for the websites. Columbus Nova said Frederick Intrater was not acting on behalf of the company, even though he had used his work email address and listed the organization. Columbus Nova gave $500,000 to Cohen in the first half of 2017. (Washington Post)
🚨 That Michael Cohen x Russia x Stormy Daniels thing: What we know so far. (WTF Just Happened Today)
4/ Democrats on the House Intelligence Committee released 3,500 Facebook ads purchased by a Russian troll farm from mid-2015 to mid-2017. The ads, from the Kremlin-linked Internet Research Agency, reached at least 146 million people on Facebook and Instagram, spreading inflammatory and divisive messages on immigration, race, gun control, Islam, LGBT-centric topics, and more, in an attempt to polarize Americans. Facebook's targeting tools allowed the Russian agents to deliver their disinformation to groups of users according to their location, age, gender, and interests. (NBC News / USA Today / Washington Post)
"They sought to harness Americans' very real frustrations and anger over sensitive political matters in order to influence American thinking, voting and behavior," Rep. Adam B. Schiff said in a statement. "The only way we can begin to inoculate ourselves against a future attack is to see first-hand the types of messages, themes and imagery the Russians used to divide us."
How to see if you "liked" a Facebook page that was operated by Russian trolls: Go to this Facebook page. Facebook will list the page and the date that you either liked or followed it.
5/ National security adviser John Bolton wants to eliminate the top White House cybersecurity job. Bolton and his team are leading an effort to abolish the role of special assistant to the president and cybersecurity coordinator. The coordinator leads a team of National Security Council staffers who deal with federal cyber strategy on everything from encryption policies to election security to digital warfare. (Politico)
6/ John McCain gave the Steele dossier to then-FBI director James Comey. "I agreed to receive a copy of what is now referred to as 'the dossier,'" McCain writes in his new book. "I reviewed its contents. The allegations were disturbing, but I had no idea which if any were true. I could not independently verify any of it, and so I did what any American who cares about our nation's security should have done." McCain concludes: "I did what duty demanded I do." (Daily Beast)
7/ Trump's pick to lead the CIA, Gina Haspel, claimed during her Senate confirmation hearing that the CIA "never did" interrogations "historically." The claim is demonstrably false, but CIA spokesman Dean Boyd came to Haspel's defense, saying Haspel meant that the CIA "did not have … a detention and interrogation program" before 9/11. Senators were visibly frustrated with Haspel's refusal to answer questions about whether she believes torture is immoral. McCain called on the Senate to reject Haspel's nomination, citing her refusal to acknowledge "torture's immorality." (Newsweek / CNN)
Dick Cheney called on the CIA to restart its controversial "enhanced" interrogation program used during the George W. Bush administration. The Senate outlawed the use of torture and other brutal interrogation techniques like waterboarding and "rectal feeding" in 2015. (The Hill)
A Fox News military commentator argued that torture is good because "it worked on John [McCain]. That's why they call him 'Songbird John.'" There is no evidence McCain gave up accurate information while being tortured in North Vietnam. (Daily Beast)
8/ Trump will meet with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un on June 12 in Singapore. The summit will be the first face-to-face meeting between a sitting American president and the North Korean leader. (New York Times / CNN)
The president praised Mr. Kim and said he was "nice in letting [the U.S. hostages] go before the meeting." Last year Mr. Trump and Mr. Kim threatened nuclear war against each other’s countries.
The Senate Democratic leader, Chuck Schumer of New York, said he could not understand the praise Mr. Kim was receiving from Mr. Trump and others for releasing the three prisoners. (New York Times)
The highly anticipated meeting between Kim Jong Un and myself will take place in Singapore on June 12th. We will both try to make it a very special moment for World Peace!
Trump welcomed three Americans who had been held prisoner in North Korea back home and thanked North Korean leader Kim Jong Un for their release. Kim Hak-song, Kim Dong-chul and Kim Sang-duk were granted amnesty by Kim after being accused of crimes against the regime. (Reuters / NBC News)
poll/ 77% of Americans approve of Trump's decision to meet with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un. Overall, 53% approve of Trump's handling of North Korea, and 35% disapprove. (CNN)
poll/ 61% of Republicans believe the FBI and Justice Department are trying to frame Trump. 7% of Democrats believe Trump is facing a biased FBI. (The Hill)
Notables.
Five senior Islamic State officials were captured in a three-month, cross-border operation carried out by Iraqi and American intelligence. (New York Times)
German Chancellor Angela Merkel said Europe can no longer count on the U.S. for military protection and must "take its destiny into its own hands" following the U.S. withdrawal from the Iran nuclear accord. (Bloomberg)
Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley encouraged Supreme Court justices to immediately step down if they're considering retirement so Republicans can push through a nominee before the midterm elections. "If you're thinking about quitting this year," Grassley said, "do it yesterday." (Politico)
Rudy Giuliani resigned from his law firm in order to concentrate on his legal work for Trump. In a statement, Giuliani said "a permanent resignation" would be in the best interest of the country due to "the pressing demands of the Mueller investigation." (CNN)
Giuliani's law firm disputes that Michael Cohen's $130,000 hush money payment to Stormy Daniels was just business as usual. A spokeswoman for Greenberg Traurig said: "Speaking for ourselves, we would not condone payments of the nature alleged to have been made or otherwise without the knowledge and direction of a client." (New York Times / Washington Post)
1/ A report from the Senate Intelligence Committee concludes that Russia conducted an "unprecedented, coordinated cyber campaign" in order to undermine confidence in U.S. voting systems starting as early as 2014 and continuing through Election Day 2016. Senators report that the Russians targeted at least 18 states looking for vulnerabilities, and in six states they tried to gain access to voting websites. In "a small number of states" they actually breached election computer defenses. The committee said it found no evidence that vote tallies or voter registration information were changed, but that Russian hackers were "in a position to, at a minimum, alter or delete voter registration data." (New York Times / The Hill)
[PDF] Russian Targeting of Election Infrastructure During the 2016 Election: Summary of Initial Findings and Recommendations. (Senator Burr)
2/ Top White House officials withheld information sought by House Intelligence Committee Chairman Devin Nunes, siding with senior FBI and national intelligence officials that the information could endanger a top-secret intelligence source. The Justice Department, however, invited Devin Nunes and Trey Gowdy for a classified briefing about their document request related to the Russia investigation after Nunes publicly suggested that he may try to hold Jeff Sessions in contempt for refusing to comply. Some administration officials worry that Trump will change his mind and support Nunes' argument that "Congress has a right and a duty to get this information." (Washington Post / CNN)
3/ One of the women who accused Trump of sexual assault won her uncontested primary bid for a seat in the Ohio state House of Representatives. Rachel Crooks accused Trump of kissing her without her consent in 2005 and went public with her claims in 2016. She is now the Democratic nominee for a seat in the Ohio state legislature. (CNN) / Washington Post)
Don Blankenship lost in the West Virginia Republican U.S. Senate primary on Tuesday following the coordinated effort by Mitch McConnell and Republican leaders to sink his bid. Blankenship called himself "Trumpier Than Trump." (New York Times)
4/ Trump mused about taking away press credentials from media outlets over "negative" coverage of him. "Why do we work so hard in working with the media when it is corrupt?" Trump tweeted. "Take away credentials?" Trump was apparently responding to a segment on Fox and Friends, which cited a study from the Media Research Center – a right-wing media watchdog. The study says 91% of network news stories about him are negative. (The Independent / The Hill / Politico / Washington Post)
The Fake News is working overtime. Just reported that, despite the tremendous success we are having with the economy & all things else, 91% of the Network News about me is negative (Fake). Why do we work so hard in working with the media when it is corrupt? Take away credentials?
5/ Robert Mueller's team interviewed Blackwater founder Erik Prince, who attended a meeting with the head of Russia's sovereign wealth fund in the Seychelles Islands on Jan. 11, 2017. The meeting is understood to have been an effort to establish a back channel between the incoming Trump administration and the Kremlin. (Daily Beast)
poll/ 47% of registered voters say they would support the Democratic candidate in their district on a generic congressional ballot, compared to 44% who would back the Republican. 31% say the country would be better off with Democrats in control of Congress while 30% say the country would be better of with the GOP in charge. (CNN)
Notables.
Senate Democrats filed a petition to force a net neutrality vote by June 12th. All 49 Senate Democrats and one Republican have pledged to support the pro-net neutrality bill. The prolonged absence of John McCain gives proponents a 50-49 vote edge in the Senate. However, the measure is unlikely to pass the Republican-controlled House or survive a veto by Trump. (Ars Technica / Reuters / The Verge)
Trump's nominee to the lead the CIA defended the agency's use of torture of terrorism suspects, but said she "would not restart, under any circumstances, an interrogation program at CIA." During her confirmation hearing, Gina Haspel refused to definitively tell the Senate Intelligence Committee whether she believed it was wrong to waterboard terror suspects. (New York Times / Washington Post)
North Korea handed over three American prisoners to U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, and they are now on the way home from Pyongyang. Trump plans to greet the three men when they arrive at Andrews Air Force Base. North Korean state media said the men were detained for either subversion or committing "hostile acts" against the government. (CNBC / Reuters)
The White House requested $7 billion in funding cuts to the Children's Health Insurance Program as part of a $15 billion rescissions package sent to Congress. (CNN)
A group of Republicans are trying to force a vote to save the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program in defiance of Paul Ryan. House GOP moderates filed a discharge petition that would trigger a series of votes on four immigration bills if 218 members sign on. They need every Democrat to support the petition and 20 Republicans to break ranks to trigger the votes. (Politico / CNN)
Trump: "Everyone thinks" I deserve the Nobel Prize for improving relations with North Korea. Trump was asked by a reporter whether he deserved the honor, to which he replied: "Everyone thinks so, but I would never say it." (CNN)
Dept. of that Michael Cohen x Russia x Stormy Daniels thing.
Let's try to untangle the latest news surrounding Michael Cohen, Russian oligarchs, and Stormy Daniels…
Michael Avenatti released an "executive summary" yesterday of material he says connects Trump's payment to Stormy Daniels to a Russian oligarch. Avenatti represents Daniels in her lawsuit against Trump and Michael Cohen. (NPR)
The Avenatti dossier claims that a company connected to Russian oligarch Viktor Vekselberg made eight payments to Essential Consultants, one of Cohen's shell companies, between January 2017 and August 2017. Avenatti suggested that the funds from Columbus Nova may have been used to reimburse Cohen for the $130,000 payment to Stormy Daniels in exchange for her silence about her alleged affair with Trump. (Daily Beast)
Essential Consultants received more than $1 million from Vekselberg's Columbus Nova. Cohen's company, Essential Consultants, was incorporated on October 17, 2016 – 10 days after the Access Hollywood tape went public and a weeks before the election – and is the same shell company used to pay Stormy Daniels on October 27th. More than $4.4 million flowed through Essential Consultants beginning just before the 2016 election and continued until January 2018. (New York Times)
Robert Mueller's investigators questioned Vekselberg about a $500,000 payment from Columbus Nova to Essential Consultants that was made shortly after the 2016 election. Vekselberg was placed on a list of sanctioned Russians for election interference and other activities last month by the Trump administration. The purpose of the payments and the nature of the business relationship between Vekselberg and Cohen is still unclear. (CNN)
AT&T paid Essential Consultants $200,000 in four separate installments for "insights" on the Trump administration between October 2017 and January 2018. Net neutrality was repealed in December 2017. Two of those payments came before the Justice Department filed a November 20th antitrust lawsuit to block AT&T's $85 billion deal for Time Warner. Two payments came after that. (CNBC / Politico / The Atlantic)
Drug giant Novartis paid Essential Consultants $1.2 million for health care policy consulting work that Cohen was "unable" to do. Novartis signed a one-year contract with Cohen's shell company for $100,000 per month in February 2017 – days after Trump's inauguration – for advice on "how the Trump administration might approach certain U.S. health-care policy matters, including the Affordable Care Act." But a month after signing the deal, Novartis executives "determined that Michael Cohen and Essentials Consultants would be unable to provide the services that Novartis had anticipated" following their first meeting with Cohen. "Cohen promised access to not just Trump, but also the circle around him," a Novartis employee said. "It was almost as if we were hiring him as a lobbyist." (CNBC / Bloomberg / STAT News)
Mueller's investigators questioned Novartis last year about its relationship with Cohen and Essential Consultants. "Novartis cooperated fully with the Special Counsel's office and provided all the information requested," a Novartis spokeswoman said in a statement. (Politico)
Korean Aerospace Industries confirmed that it paid $150,000 to Essential Consultants. The company is in contention for a multibillion joint U.S. contract with Lockheed Martin for jet trainers. (Washington Post)
The Treasury Department's inspector general is investigating whether Essential Consultants banking information was leaked. Banks are required to file a Suspicious Activity Report on any unusual transactions over $10,000, which experts say could be the source of the information that Avenatti released yesterday. Rich Delmar, counsel to the inspector general, said that the office is "inquiring into allegations" that Suspicious Activity Reports on Cohen's banking transactions were "improperly disseminated." (Washington Post)
1/ Trump pulled the U.S. out of the Iran nuclear deal, reinstating all sanctions it had waived and imposing additional economic penalties. Trump's aides persuaded him twice last year not to withdraw. Trump called the accord "a horrible one-sided deal that should have never, ever been made," adding that the 2015 pact was "a great embarrassment." Following Trump’s announcement, Britain, France and Germany issued a joint statement expressing "regret and concern" while pledging their "continuing commitment" to the terms of the agreement. (New York Times / Washington Post)
2/ Trump is frustrated with Rudy Giuliani's inability to handle the Stormy Daniels situation and is concerned that Giuliani's media appearances are raising more questions than they are answering. Some aides say they expect Trump to fire Giuliani if he is unable to turn things around. Trump recently told a confidant that perhaps Giuliani should "be benched" from TV appearances temporarily if he can't stay on message. Giuliani, however, said that Trump "is encouraging me to do more of them. I try to keep them under control," adding that Trump is "very comfortable" with the strategy. (Politico / Associated Press / The Hill)
3/ Robert Mueller rejected Trump's request to answer questions from investigators in writing. Trump's legal team had been pushing for Mueller to allow him to submit written answers, because they're afraid that Trump might lie to or mislead investigators during an in-person interview. Giuliani said he would fight a potential subpoena for Trump to testify in front of a grand jury, but has stopped short of saying that Trump would ignore a subpoena from the special counsel. (CBS News)
4/ Trump's lawyers hope to decide by May 17 whether he will testify. May 17 is the one-year anniversary of the appointment of special counsel Robert Mueller. Trump's lawyers contend that testifying would be a distraction from his work as president. However, in an informal, four-hour practice session, Trump was only able to walk through two questions. "Anyone can see he has great difficulty staying on a subject," one person familiar with the legal team's deliberations said. (Wall Street Journal)
5/ The shell company Michael Cohen used to pay Stormy Daniels received more than $1 million in payments from an American company linked to a Russian oligarch and Fortune 500 companies with business before the Trump administration. At least $4.4 million flowed through the shell company Cohen used, Essential Consultants, starting shortly before Trump was elected president and continuing to this January. Essential Consultants received about $500,000 from Columbus Nova, an investment firm in New York whose biggest client is a company controlled by Viktor Vekselberg, the Russian oligarch. (New York Times)
AT&T confirmed it paid Cohen for "insights" about the Trump administration. According to Stormy Daniels' lawyer, Michael Avenatti, AT&T made four payments to Cohen's company totaling $200,000 in late 2017 and into early 2018. (CNBC)
6/ Mueller's investigators questioned a Russian oligarch about $500,000 in payments made to Michael Cohen after the election. Michael Avenatti, the lawyer for Stormy Daniels, alleges that Cohen received about $500,000 from Viktor Vekselberg, a Russian oligarch close to Vladimir Putin who was placed on a list of sanctioned Russians related to election interference. According to a dossier published by Avenatti, "Vekselberg and his cousin Mr. Andrew Intrater routed eight payments to Mr. Cohen through a company named Columbus Nova LLC beginning in January 2017 and continuing until at least August 2017." Vekselberg is also one of two Russian oligarchs the FBI stopped earlier this year after their private jets landed in New York-area airports. (CNN / Daily Beast / NBC News)
Michael Cohen put up his Manhattan apartment as collateral for millions of dollars in loans to his taxi business. Businesses owned by Cohen and his wife owe as much as $12.8 million as of March. (Bloomberg)
Alex van der Zwaan turned himself in after being sentenced for lying to investigators as part of Robert Mueller's investigation into possible collusion between the Trump campaign and Russia. van der Zwaan is the first person sentenced to prison as part of Mueller's investigation and will serve a 30-day sentence. (Politico)
7/ Senior White House staff are urging Trump to fire EPA chief Scott Pruitt, who is currently the subject of 11 federal investigations. Some Republicans are also calling for Pruitt's resignation. Trump has championed Pruitt up to this point, but support from the president appears to be waning as Pruitt's legal and ethical issues continue to pile up. (New York Times)
Internal EPA documents show Pruitt held private, high-level meetings at the Trump International Hotel in Washington with industry lobbyists on at least four occasions. (NBC News)
poll/ 63% of Americans believe that the US should not withdraw from the Iran nuclear accord, compared to 29% who believe the US should withdraw. (CNN)
poll/ 60% of voters oppose the Interior Department's plan to expand oil and gas drilling off coastal states. 70% of respondents supported states' rights to request a drilling exemption through a waiver. (The Hill)
poll/ 53% of Americans think Robert Mueller's investigation is politically motivated, while 44% think the Russia investigation is justified. 73% think Trump should cooperate and be interviewed by Mueller. (CBS News)
poll/ Trump's job approval rating hits 40%. 85% of Republicans approve of the job Trump is doing, while 89% of Democrats and 55% of independents disapprove. (CBS News)
Notables.
New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman resigned after four women accused him of physically assaulting them. The women claim that he frequently hit them after drinking, often in bed and never with their consent. Two of the women say Schneiderman threatened to kill them if they broke up with him. Schneiderman resigned three hours after the allegations were made public. Schneiderman positioned himself as a public champion of women's rights and an outspoken figure in the #MeToo movement. (The New Yorker / New York Times)
Fair-housing advocates sued HUD Secretary Ben Carson for suspending Obama-era fair-housing rules, which required every community receiving HUD funding to assess local segregation patterns, diagnose the barriers to fair housing and develop a plan to correct them. (Washington Post)
Secretary of State Mike Pompeo flew to North Korea to prepare for Trump's summit with Kim Jong Un. "The location is picked, the time and date, everything is picked and we look forward to having a great success," Trump said of the upcoming summit. It's Pompeo's second trip to North Korea in recent months. (CNN / Politico)
Oliver North was named the National Rifle Association's new president. North worked for Reagan's National Security Council and was convicted as part of a scheme to sell weapons to Iran and use the proceeds to fund the rebel Contras in Nicaragua. (Politico)
Melania Trump's "Be Best" campaign plagiarized a document from the Obama administration. Aside from the introductory page, the entire "Talking With Kids About Being Online" booklet is virtually identical to the "Net Cetera," a booklet published by the FTC under Obama. (The Guardian)
Melania's office blamed "opposition media" for "lob[bing] baseless accusations" that her "Be Best" pamphlet plagiarized an FTC pamphlet, saying Melania received a "standing ovation" for her "strong speech." (Daily Beast)
1/ Trump plans to ask Congress to cut $7 billion from the Children's Health Insurance Program. $5 billion would come from the Children’s Health Insurance Fund, which reimburses states for certain expenses, and $2 billion would come from the Child Enrollment Contingency Fund, meant to ensure states have access to funds if there is a higher-than-expected enrollment. In total, Trump wants Congress to strip more than $15 billion in previously approved spending from more than 30 different programs. The White House insists that the CHIP cuts would not affect access to health care. (Washington Post)
2/ The Trump administration will refer every person caught crossing the border illegally for federal prosecution, separating parents from their children, instead of keeping them in detention together. "If you are smuggling a child then we will prosecute you, and that child will be separated from you as required by law," Jeff Sessions said. "If you don't like that, then don't smuggle children over our border." Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen signed a memo Friday that directs the department to refer all suspected border-crossers to the Justice Department for prosecution under a federal statute that prohibits illegal entry. (Politico / NBC News / CNN)
3/ Trump: There is no obstruction of justice, "it's called Fighting Back." Trump attacked Robert Mueller's team, tweeting that "The Russia Witch Hunt is rapidly losing credibility." He added: "The 13 Angry Democrats in charge of the Russian Witch Hunt are starting to find out that there is a Court System in place that actually protects people from injustice…and just wait 'till the Courts get to see your unrevealed Conflicts of Interest!" (NPR / NBC News / The Hill / CNN)
Is this Phony Witch Hunt going to go on even longer so it wrongfully impacts the Mid-Term Elections, which is what the Democrats always intended? Republicans better get tough and smart before it is too late!
The Russia Witch Hunt is rapidly losing credibility. House Intelligence Committee found No Collusion, Coordination or anything else with Russia. So now the Probe says OK, what else is there? How about Obstruction for a made up, phony crime.There is no O, it’s called Fighting Back
The 13 Angry Democrats in charge of the Russian Witch Hunt are starting to find out that there is a Court System in place that actually protects people from injustice...and just wait ‘till the Courts get to see your unrevealed Conflicts of Interest!
4/ Robert Mueller interviewed Tom Barrack, one of Trump's closest friends and confidants. The special counsel interviewed Barrack as part of the investigation into possible coordination between the Trump campaign and Russia in the 2016 election campaign and afterwards. The questioning focused on Paul Manafort and Rick Gates, financial issues related to the campaign, the transition and Trump's inauguration in January 2017. The interview was "months ago." (Associated Press)
Former Trump campaign aide Michael Caputo said Robert Mueller's team seemed to already know the answers to the questions they asked him during his interview with the special counsel last week. "Every question they asked me," Caputo said, "they already had the answers to." (The Hill)
Roger Stone said he hasn't been contacted by Robert Mueller or his team despite reported scrutiny by investigators over his contact with WikiLeaks and meetings with Rick Gates during the 2016 campaign. (CNN)
5/ Former prosecutors expect Robert Mueller's investigation to either wrap up before or "go dark" for November's midterm elections, which are six months away. While Mueller doesn't face a legal deadline, the fall midterms are a political one and the special counsel wouldn't want to sway voters' decisions. (Wall Street Journal)
6/ Trump's midterm strategy: Raise the possibility of impeachment to caution Republicans against letting the House and Senate fall into Democratic control. "We have to keep the House because if we listen to Maxine Waters, she's going around saying, 'We will impeach him,'" Trump said at a recent rally in Michigan. "We gotta go out and we gotta fight like hell and we gotta win the House and we gotta win the Senate." A person who worked on strategy with Trump's team said the midterms pose more risk to Trump than his outstanding legal issues, including Robert Mueller's investigation. "It's always been about a potential impeachment." (Politico)
7/ House Intelligence Committee Chairman Devin Nunes threatened to hold Jeff Sessions in contempt of Congress for failing to hand over classified materials related to the Russia investigation. On Friday, the Justice Department informed Nunes that providing the information on a "specific individual" could harm national security. Nunes has previously threatened on several occasions to hold Justice Department officials in contempt of Congress for failing to turn over documents, only to not read the materials once they were made available to him. (CNN)
8/ Gina Haspel offered to withdraw her nomination to become the next CIA director after White House officials raised concerns that her role in the torture of suspected terrorists at a CIA black site in Thailand could derail her Senate confirmation hearing. Haspel oversaw a secret CIA detention facility in Thailand in late 2001, where at least one al-Qaeda suspect was waterboarded. Three years later she was involved in the destruction of almost 100 videotapes of the interrogations. Sarah Huckabee Sanders and Marc Short, the White House's director of legislative affairs, met with Haspel and pushed for her to remain as the nominee. Trump tweeted his support for Haspel, while preemptively blaming Democrats if her nomination fails, saying "Democrats want [her] OUT because she is too tough on terror." (Washington Post / NBC News)
My highly respected nominee for CIA Director, Gina Haspel, has come under fire because she was too tough on Terrorists. Think of that, in these very dangerous times, we have the most qualified person, a woman, who Democrats want OUT because she is too tough on terror. Win Gina!
National security officials and some Republicans are preparing contingency plans in case Gina Haspel's nomination to lead the CIA fails. One plan calls for preparing Susan Gordon, the deputy director of national intelligence, to potentially take Haspel's place. (CNN)
9/ Trump knew about the $130,000 payment to Stormy Daniels several months before he denied any knowledge of it to reporters aboard Air Force One in April. While it's not clear when Trump learned of the payment, which Michael Cohen made in October 2016, Trump did know that Cohen had succeeded in keeping the allegations from becoming public when he denied it. Last week, Giuliani said Cohen was reimbursed between $460,000 and $470,000 for various payments. Cohen was mainly reimbursed through payments of $35,000 per month – or about $420,000 over 12 months – from Trump's personal trust. (New York Times)
10/ Trump's aides hired an Israeli spy firm to find incriminating material on diplomats in the Obama administration who helped negotiate the Iran nuclear deal. People inside the Trump administration reached out to investigators at an Israeli private intelligence agency last May to "get dirt" on Ben Rhodes, one of Obama's top national security advisers, and Colin Kahl, deputy assistant to Obama. The move was part of an elaborate scheme to discredit the Iran deal. (The Guardian)
Trump will announce whether he will withdraw from the Iran nuclear deal tomorrow. Trump called the accord a "disaster" and vowed to kill it during the 2016 presidential campaign. (New York Times)
The United States does not need John Kerry’s possibly illegal Shadow Diplomacy on the very badly negotiated Iran Deal. He was the one that created this MESS in the first place!
poll/ 57% of Americans hold a favorable view of Melania Trump – up from 47% in January. (CNN)
poll/ 41% of Americans approve of Trump's job as president – 53% disapprove. (CNN)
Dept. of Things Rudy Giuliani Said Lately.
If Trump agrees to an interview with Robert Mueller, he could invoke his 5th Amendment right to protect against self-incrimination by refusing to respond to some questions. (Los Angeles Times / New York Times)
Trump is under no obligation to obey a subpoena, saying "we don't have to comply" with one. "They don't have a case on collusion, they don't have obstruction … He's the president of the United States. We can assert privilege other presidents [have]." (Politico / ABC News)
Giuliani is "focused on the law more than the facts right now," when it comes to Trump's legal situation. "Well, I have just on been on board couple of weeks," Giuliani said. He continued: "The whole situation of the $130,000 doesn't require an analysis of the facts because it wasn't intended as a campaign contribution. It was intended as a personal, embarrassing, harassing claim." (CNN)
"People don't go away for $130,000," Giuliani said, calling the $130,000 payment to Stormy Daniels "a nuisance payment" rather than "a settlement" and that "People don't go away for $130,000." (ABC News)
It's possible that Michael Cohen paid off other women for Trump, Giuliani said. "I have no knowledge of that, but I would think if it was necessary, yes." Public records showed Cohen "gained access to as much as $774,000 … during the 2016 presidential campaign as he sought to fix problems for his boss." (Washington Post / The Guardian / Wall Street Journal)
Trump is "committed to" regime change in Iran, saying it's "the only way to peace in the Middle East" and "more important than an Israeli-Palestinian deal." (Politico)
Notables.
Democrats on the House Intelligence Committee plan to release a trove of 3,000 Russian-linked Facebook ads later this week. The release of the ads would offer a broad picture of how the social network was used by the pro-Russian Internet Research Agency during and after the 2016 presidential election. (Wall Street Journal)
Melania Trump revealed her formal platform: "Be Best." The program will focus on well-being, fighting opioid abuse, and positivity on social media. The program will encourage children to "be best" in their emotional, social, and physical health. (CNN)
John McCain told friends that he does not want Trump to attend his funeral and would like Mike Pence to come instead. During the 2016 presidential primary, Trump said McCain was considered a war hero only "because he was captured" during the Vietnam War and that he prefers military figures weren't taken prisoner by the enemy. (New York Times / NBC News)
The Affordable Care Act calorie count rule went to into effect today, which requires restaurants with 20 or more locations to list calories on all menus and provide on-site additional nutritional information, such as fat and sodium levels. (Politico)
Connecticut voted to pool their electoral college votes for the presidential candidate who wins the popular vote. If Democratic governor Dannel Malloy signs the legislation into law, as expected, Connecticut will be the 12th jurisdiction – 11 states and the District of Columbia – to enter the National Popular Vote Interstate Compact. (The Guardian)
Trump urged voters in West Virginia to vote against Don Blankenship in the Republican Senate primary. A Blankenship win would hurt the party's chances of defeating Democratic Senator Joe Manchin in November. Blankenship "can't win the General Election in your State…No way!," Trump tweeted. "Remember Alabama." (Politico / New York Times)
1/ A federal judge criticized Robert Mueller's criminal case in Virginia against Paul Manafort, and questioned whether Mueller exceeded his prosecutorial powers. U.S. District Judge T. S. Ellis said he believes that Mueller's motivation is to oust Trump from office, adding that "we don't want anyone in this country with unfettered power." Ellis also charged that lawyers from the special counsel's office "don't really care about Mr. Manafort's bank fraud," but rather "getting information Mr. Manafort can give you that would reflect on Mr. Trump and lead to his prosecution or impeachment." (Reuters / Washington Post / CNN / ABC News)
2/ Rudy Giuliani insisted Thursday night that Trump only recently found out that he had reimbursed Michael Cohen for the $130,000 paid to Stormy Daniels days before the 2016 election in return for a nondisclosure agreement. Giuliani said he shared details of the payment with Trump about a week ago, and that Trump didn't realize he had paid Cohen back, responding: "Oh my goodness, I guess that's what it was for." (NBC News)
3/ Giuliani released a statement to "clarify views" about his remarks regarding Trump Friday afternoon, walking back his previous comments about the $130,000 hush money payment to Stormy Daniels as well as about Trump's reason for firing James Comey. Giuliani maintained that the payment to Daniels doesn't constitute a violation of campaign finance laws, because "it would have been done in any event, whether he was a candidate or not." Giuliani added that his "references to timing were not describing my understanding of the President's knowledge, but instead, my understanding of these matters." (CNBC / ABC News)
4/ Trump on Giuliani: He's still "learning the subject matter," "he knows it's a witch hunt," and "he'll get his facts straight." Trump added that "virtually everything said has been said incorrectly, and it's been said wrong, or it's been covered wrong by the press." Giuliani gave a series of interviews this week, claiming Trump had paid back Michael Cohen for the hush money payment to Stormy Daniels. Trump previously said he wasn't aware of the payment. "Rudy is a great guy," Trump said, "but he just started a day ago." Giuliani started last month. (Washington Post / New York Times / CNN)
5/ Trump would "love to speak" with Robert Mueller, but only if he's "treated fairly." Trump said his lawyers have advised him against any talks, but he "would override my lawyer" if he "thought it was fair." He added: "We've done nothing wrong." (Reuters / CNN)
6/ Rudy Giuliani "think[s] it's 50/50" that Mueller will subpoena Trump to testify before a grand jury, "but I got to prepare for that 50 percent." Earlier this week, Mueller told Trump's legal team that he could "compel" Trump to testify before a grand jury. (ABC News)
7/ Scott Pruitt paid himself nearly $65,000 in reimbursements from two of his campaigns for Oklahoma attorney general. At least one election watchdog says the 2010 and 2014 payments are so vague that there is no way to tell if the payments were legal or not. The payments could be a violation of two key pillars of campaign finance regulation: campaign spending transparency and a prohibition on using campaign funds for personal purchases. (CNN)
Pruitt's scheduled trip to Israel was arranged by Sheldon Adelson, a major supporter of Israel, casino magnate, and Republican megadonor. The Israel trip was canceled days before his planned departure, after Pruitt's penchant for first-class travel on the taxpayers' dime was revealed. (Washington Post)
Notables.
Trump ordered the Pentagon to prepare for a drawdown of American troops in South Korea. The move comes weeks before a planned meeting between Trump and Kim Jong Un to discuss the denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula. Trump told reporters that a time and date has been set for his summit with Kim and "we'll be announcing soon." (New York Times / ABC News)
The State Department froze all funding for a Syrian humanitarian group known as the White Helmets. State Department support for the group is now "under active review" as part of a larger $200 million reduction in funding for recovery efforts in Syria. (CBS News)
The Trump administration ended Temporary Protected Status for Hondurans, leaving potentially 57,000 people vulnerable to deportation. (McClatchy DC / Reuters)
House Republicans plan to support Trump's military parade in the nation's capital, saying it will honor "a century of military service" and focus on those "who sacrificed to secure America's freedoms." The proposal is scheduled to be taken up by the House Armed Services Committee on May 9th. (Bloomberg)
Qatar purchased a $6.5m apartment in one of Trump's New York towers after a federal judge tossed out a lawsuit alleging that Trump was breaching the emoluments clause of the U.S. Constitution by collecting $3,151 a month from Qatar for the three apartments it already owned in the building. (The Guardian)
Mike Pence's physician resigned following the collapse of Ronny Jackson's nomination for secretary of Veterans Affairs. Dr. Jennifer Peña was among those who detailed Jackson's professional misconduct to senators considering his nomination. (Politico)
Devin Nunes opted not to read Justice Department records after publicly demanding a fully uncensored version of the documents that explain how the Russia investigation began in 2016. Nunes threatened Rod Rosenstein with contempt of Congress if he didn't comply. (CNN)
The unemployment rate dropped to 3.9%, falling below 4% for the first time since 2000. (CNN Money)
Trump plans to appoint Dr. Mehmet Oz to the Sport, Fitness, and Nutrition council. Doctors and lawmakers have criticized Oz for promoting unscientific medical approaches on his show. (Washington Examiner)
Mitt Romney's "favorite meat is hot dog." His "second favorite meat is hamburger." (Washington Examiner)
1/ Rudy Giuliani: Trump reimbursed Michael Cohen for the $130,000 hush payment to Stormy Daniels, repaying Cohen through a series of payments over several months until the transactions were completed either in 2017 or early 2018. "The president repaid it," Giuliani told Sean Hannity, but Trump "didn't know about the specifics of it, as far as I know. But he did know the general arrangement, that Michael would take care of things like this, like I take care of things like this with my clients." Giuliani said that Cohen had "settled several problems for" Trump, and the payment was one of them. (Washington Post)
Giuliani: There's were "a few other situations that might have been considered campaign expenses" of a "personal nature" that Cohen took care of. "The president would have always trusted him as his lawyer, as my clients do with me. And that was paid back out of the rest of the money. And Michael earned a fee out of it." (Washington Post)
2/ Giuliani's comments directly contradicted Trump's earlier statement to reporters that he didn't know of any payments to Stormy Daniels or where Cohen got the money. Reporters asked him about both issues last month aboard Air Force One. (New York Times)
Stormy Daniels' former manager is cooperating with the FBI as part of its investigation into arrangement she struck with Cohen. (CNN)
3/ Trump tweeted that campaign funds "played no roll in this transaction" — misspelling the word "role." Trump and Giuliani both argued that the Stormy Daniels money came from Trump's personal funds. Legal experts say that since it came right before the election, the transaction could be considered an in-kind campaign political contribution, making it subject to campaign finance laws. The Trump team never reported it. Trump tweeted that he paid Cohen a monthly retainer, suggesting that the payment by Cohen to Daniels could not be considered a campaign contribution. "The agreement was used to stop the false and extortionist accusations made by her about an affair," Trump tweeted, "despite already having signed a detailed letter admitting that there was no affair." Later, Giuliani said, "this was never about the campaign. This was about personal reputation. The money wasn't paid to help the campaign or hurt the campaign." (New York Times / USA Today)
Mr. Cohen, an attorney, received a monthly retainer, not from the campaign and having nothing to do with the campaign, from which he entered into, through reimbursement, a private contract between two parties, known as a non-disclosure agreement, or NDA. These agreements are.....
...very common among celebrities and people of wealth. In this case it is in full force and effect and will be used in Arbitration for damages against Ms. Clifford (Daniels). The agreement was used to stop the false and extortionist accusations made by her about an affair,......
...despite already having signed a detailed letter admitting that there was no affair. Prior to its violation by Ms. Clifford and her attorney, this was a private agreement. Money from the campaign, or campaign contributions, played no roll in this transaction.
Kellyanne Conway's husband, George Conway, tweeted the Federal Election Commission's personal gifts and loans rules, which state that "If any person, including a relative or friend of the candidate, gives or loans the candidate money 'for the purpose of influencing any election for federal office,' the funds are not considered personal funds of the candidate even if they are given to the candidate directly. Instead, the gift or loan is considered a contribution from the donor to the campaign, subject to the per-election limit and reportable by the campaign. This is true even if the candidate uses the funds for personal living expenses while campaigning." (The Hill)
The former White House ethics chief suggested that Trump admitted to filing a false financial disclosure by revealing he reimbursed Cohen. (The Hill)
4/ Giuliani: The special counsel's request for an interview is an effort to "trap" Trump "into perjury, and we're not suckers." Giuliani added that Robert Mueller's "silly deposition is about a case in which he supposedly colluded with the Russians but there's no evidence." He called on Jeff Sessions to "step in and close it and say enough is enough." (Washington Post)
Giuliani also called Jared Kushner "disposable" and warned that Mueller should stay away from Ivanka Trump, saying "the whole country will turn on" the special counsel if he doesn't. (CNBC)
Trump "fired Comey because Comey would not, among other things, say that he wasn't a target of the investigation," Giuliani said during his appearance with Sean Hannity. He added that Comey was a "disgraceful liar" and a "very perverted man." (Daily Beast / Politico)
5/ The FBI monitored Michael Cohen's phone lines and at least one call between a Cohen line and the White House was logged. The monitoring was limited to a log of calls – known as a pen register – and was in place before the April 9th raid on Cohen's home, hotel room, and office. Giuliani called for "the Attorney General to step in, in his role as defender of justice," arguing that monitoring Cohen is a transgression of attorney-client privilege. (NBC News / CNBC / The Hill / Daily Beast)
[Editor's Note: NBC News originally reported that Cohen's phones were wiretapped, citing two sources. Later, three senior U.S. officials disputed that, saying that monitoring of Cohen's phones was limited to a log of calls made from a specific phone line or lines. Following the wiretapping news, Giuliani said: "We don't believe it's true" that Cohen was wiretapped. "You can't wiretap a lawyer, you certainly can't wiretap his client who's not involved in the investigation. No one has suggested that Trump was involved in that investigation."]
6/ Former Trump campaign aide Michael Caputo said it's clear that Mueller's team is "still really focused on Russia collusion," adding that Mueller's team knows "more about the Trump campaign than anyone who ever worked there." Caputo was interviewed this week behind closed doors by the Senate Intelligence Committee. (CNN)
7/ Mueller is focusing on alleged interactions between Rick Gates and Roger Stone during the campaign. Stone is a subject in Mueller's investigation into potential collusion between the Kremlin and the Trump campaign. Stone publicly praised the hacker who claimed to have broken into the DNC's servers in 2016 and had dinner with Julian Assange — the founder of Wikileaks, which published the emails — in August 2016. The link between Gates and Stone goes back to their work at a D.C. lobbying firm which was founded by Stone and Paul Manafort. (CNBC)
8/ Mueller filed a request for 70 blank subpoenas in the Virginia court presiding over one of two criminal proceedings involving Paul Manafort. The two-page filing reveals little, but says that each subpoena recipient must appear in the Alexandria, Va., courthouse on July 10th to testify in the case. The 70 blank subpoenas amount to 35 total possible witnesses — in each case, a subpoena is needed for the witness and another is needed for the defense. (Washington Examiner / Courthouse News Service)
Notables.
Executives at Cambridge Analytica, SCL Group, and the Mercer family created a new data firm last year called Emerdata. An executive and a part owner of SCL Group, Nigel Oakes, publicly described Emerdata as a way of rolling up the two companies under a new banner. (New York Times / Business Insider)
Trump has all but decided to withdraw the U.S. from the Iran nuclear deal. The administration wants to withdraw from the deal on May 12th, and the only question that remains is how Trump will go about announcing it. There is still a chance that the U.S. will remain a party to the deal by taking actions that don't amount to "a full pullout," but the source was unable to describe what that might look like. (Reuters)
The White House is exploring plans to host multiple summits on race between athletes, artists, and Trump following last week's lovefest between the president and Kanye West. (Politico)
A third top EPA official is leaving the agency amid scrutiny of Scott Pruitt's travel, spending, and condo rental. Associate Administrator Liz Bowman, the top public affairs official at the EPA, is leaving to become a spokeswoman for Senator Joni Ernst, a Republican from Iowa. (Bloomberg)
The House chaplain rescinded his forced resignation, saying he would like to serve out his full two-year term, "and possibly beyond," unless he is officially terminated. Paul Ryan does not have the authority to fire him. (New York Times)
Trump doesn't believe John Kelly called him an "idiot," concluding that it was "fake news." (New York Times)
💬 What'd I miss? It's been a busy news day and I'm sure I'm overlooking some news of note. Let me know by hitting that button in the lower right-hand corner, tweeting @WTFJHT, or by using the hashtag #WTFJHT.
1/ Robert Mueller warned Trump's legal team that he could subpoena the president to appear before a grand jury if he refuses to speak to federal investigators involved in the Russia probe. Mueller raised the possibility of a subpoena during a tense meeting in March after Trump's attorneys insisted that Trump was under no obligation to speak with investigators. Unlike an interview with the special counsel, Trump would not be allowed to bring his lawyers to a grand jury hearing. (Washington Post)
2/ Trump's current legal team lacks the security clearances required to discuss sensitive issues during a presidential sit-down with Mueller. Trump's former attorney John Dowd was the only person on Trump's legal team with the proper clearance – he resigned in March. (Bloomberg)
3/ Trump plans to add Bill Clinton's impeachment lawyer to his legal team and replace Ty Cobb, who will leave at the end of May. Cobb has been the lead lawyer representing Trump in the special counsel investigation. Emmet Flood is expected to take a more adversarial approach to the Mueller investigation than Cobb. (New York Times)
4/ Ty Cobb said a Trump interview with Mueller is "certainly not off the table." Rudy Giuliani added Trump's legal team was still "several weeks away" from determining whether Trump would sit for an interview with Mueller. He also said that the White House needs to be "more aggressive" with the special counsel, saying that a potential interview would be "max, two to three hours around a narrow set of questions." Cobb added that he has "no doubt" Mueller didn't leak the list of 49 questions for Trump. (ABC News / Washington Post / The Hill)
5/ Trump threatened to "get involved" in the "rigged system" over the Justice Department's ongoing dispute with the House Freedom Caucus about a memo outlining the topics being investigated by Robert Mueller. "There was no Collusion (it is a Hoax)," Trump tweeted, "and there is no Obstruction of Justice (that is a setup and trap)." (Bloomberg / Washington Post / CNN)
There was no Collusion (it is a Hoax) and there is no Obstruction of Justice (that is a setup & trap). What there is is Negotiations going on with North Korea over Nuclear War, Negotiations going on with China over Trade Deficits, Negotiations on NAFTA, and much more. Witch Hunt!
“The questions are an intrusion into the President’s Article 2 powers under the Constitution to fire any Executive Branch Employee...what the President was thinking is an outrageous.....as to the President’s unfettered power to fire anyone...” Joe Digenova, former US Attorney
A Rigged System - They don’t want to turn over Documents to Congress. What are they afraid of? Why so much redacting? Why such unequal “justice?” At some point I will have no choice but to use the powers granted to the Presidency and get involved!
6/ Trump dictated his 2015 glowing letter of health, his personal physician, Dr. Harold Bornstein, claimed. "He dictated that whole letter. I didn't write that letter," Bornstein said. "I just made it up as I went along." The letter claimed, among other things, that Trump's "physical strength and stamina are extraordinary" and "If elected, Mr. Trump, I can state unequivocally, will be the healthiest individual ever elected to the presidency." (CNN)
7/ Cambridge Analytica is shutting down and will file for bankruptcy following mounting legal fees in the Facebook investigation. Cambridge Analytica's CEO called the current environment "futile" due to the company's damaged reputation and a loss of clients from the ongoing investigations into the company's data harvesting scandal that compromised the information of up to 87 million people. (Gizmodo / Wall Street Journal / New York Times)
poll/ 61% of Americans think Trump regularly has trouble telling the truth. 76% of Republicans, however, believe Trump tells the truth all or most of the time. (NBC News)
poll/ 62% of voters say the Trump administration is being run chaotically. 68% of Republicans say the Trump administration is running well. (Politico)
Notables.
Mueller's office wants to wait two more months before sentencing Michael Flynn, who is cooperating with the special counsel after pleading guilty to lying to investigators. "Due to the status of the special counsel's investigation," Mueller's team told the court, "the parties do not believe that this matter is ready to be scheduled for a sentencing hearing at this time." (CNN)
Ukraine stopped cooperating with Mueller regarding Paul Manafort at the same time the Trump administration was finalizing plans to sell the country anti-tank missiles. Ukrainian law enforcement also allowed Konstantin Kilimnika, a potential witness to possible collusion between the Trump campaign and Russia, to leave for Russia, putting him out of reach for questioning. (New York Times)
Iowa lawmakers passed the nation's most restrictive abortion legislation, which would ban most abortions once a fetal heartbeat is detected – before some women even know they're pregnant. The bill now heads to Republican Gov. Kim Reynolds, who is anti-abortion but hasn't said publicly if she will sign it into law. (NBC News)
Planned Parenthood and two other reproductive rights groups are suing the Trump administration to block a "radical shift" in the federal Title X program. The changes would put the health of millions of low-income patients at risk by prioritizing practices such as the rhythm method over comprehensive sexual health services. (NPR)
A former contestant on "The Apprentice" is suing Trump for defamation after he called her a liar for accusing him of sexual assault. Summer Zervos was among the more than 10 women who came forward during the 2016 presidential campaign and accused Trump of sexual assault and misconduct. He denied all of their claims. (New York Times)
Trump has asked a federal court to dismiss a lawsuit accusing him of violating the Constitution's Emoluments Clause, which bars officials from accepting gifts or other payments from foreign governments without congressional approval. Trump is asking the judge to dismiss the complaint against him as an individual. (Reuters / CNN)
Pence called Joe Arpaio a champion of "the rule of law." Trump pardoned Arpaio last year after his contempt of court conviction for ignoring a federal judge's order to stop detaining people because he merely suspected them of being undocumented immigrants. (Washington Post)
A group of House of Representatives formally nominated Trump for a Nobel Peace Prize for his work to end the Korean War and bring peace to the peninsula. (CNN)
1/ Robert Mueller has at least 49 questions he wants to ask Trump regarding his ties to Russia and alleged obstruction of justice. The questions deal primarily with Trump's firing of James Comey and Michael Flynn, as well as his treatment of Jeff Sessions and the 2016 Trump Tower meeting between Trump campaign officials and Russians who claimed to have damaging information on Hillary Clinton. Other topics of inquiry include Trump's conversations with Michael Cohen about a real estate deal in Moscow, Jared Kushner's attempts to set up a backchannel to Russia, contacts Trump had with Roger Stone, and Trump's 2013 trip to Moscow for the Miss Universe pageant. (New York Times)
Read the questions Mueller wants to ask Trump about obstruction of justice and what they mean. (New York Times)
2/ Trump tweeted that it was "So disgraceful that the questions concerning the Russian Witch Hunt were 'leaked' to the media." The leak didn't come from Mueller's office, but were provided to the New York Times by a person outside of Trump's legal team. "No questions on Collusion," Trump added. "Oh, I see…you have a made up, phony crime, Collusion, that never existed, and an investigation begun with illegally leaked classified information. Nice!" The list includes 13 questions related to possible cooperation between the Trump campaign and Russia. Trump followed up with another tweet 45 minutes later: "It would seem very hard to obstruct justice for a crime that never happened! Witch Hunt!"(Washington Post / Politico)
So disgraceful that the questions concerning the Russian Witch Hunt were “leaked” to the media. No questions on Collusion. Oh, I see...you have a made up, phony crime, Collusion, that never existed, and an investigation begun with illegally leaked classified information. Nice!
3/ A former Mueller assistant believes Trump was the source of the leaked questions. "Lawyers wouldn't write questions this way, in my estimation," said Michael Zeldin, a CNN analyst and former assistant to Robert Mueller. "Some of the grammar is not even proper," he continued. "I think these are more notes that the White House has taken and then they have expanded upon the conversation to write out these as questions." Zeldin worked with Mueller in the early 1990s. (The Hill)
Nixon's White House counsel said that if the Trump administration leaked Mueller's questions it could qualify as obstruction of justice. John Dean said leaking the questions could be an attempt to "try to disrupt the flow of information" or tip off a witness. (The Hill)
4/ Trump allies in the House have drafted articles of impeachment against Rod Rosenstein. House Freedom Caucus Chairman Mark Meadows said the draft articles are "a last resort option, if the Department of Justice fails to respond" to his requests for more information. The draft articles are not expected to garner much support. (Washington Post)
5/ Rod Rosenstein to the House Freedom Caucus: "The Department of Justice is not going to be extorted," adding "[t]hey can't even resist leaking their own drafts." A Democrat on the House Judiciary Committee said the Republican effort to impeach Rosenstein would send a "terrible message" and that "We should protect our democracy, protect this process, protect the rule of law." (Axios / CNN)
6/ Trump's bodyguard and a Trump Organization lawyer took the original and only copy of Trump's medical chart from his doctor in February 2017 after Dr. Harold Bornstein told the New York Times that Trump takes Propecia. Keith Schiller, who was serving as director of Oval Office operations, also took lab reports under Trump's name as well as under the pseudonyms the office used for Trump. Bornstein said he was not given a form authorizing the release of the records, which is a violation of patient privacy law. Sarah Huckabee Sanders called taking possession of medical records "standard operating procedure for a new president." (NBC News)
The White House pushed back on claims that Dr. Ronny Jackson is no longer Trump's personal physician, despite reports that Jackson will not return to his previous role as physician to the president now that he has withdrawn his nomination to lead the Department of Veterans Affairs. (The Hill)
7/ Mike Pence's physician privately warned the White House in September that Ronny Jackson may have violated the federal privacy protections of Karen Pence and intimidated the vice president's doctor. The previously unreported incident is the first sign that the White House knew about Jackson's misconduct months before Trump and his staff defended Jackson's professionalism and insisted that he had been thoroughly vetted. The incident is also the first allegation of medical misconduct by Jackson, adding to a long line of other allegations against the former White House physician. (CNN)
Notables.
California and 17 other states filed a lawsuit against the Trump administration to protect national vehicle emission standards from being rolled back by the federal government. The states argue that the EPA acted arbitrarily and capriciously, failed to follow its own regulations and violated the Clean Air Act. (Los Angeles Times)
A whistleblower from the EPA says that Scott Pruitt was "bold-faced" lying when he testified to Congress that no EPA employees were retaliated against for raising concerns about his spending decisions. (ABC News)
Scott Pruitt's December trip to Morocco was arranged by a lobbyist who later won a $40,000-a-month contract from the Moroccan government for promoting the kingdom's cultural and economic interests. The cost of Pruitt's visit cost the EPA more than $100,000. (Washington Post)
Pruitt's former head of security will meet with the House Oversight Committee tomorrow. Pasquale Perrotta, who left his job at the EPA yesterday, said he plans to "fully cooperate and answer any and all questions" from Congress. (ABC News)
Michael Cohen was hit with more than $185,000 in new state warrants for unpaid taxes on his taxicab companies, bringing the total he owes New York state to $282,000. (Bloomberg)
Former Trump campaign aide Michael Caputo met with the Senate Intelligence Committee investigators as part of the panel's probe into alleged Russian meddling in the 2016 presidential election. (ABC News)
Former Health and Human Services Secretary Tom Price said the GOP's decision to repeal the Affordable Care Act's individual mandate will likely increase the cost of health insurance for consumers. The mandate required most Americans to have health coverage or face a financial penalty. (Washington Times / Washington Post)
1/ Michael Avenatti: Trump is in "panic mode" and expects Michael Cohen to cooperate with investigators. "We're going to be able to prove that the president knew about the agreement," Stormy Daniels' attorney said, "and knew about the $130,000." Trump has denied a relationship with Daniels or knowledge of the payment to her, but told Fox and Friends that Cohen was representing him in the "crazy Stormy Daniels deal" – contradicting what he said on Air Force One. (The Guardian / The Hill)
2/ The Trump campaign spent nearly $228,000 to pay for part of Michael Cohen's legal fees. Federal Election Commission records show three "legal consulting" payments made from the Trump campaign to a firm representing Cohen between October 2017 and January 2018. Cohen did not have a formal role in the Trump campaign and it's illegal to spend campaign funds for personal use. (ABC News)
3/ A federal judge granted a 90-day delay in Stormy Daniels' suit against Trump, saying it appeared "likely" that Michael Cohen would be indicted in a related criminal investigation. The judge called Cohen "the alleged mastermind" of the deal, which makes his testimony "indispensable." Cohen plans to assert his Fifth Amendment rights if asked to answer any further questions about Daniels' suit, which seeks to void an agreement that led to a $130,000 payment Cohen facilitated before the 2016 presidential election. (Politico / Washington Post)
4/ Stormy Daniels filed a defamation lawsuit against Trump for his "total con job" tweet about the forensic sketch of a man who allegedly threatened her in 2011. The filing says the tweet was "false and defamatory," arguing that Trump was speaking about Daniels and that he "knew that his false, disparaging statement would be read by people around the world, as well as widely reported." (NBC News / ABC News / CNBC)
A sketch years later about a nonexistent man. A total con job, playing the Fake News Media for Fools (but they know it)! https://t.co/9Is7mHBFda
5/ Trump threatened to shut down the federal government in September if Congress doesn't agree to include more funding for his border wall in the next spending bill. "We come up again on September 28th," Trump said during a rally in Michigan on Saturday, "and if we don't get border security we will have no choice, we will close down the country because we need border security." (Reuters)
6/ John Kelly referred to Trump as "an idiot," according to four officials who heard the comments. Some current and former White House officials expect Kelly to leave by July – his one-year mark. Trump fired Rex Tillerson for calling him a "moron" in front of colleagues. (NBC News)
7/ Ronny Jackson will not return to his former job as the president's personal physician. A series of allegations caused Jackson to withdraw from consideration to become the next secretary of the Department of Veterans Affairs. Sean Conley took over for Jackson last month and will continue in that role. (Politico / Washington Post)
✌️ Who the f*ck has left the Trump administration: A timeline of all the departures so far… (WTFJHT Community)
8/ Trump called on Montana Senator Jon Tester to resign and threatened to spread allegations about him in retaliation for releasing a document summarizing the allegations against Ronny Jackson. Trump said the allegations against Jackson were fabricated. "Tester started throwing out things that he's heard," Trump told the crowd. "Well, I know things about Tester that I could say, too. And if I said them, he'd never be elected again." (New York Times)
9/ The Justice Department removed language from its manual related to gerrymandering, freedom of the press, and limits on prosecutorial power. Jeff Sessions' tough-on-crime policies were added to the manual, as well as language that underscores his focus on religious liberty, and Trump's attempts to crack down on government leaks. The last significant update to the manual happened in 1997. (BuzzFeed News)
10/ Trump Jr. and Emin Agalarov maintained a direct line of communication before and after the 2016 Trump Tower meeting. The two continued to communicate via a series of text messages until at least December 2016. (BuzzFeed News)
11/ Natalia Veselnitskaya also followed up with the Trump campaign in the wake of the 2016 Trump Tower meeting. Veselnitskaya reached out to the Trump family after the election and continued to lobby for the repeal of the Magnitsky Act. (CNN)
12/ The FBI questioned a Russian mixed martial arts (MMA) fighter linked to Putin, Trump, and Michael Cohen. The FBI showed up unannounced at Fedor Emelianenko's hotel room in Chicago. "All I can say is that, yeah, they showed up unannounced, knocking on our doors," Emelianenko's manager Jerry Millen said. Trump announced a joint venture involving MMA and Emelianenko in 2008. Cohen was the project's chief operating officer. (Associated Press / The Telegraph / NY Daily News)
poll/ 46% of Millennial voters support Democrats over Republicans for Congress – down about 9 percentage from two years ago. 28% expressed overt support for Republicans in the 2018 poll - about the same percentage as two years earlier. (Reuters)
Notables.
Trump is expected to speak at the NRA's annual meeting in Dallas later this week. The address would be Trump's third consecutive appearance at the NRA's annual event. (CNN / Washington Post)
Kim Jong-un told South Korea that he would abandon his nuclear weapons if the U.S. promised not to invade his country. The South Korean government also said Kim would invite experts and journalists to watch the shutdown next month of the country's only known underground nuclear test site. (New York Times)
South Korean President Moon Jae-in said Trump deserves a Nobel Peace Prize for his efforts to end the standoff with North Korea over its nuclear weapons program. (Reuters)
ICE's acting director will retire and leave his post in June. Thomas Homan was nominated for post by Trump, but the Senate hasn't acted on his confirmation. (Wall Street Journal)
U.S. Customs and Border Protection doesn't plan to increase its capacity to process or temporarily house the roughly 150 Central Americans waiting in Tijuana. (NBC News)
The EPA granted a financial hardship waiver to an oil refinery owned by billionaire Carl Icahn. The waiver enables Icahn's CVR Energy Inc to avoid tens of millions of dollars in costs related to the Renewable Fuel Standard program that is meant to cut air pollution, reduce petroleum imports, and support corn farmers by requiring refiners to mix biofuels into gasoline and diesel each year. (Reuters)
1/ The House Intelligence Committee found "no evidence that the Trump campaign colluded, coordinated, or conspired with the Russian government" in the 2016 election. The 253-page report criticized both the Trump and Hillary Clinton campaigns for "poor judgment and ill-considered actions" in their dealings with Russia-related figures. Democrats on the committee accused the Republicans of prematurely closing the investigation in "a systematic effort to muddy the waters and to deflect attention away from the President," asserting that Trump associates' willingness to accept Russian assistance suggests "a consciousness of wrongfulness, if not illegality." The report accused the intelligence community of "significant intelligence tradecraft failings," suggesting that Russia's main goal was to sow discord in the United States and not to help Trump win the election. (New York Times / Washington Post / Politico)
2/ Minutes after the committee's report was released, Trump tweeted "Wow!" the Russia investigation is "A total Witch Hunt!" and "MUST END NOW." (The Hill)
Just Out: House Intelligence Committee Report released. “No evidence” that the Trump Campaign “colluded, coordinated or conspired with Russia.” Clinton Campaign paid for Opposition Research obtained from Russia- Wow! A total Witch Hunt! MUST END NOW!
3/ Natalya Veselnitskaya, the Russian lawyer who met with Trump campaign officials at Trump Tower in 2016, was an informant for Russian Prosecutor General Yuri Chaika. "I am a lawyer, and I am an informant," she said in newly released emails. "Since 2013, I have been actively communicating with the office of the Russian prosecutor general." Veselnitskaya insists that she met with Trump Jr., Jared Kushner, Paul Manafort, and others in a private capacity – not as a representative of the Russian government – despite an intermediary promising that Veselnitskaya had documents that would incriminate Clinton. (New York Times)
Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley wants to release interview transcripts from the Trump Tower meeting. The committee anticipates releasing written responses from Natalia Veselnitskaya, Trump Jr., Jared Kushner, and Paul Manafort following some redactions. (Politico)
4/ Trump tweeted that James Comey is "either very sick or very dumb" for having "illegally leaked CLASSIFIED INFORMATION." Comey is not under federal investigation for leaking classified information or lying. Trump added that Comey "lied all over the place" and "doesn't understand what he did or how serious it is." Comey wrote a series of contemporaneous memos documenting his interactions with Trump, which he leaked after being fired in May. "That memo was unclassified then," Comey said, and "it's still unclassified." (New York Times / The Guardian / Washington Post)
Is everybody believing what is going on. James Comey can’t define what a leak is. He illegally leaked CLASSIFIED INFORMATION but doesn’t understand what he did or how serious it is. He lied all over the place to cover it up. He’s either very sick or very dumb. Remember sailor!
Five months' worth of text messages between FBI special agent Peter Strzok and FBI lawyer Lisa Page were recovered. The messages span December 2016 to May 2017 and capture the immediate reactions to Trump's decision to fire James Comey, as well as the appointment of Robert Mueller as special counsel. The cache of messages were originally thought to be missing, but the Justice Department's inspector general recovered them using forensic tools. (CNN)
5/ Trump thanked Kanye West for his support, tweeting that the rapper has "performed a great service to the Black Community." Earlier this week, Kanye tweeted that "the mob" could not stop him from loving Trump. He then shared a photo of himself in a Make America Great Again hat. Trump thanked West for the support, tweeting "very cool!" Trump also thanked Chance the Rapper for tweeting that "Black people don't have to be democrats." Trump Jr. took the opportunity to thank Chance for "breaking with convention." He confusingly included basketball emojis in his tweet. Chance the Rapper released a statement distancing himself from Trump, saying, "I'd never support anyone who has made a career out of hatred, racism and discrimination." (The Hill / Washington Post / VICE News / Daily Beast)
You don't have to agree with trump but the mob can't make me not love him. We are both dragon energy. He is my brother. I love everyone. I don't agree with everything anyone does. That's what makes us individuals. And we have the right to independent thought.
my wife just called me and she wanted me to make this clear to everyone. I don't agree with everything Trump does. I don't agree 100% with anyone but myself.
It’s always incredible to watch a cultural shift happen in real time. I respect those willing to take the lead breaking with convention. That takes guts... though there’s a better word for it. 🏀🏀 https://t.co/01jMdg6ETa
Kanye West has performed a great service to the Black Community - Big things are happening and eyes are being opened for the first time in Decades - Legacy Stuff! Thank you also to Chance and Dr. Darrell Scott, they really get it (lowest Black & Hispanic unemployment in history).
6/ Trump asked aides if he should invite Kanye West to the White House for dinner and a photo-op. A source close to Trump said they couldn't tell if Trump was "kidding" or not, but reiterated that Trump enjoys that West has "always said wonderful" things about him. (Daily Beast)
Notables.
North and South Korea agreed to end their seven-decade war following a meeting between Kim Jong Un and Moon Jae-in. The deal includes promises from both leaders to pursue "complete denuclearization" of the Korean Penninsula. Trump hailed the peace effort on Twitter, saying "KOREAN WAR TO END! The United States, and all of its GREAT people, should be very proud of what is now taking place in Korea!" (Bloomberg / New York Times / CNN)
The Trump administration plans to freeze EPA fuel economy standards at 2020 levels through 2026, while revoking California's authority to enforce its own rules on tailpipe emissions. The draft proposal is not final. (Washington Post / Los Angeles Times)
Federal prosecutors seized as many as 16 cell phones during the raids on Michael Cohen's office, home, and hotel room. Prosecutor Thomas McKay intends to hand over the seized materials to Cohen's attorneys by May 11. (New York Post)
A federal judge dismissed Paul Manafort's civil suit challenging Robert Mueller's authority. Manafort's attorneys asked the judge to throw out all charges against Manafort, arguing that Mueller had exceeded his authority by bringing charges unrelated to Russian election interference. (CBS News / Politico)
Paul Ryan said he fired Chaplain Patrick Conroy because members felt like House members' "pastoral needs" were not being met. Conroy said Ryan asked him to resign two weeks ago, a request that he complied with but was never given a reason for. (The Hill / New York Times)
Scores of vacant positions in the Trump administration are causing problems for the federal government. The number of unfilled positions is at an all-time high and the staff shortages have halted pay raises for thousands of federal workers, stalled legislation to help home buyers with their mortgages, and prevented the IRS from pushing out regulations related to the new tax law. (Politico)
Trump warned countries to not oppose the U.S.'s bid to host the 2026 World Cup with Mexico and Canada. "It would be a shame if countries that we always support were to lobby against the U.S. bid. Why should we be supporting these countries when they don't support us (including at the United Nations)?," Trump tweeted. (The Hill)
The White House medical unit served senior officials as a "grab and go" clinic for prescription drugs. "You need to just give people these meds when they ask for it," multiple former medical unit employees said. (CNN)
Trump will visit the UK on July 13th. The trip is being billed as a "flying visit" rather than an official state one, in which Trump would have been hosted by the queen. (BBC / Sky News)
The US economy grew at a rate of 2.3% in the first quarter, slower than the 2.9% pace in the fourth quarter of 2017, but above Wall Street analysts' forecasts of 2%. (CNN Money / Washington Post)
The conservative site RedState fired writers critical of Trump for being "insufficiently partisan." (CNN Money)
Trump would like to appear regularly on "Fox and Friends," according to Kellyanne Conway. "The president has said he would like to perhaps come once a month and as news breaks," which caught the show's hosts off guard. They asked Conway to clarify what she meant. (The Hill)
1/ Ronny Jackson announced that he was withdrawing his name for consideration to be the secretary of Veteran Affairs following allegations that he handed out medication with no patient history, wrote himself prescriptions, and drank on the job. Jackson denied the allegations, including one that he "wrecked a government vehicle" after getting drunk at a Secret Service party, and said they were "completely false and fabricated." He continued: "If they had any merit, I would not have been selected, promoted and entrusted to serve in such a sensitive and important role as physician to three presidents over the past 12 years." (Washington Post / New York Times / NPR)
2/ Trump: I try to "stay away from" intervening in the Justice Department, "but at some point I won't." During Trump's half-hour phone interview on "Fox and Friends" he added: "I have decided I won't be involved. I may change my mind at some point because what is going on is a disgrace. It is an absolute disgrace." (CNN / ABC News / Washington Post)
3/ Jeff Sessions: The Mueller probe has taken on "a life of its own." Sessions defended his decision not to appoint a second special prosecutor to investigate Republicans' concerns about the FBI during a House appropriations budget hearing, saying the Justice Department needed to "be disciplined and stay within our classical procedure and rules" before rushing to hire more special counsels. (Reuters)
4/ Trump is "extremely opposed" to granting Robert Mueller an interview. Trump initially was open to meeting with Mueller, rejecting warnings from his lawyer John Dowd. His willingness to meet with the special counsel has cooled since Dowd resigned in March and investigators raided Michael Cohen's office and residences in April seeking communications between the lawyer and Trump in the lead-up to the 2016 election. (Washington Post)
Rudy Giuliani met with Mueller to discuss whether Trump will sit for an interview with the special counsel as part of the Russia investigation. After joining Trump's legal team last week, Giuliani signaled his intention to end the Russia investigation within "maybe a couple of weeks," adding that "I hope we can negotiate an end to this for the good of the country." (Politico)
5/ Trump admitted that Michael Cohen represented him in the "crazy Stormy Daniels deal," marking the first time Trump has acknowledged that Cohen represented him as part of a $130,000 hush-money payment to Daniels. The statement by Trump is a "hugely damaging admission," Michael Avenatti, Daniels' attorney, said, and one he plans to use in his case against Trump and Cohen. Earlier this month, Trump told reporters on Air Force One that he was not aware of the payment by Cohen to Daniels, saying, "You'll have to ask Michael Cohen. Michael is my attorney. You'll have to ask Michael." (NBC News / Washington Post / The Hill / Fox News)
6/ Michael Cohen will plead the Fifth Amendment in the lawsuit filed against Trump by Stormy Daniels, allowing Cohen to avoid being deposed and potentially revealing information about the payments Cohen made or helped arrange to Daniels and former Playboy model Karen McDougal. "I will assert my 5th Amendment rights in connection with all proceedings in this case due to the ongoing criminal investigation by the FBI and U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York," Cohen said. Trump proceeded to distance himself from Cohen, saying, "This has nothing to do with me. I've been told I'm not involved." (New York Times / The Hill)
Trump told the federal judge overseeing the Cohen investigation that he wants to personally review records seized during raids on Cohen's home and residences earlier this month in order to prevent prosecutors or the FBI from seeing privileged information. The judge already ruled against Trump and Cohen's original request, but said she would be willing to consider their request to have a third party review the records before prosecutors do. (ABC News)
A former Manhattan federal judge will determine what materials seized in the Cohen raids are protected by attorney-client privilege. (Politico)
7/ Trump confirmed that he spent the night in Moscow during the 2013 Miss Universe pageant and accused James Comey of putting "a lot of phony stuff" in his memos, which were released last week. "Of course I stayed there," Trump said. The admission contradicts statements Trump made to Comey on two separate occasions that he never stayed the night at the Ritz-Carlton during the trip, which is why – he claims – there is no way the "golden showers thing" happened. Flight records also confirm that Trump stayed overnight in Moscow. (The Hill / Bloomberg)
8/ The Senate Judiciary Committee approved legislation to shield Mueller from being fired by Trump. The bill, approved 14-7, would delay any action to fire a special counsel for 10 days and require that three federal judges review the decision. Mitch McConnell said he would not bring the bill to the floor. (Politico / Washington Post)
9/ Trump on his presidency: "I would give myself an A-plus." Asked during a "Fox and Friends" interview how he would grade his presidency, Trump answered by first complaining that the investigation into Russian meddling in the 2016 presidential election is a "hoax" and a "witch hunt" orchestrated by Democrats before eventually replying: "I would give myself an A-plus." (The Hill)
poll/ 58% of voters approve of Robert Mueller's conduct so far, saying they believe he has "stayed within the boundaries of the Russia investigation." (The Hill)
poll/ 74% of voters don't want Trump to fire Robert Mueller. 52%, however, say they oppose impeaching Trump if he fires the special counsel. (Quinnipiac)
poll/ 71% of voters think Trump will fire Mueller before the investigation is complete. 56% think it's likely that Mueller will find Trump committed criminal or impeachable offenses. (Fox News)
Notables.
One of the lobbyists closest to Trump is working for an ally of Syrian president Bashar al-Assad. Brian Ballard's firm, Ballard Partners, disclosed last month that it was working with a trading company based in Dubai called ASM International General Trading LLC. ASM is affiliated with a member of Syria's wealthy Foz family, which has close ties to the Assad government. "We're going to do more due diligence,” Ballard said. "We're not the CIA, but if it were to turn out that there was any connection at all, we would withdraw from our representation of the Dubai trading company." Ballard's firm also represents an anti-Assad group. (The Daily Beast)
The Senate confirmed Mike Pompeo as secretary of state in a 57-to-42 vote. Pompeo was supported by all the Republican senators and by seven Democrats — five of whom face re-election this year in states that Trump won in 2016. (New York Times / Politico)
Paul Ryan pushed out the House chaplain. "As you have requested," Patrick Conroy wrote to Ryan, "I hereby offer my resignation as the 60th Chaplain of the United States House of Representatives." (The Hill)
Trump said he would support swapping the Electoral College for the popular vote, because the latter would make the presidency "much easier to win." (Politico)
The Department of Homeland Security will end the humanitarian protection known as Temporary Protected Status for Nepal with a delay of 12 months to "allow for an orderly transition." (ABC News)
The FBI said it told the White House about the allegations of spousal abuse by Rob Porter in March 2017, contradicting claims made by top Trump administration officials. (New York Times / The Hill)
The House Energy and Commerce Committee questioned Scott Pruitt over allegations of ethical lapses and excessive spending. The ranking member on the committee called Pruitt an "embarrassment to President Trump" and said that if he were president, "I'd just get rid of you." (New York Times / NBC News)
1/ A federal judge ruled that the Trump administration must resume accepting new DACA applications, saying the Department of Homeland Security's legal explanation for ending the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program was "arbitrary," "capricious," and predicated on "virtually unexplained" grounds and therefore "unlawful." DHS now has 90 days to better explain its reasoning for canceling the program, or the judge will rescind the government memo that terminated the program. (New York Times / Politico / Washington Post / NBC News)
2/ Mick Mulvaney advised bankers and lobbyists that increasing campaign contributions would help weaken the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau – the agency he runs. Mulvaney capped off his speech at a American Bankers Association conference by arguing that trying to sway legislators with campaign contributions was one of the "fundamental underpinnings of our representative democracy." Mulvaney, who is rumored to be at the top of the list when it comes to Trump’s next pick for chief of staff, also revealed that he would only meet with lobbyists who contributed to his campaign during his time as a congressman. "If you’re a lobbyist who never gave us money, I didn't talk to you," Mulvaney explained. "If you're a lobbyist who gave us money, I might talk to you." (New York Times / Washington Post)
3/ Ben Carson proposed tripling rent increases for low-income Americans receiving federal housing subsidies, which would affect more than 4.5 million families. The proposed legislation requires congressional approval. (Washington Post)
4/ In 2015, Ronny Jackson drunkenly banged on the hotel room door of a female employee in the middle of the night. The Secret Service stopped him out of concern that he would wake then-president Barack Obama. (CNN)
Jackson was known as "the candy man" inside the White House for "hand[ing] out the prescription drugs like they were candy." (CNN)
5/ Scott Pruitt's head of security, Pasquale Perrotta, moonlighted for American Media Inc. during the 2016 presidential campaign. A.M.I. owns the National Enquirer, which purchased the rights to Karen McDougal's story about her alleged affair with Trump. A.M.I.'s chairman, David Pecker, is a close friend of Trump's. Perrotta received a waiver from the EPA under the Obama administration to hold outside employment. (New York Times)
6/ Trump praised Kim Jong Un as a "very honorable" person and expressed hope their meeting will occur "as soon as possible." Trump sidestepped the question when asked to explain his comment that Kim, whom he once mocked as "Little Rocket Man," is an "honorable" person. (CNN / The Hill)
7/ Don Blankenship is running for the U.S. Senate in West Virginia while living in a $2.4 million villa in Nevada. Blankenship refers to himself as an "American competitionist," despite admiring China's state-controlled economy and expressing interest in obtaining Chinese citizenship. Blankenship spent a year in prison for his involvement in a coal mining explosion that killed 29 people during his time as a coal mining executive. He is running as a champion of miners and using ads to dispute the settled facts regarding his role in the explosion. (New York Times)
poll/ 22% of voters reported seeing paycheck increases in April due to the new tax law, down from 27% the month prior. 55% of voters said they hadn't noticed a bump in April, compared to 50% in March. (Morning Consult–Politico)
1/ Jeff Sessions will not recuse himself from the ongoing criminal investigation of Michael Cohen. By staying involved in the Cohen case, Sessions will receive briefings on the investigation, which puts Sessions in the position of being asked by Trump for information about the Cohen investigation. Trump condemned the FBI raid on his longtime lawyer and has called Sessions weak for recusing himself from the Robert Mueller probe. (Bloomberg / CNBC)
2/ The Senate Veterans Affairs Committee postponed Ronny Jackson's confirmation hearing following reports that Trump's nominee to lead the Department of Veterans Affairs oversaw a hostile work environment as the White House physician, allowed the overprescribing of drugs, and drank on the job. Jackson administered Trump's annual physical in January, reporting that there is "no reason whatsoever to think the president has any issues whatsoever with his thought processes," and that Trump could live to 200 years old if he had a healthier diet. (New York Times / Washington Post)
A 2012 inspector general report suggested removing Ronny Jackson and a rival physician from their White House roles after finding a "lack of trust in the leadership" and the two having exhibited "unprofessional behaviors" as part of a power struggle over the White House medical unit. (Associated Press)
3/ The White House stands by Ronny Jackson, but Trump hinted that Jackson might withdraw from consideration because the process is "too ugly, and it's too disgusting." Trump said he doesn't want to "put a man through a process like this" over "ugly allegations." (Washington Post / New York Times)
4/ Iran warned that it could withdraw from the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty after Trump threatened to restore economic sanctions unless European allies fix what he has called a "terrible deal" by May 12. "If they restart their nuclear program," Trump said, "they will have bigger problems than they ever had before." French president Emmanuel Macron, German chancellor Angela Merkel and U.K. prime minister Theresa May have been coordinating potential side agreements they hope will convince Trump to remain part of the pact. (New York Times / Washington Post / Bloomberg / Reuters)
5/ The White House will host its first state dinner for France's President Emmanuel Macron and his wife, Brigitte, tonight. As a candidate, Trump argued that "We shouldn't have [state] dinners at all. We should be eating a hamburger on a conference table." Melania Trump, meanwhile, has instructed her staff not to worry about the details of the dinner. "Do not worry," she wrote in an email to staff. (New York Times / NBC News)
No Democrats or members of the press were invited to the state dinner – a departure from past dinners. Sen. John Kennedy, who was one of four members of Congress to be invited, said "it would have sent a better message, just my opinion, if we included a cross-section of Congress." (The Hill)
6/ The FBI interviewed Paul Manafort in March 2013 and July 2014 while he was working as a political consultant for a Ukrainian political party. Manafort's deputy, Rick Gates, who also held a top role with Trump's campaign, was interviewed by the FBI in July 2014. Gates pleaded guilty to conspiracy and lying to the FBI in February of this year and is cooperating with Robert Mueller's investigation. (Washington Post)
7/ Mueller's raid on Paul Manafort's condo and storage locker last July was to gather documents related to the Trump Tower meeting between Russian lobbyists and Manafort, Trump Jr., and Jared Kushner. A new court filing by the special counsel confirmed that Mueller's team raided Manafort's home in July 2017 to recover "Communications, records, documents, and other files involving any of the attendees of the June 9, 2016 meeting at Trump Tower, as well as Aras and Amin Agalorov." Manafort has been indicted on five counts, including conspiracy against the U.S., money laundering, and acting as an unregistered agent of a foreign government, and is fighting to suppress evidence collected in the raid. (Newsweek / Politico / Bloomberg / Law and Crime)
8/ Republicans expect to win today's special House election in Arizona, but the race in the conservative 8th Congressional District is being looked at closely, after Democrats recently won House and Senate seats in Pennsylvania and Alabama, respectively. Trump won the district by 21 points in 2016, but many GOP operatives believe the best-case scenario is a high single-digit margin of victory, which would be "a wake-up call to Republican elected officials that this is a radically different off-year," and that "this anti-Trump mood has reached new a stratosphere [sic]." (Politico / NPR)
9/ Arizona state Democrats blocked Republicans from changing how the state fills vacant Senate seats. The GOP measure would have ensured that John McCain's seat wouldn't be on the November ballot if he leaves office early for reasons related to his ongoing treatment for brain cancer. The measure would have allowed the governor to appoint individuals to open seats – and hold them for two full years – if the seat becomes vacant within 150 days of a scheduled primary election. (Associated Press / The Hill)
study/ People voted for Trump because they were worried about losing their social status – not economic anxiety. A new study finds that Trump voters weren't losing income or jobs. In particular, white, Christian, and male voters felt their status in society was threatened, and that Trump would restore it. (The Atlantic / New York Times)
Notables.
Sean Hannity's real estate venture bought properties through a dealer who was involved in a criminal conspiracy to fraudulently buy foreclosed homes. Jeff Brock pleaded guilty in 2016 to federal charges of bank fraud and conspiracy for rigging foreclosure auctions between 2007 and 2012. Brock purchased 11 homes in Georgia following foreclosures and sold them to Hannity's shell company in 2012. There is no evidence that Hannity was aware of Brock's involvement in fraud. (The Guardian)
George H. W. Bush is alert but remains in intensive care. Bush was admitted to the hospital Monday morning after he contracted an infection that spread to his blood and led to sepsis. His doctor said he is "responding to treatments and appears to be recovering." (CNN)
Scott Pruitt will face two congressional hearings this week. The hearings will focus on the EPA's budget, but they will also give lawmakers an opportunity to grill Pruitt about other concerns and allegations about the agency's use of taxpayer money under Pruitt's leadership. (ABC News)
Pruitt proposed a "transparency" rule that would limit the EPA's ability to use the best science to write new regulations. Under the rule, only studies where the raw, underlying data – including participants' personal health data – is made publicly available would qualify. (Washington Post)
Russian hackers likely targeted more than 21 states before the 2016 election, a top Department of Homeland Security official said. (The Hill)
1/ Flight records contradict Trump's claim he never spent the night in Moscow during the 2013 Miss Universe pageant. According to James Comey's memos, Trump twice told the now-former FBI director that there is no way the "golden showers thing" happened because he claims he arrived on the morning of the event and left shortly after it ended in the early hours of the next morning. Christopher Steele's dossier alleges that Trump had prostitutes perform "golden showers" on the bed in the Ritz-Carlton's presidential suite in 2013 during the Miss Universe pageant. Flights records show Trump arrived in Moscow on November 8th, 2013, and left at 3:58am on November 10th, 2013. (Bloomberg)
Trump's false claims to Comey about Moscow stay could aid Mueller. James Comey says the president told him that he never spent the night in Moscow in 2013, but flight records, social media and his bodyguard's testimony show otherwise. (Politico)
TIMELINE: An hour-by-hour recap of Trump's 2013 visit to Moscow. (Bloomberg)
Trump flew to Moscow on November 7th, 2013, landing Friday, November 8th.
The next day, Trump was at the Ritz-Carlton hotel, did a tour of Moscow, and attended the Miss Universe pageant, followed by an afterparty that started at 1am.
Keith Schiller, Trump's bodyguard, testified before Congress that "a Russian participant" offered to send five women to Trump's hotel room on November 9th. Schiller reportedly rejected the offer and stood outside Trump's hotel room until he went to bed for the night.
The jet Trump took to Moscow left at 3:58am on the night of November 9th, 2013, landing in New Jersey at 4:11am local time.
2/ Trump's new national security adviser chaired a nonprofit that promoted misleading and anti-Muslim news. Bolton was chairman of the Gatestone Institute from 2013 until last month. The advocacy group claims that a "jihadist takeover" of Europe is leading to a "Great White Death," which was amplified by a Russian troll factory that sought to portray Western society as at risk of "Islamization." (NBC News)
3/ The Trump administration is challenging Native Americans' exemption from new Medicaid work rules because it would be illegal preferential treatment. Meaning Native Americans would need to get a job if they want to keep their health care in states that institute work requirements for Medicaid. The administration has allowed three states – Arkansas, Kentucky and Indiana – to begin instituting such requirements, and at least 10 other states have submitted or are preparing applications. (Politico)
4/ The Senate Foreign Relations Committee voted in favor of Mike Pompeo's nomination for secretary of state, after Rand Paul flipped from opposing to supporting. The committee approved Pompeo by an 11-to-10 vote along party lines and is expected to win confirmation from the full Senate later this week. Earlier, Trump tweeted that it's "hard to believe Obstructionists May vote against Mike Pompeo for Secretary of State," claiming Democrats "will not approve hundreds of good people" by "maxing out" the confirmation process. (Politico / Reuters / New York Times / NBC News)
Hard to believe Obstructionists May vote against Mike Pompeo for Secretary of State. The Dems will not approve hundreds of good people, including the Ambassador to Germany. They are maxing out the time on approval process for all, never happened before. Need more Republicans!
Sarah Huckabee Sanders: Democrats voting against Pompeo's nomination don't "love this country" and have to decide if "they hate this president" more. The press secretary's comments came while she was appearing on Fox & Friends. (Daily Beast)
Pompeo has the support of three Democratic senators, increasing his chances of being confirmed by the full chamber. (CNN)
5/ Trump rejected speculation that Michael Cohen will flip, tweeting that he has "always liked and respected" his attorney. He added that "Most people will flip if the Government lets them out of trouble, even if it means lying or making up stories. Sorry, I don't see Michael doing that despite the horrible Witch Hunt and the dishonest media!" In a flurry of weekend tweets, Trump called New York Times journalist Maggie Haberman a "third rate reporter" and a Clinton "flunkie" following her report that Cohen could end up cooperating with federal officials as legal fees and possible criminal charges pile up. (Washington Post)
The New York Times and a third rate reporter named Maggie Haberman, known as a Crooked H flunkie who I don’t speak to and have nothing to do with, are going out of their way to destroy Michael Cohen and his relationship with me in the hope that he will “flip.” They use....
....non-existent “sources” and a drunk/drugged up loser who hates Michael, a fine person with a wonderful family. Michael is a businessman for his own account/lawyer who I have always liked & respected. Most people will flip if the Government lets them out of trouble, even if....
Hillary Clinton: The First Amendment is "under open assault" in the Trump era. "We are living through an all-out war on truth, facts and reason," Clinton said. "When leaders deny things we can see with our own eyes, like the size of a crowd at the inauguration, when they refuse to accept settled science when it comes to urgent challenges like climate change … it is the beginning of the end of freedom, and that is not hyperbole. It’s what authoritarian regimes through history have done." (Washington Post)
6/ The former lawyer for both Stormy Daniels and Karen McDougal is cooperating with investigators in the Michael Cohen probe. Keith Davidson provided the Southern District of New York with "certain limited electronic information" about the confidentiality agreements he negotiated between Cohen and the two women regarding their alleged affairs with Trump. (CNN)
Stormy Daniels is telling the truth that somebody threatened her to stay silent about her affair with Trump, according to her friend and fellow porn star. Jessica Drake is named in the nondisclosure agreement Daniels signed as somebody with whom she discussed her alleged affair with Trump. Drake claims she refused a $10,000 offer to have sex with Trump after meeting him during a Lake Tahoe golf event in 2006. (ABC News)
7/ Kellyanne Conway accused CNN of sexism for asking about her husband's critical Trump tweets. Conway said the question by CNN's Dana Bash "was meant to harass and embarrass," which was inappropriate and created a "double standard." Conway's husband, George Conway, has been tweeting and retweeting critical comments about Trump, but deleted a handful of tweets last month. (The Hill / Politico / CNN)
8/ During Barbara Bush's funeral, Trump tweeted about the DNC's lawsuit over hacked emails, accused James Comey of leaking classified memos, and called Jeff Sessions "Mr. Magoo" and Rod Rosenstein "Mr. Peepers." Melania Trump, George H.W. Bush, Bill Clinton, George W. Bush, Barack Obama, Hillary Clinton, Laura Bush, and Michelle Obama, meanwhile, attended the service. On MSNBC's "Morning Joe," Mika Brzezinski called Trump's tweets "especially insulting to the United States of America" on a day "the world said goodbye to Barbara Bush." (The Hill)
9/ Trump's legislative affairs director won't rule out Trump firing Robert Mueller or Rod Rosenstein, saying the special counsel has moved outside his original mandate. Marc Short said: "We believe the scope has gone well beyond what was intended to be Russian meddling in the election," adding, "We don't know how far off the investigation is going to veer." (Politico)
poll/ 78% of Americans believe teachers are underpaid, but only 52% support the teacher walkouts protesting low teacher pay and school funding cuts. (Associated Press)
poll/ 59% of registered voters believe that Trump does not deserve to be re-elected. 37% of voters say Trump deserves re-election, which is on par with Clinton (38%) and Obama (37%) who had similar figures at the time of the 1994 and 2010 midterm elections, respectively. (Gallup)
Notables.
Mitt Romney failed to win the Utah Republican Party's nomination and will now face 11 challengers in a June primary for the U.S. Senate seat being vacated by Orrin Hatch. (Reuters)
The Treasury Department eased sanctions on a Russian aluminum producer tied to Oleg Deripaska, a Russian oligarch who is close to Putin. (Politico)
A federal appeals court ruled that the Trump administration cannot delay fines for "gas-guzzling" cars that violate fuel efficiency standards. In July 2017, the Department of Transportation indefinitely postponed a scheduled increase in penalties for automakers while it reviewed the Corporate Average Fuel Economy program. (The Hill)
The Supreme Court will consider Trump's third iteration of his travel ban on Wednesday, which bars most nationals from a small group of mostly Muslim nations. This is the first time the court has considered the merits of the policy. (Washington Post)
Sean Hannity is linked to a group of shell companies that spent $90 million buying more than 870 homes in seven states over the past decade through foreclosures and a Department of Housing and Urban Development assistance program. For some of the mortgages, Hannity obtained funding from HUD under the National Housing Act loan program, which the Fox News host didn't disclose when he interviewed HUD secretary Ben Carson on his show last June. (The Guardian)
Hannity called it "ironic" that he's "being attacked for investing my personal money in communities that badly need such investment." In 2014, Hannity bought two apartment complexes in Georgia for $22.7 million, but funded the purchases with $17.9 million in mortgages through HUD's National Housing Act program. (Politico)
The White House is cautioning Republicans and conservative allies to temper their defense of Scott Pruitt. Four Republicans and 170 Democrats have called on Pruitt to step down. (Bloomberg)
The RNC spent nearly $225,000 at Mar-a-Lago in March, according to Federal Election Commission reports. (The Hill / Daily Beast)
Ivana Trump: Donald "should just go and play golf" instead of running for reelection in 2020. "I'll tell you something, I don't think it’s necessary," she said. "I think he probably [misses] a little bit of freedom, I don't think he probably knew how much is involved of being the president. It's so [much] information — you have to know the whole world." (Page Six)
1/ The Democratic National Committee filed a lawsuit against the Russian government, the Trump campaign and WikiLeaks alleging a conspiracy to help Trump win the 2016 election. The 66-page lawsuit claims that Russian hacking, the Trump associates' contacts with Russia, and the public cheerleading by the campaign of the hacks amounted to conspiracy to interfere in the election and cause damage to the Democratic Party. DNC Chairman Tom Perez said in a statement: "This constituted an act of unprecedented treachery: the campaign of a nominee for President of the United States in league with a hostile foreign power to bolster its own chance to win the presidency." If the lawsuit proceeds, Trump and his campaign aides could be forced to submit to depositions that require them to answer questions under oath. (Washington Post / Reuters / New York Times / CNN)
2/ Trump invited Putin to the U.S. during a phone call on March 20. Trump reportedly said he "would be glad to see [Putin] in the White House," according to Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov. (Reuters)
3/ Roger Stone: Trump has long treated Michael Cohen "like garbage." Trump's lawyers and advisers believe Cohen, faced with the prospect of legal fees and criminal charges, could end up cooperating with federal officials investigating him for the work he did for Trump. A half-dozen people familiar with the relationship, say Trump had treated Cohen poorly for years, with insults, dismissive statements and, at least twice, threats of being fired. Cohen, who once said he would "take a bullet" for Trump, tried to apologize to Melania Trump for the news about Stormy Daniels. (New York Times)
4/ A federal judge said Michael Cohen will needs to plead the Fifth Amendment in order to delay the Stormy Daniels lawsuit. The judge gave Cohen until next Wednesday to do so. Cohen wanted the judge to grant a stay for at least 90 days. (NBC News)
5/ The Justice Department sent partially redacted copies of James Comey's memos – 15 pages in total – to Congress, which leaked to the public within hours. The memos cover the first three months of the Trump administration. Following the release, Trump tweeted that the memos "show clearly that there was NO COLLUSION and NO OBSTRUCTION." (Associated Press / New York Times / Washington Post)
James Comey Memos just out and show clearly that there was NO COLLUSION and NO OBSTRUCTION. Also, he leaked classified information. WOW! Will the Witch Hunt continue?
At least two of the memos that Comey gave to a friend contained information that officials now consider classified, prompting a review by the Justice Department’s internal watchdog. (Wall Street Journal)
6/ Trump was annoyed with Michael Flynn for making Putin wait six days for a return congratulatory phone call. Trump complained that Flynn "has serious judgment issues" as a result. Days before Michael Flynn was fired, then-White House Chief of Staff Reince Priebus asked Comey if Flynn's communications were being monitored under a FISA surveillance warrant. (Reuters / The Guardian)
7/ Trump tweeted that Michael Flynn's life is now "totally destroyed" while "Shadey James Comey can Leak and Lie and make lots of money from a third rate book." Flynn pleaded guilty in December to lying to federal agents and is cooperating with Robert Mueller's probe into Russian meddling in the 2016 U.S. election and whether the Trump campaign was involved. (Bloomberg)
So General Michael Flynn’s life can be totally destroyed while Shadey James Comey can Leak and Lie and make lots of money from a third rate book (that should never have been written). Is that really the way life in America is supposed to work? I don’t think so!
8/ Putin once told Trump that Russia has "some of the most beautiful hookers in the world," according to Comey. In a memo dated Feb. 8, 2017, Comey writes that Trump "brought up the 'Golden Showers thing,'" saying that "'the hookers thing' is nonsense." (The Hill)
9/ Comey explained why he thinks "it's possible" that Russia has compromising information on Trump. First, he says, is that "the President is constantly bringing it up with me to deny it." And, second, Trump "wouldn't criticize Vladimir Putin even in private, which struck me as odd." (CNN)
10/ Trump pressed Jeff Sessions and FBI Director Christopher Wray to find derogatory information on two senior FBI officials. Trump wanted to know why Peter Strzok and Lisa Page were still in their jobs, following allegations by his allies that they had been disloyal and had unfairly targeted him and his administration. Trump wanted information about Strzok and Page turned over to congressional Republicans in order to discredit them. (Vox)
BACKGROUND:
Strzok helped oversee the probe of Hillary Clinton's email use and the investigation into whether the Trump campaign colluded with Russia during the 2016 presidential campaign.
Page provided legal and strategic advice about both investigations to both Comey and McCabe.
The two repeatedly disparaged Trump in their private text messages to each other.
11/ Trump's legal team is still negotiating a possible interview with Robert Mueller, according to White House lawyer Ty Cobb. "The Cohen searches have not yet changed our strategy or level of cooperation with the special counsel," Cobb said, referring to recent raids on the home, hotel room and workplace of Michael Cohen. At the time, it was reported that Trump was "less inclined" to sit for an interview with Mueller. (Daily Beast)
12/ Trump complained to advisers that Neil Gorsuch has been too liberal in recent cases. Trump was "incensed" that Gorsuch voted against the administration on an immigration case, renewing Trump's doubts that Gorsuch would be a reliable conservative. (Washington Post / The Hill)
13/ In May 1984, Trump – pretending to be a Trump Organization executive – lied about his wealth to a Forbes reporter so he could make the Forbes 400 list. Trump, posing as "John Barron," called Jonathan Greenberg and claimed he was worth $100 million. At the time, Trump was worth less than $5 million. (Washington Post)
Notables.
Trump will not attend Barbara Bush's funeral in order to "avoid disruptions" and out of respect for her family and friends. (CNN)
Scott Pruitt spent $45,000 to fly a five-person "advance" team to Australia to prepare for meetings that were later canceled. (Reuters)
Mitch McConnell is intent on confirming as many conservative judges as possible to lifetime appointments this year, in part out of concern that Democrats may take back the Senate. Trump has already nominated 69 judges, but there are still 149 total vacancies. (Politico)
Andrew McCabe plans to sue the Trump administration for defamation and wrongful termination and other possible civil claims. (Axios / The Hill)
Democratic Sen. Heidi Heitkamp will support Mike Pompeo's nomination for secretary of state, becoming the first Democrat to say she'll vote for the current CIA director. Pompeo is expected to receive an unfavorable recommendation from the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, but GOP leaders plan to bring the nomination to the Senate floor anyway late next week. (CNN / New York Times)
A man linked to the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks was captured in Syria by U.S.-backed forces more than a month ago. The 9/11 Commission report, a Congressional account of the 2001 attacks, said Mohammad Haydar Zammar was an "outspoken, flamboyant Islamist" who extolled "the virtues of violent jihad." (Reuters)
Jared Kushner's family business received a federal subpoena. Investigators are looking into whether the real estate company repeatedly filed false paperwork that claimed it had zero rent-regulated tenants, when it had hundreds. (Wall Street Journal / The Hill)
Wall Street banks saved at least $3.59 billion combined in taxes last quarter under Trump's new tax law. (Associated Press)
1/ Rod Rosenstein told Trump last week that he isn't a target of any part of Robert Mueller's investigation. Following the meeting, Trump told his advisers that it's not the right time to remove Rosenstein or Mueller since he's not a target of the probe. Yesterday, at Mar-a-Lago, Trump told reporters "they've been saying I'm going to get rid of [Rosenstein and Mueller] for the last three months, four months, five months." He added: "And they're still here." While Trump may not officially be a target now, he could become one in the future. (Bloomberg)
2/ Trump's congressional allies threatened to impeach Rod Rosenstein if he didn't provide them with documents about the FBI's conduct related to the Russia probe and the investigation into Hillary Clinton's email server. Representatives Mark Meadows and Jim Jordan said Rosenstein could also be held in contempt of Congress if he doesn't satisfy their demands for documents. Critics say the two Republicans are attempting to build a case against Rosenstein in hopes of closing the Mueller investigation. (Washington Post)
3/ The Justice Department will send James Comey's memos to three congressional committees, which document the former FBI director's interactions with Trump. It's unclear if the memos will be redacted, but the House Intelligence, Oversight and Judiciary committees requested copies of the memos in both redacted and de-classified/un-redacted form last week. The memos are believed to be central to Mueller's obstruction of justice investigation. (CNN / ABC News / Politico)
4/ The special counsel suspects that Paul Manafort served as a "back channel" between the Trump campaign and Russians intent on meddling in the presidential election. Manafort "had long-standing ties to Russia-backed politicians," Justice Department attorney Michael Dreeben said. "Did they provide back channels to Russia? Investigators will naturally look at those things." Manafort's lawyers argued that Robert Mueller exceeded his authority when he indicted Manafort on charges of laundering millions of dollars while acting as an unregistered agent of the Ukrainian government. (Bloomberg)
5/ Trump: We'll put sanctions on Russia "as soon as they very much deserve it," adding that "there has been nobody tougher on Russia than Donald Trump." The third-person comment capped a four-day stretch of confusion over whether the Trump administration would punish Moscow for its role in a recent chemical attack in Syria. (The Hill)
6/ Michael Cohen dropped a pair of libel suits against BuzzFeed and Fusion GPS over the publication of the dossier that details alleged ties between Trump and Russia. The dossier claims Cohen met with Russian operatives somewhere in Europe to "clean up the mess" created by the public disclosures of Trump associates' ties to Russia. Pursuing the suit would require Cohen to "face a discovery process that would have forced him to defend his reputation and address the allegations of the Steele dossier under penalty of perjury." (Politico / Washington Post)
7/ Trump's legal advisers warned that Michael Cohen would flip and cooperate with federal prosecutors if faced with criminal charges. "They're going to threaten him with a long prison term and try to turn him into a canary that sings," said lawyer Alan Dershowitz, who met with Trump and his staff over two days at the White House last week. Jay Goldberg, who represented Trump in the 1990s and early 2000s, told the president not to trust Cohen, and on a scale of 100 to 1, where 100 is fully protecting the president, Cohen "isn't even a 1." (Wall Street Journal / Politico)
8/ The Justice Department's inspector general referred its finding to federal prosecutors to determine whether Andrew McCabe should be charged with a crime for repeatedly misleading investigators. The referral came days after the inspector general, Michael Horowitz, released a report accusing McCabe of demonstrating a lack of candor and releasing sensitive information related to an ongoing criminal investigation. (New York Times / Washington Post / CNN)
9/ Rudy Giuliani is joining Trump's personal legal team to "negotiate an end" to the special counsel's investigation "for the good of the country." Giuliani added: "I have high regard for the president and for Bob Mueller." (CNBC / Washington Post)
poll/ White evangelical support for Trump is at an all-time high, with 75% holding a favorable view of the president and 22% holding an unfavorable view. (Public Religion Research Institute)
Notables.
Trump will skip his summit with Kim Jong Un if he thinks the talks aren't going to be "fruitful," but said he'll "remain flexible." (Politico)
North Korea said it no longer demands that the U.S. remove troops from South Korea as a condition for denuclearization. For decades, North Korea demanded the withdrawal of 28,500 American troops, citing their presence as a pretext to justify its development of nuclear weapons. (New York Times)
A federal judge ruled that the Trump administration's cuts to the Teen Pregnancy Prevention Program were unlawful. The administration notified 81 organizations last summer that their five-year grants would end in 2018, rather than in 2020. (The Hill)
More than two dozen House and Senate Republicans have refused to endorse Trump's bid for re-election. Trump announced his re-election bid immediately after taking office. (CNN)
43 House Republican incumbents have raised less money than their Democratic challengers in the first three months of 2018, and 16 Republican incumbents have less cash on hand than their Democratic challengers. (Politico)
The Senate confirmed Trump's pick for NASA administrator, despite deep concerns from Democrats that he lacks the scientific and management expertise to lead the space agency. (Washington Post)
A federal appeals court blocked the Trump administration from making federal grant funding contingent on cooperation with immigration enforcement. A three-judge panel on the Chicago-based 7th Circuit Court of Appeals agreed that the administration exceeded its legal authority in trying to implement the conditions without approval from Congress. (Politico / The Hill)
Trump tweeted that he will not pay for California's new deployment of National Guard troops after Gov. Jerry Brown said the troops will focus on combating transnational crime and drug smuggling and not immigration enforcement on the Mexican border, as Trump envisioned. (Los Angeles Times)
1/ Defense Secretary James Mattis wanted to get Congressional approval before bombing Syria last week. Trump overruled him because he wanted his tweets to be supported by action, despite warnings that an overly aggressive strike could spark a larger dispute with Russia. A limited airstrike on three targets was the compromise. (New York Times)
2/ Mike Pompeo met with Kim Jong Un over Easter weekend for a top-secret visit to lay the groundwork for direct talks between Trump and the North Korean leader. Pompeo was nominated as secretary of state shortly after the meeting. Trump is expected to meet with Kim by June. While meeting with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe at Mar-a-Lago on Tuesday, Trump said his administration has "had direct talks at very high levels, extremely high levels with North Korea." (Washington Post / New York Times)
3/ Sarah Huckabee Sanders said "the administration does not comment on the CIA director's travel." Hours later, Trump tweeted that "Pompeo met with Kim Jong Un in North Korea last week. Meeting went very smoothly and a good relationship was formed." (Reuters)
Mike Pompeo met with Kim Jong Un in North Korea last week. Meeting went very smoothly and a good relationship was formed. Details of Summit are being worked out now. Denuclearization will be a great thing for World, but also for North Korea!
4/ Two Democrats on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee will vote against Mike Pompeo, Trump's nominee for secretary of state. Pompeo can still be confirmed by the full Senate without the committee's support. Republicans hold a 11-10 majority on the committee and Republican Rand Paul has already said he's also "no." (Reuters / CNN)
5/ Nikki Haley: "I don't get confused." The comment by the U.S. ambassador to the United Nations comes in response to a White House official attributing her statement that Trump would impose sanctions on Russia to "momentary confusion." Larry Kudlow, the president's national economics adviser, said Haley "got ahead of the curve." Later, Kudlow called Haley to apologize, saying "she was certainly not confused." He added: "She was basically following what she thought was policy. The policy was changed and she wasn't told about it, so she was in a box." The White House sent out a document – titled "White House talking points" – to surrogates on Saturday letting them know that Trump had decided to take punitive action against Moscow. (New York Times / Politico / CNN)
Haley said her relationship with Trump was "perfect." (Reuters)
6/ Trump denied that he fired James Comey because of the Russia investigation, directly contradicting his own comments on Comey's dismissal. In May 2017, Trump told NBC's Lester Holt that his decision to fire Comey was "this Russia thing," which he called "a made up story" and "an excuse by the Democrats for having lost an election that they should have won." Today, Trump tweeted that "Slippery James Comey, the worst FBI Director in history, was not fired because of the phony Russia investigation," adding the requisite all-caps "NO COLLUSION (except by the Dems)!" (CNN / Washington Post / Axios)
Slippery James Comey, the worst FBI Director in history, was not fired because of the phony Russia investigation where, by the way, there was NO COLLUSION (except by the Dems)!
7/ Trump dismissed the sketch of the person that Stormy Daniels claims threatened her years ago on Trump's behalf, calling the person a "nonexistent man" and said the sketch was a "total con job, playing the Fake News Media for Fools (but they know it)!" (ABC News / New York Times)
A sketch years later about a nonexistent man. A total con job, playing the Fake News Media for Fools (but they know it)! https://t.co/9Is7mHBFda
8/ American Media Inc. let Karen McDougal out of her contract that kept her from talking about her affair with Trump. In August 2016 American Media, which owns the National Enquirer, purchased the rights to McDougal's story and spiked it in exchange for $150,000. David Pecker, American Media's chairman, is friends with Trump. (New York Times)
9/ Trump is still "apoplectic" about the FBI raids on Michael Cohen's hotel room, office and home, a source close to the president said. Trump's concerned that the FBI has everything, including everything he's told Cohen, and doesn't feel protected by the FBI "taint team" that's supposed to separate out information subject to attorney client-privilege. (CNN)
poll/ The race between Ted Cruz and Beto O'Rourke is "too close to call." 47% of Texas voters support Cruz while 43% back O'Rourke. (Quinnipiac)
Notables.
Barbara Bush died at the age of 92 after a series of recent hospitalizations. Bush had recently refused to seek any further medical treatment. (NBC News)
The Senate Judiciary Committee will take up legislation to protect Robert Mueller despite opposition from Mitch McConnell. The legislation is on the agenda for a committee business meeting on Thursday, but an actual vote is expected to be delayed until next week. (The Hill)
Puerto Rico hit with an island-wide blackout after an excavator accidentally downed a transmission line. Officials said it could take 24 to 36 hours to fully restore power to more than 1.4 million customers. (Associated Press)
New York's attorney general is trying change a state law so he can bring criminal charges against aides Trump pardons. Eric Schneiderman wants to exempt New York's double jeopardy law from cases involving presidential pardons. (New York Times)
Mick Mulvaney said the Office of Management and Budget is opening a probe into Scott Pruitt's spending since he took over the EPA. The OMB will look into the $43,000 spent on a "secure phone booth" for Pruitt's office at EPA headquarters. (ABC News)
A group of 131 representatives and 39 senators introduced a resolution calling for Scott Pruitt to resign for ethics lapses. The resolution states that the co-signers have "no confidence in the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency and [are] calling for the immediate resignation of the Administrator." (The Hill / Reuters)
Trump's trade representative Robert Lighthizer is spending nearly $1 million on new furniture. He blamed the Obama administration for the costs. (New York Post)
Trump tweeted that sanctuary cities are where undocumented immigrants go for "breeding." (CNN)
Bob Corker said Trump governs in a state of "constant chaos" and denounced his attacks on the FBI and the media. The Republican senator once described the White House as an "adult day-care center." (Washington Post)
Madeleine Albright: Trump is "the least democratic president of modern history." The former secretary of state said the modern world provides a "petri dish" for fascism. (The Atlantic)
1/ The Supreme Court ruled that a law subjecting immigrants to deportation for some "crimes of violence" is unconstitutionally vague. Justice Neil Gorsuch – Trump's pick for the Supreme Court – joined with the court's liberal justices, providing the swing vote for the first time in a 5-4 ruling that invalidated the federal statute. (CNN / Politico / USA Today)
2/ The Senate will not take up legislation limiting Trump's ability to fire Robert Mueller. "I'm the one who decides what we take to the floor," Mitch McConnell said, "that's my responsibility as the majority leader and we will not be having this on the floor of the Senate." McConnell's statement comes about a week after Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley said his panel would take up and vote on the measure during a meeting on April 26. A handful of House Republicans have also endorsed legislation that would protect the special counsel. (The Hill / Washington Post / Politico)
3/ Trump rejected a new round of sanctions that would have been imposed against Russia on Monday. Sarah Huckabee Sanders told reporters that "a decision will be made in the near future," and Trump has now decided to not move forward with the sanctions. She added that Trump "has been clear that he's going to be tough on Russia, but at the same time he'd still like to have a good relationship with them." (New York Times)
4/ Trump's National Economic Council chairman said Nikki Haley "got ahead" of herself in announcing new sanctions on Russia. Larry Kudlow insisted there was no confusion within the administration about the sanctions. Trump signed off on the sanctions package, but changed his mind following the airstrikes in Syria. "Russia sanctions were a part of the agreed-upon plan going into the strike and going into the weekend," said a senior administration official. "As recently as Saturday that was reconfirmed as part of the plan." (CNN / Politico)
Haley responds: "I don't get confused." (New York Times)
5/ A broadband adviser chosen by FCC Chairman Ajit Pai was arrested last week and charged with fraud for tricking investors into pouring more than $250 million into an Alaska-based fiber optic cable company. Elizabeth Pierce used forged contracts with other companies to guarantee investors hundreds of millions of dollars in future revenue. Pierce stepped down from her role as head of the Broadband Deployment Advisory Committee in September of last year. (Wall Street Journal / The Verge)
6/ Fox News pledged "full support" of Sean Hannity after it was revealed that he had an "informal relationship" with Michael Cohen. In a statement, the network said it "was surprised by the announcement in court yesterday." (Reuters / CNN)
Sean Hannity has been represented by two other Trump-connected lawyers: Victoria Toensing and Jay Sekulow. The duo, acting as "Counsel for Sean Hannity," once sent a cease-and-desist letter to a radio station based in Tulsa, Oklahoma. Sekulow is Trump's personal attorney working full-time on the response to Robert Mueller's inquiry. He recently announced he was hiring Toensing to join him, but reversed course due to unspecified conflicts. (The Atlantic)
7/ The Trump campaign paid $66,000 to Keith Schiller's lawyer, Trump's former longtime bodyguard. Schiller's lawyers, Schertler & Onorato LLP, received a single payment in January, despite having left his White House job in September. Schiller testified to the House Intelligence Committee in November that someone made an offer to send five women to Trump's hotel room in Moscow during to the 2013 Miss Universe pageant. Schiller said he turned down the offer on Trump's behalf and that no women ever came, as far as he was aware. Federal election law allows the use of campaign money for legal fees, but only if the fees are related to a matter connected to the campaign. (NBC News)
8/ Stormy Daniels and her lawyer unveiled a forensic sketch of the man she said threatened her seven years ago to keep quiet about her alleged affair with Trump. She is offering a $100,000 reward for information about the man she described as handsome and fit with sandy brown, slicked-back hair, about 5-foot-9 to 6 feet tall, and in his 30s or 40s. (USA Today / The Daily Beast)
9/ Trump has been advised not to back a candidate in the race to succeed outgoing House Speaker Paul Ryan. Trump wanted to endorse House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy, but his advisers are concerned that an endorsement could complicate his future relationship with the next GOP leader. (ABC News)
10/ Scott Pruitt upgraded his official car to a larger, customized SUV with bullet-resistant seat covers. The first year's lease of the Chevy Suburban cost $10,200. (Washington Post)
11/ Trump said the U.S. has had "direct talks" with North Korea at "extremely high levels," adding that the U.S. was reviewing five locations for a one-on-one with Kim Jong Un. Trump is tentatively scheduled to meet Kim in early June. (Politico / Washington Post)
12/ North and South Korea are reportedly set to announce an official end to their 68-year war. Pyongyang and Seoul have technically been at war since the 1950-1953 Korean conflict ended with a truce – and not a peace treaty. While meeting with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe at Mar-a-Lago, Trump said the two Koreas "have my blessing to discuss the end of the war." (CNBC / Associated Press)
poll/ Roughly 7 in 10 Americans support tougher U.S. sanctions on Russia, while nearly half say Trump has done "too little" to address Russia's alleged violations of international law. Meanwhile, 52% say Trump should invite Putin to the White House in order to help improve U.S.-Russia relations; 42% oppose the invitation because they feel it would give Putin legitimacy. (Washington Post-ABC News poll)
poll/ 32% of all Americans have a favorable view of Robert Mueller. 30% view him unfavorably and 38% say they don't know enough to have an opinion. Among Democrats, Mueller's favorability is at 56%, while 49% of Republicans have an unfavorable impression of the special counsel. (NPR-PBS NewsHour-Marist poll)
Notables.
Ryan Zinke refers to himself as a geologist, even though he has never held a job as a geologist. The Interior Secretary has used the credential to justify everything from shrinking the Bears Ears national monument to making decisions regarding coal revenue, seismic activity, climate change, and endangered species, as well as fracking and drilling. (CNN)
GOP Congressman Charlie Dent will resign and leave office in May. Dent initially announced his resignation last year and said he planned to stay on until the end of his term, but has now decided, "after discussions with my family and careful reflection," that he will instead leave office next month. (The Hill)
Sandy Hook parents are suing Alex Jones for defamation. The right-wing conspiracy theorist who operates Infowars has repeatedly claimed that the parents of the 20 dead children are "crisis actors" and that the shooting was "completely fake" and a "giant hoax" perpetrated by opponents of the Second Amendment. The parents are seeking at least $1 million in damages. (New York Times)
The IRS Direct Pay system went down on tax day and is still down. Direct Pay is the service that allows taxpayers to make their payments online. "This service is currently unavailable. We apologize for any inconvenience," the website reads. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said online tax filers will get extension after the website outage. (USA Today / Fortune)
Trump requested an extension to file his 2017 taxes, as so "many Americans with complex returns" do, Sarah Huckabee Sanders said. Trumps returns will be filed by the Oct. 15 extension deadline. (New York Times)
1/ James Comey called Trump "morally unfit to be president" and likened "the loyalty oaths" to a mob boss at "the dominant center of everything" who is doing "tremendous damage" to institutional and cultural norms. In his Sunday interview with George Stephanopoulos, Comey said that it is "possible, but I don't know" if Russia has compromising information on Trump. (ABC News / Reuters)
Annotated excerpts from James Comey's "20/20" interview. (New York Times)
📚 Get Comey's book: "A Higher Loyalty: Truth, Lies, and Leadership" (Amazon)
2/ Trump tweeted that Comey is a "not smart," "self serving" liar, who deserves jail for being the "WORST FBI Director in history, by far." The tweets came hours before Comey's interview aired. Trump also insisted that Comey's memos are "FAKE!" while doubling down on calling the former FBI director a "Slimeball!" Trump also charged that the only reason Comey reopened the Clinton email investigation in the final days of the 2016 election was because he wanted a job in her administration. Trump added: "I never asked Comey for Personal Loyalty." (Washington Post)
Unbelievably, James Comey states that Polls, where Crooked Hillary was leading, were a factor in the handling (stupidly) of the Clinton Email probe. In other words, he was making decisions based on the fact that he thought she was going to win, and he wanted a job. Slimeball!
The big questions in Comey’s badly reviewed book aren’t answered like, how come he gave up Classified Information (jail), why did he lie to Congress (jail), why did the DNC refuse to give Server to the FBI (why didn’t they TAKE it), why the phony memos, McCabe’s $700,000 & more?
3/ Trump continued his Twitter attacks on Comey, accusing the former FBI director of lying to Congress and having "committed many crimes!" Trump did not specify what crimes he believed Comey and others have committed. (New York Times)
Comey drafted the Crooked Hillary exoneration long before he talked to her (lied in Congress to Senator G), then based his decisions on her poll numbers. Disgruntled, he, McCabe, and the others, committed many crimes!
Obama's ethics lawyer believes Comey could sue Trump for libel and win. (The Hill)
4/ A federal judge rejected an attempt by Trump and Michael Cohen to block prosecutors from reviewing the materials seized in the FBI raids last week on Cohen's office, home, hotel room, and safe deposit box. Trump had asked a federal judge to block the Justice Department from viewing evidence, arguing that some of the evidence seized should first be reviewed by Trump, because it may be covered by attorney-client privilege. (New York Times / Bloomberg / Washington Post)
5/ Michael Cohen also represents Sean Hannity, one of Trump's outspoken advocates on cable TV. The revelation comes as part of a motion for a temporary restraining order to stop federal investigators from reviewing materials seized last week. The judge ordered Cohen to attend and provide information about his clients as she weighs the emergency action. Cohen's attorneys acknowledged that he represented Trump and Elliott Broidy in legal matters, but avoided naming the third client. Under pressure from the judge, Cohen's attorney said that the Fox News host was the third client. (Bloomberg / Politico / CNN / CNBC / NBC News)
Sean Hannity responds: "Michael Cohen has never represented me in any matter. I never retained him, received an invoice, or paid legal fees." (Talking Points Memo)
Six times Sean Hannity defended Michael Cohen on Fox News. (Politico)
How Fox News reacted after Sean Hannity was revealed as Michael Cohen's mystery client. (Slate)
6/ Trump wants the power to hire and fire all "officers of the United States" who "exercise significant authority" under the law. Trump's solicitor general, Noel Francisco, intervened in a minor SEC case to urge the Supreme Court to clarify the president's constitutional "power to oversee executive officers through removal." The move comes as Trump has repeatedly claimed that he has the power to fire special prosecutor Robert Mueller. Francisco could also be in line to oversee the Mueller probe if Rod Rosenstein is fired. (Los Angeles Times)
7/ Paul Ryan: "I don't think it's necessary" to pass a bill to protect Robert Mueller from being fired by Trump. "I don't think he's going to fire Mueller." Hundreds of former Justice Department employees, meanwhile, are urging Congress to "swiftly and forcefully respond" should Trump fire Mueller. (NBC News / Washington Post)
8/ Michael Cohen used the same Delaware LLC to handle the payoffs to Stormy Daniels and a former Playboy model who alleged Elliott Broidy impregnated her. Federal prosecutors are examining money flowing in and out of Essential Consultants as part of a broad investigation into Cohen's activities to silence women with allegations against Trump or those near him. Separately, Cohen also killed a 2013 Us Weekly story that would have reported about Donald Trump Jr. having an affair with one of the singers in the group Dumblonde. (Wall Street Journal)
9/ Trump's 2020 reelection campaign has spent about 22% of its funds raised on legal fees related to the ongoing special counsel investigation and a legal challenge by Stormy Daniels. The campaign has also spent about $125,000 at Trump businesses, including Trump International Hotel, Trump restaurants, and Trump Tower. (Washington Post / BuzzFeed News)
poll/ 56% of Americans disapprove of Trump's job performance, versus 40% who approve. Those who strongly disapprove outnumber those who strongly approve by nearly 2-1. (ABC News)
poll/ 47% of voters want a Democratic-controlled Congress, compared to 40% who prefer a GOP-controlled Congress – down from the Democrats' 10-point edge in March. (NBC News)
Notables.
Trump tried to block Pence's national security adviser appointment. After Trump learned that Pence was bringing on Nikki Haley's deputy, Jon Lerner, Trump told Kelly to get rid of Lerner. (Axios)
Jon Lerner stepped down two days after being named Pence's new national security aide. Trump was told – in error – that Lerner was a "Never Trumper," which caused him to boil over. Lerner offered to withdraw "to minimize the amount of conflict and internal drama." (Reuters)
The Pentagon said there has been a "2,000% increase in Russian trolls in the last 24 hours," following the airstrikes against Syria on Friday night. (Axios)
The Trump administration walked back Nikki Haley's announcement that the U.S. Treasury plans to issue additional sanctions on Russia following the chemical weapons attack in Syria last week. "We are considering additional sanctions on Russia and a decision will be made in the near future," Sarah Huckabee Sanders said. (The Hill)
Trump was "furious" that his administration was being portrayed in the media for taking the toughest stance on Russia following the announcement that the U.S. planned to expel 60 Russian diplomats and suspected spies. Trump believed that France and Germany would match the United States' response. Instead, they each expelled four Russian officials. (Washington Post)
Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke invited a self-professed "birther" on his radio show in 2013 and raised questions about then-President Obama's college records. (CNN)
Scott Pruitt's $43,000 secure "privacy booth" violated spending laws, the Government Accountability Office said. Pruitt told a congressional committee he needed the booth to make secure calls to the White House and discuss classified information, but he was unable to tell the lawmakers how often he would use it. (ABC News / Bloomberg / Washington Post)
Welcome to a rare Saturday edition of WTF Just Happened Today.
1/ The U.S., France, and Britain launched airstrikes targeting three Syrian chemical weapons facilities as Trump attempted to punish Bashar al-Assad for a chemical attack near Damascus last weekend that killed more than 40 people. The strikes targeted a scientific research center, a chemical weapons storage facility, and a command post. "We are prepared to sustain this response until the Syrian regime stops its use of prohibited chemical agents," Trump said from the White House, adding that the U.S. and its allies had "marshaled their righteous power." Putin called the airstrikes an "act of aggression against a sovereign state" and called for an emergency meeting of the United Nations' Security Council. (New York Times / NBC News / Wall Street Journal)
Trump sought advice on Syria from the lawyers defending him in the ongoing Russia investigation. (Wall Street Journal)
2/ Nikki Haley: Trump is "locked and loaded" to strike again if Syria uses chemical weapons again. The U.S. ambassador to the United Nations' comment came during an emergency Security Council meeting called by Russia. (Washington Post)
3/ Trump declared "mission accomplished" following the airstrikes on three Syria targets, drawing comparisons to George W. Bush's optimism about the U.S. invasion of Iraq in 2003. Trump added: It "could not have had a better result." (CNN / Bloomberg)
A perfectly executed strike last night. Thank you to France and the United Kingdom for their wisdom and the power of their fine Military. Could not have had a better result. Mission Accomplished!
4/ Russian military claimed that Syrian air defenses shot down 71 of the 103 missiles fired by the US and its allies. The Pentagon denied the claim. (The Guardian)
5/ Robert Mueller has evidence that Michael Cohen made a secret trip to Prague during the 2016 presidential campaign, entering through Germany in "August or early September." Confirmation of the trip corroborates part of the Christopher Steele dossier that Cohen met with an ally of Putin. Cohen has denied that he has ever been in Prague and that he colluded with Russia during the campaign. (McClatchy DC)
6/ A former Russian spy worked on the Moscow Trump tower deal during the 2016 presidential campaign. The former agent, who had served in the GRU, negotiated for financing for a Trump-branded tower in Moscow from a Russian state-owned bank that was under US sanctions at the time. The former Russian spy also passed intelligence to the US on key national security matters, including al-Qaeda's weapons caches and North Korea's attempts to develop nuclear weapons. (BuzzFeed News)
7/ The FBI seized recordings of conversations between Michael Cohen and the lawyer who represented Stormy Daniels and Karen McDougal. Cohen recorded some calls he had with Keith Davidson, who at the time represented both Daniels and McDougal. (CNN)
1/ Rod Rosenstein is prepared to be fired by Trump, telling confidants he has done his job with integrity and repeating the phrase "Here I stand." In recent private conversations, Rosenstein said history will prove he did the right thing by firing James Comey in May 2017, adding that Americans don't have all the facts about what led to his decision to write the memo that led to Comey's dismissal. If Rosenstein is fired, the next in line to oversee Mueller's probe is Solicitor General Noel Francisco. Trump, however, could choose to replace Rosenstein with anyone who has been confirmed by the Senate. (NBC News)
Rosenstein has consulted with a career ethics adviser at the Justice Department throughout the Russia probe on whether he needs to recuse himself from the investigation. He's followed their advice, which legal experts say legitimizes his decision to stay on. (CNN)
2/ James Comey called Trump an "unethical" man "untethered to truth and institutional values" in his new book, "A Higher Loyalty: Truth, Lies and Leadership." Comey describes Trump and his advisers as being unconcerned with whether Russia meddled in the election, but rather "debat[ing] how to position these findings for maximum political advantage." Trump, as president-elect, disputed the Steele dossier allegations that he watched sex workers urinate on each other. Comey writes that Trump insisted that "there's no way I would let people pee on each other around me" because he is a self-professed germaphobe. "I don't know," Comey told ABC News, if Trump "was with prostitutes peeing on each other in Moscow in 2013." (NBC News / New York Times / CNN)
New York Times Book Review: James Comey Has a Story to Tell. It’s Very Persuasive. (New York Times)
📚 Get your copy of "A Higher Loyalty: Truth, Lies and Leadership."
3/ Trump tweets that Comey is a "weak and untruthful slime ball" who deserved to be fired "for the terrible job he did." He added that Comey is a "proven LEAKER and LIAR" and that "it was my great honor to fire James Comey!" The pair of tweets are Trump's first remarks since advance copies of "A Higher Loyalty: Truth, Lies and Leadership" surfaced. ABC's "20/20" will air an interview with Comey on Sunday morning, while Fox News will air a special called "The Trial of James Comey" on Sunday night. (New York Times / Washington Post / NBC News)
James Comey is a proven LEAKER & LIAR. Virtually everyone in Washington thought he should be fired for the terrible job he did-until he was, in fact, fired. He leaked CLASSIFIED information, for which he should be prosecuted. He lied to Congress under OATH. He is a weak and.....
....untruthful slime ball who was, as time has proven, a terrible Director of the FBI. His handling of the Crooked Hillary Clinton case, and the events surrounding it, will go down as one of the worst “botch jobs” of history. It was my great honor to fire James Comey!
4/ The Republican National Committee launched a "Lyin' Comey" website aimed at discrediting the former FBI chief. The GOP plans to fact check James Comey's book and use "rapid response" to highlight any "misstatements" or "contradictions" in it. (Fox News)
5/ Trump's allies are worried that the FBI may have seized recordings of conversations between Michael Cohen and his associates. "We heard he had some proclivity to make tapes," said one Trump adviser. "Now we are wondering, who did he tape?" Cohen is known to record some of his conversations and store them as digital files. On Monday, FBI agents seized Cohen’s computers and phones. (Washington Post)
6/ Trump's advisers believe the investigation into Michael Cohen poses a greater and more imminent threat to his presidency than Robert Mueller's investigation. Cohen and Trump, through their lawyers, argue that the seized records were protected by attorney-client privilege. Trump called Cohen to "check in" as lawyers for the two men went to court to block the Justice Department from reading the seized documents. Sarah Huckabee Sanders, meanwhile, said she wasn't sure if Cohen was still Trump's personal attorney. (New York Times / Bloomberg)
7/ Cohen and a lawyer for Trump requested an emergency temporary restraining order to prevent prosecutors from looking at the materials seized in the FBI raids on Cohen's office, home, and hotel room earlier this week. Cohen and the lawyer argued that the president has "an acute interest in this matter" because some of the materials are protected by attorney-client privilege. (CNBC / Reuters / NBC News)
8/ Cohen has been "under criminal investigation" for months in New York for his business dealings, federal prosecutors said in court documents. The revelation came as Cohen and Trump sought a court order barring federal prosecutors from accessing the records they took during raids on Cohen's home and office Monday morning. (ABC News / NPR / CNN)
FBI agents who raided Cohen's office sought information about taxi owners who had financial dealings with Trump's personal attorney. The warrant specifically identified two Ukrainian immigrants who own a large taxi operation in Chicago. Cohen repeatedly loaned money to Semyon and Yasya Shatayner within the past 10 years. (CNN)
9/ Cohen negotiated a deal in late 2017 to pay $1.6 million to a former Playboy model who said she was impregnated by a top Republican fundraiser. Cohen arranged the payments to the woman on behalf of Elliott Broidy, a deputy finance chairman of the Republican National Committee with ties to Trump. In a statement, Broidy acknowledged that he "had a consensual relationship with a Playboy Playmate" who got pregnant. (Wall Street Journal / Washington Post)
10/ Elliott Broidy resigned as Republican National Committee deputy finance chair following reports that Trump's attorney, Michael Cohen, had negotiated a $1.6 million payment on his behalf to a Playboy Playmate who said that Broidy had impregnated her. (Politico / Wall Street Journal)
11/ The Justice Department inspector general found that former FBI Deputy Director Andrew McCabe "lacked candor" on four occasions when discussing the alleged improper authorization of information to a newspaper reporter and then misleading investigators about it. Trump tweeted that the report "is a total disaster. He LIED! LIED! LIED! McCabe was totally controlled by Comey - McCabe is Comey!! No collusion, all made up by this den of thieves and lowlifes!" McCabe was fired by Attorney General Jeff Sessions just hours before his retirement and the FBI officially filled McCabe's roll with Associate Deputy Director David Bowdich today. (CNN / New York Times / Politico)
DOJ just issued the McCabe report - which is a total disaster. He LIED! LIED! LIED! McCabe was totally controlled by Comey - McCabe is Comey!! No collusion, all made up by this den of thieves and lowlifes!
McCabe's lawyer may file a defamation lawsuit against Trump and his "colleagues" in response to a Trump tweet that claimed McCabe had "LIED! LIED! LIED." (ABC News)
[PDF] Inspector General Report of allegations relating to former FBI Deputy Director Andrew McCabe. (New York Times)
poll/ 69% of Americans support Mueller's investigation into possible collusion between the Trump campaign and the Russian government. 64% support Mueller investigating Trump's business activities, and 58% support looking at allegations that Trump’s associates paid hush money to women who say they had affairs with him. (ABC News)
poll/ 48% to 32% see Comey as more believable than Trump. 47% disapprove of Trump's decision to fire Comey, compared to 44% who approve. (Washington Post)
Notables.
Trump pardoned Scooter Libby for lying to investigators probing the leak of CIA officer Valerie Plame's identity. Libby served as the former chief of staff for Dick Cheney during the George W. Bush administration. Bush commuted Libby’s 30-month prison sentence while leaving the 2007 conviction intact. (ABC News / Bloomberg)
A Health and Human Services appointee shared an image in 2017 that said "our forefathers would have hung" Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton for treason. (CNN)
FCC Chairman Ajit Pai rejected a request from a dozen senators to investigate Sinclair Broadcast Group for "distorting news" coverage, saying an investigation would conflict with the First Amendment and freedom of the press. Sinclair forced anchors to read a scripted promo warning of "fake news" and media bias. (The Hill)
The U.S. accused Syrian of using banned chemical arms at least 50 times since Syria’s civil war began seven years ago. (New York Times)
Trump has been pushing for an attack on Syria that would punish the Syrian regime, Russia, and Iran. Defense Secretary Jim Mattis, meanwhile, is warning that retaliation must be balanced against the threat of a wider war in order to "keep this from escalating." (New York Times / Wall Street Journal)
1/ Steve Bannon is working with White House aides and Congressional allies on a plan to undermine Robert Mueller's probe. The plan involves firing Rod Rosenstein, refusing to cooperate with Mueller's team, and having Trump assert executive privilege "retroactively" in order to argue that Mueller's interviews with White House officials over the past year should now be null and void. Bannon also said "Ty Cobb should be fired immediately." Trump, however, tweeted that he has "full confidence in Ty Cobb." (Washington Post)
I have agreed with the historically cooperative, disciplined approach that we have engaged in with Robert Mueller (Unlike the Clintons!). I have full confidence in Ty Cobb, my Special Counsel, and have been fully advised throughout each phase of this process.
2/ A Trump interview with Robert Mueller is now unlikely to take place following Monday's FBI raid of Michael Cohen's home, office, and hotel room, which has "significantly complicated" negotiations for a presidential interview, according to a person familiar with the discussions. Trump's lawyers wanted a potential interview to last only a few hours, as well as force Mueller to release his report within three or four months. An interview was considered one of the last steps Mueller needed before closing the obstruction of justice portion of his Russia investigation. (NBC News)
3/ Trump asked James Comey to investigate "the golden showers thing" and "prove it was a lie" in January 2017 so he could "lift the cloud" because it upset Melania Trump. The infamous dossier, compiled by former British intelligence officer Christopher Steele, alleges that Trump watched sex workers urinate on themselves in the same Moscow suite that the Obamas had stayed in previously "as a way of soiling the bed." Comey said Trump was obsessed with the sex workers portion of the dossier, asking about it at least four times. (Washington Post)
4/ Trump's allies plan to discredit James Comey with digital advertising branding him "Lyin' Comey" in an effort to undermine the credibility of the former FBI director ahead of his book launch next week. Republican talking points attack Comey's credibility, conduct, and point out contradictions. (CNN)
Trump tweet-promoted Sean Hannity's segment last night, in which Hannity tried to connect the "obvious Deep State crime families trying to take down the president" to the Clinton "family," the Comey "family" and the Mueller "family." (Washington Post)
5/ The White House is preparing talking points designed to undermine Rod Rosenstein's credibility and cast the deputy attorney general as too conflicted to fairly oversee the Russia investigation. The White House is hoping that Trump's defenders will paint Rosenstein and Comey as close colleagues and argue that Rosenstein is approving an expanding investigation as "payback for the President firing one of his best friends." (CNN)
6/ Trump tweeted that an attack on Syria "could be very soon or not soon at all!" Trump, trying to clarify his tweet yesterday that U.S. missiles "will be coming," claimed that he "never said when an attack on Syria would take place." In response, Syria moved its military aircraft to the Russian base near Latakia yesterday. (New York Times / Washington Post)
Russia vows to shoot down any and all missiles fired at Syria. Get ready Russia, because they will be coming, nice and new and “smart!” You shouldn’t be partners with a Gas Killing Animal who kills his people and enjoys it!
Never said when an attack on Syria would take place. Could be very soon or not so soon at all! In any event, the United States, under my Administration, has done a great job of ridding the region of ISIS. Where is our “Thank you America?”
7/ During his Secretary of State confirmation hearing, CIA Director Pompeo told senators that he has been interviewed by Robert Mueller. He declined to answer questions about his testimony to Mueller — or conversations with Trump — saying that the investigation is ongoing. (The Hill / Axios)
Pompeo failed to disclose last year that he owned a business that imported equipment from a company owned by the Chinese government. Pompeo's new questionnaire submitted to the Senate Foreign Relations Committee for his Secretary of State nomination is not publicly available. (McClatchy DC)
8/ A former doorman was paid $30,000 in late 2015 to sign over the rights to a story about a rumor that Trump fathered a child with an employee in the 1980s at Trump World Tower, a skyscraper he owns near the United Nations. American Media Inc., the publisher of the National Enquirer, paid Dino Sajudin to give up exclusive rights to the rumor – and then never published an article about it – five months after Trump had launched his Presidential campaign. (The New Yorker / CNBC / Washington Post / CNN)
9/ The company that owns the National Enquirer also paid Karen McDougal $150,000 for a story it never published. The payout to McDougal, a former Playboy Playmate, came eight months after American Media Inc. paid $30,000 to Trump's former doorman for his story. American Media Inc. is facing a Federal Election Commission complaint claiming that the $150,000 payment represented an illegal campaign contribution. (Associated Press / New York Times)
10/ Stormy Daniels's attorney said Michael Cohen is threatening to plead the Fifth Amendment if an upcoming motion to stay a defamation suit from Daniels is not successful. "We've learned within the last two hours that Michael Cohen will be filing a motion, an emergency motion to stay, or temporarily stop our case," Michael Avenatti said. "And the grounds for that motion are going to be that it is his intention to plead the Fifth Amendment against self-incrimination if our case goes forward." (The Hill)
poll/ 56% of Americans believe that the National Enquirer paid for the exclusive rights to stories that may be damaging to Trump in order to keep them from being published. 39% said the allegation was "probably true," while 17% said it was "definitely true." (CNN)
poll/ 51% of Americans support a national health care plan, while 43% oppose it. (Washington Post)
poll/ Obama is more admired than Trump in every country except one: Russia. Obama ranked first in 19 of 35 countries, including the U.S. Trump, meanwhile, ranked 2nd in the U.S. and 11th in Russia. Obama ranked 12th. (YouGov)
Notables.
A Pennsylvania school district armed teachers with wooden, 16-inch baseball bats in the event of an active shooter situation. School Superintendent William Hall said the bats are a "last resort" for teachers who want to fight back. (NBC News)
Jared and Ivanka are heading to Lima, Peru with Pence for the Summit of the Americas. Trump originally planned to attend the summit but canceled to stay in Washington and monitor the situation in Syria. (Politico)
Federal judges indicated they have a problem with Mick Mulvaney's dual role as acting director of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau because he also heads the White House Office of Management and Budget. (Los Angeles Times)
Trump's federal judicial nominee refused to say whether she agreed with Brown v. Board of Education, which desegregated U.S. public schools. Wendy Vitter also maintained she could "put aside" her "pro-life" advocacy, and as a judge enforce the Supreme Court's Roe v. Wade decision on abortion rights. (HuffPost / NPR)
Trump wants to roll back billions in spending from the $1.3 trillion omnibus spending bill he signed into law last month. Republicans who helped craft the legislation are skeptical. (Politico)
Trump asked officials to look at rejoining the Trans-Pacific Partnership, the multination trade agreement he pulled the U.S. out of shortly after taking office. (Washington Post)
A fired EPA staffer gave congressional investigators a detailed list of what he describes as Scott Pruitt's wasteful spending and unethical behavior. Democrats in turn asked Pruitt to provide documents regarding allegations made by Kevin Chmielewski about his "unethical and potentially illegal" behavior. (BuzzFeed News / ABC News / Washington Post)
1/ Trump tweets that "smart" missiles "will be coming" toward Syria in response to a chemical attack, taunting Russia to "get ready." Russia's ambassador to Lebanon said any U.S. missiles fired at Syria would be shot down and the launch sites targeted. Trump also condemned Moscow's backing of Bashar al-Assad, saying: "You shouldn't be partners with a Gas Killing Animal who kills his people and enjoys it!" In a pair of subsequent tweets, Trump said relations between the U.S. and Russia are "worse now than it has ever been" and the "Fake and Corrupt Russia Investigation," Democrats, and everybody that worked for Obama are to blame. (New York Times / Washington Post)
Russia vows to shoot down any and all missiles fired at Syria. Get ready Russia, because they will be coming, nice and new and “smart!” You shouldn’t be partners with a Gas Killing Animal who kills his people and enjoys it!
Our relationship with Russia is worse now than it has ever been, and that includes the Cold War. There is no reason for this. Russia needs us to help with their economy, something that would be very easy to do, and we need all nations to work together. Stop the arms race?
Much of the bad blood with Russia is caused by the Fake & Corrupt Russia Investigation, headed up by the all Democrat loyalists, or people that worked for Obama. Mueller is most conflicted of all (except Rosenstein who signed FISA & Comey letter). No Collusion, so they go crazy!
Trump's tweets broke national security policy, known as operations security. The objective is to not publicly announce information that can be used to jeopardize a mission. The Department of Defense lists "social network sites, tweets, text messages, blogs, videos, photos, GPS mapping, newsletters" as a few of the ways in which operations security can be compromised. (CNBC)
2/ Paul Ryan will not seek re-election in November, ending what will be a three-year run as the leader of House Republicans. Ryan will serve until the end of this Congress in January, which will mark 20 years in Congress for him. He said that he won't run for public office again. (Axios / Politico / New York Times)
3/ Trump is considering firing Rod Rosenstein following the FBI raid on Michael Cohen's office, in order to limit Robert Mueller's investigation through a new deputy attorney general. Rosenstein has been in charge of the Mueller probe since Jeff Sessions recused himself last year from all investigations involving the 2016 election. Trump is also weighing whether to fire Jeff Sessions and install a new attorney general. (CNN)
4/ Trump tried to fire Robert Mueller in December after incomplete news reports surfaced that subpoenas coming from Mueller's probe were targeting his business dealings with Deutsche Bank. To Trump, the subpoenas suggested that the investigation had expanded beyond his "red line." Trump backed down after his lawyers and advisers assured him that the reports were not accurate. (New York Times)
5/ Robert Mueller asked to subpoena 35 witnesses for Paul Manafort's trial, which is set to begin on July 10th. (Bloomberg)
6/ The FBI agents who searched Michael Cohen's office wanted all records related to the "Access Hollywood" tape, where Trump bragged about being able to sexually assault women, including that he would "grab them by the pussy" whenever he wanted and that he would sometimes "just start kissing them." Federal prosecutors are investigating Cohen for possible bank fraud, but are also looking at whether these efforts amounted to improper campaign donations to Trump. (New York Times)
Michael Cohen said the FBI was "extremely professional, courteous and respectful" during the raids on his home, office, and hotel. "I am unhappy to have my personal residence and office raided," Cohen said. "But I will tell you that members of the FBI that conducted the search and seizure were all extremely professional, courteous and respectful. And I thanked them at the conclusion." (CNN)
7/ A bipartisan Senate bill designed to protect Robert Mueller's job is on track for an an April 19 vote in the Judiciary Committee. If the bill passes out of committee, the legislation would allow the special counsel to be fired only "for good cause" by a senior Justice Department official, with a reason given in writing, and it would provide recourse if Mueller is fired without good cause. The bill will also require that materials be saved from the pending investigation. Mitch McConnell said that he is not convinced that a Mueller protection bill merits floor time in the chamber. "I haven't seen a clear indication yet that we need to pass something to keep him from being removed," he said. (Reuters / The Hill / Politico)
8/ Rebekah Mercer asked Facebook for an independent investigation into Cambridge Analytica, data collection, and the 2016 election in an attempt to get the data platform's ban lifted. The meeting came four days after Facebook suspended Cambridge Analytica, and a day after Cambridge agreed to let Facebook audit the firm's servers. Facebook initially considered the independent investigation, but then declined. Robert Mercer invested $15 million in Cambridge Analytica, where his daughter Rebekah is a board member. The Mercer family were major donors to Trump's presidential campaign. (BuzzFeed News / New York Times)
Cambridge Analytica's acting CEO is stepping down. Julian Wheatland, the chairman of Cambridge Analytica's British affiliate, will take over. (Wall Street Journal / Politico)
9/ California's governor agreed to deploy 400 National Guard troops at Trump's request, but they won't used for "enforcing federal immigration laws." Gov. Jerry Brown said he would accept federal funding to add California National Guard troops to a program to "combat transnational crime," which targets gangs, human traffickers and firearm and drug smugglers. (San Jose Mercury News / KCRA)
poll/ 48% of voters support Trump's order to send National Guard troops to the U.S.-Mexico border, while 42% oppose and 9% have no opinion. (Politico)
Notables.
Trump ordered the Department of Justice to hire a former White House official who was fired for showing Devin Nunes classified documents. Ezra Cohen-Watnick will advise Jeff Sessions on national security matters. (Bloomberg)
The US deputy national security adviser for strategy resigned. Nadia Schadlow is the third senior national security official to resign or be pushed out in the wake of national security adviser John Bolton's arrival to the White House. She will leave her position at the end of the month. (CNN)
The NRA said it accepted contributions from about 23 Russians, or Americans living in Russia, since 2015. (NPR)
A federal judge dismissed a lawsuit claiming that Trump's financial disclosures are insufficient because they blur the lines between his personal debts and those owed by the businesses he owns. The judge said that even if the forms are insufficient, there's nothing she can do about it because ethics law has no provision allowing the public to enforce it. (Politico)
The Trump administration is considering a plan to allow states to require some food stamp recipients to undergo drug testing. Roughly 5% of participants in the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program could be affected. (Associated Press)
James Comey sat down for a five-hour interview with George Stephanopoulos. In the interivew, Comey compared Trump to a mob boss. Comey's book, "A Higher Loyalty," comes out next Tuesday. (Politico / Axios)
Former House Speaker John Boehner will join the board of directors of a marijuana holdings corporation, nine years after he said he was "unalterably opposed" to legalization. (Bloomberg)
1/ Michael Cohen is under federal investigation for possible bank fraud, wire fraud, and violations of campaign finance law. Two potential crimes – bank and wire fraud – suggest prosecutors believe Cohen may have misled bankers about his use of certain funds or improperly used banks to transfer funds. Among the documents taken in Monday's FBI raids on Cohen's office, home and hotel room were those related to a 2016 payment Cohen made to Stormy Daniels. (Washington Post)
Lou Dobbs urged Trump to fire Robert Mueller in response to the raid of Michael Cohen's offices. "This is now a man that has to be brought under control, it would seem to me," Dobbs said. "Frankly, I can't imagine ― because each of us has to come to terms with our own heart and conscience ― I would fire the SOB in three seconds if it were me." (HuffPost)
"Why don't I just fire Mueller? Well, I think it's a disgrace what's going on. We'll see what happens," Trump said. "But I think it's really a sad situation, when you look at what happened. And many people have said, you should fire him." (CNN / Politico)
Sen. Chuck Grassley, the top Republican on the Senate Judiciary Committee, said "it would be suicide for the President to fire" Mueller. "I think the less the President says about this whole thing, the better off he will be. And I think Mueller is a person of stature and respected and I respect him. Just let the thing go forward." (CNN)
Trump "certainly believes" he has the power to fire Robert Mueller, Sarah Huckabee Sanders said. The White House's stance on firing Mueller has been rejected by many legal experts who say Trump does not have the power to fire the special counsel directly. Sanders later added that "we've been advised that the president certainly has the power to make that decision." (CNBC / The Hill)
The White House is "not sure" if Cohen still represents Trump. (The Guardian)
2/ Rod Rosenstein signed off on the FBI's decision to raid Cohen's office. Agents were looking, in part, for records about payments Cohen made to Stormy Daniels and Karen McDougal, as well as information related to the publisher of The National Enquirer's role in silencing one of the women. Rosenstein, a Republican prosecutor, was picked by Trump to serve as deputy attorney general. The interest in both Daniels and McDougal indicates that federal investigators are trying to determine whether any crimes were committed in the course of buying their silence. (New York Times / Washington Post)
3/ Federal prosecutors asked the Trump Organization for records related to the $130,000 payment to Stormy Daniels by Michael Cohen. The request came in connection with FBI raids on Cohen's office, hotel room, and home. (Wall Street Journal)
4/ Stormy Daniels is cooperating with federal authorities investigating the $130,000 hush-money payment Trump's lawyer Michael Cohen paid her just before the 2016 election. Daniels has said the money was paid in exchange for her keeping quiet about an affair with Trump. FBI agents raided and seized evidence related to Daniels from Cohen's office and residence on Monday. (CNBC)
5/ In a pair of morning tweets, Trump declared that the raids are "A TOTAL WITCH HUNT!" and that "attorney–client privilege is dead!" Attorney-client privilege is intended to encourage open communications between lawyers and their clients, so that lawyers can provide legal advice. The privilege is not absolute and there are exceptions for communications made to further a crime. The FBI would have to demonstrate probable cause to a magistrate judge that evidence of a crime would be found in Cohen's offices, or in a hotel where he was living. "No question, a search warrant for a lawyer is an extraordinary act," Frank Montoya, a former senior FBI official, said. "Everyone involved in this process, including the judge who signed the warrant, understood the scrutiny that would follow its execution. As such, everyone in the process would have done their damnedest to make the warrant as bulletproof as possible." (Reuters / NBC News)
6/ Trump is "less inclined" to sit down for an interview with Robert Mueller after the raid on Michael Cohen's office. One source said Trump is "understandably less trusting" of Mueller and his team. (ABC News)
7/ The U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York is recused from the Michael Cohen investigation. Geoffrey Berman is a Trump appointee with ties to Rudy Giuliani, who donated money to the 2016 Trump campaign. The recusal was approved by Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein. (ABC News)
Former US Attorney Preet Bharara: The FBI raids were done by officials who were all "handpicked" by Trump. "If the reporting is true, particularly the part about this being approved by the Southern District of New York Attorney's Office which I used to lead, are all people who are Republican, and all people who have basically been handpicked by Donald Trump." (CNN)
8/ Robert Mueller is investigating a $150,000 donation to the Trump Organization in 2015 from Ukrainian billionaire Victor Pinchuk. The donation by the Ukrainian steel magnate was made in return for a 20-minute video appearance by Trump at a conference in Kiev, and is being investigated as part of Mueller's efforts to examine foreign money Trump and his associates received prior to the election. (New York Times)
9/ Mueller is using the Paul Manafort investigation to probe Trump's 2016 presidential campaign, search warrant documents reveal. Mueller is seeking information from Manafort about foreign political donations and the meeting between top Trump campaign officials and Russian operatives in Trump Tower, in addition to Manafort's interactions with a Russian real estate magnate and possible campaign finance violations. (CNN / Associated Press)
poll/ 25% of 18- to 29-year-olds approve of Trump's job performance. 37% of Americans under 30 who are eligible to vote said they will "definitely be voting" in the midterms, compared to 23% who said the same thing in 2014. And 69% said they want to see Democrats in control, compared with 28 percent who favor Republican control. (Harvard University's Institute of Politics)
poll/ 69% of voters, including 55% of Republicans, oppose Trump firing Mueller. 13% of voters said they support Trump firing Mueller. (Quinnipiac)
Notables.
Trump's homeland security adviser, Tom Bossert, resigned at the request of new National Security Adviser John Bolton. Bossert is the second national security official to leave the White House since Bolton began the job on Monday. Michael Anton, a spokesman for the National Security Council, announced his resignation on Sunday. (Bloomberg / CNBC)
Mitch McConnell opened the door to a vote on cutting federal spending and a constitutional amendment requiring a balanced budget. Republicans would then need just 50 votes to rescind billions in spending under Senate rules. (Politico)
Trump won't attend the Summit of the Americas in Lima, Peru, this week as planned. He will, instead, stay in the U.S. and "oversee the American response to Syria." Pence will take Trump's place at the meetings. (Politico / New York Times)
Mike Pompeo asked Hillary Clinton for guidance on how to prepare for the secretary of state confirmation process. Pompeo once called Clinton's response to the deadly 2012 attacks in Benghazi, Libya, "morally reprehensible." (Politico)
The chairman of Sinclair Broadcast Group met with Trump at the White House to pitch a new broadcasting standard the company is heavily invested in, which would allow authorities to broadcast directly to any American's phone. During the 2016 campaign, David Smith told Trump: "We are here to deliver your message." (The Guardian)
The Russian military has been jamming the GPS systems of U.S. military drones operating in Syria. The Defense Department did not say whether the jamming is causing drones to crash. (NBC News)
The EPA's chief of staff, Ryan Jackson, claimed responsibility for the pay raises given to two of Scott Pruitt's top aides. Jackson also said that the pay raises had been reversed. "Administrator Pruitt had zero knowledge of the amount of the raises, nor the process by which they transpired," Jackson wrote in an email statement. (Bloomberg)
1/ The FBI raided Michael Cohen's office, home, and Manhattan hotel room seizing records related to Stormy Daniels and several other topics. Federal prosecutors in Manhattan obtained the search warrants after receiving a referral from Robert Mueller. The search warrants were executed by the office of the U.S. Attorney for Southern District of New York and are "in part" related to Mueller's investigation. Trump characterized the FBI raid on his longtime personal attorney as a "disgraceful situation" that has reached a "new level of unfairness" and "an attack on our country in a true sense." (New York Times / Politico / Los Angeles Times / Wall Street Journal)
2/ Trump vowed to make "major decisions" in the next 24 to 48 hours about how to respond to a suspected chemical attack in Syria that killed dozens of people. Trump said there will be a "big price to pay" for the "atrocious," "horrible," and "barbaric act." Trump directly criticized Putin, Russia, and Iran for backing "Animal Assad" in a tweet. Later, Trump said "Everybody's going to pay a price. [Putin] will, everybody will." (New York Times / Washington Post / Reuters)
Many dead, including women and children, in mindless CHEMICAL attack in Syria. Area of atrocity is in lockdown and encircled by Syrian Army, making it completely inaccessible to outside world. President Putin, Russia and Iran are responsible for backing Animal Assad. Big price...
3/ John Kelly threatened to quit on March 28 after he blew up at Trump during an Oval Office meeting – the same day Trump fired Veterans Affairs Secretary David Shulkin. "I'm out of here, guys," Kelly said, and packed up some personal belongings. DHS Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen and Defense Secretary Jim Mattis attempted to calm Kelly down. (Axios / Washington Post)
"To hell with it": Trump increasingly weary of staff advice. (Associated Press)
4/ The federal government's top ethics officer asked the EPA to review Scott Pruitt's actions and take "appropriate actions to address any violations." In a letter from David Apol, the acting director and general counsel of the Office of Government Ethics, to Kevin Minoli, the EPA's top ethics official, Apol summarizes reports of Pruitt's conduct, including a rental agreement with a lobbyist whose husband's firm lobbies the EPA as well as EPA spending on Pruitt's travel and security. (New York Times / BuzzFeed News / CNN)
5/ An internal EPA email contradicts Scott Pruitt's account that he "didn't know" about a controversial pay raise for an aide last month. In mid-March, the staffer, Sarah Greenwalt, emailed HR to confirm that her pay raise was being processed. According to an administration official who saw the email chain: Greenwalt "definitively stated that Pruitt approves and was supportive of her getting a raise." (The Atlantic)
6/ The U.S. budget deficit will surpass $1 trillion by 2020 – two years sooner than previously estimated. The Congressional Budget Office forecasts 2% less revenue and 1% more spending from 2018 to 2027. The Trump administration promised that tax cuts will lead to faster economic growth, which would offset deficit expansion. (Bloomberg / New York Times)
7/ White House economic advisor Larry Kudlow blamed threats of a trade war on China's "decades of misdeeds," saying "This president's got some backbone, others didn't and he's raising the issue in full public view, setting up a process that may include tariffs." (CNBC)
8/ Mark Zuckerberg: Facebook should have done more to prevent third-party apps from collecting users' data without their permission and for being "too slow to spot and respond to Russian interference" during the U.S. election. In written testimony, Zuckerberg said that "It's clear now that we didn't do enough to prevent these tools from being used for harm as well" and that Facebook "didn't take a broad enough view of our responsibility, and that was a big mistake." Zuckerberg is scheduled to testify before the Senate Commerce and Judiciary committees on Tuesday, and the House Energy and Commerce Committee on Wednesday. The social network said it would form an independent commission of academic researchers to study social media's impact on elections. (Reuters / Washington Post / New York Times)
poll/ Nationwide, whites over the age of 60 with college degrees now favor Democrats over Republicans for Congress by a 2-point margin. The shift represents a 12-point swing from 2016. (Reuters)
Notables.
Trump's top national security spokesman will leave the White House. Michael Anton was one of the earliest and most forceful defenders of Trump's "America First" foreign policy. Anton will join Hillsdale College as a writer and lecturer. (Politico)
Trump expects to meet with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un in May or June, and expressed hope they'd reach a deal on "de-nuking" the Korean peninsula. (Bloomberg)
Stormy Daniels' legal team plans to release a composite sketch of the man who Daniels says threatened her in 2011. "We're going to be releasing that tomorrow," said Daniels' lawyer Michael Avenatti, "along with a significant reward, asking that the public come forward, asking to identify this individual." (CNN)
Paul Manafort's lawyers filed a motion to suppress evidence found in an Alexandria, Va. storage unit. Manafort's defense team contends that the initial entry was illegal because the employee did not not have authority to let the FBI into the locker. (Politico)
Manafort was denied bail, again, by a judge handling one of his criminal cases. The court, however, gave the former Trump campaign chairman a list of assets that could secure his release from house arrest. (Politico)
One man died after a fire broke out at Trump Tower. One resident said the phones inside the building didn't work and that "Michael Cohen, who is Trump's lawyer was texting me and said 'are you in the building? I said 'yes.' He said 'you better get out ASAP!'" In the 1990s, Trump argued against retrofitting existing buildings with fire sprinklers. (ABC 7 / Washington Post)
The Trump Organization asked the Panamanian president to intervene in a dispute over the control of a luxury hotel. Trump's business invoked a treaty between the two countries. (Associated Press)
Senator Tammy Duckworth became the first sitting senator to have a baby while in office after giving birth to her daughter, Maile Pearl Bowlsbey. (Chicago Sun-Times)
1/ Trump is informally preparing for a potential interview with Robert Mueller. The preparation efforts were described as "in its infancy" and include going over potential topics with Trump that Mueller would likely ask in an interview. Trump has not formally agreed to sit for an interview with Mueller. (CNN)
2/ Robert Mueller has evidence that questions Erik Prince's congressional testimony about a chance meeting last year in the Seychelles with Kirill Dmitriev, the manager of a state-run Russian investment fund close to Putin. George Nader, a cooperating witness with limited immunity, told investigators that he facilitated and personally attended a meeting between Prince and Dmitriev days before Trump was inaugurated. The goal of the meeting was to discuss foreign policy and to establish a line of communication between the Russian government and the incoming Trump administration. Prince told the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence in November that "I didn't fly there to meet any Russian guy," and the meeting with Dmitriev was unexpected. Prince founded the private military contractor Blackwater USA and is the brother of Betsy DeVos, who serves as Trump's secretary of education. As of late March, Mueller's team has not asked Prince to appear before the grand jury. (ABC News)
3/ Mueller's investigators questioned a Trump Organization associate about Michael Cohen's involvement in business deals in Georgia, Kazakhstan, and Russia. The special counsel's team showed up unannounced at the home of the business associate this week with a subpoena seeking information about the efforts by Trump's personal attorney and a former Trump Organization employee to expand the Trump brand abroad. (McClatchy DC)
Last year, Mueller seized three bank accounts a day before Paul Manafort was indicted. The previously unknown move was revealed in a list of warrants prosecutors submitted to a federal court in Washington after Manafort's defense team complained that the government was withholding information about how the warrants were obtained. The special counsel also obtained a search warrant for information on five phone numbers last month. (Politico)
4/ A Trump foreign policy adviser asked the FBI, State Department and the Intelligence Community Inspector General to review materials from the dark web that he thought were Hillary Clinton's deleted emails during the summer of 2016. Joseph Schmitz also took a memo outlining his claims to the House Intelligence Committee. The FBI interviewed him as a part of its ongoing criminal investigation into Clinton's emails. Officials at the State Department and the Inspector General also interviewed Schmitz, but they declined to review or accept the information. The material was never verified. (CNN)
5/ The Trump administration imposed new sanctions on 17 Russian government officials, a state-owned weapons company, and seven oligarchs and 12 companies affiliated with them. "The Russian government operates for the disproportionate benefit of oligarchs and government elites," Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said. "Russian oligarchs and elites who profit from this corrupt system will no longer be insulated from the consequences of their government's destabilizing activities." The sanctions were in response to the "totality of the Russian government's ongoing and increasingly malign activities in the world," including interfering in the 2016 election and aggressions in Crimea, Ukraine, and Syria. (New York Times / Politico / Washington Post / NBC News)
6/ Trump proposed an additional $100 billion in tariffs on Chinese products beyond the $50 billion in tariffs the White House announced earlier this week. China responded by announcing $50 billion in tariffs on American goods. Trump said the move was a direct response to "unfair retaliation" by China. (CNBC / New York Times / NBC News)
7/ Trump's top economic adviser learned about the president's latest tariffs last night. The White House announced the move at 6:30 p.m. Eastern Daylight Time. National Economic Council Director Larry Kudlow said he found out about Trump's decision to impose an additional $100 billion in tariffs "last evening." (Politico)
8/ John Kelly urged Trump to remove Scott Pruitt last week following a series of negative reports about his spending habits and management style. Trump, however, is not ready to fire the EPA chief, who he sees him as an ally in his effort to roll back environmental protections. Trump tweeted that Pruitt is doing "a great job," and that he is "TOTALLY under siege." White House aides believe that Pruitt's position is untenable. (Wall Street Journal / New York Times)
Do you believe that the Fake News Media is pushing hard on a story that I am going to replace A.G. Jeff Sessions with EPA Chief Scott Pruitt, who is doing a great job but is TOTALLY under siege? Do people really believe this stuff? So much of the media is dishonest and corrupt!
The lobbyist couple that Pruitt rented the Capitol Hill condominium from changed the locks in order to push him out. Pruitt reportedly didn't leave when his lease end, causing Vicki and Steve Hart to kick him out. (Politico)
9/ 64 House Democrats called on Trump to fire Pruitt or force him to resign. "Scott Pruitt's unethical behavior, wasteful use of taxpayer money, and his efforts to undermine the EPA's core mission to protect our environment and public health demand an appropriate response: his resignation or his firing," they wrote. (The Hill / Politico / Axios)
poll/ 20% of Americans attended a political protest, rally or speech since 2016. Among rallygoers, 44% are 50 or older, and 36% earn more than $100,000 a year. (Washington Post)
poll/ 41% of voters approve of Trump's job performance – a record low in the Morning Consult poll. 54% disapprove of Trump's job performance. (Morning Consult)
Notables.
The economy added 103,000 jobs in March while the unemployment rate stayed at 4.1%. The average hourly pay grew 2.7% from March 2017. March's figures were below analysts' expectations. (Washington Post / NBC News)
Trump will again skip the White House Correspondents' Dinner this year. He'll send Sarah Huckabee Sanders instead. (Politico)
Corey Lewandowski to House Intelligence Committee Democrats: I'm not answering your "f—ing" questions. Lewandowski, Trump's former campaign manager, was the final witness in the yearlong House investigation, which resulted in two separate partisan reports. (CNN)
Blake Farenthold abruptly resigned from the House of Representatives today following news that he used $84,000 in taxpayer funds to settle a sexual harassment suit. He had promised to repay those funds but apparently has not done so. (Dallas Morning News / Texas Tribune / CNN)
A group of "concerned" evangelical leaders plan to meet with Trump amid sex-scandal allegations. "We're very concerned" about the payout to Stormy Daniels to cover up a sexual encounter, said a leader of a faith-based ministry. (NPR)
1/ Trump denied knowing about the $130,000 payment his lawyer made to Stormy Daniels before the 2016 election to buy her silence. Trump said he didn't know where Michael Cohen got the money from and he declined to say if he ever set up a fund for Cohen to cover expenses like that. "You'll have to ask Michael Cohen. Michael is my attorney. You'll have to ask Michael," Trump said. Daniels' attorney, Michael Avenatti, tweeted: "We very much look forward to testing the truthfulness of Mr. Trump's feigned lack of knowledge concerning the $130k payment as stated on Air Force One. As history teaches us, it is one thing to deceive the press and quite another to do so under oath." (USA Today / Bloomberg / New York Times / Washington Post)
We very much look forward to testing the truthfulness of Mr. Trump's feigned lack of knowledge concerning the $130k payment as stated on Air Force One. As history teaches us, it is one thing to deceive the press and quite another to do so under oath. #searchforthetruth#basta
2/ Trump considered replacing Jeff Sessions with Scott Pruitt as recently as this week. "He was 100% still trying to protect Pruitt because Pruitt is his fill-in for Sessions," a person familiar with Trump's thinking said. Trump remains frustrated that Sessions recused himself from the Russia investigation more than a year ago. (CNN)
3/ The EPA's top ethics official said he lacked key facts when he concluded that Scott Pruitt's lease with a lobbyist last year didn't violate federal gift rules. Kevin Minoli said Pruitt's lease was predicated on the use of a single room, but Pruitt's daughter stayed in the apartment's second bedroom while she was a White House intern. (Washington Post / New York Times)
4/ At least five EPA officials were reassigned, demoted, or requested new jobs after raising concerns about Scott Pruitt's spending and management of the agency. Officials were concerned about Pruitt's unusually large spending on office furniture, first-class travel, as well as requests for a bulletproof vehicle and a 20-person security detail. (New York Times)
Samantha Dravis, a top Pruitt aide, resigned to work in the private sector. Separately, Pruitt's chief of staff, Ryan Jackson, has grown frustrated enough with his boss that he has considered resigning. (CNN / Politico / New York Times)
5/ John Kelly to Scott Pruitt: The negative stories need to stop. Kelly called Pruitt a day after Trump told the EPA administrator that "we've got your back" to ask if there is anything else that "hasn't come out" yet. Kelly impressed upon Pruitt that, even though he has the full public confidence of Trump for now, the flow of stories need to stop. (The Daily Beast)
6/ A White House spokesman: "I can't speak to the future of Scott Pruitt." The comment by deputy press secretary Hogan Gidley came during a Fox News interview following revelations about Pruitt's travel expenses and ties to lobbyists, which has thrown his job security into question. Sarah Huckabee Sanders told reporters that "the president's not" OK with reports the agency chief rented a condo from a lobbyist for $50 a night. (Politico)
7/ A cooperating witness in Robert Mueller's investigation may have information linking the United Arab Emirates to Russia. George Nader has received at least partial immunity for his cooperation. Nader's international connections helped him arrange several meetings that have drawn the attention of the special counsel, including a meeting in the Seychelles between Kirill Dmitriev, the manager of a state-run Russian investment fund, and a Trump adviser days before Trump took office. (New York Times)
Paul Manafort authorized a secret media operation on behalf of Ukraine's former president featuring "black ops" "placed" articles in the Wall Street Journal and US websites, as well as briefing writers at Breitbart to attack HillaryClinton when she was US secretary of state. (The Guardian)
8/ Robert Mercer spent $2 million to back a far-right organization that purchased anti-Muslim ads on Facebook and Google targeted at voters in swing states in 2016 who were most likely to be receptive to them. Secure America Now, a 501(c)(4) social welfare organization, promoted travel ads meant to stoke fears of Muslims. (OpenSecrets)
The Kremlin accused Facebook of censorship for taking down more than 200 pages and accounts that were run by the Russia-based Internet Research Agency — the "troll factory" that is under indictment for interfering in the 2016 U.S. election. (NPR)
9/ Trump: Women are being "raped at levels that nobody's ever seen before" and "caravans" of immigrants are headed for the U.S.-Mexico border, bringing drugs and crime with them. Trump didn't provide evidence to support his claims. The comment came during a West Virginia event where Trump was supposed to speak about tax reform. (NBC News / Axios)
"You Hate America!": How the "Caravan" Story Exploded on the Right. (New York Times)
Border Patrol Agents are not allowed to properly do their job at the Border because of ridiculous liberal (Democrat) laws like Catch & Release. Getting more dangerous. “Caravans” coming. Republicans must go to Nuclear Option to pass tough laws NOW. NO MORE DACA DEAL!
Mexico is doing very little, if not NOTHING, at stopping people from flowing into Mexico through their Southern Border, and then into the U.S. They laugh at our dumb immigration laws. They must stop the big drug and people flows, or I will stop their cash cow, NAFTA. NEED WALL!
The big Caravan of People from Honduras, now coming across Mexico and heading to our “Weak Laws” Border, had better be stopped before it gets there. Cash cow NAFTA is in play, as is foreign aid to Honduras and the countries that allow this to happen. Congress MUST ACT NOW!
10/ Trump dropped his "boring" prepared remarks about the Republican tax bill. Instead, he repeated his claim that "millions" of people are voting illegally. "In many places like California, the same person votes many times," Trump said. "You’ve probably heard of that. They always like to say, 'Oh, that's like a conspiracy theory.' Not a conspiracy theory, folks. Millions and millions of people. And it's very hard, because the state guards their records. They don't want to see it." (Politico / The Guardian)
Trump holds up his opening remarks for his WV roundtable before tossing them.
11/ The National Guard troops deployed to the U.S.-Mexico border will not have physical contact with immigrants, and they will not be responsible for processing them at the border. Trump wants to send between 2,000 and 4,000 National Guard members to the US-Mexico border until a "large portion of the wall is built." (NBC News / Associated Press)
poll/ 41% of Americans approve of Trump's immigration policies, while 38% "strongly disapproved." (Reuters)
poll/ Democrat Phil Bredesen has a 10-point lead over Republican Marsha Blackburn in the race to replace retiring Senator Bob Corker. 45% of respondents would vote for Bredesen if the race were held today, compared to 35% for Blackburn. (The Hill)
Notables.
The White House is considering a proposal to strip protections from hundreds of threatened species to give oil and agriculture companies more freedom to use land that was previously off-limits due to the presence of certain protected species. The proposal is called "Removal of Blanket Section 4(d) Rule," which is used by the Fish and Wildlife Service to protect animals and plants that are at risk of becoming endangered. (The Hill)
A Las Vegas GOP political adviser has been accused of sexual enslavement and battery by his ex-fiancee. Benjamin Sparks' ex-fiancee turned over copies of emails, texts, and a signed contract to police, which lay out her duties as Sparks' "slave in training." (Las Vegas Review-Journal)
John Bolton met with White House attorneys about possible conflicts of interest shortly before Trump nominated him for national security advisor. The details are unclear, but experts believe the sticking points may be related to Bolton's possible future role with PACs and Super PACs. (CNBC)
Rex Tillerson spent roughly $12 million on consultants to "redesign" the State Department. As many as 90 consultants worked on the project, with some charging more than $300 an hour. (Politico)
A record-setting 309 women are running for seats in the U.S. House of Representatives – the majority of them Democrats. That previous record of 298 was set in 2012. (Los Angeles Times)
1/ Robert Mueller: Trump is not currently a criminal target in the Russia probe, but he remains under investigation. The special counsel also told Trump's lawyers during negotiations in early March regarding a possible Trump interview that he is preparing a report about Trump's actions and potential obstruction of justice. Mueller is required to report his conclusions confidentially to Deputy Attorney General Rod J. Rosenstein, who has the authority to decide whether to release the information publicly. Mueller's investigators plan to report on their findings in stages, starting with the obstruction issue. Trump has privately expressed relief at his legal status and has repeatedly told allies that he is not a target of the probe and believes an interview will help him put the matter behind him. (Washington Post)
Analysis: Mueller told Trump he's not a criminal target in the Russia probe. That may not mean what you think. (Washington Post)
Analysis: Mueller's assurances that Trump is not a "target" don’t mean much. (Politico)
2/ Mueller's team has been questioning Russian oligarchs who travel to the US. Investigators want to know if wealthy Russians illegally funneled money directly or indirectly into Trump's presidential campaign and inauguration. Foreign nationals are prohibited under campaign finance laws from donating to US political campaigns. Mueller's team has stopped at least three Russian oligarchs for questioning in recent weeks. (CNN)
3/ H. R. McMaster denounced Russia and said "we have failed to impose sufficient costs" in his last public remarks as Trump's national security adviser. "Russia has used old and new forms of aggression to undermine our open societies and the foundations of international peace and stability," McMaster said. Hours earlier, Trump claimed that "nobody has been tougher on Russia than I have." (Washington Post)
4/ Trump is expected this week to impose additional sanctions against Russia, which are designed to target oligarchs with ties to Putin. The United States is expected to target individuals on a list of influential Russian political and business leaders that the Treasury Department released in January. (Washington Post)
5/ Roger Stone predicted "devastating" leaks about the Clinton Foundation the same day he sent an email saying he dined with WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange. Stone's comments came during an appearance on InfoWars on August 4, 2016. Stone sent an email to Sam Nunberg on August 4, 2016, about a dinner with Assange the night before. He also mentioned in the email that he spoke with then-Republican nominee Donald Trump on August 3. (CNN)
6/ The White House said the U.S. will remain in Syria despite Trump's instructions to military leaders to withdraw all 2,000 troops. No date has been set. Yesterday, Trump told reporters that "I want to get out — I want to bring our troops back home." Meanwhile, Sarah Huckabee Sanders said that "the United States and our partners remain committed to eliminating the small ISIS presence in Syria that our forces have not already eradicated." (New York Times / Washington Post)
7/ Trump will deploy the National Guard to protect the southern U.S. border. Trump signed a proclamation directing the Department of Defense and the Department of Homeland Security to work with governors to send troops to the southwest border to assist the Border Patrol in combating illegal immigration. "It's time to act," Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen said. "Unfortunately – time and again – Congress has failed to act. Worse still, some members of Congress have continually opposed efforts to secure the border." (Politico / CBS News / Washington Post / New York Times)
8/ China proposed tariffs on $50 billion worth of American goods after the Trump administration proposed similar tariffs on Chinese goods. Trump tweeted Wednesday morning that the U.S. was "not in a trade war with China" and "that war was lost many years ago by the foolish, or incompetent, people who represented the U.S." Stocks fell early in the day after talks of a trade war escalated. The Dow erased a 510-point loss for a gain of 230. (New York Times / Reuters / CNN Money)
We are not in a trade war with China, that war was lost many years ago by the foolish, or incompetent, people who represented the U.S. Now we have a Trade Deficit of $500 Billion a year, with Intellectual Property Theft of another $300 Billion. We cannot let this continue!
The White House said there could be some "short-term pain" if there's a trade war with China. Sarah Huckabee Sanders said it would be worth it because "we're certainly going to have long-term success." (Politico)
A U.S.-China trade war will cost 190,000 American jobs, according to the chief economist at Moody's Analytics. (Axios)
Notables.
A Defense Department appointee resigned after being outed for posting birther conspiracies and other controversial things about Obama on social media. Todd Johnson is a former Trump campaign state director in New Mexico and joined the Defense Department in 2017. His job was to provide logistical support for the secretary's events and appearances. (CNN)
Trump and congressional Republicans want to cut billions of dollars from the bipartisan funding deal they passed last month. They are being pressured by conservatives who don't like the deal. (Politico)
Planned Parenthood President Cecile Richards said Ivanka Trump and Jared Kushner tried to bribe her with an increase in federal funding for Planned Parenthood in exchange for agreeing to stop providing abortion services. The bulk of federal money Planned Parenthood receives goes toward preventive health care, birth control, pregnancy tests and other women's health services. Federal law prohibits taxpayer dollars from funding abortions. (CNN)
At least 18 email domains managed by the Executive Office of the President are not in compliance with a Department of Homeland Security protocol. Of the 26 domains tested, only one had fully implemented the security protocol, which means someone could theoretically send misinformation from a presidential aide's account. (Axios)
Seventeen states, Washington, D.C., and six cities are suing the Trump administration to stop it from asking people if they are citizens on the 2020 census. A citizenship question has not appeared on the decennial census form since 1950. (Reuters)
Mark Zuckerberg: Most Facebook users should "assume" that their public profile has been scraped. "It is reasonable to expect," Zuckerberg said, that "someone has accessed your information in this way." (CNBC)
Cambridge Analytica improperly gained access to the data of as many as 87 million Facebook users – roughly equivalent to a quarter of the population of the United States. "That was a huge mistake," Zuckerberg said. (New York Times)
1/ Rod Rosenstein authorized Robert Mueller to investigate Paul Manafort for allegedly "colluding with Russian government officials" in a classified August 2017 memo. Mueller was also given authority to probe Manafort's work for the Ukrainian government. The memo was disclosed in a court filing as Mueller's prosecutors seek to counter arguments by Manafort's lawyers that his indictment should be thrown out. (CNN / Wall Street Journal)
2/ Alex van der Zwaan is the first person sentenced in Robert Mueller's investigation. The Dutch attorney, who admitted to lying to federal agents about his work in Ukraine with Paul Manafort and Rick Gates, was sent to prison for 30 days and will pay a $20,000 fine. (Politico / Bloomberg / ABC News)
3/ Mueller's investigation is asking about a private consulting firm working with the United Arab Emirates. Mueller's team is asking about Wikistrat's business relationship with George Nader, a Lebanese-American who serves as a top adviser to U.A.E. Crown Prince Mohammed bin Zayed and was also close to the Trump administration last year. Wikistrat was contracted by the U.A.E. beginning in 2015 to conduct war game scenarios on Islamist political movements in Yemen. (Wall Street Journal)
4/ The EPA will revoke an Obama-era standard requiring cars to average more than 50 mpg by 2025. "The Obama Administration's determination was wrong," Scott Pruitt said, adding that the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration will establish a new standard that "allows auto manufacturers to make cars that people both want and can afford." The EPA will also "reexamine" a waiver that allows California to set stricter standards than those mandated by the federal government. (New York Times / ABC News / Washington Post / Los Angeles Times)
5/ Scott Pruitt bypassed the White House in order to give substantial pay raises to two of his closest aides. After the Presidential Personnel Office rejected Pruitt's raise request, the EPA administrator reappointed the aides using an obscure provision in the Safe Drinking Water Act. The move gave Pruitt total control over their contracts to grant the raises on his own. (The Atlantic)
6/ The EPA approved a pipeline-expansion project last year while Scott Pruitt was renting a $50-a-night condo linked to the company's lobbying firm. The expansion of the Alberta Clipper pipeline, an Enbridge Inc. project, would allow for hundreds of thousands more barrels of oil a day to flow through this pipeline to the U.S. from Canada's tar sands. At the time, Pruitt was living in the condo owned in part by Vicki Hart, the wife of J. Steven Hart, the chairman of Enbridge. (New York Times)
7/ The DC energy lobbyist and his wife helped fund Pruitt's campaigns for Oklahoma attorney general starting in 2010. J. Steven Hart, as well as two principals at his firm, donated to Pruitt's Oklahoma Strong Leadership PAC. The firm hosted a fundraiser for Pruitt's reelection effort in 2014. Steven and Vicki Hart rented a room in their Capitol Hill home to Pruitt for $50 per night last year. (The Daily Beast)
8/ Trump called Pruitt to say "we've got your back," urging him to "keep his head up" and "keep fighting." John Kelly reiterated those sentiments in a call to Pruitt Tuesday morning. According to a senior administration official, Kelly has considered firing Pruitt, but is waiting for the outcome of an EPA inspector general's report into Pruitt's travel expenses. (Associated Press / Politico)
9/ Trump wants to deploy the U.S. military to guard the southern border until he can build a wall and tighten immigration restrictions. "We are going to be guarding our border with our military," Trump said. "That's a big step." At a separate press conference, Trump said: "We are preparing for the military to secure our border between Mexico and the United States. We have a meeting on it in a little while with [defense secretary] Gen Mattis and everybody and I think its something we have to do." (Bloomberg / The Guardian / New York Times)
poll/ Trump's support among women fell from 41% to 35% this month. Trump's support among men rose 3 points to 53%. (The Hill)
Notables.
The Department of Homeland Security acknowledged that it identified cellphone spying devices in Washington, DC last year. The unauthorized cell-site simulators are known as Stingrays and often used by foreign powers to track individual cellphones and intercept calls and messages. (Associated Press)
A senior leader in Russia's spy agency has agreed to plead partially guilty to sharing information with foreign intelligence. Dmitry Dokuchaev is wanted by the FBI and suspected to be linked to Russian meddling in the 2016 U.S. election. (McClatchy DC)
Trump's lawyers are asking a federal judge to order that an arbitrator resolve a dispute with Stormy Daniels over the alleged "hush money" agreement she signed just before the 2016 presidential election. (Politico)
Stormy Daniels' lawyer wants the Treasury Department to release the "suspicious activity report" filed by the bank that Michael Cohen used to facilitate the $130,000 payment. (CNN)
Beto O'Rourke raised more than $6.7 million in the first quarter of 2018 to take on Ted Cruz. The $6.7 million came from more than 141,000 contributions. O'Rourke has outraised Cruz for three of the last four reporting periods. (Texas Tribune)
An Ohio State University study suggests that fake news stories dissuaded 4.2% of Obama voters from voting for Hillary Clinton in 2016. Hypothetical, fake news cost Clinton about 2.2 or 2.3 points apiece in Michigan, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin. Clinton lost Michigan by 0.2 points and Pennsylvania and Wisconsin by 0.72 and 0.76 points, respectively. (Washington Post)
1/ Trump invited Putin to the White House, according to Kremlin foreign policy aide Yuri Ushakov. "When our presidents spoke on the phone, Trump suggested having the meeting in Washington at the White House," Ushakov said. "This is quite an interesting, positive idea." During a March 20 phone call, Trump congratulated Putin for his reelection victory and discussed a possible meeting. Sarah Huckabee Sanders said that "a number of potential venues, including the White House," were discussed during the phone call. (Washington Post / Bloomberg)
2/ Trump tweeted that "DACA is dead" and there would be no "NO MORE DACA DEAL" while pressing Congress to "immediately pass border legislation" because "our country is being stolen!" Trump claimed that "a lot of people are coming in because they want to take advantage of DACA," even though the program is only available to people who have lived in the U.S. since 2007. Trump ended DACA in September. (Washington Post / New York Times / NBC News)
DACA is dead because the Democrats didn’t care or act, and now everyone wants to get onto the DACA bandwagon... No longer works. Must build Wall and secure our borders with proper Border legislation. Democrats want No Borders, hence drugs and crime!
...Congress must immediately pass Border Legislation, use Nuclear Option if necessary, to stop the massive inflow of Drugs and People. Border Patrol Agents (and ICE) are GREAT, but the weak Dem laws don’t allow them to do their job. Act now Congress, our country is being stolen!
3/ Local news stations owned by Sinclair Broadcasting were forced to recite the same script warning of "biased and false news" and "the troubling trend of irresponsible, one-sided news stories" that have been plaguing the country. Local news anchors have reportedly been uncomfortable with the "forced read." Sinclair is the country's largest broadcaster and owns or operates 193 TV stations. (New York Times / Deadspin)
4/ Trump tweet-defended Sinclair's "fake news" promotional campaign, which alleges "irresponsible, one-sided news stories" by mainstream media. "So funny to watch Fake News Networks, among the most dishonest groups of people I have ever dealt with, criticize Sinclair Broadcasting for being biased," Trump tweeted. "Sinclair is far superior to CNN and even more Fake NBC, which is a total joke." (Politico / Washington Post)
So funny to watch Fake News Networks, among the most dishonest groups of people I have ever dealt with, criticize Sinclair Broadcasting for being biased. Sinclair is far superior to CNN and even more Fake NBC, which is a total joke.
5/ Trump patched in Lou Dobbs, the Fox Business host, via speakerphone to senior-level meetings on issues such as trade and tax policy during his first year in office. Trump would often interrupt officials so Dobbs could offer his opinion. (The Daily Beast)
6/ Trump demanded that the Washington Post register as a "lobbyist" for Amazon while accusing the online retailer of a "Post Office scam" in a series of weekend tweets. Trump continued his Twitter attack on Monday, saying that "only fools, or worse, are saying that our money losing Post Office makes money with Amazon […] and this will be changed." The Post is owned by Bezos. However, the Post and Amazon are two separate entities. (CNBC / The Hill / Politico / Washington Post)
While we are on the subject, it is reported that the U.S. Post Office will lose $1.50 on average for each package it delivers for Amazon. That amounts to Billions of Dollars. The Failing N.Y. Times reports that “the size of the company’s lobbying staff has ballooned,” and that...
...does not include the Fake Washington Post, which is used as a “lobbyist” and should so REGISTER. If the P.O. “increased its parcel rates, Amazon’s shipping costs would rise by $2.6 Billion.” This Post Office scam must stop. Amazon must pay real costs (and taxes) now!
Only fools, or worse, are saying that our money losing Post Office makes money with Amazon. THEY LOSE A FORTUNE, and this will be changed. Also, our fully tax paying retailers are closing stores all over the country...not a level playing field!
Shares of Amazon.com fell 6% after Trump attacked the online retailer over the pricing of its deliveries through the United States Postal Service and promised unspecified changes. (Reuters)
The Dow dropped more than 600 points and the Nasdaq fell about 3% as Trump attacked Amazon on Twitter. Trump accused Amazon of taking advantage of the US Postal Service, and he suggested that Amazon does not pay its fair share of taxes. (CNN Money)
7/ Trump's presidential campaign spent $158,498.41 on office supplies at Amazon in 2015 and 2016. The Trump for President committee continued to use Amazon after the election, spending more than $2,000 in 2017. (CBS News)
poll/ 48% of Americans overall trust CNN as a source of information more than Trump. In addition, 45% trust MSNBC more than Trump while 30% trust Fox News over Trump. Republicans, however, trust Trump as a source more than either CNN (12% versus 75% for Trump) or MSNBC (11% versus 72% for Trump). Republicans are also more likely to trust Trump than Fox News (35% versus 21%). (Monmouth University)
Notables.
China will impose tariffs on 128 U.S. goods in response to Trump's tariffs on steel and aluminum. The new Chinese tariffs will affect more than $3 billion in U.S. exports to China, including a 15% tariff on American fruit and nuts and a 25% tariff on pork, recycled aluminum, and more. (Politico)
A third woman has sued to nullify a Trump-related non-disclosure agreement, which prohibits disparagement and disclosure of information about Trump, his company and family members. Jessica Denson claims she was harassed by a superior while working for the campaign. (Bloomberg)
Scott Pruitt's daughter also stayed in the Capitol Hill condo where Pruitt rented a bedroom from a lobbyist. Ethics officials at the EPA signed off on the arrangement, which allowed Pruitt to pay roughly $2,150 less than other tenants would have paid during the same five-and-a-half-month stay. (CBS News)
Former Veterans Affairs Secretary David Shulkin said he didn't resign his position, as the White House previously claimed. Shulkin said he was never asked to submit a letter of resignation. (Politico)
Trump called the FBI and Justice Department "an embarrassment to our country!" in a tweet. House Republicans recently subpoenaed the Justice Department for its records relating to the probe of Hillary Clinton's private email server. (Politico)
A new book claims that Kellyanne Conway is the "number one leaker" in Trump's White House, and that she leaks more information to the press than any other individual. (CNN)
Robert Mueller's team has been asking about Roger Stone's 2016 claim that he met with WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange. Stone wrote in a August 2016 email that "I dined with Julian Assange last night," which Mueller's team has been asking about during grand jury testimony. (Wall Street Journal)
Chris Christie is worried that Trump won't be able to stop himself from committing perjury if he sits down with Robert Mueller. "He's a salesman. And salesmen, at times, tend to be hyperbolic. […] That's okay when you're on the campaign hustle. […] It is not okay when you're sitting talking to federal agents because, you know, 18 USC 1001 is false statements to federal agents. That's a crime. That can send you to jail." (Washington Post)
1/ Scott Pruitt's lease of a D.C. apartment cost him $50 a night but only when he slept there. Vicki Hart, the healthcare lobbyist who co-owns the building the apartment is in, is the wife of J. Steven Hart, an energy industry lobbyist. The EPA administrator worked directly with Hart to set up the $50-a-night rental room in a prime Capitol Hill building. The arrangement required him to pay rent for just a single bedroom, even though the other bedrooms in the unit were unoccupied. Hart's firm represents clients in the industries that are regulated by the EPA. (Bloomberg / ABC News)
2/ Pruitt's 24-hour security in Washington extended to personal trips to Disneyland and the Rose Bowl game, as well as trips home to Tulsa, Oklahoma. House Oversight Committee Chairman Trey Gowdy recently made Pruitt turn over all of his travel records for his first year. The EPA's inspector general is also investigating Pruitt's 2017 travel. (CNN)
Scott Pruitt's protective detail broke down the door at the Capitol Hill condo where he was living last year, believing he was unconscious and unresponsive and needed rescue. The incident occurred in the late afternoon on March 29, 2017. The EPA agreed to reimburse the condo owner for the damage to the door. (ABC News)
3/ The EPA is expected to roll back greenhouse gas emission and fuel economy standards for automobiles. Pruitt and the Trump administration plan to frame the initiative as eliminating a regulatory burden on automakers in order to make more affordable trucks, vans and SUVs available for buyers. (New York Times)
4/ The White House office responsible for recruiting and vetting political appointees is inexperienced and understaffed, with less than a third of the staffing than in previous administrations. The Presidential Personnel Office is led by a college dropout with arrests for drunken driving and bouncing checks, and a lance corporal in the Marine Corps reserves with arrests for assault, disorderly conduct, fleeing an officer and underage drinking. On the campaign trail, Trump pledged to surround himself with "only with the best and most serious people." (Washington Post)
5/ A federal judge ruled that a lawsuit seeking to preserve DACA can continue, citing Trump's "racially charged language." The order, by Judge Nicholas G. Garaufis of Federal District Court in Brooklyn, rejected a motion to dismiss the case, saying that Trump's "racial slurs" and "epithets" as a candidate and as president are enough to warrant a "plausible inference" that the decision to end DACA would be a violation of the equal protection clause of the U.S. Constitution. (New York Times)
6/ Trump told White House aides not to publicly discuss a plan to provide new U.S. weapons to Ukraine to help the country fight back against Russian-backed separatists. Officials said Trump was concerned that doing so might agitate Putin. "He doesn't want us to bring it up," said one White House official. "It is not something he wants to talk about." (NBC News)
7/ Russia's ambassador to the U.S. can't remember a period of worse relations between Washington and Moscow. Anatoly Antonov also said it's "impossible to imagine" that the Kremlin was responsible for meddling in the 2016 U.S. election, adding that "there is great mistrust between the United States and Russia" at present. (NBC News)
8/ The FBI detained Ted Malloch and issued him a subpoena to testify before Robert Mueller about potential collusion between Trump's campaign and the Russian government. FBI asked Malloch about his relationship with Roger Stone and if he had ever visited the Ecuadorian embassy in London, where WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange resides. Malloch is reportedly close to Trump, Steve Bannon, UK Independence Party leader Nigel Farage, and Stone. (The Guardian / NBC News)
poll/ 60% of Americans between the ages of 15 and 34 describe Trump as "mentally unfit," 62% call him "generally dishonest," and 63% say he "is a racist." 33% approve of Trump's job performance – 9 points lower than all adults. (Associated Press)
poll/ 57% of Americans say they are upset enough about an issue that they would carry a protest sign for a day. Among Democrats, 69% feel passionate enough about an issue to carry a protest sign, compared to 50% of Republicans and 43% of independents. (NBC News)
Notables.
Czech officials have extradited a Russian hacker to the U.S. to face charges that he hacked into LinkedIn, Dropbox, and other American companies. Yevgeniy Nikulin, who denies that he is a hacker, was arrested by Czech officials in Prague in cooperation with the FBI in October 2016. (Associated Press)
Trump wants the U.S. to end its military presence in Syria "very soon." The comment comes hours after the Pentagon highlighted the need for US troops to remain in the country for the immediate future. (Politico / CNN)
The Trump administration will require nearly all visa applicants to submit five years of social media history. The move will affect nearly 15 million would-be immigrants to the U.S. (CNN)
Congress is investigating an August 2016 flight from Moscow to New Jersey in connection with a meeting between Paul Manafort and Konstantin Kilimnik. The jet, which is linked to Russian oligarch Oleg Deripaska, who has close ties with the Kremlin, landed in the U.S. shortly before Manafort and Kilimnik met in Manhattan. Kilimnik is the unnamed person with "ties to Russian intelligence" in Robert Mueller's indictment of Rick Gates. (Vice News)
More than 10,000 people have donated more than $460,000 to Andrew McCabe's legal defense fund. The original goal was $150,000. (ABC News)
1/ Robert Mueller's team pushed Rick Gates last year to help them connect the Trump campaign to the Russians. Mueller's team plans to use information from Gates to tie Paul Manafort, the former Trump campaign chairman, directly to a Russian intelligence agency. As part of Gates' agreement to cooperate with the special counsel last month, he earned a reduced potential sentence and had several charges against him dropped. (CNN)
2/ Mueller's team has also been questioning witnesses about an event attended by both Jeff Sessions and Sergei Kislyak during the 2016 Republican National Convention. The team also has been asking if Sessions had private discussions with the now former Russian Ambassador to the United States on the sidelines of a Trump campaign speech at the Washington Mayflower Hotel in April 2016. (Reuters)
3/ Trump's outside advisers told him he doesn't need a chief of staff or a communications director. While John Kelly has tried to bring order to the policymaking process, Trump has grown frustrated by the long-established West Wing management structure, because it doesn't fit his freewheeling style. As a result, Kelly has been absent from several key decisions lately. Since Hope Hicks' departure, Trump has been open to rethinking the traditional communications director role. He'd like Kellyanne Conway to assume the role. (CNN / Bloomberg)
4/ EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt lived in a condo tied to an energy industry lobbyist. The townhouse near the U.S. Capitol is co-owned by J. Steven Hart, who wouldn't say how much Pruitt paid to live there. Hart's firm has lobbied on "issues related to the export of liquefied natural gas." During a December 2017 trip to Morocco, Pruitt pitched "the potential benefit of liquefied natural gas (LNG) imports on Morocco's economy." (ABC News)
5/ Michael Cohen's attorney denied that Trump knew about the $130,000 hush-money payment to Stormy Daniels, saying that "the president was not aware of the agreement." David Schwartz added: "At least Michael Cohen never told him about the agreement. I can tell you that." Experts suggest the denial could insulate Trump, but could also undermine the nondisclosure agreement that Daniels signed, which prevented her from disclosing her alleged affair with Trump. (Washington Post)
A federal judge in California temporarily stopped efforts by Stormy Daniels' attorney to depose Trump and his personal lawyer, Michael Cohen. The court denied Michael Avenatti's motion for an expedited trial and discovery process because Trump and Essential Consultants LLC have not yet filed a petition to compel arbitration, which they have stated they're going to do. Essential Consultants LLC is the company established by Cohen to pay Daniels the $130,000 to keep quiet about an alleged affair between her and Trump. (CNN)
6/ David Shulkin said he was fired as the Secretary of Veterans Affairs because he was standing in the way of the Trump administration privatizing the VA, with "some political appointees choosing to promote their agendas instead of what's best for veterans." The former secretary said the "people who want to put VA health care in the hands of the private sector … saw me as an obstacle to privatization who had to be removed." (New York Times / NPR)
7/ Trump's nominee to run the VA has never managed a large bureaucracy. White House physician Ronny Jackson is the doctor who gave Trump a positive physical and mental health assessment in a televised briefing in January. Trump liked the way Jackson handled himself with reporters during the briefing, which played a part in Jackson's nomination for secretary of Veterans Affairs. (Politico / CNN)
8/ The Department of Housing and Urban Development is attempting to reverse federal efforts to enforce fair housing laws. Under Ben Carson, HUD has been freezing enforcement actions against local governments and businesses while sidelining officials who have attempted to pursue civil rights cases. The goal is to roll back the Obama administration's efforts to reverse racial, ethnic, and income segregation in housing and development projects subsidized by the federal government. (New York Times)
9/ The Justice Department will investigate the surveillance of Carter Page, a former Trump campaign official. The inspector general has faced increasing political pressure from Republicans in Congress and Attorney General Jeff Sessions to examine whether law enforcement officials complied with the law and DoJ policies while seeking approval from the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court to wiretap Page. (New York Times)
10/ Jeff Sessions said he will not name a second special counsel at this time. Instead, Sessions revealed that Utah's top federal prosecutor, John Huber, is investigating allegations that the FBI abused its powers in surveilling Carter Page, and that more should have been done to investigate Hillary Clinton's ties to a Russian nuclear energy agency. (CNN / Washington Post)
poll/ 54% of Americans expect Trump to lose his campaign for re-election. 79% of Republicans expect Trump to win his 2020 re-election bid, while 87% of Democrats expect him to lose. (CNN)
Notables.
Six House Democrats are calling for the FBI to investigate whether Jared Kushner leaked classified information to Saudi Crown Prince Mohammad bin Salman. The Intercept reported that the Saudi prince told confidants last year that Kushner had discussed Saudi leaders who are disloyal to the crown prince. (CNN)
The FBI investigated Trump's plans to build a hotel in Latvia following Latvia's request for assistance with an anti-corruption investigation. The investigation targeted Igor Krutoy, a wealthy Putin supporter who was in on the plans and with whom Trump and daughter Ivanka met for several hours at Trump Tower in 2010. The hotel plan was abandoned after the investigation began. (The Guardian)
Russia will close the American consulate in St. Petersburg and kick out 60 U.S. diplomats. The move comes in response to the coordinated expulsion of Russian diplomats from the U.S. and several European countries. (Washington Post)
Former FBI Deputy Director Andrew McCabe is raising funds to help cover costs defending against ongoing government probes. McCabe was fired by Jeff Sessions but says he was terminated because he is a witness in the Russia investigation. (Reuters)
Mike Pence's hometown will host its first gay pride parade next month. A high school student who is hosting the parade said that just because Pence is "openly anti-LGBT, it doesn't mean that the rest of us in his hometown are." A spokeswoman for Pence says he supports the young activist's efforts. (CNN)
Trump tweeted photos taken in 2009 and tried to claim that they were "the start of our Southern Border WALL". The photos were from an ongoing project to replace sections of an existing border wall in California. (BuzzFeed News)
Trump took time out of his busy presidential schedule to congratulate Roseanne Barr on the "huge" ratings "Roseanne" had received. The show returned to the air this week more than two decades after it ended its run. The first episode attracted 18.2 million viewers. (New York Times)
1/ Rick Gates knowingly communicated with "a former Russian Intelligence Officer" during the 2016 presidential campaign, according to documents filed by Robert Mueller's investigators. Gates was in frequent contact with "Person A" – who has been identified as Konstantin Kilimnik – during the time he worked for Trump's campaign, including September and October 2016. The documents Mueller filed indicate that the communications between Gates and Kilimnik are "pertinent to the investigation." Kilimnik worked with Paul Manafort for four years on behalf of a Kremlin-aligned Ukrainian political party. (New York Times / Washington Post)
Go Deeper:
Gates is a longtime business associate of Paul Manafort and served as Manafort's deputy when Manafort was Trump's campaign manager.
Gates pleaded guilty last month to conspiracy and lying to the FBI in a cooperation deal with Mueller.
2/ Gates told Alexander van der Zwaan that Kilimnik was a former intelligence officer with Russia's foreign intelligence service. The London-based lawyer, who previously worked with Gates and Manafort, pleaded guilty last month to lying to special counsel Robert Mueller's investigators about his interactions with Gates and Kilimnik. Gates communicated with Kilimnik and van der Zwaan in a "series of calls" in September and October 2016. (CNN / Politico / The Hill)
Mueller's office is asking for jail time for Alexander van der Zwaan, who pleaded guilty to lying to special prosecutors and the FBI. The special counsel's office didn't say how much jail time van der Zwaan should receive, but it did push back against van der Zwaan's argument that he should receive no jail time at all. Earlier court filings show he faces up to six months behind bars. (BuzzFeed News)
3/ Trump discussed the idea of pardoning both Paul Manafort and Michael Flynn with his lawyers last year as Robert Mueller was building cases against both men. John Dowd, who resigned last week, was hired last year to defend Trump during the Mueller inquiry. Dowd told Flynn's lawyer last summer that Trump was prepared to pardon Flynn. Dowd also discussed a pardon with Manafort's attorney before Manafort was indicted in October 2017 on charges of money laundering and other financial crimes. (New York Times)
4/ Paul Manafort expects Trump to pardon him. Manafort doesn't plan to cooperate with Robert Mueller and will fight the charges of conspiracy, money laundering, tax and bank fraud, and making false statements to investigators. Manafort's co-defendant, Rick Gates, has agreed to work with the special counsel. (CBS News)
Paul Manafort asked a federal judge in Virginia to dismiss an indictment brought by Robert Mueller, saying the case falls outside the scope of Mueller's authority and is unrelated to Trump’s 2016 election campaign. The motion to dismiss was similar to one filed this month in another federal court in Washington, DC, where Manafort is facing a separate but related indictment also brought by Mueller. (Reuters)
5/ Pro-Trump media outlets have been circulating tweets and videos critical of Robert Mueller's investigation in an effort to undermine it. "It looks like the beginnings of a campaign," a person familiar with Trump's legal strategy said. "It looks like they are trying to seed the ground. Ultimately, if the president determines he wants to fire Mueller, he's going to want to make sure there’s ample public record that he can fall back on." (Politico)
6/ A pair of senators called on Trump to let Robert Mueller's investigation proceed "without impediment." In a bipartisan bill, Senators Thom Tillis and Chris Coons "urge President Trump to allow the Special Counsel to complete his work without impediment, which is in the best interest of the American people, the President, and our nation." (Politico)
7/ A federal judge will allow an emoluments lawsuit against Trump to proceed. The ruling from the US District Court of Maryland said the District of Columbia and Maryland may proceed with an unprecedented lawsuit against Trump alleging that Trump's business dealings have violated the Constitution's ban on improper payments from individual states and foreign governments. The case is required to focus on payments made by foreign officials for services at the Trump International Hotel in Washington. It cannot include visits to Mar-a-Lago in Florida or other Trump properties. (CNN / Washington Post)
8/ Stormy Daniels' attorney filed a motion to depose Trump and his lawyer, Michael Cohen, about their knowledge of an agreement to pay the porn star $130,000 a week and a half before the 2016 election. In the court filing, Michael Avenatti said each deposition would last for no more than two hours. He also filed a motion seeking a jury trial in no more than 90 days. (CBS News / NBC News)
9/ At least 12 states plan to sue the Trump administration over the proposed addition of a citizenship question on the 2020 census. Connecticut, Delaware, Illinois, Massachusetts, New Jersey, New Mexico, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island and Washington will join New York State attorney general Eric Schneiderman in a multi-state lawsuit to stop the Trump administration from including the question on the next census. California has filed a separate suit. (New York Times)
10/ The EPA sent staffers a list of eight "approved talking points" about how to downplay climate change. The memo, sent by the EPA's Office of Public Affairs, encourages staffers to suggest that humans are only responsible "in some manner" for climate change and that there are "clear gaps" between "our understanding of the role of human activity and what we can do about it." (Huffington Post / The Hill)
poll/ Overall, 45% of Americans surveyed said global warming will pose a serious threat in their lifetimes – the highest overall percentage since Gallup first asked the question in 1997. However, just 18% of Republicans consider global warming a serious threat compared to 67% of Democrats. Meanwhile, 69% of Republicans think global warming is exaggerated, compared to 4% of Democrats. (Gallup)
poll/ 56% of Americans believe Trump had an affair with Stormy Daniels and 51% believe Daniels' allegations that they had an affair. 91% said honesty is "very important" for elected officials to embody and 75% said the same about morality. 80% said extramarital affairs were morally wrong. (Politico)
Notables.
Trump secured a bilateral trade deal with South Korea ahead of nuclear talks with North Korea. The deal, expected to be announced this week, opens South Korea's markets to American automobiles, extends tariffs for South Korean truck exports, and restricts the amount of steel South Korea can export to the United States by nearly a third. (New York Times / Politico)
Trump: "THE SECOND AMENDMENT WILL NEVER BE REPEALED!" Trump tweeted the all-caps statement in response to retired Supreme Court Justice John Paul Stevens calling yesterday for the Second Amendment to be repealed, citing the right to bear arms is outdated and misunderstood. (New York Times)
Trump fired David Shulkin via tweet, announcing that he'll nominate his personal physician, Ronny Jackson, for Secretary of Veterans Affairs. (Axios / New York Times)
A Democratic candidate challenging House Intelligence Committee chair Devin Nunes raised more than $1 million in the first quarter of 2018. The California congressman has aligned himself closely with Trump. (CNN)
A former Disney Channel star will join the Trump administration as a White House press aide. Caroline Sunshine is known for her role as Tinka Hessenheffer in "Shake It Up," a 2010 show about teen dancers. (CNN)
James Comey will sit down with Anderson Cooper for a town hall on April 25th at 8pm ET. Comey will also talk with Jake Tapper at 4pm ET on April 19th. (The Hill / CNN)
1/ The 2020 census will ask respondents if they are United States citizens, despite concerns from the Census Bureau. Inclusion of a citizenship question could prompt immigrants who are in the country illegally not to respond, resulting in an undercount of the population, which would affect government agencies and groups that rely on the census data. The effects could also affect redistricting of the House and state legislatures over the next decade. It's been 70 years since the government has included a question about citizenship on the census. (New York Times)
Why putting a citizenship question on the census is a big deal. (CNN)
2/ California has sued the Trump administration, arguing that the question about citizenship in the 2020 Census violates the U.S. Constitution. The Constitution requires a census every 10 years to count the "number of free persons" in each state. California Attorney General Xavier Becerra alleges the change violates the constitutional requirement of "actual Enumeration" of every person in every state, every 10 years, and that "California simply has too much to lose for us to allow the Trump Administration to botch this important decennial obligation." New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman said he would lead a multi-state lawsuit, which Massachusetts Attorney General Maura Healey said she would join. (Washington Post / Politico)
3/ Trump has privately suggested that the US military could pay for the construction of his border wall. Trump told advisers and discussed the idea in a private meeting last week with House Speaker Paul Ryan, saying the Pentagon could fund his wall by citing a "national security" risk. The latest reports echo Trump's tweet last week: "Build a WALL through M!" (Washington Post / CNN)
Because of the $700 & $716 Billion Dollars gotten to rebuild our Military, many jobs are created and our Military is again rich. Building a great Border Wall, with drugs (poison) and enemy combatants pouring into our Country, is all about National Defense. Build WALL through M!
4/ The White House is investigating whether two loans – totaling more than $500 million – to Jared Kushner's family business violated federal ethics regulations. A letter from the Office of Government Ethics, made public Monday, revealed that White House attorneys are looking into whether a $184 million loan from Apollo Global and a $325 million loan from Citigroup Inc. violated rules and laws governing the conduct of federal employees. (Wall Street Journal)
Sarah Huckabee Sanders said that White House attorneys are "not probing whether Jared Kushner violated the law." She added that "the White House counsel's office does follow up with staff to assist with compliance with various ethics standards." (The Hill)
5/ Trump has been telling some of his advisers that he hopes Rob Porter will return to the West Wing. Porter stepped down after allegations surfaced that he had abused both of his ex-wives, but Trump has stayed in touch with Porter since his departure. (New York Times)
6/ Retired Supreme Court Justice John Paul Stevens called for a repeal of the Second Amendment, saying the right to bear arms is outdated and misunderstood. (The Hill / New York Times)
poll/ 21% of Americans support a repeal of the Second Amendment. 46% favor modifying the Second Amendment to allow for stricter regulations. (Washington Post)
poll/ 42% of Americans approve of the job Trump's doing as president – up seven points from a month ago. 58% disapprove. (Associated Press)
poll/ 47% of Americans say they approve of how Trump is handling the economy. 46% approve of Trump's tax policy. (Associated Press)
poll/ 58% of Americans want to see the investigation into Russian interference fully investigated, compared to 36% who think it's an effort to discredit Trump's presidency. 55% of Americans don't think Trump is doing enough to cooperate with the investigation. (CNN)
poll/ 62% of Americans approve of Trump's decision to meet North Korean leader Kim Jong-Un, while 31% disapprove. Overall, 43% of Americans approve of Trump's handling of the North Korea situation. (CNN)
poll/ 63% of Americans believe the women who have alleged affairs with Trump over the president's denials. 21% say they believe Trump. 16% say they have no opinion. (Politico)
Notables.
Paul Ryan denies that he will resign later this year. Nevada Republican Mark Amodei said there is a rumor going around that Ryan will resign in the next 30 to 60 days. "The speaker is not resigning," a spokesperson for Ryan said. (CNN / The Hill / Washington Post)
Trump is reportedly planning to fire Veterans Affairs Secretary David Shulkin amid several investigations into Shulkin's alleged spending abuses. An unnamed White House official said the chance of Shulkin being pushed out in the next few days is about "50-50." (Associated Press)
Two more attorneys have declined offers to join Trump's legal team. Trump reached out to Tom Buchanan and Dan Webb and asked them to represent him. Both refused the offer. Buchanan and Webb said in a statement that they were "unable to take on the representation due to business conflicts." (The Daily Beast)
The NRA confirmed that it accepts foreign donations but denied that it uses the money for election purposes. The Federal Election Commission is investigating whether a top Russian banker with Kremlin ties illegally funneled money to the NRA to aid Trump's campaign for president. (NPR)
The FBI arrested a man near Seattle after suspicious packages were found at military bases and CIA headquarters in the Washington, D.C. area. The packages contained potential destructive devices. (ABC News)
Mark Zuckerberg will testify before Congress. Judiciary Chairman Chuck Grassley has invited Zuckerberg, Google CEO Sundar Pichai, and Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey to a hearing on data privacy on April 10. (CNN)
Facebook shares fell 4.9%. The social network has lost nearly $80 billion in market value since March 16th, when it was announced that Facebook would suspend Cambridge Analytica. (CNN Money)
Trump will let the Deferred Enforced Departure status for Liberians expire on March 31st as is scheduled and will not extend legal protection for them to remain in the U.S. (Axios)
The author of the Trump dossier provided a report to the FBI asserting that Putin's former media czar was beaten to death by hired thugs in Washington, DC. The assertion contradicts the US government's official finding that RT founder Mikhail Lesin died by accident. (BuzzFeed News)
1/ Trump won't hire two attorneys who were supposed to join his legal team after all. The appointments were announced last week, but Trump's personal attorney, Jay Sekulow, said in a statement that "conflicts prevent Joe diGenova and Victoria Toensing from joining the president’s special counsel legal team." He added: "Those conflicts do not prevent them from assisting the president in other legal matters." (New York Times)
2/ Trump's personal legal team is down to one member as he struggles to find lawyers willing to represent him. Jay Sekulow is the only personal lawyer for Trump working full time on Robert Mueller's investigation. He is assisted by Ty Cobb, a White House lawyer paid by taxpayers to represent the institution of the presidency rather than Trump personally. John Dowd, who had been leading the team handling the Russia inquiry, resigned last week after strategy disputes with Trump, while Marc Kasowitz's role was reduced after a series of clashes with Trump over the summer. Emmet Flood, the lawyer who represented Bill Clinton during his impeachment process, said he will not represent Trump if Kasowitz has any role on the team, and another, Theodore Olson, declined to represent Trump. (New York Times / Washington Post)
3/ Trump expects to "make one or two major changes to his government very soon," according to Trump's friend Christopher Ruddy, CEO of Newsmax. "He told me he thinks the White House is operating like a smooth machine – his words," said Ruddy, and that Trump is "perplexed by all these reports that there’s chaos at the White House or mass staff changes." (ABC News)
4/ Stormy Daniels said she was threatened not to speak about her affair with Trump, Daniels told Anderson Cooper during her 60 Minutes interview. She also discussed statements and denials she previously made about the affair. After the interview aired, Trump's personal lawyer Michael Cohen sent Daniels a "cease and desist" letter, demanding that she stop speaking out about her relationship with Trump. (CBS News / Reuters)
5/ Trump "does not" believe Stormy Daniels was threatened and that "there is nothing to corroborate her claim," according to White House deputy press secretary Raj Shah. "The president doesn't believe any of the claims Ms. Daniels made in the interview last night were accurate." (Bloomberg / Politico)
The attorney for Stormy Daniels said Trump hasn't tweeted about Daniels because he knows her allegations of an affair are true. After 61 weeks in the White House and more than 2,900 tweets, Trump hasn't attacked two people on Twitter: Stormy Daniels and Karen McDougal, a former Playboy model. (Politico / New York Times)
6/ Stormy Daniels accused Michael Cohen of defaming her by implying that she lied about her affair with Trump. "Just because something isn’t true doesn't mean that it can't cause you harm or damage," Cohen said in a mid-February statement. "I will always protect Mr. Trump." Daniels amended her existing lawsuit against Trump, adding Trump's personal attorney as a defendant in the case, and charging that the confidentiality agreement was illegal, because Trump never signed it. The new complaint also says Cohen's $130,000 payment exceeded federal campaign contribution laws and was never reported. (Washington Post / Politico)
7/ A government watchdog group accused Cambridge Analytica of violating federal election laws in a pair of legal complaints filed with the Federal Election Commission and the Department of Justice. The laws prohibit foreigners from participating directly or indirectly in the decision-making process of U.S. political campaigns. Cambridge Analytica sent dozens of non-U.S. citizens to provide campaign strategy and messaging advice to Republican candidates in 2014. The complaints were filed by Common Cause. (ABC News / Washington Post)
A government watchdog group has filed 30 ethics complaints with the White House and various federal agencies alleging that employees are working in violation of Trump's executive order intended to "drain the swamp" and keep the government free of former lobbyists. Public Citizen identified 36 lobbyists who'd been tapped for government jobs dealing with issues they'd lobbied on, and only six of those appointees have received waivers since then. (NBC News)
8/ The Federal Trade Commission confirmed that it's opened a non-public investigation into Facebook for its user privacy practices. Shares of Facebook fell as much as 6% after the FTC announced it is investigating the company's data practices in the wake of the Cambridge Analytica leak of 50 million users' information. (Axios / CNBC)
poll/ 69% of Americans support tougher gun control laws, up from 55% when the question was first asked in October of 2013. While 60% believe that making it harder to legally obtain a gun would result in fewer mass shootings, only 42% expect elected officials to take action. (Associated Press)
poll/ 62% of Americans think the country is headed in the wrong direction. 32% say they think things will get better while 45% expect things to get worse. (Associated Press)
poll/ 42% of Americans approve of the way Trump is handling the presidency, 54% disapprove. It is Trump's highest approval rating since the 100-day mark of his presidency. (CNN)
Notables.
The U.S. will expel 60 Russian diplomats in response to the poisoning of a former Russian spy on British soil. The Russian consulate in Seattle will also be closed as part of the response. (NBC News)
George Papadopoulos was encouraged to improve relations with Russia because it was a top foreign policy goal of the campaign. Emails turned over to investigators, show Papadopoulos had more contact with key Trump campaign and transition officials than has been publicly acknowledged. (Washington Post)
Andrew McCabe: "Not in my worst nightmares did I ever dream my FBI career would end this way." … Trump's cruelty reminded me of the days immediately following the firing of James B. Comey, as the White House desperately tried to push the falsehood that people in the FBI were celebrating the loss of our director. The president’s comments about me were equally hurtful and false, which shows that he has no idea how FBI people feel about their leaders. (Washington Post)
Kim Jong-Un made a surprise visit to Beijing. It was his first known trip outside North Korea since taking power in 2011. (Bloomberg)
Jimmy Carter: John Bolton as his new national security adviser is "the worst mistake" Trump has made. Bolton will be Trump's third national security adviser since taking office. (CBS News)
Ryan Zinke told Interior Department employees that diversity isn't important and won't be a department focus. Instead, Zinke has told employees that he's looking for "the right person for the right job." (CNN)
Zinke has appointed 15 representatives of the outdoor recreation industry to advise him on how to operate public lands, including three people who were flagged as potentially having a conflict of interest. (Washington Post)
Hundreds of thousands of people joined the Parkland survivors in Washington to "March for Our Lives" while Trump spent the day at the Trump International Golf Club. The White House released a statement saying "We applaud the many courageous young Americans exercising their First Amendment rights today." Thousands more rallied at about 800 sister marches around the country and abroad, where students, like those in the capital, called for gun control and pledged to exercise their political power in the midterm elections this fall. (New York Times)
An NRA representative to the Parkland students: "No one would know your names" if a gunman hadn't killed three staff members and 14 students at their school. The comment came on the eve of the March for Our Lives protest. (Washington Post)
Rick Santorum said kids calling for stricter gun control measures should take CPR classes instead of protesting. "How about kids instead of looking to someone else to solve their problem," Santorum said, "do something about maybe taking CPR classes or trying to deal with situations that when there is a violent shooter that you can actually respond to that." (CNN)
Remington, the oldest gun manufacturer in the US, filed for bankruptcy in the wake of slumping sales in order to cut a deal with its creditors. (BBC)
Trump issued orders to ban transgender troops who require surgery or "substantial" medical treatment from serving in the military except in select cases. LGBTQ advocates called the decision "appalling, reckless and unpatriotic." (Politico)
1/ The Senate passed a $1.3 trillion spending bill late last night, avoiding another government shutdown with less than a day before the deadline. The bill funds the federal government through the end of September and includes $700 billion for the military ($66 billion more than last year) and $591 billion for domestic agencies ($52 billion more than last year). (Washington Post / NBC News)
2/ Trump threatened to veto the spending package because it didn't provide funding for his border wall, but he signed it anyway. He was "unhappy" about it. The bill also doesn't address the fate of young undocumented immigrants and bill adds nearly $1.6 billion for border security, including $641 million for about 33 miles of fencing. In a tweet, Trump said he is "considering a VETO" because the budget doesn't include the $25 billion needed to build his wall or protections for young undocumented immigrants. Trump, who has tried to end the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program, wanted to trade long-term wall funding for protections for some young immigrants. (New York Times / CNBC / Bloomberg / Washington Post)
I am considering a VETO of the Omnibus Spending Bill based on the fact that the 800,000 plus DACA recipients have been totally abandoned by the Democrats (not even mentioned in Bill) and the BORDER WALL, which is desperately needed for our National Defense, is not fully funded.
3/ Another Trump lawyer is expected to step down later this year, contingent on Trump finding a replacement. White House counsel Don McGahn has told associates he'd like to leave the White House by the summer, but his departure might be put on hold through the 2018 midterms. Trump personal lawyer John Dowd resigned on Thursday. Trump wants to have in place a new White House counsel with whom he's comfortable before McGahn exits. (Politico)
4/ Trump will replace H. R. McMaster with John Bolton as his national security adviser. Bolton is a Fox News commentator and a former United States ambassador to the United Nations. McMaster had reportedly been discussing his departure with Trump for several weeks. "The two have been discussing this for some time. The timeline was expedited as they both felt it was important to have the new team in place, instead of constant speculation," a White House official said. "This was not related to any one moment or incident, rather it was the result of ongoing conversations between the two." McMaster, a three-star Army general, also announced that he would retire from the military. Bolton will be Trump's third national security adviser in 14 months. Bolton was also passed over for a State Department job last year, because Trump didn't like his mustache. (New York Times / Washington Post / Bloomberg / CNN)
I am pleased to announce that, effective 4/9/18, @AmbJohnBolton will be my new National Security Advisor. I am very thankful for the service of General H.R. McMaster who has done an outstanding job & will always remain my friend. There will be an official contact handover on 4/9.
5/ Trump's tweet firing McMaster disrupted John Kelly's plan to announce multiple administration departures at once. The White House has been waiting for an inspector general report on Veteran Affairs Secretary David Shulkin and Housing and Urban Development Secretary Ben Carson, who have both been accused of misspending taxpayer money. The McMaster announcement was not expected to be made for at least another week. (Politico)
6/ Trump has reportedly considered firing and not replacing John Kelly, leaving Trump to essentially serve as his own chief of staff. Trump has discussed the possibility of having a handful of aides report directly to him, instead of going through a chief of staff. Steve Bannon said he doesn't expect Trump to replace Kelly if he leaves. "I've actually argued that if General Kelly at any time does decide to leave — (or) the president decides it’s time for him to move on — I don't believe there will be another chief of staff," Bannon said. "I think there will be five or six direct reports like there was in Trump Tower." (NBC News / The Hill)
7/ Steve Bannon oversaw Cambridge Analytica's early efforts to collect Facebook data as part of a program to build detailed profiles of millions of American voters. The 2014 effort was part of a form of voter persuasion touted by the company, which Bannon used to identify and test anti-establishment messages that later would be used in Trump's campaign speeches. Among the messages tested were "drain the swamp" and "deep state." (Washington Post)
The political action committee founded by John Bolton was one of the earliest customers of Cambridge Analytica. Bolton, of course, is Trump's incoming national security adviser. (New York Times)
The blueprint for how Cambridge Analytica claims it won the White House for Trump has been leaked. The 27-page presentation, produced by the Cambridge Analytica officials who worked closely on Trump's 2016 presidential campaign, shows how they used Google, Snapchat, Twitter, Facebook, and YouTube. (The Guardian)
8/ Former Playboy model Karen McDougal said Trump once offered to pay her after they had sex. "After we had been intimate," McDougal told CNN, "he tried to pay me, and I actually didn't know how to take that." McDougal said Trump tried to hand her money immediately after their first sexual encounter more than a decade ago and that they were together "many dozens of times." (CNN / New York Times)
9/ Stormy Daniels' attorney implied that he has hard evidence of Trump's affair with the porn star, whose legal name is Stephanie Clifford. Michael Avenatti tweeted a photo of what appears to be a CD in a safe, with the caption: "If 'a picture is worth a thousand words,' how many words is this worth?????" The White House has denied that Trump ever had an affair with Daniels, who was paid $130,000 by Trump's personal attorney, Michael Cohen, in 2016, weeks before the presidential election. The payment, Daniels says, was intended to buy her silence on the alleged affair. (The Hill)
10/ The "lone hacker" known as Guccifer 2.0 is actually a Russian intelligence officer. Guccifer claimed responsibility for the breach of the Democratic National Committee and the data dump of the stolen DNC emails. He publicly portrayed himself as the "lone hacker" who was able to penetrate the DNC, but a team of investigators identified him as an officer of Russia's military intelligence directorate, or GRU, after he failed to turn on the virtual private network (VPN) that he used to disguise his IP address. As a result, he left a real, Moscow-based IP address in the server logs of an American social media company. (The Daily Beast)
1/ Trump's lead attorney dealing with the special counsel investigation resigned. John Dowd's departure comes days after Trump called for an end to Robert Mueller's inquiry and days after Dowd said the investigation should end, initially claiming he was speaking for Trump before saying he was only speaking for himself. Trump's attorneys are in negotiations with the special counsel's team over a potential interview with Trump. It is not clear who will take over the president's legal team. (New York Times / Washington Post / CNN)
2/ Trump: "Yes, I would like to" testify before Robert Mueller. His comment came shortly after John Dowd resigned from his personal legal team. (CBS News / CNN)
3/ Mueller's team has discussed four main topics with Trump's lawyers for a potential Trump interview. Specifically, the special counsel wants to know about Trump's role in crafting a statement aboard Air Force One about Trump Jr.'s June 2016 meeting with Russians at Trump Tower; the circumstances surrounding the Trump Tower meeting; and the firings of James Comey and Michael Flynn. Mueller's team is also looking at connections between Trump's campaign and Cambridge Analytica and how the data firm collected and utilized voter data in battleground states. (CNN / Associated Press)
House Democrats are attempting to force a vote on a bill that would protect Robert Mueller in the event that Trump tries to fire the special counsel. Steve Cohen, a member of the House Ethics Committee, filed a petition to call for a vote on a bill called the Special Counsel Integrity Act, which would prevent anyone from firing Mueller without just cause. "Recent events particularly concern me," Cohen wrote in a statement, "because it seems the President fears that Mueller is close to revealing findings relevant to his mandate and that ending the investigation is the only way to prevent its public release." (The Hill)
4/ Republicans on the House Intelligence Committee voted to end their investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election, concluding that the evidence failed to amount to collusion between the Trump campaign and the Russian government. (Politico)
5/ The House passed a $1.3 trillion spending bill to fund the government through September. The budget boosts military and domestic spending, and includes $1.6 billion for more than 90 miles of physical barriers along the border with Mexico. The bill provides no resolution for DACA. The Senate will now need unanimous consent from all members to waive procedural rules in order to vote before the Friday midnight deadline when government funding is set to expire. (New York Times / Associated Press / Washington Post)
Congress rejected Education Secretary Betsy DeVos's school choice agenda and her attempt to spend more than $1 billion on promoting choice-friendly policies and private school vouchers. DeVos had sought to cut Education Department funding by $3.6 billion — about 5%. (Washington Post)
6/ Trump signed an executive memorandum to impose about $60 billion in tariffs on Chinese imports, saying "this is the first of many." The Trump administration said the tariffs are designed to penalize China for trade practices that involve stealing American companies' intellectual property. U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer now has 15-days to come up with a proposed list of products that will face higher tariffs. The White House granted exemptions to American allies from steel and aluminum tariffs that go into effect on Friday, including the European Union, Canada, and Mexico. (CNBC / Bloomberg / New York Times)
The Dow dropped 724.42 points to close at 23,957.89 over concerns from investors about Trump's tariffs on China and the threat of a global trade war. Earlier in the session, the Dow dropped more than 500 points. (CNN Money / CNBC / Bloomberg)
Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross said he doesn't think this will be the start of a trade war with China, but he does expect that "there will be some ultimate retaliation." (CNBC)
7/ Jeff Sessions wants prosecutors to seek the death penalty in drug-related cases whenever it's "appropriate." The move comes less than a week after Trump called for the execution of opioid dealers and traffickers. "In the face of all of this death, we cannot continue with business as usual," Sessions wrote in a memo to U.S. Attorneys offices. (Reuters)
8/ Trump tweeted that he would beat Joe Biden in a fight in response to Biden's suggestion that he would "beat the hell out of" Trump if they were in high school together. "Crazy Joe Biden is trying to act like a tough guy," Trump tweeted. "Actually, he is weak, both mentally and physically, and yet he threatens me, for the second time, with physical assault. He doesn't know me, but he would go down fast and hard, crying all the way. Don't threaten people Joe!" (CNN)
Crazy Joe Biden is trying to act like a tough guy. Actually, he is weak, both mentally and physically, and yet he threatens me, for the second time, with physical assault. He doesn’t know me, but he would go down fast and hard, crying all the way. Don’t threaten people Joe!
poll/ 28% of Americans have a favorable view of Robert Mueller, compared to 19% who view him negatively. (NBC News)
Notables.
Washington, D.C., and Maryland filed a lawsuit against Trump for violating the emoluments clause of the U.S. Constitution, which prohibits public officials from receiving gifts and payments from foreign governments without approval from Congress. The suit claims that Trump's refusal to divest from his personal businesses has allowed foreign governments to pay the Trump Organization directly for bookings and events. (WAMU)
Rex Tillerson called D.C. "a very mean-spirited town" in his farewell address to State Department employees. He didn't mention Trump by name, said he hopes the department will "continue to treat each other with respect." (CBS News)
Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke and his wife took a security detail on their vacation to Greece and Turkey last year, in what one watchdog group said could be a "questionable" use of taxpayer resources. (Politico)
Kellyanne Conway is poised to take over as the White House communications director in the wake of Hope Hicks' departure. Melania Trump and Mike Pence's chief of staff have recently encouraged her to take the job. (The Atlantic)
The FEC is investigating whether Devin Nunes violated campaign finance laws. Nunes has until April 24 to respond to the FEC. (The Daily Beast)
New York City's buildings regulator is investigating possible "illegal activity" at more than a dozen Kushner Cos. properties following a report that the real estate developer routinely filed false paperwork claiming it had zero rent-regulated tenants in its buildings across the city. (Associated Press)
CBS will air its 60 Minutes interview with Stormy Daniels on Sunday, March 25, at 7:00 p.m. ET/PT. The adult-film star says she had an affair with Trump. The president has denied having an affair with Daniels. (CBS News)
Today's update is brought to you by Gogo Inflight Internet. I'm on my way to the Society for News Design conference in New York to speak about how WTF Just Happened Today is powered by membership, and all the forms membership can take (financial vs non-financial).
1/ The Senate Intelligence Committee recommended that states buy voting machines that produce paper ballots and that they secure voter databases ahead of November's midterm elections. Senators, concerned about Russian meddling in the midterms, called on Congress to "urgently" make funds available for states to update their voting systems, institute vote audits, and hire staff focused on cybersecurity. (New York Times)
2/ Senators criticized the Trump administration for not doing enough to prepare for the 2018 midterms. "I hear no sense of urgency to really get on top of this issue," Sen. Susan Collins, a Maine Republican, said. Homeland Security secretary Kirstjen Nielsen testified before the committee, saying the 2018 midterms and future elections are "clearly potential targets for Russian hacking attempts." (CNN)
3/ Trump ignored specific warnings from his national security advisers not to congratulate Putin on his recent election win. Instead, Trump called Putin and opened by congratulating him. A section in Trump's briefing materials was titled "DO NOT CONGRATULATE" in all-capital letters. (Washington Post)
4/ Trump and John Kelly are reportedly furious over the leak that Trump congratulated Putin despite warnings from multiple national security advisers and briefing materials that said "DO NOT CONGRATULATE." It's still unclear if Trump read the guidance that was given to him by his advisers, but Trump defended his congratulatory call, tweeting that "Getting along with Russia… is a good thing," and that his "energy and chemistry" with Putin will be constructive. He capped off his second tweet with an all-caps: "PEACE THROUGH STRENGTH!" (CNN / Axios)
I called President Putin of Russia to congratulate him on his election victory (in past, Obama called him also). The Fake News Media is crazed because they wanted me to excoriate him. They are wrong! Getting along with Russia (and others) is a good thing, not a bad thing.......
.....They can help solve problems with North Korea, Syria, Ukraine, ISIS, Iran and even the coming Arms Race. Bush tried to get along, but didn’t have the “smarts.” Obama and Clinton tried, but didn’t have the energy or chemistry (remember RESET). PEACE THROUGH STRENGTH!
A senior White House official who is not authorized to discuss the leak publicly commented that "leaking [president's briefing papers] is a fireable offense and likely illegal." A person in close contact with national security officials said John Kelly is "on a warpath" and "there's going to be a scalp over this." (Los Angeles Times)
5/ The former director of the CIA suggested that Russia may have compromising information on Trump "that they could always roll out and make his life more difficult." John Brennan, the CIA director under Obama, said the fact that Trump "had this fawning attitude toward Mr. Putin, has not said anything negative about him, I think continues to say to me that he does have something to fear and something very serious to fear." Brennan was the CIA director in 2016 when the dossier surfaced that claimed the Russians had compromising information on Trump. (CNN / New York Times)
poll/ 40% of voters view the NRA negatively, compared with 37% who view the organization positively. the first time since before 2000 that more people in the poll have viewed the NRA in a negative light than in a positive light. (NBC News)
poll/ 70% of millennial women now identify as Democrats, up from 54% in 2002. 23% of millennial women identify as Republicans, down from 36% in 2002. (Pew Research Center)
poll/ 67% of voters say Trump is not a good role model for children. 55% don't think Trump has a good sense of decency. (Quinnipiac)
Notables.
The Austin bombing suspect blew himself up as a SWAT team tried to apprehend him on the side of a highway. Mark Anthony Conditt is believed to have been responsible for at least six bombs that killed at least two people and wounded five. Police were closing in on Conditt's vehicle on Interstate 35 when "the suspect detonated a bomb inside the vehicle, knocking one of our SWAT officers back," Austin Police Chief Brian Manley said. (NBC News / New York Times)
Mark Zuckerberg on Cambridge Analytica: "We have a responsibility to protect your data, and if we can't then we don't deserve to serve you." Zuckerberg said Facebook will investigate all apps with access to Facebook data, limit access to data to prevent other kinds of abuse, and release a tool to help users understand who has access to their data. (Bloomberg / CNBC)
Andrew McCabe oversaw a federal criminal investigation into whether Jeff Sessions lacked candor when testifying before Congress about contacts with Russians. McCabe authorized the investigation nearly a year before he was fired by Sessions for a "lack of candor." (ABC News)
Texas GOP Rep. Blake Farenthold is considering stepping down from Congress before the end of his term, which would allow him to dodge an Ethics Committee investigation into allegations of inappropriate office behavior. (Politico)
A Holocaust denier won the Illinois Republican primary in the state's Third Congressional District. The Illinois Republican Party tried to distance itself from Arthur Jones, blanketing the district with campaign fliers and robocalls urging voters to "stop Illinois Nazis." (New York Times)
EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt spent more than $163,000 on first-class flights, military aircraft, and charter flights in his first year in office. The agency has said the expensive flights were necessary because of the high number of security threats Pruitt has received. (Politico)
The Republican National Committee spent at least $271,000 at Trump's private businesses in February. The expenditures represent 86% of the RNC's February spending. (Washington Post)
1/ Trump has discussed firing one of his lawyers, while another is contemplating resignation. Ty Cobb, who has urged Trump to cooperate with Mueller's investigation, appears to be on the chopping block, while John Dowd has considered leaving the team because Trump ignores his legal advice. Trump tweeted that he's "VERY happy with my lawyers, John Dowd, Ty Cobb and Jay Sekulow," although he recently met with Emmet Flood, the lawyer who represented Bill Clinton during his impeachment proceedings. Trump also added Joseph E. diGenova to his legal team on Monday. DiGenova is a regular Fox News commentator who has suggested that the FBI and the Justice Department conspired to deny Trump his "civil rights." (New York Times)
The Failing New York Times purposely wrote a false story stating that I am unhappy with my legal team on the Russia case and am going to add another lawyer to help out. Wrong. I am VERY happy with my lawyers, John Dowd, Ty Cobb and Jay Sekulow. They are doing a great job and.....
A seasoned, high-profile litigator declined to join Trump's legal team. Theodore Olson served as solicitor general in the George W. Bush administration and has more experience on landmark cases than any of Trump's current lawyers. (Washington Post)
2/ Paul Ryan says he received "assurances" that firing Robert Mueller is "not even under consideration." The House Speaker did not elaborate on the assurances. In January, Mitch McConnell declined to take up proposed legislation to protect Mueller because he knew of no "official" White House effort to undermine him. Today, McConnell said legislation was "not necessary" to protect Mueller against the threat of being fired by Trump. (CNN)
3/ Stormy Daniels passed a polygraph exam in 2011 about her relationship with Trump. The examiner found there was a 99% probability Daniels was telling the truth when she said she had unprotected sex with Trump in 2006. The White House and Trump's attorney have denied that the president had a sexual relationship with Daniels, whose legal name is Stephanie Clifford. (NBC News)
4/ A former Playboy model, who alleges she had an affair with Trump, is suing to be released from a 2016 legal agreement requiring her silence. Karen McDougal is suing American Media Inc., the company that owns The National Enquirer, which paid her $150,000 to buy her story and bury it, a practice known as "catch and kill." David Pecker is the CEO of American Media Inc. and a friend of Trump's. (New York Times)
5/ A Manhattan Supreme Court judge ruled that Trump must face a defamation lawsuit by a former "Apprentice" contestant and that his job as commander-in-chief does not give him immunity from the lawsuit. Trump had argued that presidents are shielded from civil litigation in state courts under the US Constitution's supremacy clause. The assertion has never been fully tested by the courts, however, making the ruling a first-of-its-kind decision. (New York Post / Washington Post / The Hill)
Dept. of #FacebookExit.
Cambridge Analytica harvested private information from more than 50 million Facebook users without their permission, making it one of the largest data leaks in the social network's history. Cambridge Analytica – owned by Robert Mercer and headed by Steve Bannon at the time – hired Aleksandr Kogan, who built "a very standard vanilla Facebook app," which would scrape information from participants' profiles and those of their friends under the premise that the company was collecting information for academic purposes. (New York Times / The Guardian)
The Federal Trade Commission is investigating whether Facebook violated a 2011 consent decree over Cambridge Analytica's access and use of the personal data of 50 million Facebook users. Under the settlement, Facebook agreed to get user consent for changes to privacy settings. (Bloomberg)
Facebook's chief information security officer, Alex Stamos, is leaving the company following disagreements among top Facebook executives over their response to Russian interference in the 2016 presidential elections and potential interference in the 2018 midterms. The issue is rooted in how much Facebook should publicly share about the ways in which their platform was misused in the run-up to the 2018 midterm elections. Stamos oversaw Facebook's security team, which was once 120 people, but is currently down to three people. Stamos plans to leave the company by August. (New York Times)
Cambridge Analytica's CEO was caught on tape suggesting that the company could entrap political rivals through seduction or bribery. In an undercover investigation by Britain's Channel 4 News, Alexander Nix said the British firm secretly campaigns in elections across the world using front companies, former spies, and contractors. (Channel 4 / New York Times / Washington Post)
Cambridge Analytica claimed it "ran all the digital campaign, the television campaign and our data informed all the strategy" for Trump, according the undercover investigation by Channel 4 News. (Channel 4)
Cambridge Analytica suspended CEO Alexander Nix and is launching an independent investigation to determine if the company engaged in any wrongdoing. (Wall Street Journal)
Mark Zuckerberg and Sheryl Sandberg didn't attend an internal employee briefing about Facebook's role in the Trump-Cambridge Analytica scandal. The session was instead conducted by a Facebook attorney. (The Daily Beast)
Facebook's stock fell about 7% on Monday, cutting about $37 billion off the value of the company. Mark Zuckerberg personally lost about $5 billion in net worth. (CNN Money / Wall Street Journal)
How to delete Facebook. First, download your archive by going to "Settings," click "Download a copy of your Facebook data" at the bottom of General Account Settings, and then click "Start My Archive." When you're ready to delete your account, click this link, which will take you to the account deletion page. Once you delete your account, it cannot be recovered. (The Verge)
Dept. of Swamp Things.
Education Secretary Betsy DeVos will testify before the House Appropriations Committee about her "Education Reform Plan," which calls for a 5% spending cut and eliminates dozens of programs. It includes a $1 billion school choice proposal. Department staff said DeVos tried to withhold information in the budget justifications submitted to Congress. (New York Times)
Ben Carson defended the purchase of a $31,000 dining set, telling the House Appropriations Committee that the furniture was necessary because "people were stuck by nails, and a chair had collapsed with someone sitting in it." He admitted, however, that he failed to adhere to a $5,000 federal spending cap for the purchase. (Bloomberg / New York Times)
Three Trump appointees with pro-abstinence beliefs directed the process to end a federal teen pregnancy prevention program last year, over the objections of career experts in the Department of Health and Human Services. One appointee was previously the president of Ascend, an association that promotes abstinence until marriage as the best way to prevent teen pregnancy. (NBC News)
A new Mississippi law bans most abortions after 15 weeks' gestation with no exceptions for rape or incest. The only exceptions are if a fetus has health issues that are "incompatible with life" outside of the womb, or if a pregnant woman's life is threatened by the pregnancy. (NBC News)
A federal judge temporarily blocked the new Mississippi law that bans abortion after 15 weeks. The temporary restraining order was requested by the state's only abortion clinic. (Associated Press)
Notables.
An "ashamed" Fox News Commentator quit the "propaganda machine," denouncing both the network and Trump in an email to colleagues. (BuzzFeed News)
Trump is preparing to impose $60 billion in tariffs on Chinese products. Trump plans to unveil the tariffs on by Friday. (Washington Post)
Shutdown Watch: Congress and the White House are moving closer to a $1.3 trillion spending bill ahead of a Friday deadline to fund the government. (Politico)
Trump called Putin to congratulate him on his recent re-election. The call comes days after the White House imposed sanctions on Russia for meddling in the 2016 U.S. election and "malicious cyberattacks." The Trump administration has also recently criticized Russia for its apparent role in a nerve agent attack on a former Russian spy and his daughter in the U.K. (New York Times)
1/ Trump's legal team recently turned over documents to Robert Mueller in hopes of limiting the scope of a possible presidential interview and minimizing Trump's exposure to the special counsel. The documents include summaries of internal White House memos and communication about key moments, including the firings of Michael Flynn and James Comey. (Washington Post)
2/ Trump hired a lawyer who promoted the theory that the FBI and Justice Department framed Trump in order to keep him from becoming president. On Fox News in January, Joseph diGenova said: "There was a brazen plot to illegally exonerate Hillary Clinton and, if she didn't win the election, to then frame Donald Trump with a falsely created crime." He added, "Make no mistake about it: A group of FBI and DOJ people were trying to frame Donald Trump of a falsely created crime." (New York Times)
3/ Jeff Sessions fired Andrew McCabe 24 hours before he was set to retire. Sessions announced the decision to fire the now-former deputy director of the FBI just before 10 pm ET on Friday, saying McCabe was fired because he "made an unauthorized disclosure to the news media and lacked candor — including under oath — on multiple occasions." In an interview, McCabe defended himself. "The idea that I was dishonest is just wrong," he said. McCabe added: "This is part of an effort to discredit me as a witness" and to undermine Robert Mueller's investigation into the Trump campaign. (New York Times / Washington Post)
Andrew McCabe FIRED, a great day for the hard working men and women of the FBI - A great day for Democracy. Sanctimonious James Comey was his boss and made McCabe look like a choirboy. He knew all about the lies and corruption going on at the highest levels of the FBI!
4/ Three sources contradicted Jeff Sessions' claims that he "pushed back" against a George Papadopoulos proposal for Trump's campaign to meet with Russians in 2016. Some Democrats think the discrepancies in Sessions' testimony suggest the attorney general may have committed perjury. (Reuters)
5/ Trump's personal lawyer wants Rod Rosenstein to end Mueller's investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election. "I pray that Acting Attorney General Rosenstein will follow the brilliant and courageous example of the FBI Office of Professional Responsibility and Attorney General Jeff Sessions and bring an end to alleged Russia Collusion investigation manufactured by McCabe's boss James Comey based upon a fraudulent and corrupt Dossier," John Dowd wrote in an email comment about McCabe's firing. Dowd initially said he was speaking on behalf of Trump "as his counsel," but later said he was not speaking on the president's behalf. (The Daily Beast)
6/ McCabe met with Mueller and turned over memos detailing his interactions with Trump, similar to the notes compiled by James Comey. The memos apparently include corroborating details about the firing of former FBI Director James Comey. It's unclear when McCabe's interview took place. (Axios / Associated Press / CNN)
7/ Trump attacked Mueller by name for the first time on Twitter, calling the special counsel's investigation a "WITCH HUNT!" in a tweet. Trump also charged that the memos written by James Comey and Andrew McCabe were "Fake Memos" because he "spent very little time with Andrew McCabe, but he never took notes when he was with me." In one tweet, Trump also complained that Mueller's team is partisan with "13 hardened Democrats, some big Crooked Hillary supporters, and Zero Republicans?" Mueller and Rosenstein are both Republicans. (Washington Post / New York Times)
The Fake News is beside themselves that McCabe was caught, called out and fired. How many hundreds of thousands of dollars was given to wife’s campaign by Crooked H friend, Terry M, who was also under investigation? How many lies? How many leaks? Comey knew it all, and much more!
The Mueller probe should never have been started in that there was no collusion and there was no crime. It was based on fraudulent activities and a Fake Dossier paid for by Crooked Hillary and the DNC, and improperly used in FISA COURT for surveillance of my campaign. WITCH HUNT!
Spent very little time with Andrew McCabe, but he never took notes when he was with me. I don’t believe he made memos except to help his own agenda, probably at a later date. Same with lying James Comey. Can we call them Fake Memos?
8/ Republican senators warned Trump not to fire Robert Mueller and to let federal investigators do their jobs. Lindsey Graham said if Trump were to dismiss Mueller, it would mark "the beginning of the end of his presidency." Trey Gowdy, meanwhile, said if Trump is innocent, he should "act like it" and leave Mueller alone. Paul Ryan issued a statement advising Trump that "Mueller and his team should be able to do their job." Mitch McConnell, however, had no comment. Following the pushback, White House lawyer Ty Cobb issued a statement on Sunday night saying Trump was not considering firing Mueller. (Reuters / Politico)
poll/ 74% of Americans feel that a "deep state" of unelected government officials is probably manipulating national policy. 27% believe a deep state definitely exists, 47% think it probably exists, 21% don't believe a deep state exists, and 5% don't know. 31% of Republicans and 33% of Independents said they definitely believe in the existence of a deep state. 19% of Democrats, meanwhile, said the deep state definitely exists. (Monmouth)
Notables.
Jared Kushner's family real estate company routinely filed false documents with the New York City housing department. Kushner Companies claimed that it had zero rent-regulated tenants, even though there were actually hundreds of such tenants living in dozens of buildings it owned throughout the city. The move allowed the company to circumvent rules that would have prevented developers from pushing low-rent tenants out of the buildings. New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman said he is "very concerned about the allegations" and plans to meet with tenant representatives in the coming days. (Associated Press / Bloomberg)
The DACA-border wall deal fell apart after the White House refused to provide a pathway to citizenship to 1.8 million young immigrants eligible under the DACA program. Trump wants $25 billion for his border wall in exchange for extending the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program through fall of 2020. (Politico)
The Supreme Court declined to take up a Republican challenge to the redrawn Pennsylvania congressional map ahead of the 2018 elections. Republicans drew a gerrymandered map in 2011 that resulted in a 13-5 congressional district advantage. (NPR)
Senior White House officials are considering whether to re-hire Trump's personal aide John McEntee, days after he was abruptly fired and escorted off the property. The reasons for McEntee's firing are still unclear, but they are believed to be related to his gambling habits. (Politico)
Facebook, Cambridge Analytica, and Trump
*There's a huge story here, but I haven't had time to make sense of it. Here's a few of the stories making the rounds. I'll have a summary update tomorrow. *
How Trump Consultants Exploited the Facebook Data of Millions (New York Times)
50 million Facebook profiles harvested for Cambridge Analytica in major data breach (The Guardian)
Cambridge Analytica, Trump-Tied Political Firm, Offered to Entrap Politicians (New York Times)
The CEO of the Trump 2016 data firm was recorded pitching illegal overseas campaign tactics (Washington Post / Channel 4)
Ted Cruz under fire in Cambridge Analytica scandal (Dallas News)
Facebook's value plunges $37 billion on data controversy (CNN Money)
1/ Trump plans to remove national security adviser H.R. McMaster and is currently considering potential replacements. Trump plans to take his time with the transition in order to avoid humiliating McMaster and ensure he has a strong replacement. Other Trump officials, like Ben Carson and Mick Mulvaney, are also rumored to be on the chopping block. "There will always be change," Trump said. "I think you want to see change. I want to also see different ideas." Sarah Huckabee Sanders, meanwhile, disputed the story that Trump had decided to fire McMaster, tweeting: "Just spoke to @POTUS and Gen. H.R. McMaster — contrary to reports they have a good working relationship and there are no changes at the NSC." (Washington Post / New York Times)
Just spoke to @POTUS and Gen. H.R. McMaster - contrary to reports they have a good working relationship and there are no changes at the NSC.
2/ Trump is on track to hire multiple cable news personalities to fill out his cabinet. Trump has discussed having Fox News contributor John Bolton succeed McMaster as national security adviser. Veterans Affairs Secretary David Shulkin could be replaced with Pete Hegseth, the co-host of Fox and Friends Weekend. Trump has already named Larry Kudlow to replace Gary Cohn as his chief economic adviser. (Washington Post)
3/ John Kelly, whose departure has been rumored to be imminent, has settled on a temporary truce with Trump. After a meeting with Kelly, Trump told advisers that his chief of staff was "100% safe." Kelly told colleagues that the two of them have patched things up for the moment. "I'm in," Kelly told his staff. Later, Kelly speculated that all the recent news about possible staffing changes is because Trump has been talking with people outside of the White House when he's not around. (Wall Street Journal / Axios)
4/ Stormy Daniels was threatened with "physical harm" in response to her claims that she had an affair with Trump in 2006. When Mika Brzezinski asked on MSNBC's Morning Joe "Was she threatened [with] physical harm?," Daniels' lawyer said yes but didn't say what the specific threats were, or whether Trump was the one who personally threatened her. During a CNN interview later in the day, Daniels' lawyer confirmed that some of the threats have taken place during the Trump presidency. Daniels' interview with 60 Minutes is set to air on March 25. (MSNBC / CNN / Washington Post)
Notables.
Ivanka Trump will meet with South Korean Foreign Minister Kang Kyung-wha in the U.S. in the wake of the abrupt firing of former Secretary of State Rex Tillerson. (The Hill)
Vanessa Trump filed for divorce from Trump Jr. The filing comes a day after Robert Mueller subpoenaed documents related to Trump's family businesses, which Eric Trump and Trump Jr. have been running while their father is in office. (Page Six)
All seven U.S. troops aboard a military helicopter that crashed in western Iraq on Thursday are dead. The cause of the crash is currently under investigation, but U.S. officials do not believe it was downed as a result of enemy action. (New York Times)
Rep. Louise Slaughter died Friday at age 88, while serving her 16th term in the House of Representatives. Slaughter was the oldest sitting member of Congress, and had been planning to seek reelection in November. (NPR)
The 5th Circuit Court of Appeals tossed out a rule that required financial advisers to act in the best interest of their clients. In a 2-1 ruling, the court said the fiduciary rule bears the hallmarks of “unreasonableness” and constitutes an arbitrary and capricious exercise of administrative power. (The Hill)
A resolution denouncing white nationalists and neo-Nazis died in the Tennessee statehouse 36 seconds after being introduced. (CNN)
1/ Robert Mueller subpoenaed the Trump Organization to turn over documents related to Russia and other topics he's investigating. The subpoena was delivered in "recent weeks" and is the first known order directly related to Trump's businesses. (New York Times)
2/ A lawyer for the Trump Organization filed documents to keep Stormy Daniels from talking about her alleged affair with Trump. A "demand for arbitration" document dated February 22, 2018, names Jill Martin, a top lawyer at the Trump Organization, as the attorney representing the company Trump's personal lawyer, Michael Cohen, established to facilitate a payment of $130,000 to Daniels. The new documents, marked "HIGHLY CONFIDENTIAL PROCEEDING," show a direct connection between Trump's company and the nondisclosure agreement Daniels signed, raising questions about Cohen's previous statement that "neither the Trump Organization nor the Trump campaign was a party to the transaction with Ms. Clifford." Stormy Daniels' real name is Stephanie Clifford. (Wall Street Journal / CNN)
3/ BuzzFeed wants to use Michael Cohen's libel suit against them to demand that Stormy Daniels preserve all records related to her relationship with Trump, including all negotiations, agreements, and payments involving Cohen and the $130,000 payment she received before the 2016 election as part of a nondisclosure agreement she is now trying to void. Cohen filed a libel suit in January against BuzzFeed and four staffers over the publication of the dossier of allegations about Trump's relationship with Russia.(Politico)
Stormy Daniels said multiple women are exploring potential legal cases against Trump. Michael Avenatti, who represents Stephanie Clifford — known professionally as Stormy Daniels — said other women have reached out to him for representation in cases against Trump. (BuzzFeed News)
4/ Trump's lawyers are preparing for a potential interview with Robert Mueller. They're working out answers to possible questions and negotiating the terms of the interview. Trump's lawyers argue that Mueller must first show that his investigation can't be completed without an interview with Trump. They've also studied the possibility of answering questions in writing. (Politico)
5/ Trump imposed sanctions on Russian organizations and individuals in retaliation for interference in the 2016 presidential election and other "malicious" cyberattacks. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin called the cyberattacks "the most destructive and costly cyberattack in history," having caused billions of dollars in damage in the U.S., Europe, and Asia. (New York Times / Washington Post / Bloomberg)
6/ The Trump administration accused Moscow of a deliberate, ongoing hacking operation to penetrate the U.S. energy grid, aviation systems, and other infrastructure. "Since at least March 2016, Russian government cyber actors" have targeted "government entities and multiple U.S. critical infrastructure sectors," including those of energy, nuclear, water and aviation, according to an alert issued by the Department of Homeland Security and F.BI. (Associated Press / Bloomberg / Politico)
7/ At a fundraiser Trump bragged that he made up facts about U.S. trade relations with Canada during a meeting with Justin Trudeau, insisting that the U.S. runs a trade deficit with Canada without knowing whether that was true. Canada and the U.S. calculate the trade balance differently. According to Statistics Canada, Canada runs a surplus, while the U.S. Commerce Department reports a $12.5 billion U.S. surplus. Regardless, Trump doubled down on his claim of a deficit, tweeting: "We do have a Trade Deficit with Canada, as we do with almost all countries (some of them massive)." (Washington Post / NBC News / CNN)
We do have a Trade Deficit with Canada, as we do with almost all countries (some of them massive). P.M. Justin Trudeau of Canada, a very good guy, doesn’t like saying that Canada has a Surplus vs. the U.S.(negotiating), but they do...they almost all do...and that’s how I know!
"Trudeau came to see me. He's a good guy, Justin. He said, 'No, no, we have no trade deficit with you, we have none. Donald, please,'" Trump said during fundraising speech, according to audio obtained by the Washington Post. Trump continued: "I said, 'Wrong, Justin, you do.' I didn’t even know. … I had no idea. I just said, 'You're wrong.' You know why? Because we're so stupid. … And I thought they were smart."
Notables.
The American military acknowledged that U.S. special forces were involved in another firefight in Niger in December. The battle took place two months after four U.S. soldiers died in an ambush in Niger, and after senior commanders imposed additional restrictions on U.S. military operations in the country. No American or Nigerien forces were injured during the firefight. (New York Times)
Conor Lamb officially won the special House election in Pennsylvania. Lamb won by a very small margin, securing his victory after just a few thousand absentee ballots came in. Rick Saccone may still contest the outcome of the election. (New York Times)
Paul Manafort asked a federal judge to dismiss five criminal charges against him, arguing that special counsel Robert Mueller had no right to indict him for work done before he joined the Trump campaign as chairman in 2016. (CNN)
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu believes Trump will withdraw from the Iran nuclear deal in May. Israeli officials say that the departure of Rex Tillerson is another sign that Trump is headed towards withdrawing from the Iran deal. (Axios)
John Kelly may also be on the way out, according to congressional and administration sources. (CBS News)
1/ Students from more than 3,000 schools walked out today to demand stricter gun regulation, including bans on assault weapons and expanded background checks. The National School Walkout started at 10 a.m. ET and will continue across the country at 10 a.m. in each time zone, sparked by last month's school shooting in Florida. The protests will last for 17 minutes to honor each of the 17 people killed at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School one month ago. Some school districts have said they will discipline students who participate in the walkouts. "Change never happens without backlash," Pope High School senior Kara Litwin said. "This is a movement, this is not simply a moment, and this is only the first step in our long process." (NPR / CNN / USA Today / New York Times)
2/ A teacher who is also a reserve police officer injured three students after accidentally firing a gun inside a California classroom during a class devoted to public safety. Immediately before the gun fired, Dennis Alexander told the class that he wanted to make sure the gun wasn't loaded as he pointed it to the ceiling. "I think a lot of questions on parents' minds are, why a teacher would be pointing a loaded firearm at the ceiling in front of students," the district superintendent said. [Editor's note: Why would a teacher be bringing a loaded firearm to school?] (KSBW / Washington Post)
3/ In a separate incident, a school resource officer with the Alexandria, Virginia, Police Department accidentally fired his weapon at George Washington Middle School. The officer was inside his office at the time, and a department representative declined to say whether the officer had taken his gun out of his holster. No one, including the officer, was injured. (WTOP / NBC Washington)
4/ The House of Representatives passed a school safety bill by a vote of 407-10 to help schools and local law enforcement prevent gun violence. The bill provides training for school officials and local law enforcement to respond to mental health crises, as well as money to develop systems for reporting threats. The bill now heads to the Senate for consideration. (Reuters / CNN)
5/ Democrat Conor Lamb is narrowly leading Republican Rick Saccone in a Pennsylvania special election that's still too close to call. With 100% of votes counted, Lamb has a 627-vote lead over Saccone in a district that Trump won by nearly 20 percentage points and that was once considered an easy win for Republicans. The district will not exist in 2019, however, because the State Supreme Court ruled in January that Pennsylvania's House map was gerrymandered unlawfully and district lines have been redrawn. Whoever wins will be forced to run in a new district in November. (New York Times / The Hill / Vox / FiveThirtyEight)
Republicans don't plan to concede in the contested special election in Pennsylvania. The National Republican Congressional Committee said it is "not ruling out a recount." Democrat Conor Lamb holds a lead of less than 700 votes over Republican Rick Saccone. There are still about 203 absentee ballots and then additional provisional and military ballots left to be counted. (The Hill)
6/ Emails show Ben Carson and his wife selected the $31,000 furniture set for his Department of Housing and Urban Development dining room, undercutting claims by his spokesman that he had little or no involvement in the purchase. An August email, with the subject line "Secretary's dining room set needed," refers to "printouts of the furniture the Secretary and Mrs. Carson picked out." (CNN)
7/ The family of a slain DNC staffer filed a lawsuit against Fox News, an investigative reporter, and one of the network's frequent guests over a story about Seth Rich and their allegations that he was involved in a conspiracy. (ABC News)
8/ Trey Gowdy contradicted his own Republican-led House Intelligence Committee's findings in the Russia probe. Gowdy said Russia's interference in the 2016 presidential election was motivated in part "by a desire" to hurt Hillary Clinton's candidacy. The committee disagreed with the intelligence community's assessment "with respect to Putin's supposed preference for candidate Trump." (CNBC)
9/ Trump is open to a short-term DACA deal in exchange for border wall funding. One idea under consideration is a three-year extension of DACA in exchange for three years of wall funding. Trump canceled the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program in September. (Washington Post)
poll/ 51% of Trump voters think his alleged affair with Stormy Daniels was immoral, and 75% think the allegations are not relevant to Trump's presidency. (HuffPost)
poll/ 41% of voters think Trump should meet with Kim Jong Un without preconditions. 36% want Trump to meet with Kim only if North Korea makes concessions regarding its nuclear program beforehand. (Politico)
Notables.
Trump floated the idea of developing a "Space Force," a new branch of the military that would operate outside of earth's atmosphere. The Space Force apparently started as a joke, but Trump has since decided it's "a great idea," because "space is a war-fighting domain, just like the land, air, and sea." (CNBC)
Jeff Sessions is reviewing a recommendation to fire former F.B.I. deputy director Andrew McCabe days before he retires on Sunday. Justice Department officials expect McCabe to be fired before Friday, which would jeopardize his pension as a 21-year F.B.I. veteran. (New York Times)
Rand Paul opposes Mike Pompeo's nomination to replace Rex Tillerson, and is vowing to do everything he can to stop Pompeo from becoming secretary of state. (Politico)
Trump will name economist and CNBC senior contributor Larry Kudlow to head the White House's National Economic Council. Kudlow will replace Gary Cohn, who resigned over disagreements with Trump's decision to impose tariffs on steel and aluminum imports. (CNBC / CNN)
British Prime Minister Theresa May expelled 23 Russian "undeclared intelligence officers" following the poisoning of former spy Sergei Skripal and his daughter Yulia. May said there is "no alternative conclusion" other than Russia being responsible for their attempted murder. (Sky News)
Nikki Haley said U.S. believes Russia was responsible for the attempted assassination of a former Russian spy and his daughter in Britain. Haley told the U.N. Security Council it should hold the Kremlin "accountable." (NBC News)
Melania Trump plans to meet with Amazon, Facebook, Google, Twitter, and Snap next week to discuss cyberbullying and ways to combat online harassment and promote Internet safety. (Washington Post)
1/ Trump fired Rex Tillerson. CIA Director Mike Pompeo will replace Tillerson as Secretary of State. John Kelly told Tillerson that Trump wanted to replace him last Friday. Tillerson received a call from Trump more than three hours after he'd been fired. A spokesman said Tillerson "had every intention of staying" in his job and was "unaware of the reason" for his firing. Trump said the move had been considered for "a long time" and that "we were not thinking the same." (Washington Post / New York Times)
Mike Pompeo, Director of the CIA, will become our new Secretary of State. He will do a fantastic job! Thank you to Rex Tillerson for his service! Gina Haspel will become the new Director of the CIA, and the first woman so chosen. Congratulations to all!
Tillerson will remain in his post until March 31st, but is delegating all authorities for running the State Department to Deputy Secretary John Sullivan.
Tillerson thanked career diplomats for their "honesty and integrity" during a press conference. He did not thank Trump or praise his policies.
The White House fired Rex Tillerson's spokesman, Steve Goldstein, for contradicting the official administration account of Tillerson's own firing. (CNBC)
2/ Hours before being fired, Rex Tillerson called the poisoning of a former Russian spy and his daughter an "egregious act" that "clearly" came from Russia. He added that Russia is "an irresponsible force of instability in the world, acting with open disregard for the sovereignty of other states and the life of their citizens." On Monday, British Prime Minister Theresa May said it is "highly likely" Russia is responsible for the poisoning, either directly or because it lost control of the nerve agent. The two were poisoned with a military-grade nerve agent in the U.K. and were found unconscious. (NBC News)
Trump: "As soon as we get the facts straight, if we agree with them, we will condemn Russia or whoever it may be." (Reuters)
Russian exile Nikolai Glushkov was found dead at his home in London. The Metropolitan police said there was no evidence at present to suggest a link to the incident in Salisbury, where Sergei and Yulia Skripal remain in a critical condition. (The Guardian)
3/ Gina Haspel, currently the deputy director of the CIA, will replace Pompeo as the head of the CIA. Haspel oversaw the torture of two terrorism suspects and later took part in an order to destroy videotapes documenting their interrogations at a secret prison in Thailand. (New York Times)
4/ Trump's personal assistant, John McEntee, was fired because he is currently under investigation by the Department of Homeland Security for financial crimes, which prevented him from obtaining a full security clearance. McEntee will rejoin Trump's reelection campaign as a senior adviser of operations. (Wall Street Journal / CNN / Washington Post)
5/ Trump is considering firing Veterans Affairs chief David Shulkin and replacing him with Energy Secretary Rick Perry. Shulkin has been under scrutiny over ethics concerns, including ordering the VA's third-most-senior official to alter an email to make it appear that he was receiving an award from the Danish government so the VA could pay more than $4,300 for his wife's airfare. (New York Times)
6/ House Intelligence Committee Republicans said their investigation into Russian meddling in the 2016 presidential election found no evidence of collusion between the Trump campaign and the Russians. The committee agreed with the findings of the intelligence community that Russia had interfered, but they disagreed that the Russians favored Trump. Adam Schiff, the top Democrat on the committee, said the Republican decision to end the investigation was "another tragic milestone for this Congress, and represents yet another capitulation to the executive branch," adding: "By ending its oversight role in the only authorized investigation in the House, the Majority has placed the interests of protecting the President over protecting the country, and history will judge its actions harshly." (New York Times / CNN)
THE HOUSE INTELLIGENCE COMMITTEE HAS, AFTER A 14 MONTH LONG IN-DEPTH INVESTIGATION, FOUND NO EVIDENCE OF COLLUSION OR COORDINATION BETWEEN THE TRUMP CAMPAIGN AND RUSSIA TO INFLUENCE THE 2016 PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION.
A Russian national who was extradited to the U.S. last year over Kremlin objections pleaded guilty to conspiracy and aiding and abetting computer intrusion, admitting he operated a dark web service that helped thousands of hackers conceal malware from detection. (The Daily Beast)
7/ In the spring of 2016, Roger Stone said he learned from WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange that the organization had obtained the emails of John Podesta and of the Democratic National Committee. WikiLeaks released the documents in late July and October. U.S. intelligence concluded the hackers who obtained the emails were working for Russia. Stone has since denied any communication with Assange or knowledge of the document dumps by WikiLeaks. Assange and WikiLeaks have also said they never communicated with Stone. (Washington Post)
8/ A U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement spokesman resigned over what he says were "false" and "misleading" statements by Justice Department officials, including Jeff Sessions and ICE Acting Director Thomas Homan. James Schwab said he couldn't continue to do his job after Trump administration officials made false public statements about a key aspect of a recent Northern California sweep. (San Francisco Chronicle / Washington Post)
poll/ 42% of Americans approve of Trump's handling of North Korea, but 64% of Americans are uneasy about the situation. (CBS News)
Notables.
Rick Saccone asserted that his political opponents "hate" the president, the United States, and God. The Pennsylvania Republican congressional candidate trails Democrat Conor Lamb by six percentage points heading into today's special election for the state's 18th congressional district. (NBC News)
Paul Manafort could spend the "rest of his life in prison," a federal judge said. Manafort was ordered to "home incarceration" and "24-hour-a-day lockdown at his residence" while he awaits trial. (Politico)
Trump wants to impose tariffs on $60 billion of Chinese imports, targeting the technology and telecommunications sectors, as well as imposing investment restrictions in response to allegations of intellectual property theft. (Politico / Reuters)
Trump blocked Broadcom's $117 billion bid for the chip maker Qualcomm, citing national security concerns. Trump said "credible evidence" led him to believe that if the Singapore-based company were to acquire Qualcomm, it "might take action that threatens to impair the national security of the United States." (New York Times)
Trump has been seeking counsel on how to handle the Stormy Daniels situation. Confidants have advised Trump not to fight Daniels' decision to break a confidentiality agreement because it would make him look guilty, which is the only reason Trump has stayed quiet on the issue and hasn't tweeted about it. (CNN)
Trump missed the deadline to accept the return of a $130,000 settlement payment from Stormy Daniels, who had offered to return the money in exchange for the freedom to speak about her alleged affair with Trump. "Time to buckle up," Daniels' lawyer, Michael Avenatti said. (The Guardian)
Trump is in San Diego personally examining eight prototypes for his border wall to, as he put it, "pick the right one." (NBC News)
1/ Trump still "intends to" meet with special counsel Robert Mueller under oath, according to White House principal deputy press secretary Raj Shah. He added that Trump doesn't plan on firing Mueller, yet. "There's no intention whatsoever to fire Robert Mueller, the special counsel, right now," he said. "We've been fully cooperative. We respect their process. We're hoping it will come to a conclusion in the near future." (ABC News)
2/ Robert Mueller's obstruction of justice investigation is said to be near completion, but the special counsel may wait until other parts of his probe are completed. The calculus: Any clear outcomes in the obstruction of justice case might undercut the broader investigation. Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein said Mueller "is not an unguided missile. I don't believe there is any justification at this point for terminating the special counsel." (Bloomberg / USA Today)
3/ Trump is considering whether to add Bill Clinton's impeachment lawyer to his legal team. Emmet Flood met with Trump in the Oval Office last week to discuss the possibility, but no final decision has been made. (New York Times)
4/ The Qatari government chose not to provide information to Robert Mueller for fear of hurting their relationship with the Trump administration. Qatari officials gathered evidence of what they claim is illicit influence by the United Arab Emirates on Jared Kushner and other Trump associates, including details of secret meetings. (NBC News)
5/ Ivanka Trump received $1.5 million in 2017 from three companies affiliated with the Trump Organization. Ivanka's continued ties to the family business and work as a special assistant to the president has created numerous potential conflicts of interest prohibited by federal law. Some Trump-branded developments have hired state-owned companies for construction, received public land or relaxed regulations from foreign governments, and accepted payments from foreign officials. Ivanka has been accused of violating the emoluments clause of the U.S. Constitution, which forbids government officials to accept gifts from foreign governments without the approval of Congress. (McClatchy DC)
Trump Jr. has a previously undisclosed business relationship with a friend who helped raise millions of dollars for his father's 2016 presidential campaign. Gentry Beach last year met with top National Security Council officials to push a plan that would curb U.S. sanctions in Venezuela and open up business for U.S. companies in the oil-rich nation. (Associated Press)
6/ The Trump administration promised to fund "rigorous firearms training" for schoolteachers while walking back its commitment to raising the legal purchasing age for firearms to 21. The White House also formally endorsed a bill to improve the federal background check system, and Trump plans to establish a Federal Commission on School Safety to explore possible solutions, which will be chaired by Betsy DeVos. (Washington Post / NBC News)
7/ Education Secretary Betsy DeVos struggled to answer basic questions about education policy and schools during a "60 Minutes" interview. In particular, DeVos had a hard time explaining why public schools in her home state of Michigan have performed poorly despite the school choice policies she's championed. A student who survived last month's mass shooting at a Florida high school mocked DeVos on Twitter, saying "It's unfair to put the United States Secretary of Education on the spot like that." (CBS News / Washington Post / The Hill)
Everybody please give @BetsyDeVosED a break in regards to the 60 Minutes video...
Answering questions about education is hard. It’s unfair to put the United States Secretary of Education on the spot like that.
Secretary DeVos, you are in an office, so I will stand by you.
8/ White House lawyers are considering legal action to prevent "60 Minutes" from airing an interview with adult film star Stormy Daniels, whose real name is Stephanie Clifford. The legal argument behind the move to suppress the footage remains unclear. To stop the interview from airing, Trump would need to secure a restraining order against CBS, which makes it almost certainly too late for Trump to disrupt the telecast. The interview is slated to air on Sunday, March 18, on CBS. (BuzzFeed News / Washington Post)
9/ Stormy Daniels offered to return the $130,000 she received from Trump's personal lawyer in 2016 for agreeing not to discuss her alleged relationship with Trump. In the letter sent to Trump's personal lawyer, Michael Cohen, Stephanie Clifford would wire the money into an account of Trump's choosing by Friday. (New York Times / Reuters)
10/ Putin suggested that Jews were responsible for the cyberattacks during the 2016 election when asked about 13 Russian citizens charged by the special counsel Robert Mueller. "Maybe they are not even Russians," Putin mused, "but Ukrainians, Tatars or Jews, but with Russian citizenship, which should also be checked. Maybe they have dual citizenship or a Green Card. Maybe the U.S. paid them for this. How can you know that? I do not know either." Top Democratic leaders in the House and Senate urged Trump to employ "all resources available" to extradite the 13 Russians. (New York Times / NBC News)
11/ More than two-thirds of House Democrats have signed a letter "strongly urging" Trump to enact sanctions on Russia and adhere to the law he signed last summer. At least 137 of the Democrats in the House have signed the letter, which urges Trump to "reverse course, follow the letter and spirit of the law, and demonstrate that the security of our country and integrity of elections are sacrosanct." (Reuters)
In 2013, Trump personally invited Putin to the Miss Universe pageant in Moscow. At the bottom of the typed letter, Trump added that he looked forward to seeing "beautiful" women during his trip. (Washington Post)
12/ The House Intelligence Committee has finished interviewing witnesses in its probe into Russian interference in the 2016 election. The Republican-run committee is preparing a report based on witness testimony and thousands of pages of documents. The panel is unlikely to come to a bipartisan conclusion on some of the central questions in the probe. (Wall Street Journal)
13/ Theresa May said it was "highly likely" that Russia was responsible for poisoning a former Russian double agent and his daughter last week in the U.K. The British leader said the poison was identified as a "military-grade nerve agent of a type developed by Russia" and that Russia either engaged in an "indiscriminate and reckless" attack against Britain or it lost control of the nerve agent it developed. Russian officials called May's remarks "a provocation" and "circus show." (The Guardian / BBC / Washington Post)
poll/ Democrat Conor Lamb has a 6-point lead over Republican Rick Saccone in Pennsylvania's special election. Lamb holds a 51% to 45% lead over Saccone if the Democratic turnout is similar to voting patterns seen in other special elections over the past year. (Monmouth University Polling Institute)
Notables.
Steve Bannon: "Let them call you racist. Let them call you xenophobes. Let them call you nativists," he told a crowd of far-right French politicians. "Wear it as a badge of honor. Because every day, we get stronger and they get weaker." (ABC News)
Trump thinks Republican Rick Saccone is a terrible, "weak" candidate despite appearing at a rally for Saccone's campaign in the Pennsylvania special congressional election. Trump barely mentioned Saccone during his 80-minute speech. Instead, he focused on Oprah, his plan to deal with drug dealers, and unveiling his new campaign slogan for 2020: "Keep America Great." (Axios / CNN)
Some White House officials believe the chances of a Trump-Kim Jong-un meeting happening are less than 50%. The administration is deliberating over the logistics and location of the meeting although it hasn't established direct contact with North Korea. (New York Times)
The White House "scolded" four Cabinet-level officials last month for embarrassing stories about questionable ethical behavior at their respective agencies. (CNN)
The Trump administration is studying a new policy that could allow prosecutors to seek the death penalty for drug dealers. The White House wants to make trafficking large quantities of fentanyl a capital crime because even small amounts of the drug can be fatal. A final announcement could come within weeks. (Washington Post)
1/ Michael Cohen used his Trump Organization email to arrange the $130,000 transfer to Stormy Daniels in exchange for her silence about her affair with Trump. Trump's personal attorney regularly used the same email account during 2016 negotiations with the actress – whose legal name is Stephanie Clifford – before she signed a nondisclosure agreement. Daniels filed a civil suit against Trump alleging the contract she signed is invalid because it's intentionally missing Trump's signature "so he could later, if need be, publicly disavow any knowledge of the 'Hush Agreement'" or the affair. (NBC News / NPR)
2/ Michael Cohen's use of Trump Organization email address to organize payment to Stormy Daniels may have violated federal election law. Corporations and labor organizations are prohibited from making contributions to candidates or political committees. Daniels alleges that the money was paid to keep her from talking about a sexual relationship she had with Trump. Cohen, meanwhile, has argued that he used his personal funds to "facilitate" the payment and that he did not get reimbursed by the Trump Organization or campaign. (Washington Post / CNBC)
3/ Trump has added another lawyer in his outside legal team to take on Stormy Daniels. Lawrence Rosen, a New York attorney described as a "pit bull," will join Trump's personal attorney, Michael Cohen, in responding to the growing legal issues surrounding reports that Cohen paid the adult-film star to keep quiet about her affair with Trump. (ABC News / The Hill)
4/ Trump will meet with Kim Jong-un to negotiate "permanent denuclearization" of North Korea, which will cease all missile testing while the negotiations are being held. The two leaders are expected to meet in the next 60 days. News of a potential meeting has been met with positive reactions from China, Russia, and South Korea. (New York Times / Fox News)
Dennis Rodman is one of two people who have met both Trump and Kim Jong-un. The other is South Korean national security adviser Chung Eui-yong, who extended the invitation from Kim to Trump during a visit to Washington this week. (Washington Post)
5/ Trump's lawyers want to trade a Trump interview with Robert Mueller in exchange for ending the Trump-related portion of the special counsel's Russia investigation. Trump's legal team wants Mueller to commit to ending the probe 60 days after the interview, as well as limiting the scope of the questioning. (Wall Street Journal / CNBC)
6/ Florida Gov. Rick Scott signed legislation to tighten gun restrictions, which raises the legal age for gun purchases to 21, institutes a three-day waiting period, and establishes a program to arm some school personnel. The NRA's Florida lobbyist denounced the bill as an unconstitutional infringement on the Second Amendment and said it passed the state House in "a display of bullying and coercion." (Washington Post / NPR)
7/ John Kelly stopped Scott Pruitt from staging a public debate to challenge climate change science. The EPA administrator wanted to hold military-style exercises known as red team, blue team debates in which one team attacks and another defends the robustness of climate change science. (New York Times)
8/ Sen. Dean Heller believes Supreme Court Justice Anthony Kennedy will retire this summer, which would set up Trump to fill a second Supreme Court seat. Last year he nominated Neil Gorsuch to replace Antonin Scalia, who died in 2016. Heller is one of the most vulnerable Republican senators up for re-election in 2018, and he's hoping a Supreme Court vacancy "will get our base a little motivated because right now they're not very motivated. But I think a new Supreme Court justice will get them motivated." (Politico / The Hill)
Notables.
Obama is negotiating a deal to produce a series of shows for Netflix. Netflix reportedly plans to pay Barack and Michelle Obama for exclusive content, which is expected to highlight inspirational stories. (New York Times)
Joe Biden is preparing for a 2020 run. He's discussing with aides about announcing his candidacy either really early or really late in the primary process so that he'd either define the field around him or let it define itself. (Politico)
The U.S. economy added 313,000 jobs in February while the unemployment rate held steady for the fifth straight month at 4.1%, a 17-year low. (Washington Post)
The head of Veterans Affairs now has an armed guard standing outside his office. He has also revoked access to his 10th-floor executive suite for several people he believes have lobbied the White House to oust him. David Shulkin has canceled his morning meetings with his senior management team and instead meets with the aides he trusts. (Washington Post)
The Interior Department spent almost $139,000 on new doors for Ryan Zinke's office. Zinke was apparently unaware of the expenditure until a reporter from the Associated Press reached out to him to confirm the cost. (Associated Press / Politico)
The White House rejected a House Oversight Committee request for a "list of employees" in the White House with pending security clearances or clearances that have been resolved since Trump's inauguration. The panel's senior Democrat called for a subpoena to compel the White House to respond. (ABC News)
Sam Nunberg appeared at a federal courthouse in Washington to deliver federal grand jury testimony as part of special counsel Robert Mueller's investigation. Nunberg made no comment to reporters as he entered the courthouse, other than to say that he would not make a statement after his grand jury testimony. (Reuters / CNN)
1/ Trump authorized tariffs on aluminum and steel imports, exempting Canada and Mexico, and leaving the door open for other countries to be excluded. The moves will impose a 25% levy on steel and 10% charge on aluminum. The tariffs will take effect in 15 days. (New York Times / CNBC)
2/ Trump said he still likes "globalist" Gary Cohn and he has a "feeling" he'll come back to the White House. Trump's economic advisor resigned Tuesday after losing his fight against stiff tariffs on steel and aluminum. (CNBC)
3/ White House counsel Don McGahn issued ethics waivers to 24 ex-lobbyists and corporate lawyers allowing them to regulate the industries in which they previously worked. Trump signed an executive order a week into his presidency that barred former lobbyists and lawyers from participating in matters that they previously lobbied for or worked on for private clients, purportedly as a way to prevent corruption and "drain the swamp." (NBC News)
4/ Trump asked Don McGahn and Reince Priebus about their discussions with Robert Mueller's investigators. In one episode, Trump wanted McGahn to issue a statement denying that McGahn told investigators that Trump once asked him to fire special counsel Robert Mueller. McGahn had to remind Trump that he did ask him to have Mueller fired. In the other, Trump asked Priebus how his interview with Mueller's investigators had gone, and whether they were "nice." (New York Times)
5/ Jared Kushner met with Mexican President Enrique Peña Nieto on Wednesday in an attempt to reduce tensions between the U.S. and Mexico in the wake of a contentious phone call about Trump's proposed wall on the southern U.S. border. Kushner, however, did not invite the U.S. ambassador to Mexico to accompany him on the trip. Ambassador Roberta Jacobson is among the State Department's top Latin American experts, with more than 30 years of diplomatic experience in the region. (The Hill / New York Times)
6/ The head of Trump's voter fraud commission acknowledged that their plan for identifying voter fraud wasn't a good one. The White House wanted to check voter information against federal databases to identify people who were on voting rolls illegally. (HuffPost)
7/ Trump's former campaign manager Paul Manafort pleaded not guilty to an 18-count indictment as part of Robert Mueller's investigation into Russian meddling in the 2016 presidential election. The judge set the trial to begin July 10. Last week Manafort pleaded not guilty to conspiracy to launder money and failing to register as a foreign agent. (ABC News / Reuters)
8/ A federal judge expressed skepticism about whether Trump can constitutionally block Twitter users and recommended that Trump mute rather than block his critics in order to resolve a First Amendment lawsuit. Trump's lawyer in the case argued that Trump's use of Twitter was personal and didn't qualify as a state action. A lawyer for the plaintiffs said that the account is operated in an official capacity because Trump often uses Twitter to announce policies or policy proposals. (Reuters / Associated Press)
poll/ 41% of American voters think Trump is the worst president since World War II. The same poll shows Trump with a 38% approval rating. (Quinnipiac)
Notables.
California Gov. Jerry Brown shot back at Jeff Sessions and Trump for suing the state over its immigration laws. Brown called the administration "full of liars" and said Robert "Mueller is closing in. There are more indictments to come. So obviously the attorney general has found it hard to be just a normal attorney general. He's been caught up in the whirlwind." (CNN)
Trump is "very unhappy" with Sarah Huckabee Sanders over her handling of questions about his alleged affair with adult-film actress Stormy Daniels. (The Hill)
Kellyanne Conway declined to say whether Trump would discipline her for violating the Hatch Act. "The president and I have spoken about this," Conway said, adding: "I won't reveal my private conversations with the president about anything except that he would like me to speak about publicly, including steel and aluminum." (Politico)
The head of the U.S. Forest Service resigned following reports of sexual harassment and retaliation at the agency. (Politico)
Republicans in Utah wanted to name a highway after Trump to thank him for reducing the national monuments in the state. The sponsor of the bill, who believed he had enough votes to pass the measure, dropped the bill after receiving too many personal attacks for the plan. (New York Times)
Corey Lewandowski met with the House Intelligence Committee for three hours, telling reporters he answered "every relevant question you could imagine." (ABC News)
Eleven countries signed a revised Trans-Pacific Partnership agreement, which spans a market of 500 million people. The U.S. withdrew from the deal three days after Trump's inauguration. (Reuters)
1/ Stormy Daniels is suing Trump for failing to sign the non-disclosure agreement that prevented her from discussing their "intimate" relationship. Both Daniels and Trump's attorney Michael Cohen signed the agreement, but Trump never did. Daniels, whose real name is Stephanie Clifford, filed a civil suit with the Los Angeles Superior Court Tuesday night seeking to void the 2016 "hush agreement," as it's referred to in the suit. (NBC News)
2/ Michael Cohen, meanwhile, obtained a restraining order to prevent Stormy Daniels from speaking out about her affair with Trump. Sarah Huckabee Sanders confirmed that Trump's lawyer had won an arbitration proceeding against the actress, Stephanie Clifford. Trump and Cohen have been trying to keep the affair and payoff involving the porn star quiet for well over a year. (New York Times)
3/ George Nader, former Trump aide and adviser to the United Arab Emirates, is cooperating with special counsel Robert Mueller. Mueller is looking at how foreign money may have influenced Trump's political activities and whether Nader funneled money from the UAE to support Trump's political efforts. Nader testified last week to a grand jury. (New York Times)
4/ Robert Mueller has evidence about an effort to establish a back-channel between the incoming Trump administration and the Kremlin. Erik Prince, the founder of the private military company Blackwater, met with a Russian official close to Putin in January, 2017. Prince described the meeting to congressional investigators as a chance encounter. A cooperating witness told Mueller's investigators that the meeting was set up in advance so that a representative of the Trump transition could meet with an emissary from Moscow to discuss future relations between the two countries. (Washington Post)
5/ Hope Hicks told the House Intelligence Committee last week that one of her email accounts had been hacked and that she could no longer access it and another account. It's unclear which email account she was referring to: her personal account or the one she used during Trump's campaign. (NBC News)
6/ The Trump administration is suing California over the state's so-called sanctuary laws. The Justice Department claims California's immigration policies are unconstitutional and make it impossible for federal immigration authorities to do their jobs, which include deporting criminals who are in the U.S. illegally. Justice Department officials have asked a judge to block California's sanctuary laws. (New York Times)
7/ The Florida House approved gun control legislation that would impose a 3-day waiting period on most gun purchases, raise the minimum age to 21, and create a "school marshal" program to arm some classroom teachers. The bipartisan vote passed 67-50. The Hillsborough County School Board in Florida on Tuesday unanimously opposed a motion to arm school employees. (Washington Post / USA Today / Tampa Bay Times)
Trump plans to meet with the video game industry to discuss how violent imagery in games desensitizes young people to firearms. Industry leaders said they had not been invited to the meeting. (The Daily Beast)
8/ Trump is expected to sign a presidential proclamation establishing the tariffs on steel and aluminum tomorrow. On Monday, Trump said that Canada and Mexico would only be excluded after the successful renegotiation of NAFTA. European Union officials have pledged to place tariffs on an array of American-made goods if Trump follows through on his plan to impose 25% tariffs on steel imports and 10% tariffs on aluminum imports. (Reuters / New York Times)
107 House Republicans sent a letter to Trump "urging" him not to impose broad tariffs on steel and aluminum. In the letter, Republicans warned that "adding new taxes in the form of broad tariffs would undermine this remarkable progress" on tax reform. (CNBC)
poll/ Trump trails a generic Democratic candidate in 2020 by 8 points, 44% to 36%. (Politico)
Notables.
Democrats unveiled a $1 trillion infrastructure plan that would be financed by reversing two-thirds of the GOP tax bill and reinstating a top income tax rate of 39.6%. The plan includes $140 billion for roads and bridges, $115 billion for water and sewer infrastructure and $50 billion to rebuild schools. (Washington Post)
Trump tweet-blamed presidents George H.W. Bush, Bill Clinton, George W. Bush, and Barack Obama for the U.S. trade deficits and the loss of manufacturing jobs over the last 30 years. "From Bush 1 to present," Trump tweeted, "our Country has lost more than 55,000 factories, 6,000,000 manufacturing jobs and accumulated Trade Deficits of more than 12 Trillion Dollars." (Politico)
Ben Carson removed the promise of inclusive and discrimination-free communities from the Housing and Urban Development's mission statement. A HUD staffer explained that the statement is being updated "in an effort to align HUD's mission with the Secretary's priorities and that of the Administration." (HuffPost)
Several White House staffers have been terminated or reassigned for issues related to their security clearances. Several more are under consideration for possible termination or reassignment in the coming days. (ABC News)
1/ Trump's personal attorney received leaked witness testimony from within the House Intelligence Committee. The lawyer representing Michael Cohen contacted the lawyer of a former John McCain staffer after someone from the House Committee told Cohen's lawyer that the former staffer had information about the Steele dossier that could help Cohen. The information came from closed-door, committee-sensitive testimony. The dossier alleges that Cohen met with Kremlin officials, which Cohen denies. The conversation was reported to the House Intelligence Committee. Robert Mueller, meanwhile, has requested documents and interviewed witnesses about two or more episodes involving Russian interests and Cohen's involvement. (The Daily Beast / Washington Post)
2/ Gary Cohn will resign over Trump's plan to impose large tariffs on steel and aluminum imports, although officials insist there was no single factor behind the departure. Trump's top economic advisor had been working to stop the tariffs that threaten to cause a global trade war, which Paul Ryan said he was "extremely worried about." Cohn is expected to leave in the coming weeks. (New York Times)
3/ Kellyanne Conway violated the Hatch Act on two occasions, the Office of Special Counsel said as it referred its findings to Trump "for appropriate disciplinary action." In her official capacity, Conway endorsed and advocated against political candidates during two television appearances in 2017. The Hatch Act prohibits government employees from engaging in political activities. The OSC is not affiliated with special counsel Robert Mueller's Russia investigation. (The Hill / ABC News)
4/ Trump tweets "there is no chaos" in the White House, but there are "some people that I want to change" because he is "always seeking perfection." The tweet comes a week after Trump called Jeff Sessions "disgraceful," Hope Hicks resigned, and Jared Kushner's security clearance was downgraded. (Washington Post / CNBC)
The new Fake News narrative is that there is CHAOS in the White House. Wrong! People will always come & go, and I want strong dialogue before making a final decision. I still have some people that I want to change (always seeking perfection). There is no Chaos, only great Energy!
5/ Sam Nunberg says he'll probably cooperate with Robert Mueller's subpoena after all. Yesterday, the former Trump aide appeared on multiple cable news programs to announce his plans to defy the special prosecutor's demands. Nunberg conceded that he'll likely find a way to comply with the requests for testimony and documents. "I'm going to end up cooperating with them," Nunberg said. (Associated Press / Axios)
6/ The ranking Democrat on the House Intelligence Committee wants to interview Nunberg as part of its Russia investigation. Adam Schiff said Nunberg's assertion that Trump knew about the 2016 Trump Tower meeting before it occurred is an area that the committee needs to explore. Nunberg said he would be willing to testify. "I would go there, sure." (CNN / The Hill)
7/ Kim Jong-un may be willing to negotiate with the U.S. on abandoning its nuclear arsenal in exchange for security guarantees, according to South Korean president Moon Jae-in. North Korea would suspend all nuclear and missile tests while the negotiations are in progress. It's the first time North Korea has indicated that it's willing to negotiate away its nuclear weapons. Trump tweeted: "We will see what happens!" Later, Trump attributed the progress to his administration's sanctions against North Korea, but warned that he is "prepared to go whichever path is necessary." (New York Times / Politico)
8/ The Trump administration will allow hunters to import elephant trophies on a "case-by-case" basis, breaking Trump's earlier pledge to maintain the Obama-era protections. The Fish and Wildlife Service issued a memorandum last week withdrawing its 2007 Endangered Species Act findings for elephants from Zimbabwe and Zambia, saying that "the findings are no longer effective for making individual permit determinations for imports of sport-hunted African elephant trophies." Trump previously called trophy hunting a "horror show." (The Hill)
Big-game trophy decision will be announced next week but will be very hard pressed to change my mind that this horror show in any way helps conservation of Elephants or any other animal.
9/ A White House report shows that the benefits from "major" federal regulations between 2006 and 2016 outweighed the costs. The Office of Management and Budget report, released late last Friday, estimates that the aggregate annual benefit from the Obama-era regulations was between $287 and $911 billion, while the estimated aggregate annual costs were between $78 and $115 billion, as reported in 2015 dollars. The regulations offered a net benefit of up to $833 billion. (Vox)
poll/ 64% of American disagree with Trump's stance that a trade war would be good for the U.S. and easy to win. 28% said they agreed with Trump's position. (Quinnipiac)
Notables.
Michael Flynn is selling his house to pay his legal bills after pleading guilty last year to lying to the FBI. The house went on the market in December and is listed at $895,000. Flynn's brother, Joe, says Flynn will use the money to pay for his legal defense. (ABC News)
House Democrats are calling for an ethics investigation into the practice of lawmakers sleeping in their offices. They argue it's an abuse of taxpayer funds. (Politico)
Nashville Mayor Megan Barry resigned after pleading guilty to felony theft of more than $10,000 related to her affair with her former police bodyguard. Barry agreed to reimburse the city. (The Tennessean)
West Virginia lawmakers reached a deal intended to end a teachers' strike by raising their pay by 5%. The strike has canceled nine consecutive school days across the state. (CNN)
1/ Robert Mueller's grand jury issued a subpoena requesting all communications involving Trump's associates, including Carter Page, Corey Lewandowski, Hope Hicks, Paul Manafort, Rick Gates, Roger Stone, Steve Bannon, Keith Schiller, Michael Cohen, and Sam Nunberg. Investigators are asking for emails, texts, working papers, telephone records, and more from November 1st, 2015, to the present. (NBC News / Axios)
Mueller's investigators are questioning witnesses for information about any attempts by the United Arab Emirates to buy political influence by funneling money to Trump during the 2016 presidential campaign. (New York Times)
2/ Sam Nunberg plans to defy a subpoena to appear in front of Mueller's grand jury. The former Trump aide said he will not provide the testimony or documents requested and that he refuses to cooperate with the subpoena because he believes investigators will make him testify against his mentor Roger Stone. Nunberg then went on MSNBC and said he thought Trump "may have done something" illegal during the presidential campaign. Soon after, Nunberg appeared on CNN for a pair of interviews where he challenged Mueller to arrest him, saying "I'm not cooperating. Arrest me." He added that Mueller has "something" on Trump. "Perhaps I'm wrong, but he did something." (Washington Post / NBC News / CNN)
MORE:
Sarah Huckabee Sanders refuted Nunberg's suggestion that the campaign colluded with Russia, saying "I definitely think he doesn't know that for sure, because he's incorrect. He hasn't worked at the White House, so I can't speak to him or the lack of knowledge he clearly has. As we've said many times before, there's been no collusion."
Nunberg then went on NY1, the New York cable news channel to respond: "If Sarah Huckabee wants to start debasing me, she's a joke. Okay, fine, yeah, she's unattractive. She's a fat slob. Fine. But that's not relevant. The person she works for has a 30% approval rating, okay?" (Mediaite)
Following the NY1 appearance, Nunberg went back to MSNBC, this time with Ari Melber, to say: "Sarah should shut up, frankly… she should shut her mouth." As Melber tried to move on, Nunberg underscored his position: "I'm warning her to shut her mouth!" (Mediaite)
"I think that he may have done something during the election," former Trump aide Sam Nunberg says of President Trump, but adds, "I don't know that for sure." pic.twitter.com/4qpzxGcS2s
Former Trump campaign aide Sam Nunberg said he's refusing to comply with a grand jury subpoena in the Russia investigation. Listen to his whole interview with CNN's Gloria Borger. https://t.co/ylRuQjVaEF
3/ A Belarusian escort claims to have more than 16 hours of audio recordings that prove Russia meddled in the U.S. elections. Anastasia Vashukevich, who is close to a Russian oligarch, said she would hand over the recordings if the U.S. granted her asylum. (New York Times)
4/ The author of the Trump dossier told Mueller's team that Russia asked Trump not to hire Mitt Romney as secretary of state. Instead Russia advised Trump to pick someone who would ease sanctions against Moscow for its actions in Ukraine. Christopher Steele spoke with the special counsel's investigators last September. In his 2012 presidential run, Romney called Russia "our No. 1 geopolitical foe." (The New Yorker)
5/ 12 days before the election, Stormy Daniels threatened to cancel the nondisclosure agreement about her alleged affair with Trump after Trump's attorney, Michael Cohen, missed the deadline to pay her $130,000. The payment arrived 10 days later on October 27th, 2016 – 13 days after the initial deadline – because First Republic Bank flagged the transaction as suspicious and reported it to the Treasury Department. (Washington Post / Wall Street Journal)
6/ Trump praised President Xi's consolidation of power in China and said he wouldn't mind doing the same for himself. "He's now president for life," Trump said at a fundraiser at Mar-a-Lago, adding: "I think it's great. Maybe we'll have to give that a shot some day." China's ruling Communist Party eliminated the presidential two-term limit, which paves the way for Xi to serve indefinitely. (CNN / Reuters / New York Times)
7/ The State Department has spent $0 of the $120 million it has been budgeted for combatting foreign interference in U.S. elections. None of the 23 analysts speak Russian at the Global Engagement Center, which is tasked with countering Moscow's disinformation campaigns. A hiring freeze has prevented the department from recruiting the kind of computer experts needed to track foreign efforts to meddle in the U.S. election process. (New York Times)
Former White House Chief of Staff Denis McDonough said Mitch McConnell "watered down" a warning about Russia's attempts to interfere in the 2016 election. McDonough defended the Obama administration's response to foreign meddling in the campaign. (NBC News)
Notables.
Senate Republicans and more than a dozen Democrats are preparing to repeal major banking regulations put in place after the 2008 financial crisis. The new bill allows roughly two dozen financial firms with up to $250 billion in assets to avoid the highest levels of scrutiny from the Federal Reserve. (Washington Post)
Paul Ryan urged the Trump administration not to move forward on new tariffs on steel and aluminum, arguing the move runs counter to the core of their economic agenda and could cause political problems heading into the 2018 midterms. Ryan said he is "extremely worried" about the tariffs. Trump replied, "We're not backing down." (Reuters / CNBC)
Canada and Mexico pushed back against Trump's suggestion that tariffs could be waived if they signed a new and "fair" NAFTA deal, threatening to retaliate unless they are exempted from the planned tariffs on steel and aluminum. Canada and Mexico export more than 75% of their goods to the United States. (Reuters)
Jared Kushner has "got to go" if reports about his role in the Qatar blockade are true, said Senator Chris Murphy, a member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. "The situation is made much worse by the fact that we have family members in the White House," Chris Christie added. (ABC News / NY Post)
The Trump Organization ordered a set of Presidential Seal replicas for its golf course tee markers. Under federal law, the seal's use is permitted only for official government business. (ProPublica)
1/ A Kremlin-linked Russian politician spent six years building leverage and connections in order to influence the NRA and gain access to American politics. Alexander Torshin, a Putin ally, also claimed that his ties to the NRA afforded him access to Trump. Robert Mueller's team is investigating whether Torshin, who serves as the deputy governor of the Bank of Russia, illegally funneled money to the NRA in order to help the Trump campaign in the 2016 presidential election. (NPR)
2/ Georgia lawmakers stripped Delta Air Lines of a $50 million sales tax exemption on jet fuel in retaliation for Delta ending its NRA member discount. The Georgia House and Senate had previously approved the tax break. The Atlanta-based airline said only 13 passengers have ever bought tickets with the NRA discount. (New York Times / USA Today)
3/ Mitch McConnell said the Senate will skip debate on gun legislation and instead turn to a banking bill next week, reflecting the reality that negotiators have not settled on legislation that can pass the House and Senate. (CNN)
4/ The NRA said it persuaded Trump to back away from his embrace of gun control. After a meeting with both Trump and Pence, NRA lobbyist Chris Cox tweeted that the two "support the Second Amendment, support strong due process and don't want gun control." (New York Times)
5/ A large cache of internal documents from a Russian troll farm were leaked and put up for auction on a Russian "information exchange" in February 2017. The auction received no bids for the Internet Research Agency documents, which promised "working data from the department focused on the United States." The listing revealed details about the Kremlin-backed troll farm's efforts to push propaganda and disinformation in the U.S. (The Daily Beast)
6/ Trump defended his plan to impose tariffs on steel and aluminum imports, tweeting that "trade wars are good, and easy to win." According to two officials, however, Trump's decision was born out of his frustration with an internal process that didn't provide him with consensus advice from his team. As one official familiar with Trump's state of mind said: the president became "unglued." Investors are concerned that the tariffs could invite U.S. trade partners to retaliate. Paul Ryan and Trump's economic advisors asked the president to reconsider the tariffs in order to avoid "unintended consequences." (CNN / NBC News)
When a country (USA) is losing many billions of dollars on trade with virtually every country it does business with, trade wars are good, and easy to win. Example, when we are down $100 billion with a certain country and they get cute, don’t trade anymore-we win big. It’s easy!
7/ A week before Trump announced his intention to impose tariffs on steel imports, his friend and former adviser Carl Icahn sold almost 1 million shares of Manitowoc Company Inc. – a steel-dependent company and the "leading global manufacturer of cranes and lifting solutions." (ThinkProgress)
8/ FBI Counterintelligence is investigating Ivanka Trump's role in the negotiations and financing surrounding the Trump Hotel and Tower in Vancouver, which opened just after Trump took office. The Trump Organization received more than $5 million in royalties and $21,500 in management fees from the Vancouver property. (CNN)
9/ Jared Kushner's real estate firm appealed directly to Qatar's minister of finance in an attempt to secure investment for a critically distressed property — the Kushners' signature development located at 666 Fifth Avenue in New York City. The deal fell through, and a month later Kushner supported Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates – Qatar's neighbors – in a Middle East blockade of Qatar. Kushner also undermined Rex Tillerson's efforts to bring an end to the impasse. (The Intercept)
Inside the 28 days of tumult that left Jared Kushner badly diminished. "Once the prince of Trump's Washington, Kushner is now stripped of his access to the nation’s deepest secrets, isolated and badly weakened inside the administration, under scrutiny for his mixing of business and government work and facing the possibility of grave legal peril in the Russia probe." (Washington Post)
10/ Robert Mueller's team is investigating whether any of Jared Kushner's foreign business ties influenced White House policies. Investigators want to know if Kushner's discussions during the presidential transition later led to policies designed to either benefit or retaliate against those he spoke with. (NBC News)
Notables.
The possibility of oil and gas exploration in Bears Ears National Monument in Utah was central to the Interior Department's shrinking the monument by 85%, according to internal documents. Utah's senator Orrin Hatch asked a senior Interior Department official to consider reducing the Bears Ears boundaries about a month before Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke started his review of national monuments. Bears Ears was subsequently reduced to conform to a map Hatch had provided. (New York Times)
A Justice Department review is expected to criticize the former FBI deputy director for authorizing the disclosure of information about a continuing investigation. Andrew McCabe is at the center of Trump's theory that the "deep state" has been working to sabotage his presidency. McCabe's disclosures, however, contributed to a negative article about Hillary Clinton and the Obama administration – not Trump. (New York Times)
Former Trump campaign deputy Rick Gates canceled a planned trip after an online commenter invoked the Russian mafia. Gates told a federal court that he and his wife believe it's "not prudent" to travel with their four children to Boston for spring break. (CNN)
Trump's pick for the Sentencing Commission has publicly called for the commission to be abolished and has a history of making racially charged remarks about crime. The commission sets policy used to punish 70,000 federal criminals every year. (NPR)
1/ The White House is preparing to replace H.R. McMaster as national security adviser as early as next month. The move, orchestrated by John Kelly and Defense Secretary James Mattis, comes after months of strained relations between Trump and McMaster. (NBC News)
Gary Cohn, Trump's top economic adviser, has been on the brink of leaving the White House for months. He stayed to stop Trump from imposing tariffs on steel and aluminum imports. One person close to Cohn said he wouldn't be surprised if Cohn left as a result of the decision. (Politico)
2/ Republicans on the House Intelligence Committee were behind the leak of text messages between the top Democrat on the Senate Intelligence Committee and a Russian-connected lawyer. The text messages between Senator Mark Warner and Adam Waldman, a Washington lawyer with Russian connections, were leaked to Fox News. They show that the senator tried to arrange a meeting with Christopher Steele, author of the so-called Trump dossier. Warner and Richard Burr, the top Republican on the Senate Intelligence Committee, were so "perturbed" by the leak that they met with Paul Ryan to raise their concerns about House Intelligence Committee Chairman Devin Nunes and the Republicans willingness to leak classified text messages. (New York Times)
3/ Putin warned that Russia has developed nuclear weapons that can't be intercepted by missile-defense systems and that they're planning to add nuclear-powered cruise missiles to their arsenal, which would allow them to strike any target on the globe. Putin added that Russia would consider any nuclear attack against itself or any of its allies an attack on Russia, warning that such an incident would lead to immediate retaliation. "No one listened to us," Putin warned. "Listen to us now." (Associated Press / Washington Post)
4/ Jared Kushner's family real estate business received a total of $509 million in loans from two lenders shortly after White House meetings. Chief executives from Apollo Global Management and Citigroup had multiple meetings with Kushner at the White House and, following those meetings, Kushner Companies received $184 million in loans from Apollo – triple Apollo's average loan size – and $325 million from Citigroup. Government ethics experts say the meetings and the subsequent loans are virtually unprecedented for such a high-level White House staffer. (New York Times)
A New York regulator asked Deutsche Bank AG and two other banks to provide information about their relationships with Jared Kushner, his family, and Kushner Companies. All three banks are chartered in New York, placing them under the regulatory eye of the state's Department of Financial Services. (Bloomberg)
Jared Kushner has recently started focusing on the 2020 election, leading some in the White House to wonder if he'll transition out of the West Wing to become an adviser to Trump's reelection bid. (Politico)
5/ Robert Mueller's team is looking into Trump's attempts to fire Jeff Sessions last July, in order to determine whether those alleged efforts to oust Sessions were part of a larger pattern of attempted obstruction of justice by Trump and the administration. Mueller wants to know if Trump attempted to remove Sessions in order to install a loyal attorney general who would exercise control over the special counsel investigation into possible coordination between Trump associates and Russia during the 2016 presidential election campaign. (Washington Post)
Robert Mueller is assembling criminal charges against Russians who carried out the hacking and leaking of Democratic emails. The possible charges are expected to rely intelligence gathered by the CIA, the FBI, the National Security Agency, and the Department of Homeland Security. (NBC News)
6/ The White House is reportedly "furious" over the stories about excessive spending at the Department of Housing and Urban Development. Aides have been trying to manage the negative publicity, which includes Ben Carson spending $31,000 to replace a dining room set and demoting an administrative officer for refusing the spend more than the $5,000 legal limit on office decorations. Carson now wants to cancel the order for a $31,000 dining set, saying "I was as surprised as anyone to find out that a $31,000 dining set had been ordered." (CNN)
7/ Trump is in favor of forgoing due process in order to confiscate guns from people who are deemed to be dangerous. "I like taking the guns early, like in this crazy man's case that just took place in Florida … to go to court would have taken a long time," Trump said during a bipartisan meeting on community and school safety, interrupting Mike Pence. Trump added: "Take the guns first, go through due process second." (New York Times / The Hill)
GOP @SenToomey says Trump's remark about taking guns away without due process during a meeting with lawmakers took his breath away.
poll/ 58% of Americans say they want to elect a Congress that stands up to Trump – not one that cooperates with him. 60% of those surveyed say they disapprove of the job Trump is doing as president. (USA Today)
poll/ 57% of Americans think Trump is racist, including more than 8 in 10 blacks, three-quarters of Hispanics, and nearly half of whites. 85% of Democrats consider Trump racist versus 21% of Republicans. 57% of Americans think Trump's policies have been bad for Muslims, 56% think Trump's policies have been bad for Hispanics, and 47% think they’ve been bad for African Americans. (Associated Press)
poll/ 74% of Americans said they had a favorable view of Medicaid and 52% said it was working well. 41% believe the main reason for introducing Medicaid work requirements pushed by the Trump administration is to cut government spending. 33% believe the primary motivation is to help lift people out of poverty. (Kaiser Family Foundation / Vox)
Notables.
The three top ranking officials in the Justice Department met for dinner on the same day Trump called one of them, attorney general Jeff Sessions, "disgraceful." Solicitor General Noel Francisco said the dinner was "in no way planned as pushback or an act of solidarity against the president." Deputy AG Rod Rosenstein was the third member of the party. (Axios)
More than 30 Trump aides have been downgraded to lower-level "secret" interim security clearances. None have been asked to leave the administration. Their portfolios on top secret matters will be distributed to other staff members. (Bloomberg)
The U.S. will impose 25% tariffs on steel imports and 10% on aluminum. Trump is expected to sign a formal order next week. (Bloomberg / New York Times)
The Dow closed 420 points lower after Trump said the U.S. will implement tariffs on steel and aluminum imports next week. Before the announcement, the Dow was up more than 150 points. (CNBC)
Melania Trump was granted a green card in 2001 under a program reserved for those with "extraordinary ability" and "sustained national and international acclaim." The EB-1 visa program was created for renowned academic researchers, Olympic athletes, and award-winning entertainers. Melania worked as a Slovenian model, appearing in the swimsuit edition of Sports Illustrated. (Washington Post / Axios)
Somebody forged a nomination of Trump for the Nobel Peace Prize – twice. While identities of the candidates are kept secret, the committee announced that it had uncovered what appeared to be a forged nomination of Trump for the prize. A forged nomination of Trump was also submitted last year. (New York Times)
Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin blocked UCLA from releasing a video of him being heckled by students during a lecture and moderated discussion. The official video footage has not been posted because Mnuchin revoked his consent for it to be released. (New York Times)
John Kelly joked (?) that his job at the White House is a punishment from God. Speaking at an event in Washington honoring former leaders of the Department of Homeland Security, Kelly said he didn't want to leave his job running the department, adding, "but I did something wrong and God punished me, I guess." (ABC News)
1/ Hope Hicks will resign as White House communications director. Hicks, one of Trump's longest-serving advisers, had been considering leaving for several months. Her resignation came a day after she testified for more than eight hours before the House Intelligence Committee. She declined to answer many questions during her appearance. (New York Times / Bloomberg / Politico)
2/ Hope Hicks told the House Intelligence Committee that she sometimes has to lie for Trump. After an extended conversation with her lawyers, however, the White House communications director insisted that she has never lied about matters related to Russian interference or possible collusion with Trump associates. (New York Times)
3/ Robert Mueller's investigators have been asking witnesses about Trump's business activities in Russia prior to the 2016 campaign. Mueller's team has been asking about the timing of Trump's decision to run, any potentially compromising information the Russians may have, and why a deal for a Trump Tower in Moscow fell through. (CNN)
A judge in Washington, D.C., set a September 17th trial date for Paul Manafort, putting the former Trump campaign chairman on trial at the height of midterm election season. (Politico)
Paul Manafort pleaded not guilty at an arraignment in federal court to a rewritten set of charges that had been levied against him late last week. (CNN)
4/ Mueller's team is also asking witnesses whether Trump knew about the hacked Democratic emails before they were publicly released, and whether he was involved or aware of WikiLeaks' plan to publish the emails. Investigators have also asked about the relationship between GOP operative Roger Stone and WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange, and why Trump took policy positions favorable to Russia. (NBC News)
5/ Trump attacked Jeff Sessions on Twitter for his "disgraceful" handling of an investigation into potential surveillance abuses. "Why is A.G. Jeff Sessions asking the Inspector General to investigate potentially massive FISA abuse. Will take forever, has no prosecutorial power and already late with reports on Comey etc," Trump tweeted. "Isn't the I.G. an Obama guy? Why not use Justice Department lawyers? DISGRACEFUL!" Yesterday, Sessions announced that the Justice Department is looking at whether the FBI properly handled FISA applications to monitor members of Trump's transition team. (CNN / The Hill)
Why is A.G. Jeff Sessions asking the Inspector General to investigate potentially massive FISA abuse. Will take forever, has no prosecutorial power and already late with reports on Comey etc. Isn’t the I.G. an Obama guy? Why not use Justice Department lawyers? DISGRACEFUL!
Jeff Sessions pushed back: "I will continue to discharge my duties with integrity and honor." (Bloomberg / ABC News)
6/ ICE arrested more than 150 suspected undocumented immigrants in the Bay Area, two days after Oakland Mayor Libby Schaaf publicly warned of imminent ICE raids in Northern California. ICE Deputy Director Thomas Homan called Schaaf's decision "reckless" and that "864 criminal aliens and public safety threats remain at large." Schaaf said she didn't regret sharing the information, calling it her "ethical obligation" and that "It is Oakland's legal right to be a sanctuary city and we have not broken any laws. We believe our community is safer when families stay together." (The Mercury News / Washington Post)
After a U.S. judge rejected an attempt by California to stop Trump from building a border wall, Trump "decided" that the California wall will not be built until the entire southern wall is approved. "I have decided that sections of the Wall that California wants built NOW will not be built until the whole Wall is approved," Trump tweeted. It was unclear what Trump meant about parts of the wall "that California wants built." (Reuters)
I have decided that sections of the Wall that California wants built NOW will not be built until the whole Wall is approved. Big victory yesterday with ruling from the courts that allows us to proceed. OUR COUNTRY MUST HAVE BORDER SECURITY!
7/ HUD agreed to spend $165,000 on "lounge furniture" and $31,000 on a dining set for Ben Carson's office while the Trump administration proposed a $6.8 billion budget cut to the Department of Housing and Urban Development. Details of the furniture purchases were revealed after a senior career official filed a whistle-blower complaint that she was demoted for refusing to break a $5,000 spending limit on improvements to Carson's office. (The Guardian / New York Times)
8/ United Nations investigators accused North Korea of supplying Syria with materials used in the production of chemical weapons. North Korean missile technicians have also been spotted working at known chemical weapons and missile facilities inside Syria. (New York Times)
poll/ 83% of Americans are in favor of continuing DACA. The program has support from 94% of Democrats, 83% of independents and 67% of Republicans. (CNN)
poll/ 54% of Floridians disapprove of Trump's handling of the issue of gun violence and 50% disapprove of Trump's response to the recent school shooting in Florida. (Quinnipiac)
poll/ 38% of Floridians approve of Marco Rubio's job performance – an all-time low. Rubio was criticized following the shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School earlier this month for his stance on gun control reform. (Quinnipiac)
Notables.
Democrats flipped state legislative seats in Connecticut and New Hampshire, bringing the total number of flipped seats since Trump was elected to 39. The latest mark the fifth and sixth seats flipped in 2018. (The Daily Beast)
Reigning NBA champs the Golden State Warriors traded a White House visit for a trip to the Museum of African-American History with a group of students.💛💙 (CNN)
The NRA asked Trump not to raise the age limit for buying firearms. Instead, the NRA asked Trump to pursue school safety programs, which the White House plans to unveil on Thursday. (CNN)
A teacher was arrested after firing a gun inside a Georgia high school classroom and then barricading himself there for about 30 minutes before he was taken into custody. No students were harmed. (WGNO / Associated Press)
Trump stunned a group of lawmakers by telling them to pursue gun bills that have been opposed by the Republican Party and the NRA for years. Trump repeatedly suggested that lawmakers start with the bipartisan bill put forward in 2013, which died months after the shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Connecticut, following intense Republican opposition. (New York Times)
1/ Jared Kushner's security clearance was downgraded from "Interim Top Secret" to "Interim Secret." The Interim Top Secret clearance, which Kushner has been operating under for about a year, allowed him to attend classified briefings and read the President's Daily Brief, among other things. (Politico / Reuters / Axios)
2/ At least four countries privately discussed ways they could manipulate Jared Kushner by taking advantage of his complex business arrangements, financial issues, and lack of foreign policy experience. Officials in the White House were concerned that Kushner was "naive and being tricked" in conversations with foreign officials. (Washington Post)
3/ Robert Mueller moved to dismiss 22 tax and bank fraud charges against Rick Gates, a former Trump campaign official. Gates pleaded guilty last week to conspiracy against the U.S. and lying to federal investigators. As part of his plea, Gates agreed to cooperate with Mueller's probe regarding "any and all matters" deemed relevant to his investigation. (Washington Post / Axios / CNBC)
4/ Trump tapped Brad Parscale to manage his 2020 presidential re-election campaign. Parscale was the digital director for Trump's 2016 campaign. Trump filed a letter of intent to run for re-election with the FEC on January 20th, 2017 – the day he took office. (CNBC / Reuters)
5/ Hope Hicks refused to answer questions under instructions from the White House during a closed-door House Intelligence Committee session today on Russian meddling in the 2016 presidential election. "We got Bannoned," a member of the House intelligence committee said, in reference Steve Bannon's earlier refusal to answer committee questions. The White House communications director is one of Trump's closest confidants and advisers. She was originally expected to appear before the committee in January, but her interview was cancelled due to concerns about the scope of questioning and conflicts over the White House's assertions of executive privilege. (Bloomberg / CNN / Washington Post)
6/ A Department of Housing and Urban Development officer was demoted and replaced after she refused to illegally fund a redecoration of Ben Carson's office. Helen Foster said she was told "$5,000 will not even buy a decent chair" after she reminded her superiors that $5,000 was the legal limit for improvements to Ben Carson's suite in Washington. (The Guardian)
7/ The Supreme Court ruled that immigrants facing deportation are not entitled to periodic bond hearings. The 5-3 decision reversed a Ninth Circuit ruling that immigrant detainees and asylum seekers can't be detained indefinitely and must be given a bond hearing every six months and that detention beyond the initial six-month period is permitted only if the government proved that further detention is justified. (NPR / Washington Post)
8/ Democratic lawmakers introduced legislation in both chambers of Congress to reverse the FCC's repeal of net neutrality rules. Under the Congressional Review Act, Congress can strike down new rules with a simple majority vote. The bill currently has 50 supporters in the Senate, putting it one vote shy of the 51 needed to ensure passage. Even if the measure passes the Senate, it faces an uphill battle in the House where it needs 218 votes. There are 150 Democrats supporting the resolution and no Republicans. (The Verge / The Hill / Politico)
9/ Russian operatives "compromised" election systems in seven states prior to 2016 election, from hacking state websites to penetrating voter registration databases, according to a top-secret intelligence reported requested by Obama during his last weeks in office. Three senior intelligence officials said the intelligence community believed the states were Alaska, Arizona, California, Florida, Illinois, Texas, and Wisconsin. Several of those states were notified that foreign entities were probing their systems, but none were told the Russian government was behind it. (NBC News)
10/ The NSA director told lawmakers that he has not received orders from Trump to stop Russian hacking targeting U.S. elections. US Cyber Command chief Adm. Mike Rogers told the Senate Armed Services Committee: "I haven't been granted any additional authorities," adding, "I need a policy decision that indicates there is specific direction to [disrupt Russian election hacking]. The president ultimately would make this decision in accordance with a recommendation from the secretary of Defense." (The Hill / CNN)
poll/ 58% of Americans don't think Trump is taking the Russia investigation seriously enough, and 60% say they are not confident Trump is doing enough to prevent foreign countries from influencing future American elections. Meanwhile, 55% believe Trump attempted to interfere with the Russia investigation, up from 51% in January. (CNN)
poll/ 48% of Americans believe it is likely or very likely that Russia will meddle in the upcoming midterm elections – a seven-point increase from earlier this month. (The Hill / Marist)
Notables.
The EPA is dissolving a program that funds studies on the effects of pollution and chemical exposure on adults and children. The National Center for Environmental Research will no longer exist following plans to combine three EPA offices. (The Hill / Common Dreams)
Bob Corker will not run for reelection after all. The Tennessee Republican reconsidered running for re-election after some senators and state party officials urged him to stay in the Senate. (CNBC / Politico)
Former White House communications director Anthony Scaramucci called for John Kelly to resign, citing low White House morale. (Axios)
The Justice Department is investigating allegations from the House Republican memo that a FISA court was misled by prosecutors and FBI agents when applying for warrants to surveil a Trump campaign adviser with ties to Moscow. (Politico)
Melania Trump parted ways with her senior adviser and friend, Stephanie Winston Wolkoff, after news surfaced that Wolkoff's firm had received $26 million to plan Trump's inauguration and surrounding events in January 2017. Wolkoff was terminated last week because the Trumps were unhappy with the news reports about the contract. (New York Times)
The lieutenant governor in Georgia threatened to kill a tax cut for Delta after the airline eliminated its discount for NRA members. In a tweet, Lt. Gov. Casey Cagle added: "Corporations cannot attack conservatives and expect us not to fight back." (USA Today / New York Times)
Obama: "We didn't have a scandal that embarrassed us. I know that seems like a low bar." (Reason)
1/ The Supreme Court rejected the Trump administration's request to skip the appeals court process and review a district court judge's ruling requiring the administration to resume renewals of protected status under the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program. In September, Trump announced that he would shut down DACA on March 5, but two federal judges ordered the administration to allow people to renew their protected status while legal challenges move forward. DACA shields some 700,000 young, undocumented immigrants from deportation. (New York Times / Politico / Washington Post)
2/ Trump's refusal to drop his demand that Mexico pay for a border wall derailed a planned White House visit by President Enrique Peña Nieto. A contentious phone call between the two presidents led to an impasse over the promised border wall, which Mexico considers offensive and has no intention of paying for. (Washington Post / New York Times)
3/ The House Intelligence Committee released a redacted version of the Democratic memo rebutting the memo written by Devin Nunes, which claimed the FBI and Justice Department were biased against the Trump campaign and abused their power. Trump blocked the release of the latest memo two weeks ago. It was released after undergoing a review by top law enforcement officials and redactions. The White House dismissed the Democratic memo as an attempt "to undercut the president politically." Click here to read the redacted version of the Democratic memo. (New York Times)
4/ Trump's reelection campaign used a photo of one of the survivors from the school shooting in an email soliciting campaign donations. The photo shows 17-year-old Madeline Wilford in a hospital bed surrounded by members of her family and the president and first lady. "Trump is taking steps toward banning gun bump stocks and strengthening background checks for gun purchasers," the email reads with a link to the campaign's donation page. (CNN)
5/ Trump claimed he would have run into the Florida high school during the shooting without a gun to stop the gunman. "I really believe I'd run in there even if I didn't have a weapon," Trump told a group of governors at the White House. He added: "Don't worry about the NRA. They're on our side." (The Hill / NBC News)
6/ Ivanka Trump thinks it's "inappropriate" to ask her about her father's sexual misconduct because she has a "right as a daughter to believe my father." In the same interview, Trump also said her father's proposal to arm teachers is "an idea that needs to be discussed." She added: "I think that having a teacher who is armed who cares deeply about her students or his students and who is capable and qualified to bear arms is not a bad idea." (NBC News / CNN)
7/ The White House declined to say if any interim security clearances have been revoked. In a memo earlier this month, John Kelly directed aides to "discontinue" interim security clearances for individuals whose security clearance applications have been pending since June 1 or earlier. Jared Kushner has been unable to obtain a permanent security clearance. (CNN / Politico)
poll/ Trump's approval rating is back down to 35%, matching his lowest to date. Trump also earned his lowest approval rating among Republicans at 80%. Trump holds a 5% approval rating among Democrats and 35% among independents. (CNN)
poll/ 54% of registered voters say they back a Democrat in their congressional district. 38% say they back a Republican. (CNN)
poll/ 58% of Americans say they trust Robert Mueller's investigation, while 57% say they don't trust Trump's denials, and 76% believe Russian will continue to meddle in American elections. (USA Today)
Notables.
Every public school in West Virginia was closed because of an ongoing teachers' strike over pay, insurance and health care costs. All 680 public schools in the state's 55 counties were closed. (CNN)
Net neutrality activists are holding a day of action to push for one more Republican senator to support a bill that would vacate the FCC's decision to repeal net neutrality laws. The senator would become the tie-breaking vote needed to send the bill to the House. (The Hill)
Trump's personal pilot is in the running to become the next leader of the Federal Aviation Administration. John Dunkin flew Trump during his 2016 presidential campaign, and is now on the shortlist to head the FAA, which sets civil aviation policies and regulations for the entire country. (Washington Post)
Trump privately talks about how he would love to execute all drug dealers in America. He's been telling friends for months that Singapore's policy of executing drug traffickers is the reason its drug consumption rates are so low. (Axios)
Stephen Miller was caught dozing off during a meeting with governors about school safety following the mass shooting at a Florida high school. (The Hill)
The Trump Organization said it donated profits from "foreign government patronage" at its hotels to the U.S. Treasury, but declined to identify those foreign customers, the amount donated, or how it was calculated. (ABC News / Washington Post)
1/ Rick Gates pleaded guilty to conspiracy and making false statements and will cooperate with Robert Mueller's investigation into Russia's interference in the 2016 election, according to a letter Gates gave to family and close friends. Gates admitted to taking part in a conspiracy to hide tens of millions of dollars he and Paul Manafort obtained for their lobbying and consulting work related to Ukraine. (New York Times / Politico / Washington Post / ABC News)
2/ Jared Kushner has been unable to obtain a full security clearance because of Robert Mueller's investigation and is unlikely to obtain the full clearance as long as the special counsel's probe is ongoing. (CNN)
3/ The Trump administration announced new sanctions against North Korea that target 27 shipping companies and 28 vessels registered in North Korea and six other countries, including China. The Treasury Department said the shipping firms are part of a campaign to help North Korea evade United Nations sanctions restricting imports of refined fuel and exports of coal. Trump called the sanctions the "largest-ever set of new sanctions on the North Korean regime." They are intended to increase pressure on Kim Jong Un's nuclear and ballistic missile programs. (New York Times / Reuters)
4/ Trump suggested that armed teachers should get a "bit of a bonus" for carrying a gun in the classroom. The White House indicated that the U.S. could find the money to arm and train up to a million teachers. Trump said arming teachers would be a "great deterrent" to would-be killers, and suggested that up to 40 percent of teachers could be given a bonus of $1,000 if they agree to carry a weapon and undergo training to make them "gun adept." The White House said the plan, if implemented, would involve distributing a total of roughly $1 billion to a million teachers across the country. (The Guardian / New York Times)
"We should change the names of AR-15s to 'Marco Rubio' because they are so easy to buy," Stoneman Douglas junior Sarah Chadwick tweeted. (The Hill)
We should change the names of AR-15s to “Marco Rubio” because they are so easy to buy.
5/ Trump directed the Department of Defense to schedule his military parade for Veterans Day, according to an unclassified February 20th memo written by National Security Adviser H.R. McMaster. The memo also said that the parade route should begin at the White House and end at the Capitol. (Politico)
6/ The Republican National Committee has been paying more than $37,000 a month in rent at Trump Tower after the RNC came under pressure to stop paying Trump's personal legal bills in the special counsel's Russia investigation. (CNBC)
Notables.
John Kasich is reportedly considering a Republican primary challenge to Trump in the 2020 presidential election. Kasich's team is counting on the "very real, maybe even likely, possibility" that Trump will not run again in 2020 — either by choice or due to the constantly changing political landscape surrounding the administration. (Politico)
Missouri's Republican governor was indicted for felony invasion of privacy. Eric Greitens is alleged to have taken a semi-nude photo of a woman he was having an extramarital affair with, and then threatened to blackmail her by publishing it if she revealed their relationship. Missouri is holding one of the most competitive Senate races in the country, between the Democrat incumbent, Claire McCaskill, and her GOP opponent, Josh Hawley (NPR / The Hill / NBC News)
A Russian oligarch with close ties to Putin, said Russian mercenaries who attacked US troops in Syria this month were in close touch with the Kremlin and Syrian officials shortly before and after the assault. (Washington Post)
A car intentionally hit a security barrier near the White House, prompting a lockdown. The Secret Service said the car didn't breach the secure complex that surrounds the executive mansion. (CNN)
1/ National Security Adviser H. R. McMaster could leave the White House after months of personal tension between him and Trump. The Pentagon is searching for a "four-star military job suited for McMaster." This is not the first time that speculation has been floated over the future of McMaster's role in the Trump administration. (CNN)
2/ A Trump-appointed federal judge who donated to the Trump campaign and worked on his presidential transition team is refusing to recuse himself from overseeing a legal battle involving Fusion GPS, the research firm that produced the dossier of intelligence that contains claims Trump has ties to Russia. U.S. District Court Judge Trevor McFadden donated $1,000 to Trump's presidential campaign. (ABC News)
3/ Robert Mueller filed additional criminal charges against Paul Manafort and Rick Gates. The 32-count indictment adds new tax and bank fraud changes to the one filed on October 27th, which charged the two with failing to disclose their political consulting work in Ukraine and laundering millions of dollars. (Washington Post / Bloomberg / Associated Press)
Michael Flynn will not accept financial support from Trump's "Patriot Legal Expense Fund," which was established using Trump's campaign funds to help White House and campaign aides with the legal expenses related to the special counsel's probe. (ABC News)
4/ The NRA blamed the Florida school shooting on a "failure of school security" and a "failure of family." Wayne LaPierre, CEO and vice president of the NRA, accused Democrats of "exploit[ing] tragedy for political gain," blamed "rogue" leadership of the FBI, and attacked the left for promoting a "socialist agenda" intended to strip firearms away from law-abiding citizens. (ABC News / NBC News / NPR)
5/ In 2016, Trump tweeted that he didn't want "guns in classrooms." Yesterday, he made a "concealed carry" proposal to arm teachers. Today, Trump tweeted that he never said he wanted to "give teachers guns." In the same tweet, however, he suggested that the government would "look at the possibility of giving 'concealed guns to gun adept teachers.'" And, at a White House "listening session," Trump said that "gun-free" school zones make it like "going in for ice cream" for school shooters. While on Twitter, he promised that "ATTACKS WOULD END!" with his strategy of arming "highly trained, gun adept, teachers/coaches would solve the problem instantly, before police arrive." (Washington Post / BuzzFeed News)
Crooked Hillary said that I want guns brought into the school classroom. Wrong!
I never said “give teachers guns” like was stated on Fake News @CNN & @NBC. What I said was to look at the possibility of giving “concealed guns to gun adept teachers with military or special training experience - only the best. 20% of teachers, a lot, would now be able to
....immediately fire back if a savage sicko came to a school with bad intentions. Highly trained teachers would also serve as a deterrent to the cowards that do this. Far more assets at much less cost than guards. A “gun free” school is a magnet for bad people. ATTACKS WOULD END!
6/ Trump's listening session talking points had to remind him to say "I hear you" and to ask "What would you most want me to know about your experience?" A photographer captured a picture of the talking points Trump was given for Wednesday's listening session with survivors of the school shooting in Florida. (Washington Post)
Interesting photo from @Reuters -- shows Trump's talking points going into the listening session. (Not Photoshopped.) pic.twitter.com/qTtMzhq0CT
7/ Marco Rubio and the NRA were repeatedly heckled after they refused to back a full ban on military-style assault weapons while discussing gun violence with the high school students who survived the shooting in Parkland, Florida. Rubio said he supported legislation to raise the legal age to purchase a rifle to 21 and to create gun violence restraining orders. He said he was "reconsidering" support for a ban on high-capacity ammunition magazines, and that he opposed Trump's proposal to arm teachers or put armed security in classrooms. (CNN / The Guardian / New York Times)
8/ Paul Ryan removed the chairman of the U.S. Election Assistance Commission. The House speaker will now recommend a nominee for the commissioner post, which Trump will formally nominate. The reason for passing on Matthew Masterson for a second four-year term, and whether the decision originated with Ryan or the White House, is unclear. (Reuters)
Notables.
A Republican congresswoman claimed that "so many" people who commit mass murders "end up being Democrats." Claudia Tenney didn't provide evidence to back up her claim. She is the incumbent for a contested congressional seat in Central New York. (Washington Post)
A man threw an explosive device over the wall of the U.S. Embassy in Montenegro, but ended up killing himself with the blast. The blast didn't injure anyone else or cause any major property damage. (New York Times)
Trump Jr. "liked" conspiracy theories on Twitter about last week's school shooting in Florida, including one that called a survivor an agent of "the deep state media." (ABC News)
Melania Trump's parents may have relied on "chain migration" – the same process that Trump has publicly called on Congress to end. Melania's parents are lawful permanent residents of the United States and are reportedly close to obtaining their citizenship. (Washington Post)
Illinois Governor Bruce Rauner drank chocolate milk to demonstrate his commitment to diversity. The Republican governor called the drink "really, really good" and exclaimed: "Diversity!" (Chicago Tribune)
Trump is considering pulling Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents from California as punishment for what he claimed was a "lousy management job" in patrolling illegal immigration. (CNN)
1/ Trump challenged Jeff Sessions to investigate the Obama administration for not doing enough to stop Russian interference in the 2016 election. "If all of the Russian meddling took place during the Obama Administration, right up to January 20th, why aren’t they the subject of the investigation?" Trump tweeted. "Why didn't Obama do something about the meddling? Why aren't Dem crimes under investigation? Ask Jeff Sessions!" Trump has singled out his own attorney general several times for not doing enough to protect him from the Russia probe. In July, Trump tweeted that Sessions "has taken a VERY weak position on Hillary Clinton crimes." A few hours later, Trump called Sessions "beleaguered." (CNN / New York Times)
Question: If all of the Russian meddling took place during the Obama Administration, right up to January 20th, why aren’t they the subject of the investigation? Why didn’t Obama do something about the meddling? Why aren’t Dem crimes under investigation? Ask Jeff Sessions!
2/ Jared Kushner is pushing back against attempts to revoke his access to highly classified information, setting up an internal struggle with White House Chief of Staff John Kelly. Last week, Kelly issued a five-page memo outlining that the White House will no longer allow some employees with interim security clearances access to top secret information if their background investigation has been pending since before last June. Kushner's security clearance has been pending for more than 13 months. The White House, meanwhile, insists that Kushner can continue in his role as a senior adviser even without a security clearance. (New York Times / CNN / Reuters)
3/ Mueller is investigating whether Paul Manafort promised a Chicago banker a job in the Trump White House in return for $16 million in home loans. Manafort received three separate loans in December 2016 and January 2017 from Federal Savings Bank for homes in New York City and the Hamptons. (NBC News)
4/ Mueller filed new charges against former Trump aides Paul Manafort and Rick Gates. The sealed, single-page document does not shed light on the charges, but the new charges signal that Mueller may have filed a superseding indictment that replaces the one from October last year. (The Guardian / Politico)
5/ Alex van der Zwaan pleads guilty in Robert Mueller's probe. The son-in-law of a Russia-based billionaire admitted to lying to investigators about his communications with Rick Gates, the former Trump campaign aide. Van der Zwaan also admitted that he deleted records of emails that prosecutors had requested. It's the fourth guilty plea Mueller has secured, but van der Zwaan is the first not to enter into a cooperation agreement with the special counsel's office. (New York Times / Bloomberg)
Mueller's decision to charge van der Zwaan puts additional pressure on Paul Manafort and Rick Gates, both of whom worked with van der Zwaan on a report supporting the legitimacy of the criminal prosecution of a former Ukrainian prime minister. Prosecutors have also accused Manafort and Gates of laundering millions of dollars and concealing their lobbying efforts in Ukraine. (Bloomberg)
6/ Trump endorsed arming "adept" teachers or former military officers to prevent or shorten school shootings. He pledged to cover "every aspect" of school safety and he intends to be "very strong on background checks," putting a "very strong emphasis" on mental health. (CNBC)
A superintendent in a Texas school district is threatening to suspend students for three days if they join the nationwide protests over the shooting at a Florida high school last week. (Houston Chronicle)
poll/ 51% of voters say they have not noticed an increase in their paychecks under the new tax law. 25% say they have. (Politico)
poll/ 67% of voters think Trump should publicly release his tax returns. 52% of voters think Trump has not released his tax returns because he has something to hide. (Quinnipiac)
poll/ Trump's approval rating stands at 37%, down slightly from 40% approval earlier this month. (CNN)
Notables.
Democrats flipped a Kentucky state legislature seat in a district that Trump won by 49 points in 2016. Linda Belcher won the special election in Kentucky's House District 49 by a 68-32 margin. Trump carried the district by a 72-23 margin in 2016, which also went 66-33 for Mitt Romney in 2012. (Vox)
Pence was set for a secret meeting with North Korea while at the 2018 Winter Olympic Games in South Korea. The meeting never happened, according to Pence's office, because the North Koreas pulled out of the scheduled meeting. (Washington Post)
A senior Department of Health and Human Services official was placed on administrative leave for promoting stories filled with baseless claims and conspiracy theories on social media. The agency is investigating Jon Cordova's postings. (CNN)
The White House has given David Shulkin permission to purge "subversion" at the Department of Veterans Affairs, Shulkin says. The cabinet head said that those who have defied his authority "won't be working in my operation" and "those who crossed the line in the past are going to have to be accountable for those decisions." The move comes after a recent inspector general report found that Shulkin pressured the VA's third-most-senior official to alter an email to make it appear that Shulkin was receiving an award from the Danish government in order to have the VA pay for his wife's airfare. The IG investigation also found that Shulkin had improperly accepted Wimbledon tickets from a friend. Shulkin's foes have been using the report in their push to oust the Veterans Affairs secretary. (Politico)
Former Trump political adviser Sam Nunberg will be interviewed by Robert Mueller's investigators Thursday. Mueller’s office has informed him that he’s not a target of the probe and won’t be prosecuted unless he’s found to have lied to investigators (Bloomberg)
The Republican National Committee is paying Trump's former bodyguard $15,000 a month for "security consulting." Keith Schiller's private security firm is being paid out of the RNC's convention fund, – not its campaign fund – for consulting on the site selection process for the 2020 Republican National Convention. (CNBC)
1/ Robert Mueller charged an attorney with making a false statement to federal authorities as part of the probe into Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election. Prosecutors charged Alex Van Der Zwaan with lying to the FBI and Mueller's office about conversations he had with Rick Gates, the former Trump campaign aide who is cooperating in the Mueller probe, about work done in Ukraine six years ago. Van Der Zwaan was charged by criminal information, which typically precedes a guilty plea because it can only be filed with a defendant's permission and usually indicates the person is cooperating with investigators. (Bloomberg / New York Times / Washington Post)
2/ Trump endorsed Mitt Romney's run for a U.S. Senate seat in Utah. Romney accepted Trump's support but not endorsement in a carefully worded tweet 45-minutes later despite his frequent criticism of Trump and his policies. During the 2016 campaign, Romney tweeted that he would never have accepted Trump's endorsement for his 2012 presidential bid had the former reality TV star publicly said the offensive things he did about the KKK, Muslims, Mexicans, and people with disabilities. (Reuters / Vox / ABC News)
.@MittRomney has announced he is running for the Senate from the wonderful State of Utah. He will make a great Senator and worthy successor to @OrrinHatch, and has my full support and endorsement!
3/ The U.S. Supreme Court rejected a challenge to California's 10-day waiting period for firearms purchases, which is intended to prevent impulsive violence and suicides. The gun rights groups who challenged the waiting period argued that it violated their right to keep and bear arms under the U.S. Constitution's Second Amendment. (Reuters)
4/ Trump recommended that Jeff Sessions declare so-called bump stocks illegal. Bump stocks are a device that enable semi-automatic rifles capable of firing hundreds of rounds a minute. Trump's directive does not address restrictions on the purchase of AR-15-style rifles, like the one used in the Florida school shooting last week that killed 17 people. The gunman who killed 58 people and wounded hundreds of others in Las Vegas in October had at least 12 rifles fitted with bump stocks. (CNBC / Bloomberg)
5/ The chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff said Trump's decision to end transgender military service "was unexpected" and that he was "not consulted." Less than 24 hours after Trump tweeted that "after consultation with my Generals and military experts" he was ending transgender service in the military, Gen. Joseph Dunford, the highest-ranking military general, emailed the generals of the Air Force, Army, Marines, National Guard, and Navy to say "I know yesterday’s announcement was unexpected" and that he would "state that I was not consulted" if asked at a scheduled Senate Armed Services Committee hearing on September 26th. (BuzzFeed News)
After consultation with my Generals and military experts, please be advised that the United States Government will not accept or allow......
6/ More than twice as many women are running for Congress in 2018 compared to 2016. At latest count, 431 women were running for or were likely to run for the House nationwide — 339 Democrats and 92 Republicans. At this point in 2016, there were fewer than half that: 212. Likewise, 50 women are running for or likely to run for Senate, compared to 25 at this point in 2016. (NPR)
7/ The Trump administration proposed regulations that would allow health insurers to sell so-called "short-term" policies that could last up to 12 months. The plans don't have to meet the Affordable Care Act's consumer protections, or offer a comprehensive benefit package. The proposal would reverse an Obama administration decision to limit the duration of short-term health plans to no more than 90 days in order to make them less attractive. (CNN / CNBC)
poll/ 62% of Americans blame Trump and Congress for not doing enough to prevent mass shootings. 77% say they think more effective mental health screening and treatment could have prevented the Parkland, FL shooting. (Washington Post-ABC News poll)
poll/ 66% of Americans support stricter gun laws. 50% of gun owners also support stricter gun laws. (Quinnipiac)
poll/ The Presidential Greatness Survey ranked Trump as the worst president ever. He came in first as the most polarizing president. (Washington Post)
Notables.
Scott Pruitt's EPA is facing legal challenges to his rollback of Obama-era environmental protections and laws. The court challenges and legal delays have slowed rule rollbacks on everything from preventing dentists from washing excess mercury down the drain to curbing methane gas emissions. (The Guardian)
Trump's infrastructure plan no longer includes the requirement that energy companies use American-made steel to build their pipelines. (CNBC)
Pennsylvania's new congressional district map will give Democrats a better chance of winning back the House this fall. Early estimates of the new map, drawn by the Pennsylvania Supreme Court, suggest that the number of Trump seats available has dropped from around 13 down to 10 – which could bring the Democrats a few steps closer to securing a majority in the House. (Politico)
Fox News is launching a new subscription-based streaming service for Fox super fans. It's called "Fox Nation." The stand-alone subscription service will focus on right-leaning commentary and feature original shows and appearances by right-wing personalities, like Sean Hannity. Fox Nation is expected to launch by the end of the year. (New York Times)
A Texas couple is suing the Department of Health and Human Services and the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops alleging that weren't allowed to foster a refugee child because they don't "mirror the Holy Family." (Dallas News)
A dating site for Trump supporters featured a man who was convicted for having sex with a minor on its homepage. In 1995, Barrett Riddleberger was convicted of videotaping himself having sex with a 15-year-old girl. He was 25. (Gizmodo / CBS News)
Trump denied a woman's accusation that he forcibly kissed her when she worked at Trump Tower in 2006. Rachel Crooks is one of the 19 women who have accused Trump of sexual assault. (CNBC)
1/ March For Our Lives: Students from Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School are calling for a March 24 march on Washington and a national student walkout to demand action on gun control and challenge the politicians that have failed to protect them. A shooting at the Parkland, FL, high school on Feb. 14 left 17 dead. The March 24 march is to bring attention to school safety, ask lawmakers to enact gun control, and "demand that their lives and safety become a priority and that we end this epidemic of mass school shootings." They're encouraging students from around the country to join the protest. (Reuters / ABC News / March For Our Lives)
CHART: How Have Your Members Of Congress Voted On Gun Bills? (NPR)
2/ Former Trump aide Rick Gates will plead guilty to fraud-related charges and has agreed to testify against Paul Manafort. Gates, currently facing roughly 18 months in prison, could see "a substantial reduction in his sentence'' if he cooperates with Mueller's investigation. (Los Angeles Times)
3/ Several conservatives want Trump to issue presidential pardons as a way of limiting Robert Mueller's investigation. Larry Klayman, a conservative legal activist, said: "I think he should pardon everybody" – Paul Manafort, Rick Gates, Michael Flynn, George Papadopoulos – "and pardon himself." (Politico)
4/ The new White House security clearances policy puts a "bull's eye" on Jared Kushner, according to an official. John Kelly announced Friday that the White House will no longer allow some employees with interim security clearances access to top-secret information. Abbe Lowell, one of Kushner's lawyers, said Kelly's directive "will not affect Mr. Kushner's ability to continue to do the very important work he has been assigned by the president." Kushner requests more information from the intelligence community than any White House employee. (Washington Post)
5/ Robert Mueller's interest in Jared Kushner has expanded beyond his contacts with Russia and now includes his efforts to secure financing for his company from foreign investors during the presidential transition. Mueller's investigators have been asking about Kushner's conversations during the transition to finance a Kushner Companies-backed New York City office building facing financial troubles. (CNN)
6/ Trump blamed everybody but Russia as he lashed out against the Russia investigation in a nine-hour, profanity-laced, and error-laden tweetstorm. He attacked the FBI, CNN, the Democratic Party, his national security adviser, former president Obama, the top Democrat on the House Intelligence Committee, Hillary Clinton, and more. He never criticized Russia or Putin's attempts to undermine U.S. elections. (Politico / Washington Post / CNN)
"They are laughing their asses off in Moscow": Trump takes on the FBI, Russia probe and 2016 election. (Washington Post)
America Is Under Attack and the President Doesn't Care. Trump's gravest responsibility is to defend the United States from foreign attack – and he's done nothing to fulfill it. (The Atlantic)
7/ National Security Adviser H. R. McMaster said the "evidence is now incontrovertible" that Russia meddled in the U.S. political system, essentially telling the Munich Security Conference to ignore Trump's tweet. Trump countered on Twitter, naturally: "General McMaster forgot to say that the results of the 2016 election were not impacted or changed by the Russians and that the only Collusion was between Russia and Crooked H, the DNC and the Dems." (Washington Post)
General McMaster forgot to say that the results of the 2016 election were not impacted or changed by the Russians and that the only Collusion was between Russia and Crooked H, the DNC and the Dems. Remember the Dirty Dossier, Uranium, Speeches, Emails and the Podesta Company!
8/ Trump suggested that the FBI could have stopped the school shooter at a Florida high school if they spent less time on the Russia investigation. "Very sad that the FBI missed all of the many signals sent out by the Florida school shooter. This is not acceptable. They are spending too much time trying to prove Russian collusion with the Trump campaign - there is no collusion. Get back to the basics and make us all proud!" Trump tweeted. (The Hill)
Very sad that the FBI missed all of the many signals sent out by the Florida school shooter. This is not acceptable. They are spending too much time trying to prove Russian collusion with the Trump campaign - there is no collusion. Get back to the basics and make us all proud!
Trump "is supportive of efforts to improve the federal background check system" for gun purchases, according to Raj Shah, principal deputy press secretary. (CNN)
A prominent Republican political donor vowed not to contribute to any candidates or election groups that didn't support a ban on the sale of military-style firearms to civilians. Al Hoffman Jr. said he would seek to marshal support among other Republican political donors for a renewed assault weapons ban. (New York Times)
Notables.
Trump Jr. will give a foreign policy speech while on an "unofficial" business trip to India promoting his family's real estate projects. (Washington Post)
Pennsylvania's Supreme Court issued a new congressional map to replace the state's current gerrymandered one, which the court said is so partisan it violates the state’s Constitution. (HuffPost)
Trump called Oprah "very insecure" and accused her of being "biased and slanted" after she moderated a discussion between 14 pro- and anti-Trump voters. (CNN)
Trump went golfing today, three days after skipping a weekend of golf out of respect for the 17 people killed in the shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School last week. (The Hill)
1/ Robert Mueller's federal grand jury indicted 13 Russian nationals and three Russian entities for violating criminal laws with the intent to interfere "with U.S. elections and political processes." Mueller's office said that the government accuses all the defendants of conspiracy to defraud the United States. Three defendants are charged with conspiracy to commit wire fraud and bank fraud. The indictment charges that a Russian organization, the Internet Research Agency, waged "information warfare" against the U.S. by using social media platforms and fictitious American personas for "supporting the presidential campaign of then-candidate Donald J. Trump … and disparaging Hillary Clinton." Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein said this "information warfare" didn’t affect the outcome of the presidential election. (CNBC / ABC News / Washington Post / New York Times / Bloomberg)
A California man charged with identity theft pleaded guilty in Mueller's probe. Richard Pinedo is cooperating with prosecutors. (Bloomberg / CNN)
2/ Mueller's investigation into collusion and potential obstruction of justice by Trump and his campaign is expected to continue for months. Trump, meanwhile, tweeted that the Russian indictments are vindication that there was "No collusion!" Rod Rosenstein said during his press conference today that there is "no allegation in this indictment that any American was a knowing participant" in the alleged scheme to interfere with the 2016 election. Mueller could still indict Americans for knowingly helping Russia. (Bloomberg)
Russia started their anti-US campaign in 2014, long before I announced that I would run for President. The results of the election were not impacted. The Trump campaign did nothing wrong - no collusion!
3/ Rick Gates is close to a plea deal with Robert Mueller. The former Trump campaign adviser has been involved in plea negotiations for about a month, and people familiar with the case say he is poised to cooperate with the investigation. If Gates agrees to a plea deal, he will be the third known cooperator in the special counsel's probe into Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election. (CNN)
4/ The FCC is investigating whether its chairman "improperly coordinated with Sinclair" on rule changes that benefited the broadcaster. Ajit Pai is under investigation by the agency's independent watchdog for his role in the FCC's adopting new rules that allowed television broadcasters to increase the number of stations they own. The rules were adopted weeks before Sinclair announced a $3.9 billion deal to buy Tribune Media. The deal would not have been possible without the new rules. The investigation into Pai's relationship with Sinclair began at the end of last year. (New York Times / Ars Technica)
The Justice Department wants to prevent AT&T from using Trump's criticism of its merger with Time Warner in its arguments. AT&T intends to argue that politics played a role in government's decision to stop the merger. (Reuters)
5/ The FBI acknowledged that it failed to act on a tip in January that Nikolas Cruz had the potential of "conducting a school shooting." The tipster said Cruz had a "desire to kill people, erratic behavior, and disturbing social media posts." The FBI said some "protocols were not followed." (Politico / New York Times)
Paul Ryan doesn't think the time is right to wage political battles over the issue of guns in America. "This is one of those moments where we just need to step back and count our blessings," Ryan said, adding: "We need to think less about taking sides and fighting each other politically, and just pulling together." (CNN)
The vice mayor of Florida's Broward County called Trump visit with the victims of the school shooting "absolutely absurd." Trump "coming here, to me, is absurd. Him coming here is absolutely absurd, and he’s a hypocrite," Mark Bogen said. (CNN)
Florida's governor called on the FBI director to resign. In a statement, Rick Scott said: "The FBI’s failure to take action against this killer is unacceptable … We constantly promote 'see something, say something,' and a courageous person did just that to the FBI. And the FBI failed to act. 'See something, say something' is an incredibly important tool and people must have confidence in the follow through from law enforcement. The FBI director needs to resign." (ABC News)
Russia-linked bots are promoting pro-gun messages on Twitter in an attempt to sow discord in the aftermath of the Florida school shooting. (CNN)
Notables.
The Senate Judiciary Committee voted 16-5 in favor of the Sentencing Reform and Corrections Act, despite protests from Jeff Sessions that the bill would increase violent crime and hamstring federal law enforcement. The bill would reduce some federal sentencing rules along with implementing reforms in the federal prison system. (CNN)
Mitt Romney announced that he is running for the Senate seat being vacated by seven-term GOP Sen. Orrin Hatch of Utah. During the 2016 campaign, Romney called Trump a "phony" and a "fraud." (NPR)
Trump set the record for the longest period of time without a formal press conference in the last 50 years. The last time a president went more than a year between press conferences was during Lyndon B. Johnson's administration. By the end of his first year in office, Obama had held 11 solo press conferences; George W. Bush had held five. (The Daily Beast)
Jared Kushner filed a new addendum to his personal financial disclosure form last month, revealing previously undisclosed business interests. (Talking Points Memo)
Scott Pruitt's security team recommended he fly first class because somebody yelled at him: "You're f—ing up the environment." (Politico)
Steve Bannon told the House Intelligence Committee yesterday that he had been instructed by the White House to invoke executive privilege on behalf of Trump and declined to answer questions pertinent to the Russia investigation. Lawmakers are considering whether to hold him in contempt. (CNN)
40% of Trump's first Cabinet-level picks have faced ethical or other controversies. Nine out of the 22 people Trump initially picked for Cabinet-level posts have found themselves facing scrutiny over their actions. (Washington Post)
John Kelly approved an overhaul for how the White House manages security clearance investigations. The onus is now on the FBI and the Justice Department to now hand-deliver updates and provide more information. (Washington Post)
1/ Trump, in a tweet, suggested that students and neighbors should have reported the Florida shooter to authorities, because there were "so many signs" that the shooter "was mentally disturbed." The FBI was warned in September about a possible school shooting after a YouTube user named Nikolas Cruz – the same name as the shooter who killed 17 people at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School – left a comment that read: "Im going to be a professional school shooter." The FBI said it had investigated the comment, but was unable to identify the person who posted it. (NBC News / CNN / BBC)
So many signs that the Florida shooter was mentally disturbed, even expelled from school for bad and erratic behavior. Neighbors and classmates knew he was a big problem. Must always report such instances to authorities, again and again!
Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin called on Congress to look into issues related to gun violence. He is the first senior Trump administration official to call for a congressional review of gun violence. According to a Treasury official, however, says Mnuchin doesn't support Congress examining new gun laws. (Washington Post / Politico)
Trump's budget would cut millions of dollars from the National Instant Criminal Background Check System, which gun dealers use to verify if someone is banned from buying a gun before selling it to them. (HuffPost)
One of Trump's first actions as president was to undo a regulation that would have made it more difficult for people with a known mental illness to buy guns by requiring their names to be entered into the National Instant Criminal Background Check System. Nikolas Cruz legally purchased the AR-15. (ABC News)
2/ A student who witnessed the shooting called out lawmakers on TV, looking directly into the camera and saying: "We're children. You guys are the adults. You need to take some action and play a role. Work together, come over your politics, and get something done." He added: "Ideas are great but without action, ideas stay ideas and children die." (CNN)
3/ The leader of a white supremacist group said the gunman in the Florida shooting was a member of his "white separatist paramilitary proto-fascist organization." Nikolas Cruz, 19, is accused of killing 17 people in one of the deadliest school shootings in modern American history. His peers say he also wore a "Make America Great Again" hat in school. (Anti-Defamation League / The Daily Beast / New York Times)
4/ The admission that Michael Cohen facilitated a $130,000 payment to Stormy Daniels is raising legal and ethical questions. In particular, Cohen declined to say whether Trump or another party later reimbursed him for the payment. He insisted that the payment was a legal, personal gift by him to Daniels, whose real name is Stephanie Clifford. A lawyer who represented Clifford in the 2016 transaction issued a statement that said Cohen told him that the $130,000 payment was coming from his personal funds. (New York Times)
Stormy Daniels said she has a "Monica Lewinsky dress" from the July 2006 night she allegedly had sex with Trump. According her, she's kept the dress "in pristine condition" and wants to have it tested for samples of hair, skin or "anything else" that would contain DNA. (The Mercury News)
5/ Trump's travel ban unlawfully discriminates against Muslims, the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled in a 9-4 vote. The court ruled that the ban, which targeted people from six Muslim-majority countries, violated the U.S. Constitution by discriminating on the basis of religion. (Reuters)
6/ The bipartisan immigration bill failed in the Senate after Trump threatened to veto the deal, which would have created a pathway to citizenship for nearly 2 million undocumented immigrants and allot $25 billion for border security. Negotiators in both parties reached a tentative agreement yesterday, but the measure fell short of the 60-vote threshold needed today. The final vote was 54-45. (Bloomberg / CNN / Politico)
7/ At least 130 White House officials did not have permanent security clearances as of November 2017, including Ivanka Trump, Jared Kushner, Dan Scavino, and Rob Porter. 47 of them report directly to Trump. (CNN / NBC News)
Rob Porter was informed in September that his security clearance check was "delayed" in part because of concerns that he was "violent," according to one of his ex-wives. (CNN)
8/ Steve Bannon was interviewed by Robert Mueller over several days this week, spending more than 20 hours in conversation with the team investigating possible collusion between the Trump campaign and Russia. Bannon and his legal team also appeared for a closed-door meeting with the House Intelligence Committee, despite the White House telling lawmakers Bannon would not be answering questions pertinent to the Russia investigation. (NBC News / ABC News / CNN)
Notables.
The IRS and the Justice Department issued subpoenas for documents from lenders and investors related to projects managed by Jared Kushner's family. The projects in question date back to at least 2010 and are reportedly unrelated to the Mueller investigation. (Bloomberg)
Reince Priebus convinced Jeff Sessions not to resign shortly after Trump fired James Comey in May 2017. Trump berated Sessions for recusing himself from the Russia investigation in a meeting in the Oval Office, which lead to Sessions offering his resignation. (New York Times / Vanity Fair)
Trump's inaugural committee paid nearly $26 million to an event planning firm started by Melania's adviser and longtime friend Stephanie Winston Wolkoff. The firm was created in December 2016. (New York Times)
Trump's 25-cent per gallon gas tax would wipe out 60% of tax cut benefit for individuals. The increased cost of gas at the pump would be about nine times larger than the estimated $4 billion companies are handing to workers in the form of bonuses, due to corporate tax cuts. (CNBC)
The Department of Defense has five options for Trump's military parade, ranging from $3 million to as much as $50 million. (NPR)
A week after Rob Porter resigned following allegations of domestic violence, Trump said that he is "totally opposed to domestic violence." It was his first condemnation of the conduct behind the allegations. (New York Times)
Become the Media: Help me write the Daily Update. Contribute links, written blurbs, copyedits, etc. to this collaborative doc.
1/ Trump's lawyer paid Stormy Daniels $130,000 out of his own pocket in order to buy the porn star's silence about Trump's alleged affair with her. "Neither the Trump Organization nor the Trump campaign was a party to the transaction with Ms. [Daniels]," Michael Cohen said in a statement, adding: "And neither reimbursed me for the payment, either directly or indirectly." Cohen made the October 2016 payment through his LLC in exchange for the adult-movie star signing a nondisclosure agreement about her allegations of an affair that took place shortly after Melania gave birth to Barron. (New York Times / Wall Street Journal)
Stormy Daniels believes she can now discuss her alleged sexual encounter with Trump after Michael Cohen invalidated her non-disclosure agreement. Cohen told the New York Times he paid her $130,000 in exchange for her signing an NDA. He's also shopped a book proposal that would detail her relationship with Trump. (Associated Press / The Blast)
2/ Trump doesn't believe Russia meddled in the 2016 presidential election, even though the heads of U.S. intelligence agencies testified to the Senate Intelligence Committee that Russia meddled in 2016 and is planning to do so again in 2018. (CNN)
Director of National Intelligence Dan Coats doesn't think Jared Kushner should have full access to classified information. The top Democrat on the House Judiciary Committee, meanwhile, accused the White House of "showing a blatant disregard for national security." (Washington Post / ABC News)
A former senior FBI official is leading BuzzFeed's effort to verify the Trump dossier and defend itself from a Russian billionaire's lawsuit. BuzzFeed in turn is suing the DNC for information the publisher believes could show a link between the Russian billionaire and the e-mail hacking, which would undercut his libel claim. (Foreign Policy / Vanity Fair)
Democrats have had "good discussions" with the FBI on declassifying their memo and hope to resolve the issue "very soon." Adam Schiff the White House and FBI initially wanted too much information kept from the public. (Reuters)
3/ The House Oversight Committee is investigating the White House's handling of the Rob Porter scandal and who knew what and when about the accusations of domestic violence. "I'm troubled by almost every aspect of this," House Oversight and Government Reform Committee Chairman Trey Gowdy said. "How in the hell was he still employed?" (NPR / CNN / Politico)
4/ Scott Pruitt has a "blanket waiver" to book first-class flights using taxpayer funds because past interactions that have "not been the best." The EPA says concerns about Pruitt's safety have required him to travel first and business class. (The Hill / CNBC)
5/ A bipartisan group of senators have reached an immigration deal that would include $25 billion for border security, provide a path to citizenship for 1.8 million Dreamers, and change the visa lottery program to a merit based system. The White House wants any immigration legislation to include the "four pillars" agreed to during a January meeting: A fix for DACA, border security, and changes to family-based immigration, and the Diversity Visa Lottery. (Politico / The Hill)
6/ Trump, meanwhile, called on lawmakers to oppose the bipartisan effort to address immigration and protections for Dreamers. Trump urged the Senate to support legislation offered by Republican Chuck Grassley, which would provide a path to citizenship for 1.8 million young immigrants, end the visa lottery program, build a border wall, and end what he calls “chain migration,” which is family-based immigration. (New York Times / Reuters)
poll/ On a generic ballot, 39% of voters say they'll support the GOP candidate for Congress in their district. 38% say they'll support the Democratic candidate. 23% are undecided. (Politico)
poll/ Voters favor Democrats 49-41 on a generic Congressional ballot. 65% of Clinton voters say they’re "very excited" to vote in the election this fall, compared to 58% of Trump voters. (Public Policy Polling)
Notables.
A suspected shooter is in custody and as many as 7 people are dead after a school shooting at a South Florida high school. The authorities said there were 14 victims, but did not say if they were injured or dead. *[Developing…] *(CBS Miami / New York Times)
The Veterans Affairs secretary had his chief of staff doctor an email and make false statements in order to justify the cost of his wife's travel on a 10-day trip to Europe last summer. David Shulkin ordered the VA's third-most-senior official to alter an email to make it appear that he was receiving an award from the Danish government. The VA paid more than $4,300 for his wife's airfare. (Washington Post)
Refugee resettlement agencies are preparing to close more than 20 offices across the U.S. and cut back operations in more than 40 other offices after the State Department told them to pare down their operations. (Reuters)
Trump's military parade would cost between $10 million and $30 million. The White House hasn't budgeted for the parade, which would require Congress to appropriate the funds, or use money that already has been approved. (Washington Post)
A third White House official resigned after being informed that he would not receive a permanent security clearance due to his past use of marijuana. (Politico)
Trump wants a 25-cent hike to the federal gas tax in order to pay for the White House infrastructure plan. The current federal levy is 18.4 cents a gallon on retail gasoline and 24.4 cents a gallon for diesel. The increase floated by the president would presumably put the gasoline tax at 43.4 cents and diesel tax at just under 50 cents. (CNBC)
Democrats flipped a Republican seat in Florida's special election. Margaret Good beat the Republican by 7 percentage points in a district that President Trump won two years ago by a 5-point margin. (NPR)
1/ U.S. intelligence agencies expect Russia to meddle in the 2018 midterm elections through hacking and social media manipulation. During testimony at the Senate Intelligence Committee's annual hearing on worldwide threats, Director of National Intelligence Dan Coats told the committee: "Frankly, the United States is under attack" and that Russia will continue to engage in cyber attacks to "degrade our democratic values and weaken our alliances." He added: "There should be no doubt that Russia perceives its past efforts as successful and views the 2018 U.S. midterm elections as a potential target for Russian influence operations." (New York Times / USA Today / NBC News)
2/ FBI Director Christopher Wray contradicted the White House's timeline for Rob Porter, saying the Bureau's file on Porter was closed in January 2018. Deputy Press Secretary Raj Shah issued a statement last week saying that Porter's "background investigation was ongoing" and that the White House was first contacted about Porter's clearance in July. Wray, testifying before the Senate Intelligence Committee, said the FBI submitted a partial report on Porter's clearance in March 2017 and that the investigation was completed in July. The FBI closed the file in January 2018, but received additional information in February, and "we passed that on as well." (Axios / Washington Post / USA Today)
The system used to issue security clearances for top officials is "broken," according to Dan Coats. "We have a broken system and I think everybody's come to agree with that now." (Associated Press)
The Porter Timeline:
March 2017: The FBI submitted a "partial report" on Rob Porter to the White House.
July: The FBI submitted a completed review in "late July."
November: The White House requested follow-up information from the FBI on Porter's review.
January 2018: The FBI "closed the file."
February 6th: The Daily Mail story is published, detailing Porter's abusive marriage with his second ex-wife.
February 7th: John Kelly called Porter "a man of true integrity and honor." The Intercept published a story reporting that both of Porter's ex-wives told the FBI that he abused them. Porter resigned, insisting that he is innocent. Kelly issued a second statement: "There is no place for domestic violence in our society."
February 8th: It's reported Kelly knew that Porter's permanent security clearance was on hold in "early fall" and that both of his ex-wives had made allegations against him. White House principal deputy press secretary Raj Shah said that Porter was "terminated" shortly after the "full nature" of the allegations became clear. "In this instance, in the case of Rob Porter, we relied on the background check investigative process. That process hadn't been completed."
February 9th: Trump addressed Porter's resignation, wishing him well and a "wonderful career."
February 10th: Trump tweets: "Peoples lives are being shattered and destroyed by a mere allegation. Some are true and some are false. Some are old and some are new. There is no recovery for someone falsely accused - life and career are gone. Is there no such thing any longer as Due Process?"
February 11th: Kellyanne Conway said that Trump was "very disturbed" by the allegations against Porter.
February 12th: Sarah Huckabee Sanders refused to explain why Trump hasn't offered a statement clarifying his tweet.
February 13th: FBI Director Chris Wray told the Senate Intelligence Committee that the bureau completed its background investigation on Porter in July 2017, responded to a follow-up request in November, and then closed its file in January 2018. The timeline contradicts the White House's February 8th statement that the background check "process hadn't been completed."
3/ Rob Porter was up for a promotion despite allegations that he abused his two ex-wives. John Kelly and several other White House officials were receptive to promoting Porter. Kelly has found himself increasingly isolated in the White House as his timeline of the events surrounding Porter's departure doesn't align with what happened. The FBI's "timeline makes one thing clear: the Kelly coverup is unraveling right before our eyes," a White House official said. (Politico / CNN / Axios)
4/ The Trump administration proposed replacing food stamps with a monthly "American Harvest Box," full of government-picked, nonperishable foods. The proposal, buried in the White House fiscal 2019 budget, would include items like milk, peanut butter, canned fruits, and cereal. The administration claims the plan would save more than $129 billion over 10 years. (Politico)
Nancy Pelosi shared a 2015 tweet from Trump claiming that he would not cut Medicare and Medicaid after his budget proposed cuts to both programs. "There really is a tweet for everything," Pelosi wrote. (The Hill)
5/ Trump warned Democrats that March 5 is the "last chance" to pass DACA. The deadline is the same one he announced last year, but a federal injunction temporarily blocking the plan to rescind work permits for young undocumented immigrants essentially renders the deadline meaningless. "Wouldn't it be great if we could finally, after so many years, solve the DACA puzzle," Trump tweeted. He added: "This will be our last chance, there will never be another opportunity! March 5th." (ABC News)
Negotiations on DACA have begun. Republicans want to make a deal and Democrats say they want to make a deal. Wouldn’t it be great if we could finally, after so many years, solve the DACA puzzle. This will be our last chance, there will never be another opportunity! March 5th.
6/ A second U.S. judge blocked Trump's decision to end DACA in March while litigation plays out in the courts. The Supreme Court is due to consider whether to take up the administration's appeal to the first ruling as Friday. (Reuters / The Hill)
poll/ Trump's job approval climbed to 44%, compared to 53% who disapprove in a Priorities USA poll – a Democratic super PAC. In November, the same survey found Trump's approval rating at 40%, with 54% disapproving. (McClatchy DC)
Notables.
Israeli police recommended that Benjamin Netanyahu be charged with bribery, fraud, and breach of trust in two corruption cases. The recommendations now go to Attorney General Avihai Mendelblit, who will review the material before deciding whether to file charges. Netanyahu can remain in office during that process. (Associated Press / New York Times)
More than 200 Russian mercenaries were killed in a clash with U.S. forces in Syria last week. The fighters attacked a base and refinery held by the U.S. and were defeated. Defense Secretary Jim Mattis called the situation "perplexing," because it's not clear whether the attack was a rogue operation or if it was ordered by Russia. (Bloomberg)
Kirsten Gillibrand pledged to stop accepting donations from corporate PACs. She joins Democrats Elizabeth Warren, Bernie Sanders, and Maria Cantwell who have pledged to reject corporate money. (BuzzFeed News)
Of Trump's 87 picks for federal judges, 92% are white. There is one African American and one is Hispanic nominee. (USA Today)
America First: Of the 144 job openings for seasonal work from across three Trump properties, one went to a US worker. (Vox)
1/ Rachel Brand quit the Justice Department in part over fears that she'd have to take over the Russia investigation if Trump fired Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein. The Justice Department's No. 3 attorney had been unhappy with her job for months, telling friends that she felt overwhelmed and unsupported in her job, primarily because four of the 13 divisions she oversaw as the associate attorney general remained unfilled. (NBC News)
2/ The White House proposed a $4.4 trillion federal budget that would add $7 trillion to the deficit over ten years. The plan calls for cuts to Medicare, Medicaid, food stamps and other social programs in favor of higher spending on a "ready, larger, and more lethal military," $23 billion for border security and immigration enforcement, and $200 billion over the next decade for infrastructure spending. The State Department budget would be cut by 27% and the EPA would be cut by 34%. The budget will likely be ignored by Congress, which passed its own two-year spending plan last week. (Bloomberg / New York Times / Washington Post)
Here are the 22 agencies and programs Trump's budget would eliminate. (The Hill)
The Trump budget falls short of the longtime Republican goal of eliminating the federal deficit. The administration has reportedly conceded that the recent federal tax cuts and new spending increases have made eliminating the deficit an unattainable goal. (Washington Post)
3/ Trump's infrastructure plan will provide up to $200 billion in federal funding to encourage cities and states to invest in roads, bridges, and other building projects. The goal is to incentivize $1.5 trillion in infrastructure spending over the next 10 years without investing significant federal funding, while also reducing the time required to obtain environmental permits for the projects. (New York Times / Politico / Washington Post)
Read the full text of Trump's infrastructure plan. (CNBC)
4/ The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau dropped a lawsuit against a lender that allegedly charged people up to 950% interest rates. Led by Trump appointee Mick Mulvaney, the CFPB will operate for the years 2018 through 2022 under a "revised mission and vision of the bureau" that will call upon the agency to "fulfill its statutory responsibilities but go no further." (NPR / CNBC)
5/ Scott Pruitt often uses taxpayer funds to fly first-class and stay at luxury hotels, using unspecified security concerns as justification. The Environmental Protection Agency administrator typically brings a large group of aides with him on trips and usually flies with Delta, even though the government has contracts with specific airlines for specific routes. (Washington Post / CNN)
6/ The Education Department won't investigate or take action on any complaints filed by transgender students who are banned from restrooms that match their gender identity. The Education and Justice Departments withdrew the Obama-era guidance on transgender restroom access in February 2017. (BuzzFeed News)
U.S. figure skater Adam Rippon said he would boycott a visit to the White House. Rippon also refused a meeting with Pence before the competition, citing the Trump administration's values and Pence's support of "gay conversion therapy." (The Hill)
7/ Jeff Sessions called sheriffs a "critical part" of the "Anglo-American heritage of law enforcement" during a speech at the National Sheriffs' Association. "We must never erode this historic office," Sessions continued. The "Anglo-American" phrase was not in the prepared remarks released by the Justice Department early Monday before his speech. (NBC News / CNN)
Notables.
The U.S. and South Korea have agreed on terms of further engagement with North Korea – first by the South Koreans and then by the U.S. The U.S. will not stop imposing sanctions on Pyongyang until it begins denuclearization, but the Trump administration is now willing to sit down and talk with the regime. (Washington Post)
Trump's inaugural committee won't reveal what it's doing with tens of millions of dollars it pledged to charity last year. The committee raised about $107 million, but only spent about half of it. The rest, it said, would go to charity. (The Daily Beast)
Trump's pick to run the 2020 census withdrew from consideration after Democrats in Congress pushed back against the appointment. Thomas Brunell is a political science professor who has defended Republican redistricting efforts in more than a dozen states. (Mother Jones)
Trump Jr.'s wife was taken to the hospital after opening a letter containing an unidentified white powder that was later determined to be non-hazardous. (Reuters)
Devin Nunes' "news" site went down after a distributed denial of service attack. The Nunes campaign has paid roughly $8,000 to a communications consultant since July to create "The California Republican," which is listed as a "Media/News Company" on Facebook and claims to deliver “the best of US, California, and Central Valley news, sports, and analysis.” (The Hill / Politico)
Kirsten Gillibrand wants Congress to hold Trump accountable for the allegations of sexual misconduct against him. "I think he should resign, and if he's unwilling to do that, which is what I assume, then Congress should hold him accountable. We're obligated to have hearings," Gillibrand said in an interview with CBS's "60 Minutes." (The Hill)
1/ The Justice Department's No. 3 official resigned. Rachel Brand was next in line behind Rod Rosenstein, who is overseeing the special counsel's inquiry into Russian influence in the 2016 election. Trump has called the investigation a witch hunt and even considered firing Rosenstein. (New York Times / CNN)
2/ Top White House officials knew about the allegations of Rob Porter's verbal and physical abuse for months. White House Counsel Donald McGahn knew in January 2017 that accusations by Porter's ex-wives could threaten his security clearance. John Kelly learned this past fall that the domestic violence claims were delaying Porter's security clearance after the FBI flagged its findings to the White House. He gave Porter more responsibilities. Until his resignation on Wednesday, Porter was one of Trump's most senior aides. The White House has said Kelly was not "fully aware" of the abuse until this week. (Washington Post / New York Times)
John Kelly sent a memo to White House staffers Thursday night addressing the allegations made against Rob Porter. Kelly wrote, "While we are all processing the shocking and troubling allegations made against a former White House staffer, I want you to know that we all take matters of domestic violence seriously. Domestic violence is abhorrent and has no place in our society." (CNN)
3/ Trump is frustrated with Hope Hicks' role in the Porter scandal and is placing much of the blame on John Kelly. Trump is questioning the White House's response and has told associates that he thinks Hicks put her romantic relationship with Porter ahead of his own priorities. Trump was not consulted on the White House statement, which defended Porter. Kelly, meanwhile, initially defended Porter and urged him to fight the allegations and to remain in the job. But after graphic photos emerged of the abuse, Kelly accepted Porter's resignation. (CNN / Wall Street Journal)
4/ Meanwhile, Trump said the allegations of domestic abuse are "very sad," but that he wishes Rob Porter "well" because "he did a very good job while he was in the White House. We hope he has a wonderful career ahead of him." Trump added that he believes Porter is innocent, because Porter said "very strongly" that he was innocent. (Reuters / CNN)
5/ Trump has recently asked advisers what they think of Mick Mulvaney as a possible replacement for John Kelly as chief of staff. Mulvaney currently holds two posts, as director of both the White House budget office and the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. Kelly has told Trump in the last 24 hours that he's willing to resign, but has not offered his resignation. (New York Times / ABC News)
6/ Trump doesn't read the President's Daily Brief, which outlines the most important information collected by U.S. intelligence agencies from around the world. Instead, he receives an oral briefing on select intelligence issues, because reading is not Trump's preferred "style of learning." (Washington Post)
7/ The government shut down for five hours last night, the second shutdown in three weeks. The House passed a spending bill late last night, which Trump signed into law early Friday morning. The measure keeps the government open until March 23. The bill also increases federal spending for the military and domestic and disaster relief programs by hundreds of billions of dollars. (Washington Post / New York Times)
Notables.
The FBI was monitoring Carter Page when he spoke to Steve Bannon about Russia in January 2017. The details of the call are vague, but national security experts say the FBI would have retained the conversation as evidence if it seemed pertinent to their investigation into allegations that Trump associates coordinated with the Kremlin. (Politico)
Dozens of White House employees still don't have permanent security clearance. Employees have been working for months with temporary approvals as they continue to handle sensitive and classified information while they wait for the FBI to issue permanent clearances. (Washington Post)
Tim Kaine wants Trump to release a secret memo outlining his interpretation of his legal authority to wage war. Kaine sent a letter to Rex Tillerson seeking the seven-page memo the administration has kept under wraps for months. (NBC News)
Trump said the White House would release a letter regarding the possible release of the Democrat's memo written which rebuts a Republican document claiming FBI and Justice Department bias against him in the federal probe of Russia and the 2016 U.S. election. (Reuters)
1/ Russian hackers penetrated voter registration rolls in several U.S. states before the 2016 presidential election. A Homeland Security Department official said that of the 21 states that were targeted, a "small number" were successfully penetrated. Officials maintain that there is no evidence that voter rolls were altered. (NBC News)
George W. Bush: "Clear evidence that the Russians meddled" in the 2016 presidential election. Intelligence agencies have concluded that Russia meddled in the presidential election, but Trump has consistently disputed allegations that members of his campaign team in any way "colluded" with Moscow. (USA Today)
2/ The Trump administration may target immigrants who use certain taxpayer-funded benefits to make it harder for them to gain permanent residency. The Department of Homeland Security has drafted rules that could weigh against an applicant if they received non-cash benefits, such as government food assistance programs or preschool programs – even if they were for the immigrant's U.S. citizen children. (Reuters)
3/ Scott Pruitt suggested that climate change could benefit humans, despite scientific evidence to the contrary. The EPA administrator said: "I think there's assumptions made that because the climate is warming, that that necessarily is a bad thing. Do we really know what the ideal surface temperature should be in the year 2100?" The National Climate Assessment concluded that "climate change presents a global public health problem, with serious health impacts predicted to manifest in varying ways in different parts of the world." NASA's consensus is that humans are the primary drivers of climate-warming trends, which are "proceeding at a rate unprecedented over decades to millennia." (CNN)
4/ House Democrats are targeting 101 Republican-held congressional districts in the November midterm elections. Polling by the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee shows Trump trailing not just in the 23 GOP-held districts Hillary Clinton won, but also in more than 60 districts Trump won, and 11 others where retirements have left the seat open. (NBC News)
5/ Members of Congress from both parties are calling Trump's request for a military parade a waste of money that would break with democratic traditions. Defense Secretary James Mattis told a White House news briefing that preparations for a celebration are underway. (Politico)
6/ The House and Senate are expected to vote tonight on a budget deal that would increase federal spending by more than $300 billion over two years and avert another shutdown. The Senate is expected to pass its bill, which the House will then vote on. Conservative House Republicans, however, currently oppose the deal over its increase in spending, while some House Democrats are threatening to vote against the deal because it doesn't address protections for Dreamers. The current temporary funding measure is set to expire tonight at midnight. (Politico / New York Times / Washington Post)
poll/ 57% of Americans believe Russia will try to influence this year's midterm elections and 55% believe the federal government isn't doing enough to prevent it. (NBC News)
Notables.
The Dow dropped more than 1,000 points, closing down 4.15%. The S&P 500 closed at 3.75% down – a two-month low – erasing its gain for the year and putting it on track for its worst week since the financial crisis. (Bloomberg)
Trump has decided to focus on opioid law enforcement instead of opioid treatment. "People form blue ribbon committees," Trump said earlier this week during a speech in Cincinnati. "They do everything they can. And frankly, I have a different take on it. My take is you have to get really, really tough, really mean with the drug pushers and the drug dealers." (NPR)
Republican Congressman Duncan Hunter of California has been accused of misusing campaign funds. A grand jury in San Diego is in the process of questioning several former aides to find out whether Rep. Hunter diverted hundreds of thousands of dollars from his campaign and spent the money on his family and friends. (Politico)
Senior Trump aides knew for months about the allegations of domestic abuse against top White House staffer Rob Porter by his two ex-wives. Porter continues to deny the allegations and the White House continues to defend Porter, even after his resignation on Wednesday. Democrats have requested an investigation into the White House's "apparent low and inconsistent threshold" for granting security clearances. (CNN / The Hill)
1/ Senate leaders struck a budget deal to increase defense and domestic spending by about $315 billion over two years and add $90 billion more in disaster aid for victims of recent hurricanes and wildfires. The agreement also includes a four-year extension for the Children's Health Insurance Program, in addition to the six-year extension that Congress approved last month. Sarah Huckabee Sanders said the White House supported the deal, calling it "steps forward." A vote on the plan in the Senate could come as soon as this afternoon. (New York Times / Washington Post)
2/ Nancy Pelosi, meanwhile, said she cannot agree to any budget deal without a vote on an immigration bill to protect Dreamers. Pelosi began reading stories about Dreamers who aspire to become U.S. citizens from the House floor at 10:04 a.m. and she hasn't stopped. "Without a commitment from Speaker Ryan comparable to the commitment from Leader McConnell, this package does not have my support," Pelosi said. (USA Today / Politico)
3/ A White House staff secretary resigned following allegations that he physically assaulted and emotionally abused his two ex-wives. Rob Porter, who is dating White House communications director Hope Hicks, called the allegations "outrageous" and "simply false," but resigned with an undetermined effective date anyway. John Kelly defended Porter, calling him "a man of true integrity and honor." (CNN / Politico)
4/ Trump wants a grand military parade with soldiers marching and tanks later this year in order to showcase the might of America's armed forces. "The marching orders were: I want a parade like the one in France," a military official said. From the Washington Post: "The inspiration for Trump’s push is last year's Bastille Day celebration in Paris, which the president attended as a guest of French President Emmanuel Macron. Trump was awestruck by the tableau of uniformed French troops marching down Avenue des Champs-Elysees with military tanks, armored vehicles, gun trucks and carriers — complete with fighter jets flying over the Arc de Triomphe and painting the sky with streaks of blue, white and red smoke for the colors of the French flag." (Washington Post)
5/ Trump's allies are calling for a compromise when it comes to an interview with Robert Mueller. They don't want Trump to sit down and speak freely with Mueller, but they also want to avoid a standoff that could make its way to the Supreme Court if neither side budges. Trump's legal team is exploring the possibility of a written exchange with Mueller. (Politico)
6/ Trump still wants to talk to Mueller, despite lawyers, friends and lawmakers urging him to avoid a sit-down. Trump reportedly believes that he is entirely innocent, and his experience with lawsuits and testifying under oath during his time as a real estate mogul will allow him to get through his interview with Mueller unscathed. (CNN)
7/ Rex Tillerson: Russia is already trying to influence the 2018 midterm election. Tillerson warned that Russia has "a lot of different tools" that it can use to influence the election. He added: "I don't know that I would say we are better prepared, because the Russians will adapt, as well. The point is, if it's their intention to interfere, they are going to find ways to do that." (Fox News / NBC News)
poll/ 40% of Americans approve of Trump's job performance and 60% say Trump is doing more to divide the country than to unite it. In addition, 85% of Republicans say Trump is not a racist, 55% of men say Trump is not a racist, and 51% of white voters say Trump is not a racist. (Quinnipiac)
Notables.
Democrats are contemplating a post-Pelosi Democratic Party, which would likely trigger "an intraparty war," according to Rep. Alcee Hastings. (Politico)
Democrats flipped a Missouri state House of Representatives seat in a district that went for Trump in 2016. Mike Revis, a 27-year-old Democrat, managed to beat out Republican David Linton by 108 votes, or about 3% of the vote. (The Hill)
Pence vowed that the Trump administration "will soon unveil the toughest and most aggressive round of economic sanctions on North Korea ever." (Washington Post)
1/ Trump's lawyers want him to refuse an interview with Robert Mueller, because they're concerned that he could be charged with lying to investigators. Trump, however, has said that he is "looking forward" to speaking with Mueller as part of the investigation into possible collusion between his campaign and Russia's election interference, and whether he obstructed justice. Ty Cobb, the White House lawyer Trump tapped to deal with Mueller's investigation, has said the White House is in "total cooperation mode." (New York Times)
2/ Steve Bannon will not testify before the House Intelligence Committee today, thus risking being held in contempt for failing to comply with a subpoena. The panel wants Bannon to testify a second time in its investigation of Russian election meddling. Bannon's January 16th appearance failed to satisfy members of the committee. (CNN / Reuters)
3/ Trump is not expected to extend the DACA deadline past March 5th. John Kelly said "Dreamers," however, would not be a priority for deportation, even if their protections expire. Kelly told reporters that he was "not so sure this president has the authority to extend" the program. (Washington Post / Associated Press)
4/ A FEMA contractor delivered just 50,000 of 30 million ready-to-eat meals to Puerto Rico before the contract was terminated. The Federal Emergency Management Agency awarded the $156 million contract to an entrepreneur with no experience in large-scale disaster relief, who also had at least five previously canceled government contracts. (New York Times)
5/ Government funding set to expire on Thursday. House Republicans have moved ahead with a temporary spending measure that would raise strict caps on military and domestic spending. Senate Democrats have promised to block the bill. They want to pair an increase in military spending with a similar increase in domestic spending. The measure needs 60 votes to pass the Senate, where Republicans hold 51 seats. (New York Times)
6/ Trump: "I'd love to see a shutdown" if Democrats don't agree to his immigration plan, which would offer a path to citizenship for as many as 1.8 million immigrants who came to the U.S. illegally as children in exchange for funding for his border wall and deep cuts to legal immigration. Government funding will lapse if Congress cannot pass a spending bill by the end of Thursday. (The Hill / CNBC)
Notables.
Devin Nunes admitted that the FBI actually did disclose the political backing of the Steele dossier in its FISA application to surveil Carter Page. The Republican memo accused the FBI and Justice Department of anti-Trump bias because they allegedly didn't disclose that the Steele dossier was financed by Hillary Clinton's campaign and the Democratic National Committee. The FBI's FISA application disclosed this detail in a footnote, which the GOP memo failed to mention. (Politico)
Trump will be briefed on the Democratic memo. John Kelly said that Trump has the 10-page document, but has not yet read it, telling reporters that "it's pretty lengthy." (The Hill)
Jeff Sessions called for a "fresh start" at the FBI following Andrew McCabe's decision to step down. Sessions added that there has been an "erosion" of public trust in the Justice Department and that "we need to go the extra mile to make sure that everything we do is not political." (CNN)
Kellyanne Conway's "opioid cabinet" has been relying on political staff to address the crisis instead of drug policy professionals. Trump hasn't named a permanent director for the office and the acting director hasn't been invited to Conway's opioid cabinet meetings. (Politico)
The House passed a measure requiring lawmakers to pay their own awards and settlements in sexual harassment cases instead of using taxpayer funds. (Reuters)
Sarah Huckabee Sanders said Trump as "clearly joking" when he accused Democrats of treason for not standing and applauding during his State of the Union address. (CNN)
A Pennsylvania lawmaker wants to impeach five Democratic state justices who found the Republican-drawn congressional districts map to be in violation of the Pennsylvania constitution. (New York Magazine)
1/ Trump accused Democrats of being un-American and treasonous because they didn't clap for him during his State of the Union address. "Can we call that treason?" Trump asked during a speech at a factory in Ohio. "Why not? I mean, they certainly didn't seem to love our country very much." He added: "Your paychecks are going way up" and "your taxes are going way down." (New York Times)
2/ The Dow had its worst single-day decline ever, plunging 1,175 points to close at 24,346. The drop came as Trump was touting the strength of the economy during his speech in Ohio. CNN, MSNBC, and Fox News all cut away from Trump's speech to cover the market plunge. The S&P 500 fell by more than 4%. (CNN Money)
3/ Senators John McCain and Christopher Coons will introduce a bipartisan immigration deal aimed at reaching a budget deal before the federal government's current funding expires on Friday. The legislation does not contain funding for the border wall. (Wall Street Journal)
4/ The White House dismissed the bipartisan immigration deal as a non-starter before it was formally introduced. Trump tweeted that "any deal on DACA that does not include STRONG border security and the desperately needed WALL is a total waste of time." (CNN)
Any deal on DACA that does not include STRONG border security and the desperately needed WALL is a total waste of time. March 5th is rapidly approaching and the Dems seem not to care about DACA. Make a deal!
5/ The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau scaled back its Equifax probe. Hackers stole the personal data from more than 143 million Americans in a September breach at the credit bureau. (Reuters)
6/ Paul Ryan celebrated a secretary's $1.50 weekly increase on Twitter as a sign of the Republican tax plan's success. He deleted the tweet after lawmakers and social media users criticized him. "A secretary at a public high school in Lancaster, Pennsylvania, said she was pleasantly surprised her pay went up $1.50 a week … she said [that] will more than cover her Costco membership for the year," the tweet read. (New York Times)
7/ The House Intelligence Committee voted to release the Democratic memo public, which rebuts allegations that the FBI abused surveillance laws. Trump has five days to review the request to release the memo. (Politico / Reuters)
Trump's lawyers want to appoint a second special counsel to investigate the FBI and Justice Department's actions during the 2016 presidential campaign. (Axios)
The New York Times asked the FISA court to unseal documents related to the wiretapping of Carter Page. Trump's decision to declassify the Republican memo signifies that the public interest in the documents outweighs the need to protect the information. The Times argues that there is no longer a justification "for the Page warrant orders and application materials to be withheld in their entirety," and that "disclosure would serve the public interest." (New York Times)
8/ Trump accused Adam Schiff of being "one of the biggest liars and leakers in Washington." He called the California representative "Little Adam Schiff" and that he "Must be stopped!" Schiff fired back: "Mr. President, I see you’ve had a busy morning of 'Executive Time.'" Later, Schiff told CNN that "It may be time for General Kelly to give the President a time out." (New York Times / CNN)
Little Adam Schiff, who is desperate to run for higher office, is one of the biggest liars and leakers in Washington, right up there with Comey, Warner, Brennan and Clapper! Adam leaves closed committee hearings to illegally leak confidential information. Must be stopped!
Mr. President, I see you’ve had a busy morning of “Executive Time.” Instead of tweeting false smears, the American people would appreciate it if you turned off the TV and helped solve the funding crisis, protected Dreamers or...really anything else. https://t.co/lVqQRu2Gjl
9/ The U.S. Supreme Court will allow Pennsylvania to redraw its congressional districts, rejecting an emergency GOP request to stop a reworking of the electoral districts. Last month the Pennsylvania Supreme Court ruled that the current maps violate the state constitution and unfairly benefits Republicans. The new districts are expected to be in place by February 19th for use in the May 15th congressional primaries. (Associated Press / Reuters)
Notables.
Some Philadelphia Eagles players plan to skip the White House visit because of opposition to Trump. (CNN)
Department of Homeland Security documents for a Super Bowl terrorism drill were found in the seat-back pocket on a commercial plane. The reports were based on exercises designed to evaluate the ability of public health, law enforcement and emergency management officials to engage in a coordinated response were a biological attack to be carried out in Minneapolis on Super Bowl Sunday. (CNN)
Audit: A Pentagon agency can't account for more than $800 million in construction projects. The Defense Logistics Agency failed to properly document its spending and cannot reconcile balances from its general ledger with the Treasury Department. (Politico)
The former leader of the American Nazi Party is running unopposed in the Republican primary for Illinois' 3rd Congressional District. Arthur Jones is a Holocaust denier and also oversees the America First Committee, whose membership "is open to any white American citizen of European, non-Jewish descent." (Washington Post)
The Justice Department sided with Robert Mueller in a lawsuit filed against him by Paul Manafort. Manafort filed the civil suit against Mueller on January 3rd, saying the special counsel's investigation into collusion between the Trump campaign and Russia exceeded its legal authority. (Reuters)
1/ Trump approved the release of the Nunes memo after first attacking both the FBI and the Justice Department in an early-morning tweet. He accused them of having "politicized the sacred investigative process in favor of Democrats." The memo, which alleges anti-Trump bias at the FBI and DOJ, was approved for release without the redactions that the FBI and the Justice Department had lobbied for. The House Intelligence Committee then made the memo public. Trump told reporters, "I think it's a disgrace what's happening in our country … A lot of people should be ashamed of themselves and much worse than that." (New York Times / Washington Post)
The top Leadership and Investigators of the FBI and the Justice Department have politicized the sacred investigative process in favor of Democrats and against Republicans - something which would have been unthinkable just a short time ago. Rank & File are great people!
The memo didn't provide the evidence to support the claim that the FBI abused its surveillance power under the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act during the 2016 campaign leading to "a troubling breakdown of legal processes established to protect the American people from abuses related to the FISA process."
The memo also doesn't provide all the evidence the FBI and Justice Department used to obtain the initial warrant to surveil Carter Page, the former Trump campaign adviser.
The memo confirms that actions taken by George Papadopoulos, the former Trump foreign policy adviser, were a factor in the opening of the investigation. Papadopoulos pleaded guilty last year to lying to the FBI about his contacts with Russians.
Memo actually confirms a timeline not favorable to Trump: 1. Counterintelligence probe opened in July 2016 by FBI because of George P./Wikileaks/emails. 2. FISA application on Carter Page obtained late Oct. 2016, after Page had left Trump campaign.
Sean Hannity advised Trump on the memo all week. Trump reportedly had several phone calls with Hannity over the last few weeks, reinforcing Trump's determination to release the memo to the public. (The Daily Beast)
Comey praised the FBI in a tweet for speaking up against "weasels and liars". He called on more leaders in the government to do the same. (The Hill)
All should appreciate the FBI speaking up. I wish more of our leaders would. But take heart: American history shows that, in the long run, weasels and liars never hold the field, so long as good people stand up. Not a lot of schools or streets named for Joe McCarthy.
John McCain: "The latest attacks on the FBI and Department of Justice serve no American interests – no party's, no president's, only Putin's." (The Hill)
2/ Yesterday, Paul Ryan said the memo is not "an indictment of the FBI, of the Department of Justice" and that he supports the release of the Democrats' memo, which counters the GOP memo. Republican leaders in Congress have been arguing that the release of the memo reveals mistakes and bias at the FBI – not Robert Mueller's special counsel investigation set up by the Justice Department. Trump undermined that argument with his tweet saying the memo would prove political bias at the FBI and Justice Department. (The Hill / Washington Post)
3/ Trump refused to say if he will fire Rod Rosenstein, who has been overseeing Robert Mueller's special counsel investigation. "You figure that one out," Trump told reporters, when asked if he has confidence in Rosenstein. (CNN)
4/ Two attorneys representing clients caught up in Robert Mueller's probe believe Mueller could indict Trump for obstruction of justice. Many legal experts don't believe Mueller has the standing to bring criminal charges against Trump, however. Neither attorney had specific knowledge of Mueller's plans, but suggested that could try to bring an indictment against Trump if only to illustrate the gravity of his findings. (Politico)
5/ The Trump administration called for the development of two new, "lower-yield" types of nuclear weapons for ballistic and cruise missiles launched from submarines. The weapons could be used to respond to "extreme circumstances," including non-nuclear attacks. The White House also publicly acknowledged for the first time that Russia is "developing" a "new intercontinental, nuclear armed, nuclear-powered, undersea autonomous torpedo." (Politico)
6/ The White House wants to see more options for a military strike against North Korea, and is frustrated by what they consider to be the Pentagon's unwillingness to provide them. The national security adviser, Lt. Gen. H. R. McMaster ,believes threats are only credible if they are backed by well-developed military plans, but sources say the Pentagon is worried that the White House is too eager to use military action against the Korean Peninsula. (New York Times)
Notables.
Seven of the top nine jobs at the State Department are empty, including positions to oversee the agency's role in trade policy, stopping the spread of nuclear weapons, refugee issues, and efforts to counter human trafficking. (Bloomberg)
K.T. McFarland asked to withdraw her stalled nomination to be the U.S. ambassador to Singapore. The Senate Foreign Relations Committee was concerned about her testimony to Congress over communications with Russia. (Reuters)
CIA Director Mike Pompeo met with the head of Russia's foreign intelligence agency, even though the head of the GRU was barred from entering the US under sanctions put in place in 2014. Pompeo defended the meeting and claimed that he and other officials only met with the Russian operatives "to keep Americans safe." The Russian Embassy in Washington announced the meeting with Pompeo in a tweet on January 30th. (CNN)
The director of Russia’s foreign intelligence, Sergey Naryshkin, has visited the United States for consultations with #US🇺🇸 counterparts on the struggle against terrorism - Ambassador #Antonov ➡️https://t.co/WPeQwBMrVJpic.twitter.com/NKl5oUaHVh
1/ Hope Hicks allegedly told Trump that the emails involving Trump Jr. and the Trump Tower meeting "will never get out" because only a few people have access to them. The White House communications director's comment was in response to Mark Corallo, who served as the spokesman for Trump's legal team, saying the statement they drafted aboard Air Force One would backfire when documents surface that the meeting was setup to get political dirt about Hillary Clinton from the Russians – and not about Russian adoptions. Corallo believed Hicks' comment indicated that she could be contemplating obstructing justice. Corallo will tell Robert Mueller about the previously undisclosed conference call with Trump and Hicks when he meets with the special counsel's team sometime in the next two weeks. Corallo resigned from Trump's legal team in July. (New York Times / CNN)
2/ The White House is worried that FBI Director Christopher Wray will quit if The Memo™ is released. Wray has "grave concerns" that "material omissions of fact" make the document inaccurate. Trump is expected to approve the release of the memo on Friday, which alleges surveillance abuse by the FBI, without the bureau's requested redactions. (CNN / New York Times / Washington Post)
3/ Trump Jr. tweeted that Andrew McCabe was "fired" because of the contents of The Memo™. Trump Jr. claimed that the information in the memo was "good enough" for the administration to "fire McCabe." On Monday, the White House specifically denied involvement in McCabe's decision to resign. (The Hill)
It was good enough to fire McCabe, no one argues its factually inaccurate, but now days later they want to protect the names of those involved in a scandal that was big enough to fire a senior official a month before retirement? They don’t deserve a pass on that!
4/ Adam Schiff accused Devin Nunes of giving Trump a "secretly altered" version of The Memo™ which contained "substantive" changes that had not been approved by the House Intelligence Committee. A spokesperson for Nunes denied Schiff's allegations, referring to them as another "strange attempt to thwart publication of the memo." (The Hill)
5/ Trump is telling friends that The Memo™ is a way of discrediting the Russia investigation. He believes it would expose bias at the FBI and that the bureau is prejudiced against him. (CNN)
A top Republican senator urged House Republicans to consider the FBI's "grave concerns" before making the memo public. John Thune also said the Senate Intelligence Committee should be allowed to see the document before its release. (New York Times)
6/ Trump falsely claimed that his State of the Union address had "the highest number in history" in terms of viewers. Nielsen reported that 45.6 million people watched Trump's address. In 2002, 51.7 million people watched George W. Bush's address, 48 million watched Obama's first address, and 46.8 million tuned in for Bill Clinton's first SOTU speech. (Associated Press)
Thank you for all of the nice compliments and reviews on the State of the Union speech. 45.6 million people watched, the highest number in history. @FoxNews beat every other Network, for the first time ever, with 11.7 million people tuning in. Delivered from the heart!
7/ The Trump administration took away enforcement power from a Consumer Financial Protection Bureau office that pursued lending discrimination cases that imposed interest rates on minorities higher than those for whites. Mick Mulvaney said staffers will now be focused on "advocacy, coordination and education," rather than enforcement and oversight of companies. (Washington Post)
8/ Three attorneys representing Rick Gates abruptly withdrew as counsel for the former Trump campaign aide. Lawyers Shanlon Wu, Walter Mack, and Annemarie McAvoy said the reasons for quitting is currently under seal, but added that "The document speaks for itself." Gates recently added Tom Green, a prominent white-collar attorney, to his defense team. (Politico / CNN)
poll/ 71% of Americans think Trump should agree to an interview with Robert Mueller if asked. 82% think the interview should be under oath. (Politico)
Notables.
Trump sacked this year's traditional pre-Super Bowl interview, rejecting requests to appear on NBC this Sunday. (CNN)
Mike Pence is launching a nationwide campaign tour to raise money for Republican candidates running in the 2018 midterms. Pence believes Republicans could expand their majority in both chambers. (Politico)
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention will cut its epidemic prevention activities by 80% because it's running out of money. (Washington Post)
Robert Mueller's office isn't ready to schedule a sentencing hearing for Michael Flynn, who pleaded guilty in December to lying to the FBI. George Papadopolous' case was also delayed, signaling that Mueller doesn't plan on wrapping up his investigation before the spring. (CNN)
Carter Page was on the radar of U.S. intelligence agencies several years before he became a member of Trump's campaign. Page had his first brush with a U.S. intelligence official back in 2013, when he was interviewed by FBI counterintelligence agent Gregory Monaghan about his contacts with Victor Podobnyy, who was serving as a junior attaché at the Russian consulate in New York City at the time. (Wall Street Journal)
A Republican candidate for U.S. Senate blamed human trafficking on the sexual revolution of the 1960s and '70s. Josh Hawley told a Christian political group in Missouri that "We're living now with the terrible aftereffects of this so-called revolution. […] The sexual revolution has led to exploitation of women on a scale that we would never have imagined." (Washington Post)
1/ The FBI said in a statement that it has "grave concerns about material omissions of fact that fundamentally impact the memo's accuracy." FBI Director Christopher Wray and Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein went to the White House on Monday in hopes of preventing the release of the memo, which was written by House Intelligence Committee Chairman Devin Nunes. Wray told John Kelly that The Memo™ contains inaccurate information and paints a false narrative. Republicans in the House Intelligence Committee voted along party lines on Monday to release the memo, as well as voting against releasing the Democrats' 10-page point-by-point rebuttal of the document. Trump has five days to stop the release of the document, if he chooses to do so. While the FBI Director isn't part of the official White House review process, he was allowed to read the memo on Sunday. (Washington Post / New York Times / Bloomberg)
Devin Nunes refused to say whether he worked with Trump's team on The Memo™. "I'm not answering," Nunes said during a contentious closed-door meeting of the House Intelligence Committee. (The Daily Beast)
2/ Trump promised "100 percent" to release The Memo™ as he was leaving the House chamber following his first State of the Union address. C-SPAN cameras captured Rep. Jeff Duncan on a hot mic asking Trump to "release the memo." Trump replied: "Oh yeah, oh, don’t worry. 100 percent." This morning, Sarah Huckabee Sanders said: "There are no current plans to release the House Intelligence Committee's memo" and that Trump had not "seen or been briefed" on the memo's contents. John Kelly, meanwhile, said the memo will "be released here pretty quick." The Justice Department previously warned that the memo's release could compromise intelligence gathering and threaten national security. (Washington Post)
3/ Trump asked Rod Rosenstein if he was "on my team" during a December meeting at the White House. "Of course, we're all on your team, Mr. President," Rosenstein said, who wanted Trump to push back on the Nunes memo. Trump, however, wanted to know where Robert Mueller's Russia investigation was going. It's Trump's fourth loyalty request from a Justice Department official. Last year, Trump asked for Comey to pledge his loyalty at a private dinner seven days after the inauguration. Comey declined. (CNN / Axios)
4/ The FBI agent Trump accused of "treason" wrote the first draft of the James Comey letter reopening the Hillary Clinton email probe. Republicans have accused Peter Strzok of being a Clinton supporter, charging that the text messages between him and FBI lawyer Lisa Page prove that Mueller's investigation is biased against Trump. (CNN)
5/ The Justice Department turned over documents on a proposed Jeff Sessions resignation prior to his interview with Robert Mueller's team. The documents also included emails with the White House about Michael Flynn. (ABC News)
6/ Trump signed an executive order to keep Guantanamo Bay open, prior to the start of his first State of the Union address. During the speech, Trump reiterated the Bush-era notion that suspected terrorists should be treated as "unlawful enemy combatants" instead of criminals. The majority of detainees held in the facility were never charged with a crime. Of the 41 detainees that remain at Guantanamo, only seven are facing any formal charges. (CNBC)
7/ The director of the CDC resigned following a report that she purchased shares of tobacco stock after taking charge of the agency. Brenda Fitzgerald bought the shares a month into her tenure as CDC director, where her mission was to convince smokers to quit and keep children from becoming addicted. Tobacco use is the leading cause of preventable disease and death. (Politico / CNN)
poll/ 48% of Americans who watched Trump's State of the Union address had a "very positive" impression of the speech, the lowest net positive rating for a State of the Union address since 1998. (CNN)
Notables.
A train carrying members of Congress to their legislative retreat in West Virginia hit a truck, leaving at least one person dead. (CNN)
Trey Gowdy will not seek reelection in 2018. "I will not be filing for re-election to Congress nor seeking any other political or elected office; instead I will be returning to the justice system," the chairman of the House Oversight Committee said in a statement. (Politico)
The Trump administration is seeking a 72% budget cut to the Energy Department's renewable energy and energy efficiency programs, underscoring the administration's focus on "beautiful clean coal." (Washington Post)
Secretary of Defense James Mattis wants to ban personal cell phones from the Pentagon. There are approximately 23,000 military and civilian staff that work in the Pentagon. (CNN)
Trump called for Democrats and Republicans to come together in his first State of the Union address, while hailing his administration's first year as an "extraordinary success" that represents "our new American moment." (New York Times / Washington Post)
Fact-checking Trump's first State of the Union address. (New York Times)
Here's what you need to know for Trump's inaugural State of the Union address:
Trump will deliver his first State of the Union address tonight at 9 p.m. E.S.T.
Stream the address: CBS News, C-SPAN, PBS and Reuters, or watch from the White House pages on Facebook, Twitter and YouTube. Or watch on the broadcast on ABC, CBS, NBC, CNN, Fox News or MSNBC.
A dozen Democrats plan to skip Trump's State of the Union address. "The President is unworthy of the podium, the position and the power," Tennessee Rep. Steve Cohen said. (Roll Call)
Ruth Bader Ginsburg and four other Supreme Court Justices won't attend Trump's address. Notorious RBG will instead host a fireside chat with students and faculty at the Roger Williams University School of Law in Rhode Island. (NBC News)
1/ The FBI is investigating a second Trump-Russia dossier. This one, written by former journalist Cody Shearer, was provided to the FBI by Christopher Steele in October 2016. Steele warned that he could not vouch for the accuracy of the memo, but provided a copy because it corroborated what he had separately heard from his own sources. The FBI is still assessing details in the "Shearer memo," which suggests investigators have taken some aspect of it seriously. Both documents allege that Trump was compromised during a 2013 trip to Moscow that involved prostitutes urinating on a bed where the Obamas once stayed. (The Guardian)
2/ Paul Ryan called for a "cleanse" of the FBI as he defended the way that Intelligence Committee Chairman Devin Nunes handled a vote to declassify The Memo™ of alleged surveillance abuses by federal law enforcement agencies. Ryan, however, warned against trying to use it to discredit Robert Mueller's probe of Russian meddling in the 2016 election. "Let it all out, get it all out there," Ryan said. "Cleanse the organization." (Fox News / Washington Post)
3/ Mitch McConnell sees no need to protect Robert Mueller's Russia investigation or Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein. "My understanding is there's no effort under way to undermine or remove the special counsel," McConnell said. "Therefore I don't see any need to bring up legislation to protect someone who appears to need no protection." Trump has discussed both possibilities. (Bloomberg)
4/ Trump is considering having Jeff Sessions prosecute Robert Mueller and his team in order to discredit the investigation and the FBI without officially firing them. As one Trump advisor said: "Here's how it would work: 'We're sorry, Mr. Mueller, you won't be able to run the federal grand jury today because he has to go testify to another federal grand jury.'" (NBC News / CNBC)
5/ Senate Democrats have been discussing whether to tie a bill protecting Robert Mueller's investigation to the must-pass government funding bill. Current funding expires on February 8th. Chuck Schumer said he would "very much like to" merge the two efforts, which has strong support from the rest of the caucus. (The Daily Beast)
6/ Trump will not impose new sanctions on Russia because the threat is already "serving as a deterrent," a State Department official said. A bipartisan bill overwhelmingly passed in July imposes penalties on companies doing "significant" business with Russian defense and intelligence entities. State Department spokeswoman Heather Nauert said: "We estimate that foreign governments have abandoned planned or announced purchases of several billion dollars in Russian defense acquisitions." (Politico / Washington Post)
7/ The US Treasury published a list of Russian oligarchs and senior officials at the Kremlin as part of the Countering America's Adversaries Through Sanctions Act. The report includes 114 senior political figures with close ties to Putin and 96 oligarchs with a net worth of $1 billion or more. The list is designed to shame individuals and put them on notice that they could be the subject of future sanctions. (CNN)
8/ The Congress-mandated sanctions report was lifted from the Forbes "200 richest businessmen in Russia 2017" list, a Treasury Department spokesperson confirmed. Almost all 96 oligarchs listed in the government-issued report appear in the Forbes' ranking. (BuzzFeed News)
9/ CIA Director Mike Pompeo has "every expectation" that Russia will attempt to influence this year's midterm elections. Pompeo said he still sees Russia primarily as an adversary and he hasn't "seen a significant decrease in their activity." (BBC)
10/ Deputy Director Andrew McCabe's decision to step aside was likely the result of a forthcoming inspector general report focused on why FBI leadership took three weeks to act on Hillary Clinton-related emails found in the latter stages of the 2016 election campaign. The internal investigation is asking if McCabe tried to avoid taking action until after the November 8, 2016 election. In a message sent to all bureau employees, FBI Director Chris Wray said "It would be inappropriate for me to comment on specific aspects of the IG's review right now," but that McCabe had submitted his intention to retire following a meeting in which the inspector general's investigation was discussed. (Washington Post / NBC News)
poll/ Trump's 2017 job approval rating averaged 38% throughout the U.S., ranging from a high of 61% in West Virginia to a low of 26% in Vermont. Trump averaged 50% or higher approval in 12 states in total. By comparison, Obama had an approval rate of 50% or greater in 41 states in his first year in office. (Gallup)
Notables.
Julian Assange thought he sent a direct message to Sean Hannity on Twitter offering news about Mark Warner, the top Democrat on the Senate Intelligence Committee investigating Russian interference in the 2016 election. Instead it was just a fake Sean Hannity account. (The Daily Beast)
Betsy DeVos wants to put student loan money onto prepaid debit cards. The move would allow the Education Department to monitor, and potentially control, how and when students spend excess federal student loan and grant money. (BuzzFeed News)
A procedural vote to ban abortions after 20 weeks of pregnancy failed in the Senate, which voted 51-46 against advancing the bill. (Politico)
FEMA will end food and water aid for Puerto Rico. A third of Puerto Ricans are still without power, but "the reality is that we just need to look around. Supermarkets are open, and things are going back to normal." (NPR)
The person responsible for sending a false missile alert to people in Hawaii was fired despite investigators determining that the worker believed the U.S. was under attack when he sent the alert. The worker sent the alert after mishearing a recorded message that was part of an unscheduled drill. (HuffPost)
The CEO of the Democratic National Committee is stepping down after less than a year on the job. Jess O'Connell didn't offer a specific reason for her departure, but DNC officials say her decision was a personal one. (NBC News)
For $35, you can have your name displayed on the Trump campaign website during the State of the Union broadcast. (Washington Post)
Melania Trump was "blindsided" and "furious" with Trump after reports of his affair with porn star Stormy Daniels surfaced. She canceled a trip to Davos, visited the Holocaust Memorial Museum, and flew to Mar-a-Lago to relax at the spa. Melania will attend tonight's State of the Union address. (New York Times)
Trump also cheats at golf, according to LPGA legend Suzann Pettersen. "He cheats like hell," the 15-time LPGA Tour winner said. "So I don't quite know how he is in business. They say that if you cheat at golf, you cheat at business." (Golf)
In 2016, Scott Pruitt said Trump would take "unapologetic steps to use executive power to confront Congress in a way that is truly unconstitutional." (Axios)
1/ Republicans on the House Intelligence Committee voted to release The Memo™ that accuses the Justice Department and FBI of misusing their authority to obtain a secret surveillance order on Carter Page. The vote effectively declassifies the memo, which was written by House Intelligence Committee Chairman Devin Nunes. Trump now has five days to review the document and decide whether to prevent it from going public. Last week, Trump called for the release of The Memo™, despite his own Justice Department warning him that releasing the memo to the public would be "extraordinarily reckless." Trump reportedly erupted in anger aboard Air Force One when he learned that a top Justice Department official advised against releasing the memo, warning Jeff Sessions and others that they need to excel at their jobs or go down as the worst in history. Democrats said the three-and-a half-page document is an effort to build a false narrative in order to undercut the ongoing Russia investigation, using inaccurately summarizes classified investigative materials that are designed to smear the FBI. (New York Times / Washington Post / Bloomberg)
The Memo™ claims Rod Rosenstein approved an application to extend surveillance of Carter Page, a former Trump campaign associate, which relied on research by Christopher Steele, the author behind the dossier containing claims about Trump's ties to Russia. Republicans argue that the FBI and Justice Department didn't adequately explain this when initially seeking a warrant for surveillance from the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court. (New York Times)
2/ Republicans won't advance bills to protect Robert Mueller and future special counsels, despite a report that Trump tried to fire Mueller last June. Two bipartisan bills under consideration would empower a panel of federal judges to review the case for firing the special counsel and determine whether there was good cause to do so. "It's pretty clear to me that everybody in the White House knows it would be the end of President Trump's presidency if he fired Mr. Mueller," Lindsey Graham said. (New York Times)
3/ FBI Deputy Director Andrew McCabe is "stepping aside," but will remain on the FBI payroll until he is eligible to retire with full benefits in mid-March. Trump has accused McCabe of political bias and has repeatedly pressured him to step down. McCabe's retirement was widely expected, but the decision to immediately go on leave was sudden. (NBC News / New York Times)
4/ Trump demanded to know why James Comey was allowed to fly on an FBI plane after he had been fired in a phone call to then-acting director Andrew McCabe. McCabe hadn’t been asked to authorize the flight, but said he would have approved it anyway. Trump then suggested McCabe ask his wife how it feels to be a loser, referencing her failed 2015 campaign for state office in Virginia. In the past, Trump also asked McCabe how he voted in the 2016 election. (NBC News)
5/ The deadline to implement the Russia sanctions is today. In August Trump reluctantly signed the sanctions, which are designed to punish Moscow for meddling in the 2016 election, into law. The Treasury Department is required to produce a report on Putin-linked oligarchs and impose sanctions on entities doing business with Russia's defense and intelligence sectors. (Politico)
6/ Russia accused the US of meddling in its upcoming presidential election. Moscow called the timing of the US Treasury report on Russian sanctions "a direct and obvious attempt" to interfere with the upcoming vote. (CNN)
7/ Sarah Huckabee Sanders claimed that "poll after poll" says that nobody cares about the Trump-Russia investigation. She did not cite a specific poll. However, poll, after poll, after poll, after poll, after poll, after poll, after poll suggest Americans do care about the issue. (Washington Post)
8/ Lawmakers in both parties are calling on Trump to drop his demands to slash legal immigration and focus more narrowly on DREAMers and border security. Many lawmakers are worried that Trump's positions on legal immigration will sink a bipartisan deal. The White House's DACA plan proposes a path to citizenship for 1.8 million DREAMers in exchange for $25 billion for the border wall and cuts to family immigration visas. (Washington Post / CNN)
9/ Democrats are well-positioned to end one-party government in Washington in the November elections. A Bloomberg analysis of historical data, election maps and public polling points to Democratic gains in the midterms, when all 435 House seats and one-third of the Senate are on the ballot. (Bloomberg)
"Since the end of World War II, the party in control of the White House has, on average, had a net loss of 26 House seats in midterm elections. Democrats can win control of the House with a net gain of 24 seats in November. They'd need to win two seats to gain a majority in the Senate."
"Trump's approval rating at this stage of his presidency, 36 percent, is lower than any of his predecessors going back to Harry Truman, according to Gallup polling data. The less popular the president, the more seats his party tends to lose."
poll/ 63% of millennials think the country is on the wrong track. 63% of millennials also disapprove of the way Trump is handling his job. 46% strongly disapprove. (NBC News)
Notables.
The finance chairman of the RNC resigned amid controversy over sexual misconduct allegations by dozens of women. (Politico / CNN)
The chairman of the House Appropriations Committee will not seek reelection. Rodney Frelinghuysen, a 12-term congressman, is the eighth Republican committee chairman to forgo reelection in the House ahead of a midterm cycle. (Politico)
Melania Trump took 21 flights on Air Force jets at a cost of more than $675,000 in a three-month period before she moved to the White House in June 2017. (Wall Street Journal)
A Russian military jet came within five feet of a US Navy P-3 Orion surveillance plane while flying in international airspace over the Black Sea. (CNN)
The Russian lawyer from the Trump Tower meeting has been named in a Swiss court case involving bribery, corruption, and "unauthorized clandestine behavior." (The Daily Beast)
Scott Pruitt was personally involved in erasing climate data from EPA website and directed staff to manipulate search results on the site, according to a Freedom of Information Act request. (Think Progress / Environmental Defense Fund)
Trump says he sometimes tweets from bed, because he is "very busy during the day, very long hours. I am busy." He added: "I will sometimes just dictate out something really quickly and give it to one of my people to put it on." (Reuters)
Hillary Clinton trolled Trump at the 2018 Grammys by reading an excerpt from Michael Wolff's book "Fire and Fury: Inside the Trump White House," about Trump's first year in the White House. (CNN)
Stuff Trump Said.
A few choice quotes from Trump's interview with Piers Morgan. (The Guardian)
"I think I'm very popular in [Britain] … I get so much fan mail from people in your country."
"I have tremendous respect for women … I wouldn't say I'm a feminist … I think that would be, maybe, going too far. I'm for women, I'm for men, I'm for everyone."
On climate change: "There is a warming and there is a cooling … I believe in crystal-clear beautiful water. I believe in just having good cleanliness and all."
1/ Trump tried to fire Robert Mueller in June, but backed down after Don McGahn threatened to quit if Trump went through with it. After receiving the order from Trump, the White House counsel refused to ask the Justice Department to fire Mueller and said he would resign instead. Mueller learned about Trump's intention in recent months through interviews with current and former senior White House officials. (New York Times / Washington Post)
To recap: Trump asked Comey for loyalty; asked him to drop the Flynn probe; fired Comey; pressured Sessions not to recuse; pressured Sessions to fire McCabe; pressured Coats, Rogers, Pompeo &multiple congressmen to say he wasn’t under FBI investigation; and tried to fire Mueller.
2/ Trump and his allies have repeatedly denied that Trump ever considered firing Mueller. At least eight times since June 2017 Trump and his team have said Mueller's job was safe. (CNN)
3/ Mueller's investigation is moving much faster than previously thought, and he appears to be wrapping up the part of the investigation that deals with possible obstruction of justice. Even if Mueller concludes the obstruction probe, other elements of the investigation are likely to continue for several more months. (Bloomberg)
4/ John Dowd said he is the one who will decide if Trump will sit down with Mueller. The statement from Trump's attorney comes days after Trump said he would be glad to speak with Mueller and would do so under oath. (CNN)
5/ Trump's immigration proposal is DOA after Chuck Schumer opposed the framework released by the White House. The one-page proposal would allow as many as 1.8 million young immigrants to become citizens in exchange for spending $25 billion on a border wall and security, as well as imposing restrictions on family-based immigration and eliminating the visa lottery system. (Politico / Axios)
Notables.
Trump said he'd be willing to publicly apologize for retweeting three anti-Islamic videos posted by a leader of Britain First, one of the U.K.'s far-right groups. Trump said he didn't know who the group was and that he didn't want to cause any difficulty. (CNBC)
The Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency gained access to a nationwide license plate recognition database, which gives the agency access to billions of license plate records and real-time location tracking data. (The Verge)
Jeb Bush warned Republicans that Trump's leadership, tweeting, and "racist" comments could cost the party control of Congress in November if they don't distance themselves from the former reality TV star. (USA Today)
Several State Department employees have retained attorneys, charging that they have been put in career purgatory because of their previous work for Obama. (CNN)
Patrick Meehan will not seek reelection after coming under scrutiny for alleged inappropriate behavior with a longtime female aide that resulted in a congressional payout. (Washington Post)
Hillary Clinton kept a senior adviser accused of repeatedly sexually harassing a young subordinate on her 2008 presidential campaign, despite recommendations by her campaign adviser to fire Burns Strider. (New York Times)
The RNC finance chairman does not plan to step down despite dozens of people describing a decades-long pattern of sexual misconduct by Steve Wynn. (Wall Street Journal / Washington Post)
Robert Mueller's team has interviewed at least one member of Facebook's team that was associated with Trump's 2016 campaign. Facebook had embedded staff on Trump campaign. (WIRED)
Trump will ask for $716 billion in defense spending in his 2019 budget, which will be unveiled next month. The proposed budget would be a 13% increase over 2017. (Washington Post)
Trump was booed at Davos for criticizing the media as "nasty" and "fake." (HuffPost)
1/ Trump proposed immigration legislation that could provide a path to citizenship for an estimated 1.8 million DREAMers in exchange for a $25 billion "trust fund" to build a border wall and assorted border security upgrades. The plan will be sent to the Senate on Monday, which White House officials called an "extremely generous" take-it-or-leave-it proposal. Yesterday, Trump said he'd be willing to consider a path to citizenship for DREAMers that would allow young undocumented immigrants to "morph" into citizens after 10 to 12 years. The off-the-cuff comment sent White House staffers scrambling in what one official called a "fire drill." (Washington Post / New York Times)
2/ Ty Cobb walked back Trump's statement that he was "looking forward" to speaking with Robert Mueller's team and that he would "absolutely" do so under oath. The White House lawyer said Trump was speaking hurriedly and only wanted to say that he was willing to meet, adding that Trump is "ready to meet with them, but he'll be guided by the advice of his personal counsel." (New York Times)
3/ Robert Mueller gave Trump's lawyers a list of potential topics he wants to ask Trump about. The move is part of the ongoing negotiations surrounding an interview involving Trump and the special counsel. The topics are focused primarily on obstruction of justice issues, including the firings of Michael Flynn and James Comey. (CNN)
4/ The Senate Judiciary Committee intends to share Trump Jr.'s testimony with Robert Mueller. Democrats suggested that Trump Jr. may have made false statements to the committee, and are pressing the committee's Republican chairman to give Mueller the transcripts from the panel's interviews with key witnesses in the Russia probe. Chairman Chuck Grassley said he wants to release the transcripts the committee has done about the meeting at Trump Tower. (Politico / Reuters)
5/ A "spooked" Jared Kushner won't agree to an interview with the Senate Judiciary Committee, according to Chairman Chuck Grassley. Kushner's legal team has not officially decline an appearance, but has asked for guidance on when committee members would disclose information. (Bloomberg)
6/ Dutch intelligence spied on the Russian group believed to be behind the hack of the Democratic Party ahead of U.S. elections. AIVD provided information about the Moscow-based group known as Cozy Bear, who are believed to be linked to the Russian government to the FBI. (Reuters / de Volkskrant)
7/ The Justice Department warned the House Intelligence Committee chairman that releasing The Memo™ would be "extraordinarily reckless." The memo claims that the FBI abused its powers under the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act in order to spy on the Trump campaign. (New York Times)
poll/ 60% of Americans support marijuana legalization. 37% of Trump voters support legalization. (NBC News)
Notables.
The NSA has deleted "honesty" and "openness" from its core values website. The page outlines the agency's mission statement, which now features “commitment to service" as its top value, instead of honesty. (The Intercept)
The Trump administration wants to end support for the International Space Station program by 2025. The ISS costs NASA between $3 and $4 billion each year, and represents a more than $87 billion investment by the US government. (The Verge)
Trump said he'd be willing to re-enter the Trans-Pacific Partnership if it were renegotiated into a "substantially better deal" for the U.S. Last January Trump signed an executive withdrawing the U.S. from the trade pact. (Politico)
A one-page memo from Paul Manafort suggests that federal investigators had an informant inside Manafort's consulting firm. Manafort's attorneys appear to have accidentally filed the memo in court as part of a routine scheduling motion. (Politico)
The missing texts between FBI officials Peter Strzok and Lisa Page have been recovered, the Justice Department said. (Axios / Twitter)
The Doomsday Clock moved forward 30 seconds as the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists called the current state of geopolitical affairs "grim." It's now 2 minutes to "midnight." (Washington Post)
1/ Trump said he was "looking forward" to speaking with Robert Mueller's team of prosecutors under oath as they investigate Russian interference in the 2016 presidential campaign, as well as possible obstruction of justice. "I would love to do it, and I would like to do it as soon as possible," Trump said. "I would do it under oath, absolutely." He is expected to talk to Mueller's team in two or three weeks. (CNBC / New York Times / Washington Post)
2/ Michael Flynn didn't tell the White House about his 2017 interview with the FBI. Flynn met privately with FBI investigators a year ago today to discuss his communications with Russia's ambassador. The meeting took place without a lawyer present and without the knowledge of the president or top White House officials. (NBC News)
3/ Robert Mueller's team has interviewed Director of National Intelligence Dan Coats, National Security Agency director Mike Rogers, and CIA director Mike Pompeo. The three have been described as "peripheral witnesses" to the James Comey firing. Of note: Pompeo "was allegedly asked by Trump to lean on Comey to drop his investigation." (NBC News)
4/ Trump asked the acting director of the FBI how he voted in the 2016 election shortly after he fired James Comey in May 2017. Andrew McCabe said he didn't vote. Trump then "vented his anger at McCabe over the several hundred thousand dollars in donations that his wife, a Democrat, received for her failed 2015 Virginia state Senate bid from a political action committee controlled by a close friend of Hillary Clinton." (Washington Post)
5/ Steve Bannon will meet with Robert Mueller by the end of the month, where he'll be asked about the firings of Michael Flynn and James Comey. Bannon's attorney has said that his client will not be able to use the protections of executive privilege, like he did when he refused to answer questions from the House Intelligence Committee about his work during the presidential transition and in the West Wing. (CNN)
6/ Sarah Sanders: Trump hasn't fired Robert Mueller partly because of how the press would react. Sanders told reporters that "I think we all know what everybody in this room would do if the President did that, and I don't think that is helpful to the process." (CNN)
7/ Former Trump campaign aide Rick Gates added an attorney to his legal team. The move to hire Tom Green suggests there is an ongoing negotiation between Gates and Robert Mueller's office. Gates pleaded not guilty in October to eight charges of money laundering and failure to register foreign lobbying and businesses. (CNN)
8/ Trump will declassify the Devin Nunes memo that alleges FBI surveillance abuse if the House Intelligence Committee approves the release. The four-page summary of Nunes' investigation into the FBI and Justice Department's use of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act was written by staffers for Republican members of the House. (CNN)
Your guide to the anti-FBI conspiracy theories: The memo. The text messages. The dossier. (Washington Post)
poll/ 78% of Americans say Trump should testify if Robert Mueller asks him. 51% say Trump has obstructed justice, while 41% say he has not. (CNN)
poll/ 84% of American voters say the shutdown was "mainly unnecessary." 32% blame Democrats, while 31% blame Trump, and 18% say Republicans were responsible. (Quinnipiac)
Notables.
The Justice Department threatened 23 so-called sanctuary cities with subpoenas if they fail to provide documents showing compliance with federal immigration officials. (USA Today)
A group of mayors canceled their meeting with Trump after the administration threatened to withhold funding from local governments they claimed aren't following immigration laws. (NBC News)
The Justice Department wants to add a question about citizenship to the 2020 Census. Noncitizens are counted for the purposes of distributing federal funding, assigning congressional seats, and drawing district maps for elections. (Washington Post)
Tammy Duckworth will become the first US senator to give birth while in that office when she delivers her second child this spring. (New York Times)
Mick Mulvaney dropped a Consumer Financial Protection Bureau lawsuit against four payday lenders charging 900% interest rates without any explanation. The CFPB has also dropped an investigation into a lender that contributed directly to Mulvaney's campaign. (NPR)
Trump is expected to tell world leaders at Davos that his "America First" doctrine has benefited the US exactly the way he said it would. (Washington Post)
1/ Robert Mueller wants to interview Trump in the coming weeks about his decisions to fire Michael Flynn and James Comey. Trump's legal team wants his testimony to be part face-to-face interview and part written statement. (Washington Post)
2/ Jeff Sessions was questioned by Mueller's team last week as part of the investigation into Russia's meddling in the election and whether Trump had obstructed justice since taking office. As attorney general, Sessions was involved in the firing of James Comey and it's the first time that special counsel investigators have interviewed a member of Trump's cabinet. Sessions was not under subpoena and was questioned for several hours. (New York Times / CNN)
3/ Mueller's team reportedly interviewed Comey last year. The interview focused on a series of memos Comey wrote about his meetings with Trump, documenting what he perceived as improper efforts to influence an investigation. In one memo, Comey said that Trump had asked him to end the FBI's investigation into Michael Flynn. (New York Times)
4/ The head of the FBI threatened to resign after Jeff Sessions pressured him to fire Deputy Director Andrew McCabe. Christopher Wray told Sessions that he would resign if McCabe was removed from his position. Sessions and White House Counsel Don McGahn agreed that the issue wasn't worth losing the FBI director over. Trump and other Republicans have repeatedly attacked McCabe – a Comey appointee – for his role in the Clinton investigation. In December, the New York Times reported that McCabe "is expected to retire after he becomes eligible for his pension [in] early [2018]. (Axios)
Christopher Wray is replacing two senior positions previously held by people who served under James Comey. The moves come as Wray has faced pressure from Jeff Sessions to make personnel changes. (Washington Post)
5/ Jeff Sessions ordered an investigation into the missing text messages exchanged between two FBI staffers that referred to Trump as an "idiot" and a "loathsome human." The texts between FBI agent Peter Strzok and FBI lawyer Lisa Page are among a batch of messages that the FBI failed to properly archive because of a software update issue with Samsung 5 phones. (Reuters)
6/ Chuck Schumer retracted his offer to give Trump $1.6 billion in wall funding in exchange for a DACA deal. Trump turned down the deal last week, prompting a three-day government shutdown. One Democratic aide said Trump has now "missed an opportunity to get the wall." A White House spokesman, meanwhile, said the Schumer offer "never existed." (Politico)
7/ A Michigan man was arrested after allegedly threatening to shoot and kill CNN employees. The FBI launched an investigation after the man reportedly called CNN 22 times about a week ago and said, among other things, "Fake news. I'm coming to gun you all down." (WGCL-TV / The Hill)
8/ Melania Trump will no longer accompany her husband at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland. Melania has not made a public statement since it was reported that President Trump paid $130,000 to a porn star a month before the 2016 election as part of an agreement to prevent her from publicly discussing an alleged affair. (CNN)
poll/ 39.5% of Michigan voters approve of Trump while 54% disapprove. In addition, a majority of those polled said they don't believe Trump is qualified to be president. (The Detroit News)
poll/ In a series of hypothetical 2020 one-on-one matchups Trump trails Bernie Sanders by a 55% to 42% margin among registered voters. He trails Joe Biden 57% to 40%, as well as Oprah Winfrey 51% to 42%. (CNN)
poll/ 38% of Americans trust Trump to handle the authority to order nuclear attacks on other countries, while 60% do not. Among those who distrust Trump, almost 9 in 10 are very or somewhat concerned the president might launch an attack. (Washington Post / ABC News)
Notables.
A Republican U.S. senator from Mississippi was caught on a hot mic making comments about "beautiful" high-school-age girls. Sen. Roger Wicker (R-MS) made the comments as the Senate prepared to pass the continuing resolution that would re-open the government. (Raw Story / CSPAN)
Montana became the first state to pass its own net neutrality laws in the wake of the FCC's decision to deregulate the communications industry. Montana Gov. Steve Bullock (D) signed an executive order on Monday that requires all internet service providers with state contracts to adhere to net neutrality standards. (New York Times)
Floridians will decide in November to amend the state constitution and restore voting rights to felons once they complete their sentences. The move that could expand voting rights to more than 1.5 million people. (HuffPost)
The Trump administration is waiving dozens of environmental regulations to speed up construction of Trump's proposed wall on the U.S.-Mexico border. (The Hill)
A 7.9 magnitude earthquake occurred roughly 167 miles off the coast of Kodiak, Alaska. (USGS)
One person was killed and multiple others wounded after a shooting at a Kentucky high school. (WPSD 6)
1/ Senate Democrats voted with Republicans to approve a short-term spending bill to fund the government through February 8th. The bill will also reauthorize the Children's Health Insurance Program for six years and roll back several health care taxes. Democrats received assurances from Mitch McConnell that the Senate will vote on a bipartisan DACA bill in the coming weeks in exchange for reopening the government. The Senate voted 81-18 to move forward on a bill to fund the government, which the House passed, sending the bill to Trump to sign. (Washington Post / New York Times / Politico)
How every Senator voted on ending the government shutdown. The vote passed 81-18-1. (New York Times)
Mick Mulvaney thought it was "kind of cool" to be the person in charge of shutting down the government. The director of the Office of Management and Budget told Sean Hannity: "I found out for the first time last night that the person who technically shuts the government down is me, which is kind of cool." (Vox)
The White House changed its public comment line to blame Democrats over the weekend for "holding government funding, including funding for our troops and other national security priorities, hostage to an unrelated immigration debate. Due to this obstruction, the government is shut down." (CNN)
2/ The deal to end the government shutdown included $31 billion in tax cuts. The deal includes a temporary delay in implementing three Affordable Care Act taxes that will add to the federal budget deficit. (New York Times)
3/ Paul Ryan received $500,000 in campaign contributions from one of the Koch brothers after the House passed the federal tax bill. The Koch brothers spent millions of dollars lobbying to get the tax bill passed, and are currently spending millions more on a PR campaign to boost public support for the bill. (HuffPost)
4/ The FBI said Devin Nunes refused to produce a memo that alleges abuses by the intelligence community. Democrats say the Republican's refusal to show the memo has them concerned, and that releasing the memo to the public before showing it to the FBI could make tensions between the Hill and the bureau even worse. (The Daily Beast)
#SchumerShutdown became the top trending hashtag promoted by Russian social media bots. The Alliance for Securing Democracy, a national security group led by national security officials from both parties, says the topic surpassed #releasethememo to become the highest trending hashtag as of 10 p.m. on Sunday. (HuffPost / The Hill)
5/ Pennsylvania's Supreme Court ruled that the state's GOP-drawn congressional districts were unconstitutional, ordering all 18 districts redrawn by February 9th. (Washington Post)
6/ Trump's voter fraud commission asked Texas to identify all voters with Hispanic surnames as part of their request for detailed voter registration data. The voter data was never delivered because a lawsuit stopped the data handoff. The voting commission was then disbanded on January 3rd. (Washington Post)
7/ A member of the House Ethics Committee used taxpayer money to settle a sexual harassment complaint against him. Patrick Meehan had been tasked with investigating sexual misconduct claims against at least four congressmen. A spokeswoman for Paul Ryan said that Meehan would be removed immediately from the committee and that the panel would investigate the allegations against him. (New York Times)
poll/ 48% of voters think Trump is mentally stable, versus the 47% of voters who think he is not. 73% believe Trump is not a genius. (ABC News)
generic ballot poll/ 51% of voters say they would support the Democratic candidate in their congressional district over the Republican. 39% said they would support the Republican candidate. (Washington Post)
pre-shutdown poll/ 41% of voters said they would blame Republicans in Congress for a shutdown, compared to 36% who said they would fault Democrats. (Politico)
Notables.
A new book about the Trump administration is set to publish on Jan. 29. The book is titled "Media Madness: Donald Trump, the Press, and the War Over the Truth," and it paints yet another picture of a White House in chaos. (Washington Post)
Trump sarcastically tweeted that Saturday was a "perfect day for all women to march. Get out there now to celebrate the historic milestones and unprecedented economic success and wealth creation that has taken place over the last 12 months. Lowest female unemployment in 18 years!" (Twitter)
Deutsche Bank reported "suspicious transactions" related to Kushner family accounts to German banking regulators. The bank also said it was willing to provide the information to special counsel Robert Mueller's team of investigators. (Mother Jones)
The Army is preparing to send 1,000 more troops to Afghanistan this spring, beyond the 14,000 already in the country. (Washington Post)
1/ The Senate is heading toward a showdown vote on spending legislation to keep the government open past midnight. Democrats appear ready to vote against the short-term spending bill in an effort to secure concessions that would offer protections for young undocumented immigrants, increase domestic spending, provide aid to Puerto Rico, and more. The Senate adjourned Thursday night without scheduling a vote. (New York Times / Politico)
2/ Trump invited Chuck Schumer to the White House to discuss a deal with less than 12 hours to go before a possible government shutdown. Neither Mitch McConnell nor Paul Ryan plans to attend the White House meeting. Schumer left the closed-door meeting with Trump at the White House, saying, "We made some progress, but we still have a good number of disagreements." Senate Majority Whip John Cornyn said the Senate would vote on the House-passed spending bill, but didn't offer any details. (Washington Post / New York Times)
3/ Trump canceled his trip to Mar-a-Lago in hopes that lawmakers will avoid a shutdown. Trump had been planning to celebrate the first anniversary of his inauguration at the Florida resort. He's hosting a Saturday night fundraising party. Tickets cost $100,000 per couple and include a photograph with Trump. (CNN)
4/ House Republicans are threatening to head home for the weekend, "virtually guaranteeing a shutdown unless some last-minute deal is struck." The House passed a stopgap spending bill on Thursday night in a 230 to 197 vote to keep the government open through February 16. (Politico / CNN / New York Times)
5/ The Supreme Court will decide the legality of Trump's latest travel ban, which targets people from six Muslim-majority countries. The court will hear arguments in April and issue a ruling by the end of June on whether the policy to block entry into the United States by most people from Chad, Iran, Libya, Somalia, Syria, and Yemen violates federal immigration law or the U.S. Constitution. (Reuters / New York Times)
poll/ 57% of Americans disapprove of Trump's job performance, the lowest mark for any modern-day president ending his first year. 51% strongly disapprove with 26% strongly approving of Trump's performance. (NBC News)
poll/ 56% of Americans say approving a budget in order to avoid a shutdown is more important than continuing DACA, while 34% say DACA is more important than a shutdown. (CNN)
poll/ 48% of Americans blame Trump and congressional Republicans for the potential government shutdown. 28% fault Democrats. (Washington Post)
Notables.
The chief of external affairs for the federal government's volunteer service organization resigned after racist, sexist, anti-Muslim, and anti-LGBT comments he made on the radio in 2013 surfaced. (CNN)
A year into Trump's presidency, five of his top staffers still have not certified their financial disclosures, which are required by law to ensure that these senior officials aren't personally benefiting from their White House jobs. (McClatchy DC)
Swamp Things.
Omarosa Manigault-Newman may have taped confidential West Wing conversations. The former White House staffer believes she may become a fixture in Robert Mueller's investigation into possible connections between the Trump campaign and Russia's election meddling. (NY Daily News)
Hannity declared that Robert Mueller's "witch hunt is now over." In a monologue, Hannity claimed there is a memo circulating among lawmakers that reportedly details surveillance abuses by the U.S. government that are "far bigger" than Watergate. (The Hill)
Chris Christie was blocked from the VIP entrance at Newark Liberty International Airport, which he had used for eight years. The former New Jersey governor was directed to stand in the general TSA screening lines. (Bloomberg)
1/ Trump will back a short-term funding legislation after causing confusion on Twitter. Hours earlier Trump tweeted: "CHIP should be part of a long term solution, not a 30 Day, or short term, extension!" Trump contradicted the Republican legislative strategy by calling for a separate, long-term extension of the Children's Health Insurance Program with less than 48 hours before a shutdown. The Republican proposal included a six-year extension of CHIP as part of their short-term spending bill, which would fund the government through February 16. (Politico / Washington Post / New York Times)
CHIP should be part of a long term solution, not a 30 Day, or short term, extension!
2/ Senate Democrats have the votes needed to block the stop-gap spending bill that the House is taking up, raising the likelihood the government will close. At least nine members of the Senate Democratic Caucus said they will oppose the latest short-term spending bill, which would keep the government open through February 16th, extend the Children’s Health Insurance Program for six years, but also roll back several Affordable Care Act taxes. It doesn't, however, include a deal on DACA, which Democrats have demanded in exchange for their votes. Paul Ryan believes that he has the votes needed in the House to pass the short-term funding measure on Thursday night. (Politico / Washington Post)
3/ In the event of a shutdown, Mitch McConnell plans to keep the Senate in session and stage a series of votes. They're intended to place blame for the shutdown on 10 Democratic senators, who are up for reelection this fall in states won by Donald Trump in 2016. McConnell called the Senate Democrats' plan "irresponsible" for being "willing to shut down the government and the Children's Health Insurance Program because they have yet to conclude a deal on DACA." (Politico)
4/ Trump contradicted John Kelly's statements about the proposed border wall, saying "The Wall is the Wall" and his plan "has never changed or evolved from the first day I conceived of it." Yesterday, Kelly said that the U.S. would never actually build a physical wall along the entire U.S. border with Mexico. Trump recently said that the wall would be funded by Mexico "indirectly through NAFTA." (The Hill / New York Times / Washington Post)
The Wall is the Wall, it has never changed or evolved from the first day I conceived of it. Parts will be, of necessity, see through and it was never intended to be built in areas where there is natural protection such as mountains, wastelands or tough rivers or water.....
....The Wall will be paid for, directly or indirectly, or through longer term reimbursement, by Mexico, which has a ridiculous $71 billion dollar trade surplus with the U.S. The $20 billion dollar Wall is “peanuts” compared to what Mexico makes from the U.S. NAFTA is a bad joke!
5/ Ty Cobb said Trump is "very eager" to talk to Robert Mueller in the hope that this will help wrap up the Russia investigation as quickly as possible. Trump's personal lawyer expects the investigation to end in the next four to six weeks. (The Hill)
6/ The White House's top lawyer may have a conflict of interest. Don McGahn was personally involved in instructing Steve Bannon about what questions he shouldn't answer from the House Intelligence Committee's Russia investigation. He is also a witness to events under investigation by both Congress and Robert Mueller. (Bloomberg)
7/ The House Intelligence Committee released the interview transcript with Fusion GPS co-founder Glenn Simpson. In the interview, Simpson claimed the Kremlin used the publication of the Trump dossier as pretext to "purge" people, including those who may have been sources for the American intelligence community. Dianne Feinstein previously released a transcript of Simpson's interview with the Senate Judiciary Committee. (Politico / The Daily Beast / Reuters)
8/ The FBI is investigating whether a Russian banker illegally funneled money to the NRA in order to help Trump win the presidency. Alexander Torshin is the deputy governor of Russia's central bank and has a close relationship with Putin. Torshin spoke with Trump Jr. during an NRA gala in May 2016, when Trump won the NRA's presidential endorsement. The NRA spent $30 million to support Trump in the 2016 election – three times what they devoted to Mitt Romney in 2012. (McClatchy DC)
poll/ 53% of Americans see Trump's first year as a failure. 61% believe Trump has divided the country. (NPR)
poll/ 37% of Americans approve Trump's job performance after his first year in office. (CBS News)
Notables.
Trump released his 2017 Fake News Awards. (GOP.com)
Hundreds of Yelp reviewers have been giving the Trump International Hotel in Washington one-star reviews, describing the property as a "shithole." (Washington Post)
The Trump administration is finalizing its infrastructure plan, which it hopes will encourage more than $1 trillion in state, local, and private financing to build and repair bridges, highways, and other infrastructure. Trump is expected to preview parts of the plan on January 30th during his State of the Union address. (Reuters)
The past four years were the hottest recorded period in the planet's history, according to both NASA and National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. (Washington Post)
Haitians will no longer be eligible to receive temporary agricultural and seasonal work visas. The decision by the White House removes Haiti from the list of countries that are eligible for H-2A and H-2B visas. (CNN)
House members introduced a bipartisan sexual harassment bill that would prohibit lawmakers from using taxpayer funds to settle claims. (NBC News)
Mick Mulvaney requested no additional funding for the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. The bureau has $177 million in the bank. Last quarter the CFPB asked for $217.1 million and it required $86.6 million the quarter before that. (Politico)
The Trump administration will protect health workers who oppose abortions or gender confirmation surgery based on religious or moral objections. Officials want people to report discrimination to the new conscience and religious freedom division of the office for civil rights at the Department of Health and Human Services. (New York Times) *[Editor's note: I originally used the term "sex-change operation" but changed it to "gender confirmation surgery," the correct term. More here.] *
1/ Trump accused Russia of helping North Korea evade sanctions and claimed that Pyongyang is getting "closer every day" to being able to deliver a long-range missile to the United States. Russian tankers were caught supplying fuel to North Korea on at least three occasions in recent months. North Korea requires imported fuel to keep its intercontinental ballistic missile and nuclear program functioning. "Russia is not helping us at all with North Korea," Trump said. (Reuters)
2/ The Pentagon wants to allow nuclear retaliation in response to cyberattacks against the United States. The latest draft of the U.S. nuclear strategy, which was sent to Trump's desk for approval, is the first to expand the list of justifications for "first use" nuclear strikes. It includes attempts to destroy national infrastructure via cyberattack. (New York Times / HuffPost)
3/ Steve Bannon cited executive privilege and refused to answer questions from the House Intelligence Committee yesterday. House investigators in both parties were outraged by his refusal, leading the committee to subpoena Bannon on the spot, vowing to force him to answer their questions about Russian interference in the 2016 election. (Politico)
What Steve Bannon told Congress yesterday. Bannon admitted that he'd had conversations with Reince Priebus, Sean Spicer and legal spokesman Mark Corallo about Don Junior's infamous meeting with the Russians in Trump Tower in June 2016. (Axios)
4/ Bannon didn't respond to House Intelligence Committee questions because the White House directed him not to. During Bannon's testimony, his attorney relayed questions in real time to the White House asking if his client could answer the questions. Bannon was instructed not to discuss his work on the transition or in the White House. White House officials believed they had an agreement with the committee to limit questions to the presidential campaign. Adam Schiff, the top Democrat on the committee, called the "gag order" an "audacious" move by the White House. (Associated Press / CNN / CNBC)
5/ Bannon struck a deal with Robert Mueller to be interviewed by prosecutors instead of testifying before the grand jury. A source close to Bannon said he will cooperate with the special counsel and that "Mueller will hear everything Bannon has to say." (The Daily Beast / CNN)
6/ The chance of a government shutdown increased as Trump aligned himself with the conservative House Freedom Caucus on immigration, criticizing a proposed bipartisan deal as "horrible" on border security and "very, very weak" on legal immigration reform. Democrats are threatening to vote against any spending bill that doesn't include a DACA fix. Republicans, meanwhile, need 60 votes to pass a spending bill in order to keep the federal government funded past the Friday deadline. Trump is confident that Americans will blame Democrats for a shutdown, despite Republicans controlling the House, Senate, and the White House. (Reuters / NBC News)
7/ Robert Mueller's probe would continue in the event of a government shutdown. Employees in the special counsel's office are exempt from furlough and would continue their work, despite a potential lack of appropriations. The government is set to shut down Friday night if lawmakers are unable to agree on a spending bill. (CNN)
8/ The Justice Department asked the Supreme Court to review an order to restart DACA. A federal judge ordered that previous beneficiaries of DACA must be allowed to renew their status in the program, but the government is not required to accept new applications. The Justice Department also appealed a related decision, which imposed a nationwide stop on the Trump administration's decision to end the program until the case can be heard. (New York Times)
Notables.
Robert Mueller's team is investigating newly uncovered financial transactions from Russian diplomatic accounts and people or businesses inside the United States. Among them are transactions by former ambassador Sergey Kislyak 10 days after the 2016 presidential election and a blocked $150,000 cash withdrawal five days after the inauguration. (BuzzFeed News)
Trump's alleged affair with a porn star and the reported $130,000 in hush money scandal, explained. (Vox)
Three-quarters of the National Parks Service advisory panel resigned in frustration. Nine out of 12 members abruptly quit, citing frustration that Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke had refused to meet with them or hold a single meeting last year. All of the members who resigned had terms that were set to expire in May. (Washington Post)
Wisconsin Democrats flipped a state senate seat in a special election. The district voted for Trump and Mitt Romney in the past two presidential elections. (The Hill)
Jeff Flake delivered a speech from the Senate floor comparing Trump's anti-press rhetoric to former Soviet dictator Josef Stalin that Trump inspires modern-day authoritarians. Trump promised to announce his "Fake News Awards" today. (Los Angeles Times / Reuters)
John Kelly told Democratic lawmakers that the U.S. will never construct a physical wall along the entire stretch of the U.S.-Mexico border and that some of Trump's campaign promises on immigration were "uninformed." (Washington Post)
Border patrol agents routinely vandalize containers of water and supplies left in the Arizona desert for migrants in an attempt to deter and punish people who illegally cross from Mexico. (The Guardian)
1/ Steve Bannon was subpoenaed to testify in front of a grand jury as part of special counsel Robert Mueller's Russia probe. It's the first time Mueller has used a grand jury subpoena to get information from someone in Trump's inner circle. Mueller, however, may end up letting Bannon forgo the grand jury appearance if he allows investigators to question him at the special counsel's offices in Washington. (New York Times)
2/ Bannon met with the House Intelligence Committee this morning behind closed doors. Lawmakers are sure to question Bannon on what he knew about the Trump Tower meeting, which he's previously called "treasonous." (The Hill)
Hope Hicks is expected to meet with the House Intelligence Committee as early as Friday. The White House Communications Director will be one of the closest Trump confidants to be privately interviewed as part of the Russia probe. The committee plans to ask her about any contacts that may have occurred between Trump associates and the Russians. (CNN / NBC News)
3/ The government could shut down if lawmakers can't agree on a spending bill by Friday. GOP leaders are looking to a short-term funding measure to keep certain government agencies open while talks continue, but Democrats are unlikely to support any deal that doesn't include protections for young undocumented immigrants who were brought to this country as children. (Washington Post)
4/ Trump preemptively blamed democrats for a shutdown, tweeting "The Democrats want to shut down the Government over Amnesty for all and Border Security. The biggest loser will be our rapidly rebuilding Military, at a time we need it more than ever." Democrats presented Trump with a bipartisan immigration bill last week, and said Trump and Republicans would be to blame for a government shutdown. Current federal funding expires on Saturday. (NBC News)
The Democrats want to shut down the Government over Amnesty for all and Border Security. The biggest loser will be our rapidly rebuilding Military, at a time we need it more than ever. We need a merit based system of immigration, and we need it now! No more dangerous Lottery.
5/ Senate Democrats have 50 votes in favor of restoring net neutrality. Only one more Republican vote is needed in order to reverse the FCC's decision to deregulate the broadband industry. The attorneys general from 22 states have filed a lawsuit to block the net neutrality repeal. (Washington Post / New York Times)
6/ Sarah Huckabee Sanders claimed Trump can't be racist because he was on "The Apprentice." Sanders said claims that Trump is racist were "outrageous," adding, "Frankly, if the critics of the president were who he said he was, why did NBC give him a show for a decade on TV?" (Bloomberg)
7/ The White House doctor said Trump is in "excellent" overall health and that he performed "well" on a cognitive exam. At 6'3", 239 pounds, Trump is one pound away from being considered obese as defined by the Centers for Disease Control. (The Hill / Politico)
poll/ The number of uninsured Americans rose by 3.2 million in Trump's first year in office. The uninsured rate increased 1.3 percentage points since the last quarter of 2016, leaving 12.2% of Americans without health insurance. (Gallup)
poll/ 42% of Republicans consider negative news stories that are accurate to be "fake news." (Washington Post)
Notables.
Democrats on the House Intelligence Committee want Devin Nunes to release the Fusion GPS transcript. Fusion also supports the release of the transcript. (Business Insider)
U.S. counterintelligence officials warned Jared Kushner about Wendi Deng Murdoch, who could be using their friendship to further the interests of the Chinese government. (Wall Street Journal)
Kim Jong-Un called Trump's nuclear button tweet the "spasm of a lunatic." (The Independent)
Paul Manafort's trial will likely to start in September at the earliest after a federal judge rejected Robert Mueller's bid to kick off the trial in May. (Politico)
Sixty-four trade groups, foreign governments, Republican candidates and more stayed at or held events at Trump properties during his first year in office. Before taking office, Trump said he would hand off control of his global business empire to his sons Donald Jr. and Eric. He didn't, however, divest himself of assets that could cause a conflict of interest. (Reuters)
Watch Orrin Hatch remove a pair of glasses he's not wearing:
1/ Trump vaguely denied calling Haiti a "shithole country," tweeting that "the language used by me at the DACA meeting was tough." Trump then blamed Democrats for the "outlandish proposal," which he called "a big setback for DACA!" He did not, however, deny that he called El Salvador or African countries "shitholes." (NBC News / Washington Post)
The language used by me at the DACA meeting was tough, but this was not the language used. What was really tough was the outlandish proposal made - a big setback for DACA!
Never said anything derogatory about Haitians other than Haiti is, obviously, a very poor and troubled country. Never said “take them out.” Made up by Dems. I have a wonderful relationship with Haitians. Probably should record future meetings - unfortunately, no trust!
2/ Senator Richard Durbin contradicted Trump, saying the comments were "hate-filled, vile and racist" and that he repeatedly referred to African countries as "shitholes" during the private immigration meeting. Durbin said, "The most disheartening thing to me is my belief that that was the first time words that hateful had been spoken in the Oval Office of the White House." (New York Times / NBC News / Wall Street Journal)
3/ The United Nations human rights office called Trump's comments "shocking," "shameful," and "no other word for this but racist." Haiti, the African Union, Mexico, and France all rejected Trump's comments. (Reuters / USA Today)
4/ Don Lemon: "The president of the United States is racist." The CNN Tonight host added that "A lot of us already knew that," and that Trump's comments were "disgusting," but not shocking. "They're not even really surprising." (Washington Post)
5/ Anderson Cooper: "The sentiment the President expressed today is a racist sentiment." Cooper also said that Trump's remarks about American immigrants from Haiti, El Salvador, and African nations were "Not racial. Not racially charged. Racist." (CNN)
6/ At an event to honor Martin Luther King Jr, Trump decried racism, saying: "No matter what the color of our skin or the place of our birth, we are all created equal." He then signed a proclamation on Friday declaring Monday Martin Luther King Jr. Day, which every president since Ronald Reagan has signed. (The Guardian / USA Today / CNN)
poll/ 55% of Americans think Trump's mental fitness is an issue. Republicans called the question "unfair and politically motivated." (Axios)
poll/ 50% of Americans would vote for Oprah over Trump, but 54% voters don't want her to run. (CNN)
Notables.
Trump canceled his visit to London to avoid mass protests. He was originally scheduled to open a new U.S. embassy, but will send Rex Tillerson to do it instead. Trump tweeted that the "reason" he canceled his "trip to London is that I am not a big fan of the Obama Administration" and their decision to sell the previous embassy. (The Guardian)
The US ambassador to Panama resigned over differences with the Trump administration. (CNN)
Jeff Bezos donated $33 million to a scholarship fund for young "dreamers," which will help fund 1,000 college scholarships. (Washington Post)
Corey Lewandowski is scheduled to testify before the House Intelligence Committee next week. Lewandowski said he won't plead the fifth as other witnesses have done. (The Daily Beast)
Trump extended the Iran nuclear deal, but said he will "terminate" the agreement unless Congress and European allies agree to improve it. (Politico)
The Education Department awarded a debt-collection contract to a company Betsy DeVos invested in before becoming education secretary. (Washington Post)
Trump paid a former porn star $130,000 one month before the 2016 election so she wouldn't publicly discuss an alleged sexual encounter from 2006. Michael Cohen, the top attorney at the Trump Organization, arranged the payment to Stephanie Clifford. (Wall Street Journal)
1/ Trump questioned why the US would admit people from "shithole countries" like Haiti or African after lawmakers floated the idea of restoring protections for immigrants from Haiti, El Salvador, and African countries as part of a bipartisan immigration deal. "Why are we having all these people from shithole countries come here?" Trump said, suggesting that the U.S. should instead bring more people from countries like Norway than African or Haiti. The White House didn't deny Trump that called those countries "shitholes." In a June meeting on immigration, Trump said Haitians "all have AIDS" and complained that Nigerians would never "go back to their huts" in Africa. (Washington Post / New York Times)
2/ The Trump administration will let states require people to work for Medicaid. Under the new guidance, states can now require Medicaid beneficiaries to work, volunteer or participate in job training. The elderly, disabled, pregnant women, and children are excluded. It's the first time in the fifty-year history of the program that Medicaid recipients may be required to hold down a job in order to receive benefits. (Washington Post / New York Times / NPR)
3/ The House reauthorized the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, which allows the US intelligence community to collect Americans' email, text messages, photos, and other electronic communication without a warrant. The legislation, which passed 256 to 164, renews the program for six years and will now head to the Senate. (New York Times)
4/ Trump sent a series of confusing tweets about his position on the bill after a Fox News analyst appealed directly to Trump on-air, urging him to oppose the bill. First, Trump tweeted in apparent opposition to the bill that the "controversial FISA ACT … may have been used, with the help of the discredited and phony Dossier, to so badly surveil and abuse the Trump Campaign by the previous administration and others?" About 90 minutes later, Trump reversed course, tweeting that "today's vote is about foreign surveillance of foreign bad guys on foreign land. We need it! Get smart!" (CNN / USA Today)
Disproven and paid for by Democrats “Dossier used to spy on Trump Campaign. Did FBI use Intel tool to influence the Election?” @foxandfriends Did Dems or Clinton also pay Russians? Where are hidden and smashed DNC servers? Where are Crooked Hillary Emails? What a mess!
With that being said, I have personally directed the fix to the unmasking process since taking office and today’s vote is about foreign surveillance of foreign bad guys on foreign land. We need it! Get smart!
5/ Democrats plan to invite sexual assault victims to Trump's State of the Union address later this month to highlight the issue of sexual misconduct. The idea of inviting victims of Trump's alleged harassment to the speech has been scrapped. (NBC News)
6/ Steve Bannon hired a lawyer in preparation for his interview with the House Intelligence Committee next week. Bannon retained Bill Burck, of the firm Quinn Emanuel. (The Daily Beast)
poll/ Trump is losing ground with women, in particular Millennial, white-collar, and blue-collar white women, according to an unpublished SurveyMonkey poll of 605,172 Americans. [Editor's note: this is a must read] (The Atlantic)
poll/ 79% of Americans say "Dreamers" should be allowed to remain in the US and apply for citizenship. 63% oppose building a wall along the Mexico border. (Quinnipiac)
58% of voters say that marijuana use should be made legal.
70% oppose enforcing federal marijuana laws in states that have legalized medical or recreational marijuana.
47% of Americans have an unfavorable view of Jeff Sessions.
52% of voters disapprove of the Republican tax plan.
Notables.
Joe Arpaio resurrected false claims that Obama was not born in the United States. Arpaio claimed that Obama's birth certificate is a "forgery document." He is seeking the Republican nomination in Arizona's 2018 Senate race. (The Hill)
Republicans have four convicted criminals running for Congress in 2018. Three of the men have suggested that their convictions show they were persecuted by the Obama administration for their political beliefs. (HuffPost)
Trump has not formally proposed any new resources or spending to tackle the opioid epidemic. The 90-day public health emergency declaration ends on January 23rd. (Politico)
The FBI will notify U.S. companies and the public about Russian efforts to manipulate social media and interfere in upcoming elections. The FBI's "foreign influence" task force, which was created last year, could dramatically reshape the relationship between the government and social media companies. (Bloomberg)
Ryan Zinke announced a massive overhaul of the Interior Department that would move tens of thousands of government employees to new locations across the country and reorganize the management of federal lands. (The Hill)
Kellyanne Conway said Trump "discovered" there doesn't need to be a "physical wall" along the country's entire southern border. Trump has said he will not sign an immigration deal that doesn't include funding for the border wall. (The Hill)
1/ A federal judge blocked the Trump administration's attempt to end DACA, the Obama-era program that allows undocumented immigrants who entered the country as children to remain in the United States. A San Francisco-based U.S. District Court judge said Jeff Sessions' claim that the program is illegal was "based on a flawed legal premise," and ordered the administration to resume accepting DACA renewal applications. Trump responded, calling the court system "broken and unfair." Sarah Huckabee Sanders added that the decision was "outrageous." (Politico / Reuters / New York Times)
It just shows everyone how broken and unfair our Court System is when the opposing side in a case (such as DACA) always runs to the 9th Circuit and almost always wins before being reversed by higher courts.
2/ Trump declined to commit to an interview with Robert Mueller when asked at a news conference today. He said it "seems unlikely," but that "we'll see what happens." Trump repeatedly argued there has been "no collusion" between his campaign and Russia, and questioned why he would need to be interviewed. (NBC News / Washington Post / New York Times)
3/ Trump's personal attorney filed lawsuits against Fusion GPS and BuzzFeed over the Steele dossier. The lawsuits, one in federal and the other in state court, both claim that the dossier contained "false and defamatory" allegations against Trump that resulted in "harm to his personal and professional reputation, current business interests, and the impairment of business opportunities." (ABC News / CNN)
Trump said his administration would take a "strong look" at libel laws. He criticized the current laws as a "disgrace" and a "sham." He pledged to make it easier for people to sue news organizations and publishers for defamation. (New York Times / Wall Street Journal)
4/ A panel of federal judges ruled that North Carolina's congressional map was unconstitutional on the grounds that Republicans drew the map with the intention of gaining a political advantage. The ruling, which imperils Republican seats in the upcoming election, marks the first time a federal court has blocked a congressional map on partisan gerrymandering grounds. (The New York Times)
5/ A member of Trump's National Security Council proposed withdrawing U.S. forces from Eastern Europe as a way to please Putin during the first months of the Trump presidency. Kevin Harrington's proposal, which was rejected, is the first known instance of senior Trump aides attempting to alter U.S. military actions to please Putin. (The Daily Beast)
6/ The Trump administration waived fines for Deutsche Bank and four other multinational banks convicted of manipulating global interest rates. Trump owes Deutsche at least $130 million in loans that were originally worth $300 million. The German bank was also fined $425 million by New York State for laundering $10 billion out of Russia. (International Business Times / USA Today)
7/ The Interior Department removed Florida "from consideration for any new oil and gas platforms" and won't allow oil drilling in the eastern Gulf of Mexico and the Atlantic Ocean off Florida. Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke said drilling would be "off the table" when it comes to waters. The move, following pressure from Republican Gov. Rick Scott, exempts Florida from the Trump administration's plan to open up offshore drilling in coastal waters. (NBC News)
Taking #Florida off the table for offshore drilling but not #California violates the legal standard of arbitrary and capricious agency action. California and other coastal states also rely on our beautiful coasts for tourism and our economy. I believe courts will strike this down https://t.co/xWyB69F7Gg
8/ The White House plans to destroy the data collected for Trump's voter fraud commission rather than giving it to the Department of Homeland Security. White House Director of Information Technology Charles Herndon added that the commission did not create any "preliminary findings," despite Sarah Huckabee Sanders' previous assertion that such findings would also be turned over to DHS. (The Hill / Politico)
9/ Canada believes Trump intends to pull the United States out of NAFTA. The three countries will meet in Montreal this month for the sixth of seven planned rounds of negotiations. Major differences remain between the United States on one side and Mexico and Canada on the other. (Reuters)
poll/ 49% of Americans believe Obama is more responsible for the current U.S. economy than Trump. 40% believe Trump is responsible. (The Hill)
Notables.
Rep. Darrell Issa will not seek reelection to the House, becoming the second California Republican to quit this week. Rep. Ed Royce also said he did not plan to seek reelection. (Politico)
A Senate Foreign Relations Committee report says the US is not prepared to defend against possible Russian meddling in the 2018 midterm elections or the 2020 presidential contest. (CNN)
Robert Mueller has added a veteran cyber prosecutor to his team, signaling a recent focus on possible computer crimes. (Washington Post)
Trump's companies sold more than $35 million in real estate in 2017, primarily to shell companies that obscure the buyers' identities. (USA Today)
White House aides must decide before the end of January if they plan to stay through the November midterm elections or leave the administration. The deadline is intended to bring a sense of order to an anticipated staffing exodus. (CNN)
Vermont's Senate approved a bill legalizing adult consumption and cultivation of marijuana, defying Jeff Sessions' escalating war on weed. (Vice News)
1/ Trump's secretaries of state and defense are trying to convince him not to conduct a "bloody nose" attack against North Korea. Mattis and Tillerson are warning Trump that "a sharp, violent response to some North Korean provocation" is risky and could result in a global – possibly nuclear – catastrophe. (Business Insider)
The Trump administration plans to loosen constraints on the use of nuclear weapons and develop a new low-yield nuclear warhead for US Trident missiles. (The Guardian)
2/ Dianne Feinstein released the full transcript of Fusion GPS co-founder Glenn Simpson's testimony to the Senate Judiciary Committee regarding Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election. The head of the research firm behind the dossier of allegations against then-candidate Trump told congressional investigators that someone from inside Trump's network had also provided the FBI with corroborating information during the campaign. Simpson had asked the committee last week for the transcript to be made public, but Republican leaders declined prompting Feinstein to post the transcript today with "no agreement" from committee Republicans. (CNBC / Washington Post / Politico)
Read the full transcript of Glenn Simpson's Senate testimony. (Senate.gov)
3/ Robert Mueller could interview Trump in the next few weeks on a limited set of questions. Mueller told Trump's lawyers in late December that he'd likely request an interview with Trump. A person familiar with the discussions said Mueller is most interested in whether Trump tried to obstruct justice. (The Washington Post / New York Times)
Trump's Russia ambassador warned lawmakers that the U.S.-Russia relationship would be "done" if the Kremlin interferes in the 2018 midterm elections. Jon Huntsman warned the House Foreign Affairs Committee in a closed-door meeting that "I don't think Russia is going to quit," and that "Putin probably has never been stronger." (The Daily Beast)
4/ White House officials believe that Trump will be "sunk" if Robert Mueller looks into Trump's finances as part of the Russia probe. "People don't think in the White House — don't think that he colluded with Russia," Michael Wolff said, author of Fire and Fury: Inside the Trump White House. "They do think that if the investigation goes near his finances, he's sunk." (The Hill / CNBC)
5/ The Russian lawyer met Ivanka Trump after the Trump Tower meeting with Trump Jr., Paul Manafort, and Jared Kushner in June 2016. Natalia Veselnitskaya said that as she was leaving the building and waiting for an elevator, she exchanged pleasantries with a blond-haired woman whom she believed was Trump. (NBC News)
6/ Steve Bannon stepped down as executive chairman of Breitbart News. The moves comes after Rebekah Mercer cut financial ties with Bannon over his unflattering comments about Trump and his family in the Michael Wolff book. (New York Times / Politico)
7/ Trump said he would support a two-phase, bipartisan immigration deal in order to avoid a government shutdown. A potential deal would first address DACA protections and border security with what he called a "bill of love," followed by a comprehensive immigration bill. Trump said such a deal must include money for his border wall and strict immigration limits. (New York Times / Associated Press)
Notables.
The Trump administration spending plan calls for cuts to proven security measures in order to pay for his wall along the Mexican border. (New York Times)
Trump renominated two judicial nominees that the American Bar Association rated as "not qualified" to serve. The ABA said one was unqualified for a lifetime seat on the bench due to his "work habits," while the other wasn't qualified due to her lack of trial court experience. In total, Trump resubmitted 21 judicial nominees to the Senate after their nominations expired in 2017. (HuffPost)
Joe Arpaio, the former Arizona sheriff known for his hard-line immigration tactics, says he's running for Senate. Arpaio was convicted of criminal contempt for defying a court order to stop racially profiling Latinos. He was pardoned by Trump. (CNN)
The White House wants to find a new role for Andrew Puzder, the former head of Carl's Jr. who declined the nomination to become labor secretary after old domestic abuse allegations resurfaced. The White House, however, is apparently considering finding another role for Puzder inside the Trump administration. (Politico)
Ahead of his first diplomatic trip to Israel, Jared Kushner's family real estate company received roughly $30 million in investment from one of Israel's largest financial institutions. (New York Times)
Trump was named the world's most oppressive leader for "overall achievement in undermining global press freedom" by the Committee to Protect Journalists, beating out Erdoğan and Putin. Trump plans to announce his "MOST DISHONEST AND CORRUPT MEDIA AWARDS OF THE YEAR" on Wednesday. (HuffPost)
Trump will attend the World Economic Forum in Davos – an event synonymous with wealth and elite prestige. (New York Times)
1/ Trump's legal team anticipates that Special Counsel Robert Mueller will try to directly interview Trump as part of the Russia probe. The team wants to submit written responses to Mueller's questions instead of having Trump appear for a formal, one-on-one sit-down. Mueller informed Trump's lawyers last month that he may want to interview Trump "soon." A person with direct knowledge of the discussions described them as "preliminary and ongoing." (NBC News / Wall Street Journal / Washington Post)
2/ Trump requires more "executive time" to watch TV, make phone calls, and tweet than he did in the early days of his presidency. The official schedule says Trump spends "executive time" in the Oval Office every morning from 8am to 11am, but officials say it's spent in his residence. Trump often comes down to the Oval Office around 11am. By comparison, George W. Bush usually started his day in the Oval at 6:45am and Obama would arrive between 9 and 10am, after his morning exercise. That's not all, Trump has several additional hours of "executive time" sprinkled throughout his schedule. All told, Trump spends roughly 5 hours on executive time over the course of an 8-hour workday. (Axios)
How much of your life is spent on Trump's "executive time." (Washington Post)
3/ Over the weekend, Trump defended his mental fitness, describing himself as a "very stable genius" in response to details in Michael Wolff's book that he is mentally unfit to serve. He insisted that opponents and the media were attacking his mental capacity because they had failed to prove collusion with Russia during the 2016 presidential campaign. Trump tweeted that "my two greatest assets have been mental stability and being, like, really smart." (New York Times / CNN / The Guardian)
Now that Russian collusion, after one year of intense study, has proven to be a total hoax on the American public, the Democrats and their lapdogs, the Fake News Mainstream Media, are taking out the old Ronald Reagan playbook and screaming mental stability and intelligence.....
....Actually, throughout my life, my two greatest assets have been mental stability and being, like, really smart. Crooked Hillary Clinton also played these cards very hard and, as everyone knows, went down in flames. I went from VERY successful businessman, to top T.V. Star.....
Trump tweeted about his "consensual presidency," misquoting a New York Post column that had said Trump's presidency has been "enormously consequential." (The Hill)
4/ Jake Tapper abruptly ended an interview with White House adviser Stephen Miller on CNN's State of the Union on Sunday. Miller was there to talk about Michael Wolff's new book Fire and Fury: Inside the Trump White House, but refused to answer questions about Trump directly and repeatedly attempted to shift the conversation toward criticism of CNN. "I think I've wasted enough of my viewers' time. Thank you, Stephen," Tapper said as he cut off the interview. Miller then refused to leave the CNN set and had to be escorted off the premises. (CNN / Business Insider)
5/ The prospect of Trump's removal from office is an almost daily topic of conversation in the White House, according to Michael Wolff. The author of Fire and Fury: Inside the Trump White House said the situation in the White House is so bad, "the 25th Amendment is a concept that is alive every day in the White House." The 25th Amendment outlines the process of removal in case a sitting President is "unable to discharge the powers and duties of his office." (NBC News / Newsweek)
6/ Steve Bannon walked back his critical comments of Trump Jr. He said he "regrets" his "delay in responding to the inaccurate reporting" that the Trump Jr. meeting with Russians at Trump Tower during the campaign was "treasonous," "unpatriotic," and "bad shit." In a statement, Bannon called Trump Jr. "both a patriot and a good man," adding that "there was no collusion and the investigation is a witch hunt." (Axios / CNN)
Notables.
The Trump administration canceled provisional residency permits for 200,000 Salvadorans who have lived in the country since at least 2001, leaving them vulnerable to deportation. (Washington Post)
Oprah Winfrey is "actively thinking" about running for president, according to two friends. Winfrey's speech at the Golden Globes, where she said "a new day is on the horizon," spurred chatter about a 2020 run. (CNN)
Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg signaled that she intends to outlast Trump by hiring law clerks for at least two more terms. (CNN)
National Security Adviser H.R. McMaster said there was already evidence of Russian meddling in Mexico's election, which is set for July. (Reuters)
The US Army's official Twitter account liked a tweet critical of Trump by "The Office" and "The Mindy Project" star Mindy Kaling. (Washington Post)
A Senate bill that would reverse the FCC's decision to repeal net neutrality received its 30th co-sponsor, ensuring it will receive a vote on the Senate floor. (The Hill)
Federal regulators rejected a proposal by Energy Secretary Rick Perry to subsidize coal and nuclear plants. The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission sided with critics, who argued that Perry’s proposal would upend competition in the nation’s electricity markets, which favors lowest-cost power sources. (New York Times)
1/ Trump ordered the White House's top lawyer to stop Jeff Sessions from recusing himself from the Russia investigation, saying he expected his attorney general to protect him. Don McGahn unsuccessfully lobbied Sessions to remain in charge in March 2017. Trump reportedly erupted in anger in front of several White House officials. The previously unreported details have legal experts suggesting that there is currently a larger body of public evidence tying Trump to a possible crime of obstruction. Robert Mueller's investigation is currently investigating whether Trump obstructed justice while in office and whether there was collusion between the Trump campaign and Russia. (New York Times)
THE TIMELINE:
Comey testified on May 3rd that the Russia investigation was ongoing to the Senate Judiciary Committee.
Two days after Comey's testimony, a Sessions aide approached a Capitol Hill staff member asking for derogatory information about the FBI director. The attorney general wanted one negative news article about Comey per day.
2/ A third Republican called on Jeff Sessions to resign, saying he "is not able to take the reins and direct" the Russia probe because of his recusal. Chris Stewart, a member of the House Intelligence Committee, joins Mark Meadows, Freedom Caucus chair, and Jim Jordan, a member who sits on the oversight and judiciary committees in the US House of Representatives, who have called for Sessions to resign this week. (CNN)
3/ Paul Ryan supported House Intelligence Committee chairman Devin Nunes' threat to hold officials at Justice and the FBI in contempt of Congress if they didn't meet Nunes' subpoena demands. Over the summer, Nunes subpoenaed the Justice Department and FBI for documents related to the dossier about Trump's connections to the Kremlin and whether the FBI used information from the dossier to apply for warrants under the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act to conduct surveillance on Trump associates. Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein and FBI Director Christopher Wray argued that the documents were highly classified and would not be released or shared outside the bureau. (CNN)
4/ Republican senators recommended possible criminal charges for the author of the Trump-Russia dossier. Charles Grassley and Lindsey Graham suggested that the Justice Department investigate Christopher Steele for possibly lying to the FBI. (Washington Post / New York Times)
5/ The FBI is actively investigating allegations of corruption related to the Clinton Foundation. Prosecutors shut down the investigation in 2016 due to lack of evidence. FBI agents from Little Rock, Arkansas, are looking into whether Hillary Clinton promised or performed policy favors in exchange for donations to the foundation while she was secretary of state. (The Hill / CNN / New York Times)
6/ Michael Wolff called Trump the least credible person to ever walk on earth and that he "absolutely" spoke to Trump as part of reporting his book. The "Fire and Fury: Inside the Trump White House" author added that "100% of the people around" Trump "questions his intelligence and fitness for office." Trump tweeted that "I authorized Zero access to White House (actually turned him down many times) for author of phony book! I never spoke to him for book," adding "watch what happens to him and Sloppy Steve" Bannon. (NBC News)
I authorized Zero access to White House (actually turned him down many times) for author of phony book! I never spoke to him for book. Full of lies, misrepresentations and sources that don’t exist. Look at this guy’s past and watch what happens to him and Sloppy Steve!
poll/ 61% of Americans believe marijuana should be legalized. In 2000, the adults who supported marijuana legalization stood at 31%. (Pew Research Center)
Notables.
North and South Korea will sit down for their first formal talks in more than two years next week to find ways to cooperate on the Winter Olympics in the South and to improve their poor relationship. (Associated Press)
The Trump administration froze $125 million in funding for the United Nations Relief and Works Agency – about a third of the annual US donation to the agency. (Axios)
Scott Pruitt told friends and associates that he'd like to be attorney general if Jeff Sessions leaves the administration. (Politico)
Pence's chief lawyer and domestic policy director are leaving his office. (CNN)
The home of Roy Moore's accuser burned in a fire that is now under investigation by the Etowah County Arson Task Force. (Al.com)
The White House asked to screen "The Post," a recently released political drama about the Washington Post's 1971 decision to publish the top-secret Pentagon Papers and the newspaper's legal victory over the Nixon administration. (Hollywood Reporter)
Comcast fired about 500 salespeople, despite saying that the company would create thousands of new jobs in exchange for a big tax cut. (Ars Technica)
The economy added 148,000 jobs in December, which means 2017 had the slowest rate of job growth in six years. The unemployment rate held steady at 4.1% – a 17-year low. (MSNBC / Wall Street Journal)
1/ Steve Bannon received a cease and desist letter from Trump's lawyer accusing him of breaching his confidentiality agreement by making "disparaging" and "outright defamatory statements" about Trump and his family. The letter comes after excerpts from Michael Wolff's book were made public, with Bannon calling the Trump Tower meeting with Russians "treasonous," "unpatriotic," and "bad shit." During the campaign, Trump had staffers sign a non-disclosure agreement which required all staff to refrain from making any disparaging comments about Trump, his family, or the campaign. (ABC News)
2/ Trump's lawyer also demanded that Michael Wolff and his publisher immediately "cease and desist from any further publication, release or dissemination" of the forthcoming book. Trump's lawyers are pursuing possible charges, including libel, in connection with the book, "Fire and Fury: Inside the Trump White House," which is scheduled to be released Friday – four days earlier than planned. (Washington Post / ABC News)
3/ Michael Wolff has tapes to back up the quotes in his book, including conversations with Steve Bannon and former White House deputy chief of staff Katie Walsh. On Twitter, Wolff thanked Trump for making his book the current best seller on Amazon. (Axios)
Here we go. You can buy it (and read it) tomorrow. Thank you, Mr. President.
Senior White House officials are debating whether Katie Walsh should be fired from America First after she was quoted as reportedly saying that dealing with Trump is "like trying to figure out what a child wants." Walsh, a former White House adviser, has disputed the comment. (Axios)
4/ Breitbart board members are debating whether to fire Steve Bannon. Earlier in the day, Sarah Huckabee Sanders suggested that Breitbart News should consider removing its executive chairman. But that's not all, Bannon's billionaire benefactors, Robert Mercer and his daughter Rebekah Mercer, formally cut financial ties with Bannon today. (Wall Street Journal / Politico)
"Should Breitbart part ways with Steve Bannon?"
Sarah Sanders: "I certainly think that it's something they should look at and consider"
5/ The White House banned staff from using personal cell phones in the West Wing. Sarah Huckabee Sanders cited security concerns for the ban. Staff will now be required to use their government-issued devices in the West Wing, which don't accommodate texting. The White House weighed a similar move in early November, after leaks to the media from within the administration angered Trump. (Bloomberg / NBC News)
6/ Trump dissolved his voter fraud commission. He blamed states for refusing to comply with the panel's requests for voter information, including birth dates and partial Social Security numbers. The commission was set up in May to investigate Trump's unfounded claims that massive voter fraud had cost him the popular vote. (CNN)
Many mostly Democrat States refused to hand over data from the 2016 Election to the Commission On Voter Fraud. They fought hard that the Commission not see their records or methods because they know that many people are voting illegally. System is rigged, must go to Voter I.D.
7/ Jeff Sessions will allow federal prosecutors to more aggressively enforce marijuana laws. Sessions is expected to rescind an Obama-era policy of discouraging federal prosecutors from bringing charges of marijuana-related crimes or from interfering with marijuana sales in states that have legalized sales of the drug. In February, Sessions said that while states "can pass the laws they choose," he said it remains "a violation of federal law to distribute marijuana throughout any place in the United States." (Associated Press / New York Times / Politico)
8/ The Trump administration plans to allow offshore oil and gas exploration in the Arctic, Atlantic, and Pacific oceans. Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke said the proposal would make about 90% of the U.S. outer continental shelf available for offshore leasing. (CNBC / Washington Post / New York Times)
Notables.
Freedom Caucus leaders called for Jeff Sessions to step down, citing recent leaks from the Justice Department and FBI. (The Hill)
Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein and FBI Director Chris Wray met with Paul Ryan about the House Russia investigation. The meeting was related to a document request by House Intelligence Committee chairman Devin Nunes this summer. (Politico)
Dianne Feinstein asked Dan Scavino and Brad Parscale to meet with the Senate Judiciary Committee. Scavino is the White House social media director and Parscale oversaw the Trump campaign's digital operation. (Mother Jones)
More than a dozen members of Congress met with a Yale University psychiatry professor last month to discuss Trump's mental state and recent behavior. (Politico)
Virginia determined the outcome of a tied House of Delegates race by random drawing after two delegates each received at 11,608 votes – a Republican won. Republicans will hold a 51-49 majority in Virginia's state house. (Vox)
The US will suspend nearly all security aid to Pakistan as frustration mounts with the country's efforts to fight terror groups. (New York Times)
The Trump administration proposed rules for health plans that bypass some Affordable Care Act protections. The alternative health care plans would be reclassified so they no longer would have to include a set of 10 essential health benefits that the ACA requires. (Washington Post)
1/ Steve Bannon called the Trump Tower meeting with Russians "treasonous," "unpatriotic," and "bad shit." He added: "The 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." Bannon's comments come from forthcoming book the Fire and Fury: Inside the Trump White House, by Michael Wolff. (The Guardian)
📚 Recommended Reading: What the WTF Just Happened Today community is reading.
2/ Trump responds: "Steve Bannon has nothing to do with me or my Presidency. When he was fired, he not only lost his job, he lost his mind." Trump's statement added: "Steve 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." (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
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 Mueller's 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 "Nuclear Button" is "much bigger and more powerful" than Kim Jong-un's – and "my Button works!" Trump's tweet came after Kim said he has a "nuclear button on the desk in my office" and "all of the mainland United States is within the range of our nuclear strike." (New York Times / The Hill)
North Korean Leader Kim Jong Un just stated that the “Nuclear Button is on his desk at all times.” 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!
The "Nuclear Button" explained: There is no button. (New York Times)
A House Democrat called on lawmakers to pass a measure restricting Trump's 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 firm's testimony. "The attack on our firm," the Fusion GPS founders wrote in a New York Times Op-Ed, "is a diversionary tactic by Republicans who don't want to investigate Donald Trump's ties to Russia." Glenn Simpson and Peter Fritsch write they hired Christopher Steele to investigate Trump's repeated efforts "to do deals in a notoriously corrupt police state that most serious investors shun." They added: "As 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," referring to a drunk George Papadopoulos, who bragged about Russia having political dirt on Hillary Clinton to one of Australia's top diplomats. (New York Times)
6/ Trump tweets that the "corrupt media awards" will be presented to the "fake news media" next week. In November, Trump suggested there should be a contest among news networks, except for Fox News, for a "Fake News Trophy." A Rasmussen poll conducted after Trump's suggestion found that most Americans would award Fox News the trophy. "THE MOST DISHONEST AND CORRUPT MEDIA AWARDS OF THE YEAR" 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 o’clock. Subjects will cover Dishonesty & Bad Reporting in various categories from the Fake News Media. Stay tuned!
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!
📆 Mark Your Calendar: Upcoming events worth noting and where to find them.
Notables.
In 2017 US manufacturing had its strongest year since 2004. (Bloomberg)
Trump's 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 "to file charges against the sanctuary cities" and "hold back their funding," and the politicians enforcing sanctuary city policies need to be held "personally accountable." (The Hill)
Rupert Murdoch called Trump a "fucking idiot" after a conversation about immigration. "Murdoch suggested [in a Dec. 2016 phone call] that taking a liberal approach to H-1B visas, which open America's 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, 'We'll figure it out.' 'What a fucking idiot,' said Murdoch, shrugging, as he got off the phone." (New York Magazine)
Democrats Doug Jones and Tina Smith will both be sworn into the Senate today, narrowing the GOP majority. (NPR)
North Korea and South Korea established contact on a hotline that's been dormant for almost two years. (CNN)
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)
The National Security Agency is losing its top talent because of low pay, slumping morale, and unpopular reorganization. (Washington Post)
1/ A drunk George Papadopoulos bragged about the political dirt Russia had on Hillary Clinton to Australia's top diplomat at a London bar in May 2016. Australian officials passed the information about Papadopoulos to their American counterparts two months later, when leaked Democratic emails began appearing online. The FBI opened its counterintelligence investigation in July 2016 into Russia's attempts to disrupt the election following the revelation that the Trump campaign had information about the DNC's hacked emails Trump and his advisers have dismissed Papadopoulos' campaign role as just a "coffee boy." (New York Times)
2/ Trump suggested that former Hillary Clinton aide Huma Abedin should face jail time after the State Department posted emails it found on Anthony Weiner's computer. Abedin had forwarded State Department passwords to her personal Yahoo account. In a tweet, Trump called on the "deep state" Justice Department to prosecute both Abedin and James Comey. (Washington Post)
Crooked Hillary Clinton’s top aid, Huma Abedin, has been accused of disregarding basic security protocols. She put Classified Passwords into the hands of foreign agents. Remember sailors pictures on submarine? Jail! Deep State Justice Dept must finally act? Also on Comey & others
3/ Orrin Hatch will retire at the end of the year, resisting pressure from Trump to seek an eighth term. The move opens the door for Mitt Romney to run for the seat. During the 2016 campaign, Romney called then-candidate Trump a "fraud" and "phony" who was unfit to serve. Hatch is 83-years-old and the longest-serving Senate Republican. (New York Times / Politico)
4/ 2017 was the safest year on record for commercial passenger air travel with airlines recording no commercial passenger jet deaths. Trump took credit for the record on Twitter, but didn't provide details what he did to improve airline safety. (Reuters / The Hill)
Since taking office I have been very strict on Commercial Aviation. Good news - it was just reported that there were Zero deaths in 2017, the best and safest year on record!
Workplace deaths in the coal mining industry increased last year to their highest point in three years. 15 miners died on the job in 2017, compared with eight in 2016. (The Hill)
5/ White House aides are worried about 2018 as several senior officials are expected to depart in the coming year – with no replacements lined up – and Robert Mueller's Russia investigation looms. Aides expect few things to get done in Washington this year as they head into a contentious midterm election season. (Politico)
Democrats are already campaigning for 2020. Many Democrats and some Republicans say there's a chance Trump may not be on the ballot in 2020 for any number of reasons: He resigns; gets removed from office; chooses not to seek re-election; or loses in a GOP primary. Steve Bannon placed Trump's odds of completing his first term at 30%. (NBC News)
6/ More women than ever are considering a run for governor. At least 79 women — 49 Democrats and 30 Republicans — are running for governor or seriously considering it as filing deadlines approach. A record 34 women ran for governor in 1994. (Washington Post)
Elizabeth Warren is positioned to run for president in 2020 if she decides to. (Politico)
Kirsten Gillibrand's voting record suggests she's running for president in 2020. Gillibrand's record is consistently anti-Trump. (Washington Post)
Notables.
Trump has made 1,950 false or misleading claims in 347 days – an average of 5.6 claims a day. (Washington Post)
Anthony Scaramucci is telling friends that Trump misses him and want him back in the West Wing. (The Daily Beast)
Trump rescinded proposed rules that would have required companies to disclose the chemicals used in fracking. (Associated Press)
The Interior Department won't criminally prosecute energy companies and other businesses that accidentally kill migratory birds, reversing a longstanding practice at the agency. (Reuters)
Trump renewed leases for a copper and nickel mining operation on the border of Minnesota's Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness, which reversed an Obama-era decision. (Washington Post)
Trump scrapped Obama's proposal for the federal government to underwrite half the cost of an Amtrak tunnel connecting New Jersey to Penn Station. (Crain's New York)
The Justice Department wants a question about citizenship to be added to the 2020 census. Critics say the move could limit participation by immigrants who fear that the government could use the information against them. (ProPublica)
South Korea proposed holding high-level talks with North Korea, a day after Kim Jong-un suggested inter-Korean dialogue to discuss easing military tensions and his country's participation in the Winter Olympics in the South. (New York Times)
Trump tweeted that the US is watching the "brutal and corrupt Iranian regime" amid deadly protests in the country. The State Department lists Iran as a state sponsor of terrorism. (CNN)
Trump tweets the US "foolishly" handed Pakistan more than $33 billion in aid over the last 15 years while getting "nothing but lies and deceit" in return. He's pledged to put a stop to it. (Reuters)
1/ Trump: The Russia investigation makes the US "look very bad" and "puts the country in a very bad position." The comment came during an impromptu 30-minute interview with The New York Times at his golf club in West Palm Beach. Trump insisted 16 times that there has been "no collusion" discovered by Robert Mueller's investigation. Additional quotes below. (New York Times)
On collusion with Russia: "There is no collusion" and even if there was collusion, "it's not a crime."
On reopening the investigation into Hillary Clinton's emails: "I have absolute right to do what I want to do with the Justice Department."
On China: "China's hurting us very badly on trade, but I have been soft on China because the only thing more important to me than trade is war."
2/ Russia said the worsening relationship with the US is a major disappointment. A Putin spokesman told reporters that Russia still wants improved relations with the US, but they have to be based on a "mutual trust and mutual respect" and that "it takes two to tango." (Associated Press)
3/ Trump tweets that the US could use some "good old Global Warming" right now while most of the Northeast is experiencing record-breaking cold weather. Weather and climate change are two different things: Weather is the short-term atmospheric conditions, while climate change is how the atmosphere acts over long periods of time. (The Hill)
In the East, it could be the COLDEST New Year’s Eve on record. Perhaps we could use a little bit of that good old Global Warming that our Country, but not other countries, was going to pay TRILLIONS OF DOLLARS to protect against. Bundle up!
4/ Trump fired the remaining 16 members of his HIV/AIDS advisory council. Members received a FedEx letter informing them that they were fired. There was no explanation or reason given. (Washington Blade / Newsweek)
Remaining #HIV/AIDS council members booted by @realDonaldTrump. No respect for their service. Dangerous that #Trump and Co. (Pence esp.) are eliminating few remaining people willing to push back against harmful policies, like abstinence-only sex ed. #WeObject#PACHA6#Resist
Trump accused China of being caught "RED HANDED" for allowing oil into North Korea after U.S. spy satellites detected Chinese ships transferring oil to North Korean vessels about 30 times since October. (Reuters)
The Trump administration rolled back offshore drilling rules put in place after the 2010 Deepwater Horizon disaster. The rule change will save operators $288 million over 10 years. (Bloomberg)
Romanian hackers took over two-thirds of Washington DC's outdoor surveillance cameras a week before Trump's inauguration. 123 of the D.C. police department's 187 outdoor surveillance cameras were hacked, leaving them unable to record for several days. (Washington Post)
1/ Robert Mueller is investigating whether the Trump campaign and the RNC coordinated their voter outreach using Russian-acquired information. Russian hackers stole voter information from election databases in several states in 2016. Mueller's prosecutors want to know if the Trump campaign used that information to target voters in key swing states and determine if the joint RNC-Trump campaign data operation effort was related to the activities of Russian trolls and bots aimed at influencing the election. Jared Kushner was in charge of the campaign's digital operation and has recently searched for a crisis public relations firm to handle press inquiries. (Yahoo News / Business Insider)
2/ A jailed Russian said he can prove he hacked the Democratic National Committee computers on behalf of Russian intelligence. Konstantin Kozlovsky claims he left behind a data signature in a hidden data file that corresponds to his Russian passport number and the number of his visa to visit the Caribbean island of St. Martin. (McClatchy DC)
3/ Robert Mueller may indict Paul Manafort and Rick Gates a second time. Washington legal experts believe Mueller is preparing to file a superseding indictment to formally charge both men with violating tax laws. (The Daily Beast)
4/ Trump's legal team plans to call Michael Flynn a liar seeking to protect himself if he accuses the president or his senior aides of wrongdoing. Flynn is the most senior former Trump adviser known to have provided Mueller's team with information, and the lenient terms of his plea agreement suggest he has promised significant information to investigators. (Washington Post)
5/ Trump golfed two days in a row after tweeting "it's back to work in order to Make America Great Again." On the second day, a box truck was parked between cameras and the president in order to block the view of Trump golfing. (Associated Press / BuzzFeed News)
I hope everyone is having a great Christmas, then tomorrow it’s back to work in order to Make America Great Again (which is happening faster than anyone anticipated)!
6/ Trump falsely claimed that he has signed more legislation than any other president at this point in their term. While Trump did sign more bills in his first 100 days than any president since Truman, he has now signed the fewest number of bills into law of any first-year president dating back to Eisenhower. (Politico)
7/ 34% of senior Trump administration officials have resigned, been fired, or been reassigned this year. It's the highest first-year departure rate of any other administration in the last 40 years. The next-highest first-year turnover rate was Ronald Reagan's, with 17% of senior aides leaving the administration in 1981. (Wall Street Journal)
poll/ Obama and Hillary Clinton are the most admired man and woman in the United States. Trump was the second-most admired man. (Gallup)
poll/ 26% of Americans think Trump's Twitter use is appropriate, with 59% disapproving and 15% unsure. (The Hill)
poll/ 44% of Republicans think Trump successfully repealed the Affordable Care Act. Overall, 31% believe Trump repealed the Affordable Care Act, 49% say he hasn’t, and 21% aren't sure. (Vox)
poll/ 52% of Americans say the U.S. is less respected in the world than a year ago. 21% said they think the U.S. became more respected in the world and 26% think there was no change. (The Hill)
Notables.
Trump has spent 110 days as president at one of his properties. (CNN)
New York City, San Francisco, and Philadelphia filed a federal lawsuit against the Department of Defense, saying the system for reporting service members disqualified from gun ownership is broken. (Associated Press)
China is projected to overtake the US economy by 2032. (Bloomberg)
The Virginia State Board of Elections postponed plans for a name-drawing to decide the winner of a deadlocked House of Delegates race after one of the candidates announced plans for a court challenge over whether the election was really a tie. (Washington Post)
A US appeals court rejected a legal challenge to Trump's voter fraud commission, saying the Electronic Privacy Information Center is "not a voter" and does not have legal standing to sue the voter fraud commission for alleged violations of the 2002 E-Government Act. (The Hill)
Roy Moore filed a complaint alleging "systematic voter fraud." The Alabama secretary of state dismissed complaints of election fraud and officials plan to certify the results today. Moore was the first Republican to lose a United States Senate race in Alabama in 25 years and has refused to concede the election. (New York Times / NBC News)
1/ Trump claimed the "tainted" FBI is using the "bogus," "pile of garbage" dossier to go after him. The dossier contains allegations about Trump's connections to Russia and possible coordination between the campaign and the Kremlin during the 2016 election. Many of the details contained in the dossier have been verified. (Washington Post / Politico)
WOW, @foxandfrlends “Dossier is bogus. Clinton Campaign, DNC funded Dossier. FBI CANNOT (after all of this time) VERIFY CLAIMS IN DOSSIER OF RUSSIA/TRUMP COLLUSION. FBI TAINTED.” And they used this Crooked Hillary pile of garbage as the basis for going after the Trump Campaign!
2/ Andrew McCabe plans to retire in March when he becomes fully eligible for pension benefits. Trump attacked the FBI's deputy director on Twitter, saying McCabe is "racing the clock to retire with full benefits." McCabe served as James Comey's deputy and has been the focus of conservatives who question whether the FBI conducted an impartial investigation into Hillary Clinton's use of a private email server. McCabe cannot be fired by Trump. (New York Times / Washington Post / Politico)
How can FBI Deputy Director Andrew McCabe, the man in charge, along with leakin’ James Comey, of the Phony Hillary Clinton investigation (including her 33,000 illegally deleted emails) be given $700,000 for wife’s campaign by Clinton Puppets during investigation?
The Justice Department's inspector general review of the Clinton email investigation continues. Authorities are examining whether the Justice Department and FBI followed established "policies and procedures'' when then-FBI Director James Comey announced that the bureau would not recommend criminal charges against Clinton. (USA Today)
3/ House Republicans are investigating an FBI lawyer's contacts with the reporter that broke the dossier story. James Baker communicated with Mother Jones reporter David Corn weeks before the November 2016 election. Corn was the first to report the existence of the dossier on October 31st, but has denied that Baker was the source for his story. Baker was reassigned last week. (Politico)
4/ In a June meeting on immigration, Trump said Haitians "all have AIDS" and complained that Nigerians would never "go back to their huts" in Africa. Sarah Sanders called the report "outrageous." (New York Times)
5/ A federal judge blocked Trump's restrictions on reuniting refugee families and partially suspended the ban on refugees coming from 11 mostly Muslim countries. Trump's October executive order banned entry of spouses and children of refugees who have already settled in the US, known as "follow-to-join" refugees. (Washington Post)
6/ The 9th US Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that the latest version of Trump's travel ban violates federal law, but will remain in effect anyway. Earlier this month, the Supreme Court issued an order saying the ban can be enforced while challenges to the policy move through the legal system. (CNN)
7/ A federal appeals court rejected Trump's bid to block the military from accepting transgender recruits starting on January 1st. It was the second appeals court to reject the administration's policy change. (Reuters)
8/ A federal judge ruled that Trump's voter fraud commission must give Democrats access to the panel's records. The group held its last meeting in September and will not meet again this year. The commission is expected to issue a report early next year. (Politico)
9/ The United Nations Security Council placed new sanctions on North Korea, cutting off fuel supplies and ordering North Koreans working overseas to return home. North Korea called the sanctions an act of war. (New York Times / Reuters)
The Trump administration linked financial support for the United Nations to compliance with American demands at least four times in the past week. (New York Times)
10/ Trump told his friends Mar-a-Lago: "You all just got a lot richer." The comment was in reference to tax reform Trump signed into law hours earlier. (CBS News)
11/ More than 4 in 5 Americans who enrolled in Affordable Care Act health insurance live in states that Trump won. The four states with the highest number of sign-ups – Florida, Texas, North Carolina and Georgia – account for nearly 3.9 million of the 8.8 million consumers who have signed up for coverage. (ABC News)
Notables.
Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin received a gift-wrapped box full of horse manure. A Christmas card inside the package read, "We're returning the 'gift' of the Christmas tax bill. It's bullshit," adding "P.S. - Kiss Donald for me." (NBC News / AL.com)
Federal prosecutors subpoenaed Deutsche Bank for records related to Jared Kushner's family real estate business. The bank has lent the family hundreds of millions of dollars. (New York Times / Wall Street Journal)
The FBI asked Cyprus for financial information about a defunct bank that was used by wealthy Russians with political connections. The FBI's request appears to be connected to Robert Mueller's ongoing investigation of Paul Manafort and money that flowed between former Soviet states and the US through Cypriot banks. (The Guardian)
Russian submarines have been prowling around undersea data cables that provide internet to North America and Europe. (Washington Post)
Where is Trump’s Cabinet? It's anybody’s guess. (Politico)
What happened to Trump's wall? It's in pieces, in the desert. (Bloomberg)
WTF Just Happened Today will be back on Tuesday, December 26th. Until then, join me in the community forum to share and discuss what the fuck is going on. ✌️
1/ The House Intelligence Committee asked Steve Bannon and Corey Lewandowski to testify as part of their investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 election. Both were asked to testify in early January as part of a voluntary, closed-door meeting. The committee hasn't received a response from either Bannon or Lewandowski, yet. (Bloomberg)
2/ Trump signed the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act into law after cable news networks questioned if he would keep his promise to sign the legislation before Christmas. Trump was initially schedule to sign the bill in early 2018 in order to delay automatic spending cuts and give companies time to adjust to the changes in the new tax code. Instead, Trump called his staff to the Oval Office after seeing the news coverage and said the the legislation needed to be signed "now." (New York Times / Washington Post)
3/ The Koch brothers network will launch a multimillion-dollar push next year to sell the GOP tax bill, with paid advertising and town halls to educate voters. About one-third of the country supports the tax plan. (Politico)
4/ More than 700 people have left the EPA since Trump took office and most are not being replaced. Of the employees who have left, more than 200 are scientists. (New York Times)
5/ Trump has visited his properties more than 100 times this year. His prolonged holiday visit to Mar-A-Lago will mark the 106th day Trump has visited one of his properties as President. (CNN)
6/ A meeting between Trump and his top advisers turned into a heated exchange over the midterm elections. Corey Lewandowski criticized the Republican National Committee and several White House departments for not raising enough money and not doing enough to support Trump's agenda. Later, outside the Oval Office, Lewandowski political director Bill Stepien had a "very intense" conversation about the broader political operation that stretched for 10 minutes. (New York Times / Washington Post)
The White House is bracing for a bloodbath in the 2018 midterms, which could eliminate the Republican congressional majorities and stymie Trump's legislative agenda. (Politico)
7/ Trump's deputy chief of staff will leave the administration early next year to pursue private-sector work. Rick Dearborn oversaw the White House's political operation, public outreach, and legislative affairs. (Wall Street Journal)
poll/ 28% of Americans have a positive view of Robert Mueller's investigation compared to 21% who have a negative view, and 15% who have a neutral view. 36% of those polled have no opinion of Mueller yet. (Wall Street Journal)
Notables.
Trump left the White House without holding an end-of-the-year press conference. It's the first time in 15 years that a president has opted not to. (CNN)
The Trump administration is considering separating parents from their children when families are caught entering the country illegally. The move is meant to discourage border crossings, but immigrant groups have called it draconian and inhumane. (New York Times)
Carter Page failed his Ph.D. twice and blamed it on "anti-Russian bias." Examiners called the former Trump foreign policy advisor's thesis "verbose" and "vague." (The Guardian)
Nearly $1.5 million in taxpayers' money has been spent over the past two decades to cover harassment claims across all Senate offices, a report released by the Senate's Rules and Appropriations committee shows. (CBS News)
1/ Nearly 2 million children will lose health coverage if Congress doesn't fund the Children's Health Insurance Program by Friday. CHIP covers 9 million children across the country, but Congress failed to authorize new funding in September. (NBC News)
2/ Current government funding expires at the end of the day Friday. House Republicans are working toward passage of a stripped-down, temporary funding measure to keep the government funded through January 19th. The current plan includes $2.85 billion for the Children's Health Insurance Program, which lapsed in October. (New York Times)
3/ Two measures intended to stabilize the Affordable Care Act markets were kicked to next year after conservatives in the House said they wouldn't support the legislation. The inclusion of the ACA fixes as part of the year-end spending deal was a promise Mitch McConnell made to Susan Collins in order to get her vote on tax reform. (Bloomberg / Politico)
4/ Trump won't sign his "big, beautiful" tax cut before Christmas due to a technical snafu. He will sign the bill on January 3rd so that automatic spending cuts to Medicare and other programs don't take effect. (Bloomberg)
5/ Trump's personal tax cut could save him as much as $15 million a year. Jared Kushner could see his tax burden cut by $12 million, while five other members of Trump's inner circle will see benefits worth as much as $4.5m from changes to the estate tax. (The Guardian)
6/ Democrats tapped a constitutional law expert as their leader on the House Judiciary Committee. Jerry Nadler takes over as the ranking Democrat on the panel following the resignation of John Conyers. The Judiciary Committee would be responsible for initiating impeachment proceedings against Trump if Democrats win back the House in 2018. (Politico / Washington Post)
7/ The White House counsel knew Michael Flynn had probably violated two federal laws in January. Don McGahn learned on December 29, 2016, that Flynn had counseled Sergey Kislyak, the Russian ambassador to the United States, not to retaliate against economic sanctions imposed by the Obama administration. McGahn then researched federal laws dealing with lying to federal investigators and negotiating with foreign governments. He also warned Trump about Flynn's possible violations. (Foreign Policy)
January 24th: Flynn lied to the FBI in an interview.
January 27th: Sally Yates told McGahn that Flynn was in a "compromise situation"
January 27th: Trump asked James Comey to pledge his loyalty. He declined.
February 13th: Flynn was fired.
February 14th Trump asked Comey to shutdown the FBI investigation into Flynn.
May 9th: Trump fired Comey.
8/ Jeff Sessions asked the FBI to reexamine evidence in the dormant Uranium One deal. Trump and some Republicans have called the 2010 deal to sell U.S. uranium mining facilities to Russia's state atomic energy company corrupt, because several people involved had contributed millions of dollars to the Clinton Foundation. Hillary Clinton, however, wasn't involved in the decision while secretary of state, the State Department official who approved the deal has confirmed. (NBC News)
9/ A secret group of House Republicans has been investigating Justice Department and FBI officials for what they believe is corruption as it relates to the handling of a dossier describing allegations of Trump's ties to the Kremlin. The group hasn't informed Democrats about its plans. Adam Schiff, the top Democrat on the House Intelligence Committee, said committee rules require cooperation between Republicans and Democrats, but it requires that Paul Ryan enforce them – that hasn't happened. (Politico)
poll/ 47% of Americans approve of Robert Mueller's handling of the Russia investigation. 56% say Trump's comments on the Russia probe have been mostly or completely false. (CNN)
poll/ Voters prefer Democrats by 10 points on a generic 2018 midterm election ballot. The 44% to 34% preference by voters is the party's largest lead of the year. (Politico)
Notables.
Al Franken will step down on January 2nd following allegations of sexually inappropriate behavior and groping. (Reuters)
The Trump administration has approved the commercial sale of weapons to Ukraine, which will be used by Ukrainian forces fighting a Russian-backed separatist movement. (Washington Post)
The GOP tax bill will open up oil and gas drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. The Congressional Budget Office projects that Alaska and the federal government could make about $1 billion from leases and sales in the area over the next decade. (ABC News)
Russian trolls promoted autocracy and fear during key events in the 2016 U.S. presidential election. They infiltrated the online conversations of millions of Americans on Facebook and Twitter. (NBC News)
The United Nations General Assembly rejected Trump's unilateral recognition of Jerusalem as Israel's capital. The General Assembly voted 128 to 9, with 35 abstentions, to demand that the US rescind its December 6th declaration on Jerusalem. (The Guardian)
"Fox & Friends" was named the "most influential" show in media because Trump watches it. Trump congratulated the hosts in a tweet: "You deserve it - three great people! The many Fake News Hate Shows should study your formula for success!" (The Hill)
1/ The Republican tax bill passed the Senate in a 51 to 48 vote. No Democrats backed the bill. The House, forced to vote a second time on the $1.5 trillion tax bill, approved it in a 224 to 201 vote. The Tax Cuts and Jobs Act is expected to head to Trump's desk in the coming days. (New York Times / Washington Post)
2/ Trump claimed the Republican tax bill "essentially repealed Obamacare." The bill eliminates the Affordable Care Act's individual mandate, but Trump said "we didn't want to bring it up" until the legislation had passed. (Bloomberg / Talking Points Memo)
3/ Trump criticized the news media for its "demeaning" coverage of tax reform. "The Tax Cuts are so large and so meaningful, and yet the Fake News is working overtime to follow the lead of their friends, the defeated Dems, and only demean," Trump tweeted, adding: "Jobs, Jobs, Jobs!" (The Hill)
The United States Senate just passed the biggest in history Tax Cut and Reform Bill. Terrible Individual Mandate (ObamaCare)Repealed. Goes to the House tomorrow morning for final vote. If approved, there will be a News Conference at The White House at approximately 1:00 P.M.
The Tax Cuts are so large and so meaningful, and yet the Fake News is working overtime to follow the lead of their friends, the defeated Dems, and only demean. This is truly a case where the results will speak for themselves, starting very soon. Jobs, Jobs, Jobs!
4/ Sarah Huckabee Sanders attributed Trump's low approval rating to the media's coverage of him. The tax bill is Trump's first legislative accomplishment since entering the White House nearly a year ago. Trump's 35% approval rating is a historic low for a president at this point in their first term. (Washington Post)
5/ Donald Trump Jr. suggested that "people at the highest levels of government" have conspired to block his father's agenda, saying they "don't want to let America be America." He added that the investigations into Russian election meddling and his father's campaign are evidence of a "rigged system." Trump Jr. made the comments at a gathering of young conservative activists during an event in West Palm Beach, Florida. (CNN)
6/ Congressional Democrats are stepping back from their pledge to force a vote on DACA by the end of the month. Dozens of Democrats vowed to withhold support for the Republican legislation if the GOP refused to allow a vote on the Dream Act, which would allow roughly 1.2 million immigrants to legally remain in the United States. But a group of Democrats facing reelection in conservative states next year say they aren't willing to hold the line, which means the party will likely be unable to block the spending bill. (Washington Post)
John Kelly met with a bipartisan group of senators to lay the groundwork for an immigration deal in January. Congressional Republicans and the White House have long said any DACA deal would need to be paired with security and other enforcement measures. (Politico)
7/ Nikki Haley told the United Nations that Trump would be "taking names" of the countries that vote against his recognition of Jerusalem as the capital of Israel. In a letter to several countries – including US allies – Haley warned that "the president will be watching this vote carefully and has requested I report back on those countries who voted against us. We will take note of each and every vote on this issue." (Bloomberg / The Guardian)
poll/ 79% of Americans say they're frequently stressed out and 41% say they lack the time to do what they want. (Gallup)
poll/ 56% of voters say they'll vote for a Democrat in the 2018 midterm election. 38% plan to vote for a Republican. (CNN)
poll/ 36% of Americans say they would vote for Trump in 2020. 38% are dead set on voting against Trump and an additional 14% say they’ll probably vote for the Democrat on the ballot. (NBC News)
Notables.
Use of the "angry" button on Facebook by Democrats more than doubled since the presidential election. (Pew)
Paul Ryan called reports of his retirement greatly exaggerated "rank speculation." It was previously reported that Ryan told confidants that he will not seek another term as speaker and expressed a preference for retiring shortly after next year’s midterm elections. (Politico)
France will ban the production of all oil and gas by 2040. (The Hill)
1/ The House passed tax reform today, but will have to vote again tomorrow after the Senate parliamentarian said three provisions violated the Byrd Rule and would have to be removed from the bill. Senate Republicans plan to vote on the measure tonight with the provisions removed, which would require the House to revote on the measure tomorrow, since both chambers must pass identical bills. The House initially passed the bill in a 227-203 vote with all but 12 Republicans voting for the bill. No Democrats supported it. Trump is expected to sign the Tax Cuts And Jobs Act into law before the end of the week. The bill will add $1.5 trillion to the federal debt over the next decade as it cuts tax rates for corporations, provides new breaks for private businesses, and reorganizes the individual tax code. The legislation also repeals the Affordable Care Act's individual mandate that most Americans buy health insurance coverage or face a fine. (NBC News / New York Times / Washington Post)
What's in the final Republican tax bill. The legislation would cut taxes for corporations. Taxpayers in large part would receive temporary tax cuts that expire after 2025. (New York Times)
The GOP tax bill will impact large, high-tax, high-cost-of-living cities most by capping the state and local income and property deductions at $10,000. Capping the benefit will potentially expose residents of those areas to a higher tax liability and reduce their property values. (Politico)
Senator Mark Warner called the GOP tax plan "the single worst piece of legislation that I've seen." (CNBC)
2/ The GOP tax bill will lower taxes for 95% of Americans in 2018, but within a decade 53% of Americans will pay more in taxes under the plan with 82.8% of the bill's benefit going to the top 1%. In 2018, the highest earners on average will receive a larger tax cut than those making less. Those earning between $49,000 and $86,000 will receive an average cut of about $900, or roughly 1%. Those earning more than $733,000 would receive a cut of about $51,000, or roughly 6.9%. (Washington Post / Vox)
3/ Trump's new campaign slogan is "How's your 401(k) doing?" More than half of Americans don't have one. (Bloomberg)
4/ Trump considered rescinding Neil Gorsuch's nomination after the Supreme Court pick said he found Trump's repeated attacks on the federal judiciary "disheartening" and "demoralizing." Trump called the report "FAKE NEWS" on Twitter. (Washington Post)
A story in the @washingtonpost that I was close to “rescinding” the nomination of Justice Gorsuch prior to confirmation is FAKE NEWS. I never even wavered and am very proud of him and the job he is doing as a Justice of the U.S. Supreme Court. The unnamed sources don’t exist!
5/ Members of Robert Mueller's team believe their investigation will continue through 2018. White House lawyers were expected to meet with Mueller later this week in hopes of a sign that Mueller's focus on Trump is nearing its end. White House lawyers said they'll cooperate with Mueller despite Trump and his allies have recently accused the Justice Department and FBI of bias and overreach. (Washington Post)
The Senate Banking Committee rejected Trump's nominee for the Export-Import Bank. Scott Garrett once called the institution "corporate welfare" and tried to have it shut down. (Bloomberg)
Tim Kaine's request for data on Senate sexual harassment claims was rejected. The Office of Compliance said "confidentiality provisions" means that "the OOC does not possess reliable information regarding the number of sexual harassment claims that have been filed or settled." (Politico)
The EPA terminated its contract with a GOP opposition research firm after Senate Democrats said Definers Public Affairs' close ties to the GOP "presents an appearance of impropriety to which you as administrator should never be a party." (The Hill)
Connecticut will close its health care program for low- and middle-income children on January 31st unless Congress provides new federal funding. Congress let the Children's Health Insurance Program lapse in September, which provides insurance for nearly 9 million children nationwide. (The Hill)
The Senate Intelligence Committee is looking at Jill Stein for potential "collusion with the Russians." The Green Party candidate attended a 2015 dinner in Moscow, which was also attended by Michael Flynn. Putin was seated next to Flynn and across the table from Stein. (Washington Post)
Control of the Virginia legislature came down to a single vote with the Republican seat getting flipped Democratic in a 11,608 to 11,607 vote. (Washington Post)
1/ The FBI warned Trump in 2016 that Russia would try to infiltrate his campaign. Both Trump and Hillary Clinton received counterintelligence briefings by senior FBI officials, which advised them to alert the FBI to any "suspicious overtures to their campaigns." Trump was "briefed and warned" at the session about potential espionage threats from Russia. (NBC News)
2/ Robert Mueller obtained "many tens of thousands" of Trump transition emails, including the emails of Jared Kushner and 11 others. The emails came from the General Services Administration, which hosted the transition email system, and include exchanges about potential appointments, gossip about senators, vulnerabilities of Trump nominees, PR strategies, and policy planning. (Axios)
3/ A lawyer from Trump's transition team accused Robert Mueller of unlawfully obtaining the emails in a seven-page letter sent to the House and Senate oversight committees. Kory Langhofer argued that the General Services Administration "unlawfully produced" emails which were subject to attorney-client privilege. Peter Carr, a spokesman from Mueller's office, said: "When we have obtained emails in the course of our ongoing criminal investigation, we have secured either the account owner's consent or appropriate criminal process." (Politico / Axios)
4/ Trump said he is not considering firing Robert Mueller, but that "my people" are "very upset" with how Mueller obtained his transition team's emails and the situation is "not looking good." Congresswoman Jackie Speier, meanwhile, said "rumors" on Capitol Hill suggest Trump plans to fire Mueller on December 22nd, after Congress leaves Washington for the winter recess. (Washington Post / CNN / KQED)
The cooperation between Trump's lawyers and Robert Mueller is fracturing. As the investigation has reached deeper into Trump's inner circle, Trump's lawyers and supporters have increased their attacks on Mueller. (New York Times)
5/ Republicans on the House Intelligence Committee are trying to wrap up their Russia probe by the end of the year. Democrats have requested as many as 30 additional interviews with new witnesses, but none have been scheduled beyond the end of this month. Some witnesses are scheduled to be interviewed in New York this week, leaving Democrats to choose between attending those depositions or voting on the tax bill coming before the House. (New York Times / NBC News)
6/ Trump has been telling people close to him that he expects Robert Mueller to clear him soon. His allies, meanwhile, are worried he's not taking the threat of the probe seriously enough. (CNN)
7/ Trump unveiled his "America First" foreign policy, presenting both Russia and China as "revisionist powers" who "want to shape a world antithetical to US values and interests." Trump's strategy has four organizing principles: protect the American homeland, protect American prosperity, preserve peace through strength, and advance US influence. Trump attacked past administrations on immigration, the Iran nuclear deal, the Paris climate accord, trade pacts, and more. (Washington Post / CNN)
8/ The Trump administration ordered the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to stop using "diversity," "fetus," "transgender," "vulnerable," "entitlement," "science-based," and "evidence-based" in their 2018 budget documents. "Certain words" in the CDC's budget drafts have been sent back to the agency for correction. (Washington Post)
9/ Chuck Schumer will force a Senate vote to reinstate the FCC's net neutrality rules. Congress can overturn an agency by invoking the Congressional Review Act with a simple majority vote, without the possibility of a filibuster. The Republican majority will be 51-49 after Alabama Democrat Doug Jones is sworn in. Susan Collins (R-Maine) said she opposes the net neutrality repeal. (Ars Technica)
poll/ 50% of voters prefer a Democratic-controlled Congress, while 39% want Republicans in charge. Democrats hold a 48-point lead in congressional preference among voters under 35 years old (69% to 21%) and a 20-point lead among female voters (54% to 34%). (NBC News)
Notables.
At least four senators are urging Al Franken to reconsider his resignation, saying the calls for his resignation were a rush to judgment. Franken plans to formally resign in early January. (Politico)
Bob Corker hasn't read the GOP tax bill, but denied changing his vote in exchange for a provision slipped into the bill that could personally enrich him. (International Business Times)
Witch Hunt at the EPA: Multiple employees have come under scrutiny after speaking out about the agency. Within a matter of days, requests were submitted for copies of their emails that mentioned either Scott Pruitt or Trump, or any communication with Democrats in Congress that might have been critical of the agency. (New York Times)
Puerto Rico ordered a recount of the number of people who have died because of Hurricane Maria. The official death count is 64. A New York Times review suggests that 1,052 more people died than usual in the 42 days after Maria hit. (New York Times)
A federal appeals judge abruptly retired today after 15 women accused him of inappropriate sexual behavior. (Washington Post)
Trump's judicial nominee withdrew himself from consideration after a video went viral of him failing to answer basic questions about the law during his confirmation hearing. (HuffPost)
Ivanka Trump and Jared Kushner are being sued over omissions on their public financial disclosure forms. The two failed to identify the assets owned by 30 investment funds they have stakes in. (Politico)
Putin called Trump to thank him for CIA intelligence that allegedly stopped a planned bombing in St. Petersburg. A readout of the conversation said that Trump appreciated the call and "stressed the importance of intelligence cooperation to defeat terrorists wherever they may be." (NBC News)
At least six people were killed after an Amtrak train derailed from a bridge onto Interstate 5 near Olympia, Washington. 77 people were sent to hospitals after 13 cars of the 14-car train jumped the tracks. Trump tweeted that train accident "shows more than ever why our soon to be submitted infrastructure plan must be approved quickly." (Seattle Times)
The train accident that just occurred in DuPont, WA shows more than ever why our soon to be submitted infrastructure plan must be approved quickly. Seven trillion dollars spent in the Middle East while our roads, bridges, tunnels, railways (and more) crumble! Not for long!
Congressional Republicans will try to pass both their tax reform bill and a budget plan by Friday in order to avoid a government shutdown. "GOP leaders hope to hold tax votes early in the week before moving to the budget bill. They need Democrats’ help to pass the budget measure through the Senate, and thus far they have made little progress bringing them aboard amid disagreements over spending levels, protection from deportation for certain undocumented immigrants and a federal health insurance program for low-income children." (Washington Post)
Eliminates the Affordable Care Act's individual mandate that requires most Americans to buy health insurance or pay a penalty
The estate tax would remain but the exemption from it would be doubled.
The seven individual income tax brackets will remain, but at different rates: 10%, 12%, 22%, 24%, 32%, 35% and 37%.
Latest Senate version will cost $1.5 trillion over 10 years
The child tax credit will double
The standard deduction will increase to $12,000 for an individual or $24,000 for a family
The Senate is expected to vote Monday and House is expected to vote Tuesday
1/ Marco Rubio and Bob Corker will vote "yes" on the GOP tax bill, giving Republicans the votes needed to pass the measure in the Senate. Rubio announced his support after Republican leaders agreed to expand the Child Tax Credit for low and middle-income families. Corker called the bill a "once-in-a-generation opportunity." Republicans will release the bill's text today and will vote on it next week. (Politico / New York Times / Washington Post)
For far too long, Washington has ignored and left behind the American working class. Increasing the refundability of the Child Tax Credit from 55% to 70% is a solid step toward broader reforms which are both Pro-Growth and Pro-Worker.
2/ Cambridge Analytica handed over employees' emails to Robert Mueller's team as part of the special counsel's investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 election. The firm provided the Trump campaign with data, polling, and research services during the race. The emails had previously been voluntarily turned over to the House Intelligence Committee. (Wall Street Journal)
3/ Trump called the FBI a "shame" shortly before speaking at the FBI's National Academy. He told the graduating class of law enforcement managers that he has their "back 100%." Trump promised "to rebuild the FBI" and make it "bigger and better than ever." He called himself a "true friend and loyal champion" of law enforcement – "more loyal than anyone else can be" – but also said "people are very angry" with the FBI and Justice Department. Last week Trump said the FBI was in "tatters." (NPR / Axios)
4/ Trump won't rule out the idea of pardoning Michael Flynn. "I don't want to talk about pardons with Michael Flynn yet," Trump told reporters. "We'll see what happens, let's see." (CNN)
5/ Trump's lawyers will meet with Robert Mueller's team next week. John Dowd and Jay Sekulow are hoping for signs that Mueller's investigation is nearing its end, or at least the part that has to do with Trump. The meeting comes after Mueller's team completed interviews of White House personnel. (CNN)
6/ Jared Kushner's legal team is trying to hire a crisis public relations firm. Kushner's lawyer, Abbe Lowell, has called at least two firms "to handle the time-consuming incoming inquiries on the cases in which I am working that receive media attention." (Washington Post)
7/ Trump spoke with Rupert Murdoch "to make sure [he] wasn't selling Fox News" as part of the Disney deal. He also congratulated Murdoch for the $52.4 billion deal to sell a portion of 21st Century Fox. (CNN / Bloomberg)
Trump spoke with Murdoch ahead of Disney deal to make sure Murdoch wasn’t selling Fox News, person briefed on the call said
8/ One of Trump's judicial nominees struggled to answer basic questions about the law during his Senate Judiciary Committee confirmation hearing. Matthew Petersen is a member of the Federal Election Commission and a lawyer with no trial experience. During an uncomfortable five minutes of quizzing on the basics of trial procedure by Senator John Neely Kennedy, Petersen said, "I understand the challenge that would be ahead of me." (Washington Post / NPR)
9/ Funding for the Children's Health Insurance Program lapsed three months ago. CHIP covers 9 million poor and middle-class children with health care. No state has had to kick a child off its CHIP so far, but the Trump administration did send emergency funding to several states to bridge the gaps. (Politico)
9/ A federal judge temporarily blocked Trump's order allowing employers to opt out of providing contraceptive coverage if they have religious or moral objections. Judge Wendy Beetlestone of the Federal District Court in Philadelphia said the rule contradicts the text of the Affordable Care Act. (New York Times)
poll/ 54% of voters think Robert Mueller's "relationship" with James Comey represents a conflict of interest because he is "the former head of the FBI and a friend of James Comey." (Harvard CAPS-Harris)
poll/ 30% of Americans believe the US is heading in the right direction, and 52% think the country is worse off since Trump became president. (Associated Press)
Notables.
The EPA hired an opposition research firm to track and shape press coverage using taxpayer money. Scott Pruitt's office signed the no-bid $120,000 contract with Definers Corp. (Mother Jones)
Betsy DeVos was hit with two lawsuits in one day over the letting more than 50,000 student debt relief claims pile up. (Washington Post)
Trump Jr. called Ajit Pai "Obama's FCC chairman" in a tweet attacking the "outrage" over the agency's repeal of net 'neutality.' Obama appointed Pai to the commission. Trump made him chairman. (USA Today)
A Wall Street Journal op-ed urging "everybody calm down about net neutrality" was written by a former Comcast attorney. (The Intercept)
Internet traffic sent to and from Google, Facebook, Apple, and Microsoft was briefly routed through a previously unknown Russian Internet provider on Wednesday. Researchers called it suspicious and intentional. (Ars Technica)
1/ The FCC voted to repeal net neutrality, which required internet service providers to treat all web traffic equally. The measure passed 3-2 with the Republican appointees supporting repeal and the Democratic appointees opposing. 83% of Americans supported the rules that are in place. Internet providers are now free to speed up services for some apps and websites, while blocking or slowing down others. In Ajit Pai's first 11 months as FCC chairman, he's lifted media ownership limits, eased caps on how much broadband providers can charge business customers, and cut back on a low-income broadband program that was supposed to be expanded. (Washington Post / New York Times)
In a letter to FCC chairman Ajit Pai, 18 attorneys general asked the commission to delay the net neutrality vote pending an investigation into fake comments. Of the 22 million public comments filed with the FCC, 94% of them "were submitted multiple times, and in some cases those comments were submitted many hundreds of thousands of times." (The Hill / NPR)
The New York attorney general said the net neutrality public comment process was corrupted by more than two million comments that used stolen identities. Eric Schneiderman called on the FCC to delay the vote and cooperate with his investigation into illegal criminal impersonation under New York law. (New York State Office of the Attorney General)
2/ Trump's pick to regulate toxic chemicals at the EPA has withdrawn his nomination due to his ties to the chemical industry. Michael Dourson spent decades conducting research that chemical manufacturers used to downplay the risks of hazardous substances. (NBC News)
3/ Paul Ryan is considering retirement. Three dozen fellow lawmakers, congressional and administration aides, conservative intellectuals and Republican lobbyists all said they believe Ryan will leave Congress after the 2018 midterm elections – and possibly even sooner than that. (Politico)
4/ Marco Rubio will vote against the Republicans' $1.5 trillion tax plan unless it includes a larger expansion of a child tax credit. Republicans control 52 seats in the Senate and need 50 votes in order to pass their bill. Bob Corker already opposes the plan. (Washington Post)
5/ Omarosa Manigault: There "were a lot of things that I observed during the last year that I was very unhappy with" and "made me uncomfortable." The former "Apprentice" contestant reportedly tried to enter the White House residence after a confrontation yesterday with John Kelly, who told her that her employment in the administration would end on January 20th. Manigault was then escorted off the White House grounds. (ABC News)
6/ Trump's daily intelligence briefings are often structured to avoid upsetting him. Russia-related intelligence, specifically, is usually only included in the written assessment and not addressed orally. When it is, the CIA analyst leading the briefing will adjust the presentation's structure in order to soften the impact (Washington Post)
poll/ 53% of voters think Trump should resign over the allegations of sexual harassment. 42% think he should remain in office. 53% of voters believe the women who have accused Trump of harassment compared to 31% who think they aren’t telling the truth. (Public Policy Polling)
Notables.
Congressman Blake Farenthold will not seek re-election following reports that he used taxpayer money to settle a sexual harassment complaint by a former staffer, who was fired after she confronted him about his behavior. (ABC 25)
Kentucky State Rep. Dan Johnson died from a single gunshot wound to the head. He was under investigation for alleged sexual molestation. (WDRB)
A congressional ethics official overseeing the investigations into misconduct by lawmakers is being sued of verbally abusing and physically assaulting women and using his federal position to influence local law enforcement. (Foreign Policy)
Mike Pence delayed his visit to Israel as Congress prepares to vote on tax reform. Republicans hold a 52-48 majority in the Senate and Pence holds the tie-breaking vote. (CNN)
Trump Jr. testified to the Senate Intelligence Committee yesterday, spending nine hours answering questions from the panel. (Reuters)
Lindsey Graham said there is a 30% chance Trump attacks North Korea, because "time is running out." (The Atlantic)
1/ Democrat Doug Jones beat Republican Roy Moore in the Alabama U.S. Senate race, buoyed by 96% of the African American vote, which represented 29% of overall voter turnout. Jones won 49.9% of the vote to Moore's 48.4%. The victory cuts the GOP's Senate majority to 51-49. (New York Times / Bloomberg / Washington Post)
2/ Roy Moore hasn't conceded the race, saying he will "wait on God and let this process play out." The Alabama Republican Party said it would not support Moore's push for a recount. Moore trails Jones by more than 20,000 votes. (USA Today / Washington Post)
3/ Trump tweets: "I was right" that Roy Moore would "not be able to win" in Alabama because "the deck was stacked against him!" Trump, however, endorsed Moore after his preferred candidate, Luther Strange, lost in the primary, recording a robocall on Moore's behalf, and holding a campaign-style rally just across the state line in Florida last week. (CNN / Politico / New York Times)
The reason I originally endorsed Luther Strange (and his numbers went up mightily), is that I said Roy Moore will not be able to win the General Election. I was right! Roy worked hard but the deck was stacked against him!
Congratulations to Doug Jones on a hard fought victory. The write-in votes played a very big factor, but a win is a win. The people of Alabama are great, and the Republicans will have another shot at this seat in a very short period of time. It never ends!
4/ Senate Democrats called on Republicans to wait until Doug Jones is seated to vote on the tax bill. GOP lawmakers expect the two chambers to reach a deal in the coming days with a final vote early next week. The soonest Jones could be seated is December 26th or 27th. The Senate passed the tax bill early this month by a 51 to 49 margin. (Washington Post)
5/ House and Senate Republicans reached an agreement on their joint tax bill. The House and Senate are expected to vote next week. The agreement would set the top individual tax rate at 37%, down from today’s 39.6%. The corporate rate would drop to 21% from 37% and would take effect in 2018, rather than 2019. (New York Times / Wall Street Journal / Washington Post)
6/ Trump pulled two of his judicial nominees after the Senate Judiciary Committee said the candidates would not be confirmed. Earlier this week Chuck Grassley urged the White House to withdraw the nominations of Brett Talley, who has never tried a case, and to reconsider Jeff Mateer, who has called transgender children part of "Satan's plan." (Politico / Washington Post)
7/ Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein defended Robert Mueller's investigation during a House Judiciary Committee hearing, saying he hasn't seen "good cause" to fire Mueller. Republicans used the hearing to raise doubts about Mueller's motives after it was discovered that an FBI agent assigned to the investigation sent anti-Trump texts to another FBI official during the Hillary Clinton email investigation. Peter Strzok was removed from the investigation after the texts were discovered. Republicans want a second special counsel to be appointed to investigate how the FBI handled the Clinton investigation. (Bloomberg / CBS News)
The Justice Department gave the House Judiciary Committee Peter Strzok's text message conversations with FBI lawyer Lisa Page. Among many other comments, the two called Trump a "a loathsome human," "an idiot," and an "enormous d*uche." (Washington Post)
poll/ 50% of voters think the sexual misconduct allegations against Trump are credible, while 29% don't think they're credible and 21% are not sure if they're credible. (Politico)
poll/ 56% of voters disapprove of Trump's job performance while 32% approve. (Monmouth University)
Notables.
USA Today editorial called Trump unfit to clean toilets in Obama's presidential library. Trump tweeted that "more than 90% of Fake News Media coverage of me is negative." (USA Today)
Trump Jr. asked the House Intelligence Committee to investigate the leaked information from his closed-door interview with the committee last week. (New York Times)
Chuck Schumer was the victim of a fake news hit and turned over to Capitol Police a document purporting sexual harassment accusations by a former staffer. (Axios)
John McCain is in the hospital for treatment related to his cancer therapy. McCain was diagnosed with glioblastoma in July, an aggressive form of brain cancer. (The Hill)
Omarosa Manigault Newman plans to leave the White House next month. (CNN)
The Federal Reserve increased interest rates and raised their forecast for economic growth in 2018. (Bloomberg)
Minnesota governor Mark Dayton appointed Lt. Gov. Tina F. Smith to fill Al Franken's seat in the U.S. Senate. Smith would become the 22nd woman to serve in the Senate. (Washington Post)
1/ Alabama voters head to the polls today. Republican candidate Roy Moore, supported by Trump, has been accused of pursuing teenage girls while in his mid-30s, with one woman accusing him of sexual assault when she was 14. If Democrat Doug Jones wins, Republicans would have their majority trimmed to 51-49 in the Senate. Polls close today at 8pm ET. (NBC News)
UPDATE:
Democrat Doug Jones won Alabama's special U.S. Senate election, beating Republican Roy Moore and narrowing the GOP advantage in the Senate to 51-49. (Associated Press / New York Times / Washington Post)
5 things to watch for in the Alabama Senate election. Doug Jones' chances hinge on African-American turnout and college-educated crossover voters, while Roy Moore is banking on an animated conservative base. (Politico)
No one knows what will happen in Alabama. Today's special election is forcing pollsters to confront just about every major challenge in survey research. (New York Times)
2/ Roy Moore's wife argued that her husband is not a bigot because "one of our attorneys is a Jew." At a Monday night campaign rally, Kayla Moore said: "Fake news would tell you that we don't care for Jews. And I tell you all this because I've seen it and I just want to set the record straight while they're here. One of our attorneys is a Jew." Her comments came a week after Roy Moore attacked George Soros, the Jewish liberal mega-donor, saying Soros "is going to the same place that people who don't recognize God and morality and accept his salvation are going." (CNN)
Roy Moore’s wife Kayla: “Fake news will tell you that we don’t care for Jews. One of our attorneys is a Jew!” #ALsen
3/ The Alabama Supreme Court blocked a circuit judge's order to preserve voting records from today's special election. On Monday, a circuit judge ordered election officials to set voting machines to save all digital ballot images in order to preserve voting records in the event of a recount. Today, the state's Supreme Court stayed the order, meaning Alabama is allowed to destroy digital voting records. (The Hill / AL.com)
4/ 56 female Democratic lawmakers asked the House Oversight Committee to investigate allegations of sexual misconduct against Trump, who has denied the accusations. "At least 17 women have publicly accused the President of sexual misconduct," the lawmakers wrote in a letter. In response, Trump tweeted that these are "false accusations and fabricated stories of women who I don't know and/or have never met. FAKE NEWS!" (NBC News / Reuters)
Despite thousands of hours wasted and many millions of dollars spent, the Democrats have been unable to show any collusion with Russia - so now they are moving on to the false accusations and fabricated stories of women who I don’t know and/or have never met. FAKE NEWS!
Videos and photos shows Trump with some of the women who have accused him of sexual misconduct after he said his accusers are "women who I don’t know and/or have never met." (The Hill)
5/ Trump implied that Kirsten Gillibrand would do anything for money in a sexually suggestive tweet in which he called her a "lightweight" and accused her of "begging" for campaign contributions. Gillibrand called Trump's tweet a "sexist smear" meant to silence her and those who have accused him of sexual misconduct, while Elizabeth Warren accused Trump of trying to "slut-shame" the senator. Yesterday, Gillibrand called on Trump to resign. (Washington Post / New York Times / NBC News)
Lightweight Senator Kirsten Gillibrand, a total flunky for Chuck Schumer and someone who would come to my office “begging” for campaign contributions not so long ago (and would do anything for them), is now in the ring fighting against Trump. Very disloyal to Bill & Crooked-USED!
You cannot silence me or the millions of women who have gotten off the sidelines to speak out about the unfitness and shame you have brought to the Oval Office. https://t.co/UbQZqubXZv
A sixth senator called on Trump to resign amid renewed attention to past allegations of sexual harassment and assault. Mazie Hirono called Trump a "misogynist," an "admitted sexual predator," and a "liar" with a "narcissistic need for attention." She said "nobody's safe" from him and the only thing that will stop him is his resignation. (Politico)
Here’s Sen. Hirono calling for POTUS to resign amid resurfaced sexual harassment claims: pic.twitter.com/tFJ0nrNyht
The list of women who have accused Trump of touching them inappropriately touching or kissing them without their permission. (Washington Post)
6/ Trump was "infuriated" by Nikki Haley's comment that the women who have accused him of sexual harassment "should be heard." Trump has grown increasingly angry that the accusations against him have resurfaced, telling people close to him that the allegations are false. (Associated Press)
7/ Rex Tillerson told diplomats that Russia "interfered in democratic processes here," something Trump continues to call "fake news" intended to delegitimize his presidency. The comment came in a closed-door meeting with US diplomats where Tillerson also praised Trump for trying to focus on "productive engagement" with Russia. (The Daily Beast)
poll/ 61% of voters think the Senate should expel Roy Moore if he wins the special election in Alabama, including 77% of Democrats, 59% of independents, and 45% of Republicans. (Politico)
poll/ 58% of Americans believe the level of government corruption has risen in the past 12 months. 44% now believe that most or all of the officials in the White House are corrupt – up from 36% last year. (Newsweek)
poll/ 57% of Americans disapprove of Trump's job performance, compared to 37% who approve. (Quinnipiac)
Notables.
Sean Spicer is writing a book to "set the record straight" about what he says happened during the 2016 election, transition and his time serving in the administration. (CNN)
Trump's lawyers want a second special counsel appointed, because they believe the Justice Department and the FBI are to blame for the "witch hunt" – not Robert Mueller and his investigation. (Axios)
Trump's legal team is trying to protect him from Robert Mueller's "killers" in the Russia probe, while facing criticism that they are outmatched. (Washington Post)
Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman asked Trump to rethink two of his judicial nominees. Chuck Grassley advised the White House to "reconsider" the nomination of Jeff Mateer and said they "should not proceed" on the nomination of Brett Talley. (CNN)
The Trump administration will let Assad stay until Syria's next Presidential election in 2021, reversing the US stance that Assad must step down as part of a peace process. (The New Yorker)
The House and Senate could reconcile their tax bills this week. An announcement could come as soon as today or Wednesday. The conference committee is scheduled to meet Wednesday at 2pm. (Washington Post)
1/ Three women who previously accused Trump of sexual harassment called for Congress to investigate the allegations. Jessica Leeds, Samantha Holvey, and Rachel Crooks said that "a non-partisan investigation is important not just for him but for anybody that has allegations against them, this isn't a partisan issue, this is how women are treated everyday." The White House called the accusations false and "totally disputed in most cases," adding that "the timing and absurdity of these false claims speak volumes." (CBS News / Washington Post / USA Today)
WATCH: "If there are other women out there, what do you want them to know?" - Megyn asks Trump accusers Jessica Leeds, Samantha Holvey & Rachel Cooks on #MegynTODAYpic.twitter.com/YPt1CxieUA
How Trump came around to support an accused child molester: He doesn't believe the claims leveled by Roy Moore's accusers. Who were these women, he asked, and why had they kept quiet for 40 years only to level charges weeks before an election? (Politico)
2/ Nikki Haley: The women who've accused Trump of sexual harassment "should be heard," breaking from the administration's assertion that the allegations are false. The US ambassador to the United Nations argued that Trump's accusers should be treated no differently than the other women who have come forward recently with stories of sexual harassment and misconduct against other men. (New York Times)
3/ Democratic senators called for Trump's resignation over sexual harassment and assault accusations against him. Bernie Sanders, Cory Booker, and Jeff Merkley suggested that the standard that brought down Al Franken should be applied to Trump. Kirsten Gillibrand added: "Trump has committed assault" and "he should be fully investigated and he should resign." (Washington Post / CNN)
We have a president who acknowledged on tape that he assaulted women. I would hope that he pays attention to what's going on and think about resigning.
4/ Obama called on Alabama voters to reject Roy Moore. "This one's serious," Obama said in a recorded message intended for black voters whose turnout is critical for Democratic candidate Doug Jones. "You can't sit it out." Multiple women have accused Moore of pursuing relationships with them when they were teenagers while he was in his 30s, and one woman has accused him of sexual assault. (CNN)
A Nebraska Republican National Committeewoman resigned in protest of the committee's financial support for Roy Moore. (Politico)
5/ Adam Schiff called the evidence of coordination between the Trump campaign and Russia is "pretty damning." The ranking member of the House Intelligence Committee said: "The Russians offered help. The campaign accepted help. The Russians gave help. And the president made full use of that help." (The Hill)
6/ Robert Mueller's investigators are focused on an 18-day timeline related to possible obstruction of justice by Trump. Sally Yates testified that she told White House Counsel Don McGahn on January 26th that Michael Flynn had lied to senior members of the Trump team about his conversations with Russia's ambassador, Sergey Kislyak. Possible obstruction of justice hinges on when Trump knew about Flynn's conversations with Russia's ambassador during the transition and when he learned that Flynn had lied about those conversations to the FBI. Trump fired Flynn on February 13th, saying he did so because he had misled Pence. Mueller is trying to determine why Flynn remained in his job for 18 days after Trump learned of Yates' warning, and is interested in whether Trump directed him to lie to senior officials. (NBC News)
Steve Bannon's name has surfaced a handful of times in the special counsel and congressional investigations of Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election. Bannon was a key bystander when Trump decided to fire Michael Flynn, and was among those who Trump consulted before firing James Comey. (Politico)
7/ The Treasury Department admits the GOP tax plan won't pay for itself through increased economic growth. The one-page analysis says "a combination of regulatory reform, infrastructure development, and welfare reform" is needed to offset the cost of the tax plan. (Politico / Axios)
poll/ 50% of Alabama voters support Democrat Doug Jones. 40% support Roy Moore. (Fox News)
poll/ 32% of Americans support the GOP tax plan - the lowest level of public support for any major piece of legislation enacted in the past three decades. 53% say it won't help the economy in a major way. (USA Today)
Notables.
Four people were injured in an explosion in the passageway connecting the Times Square and Port Authority subway stations. A suspect is in custody. Mayor Bill de Blasio called the blast an "attempted terrorist attack." (New York Times)
The Supreme Court refused to hear a case challenging sex discrimination protections in employment and whether they extend to sexual orientation. (The Hill)
A federal judge denied Trump's request to delay accepting transgender recruits, who will now be able to enlist by January 1st. (Washington Post)
Police shoot Americans more than twice as often as previously known, according to data from the 50 largest local police departments. (Vice News)
Putin ordered the partial withdrawal of Russian troops from Syria. Putin made a similar withdrawal announcement last year, but Russian military operations continued. (BBC)
Inside Trump's battle for self-preservation. tl;dr Twitter, cable news, and a dozen Diet Cokes. (New York Times)
The Trump administration is taking credit for killing 469 regulatory actions. 42% were already dead. (Bloomberg)
Macron will award US climate scientists with "Make Our Planet Great Again" grants to conduct research in France for the remainder of Trump's current presidential term, totaling about $70 million. (ABC News)
1/ Trump, Trump Jr., and members of the Trump Organization received an email during the campaign with the decryption key needed to open the hacked DNC documents that WikiLeaks had posted two months earlier. WikiLeaks contacted Trump Jr. directly on Twitter about the campaign a few weeks after the September 14th email was sent by somebody named Mike Erickson. WikiLeaks began leaking the contents of John Podesta's hacked emails a month later. Trump Jr. told investigators he had no recollection of the email. (CNN / Washington Post)
WIKILEAKS: Hillary Clinton Sent THOUSANDS of Classified Cables Marked “(C)” for Confidential https://t.co/RzMaW1uN0x via gatewaypundit
2/ Russian operatives tried to make contact with Hope Hicks at least twice since Trump took office and after US intelligence agencies publicly accused Moscow of trying to influence the presidential election. Hicks is one of Trump's top advisers and there is no evidence that Hicks did anything wrong. The FBI gave Hicks the names of the Russians who had contacted her, and said that they were not who they claimed to be. Hicks met with Robert Mueller's investigators this week as part of the investigation into Russia’s efforts to influence the 2016 election. (New York Times)
3/ Trump offered a second endorsement of Roy Moore, the Republican Senate candidate accused of sexual assault and misconduct by several women. Trump tweeted that Alabama voters should keep the Senate seat under GOP control and away from Democrat Doug Jones, a "Pelosi/Schumer puppet." Moore has a history of saying controversial things. He's argued that slavery was the last time America was great and that homosexuality should be illegal; he also doesn't believe that Obama was born in the United States, and he blames drive-by shootings on teaching evolution. (Politico / Washington Post)
LAST thing the Make America Great Again Agenda needs is a Liberal Democrat in Senate where we have so little margin for victory already. The Pelosi/Schumer Puppet Jones would vote against us 100% of the time. He’s bad on Crime, Life, Border, Vets, Guns & Military. VOTE ROY MOORE!
Wanted to share a video of Roy Moore in 1997 arguing that kids commit drive-by shooting because they are taught evolution in school: "They're acting like animals because we've taught them they come from animals." pic.twitter.com/YoHZXKfpAl
4/ Arizona Rep. Trent Franks allegedly approached two female staffers about acting as a potential pregnancy surrogate. Aides, however, were concerned that Franks was asking about impregnating them through sexual intercourse, rather than through in vitro fertilization. One woman said she was the subject of retribution after rebuffing Franks and that he allegedly offered her $5 million to act as a surrogate. The eight-term Arizona lawmaker abruptly resigned today after Paul Ryan told Franks that he would refer the allegations to the Ethics Committee. (Politico / Associated Press)
5/ Trump won't speak at the opening of the Civil Rights Museum after civil rights leaders said they would boycott the event in Jackson, Mississippi because of the president's participation. (NBC News)
6/ Trump's deputy national security adviser plans to leave the White House after the president's first year in office. Dina Powell has been behind the Trump administration's Middle East policy and is leaving on her own terms. Powell will continue to advise the administration on Middle East policy from outside the government. National security adviser H.R. McMaster called Powell "one of the most talented and effective leaders with whom I have ever served." (Washington Post)
7/ Susan Collins could change her vote on the final version of the GOP tax reform bill if the Senate doesn't pass a pair of bills to stabilize the Affordable Care Act's health insurance markets and resuming cost-sharing subsidy payments to insurers, which Trump stopped in October. Mitch McConnell made Collins an "ironclad commitment" in exchange for her initial vote. House Republicans, however, have signaled that they don't intend to take up health care before the end of the year. Additionally, Collins added two amendments to the Senate bill that would allow taxpayers to deduct property taxes and lower the threshold for tax deductions for medical expenses, which House Republicans had previously voted to eliminate entirely. (Politico / The Hill)
poll/ 32% of the Americans approve of the way Trump is handling his job as president, while 63% disapprove. (Pew Research Center)
Notables.
The American economy added 228,000 jobs last month. Unemployment remained unchanged at 4.1%. (New York Times)
Trump didn't invite Democratic lawmakers to the White House Hanukkah party, injecting a partisan tinge into a normally bipartisan celebration. (New York Times)
Trump withdrew an Obama-era proposal requiring airlines and ticket agencies to disclose baggage fees as soon as passengers start the process of buying a ticket. (The Hill)
The official death toll in Puerto Rico is 62, but the actual deaths may be as high as 1,052. (New York Times)
Moving the US Embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem "is not something that is going to happen this year, probably not next year," Rex Tillerson said. (CNN)
The Justice Department investigating Planned Parenthood for the transfer of fetal tissue, picking up where several Republican-led inquiries in Congress had dropped off last year. (New York Times)
1/ Trump Jr. cited attorney-client privilege and refused to discuss a phone call he had with his father about how to handle the fallout from his June 2016 meeting at Trump Tower with a Russian lawyer. He told the House Intelligence Committee that a lawyer was in the room during the call. Adam Schiff, the top Democrat on the committee, told reporters: "I don't believe you can shield communications between individuals merely by having an attorney present," adding "that's not the purpose of attorney-client privilege" and that "the presence of counsel does not make communications between father and son a privilege." (Politico / New York Times / Wall Street Journal)
Background
Trump Jr.'s initial response was that the meeting focused on the issue of adoption. It was later revealed that Jared Kushner and Paul Manafort also attended the meeting after receiving an email stating that a Russian government lawyer would provide incriminating facts about Hillary Clinton as "part of Russia and its government's support for Mr. Trump." No damaging information was delivered.
2/ World leaders called Trump's decision to recognize Jerusalem as the capital of Israel a "dangerous" and an "irresponsible and unwarranted step." White House officials acknowledged that the move could temporarily derail the Israeli-Palestinian peace process. Several advisers said Trump didn't seem to have a full understanding of the issue and was focused on simply "seeming pro-Israel" and "making a deal." Israel, meanwhile, thanked Trump for his "courageous and just" decision. (NBC News / CNN / Washington Post)
3/ The House passed a two-week stopgap spending bill. The measure would fund the government through December 22nd, but still needs to be approved by the Senate and Trump by Friday at midnight in order to avoid a government shutdown. The legislation passed in a 235-193 vote. Fourteen Democrats voted for the measure and 18 Republicans voted "no." (New York Times / Politico)
4/ Al Franken announced his resignation from the Senate. The announcement comes a day after nearly all of the Senate's Democratic women called for Franken to resign following the report of a sixth woman who charged that he had made an improper advance. Franken told colleagues: "I of all people am aware that there is some irony in the fact that I am leaving while a man who has bragged on tape about his history of sexual assault sits in the Oval Office, and a man who has repeatedly preyed on young girls campaigns for the Senate with the full support of his party." (New York Times / Washington Post)
Paul Ryan called on Roy Moore to drop out of Alabama US Senate race over allegations of sexual assault and misconduct. (The Hill)
Sarah Huckabee Sanders said Trump treats women with the "highest level of respect" after Al Franken said it's ironic that he is resigning from the Senate while Trump has "bragged on tape about his history of sexual assault" yet remains in office. (The Hill)
poll/ 70% of Americans think Congress should investigate sexual harassment allegations against Trump. 63% disapprove of the way Trump is handling sexual harassment and sexual assault. (Quinnipiac)
poll/ 59% of Americans think the Trump team "definitely" or "probably" had improper contacts with Russia during last year's presidential campaign. 56% are very or somewhat confident Robert Mueller will conduct his probe fairly. (Pew Research Center)
poll/ 53% of Americans disapprove of the Republican tax plan, 41% expect their taxes to go up, and most expect businesses (76%) and wealthy Americans (69%) to benefit the most. 64% of Republicans think the GOP tax plan shows that Trump is keeping a campaign promise. (CBS News)
Notables.
FBI Director Christopher Wray defended the bureau's integrity during his House Judiciary Committee testimony three days after Trump tweeted that the bureau’s reputation is "in tatters." (Washington Post / Politico)
The British publicist who arranged the June 2016 Trump Tower meeting encouraged Dan Scavino to make a page for candidate Trump on the Russian social networking site VK, telling him that "Don and Paul" were on board with the idea. Don and Paul, of course, refer to Donald Trump Jr. and Paul Manafort. The previously undisclosed emails from Rob Goldstone to a Russian participant and a member of Trump's inner circle later that summer raise new questions for congressional investigators about what was discussed at the meeting. Scavino is now the White House director of social media. (CNN)
The House approved a bill that would ease restrictions on carrying concealed firearms across state lines. The bill, which was supported by the National Rifle Association, now goes to the Senate, where it is likely to encounter a much tougher battle. (NPR)
Democrats on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee put KT McFarland's nomination on hold until she answers questions about her knowledge of communications between Michael Flynn and Russian ambassador Sergey Kislyak. (CNN)
Devin Nunes met with Blackwater founder Erik Prince earlier this year despite his recusal from the Russia probe. Nunes discussed with Prince the House Intelligence Committee's investigation into the unmasking of Americans' identities in intelligence reports. (Business Insider)
Representative Trent Franks is expected to resign from Congress. It's unclear why Franks is stepping down, but one Arizona Republican said there had been rumors of inappropriate behavior. (Roll Call)
The Senate voted to begin the process of reconciling its tax bill with the House version, though several big issues, including the size of the corporate tax cut, remain. (New York Times)
Trump will undergo a physical examination early next year and allow doctors to release details of his medical evaluation. (CNN)
1/ Michael Flynn promised that sanctions against Russia would be "ripped up" as one of the Trump administration's first acts, according to a whistleblower. Flynn worked with Russia until June 2016 on a business venture to build nuclear power plants in the Middle East. Ending the sanctions would have allowed the project to move forward. During Trump's inaugural address, Flynn sent the whistleblower a text message directing him to tell those involved in the nuclear project to continue developing their plans and that the project was "good to go." The whistleblower approached the House Oversight Committee in June, but Robert Mueller's investigators asked him to "hold on the public release of this information until they completed certain investigative steps." (New York Times / Politico / CNN)
2/ Trump Jr. met with the House Intelligence Committee behind closed doors today. He told the committee that he spoke with Hope Hicks – not his father – about how to respond to news reports of his June 2016 meeting at Trump Tower. While aboard Air Force One, Trump helped write Trump Jr.'s initial response, which was sent through the Trump Organization under Trump Jr.'s name. The voluntary appearance is Trump Jr.'s first face-to-face meeting with Congress since Robert Mueller charged Michael Flynn, Paul Manafort, George Papadopoulos, and Rick Gates. Trump Jr. met with the Senate Judiciary Committee in September. He is expected to meet with the Senate Intelligence Committee soon, although a date has not been set. (CNN / Bloomberg / ABC News)
3/ Russian lawyer Natalia Veselnitskaya told the Senate Judiciary Committee that Trump Jr. asked her for evidence of illegal donations to the Clinton Foundation during the June 2016 meeting at Trump Tower. Veselnitskaya said she told Trump Jr. that she didn't have any meaningful information about the Clintons, at which point Trump Jr. lost interest and the meeting fizzled out. Veselnitskaya said that she wasn't working for the Russian government and that her motivation for contacting the Trump campaign was to convince them to reexamine the incident that led to the Magnitsky Act. (NBC News)
4/ Trump's voter fraud commission wants to create a centralized voter database. The commission intends to aggregate the names, addresses, party affiliation, and partial social security numbers of millions of American voters in a central location, which more than a half-dozen technology experts and former national security officials say could become a target for hackers. Rules defining who can access the database and how it should be protected have not been established. (Washington Post)
5/ The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau reversed its position on a nearly concluded case less than 48 hours after Mick Mulvaney was named acting director. Lawyers withdrew their earlier brief and said they would no longer take a position on whether Nationwide should pay $8 million in penalties for misleading more than 100,000 mortgage customers. Mulvaney has also stopped approval of some payments to some victims of financial crime, halted hiring, and ordered a review of active investigations and lawsuits. (New York Times)
6/ The wealthiest 1% of American households own 40% of the country's total wealth, up nearly three percentage points since 2013 and the highest percentage since 1962. As a result, the top 1% of households now own more wealth than the bottom 90% combined. (Washington Post)
7/ Trump said a government shutdown "could happen," blaming Democrats for derailing the budget process. Democrats are vowing to vote against spending legislation if it doesn't address so-called "Dreamers," who may lose their ability to live and work in the US after Trump's decision to end DACA. They also want the spending bill to include parity for defense and non-defense programs. The House Freedom Caucus, meanwhile, said they won't support the funding bill if it includes increases in non-defense spending or deportation relief for Dreamers. The government is scheduled to run out of funding on Friday. (Politico / The Hill / Business Insider)
poll/ 63% of voters want Congress to avoid shutting down the federal government in order to enact policy changes. 18% of voters said members of Congress should allow a temporary government shutdown if it helps them achieve their policy goals. (Politico)
Notables.
A House vote to impeach Trump overwhelmingly failed as Democrats joined Republicans in a 364-58 vote to sideline the measure. (Politico)
Experts find the GOP tax plan riddled with bugs, loopholes, and other potential problems. Some provisions are so vaguely written that one expert asked, "holy crap, what's this?" (Politico)
The Senate confirmed Kirstjen Nielsen as the next secretary of the Department of Homeland Security. Nielsen was previously John Kelly's chief of staff at DHS. (Washington Post)
Illegal border crossings along the Mexico border drop to their lowest level in 46 years. Border agents made 310,531 arrests, a decline of 24% from the previous year and the fewest overall since 1971. (Washington Post)
The Supreme Court appeared divided over a Colorado baker's refusal to design a wedding cake for a same-sex couple. Justice Kennedy will likely cast the deciding vote. (USA Today)
Germany's acting foreign minister said relations between the US and Germany "will never be the same" after Trump and that the Trump administration looks at Europe as a "competitor or economic rival" instead of as an ally. (New York Times)
Britain's intelligence agency MI5 foiled a terrorist plot to assassinate Prime Minister Theresa May. Two men have been charged in connection with a plot to use improvised explosives to blow up the gate to the prime minister's residence and kill May in the chaos. (NPR)
Trump recognized Jerusalem as the capital of Israel, reversing nearly seven decades of American foreign policy. The US Embassy in Tel Aviv will move to Jerusalem. (New York Times)
Kellyanne Conway defended Trump's endorsement of Republican Alabama Senate candidate Roy Moore, saying "president has tremendous moral standards." (The Hill)
Senate Democrats called on Al Franken to resign amid more allegations of sexual harassment after a sixth woman came forward to charge that the Minnesota Democrat had sexually harassed her. (Washington Post / New York Times)
1/ Robert Mueller issued a subpoena for the banking records of people affiliated with Trump. The move forced Deutsche Bank – Trump's biggest lender – to turn over documents related to certain credit transactions and the $300 million Trump owes the lender. Legal experts said it showed Mueller was "following the money" in search of links between the campaign and the Kremlin since Deutsche Bank may have sold some of Trump's mortgage or loans to Russian-owned banks, which could potentially give Russia leverage over Trump. Jay Sekulow, one of Trump's personal lawyers, denied that a subpoena had been issued. Since 1998, Deutsche has helped loan at least $2.5 billion to companies affiliated with Trump, which he used to build or purchase highest-profile projects in Washington, New York, Chicago and Florida. (The Guardian / Bloomberg / Reuters / Wall Street Journal)
Trump Jr. asked if the Russian lawyer had evidence of illegal donations to the Clinton Foundation during the June 2016 Trump Tower meeting. Natalia Veselnitskaya told the Senate Judiciary Committee that Trump Jr. lost interest after she said she did not have meaningful information about Clinton. (NBC News)
2/ Paul Manafort was ghostwriting an op-ed with a longtime colleague "based in Russia and assessed to have ties to a Russian intelligence service" while out on bail last month. The editorial was related to Manafort's political work for Ukraine. Robert Mueller's investigators argue that Manafort's $10 million unsecured bail agreement should be revisited because it was written while he was on house arrest facing several felony charges, which would have violated a court order to not publicly discuss the case and "casts doubt on Manafort’s willingness to comply with court orders." If the court sides with Mueller, Manafort could remain under house arrest until his trial sometime next year. (New York Times / The Guardian / Washington Post / Associated Press)
3/ Trump's former deputy national security advisor may have contradicted herself during Senate testimony about Michael Flynn's contacts with then-Russian ambassador Sergey Kislyak. In July, K.T. McFarland told the Senate Foreign Relations Committee that she did not discuss or have any knowledge of Flynn's contact with Kislyak. A December 29th email exchange, however, shows McFarland wrote a colleague that Flynn would be speaking with Kislyak later that day. (New York Times)
4/ House Republicans are prepared to block the legislative promises Mitch McConnell made to Susan Collins and Jeff Flake in exchange for their votes on the Senate bill. Collins and Flake were assured the Senate would consider legislation to offset the negative effects from repealing the Affordable Care Act's individual mandate, as well as permanent protections for so-called "Dreamers." A conservative bloc in the House sharply opposes both measures. (The Daily Beast)
Senate Republicans accidentally stripped from their tax bill research and development tax credits companies use to encourage innovation. The change gave money for lawmakers' other priorities, but could force many companies to lose tax breaks the bill's authors intended to protect. (Wall Street Journal)
5/ Trump is considering plans to create a global, private spy network to circumvent the US intelligence agencies to counter the alleged "deep state" in the intelligence community, which he believes is attempting to undermine his presidency. Blackwater founder Erik Prince and a retired CIA officer submitted proposals to CIA Director Mike Pompeo and the White House to utilize an army of spies that report directly Trump and Pompeo. The intelligence gathered would not be shared with the rest of the CIA or the larger intelligence community. (The Intercept / BuzzFeed News)
6/ The Republican National Committee resumed its financial support of Alabama GOP Senate candidate Roy Moore after Trump endorsed Moore yesterday. The RNC initially cut ties with Moore after at least five women accused him of sexual assault and unwanted sexual advances as teenage girls decades ago. A senior RNC official said: "The RNC is the political arm of the president and we support the President." (CNN)
poll/ Roy Moore trails Doug Jones by 4 points in the Alabama U.S. Senate race. 44% of voters support Moore, while 48% support Jones. (The Hill)
poll/ 64% of Americans believe the Republican tax plan will benefit the wealthy the most and 53% disapprove of the plan. 61% say the tax plan favors the rich at the expense of the middle class. (Quinnipiac)
poll/ 31% of Republicans want somebody other than Trump to be the GOP nominee in the next presidential election, while 63% are content with Trump running for reelection. (NBC News)
poll/ 15% of Americans say they approve of Trump and that "there is almost nothing he could do to lose their support." 33%, meanwhile, say that they disapprove of Trump and that "there is almost nothing he could do to win their support." (NPR)
Notables.
Representative John Conyers will retire from Congress today amid allegations of sexual misconduct leveled by multiple women. (NPR)
Obama had three of the top 10 most retweeted posts of 2017. None of Trump’s tweets from 2017 were among the top 10 most retweeted. (Politico)
Pence's aides maintain he doesn't know anything about Russia and the Trump campaign. (Politico)
Robert Mueller's Russia investigation has cost at least $3.2 million so far. Other Justice Department agencies spent an additional $3.5 million to support the investigation. (USA Today)
FEMA employees who worked too much may have to repay some of their overtime. FEMA said the year of hurricanes, wildfires, and other disasters may force it to claw back employee compensation when it hits an annual pay cap. (Bloomberg)
Patagonia will sue Trump for shrinking two national monuments in Utah, saying "the president stole your land." (CNN Money)
Germany sees Trump as a bigger challenge than North Korea or Russia. (Reuters)
Trump will recognize Jerusalem as the capital of Israel, despite Arab and European leaders warning that the move could derail the security and stability in the region. (New York Times)
1/ Trump tweeted that he fired Michael Flynn because he lied to the FBI about his conversations with Russian Ambassador Sergey Kislyak during the presidential transition last December. "I had to fire General Flynn because he lied to the Vice President and the FBI. He has pled guilty to those lies," Trump tweeted. (New York Times)
2/ Legal experts said Trump's tweet is a public admission that he knew Michael Flynn had lied to the FBI, which is possible motivation to obstruct justice. In January, White House counsel Donald McGahn told Trump he believed then-national security adviser Flynn had misled the FBI and lied to Pence, and should be fired. Trump ultimately fired Flynn on February 13th. A day later, Trump asked if then-FBI Director James Comey could see "his way clear to letting this go, to letting Flynn go," according to notes Comey kept. Trump then fired Comey in May. (Politico / CNN / Washington Post)
I had to fire General Flynn because he lied to the Vice President and the FBI. He has pled guilty to those lies. It is a shame because his actions during the transition were lawful. There was nothing to hide!
So General Flynn lies to the FBI and his life is destroyed, while Crooked Hillary Clinton, on that now famous FBI holiday “interrogation” with no swearing in and no recording, lies many times...and nothing happens to her? Rigged system, or just a double standard?
Emails dispute White House claims that Michael Flynn acted independently in his discussions with Russia during the presidential transition and then lied to his colleagues about the interactions. (New York Times)
A conservative operative offered the Trump campaign a "Kremlin Connect" by using an NRA convention to make "first contact." Russia, Paul Erickson wrote, was "quietly but actively seeking a dialogue with the U.S." (New York Times)
3/ Trump's lawyer said he wrote the tweet about firing Flynn. John Dowd said he gave the "sloppy" tweet draft to Trump's social media director Dan Scavino. The White House has insisted that Trump's tweets should be taken as official statements. (ABC News)
4/ John Dowd claimed Trump "cannot obstruct justice," because he's responsible for the enforcement of the laws created by Congress and "has every right to express his view of any case." Dowd added: "The tweet did not admit obstruction. That is an ignorant and arrogant assertion." In 1999, Senator Jeff Sessions argued that Bill Clinton obstructed justice and should be impeached amid the investigation into his affair with White House intern Monica Lewinsky. (Axios) / Politico)
5/ The Senate Judiciary Committee is building an obstruction of justice case, according to Dianne Feinstein, the panel's top Democrat. "I see it in the hyper-frenetic attitude of the White House, the comments every day, the continual tweets," Feinstein said. "And I see it most importantly in what happened with the firing of Director [James] Comey, and it is my belief that that is directly because he did not agree to ‘lift the cloud’ of the Russia investigation. That’s obstruction of justice." (NBC News)
6/ Robert Mueller removed his top FBI agent this summer for sending anti-Trump text messages. During the presidential campaign, Peter Strzok and another member of Mueller's team had exchanged texts disparaging Trump and supporting Hillary Clinton. At the time, Strzok was investigating Clinton's use of a private email server. Strzok left the Russia investigation in August. (New York Times / Washington Post)
7/ Trump tweeted that the FBI's reputation is "in tatters" and its standing was now the "worst in history." The tweet: "After years of Comey, with the phony and dishonest Clinton investigation (and more), running the FBI, its reputation is in Tatters - worst in History! But fear not, we will bring it back to greatness." The head of FBI Agents Association said any suggestion that agents aren't dedicated to their jobs, "unwavering integrity and professionalism" is "simply false." (New York Times / The Hill)
Tainted (no, very dishonest?) FBI “agent’s role in Clinton probe under review.” Led Clinton Email probe. @foxandfriends Clinton money going to wife of another FBI agent in charge.
After years of Comey, with the phony and dishonest Clinton investigation (and more), running the FBI, its reputation is in Tatters - worst in History! But fear not, we will bring it back to greatness.
Republicans are drafting a contempt of Congress resolution against Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein and FBI Director Christopher Wray, claiming they're stonewalling the House Intelligence Committee in producing material related to the Russia-Trump probe and other matters. (Bloomberg)
8/ The Russia investigation is "wearing" on the White House and "everyone thinks they're being recorded." Michael Flynn's plea is the closest that Robert Mueller's probe into Russian meddling and collusion has come to the Oval Office. Flynn's plea deal includes an agreement that he could avoid a potential lengthy jail term in part by "participating in covert law enforcement activities." (CNN / Politico)
9/ Senate Republicans passed a $1.5 trillion tax bill – the most sweeping tax rewrite in decades – early Saturday in a 51 to 49 vote. The nearly 500-page bill, which included several pages of handwritten changes, will lower the corporate tax rate from 35% to 20%, temporarily cut tax rates for families and individuals until 2025, and repeals the individual mandate from the Affordable Care Act. The Senate and the House now have to reconcile the differences in their two bills through a conference committee. Mitch McConnell called it "a great day for the country." (Washington Post / Politico / New York Times)
10/ Trump endorsed Roy Moore, the Republican Senate candidate in Alabama accused of inappropriate sexual relations with underage girls. Trump called Moore a "fighter," and wrapped up the call by saying, "go get 'em, Roy!" (CNN / New York Times)
Democrats refusal to give even one vote for massive Tax Cuts is why we need Republican Roy Moore to win in Alabama. We need his vote on stopping crime, illegal immigration, Border Wall, Military, Pro Life, V.A., Judges 2nd Amendment and more. No to Jones, a Pelosi/Schumer Puppet!
Putting Pelosi/Schumer Liberal Puppet Jones into office in Alabama would hurt our great Republican Agenda of low on taxes, tough on crime, strong on military and borders...& so much more. Look at your 401-k’s since Election. Highest Stock Market EVER! Jobs are roaring back!
11/ The US Supreme Court allowed the latest version of Trump's travel ban to take effect while legal challenges go forward. Trump will now be able to prevent people from six mostly Muslim countries from entering the US. It's the first time the Supreme Court has let Trump's travel ban take full effect. (Bloomberg / CNN)
Despite agreeing not to engage in any new foreign deals, the Trump Organization plans to build a Trump-branded luxury resort development in Indonesia. (McClatchy DC)
Trump wants the 83-year-old Orrin Hatch to run for reelection in an effort to block Mitt Romney from the Senate. (Politico)
Trump reduced Bears Ears National Monument by 85% and shrunk Grand Staircase-Escalante by 46%. The land could potentially be leased for energy exploration, opened up to cars, and more. No president has tried to modify monuments established under the 1906 Antiquities Act in more than half a century. (Washington Post / New York Times)
Jared Kushner failed to disclose he was the co-director of a foundation that illegally funded an Israeli settlement while pushing Michael Flynn to sway a United Nations Security Council vote condemning the settlements. (Newsweek)
Billy Bush reminded Trump that it was his voice on the "Access Hollywood" tape where he said he like to "Grab 'em by the pussy." (New York Times)
poll/ 71% of Alabama Republicans say the allegations against Roy Moore are false. (CBS News)
1/ Michael Flynn pleaded guilty to lying to the FBI about conversations he had with Russian Ambassador Sergey Kislyak during the presidential transition last December. Flynn is the fourth Trump associate to be charged in Robert Mueller's investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 election. (New York Times)
2/ Flynn promised "full cooperation" with Mueller's investigation and is prepared to testify that Trump directed him to make contact with the Russians. The FBI said Flynn communicated with Sergey Kislyak, then the Russian ambassador to the US, after being asked by a senior Trump transition official to find out where foreign governments stood on an upcoming UN Security Council resolution about Israel. The FBI did not name the officials. (ABC News / CNN)
3/ Jared Kushner was the "very senior" Trump official who directed Michael Flynn to contact the Russian ambassador and several other foreign governments. Abbe Lowell, Kusher’s attorney, declined to comment. (Washington Post / CNN)
Former Deputy National Security Adviser KT McFarland is one of the unnamed senior official referred to in the court papers filed in the Michael Flynn case. She was involved in a discussion with Flynn about what he would say to Russian government officials in response to U.S. sanctions imposed on Russia last year. (Associated Press)
4/ Trump lobbied several Senate Republicans over the summer "to wrap up" the Russia investigation. The chairman of the Intelligence Committee, Richard Burr, said Trump made a request "something along the lines of 'I hope you can conclude this as quickly as possible.'" Trump also approached Senator Roy Blunt, who sits on the committee, and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell with requests to end the investigations. Trump has now asked at least seven officials in both houses of Congress and the Department of Justice to end the multiple investigations. The White House said Trump "at no point has attempted to apply undue influence on committee members." (New York Times / Newsweek)
5/ Senate Republicans said they have the votes needed to pass their tax bill. Holdouts Steve Daines, Ron Johnson, Jeff Flake, and Susan Collins all said they will support the bill. "We have the votes," Mitch McConnell told reporters after meeting with his caucus. (Washington Post / Politico / New York Times)
Bob Corker will oppose the GOP tax plan, making him the only Republican senator expected to vote no. "This is yet another tough vote. I am disappointed. I wanted to get to yes. But at the end of the day, I am not able to cast aside my fiscal concerns and vote for legislation that I believe, based on the information I currently have, could deepen the debt burden on future generations," Corker said in a statement. (The Hill)
6/ The Treasury's inspector general is investigating whether Steve Mnuchin hid an analysis of the Republican tax bill — or if the Treasury Department even did one. Mnuchin has said economic growth from the bill’s large tax cuts would offset lost revenue and indicated his department would produce an analysis proving it. No report has been released. (Los Angeles Times / Bloomberg)
7/ Republicans intend to cut spending on Social Security and Medicare after tax reform. Paul Ryan said he wants Republicans to focus on reducing spending on government programs and, last month, Trump said welfare reform will "take place right after taxes, very soon, very shortly after taxes." Marco Rubio said this week that "You also have to bring spending under control," adding that "the driver of our debt is the structure of Social Security and Medicare for future beneficiaries." During the presidential campaign, Trump vowed that there would be "no cuts" to Social Security, Medicare or Medicaid. (Washington Post)
8/ Trump said a government shutdown could be good for him politically if Congress doesn't pass a short-term spending bill by the December 8th deadline. Trump wants to blame Democrats and use the shutdown to get money for his border wall. (Washington Post)
9/ Rex Tillerson called reports that the White House wants him to resign "laughable." Trump called the reports that he is planning to fire Tillerson "fake news" and that "I call the final shots." (New York Times)
The media has been speculating that I fired Rex Tillerson or that he would be leaving soon - FAKE NEWS! He’s not leaving and while we disagree on certain subjects, (I call the final shots) we work well together and America is highly respected again!https://t.co/FrqiPLFJ1E
1/ The White House plans to force Secretary of State Rex Tillerson out and replace him with Mike Pompeo, the current CIA director, at the end of the year. Pompeo would be replaced by Senator Tom Cotton. It's unclear if Trump has signed off on the plan, which was devised by John Kelly. (New York Times / Washington Post)
2/ Jeff Sessions tapped Kellyanne Conway to oversee the White House's response to the opioid crisis. The Justice Department and the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) also announced $12 million in grants to combat the epidemic, which Sessions considers "the worst drug crisis in American history." (CBS News / BuzzFeed News)
3/ Robert Mueller's team questioned Jared Kushner about Michael Flynn earlier this month. The 90-minute conversation was aimed at establishing whether Kushner had any information that could exonerate Flynn. (CNN / New York Times)
4/ Paul Manafort reached an $11 million bail agreement with Robert Mueller's team, clearing the way for Manafort to be released from house arrest. The deal involves Manafort pledging a Virginia condominium, Florida home, a condo in Manhattan, and another property in Bridgehampton, New York. (Politico)
5/ Jeff Sessions declined to say if Trump ever asked him to obstruct the Russia investigation when questioned today during his House Intelligence Committee testimony. Sessions said his conversations with Trump were subject to executive privilege and he would not respond to the question either way. (The Hill)
6/ John McCain said he will vote for the GOP tax bill, saying he believes the legislation is "far from perfect." Republicans need at least 50 of its 52 members to pass the bill without Democratic support. Currently, Bob Corker, Jeff Flake, Susan Collins, and James Lankford have yet to commit to the bill. (Politico / Bloomberg)
Susan Collins said it would be "very difficult" for her to support the tax bill, citing concerns over healthcare and the loss of a deduction for state and local taxes. (Reuters)
7/ The Senate bill would add $1 trillion to deficit over a decade, even with economic growth taken into account, according to a Joint Committee on Taxation report. Republicans have promised that the tax bill would pay for itself. (Wall Street Journal / Washington Post)
8/ Trump falsely claimed that the Republican tax bill would cost rich Americans like himself "a fortune." Trump and his family could save more than $1 billion under the House tax plan that passed two weeks ago. Under the Senate plan, wealthy Americans like Trump would receive nearly 62% of the benefit by 2027, while two-thirds of the middle-class would face a tax increase. "This is going to cost me a fortune, this thing, believe me," Trump said. "This is not good for me." He added that his "very wealthy friends" were "not so happy with me." (NBC News)
9/ The Secret Service has spent nearly $150,000 on golf cart rentals since Trump took office. Trump has spent more than 100 days at Trump properties, and 81 days at golf courses in particular, during his presidency. (The Hill)
10/ Trump attacked Theresa May on Twitter after the British prime minister criticized him for retweeting anti-Muslim propaganda from a British far-right party. "Don’t focus on me," Trump tweeted at May, "focus on the destructive Radical Islamic Terrorism that is taking place within the United Kingdom." The mayor of London, Sadiq Khan, issued a statement of condemnation and called on May to cancel Trump's state visit and to demand an apology. (The Guardian)
.@Theresa_May, don’t focus on me, focus on the destructive Radical Islamic Terrorism that is taking place within the United Kingdom. We are doing just fine!
President Trump has used Twitter to promote a vile, extremist group that exists solely to sow division and hatred in our country. It's increasingly clear that any official visit from President Trump to Britain would not be welcomed. pic.twitter.com/oZ1Kt0JCfY
poll/ 40% of Americans think Fox News should receive the Fake News Trophy that Trump suggested earlier this week. 25% of respondents think CNN deserves a trophy. (Rasmussen)
1/ Trump retweeted three anti-Muslim videos on Twitter, which were initially shared by a far-right British activist who has previously been charged in the UK with "religious aggravated harassment." The unverified videos, posted by Jayda Fransen, the deputy leader of Britain First, depict purported Muslims committing acts of violence and were titled: "Muslim migrant beats up Dutch boy on crutches!" "Muslim Destroys a Statue of Virgin Mary!" and "Islamist mob pushes teenage boy off roof and beats him to death!" Theresa May, the British prime minister, said Trump was "wrong" to share the videos, while Sarah Huckabee Sanders defended the tweets as part of a conversation about the need for national security and military spending. (New York Times / Washington Post / CNN)
2/ Trump Jr. agreed to meet with the House Intelligence Committee on December 6th. It's the first opportunity for lawmakers to question Trump's son over his contacts with Russians during the campaign, including the June 2016 meeting at Trump Tower between campaign officials and Russian operatives promising dirt on Hillary Clinton. (CNN)
Mark Your Calendars. What the fuck is happening in Washington. (WTF Community Center)
3/ The Office of Special Counsel opened a case file into whether Kellyanne Conway violated the Hatch Act when she made comments about Doug Jones, the Democrat running against Republican Roy Moore in the December 12th special election for an Alabama US Senate seat. The Hatch Act prohibits federal employees from using their offices to campaign for or against political candidates. During an appearance on Fox News last week, Conway called Jones "weak on borders" and "weak on crime." (The Hill)
4/ North Korea claimed its "successful" ICBM test yesterday was a "breakthrough" that puts the US mainland within range of its weapons. North Korea said the new Hwasong-15 missile reached an altitude of about 2,780 miles - more than 10 times the height of the International Space Station - and flew 590 miles during its 53-minute flight. (Reuters / Washington Post)
5/ Trump still questions the authenticity of Obama's birth certificate and continues to promote the conspiracy theory in closed-door meetings. Advisers say Trump also harbors a handful of other theories, including one that widespread voter fraud cost him the popular vote and another that the voice on the "Access Hollywood" tape wasn't his. Trump's friends do not deny that he has an alternative version of events. (New York Times)
6/ Trump believes that Robert Mueller's investigation will exonerate him by the end of the year. Trump has told friends that "this investigation's going to be over with pretty soon" and the White House has little to fear because his "brilliant" lawyer, Ty Cobb, said so. Mueller has indicted Paul Manafort and a former Manafort associate, Richard Gates, on money laundering charges. George Papadapoulos, a former Trump campaign adviser, pleaded guilty to lying to the FBI. And Michael Flynn is no longer communicating with Trump's legal team, suggesting that Flynn may be preparing to cooperate with Mueller's investigation. (Washington Post)
Robert Mueller has postponed grand jury testimony linked to his investigation into Michael Flynn. Additional witnesses were expected to be questioned in early December. The grand jury testimony was postponed with no reason given. (CNN)
A federal judge allowed the DNC to depose Sean Spicer on whether he violated a decades-old court order on election night that prevented the RNC from challenging voters' eligibility at the polls. (Politico)
Subpoenas are being sent to 23 Trump businesses requiring them to preserve records for lawsuit accusing the president of profiting from his office. The lawsuit contends that Trump's continued ownership of his businesses – including the Trump International Hotel in Washington – enables him to make money from foreign and domestic governments, breaching two Constitutional clauses intended to prevent that. (Bloomberg)
poll/ 71% of millennials want a third political party, saying Republicans and Democrats are doing a poor job of representing America. 63% of millennials disapprove of the way Trump is handling the job. 65% believe the country is on the wrong track overall. (NBC News)
Dept. of Deplorable.
Trump wants to know why the "deep state authorities" aren't investigating Hillary Clinton's emails. (The Hill)
Charles McCullough, the respected fmr Intel Comm Inspector General, said public was misled on Crooked Hillary Emails. “Emails endangered National Security.” Why aren’t our deep State authorities looking at this? Rigged & corrupt? @TuckerCarlson@seanhannity
Trump asked if NBC will fire "low ratings" Joe Scarborough for a 2001 "unsolved mystery" in Florida where a Scarborough intern was found dead in his office. The "mystery" is that the intern had an undiagnosed heart condition. She collapsed, hit her head on the desk, and died from a blood clot. The medical examiner ruled the death an accident. (The Hill)
So now that Matt Lauer is gone when will the Fake News practitioners at NBC be terminating the contract of Phil Griffin? And will they terminate low ratings Joe Scarborough based on the “unsolved mystery” that took place in Florida years ago? Investigate!
1/ Chuck Schumer and Nancy Pelosi cancelled a planned budget meeting with Trump after he cast doubt on their negotiations and attacked them publicly on Twitter. Trump tweeted that the "problem" with "Chuck and Nancy" is that they "want illegal immigrants flooding into our Country unchecked, are weak on Crime and want to substantially RAISE Taxes. I don't see a deal!" The government's current funding expires on December 8th and a temporary spending bill is needed to prevent a government shutdown. Democrats are pushing for the year-end spending bill to include protections for so-called "Dreamers," which Trump ended in September. Pelosi and Schumer instead requested a meeting with Paul Ryan and Mitch McConnell. (Associated Press / Wall Street Journal / Politico)
Meeting with “Chuck and Nancy” today about keeping government open and working. Problem is they want illegal immigrants flooding into our Country unchecked, are weak on Crime and want to substantially RAISE Taxes. I don’t see a deal!
2/ The White House accused Schumer and Pelosi of "pettiness" and "political grandstanding" for pulling out of the meeting with Trump after he attacked them on Twitter. Trump, seated between two empty chairs with placard props for Schumer and Pelosi, called the two "weak" and said "they've been all talk and they've been no action, and now it's even worse — now it's not even talk." (ABC News / NBC News)
3/ The Senate Budget Committee advanced the GOP tax reform bill in a party-line vote, with both Bob Corker and Ron Johnson backing the measure a day after threatening to withhold their support. The tax bill now heads to the full Senate floor, where at least six Republicans don't currently support the plan. Republican leaders in the Senate can only lose two votes and still pass their plan without the support of Democrats. (Politico / Reuters / Bloomberg)
4/ Trump paid $1.375 million to settle a class-action labor case in 1998. Trump employed a crew of 200 undocumented Polish workers who worked in 12-hour shifts and were paid $4 an hour to demolish the Bonwit Teller building on Fifth Avenue to make way for the Trump Tower. (New York Times)
5/ Trump is now suggesting that the "Access Hollywood" tape is fake, despite apologizing for what he described as "locker room talk" between men in October 2016. "Access Hollywood" responded to Trump, saying: "The tape is very real." (The Hill / New York Times)
6/ Project Veritas got caught trying to spread fake news about Roy Moore. The organization, run by conservative activist James O’Keefe, targets the mainstream news media in an attempt to set up undercover "stings" that involve using false stories and covert video meant to discredit media outlets. The Washington Post reported that a woman falsely told its reporters she had been impregnated by Moore as a teenager. (Politico)
7/ The Trump Foundation donated $10,000 to Project Veritas in 2015, a month before Trump announced his candidacy for president. The organization is responsible for a video claiming to show that Hillary Clinton supporters were paid $1,500 to cause violence during Trump's rallies, as well as videos targeting CNN and Planned Parenthood. (Newsweek)
8/ North Korea fired a ballistic missile for the first time in more than two months. Trump warned North Korea in a September speech at the United Nations that if it threatened the US or its allies, he would have "no choice but to totally destroy North Korea" and called Kim Jong-un "rocket man." The US believes Pyongyang may be able to put a miniaturized warhead on a missile in 2018, which would theoretically give North Korea the capability to launch a missile capable of hitting the US. Trump told reporters that he "will take care of it," adding that North Korea "is a situation that we will handle." (New York Times / CNN)
1/ The Senate GOP tax plan would hurt the poor more than originally thought, according to a report by the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office. If the tax bill becomes law, 4 million Americans are projected to lose health insurance by 2019 and 13 million by 2027. The bill would add $1.4 trillion to the deficit over the next decade, and Republicans are aiming to have the full Senate vote on the plan as early as this week. (Washington Post)
2/ Trump tweeted that the media should get a "fake news trophy" for its distorted "coverage of your favorite President (me)." It's not clear what prompted the tweet, but over the weekend Trump criticized CNN International for representing "our nation to the WORLD very poorly." CNN responded: "It's not CNN’s job to represent the U.S. to the world. That’s yours." (Politico / New York Times / Washington Post)
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!
3/ Trump repeated his support for Roy Moore, although Senate Republicans are still trying to force the nominee from the race. "The last thing we need in Alabama and the U.S. Senate is a Schumer/Pelosi puppet who is WEAK on Crime, WEAK on the Border, Bad for our Military," Trump tweeted, adding that Democrat Doug Jones "would be a disaster!" A White House official said that Trump, however, would not be traveling to Alabama to campaign for Moore. (Washington Post / Associated Press)
The last thing we need in Alabama and the U.S. Senate is a Schumer/Pelosi puppet who is WEAK on Crime, WEAK on the Border, Bad for our Military and our great Vets, Bad for our 2nd Amendment, AND WANTS TO RAISES TAXES TO THE SKY. Jones would be a disaster!
I endorsed Luther Strange in the Alabama Primary. He shot way up in the polls but it wasn’t enough. Can’t let Schumer/Pelosi win this race. Liberal Jones would be BAD!
John Conyers stepped down as the top Democrat on the House Judiciary Committee amid accusations of sexual harassment. Conyers is the longest-serving member of Congress and has held his seat since 1965. (Politico / Washington Post)
Al Franken returned to work following four allegations of sexual misconduct against him. He said he is "embarrassed and ashamed" and that he doesn’t know if more accusations are coming. (Star Tribune / Washington Post)
4/ Michael Flynn's lawyer notified Trump's legal team last week that they will no longer discuss Robert Mueller's investigation with them. The move suggests that Flynn may be preparing to cooperate with Mueller's investigation. Flynn’s legal team had previously been sharing information about the investigation with Trump’s lawyers. (New York Times / Washington Post)
Michael Flynn may have violated federal law by failing to disclose a Middle Eastern trip on his security clearance renewal application in 2016. Flynn traveled to Egypt and Israel in 2015 as an advisor to a company hoping to build two dozen nuclear power plants in the region. The plan relied on help from Russians to build the plants and take possession of the spent fuel, which could be used to build a nuclear weapon. (Washington Post)
The FBI failed to notify US officials that their personal Gmail accounts were being targeted by Fancy Bear, a Russian-government-aligned cyberespionage group. Many officials learned of the hacking attempts only when informed by the Associated Press. (Associated Press)
5/ Today, Flynn's lawyer met with Robert Mueller's team, a possible sign that both sides are discussing a plea deal. The process would likely include several off-the-record discussions between Flynn and the special counsel's team, as well as an opportunity to make a proffer of evidence that could implicate others. (ABC News)
6/ The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau has two acting directors each claiming control of the agency. Richard Cordray resigned on Friday, naming Leandra English his deputy director and the presumed acting director. The White House responded by appointing Mick Mulvaney, currently the director of the Office of Management and Budget, to be acting director until Trump decided on a permanent successor. English then filed a lawsuit against Trump in an attempt to block him from appointing Mulvaney. (New York Times / Reuters / Los Angeles Times)
7/ The CFPB's general counsel sided with the Justice Department over Trump's appointment of Mick Mulvaney to temporarily lead the bureau. Mary McLeod's memo agreed with an earlier memo issued by the Office of Legal Counsel, which supported the Trump administration’s position. The OLC memo, however, was written by Steven Engel, a lawyer who previously represented a Canadian payday lender the CFPB sued in 2015 for using its foreign status to offer US customers with high-cost loans at odds with state and federal laws. Engel represented NDG Financial Corp. in the case against CFPB as recently as this August. (The Intercept / Politico)
8/ The White House is considering banning personal mobile phones while at work. Officials said the proposal is being driven by cybersecurity concerns. Trump, however, has repeatedly complained about leaks to the press since taking office. (Bloomberg)
9/ Trumped referred to Elizabeth Warren as "Pocahontas" during an event honoring Native Americans who served in World War II. Trump has repeatedly used the nickname to refer to Warren and poke fun at her claim of Native American heritage. Sarah Sanders defended the comment, saying "Pocahontas" is not a racial slur and "the most offensive thing" about the situation was Warren claiming to be Native American. (The Hill / CNN)
1/ Trump called LaVar Ball an "ungrateful fool" and said that getting his son home was "a really big deal." Trump tweeted that "it wasn't the White House, it wasn't the State Department, it wasn't father LaVar's so-called people on the ground in China that got his son out of a long term prison sentence – IT WAS ME." Ball is the father of one of the three UCLA basketball players detained in China for shoplifting and has refused to thank Trump for getting the players out of China. (CNN / NBC News)
It wasn’t the White House, it wasn’t the State Department, it wasn’t father LaVar’s so-called people on the ground in China that got his son out of a long term prison sentence - IT WAS ME. Too bad! LaVar is just a poor man’s version of Don King, but without the hair. Just think..
...LaVar, you could have spent the next 5 to 10 years during Thanksgiving with your son in China, but no NBA contract to support you. But remember LaVar, shoplifting is NOT a little thing. It’s a really big deal, especially in China. Ungrateful fool!
2/ Trump and the White House insisted that Trump was working from Mar-a-Lago and very busy today an hour before he went golfing. First, the White House told reporters that Trump "will NOT have a low-key day and has a full schedule of meetings and phone calls." Soon after, Trump tweeted that he "will be having meetings and working the phones from the Winter White House in Florida." But an hour later, Trump left Mar-a-Lago to spend the morning at Trump International Golf Club in West Palm Beach. Since the inauguration, Trump has spent 98 days at his private properties – one out of every 3.1 days – and played golf approximately 60 times, or every 5.1 days. (Washington Post)
Will be having meetings and working the phones from the Winter White House in Florida (Mar-a-Lago). Stock Market hit new Record High yesterday - $5.5 trillion gain since E. Many companies coming back to the U.S. Military building up and getting very strong.
3/ The former director of the Office of Government Ethics filed a complaint over Kellyanne Conway's comments about the Alabama Senate race. Walter Shaub said Conway may have violated the Hatch Act, which prohibits federal employees from using their positions for political purposes. Earlier this week, Conway attacked the Alabama Democratic Senate candidate Doug Jones, saying Jones "will be a vote against tax cuts. He is weak on crime, weak on borders. He is strong on raising your taxes. He is terrible for property owners." (The Hill)
4/ Gary Cohn faked a bad connection to get off a phone call with Trump during a discussion with Democratic senators about tax reform earlier this month. The White House economic advisor wanted to have a conversation on tax reform without Trump, who was traveling in Asia at the time. Trump called in anyway and after 15 minutes Senator Tom Carper turned to Cohn and said, "We’re not going to have a real conversation here – can’t you just tell the president that he is brilliant and say we’re losing … the connection and then hang up?" And that's what happened. (CNBC / The Hill)
Democratic Sen. Tom Carper says White House economic adviser Gary Cohn faked a bad connection to get President Trump off the phone so they could have a conversation on tax reform without him https://t.co/qcUnSEsysl
5/ The House GOP tax bill would scrap the $250 educator expense deduction. The deduction, for money that America's 3.6 million teachers spend out of pocket on classroom supplies, costs the federal government $210 million a year. The Senate GOP tax plan would double the deduction to $500. (Washington Post)
6/ Out of 38 economists, 37 said the GOP tax plans would cause the debt to increase "substantially" faster than the economy. The 38th economist misread the question. (Washington Post)
poll/ 36% of Americans expect to pay more federal, state, and local taxes under the House tax plan. 39% said they “strongly” or “somewhat” support it, while 31% oppose it and the rest are undecided. (Politico)
News Notes:
New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman is investigating what he calls a massive scheme to corrupt the FCC with fake public comments on net neutrality. (The Hill)
The FBI warned Representative Dana Rohrabacher in 2012 that Russia regarded him as an intelligence source worthy of a Kremlin code name. (New York Times)
Jared Kushner’s horizons are collapsing within the West Wing. (Vanity Fair)
Michael Flynn's business partner is now the subject of Robert Mueller's probe. (NBC News)
1/ The FCC announced plans to roll back net neutrality regulations, clearing the way for companies to charge more and slow or block access to some websites. Net neutrality rules are aimed at giving consumers equal access to web content and prevent broadband providers from charging consumers more for certain content. The commission will vote December 14th on the new rules, which include a transparency provision requiring internet service providers to inform customers about their blocking and throttling practices. (New York Times / Reuters / Politico)
2/ Trump defended Roy Moore, the Alabama Republican Senate candidate accused of sexual misconduct with minors, saying that Moore "totally denies" the allegations. "We don’t need a liberal person in there, a Democrat, Jones," Trump said. "I’ve looked at his record. It’s terrible on crime. It’s terrible on the border. It’s terrible on the military." (New York Times / NPR)
The Moore campaign: "We don't believe these women." (CNN)
3/ A federal judge blocked Trump's executive order to cut funding for so-called "sanctuary cities" that limit their cooperation with immigration authorities. US District Court Judge William Orrick said Trump cannot set new conditions on spending approved by Congress. (CNN)
4/ A second federal judge halted Trump proposed transgender military ban, saying that active-duty service members are "already suffering harmful consequences" because of the his policy. The preliminary injunction issued by the judge goes further than the earlier ruling and prevents the administration from denying funding for sex-reassignment surgeries. (Washington Post)
5/ Nearly 60,000 Haitians living in the US must leave within 18 months now that the Trump administration has ended their Temporary Protected Status. Temporary status was granted to Haiti in 2010, after an earthquake devastated the poorest country in the Western Hemisphere. The Department of Homeland Security said that the "extraordinary conditions" justifying their status in the US "no longer exist." Haitians with protected status are expected to leave by July 2019 or face deportation. (Los Angeles Times / New York Times / Washington Post)
6/ The Senate GOP tax plan would raise taxes on 50% of Americans by 2027, the nonpartisan Tax Policy Center said. Trump, meanwhile, touted the plan as a Christmas miracle, saying: "We’re going to give the American people a huge tax cut for Christmas – hopefully that will be a great, big, beautiful Christmas present." (Washington Post)
7/ Tax experts say the House GOP tax bill is full of loopholes for the wealthy. As written, hedge funds could take advantage of the new, lower 25% tax rate intended for small businesses, while private equity fund managers could sidestep a new tax on their earnings. (Bloomberg)
8/ Trump is shutting down his charitable foundation. The foundation admitted to violating federal rules on "self-dealing," which prevents nonprofit leaders from funneling their charity's money to themselves, their businesses, or their families. (NBC News)
9/ The Trump National Golf Club in Westchester County settled a lawsuit using money from the Trump Foundation. The golf club then reimbursed Trump's charitable foundation the $158,000 used to settle the lawsuit. New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman is investigating how the Donald J. Trump Foundation collects and disburses funds. The inquiry is ongoing. (Washington Post)
News Notes:
Trump campaign adviser Carter Page held high-level meetings with Hungarian officials in Budapest. (ABC News)
Special Counsel Robert Mueller probes Jared Kushner’s contacts with foreign leaders. (Wall Street Journal)
Roman Beniaminov, a low-profile real estate exec turned pop star manager, knew about Russia’s "dirt" on Hillary Clinton. (The Daily Beast)
1/ Trump designated North Korea as a state sponsor of terrorism and said the Treasury Department will announce new sanctions on the country. He described the move as "a very large one." Trump said the designation will impose "further sanctions and penalties" on North Korea in support of his administration's "maximum pressure campaign to isolate the murderous regime." The designation was rescinded by George W. Bush in 2008 in an attempt to negotiate a nuclear deal. (New York Times / Bloomberg / CNN / Politico)
2/ Nebraska regulators approved the Keystone XL pipeline. The 3-2 vote came four days after the existing Keystone pipeline leaked approximately 5,000 barrels of crude oil in South Dakota. The pipeline will transport up to 830,000 barrels a day of crude oil from Canada's oil sands and North Dakota's shale fields to oil refineries on the Gulf Coast. (Washington Post / Politico)
3/ Kellyanne Conway suggested that the White House supports Roy Moore because "we want the votes" to pass tax reform. Conway was discussing tax reform on Fox News when she began hammering Doug Jones, the Democrat in the Alabama Senate race, saying "He will be a vote against tax cuts." Fox News host Brian Kilmeade interrupted: "So vote Roy Moore?" Conway replied: "I'm telling you that we want the votes in the Senate to get this tax bill through. Conway's comment comes less than a week after saying "no Senate seat is worth more than a child." (CNN / Washington Post)
Mick Mulvaney said Trump "doesn't know who to believe" about the allegations against Roy Moore and "thinks that the voters of Alabama should decide." (Axios)
4/ Robert Mueller requested documents from the Justice Department related to the firing of James Comey. Investigators are seeking emails related to the firing, as well as to Jeff Sessions' recusal from the investigation, not only those circulated between Justice Department officials, but any related communication they had with the White House. (ABC News)
5/ Kushner failed to disclose that a senior Russian official tried to arrange a meeting between Putin and Trump. The Senate Judiciary Committee accused Kushner of withholding an email from Aleksander Torshin, who claimed to be acting at the behest of Putin in a May 2016 email. The subject line read: "Russian backdoor overture and dinner invite." Torshin's email came a few weeks after a professor with ties to the Russian government told George Papadopoulos that the Russians had "dirt" on Hillary Clinton in the form of "thousands of emails." Spanish anti-corruption officials say Torshin is a "godfather" of the Russian mafia. (New York Times / NBC News)
Jared Kushner testified that he didn't recall if anybody on the campaign communicated with WikiLeaks. But a letter from the Senate Judiciary Committee shows Trump Jr. emailed Kushner to tell him WikiLeaks had contacted him on Twitter. (CNN)
6/ Hope Hicks and White House counsel Donald McGahn are scheduled to meet with Mueller in the coming weeks. "Of course they are worried," said a Republican in frequent contact with the White House, describing the current atmosphere. "It's going to be a long winter." Another person close to the administration said that some staffers now jokingly ask, "Good morning. Are you wired?" when they gather in the morning at the White House. (Washington Post / CNN)
7/ H.R. McMaster mocked Trump at a private dinner, calling him "dope" and "idiot." The National Security Adviser added that Trump has the intelligence of a "kindergartner." (BuzzFeed News)
8/ Trump called on the NFL to suspend Marshawn Lynch for standing during the Mexican national anthem and sitting during the US national anthem. Trump tweeted that the Oakland Raiders running back showed "Great disrespect! Next time NFL should suspend him for remainder of season. Attendance and ratings way down." (CNN)
Marshawn Lynch of the NFL’s Oakland Raiders stands for the Mexican Anthem and sits down to boos for our National Anthem. Great disrespect! Next time NFL should suspend him for remainder of season. Attendance and ratings way down.
9/ A day earlier, Trump weighed in on three UCLA basketball players: "I should have left them in jail." Trump took credit for the release of the three players arrested for shoplifting in China, but took to Twitter after the father of one of the players cast doubt on how much Trump was involved in freeing the players. "Shoplifting is a very big deal in China, as it should be (5-10 years in jail), but not to father LaVar," Trump tweeted. "Should have gotten his son out during my next trip to China instead. China told them why they were released. Very ungrateful!" In a second tweet he added: "I should have left them in jail!" (New York Times / Politico)
Now that the three basketball players are out of China and saved from years in jail, LaVar Ball, the father of LiAngelo, is unaccepting of what I did for his son and that shoplifting is no big deal. I should have left them in jail!
Shoplifting is a very big deal in China, as it should be (5-10 years in jail), but not to father LaVar. Should have gotten his son out during my next trip to China instead. China told them why they were released. Very ungrateful!
poll/ 70% of Americans think Puerto Ricans aren't getting the hurricane relief they need, up from 62% last month. (The Hill)
News Notes:
Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen will step down once her successor is sworn into the office. (Bloomberg)
Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin didn't think a picture of his wife striking a villainous pose while holding a sheet of dollar bills would go viral. (Politico)
Trump will keep the ban on importing elephant trophies in place. (New York Times)
The FCC is expected to release its plan for rolling back net neutrality this week. (Wall Street Journal)
Justice Department plans to sue to block AT&T's acquisition of Time Warner. (Bloomberg)
1/ Trump scolded Al Franken on Twitter for his sexual misconduct. "The Al Frankenstien picture is really bad, speaks a thousand words," Trump tweeted, adding that last week Franken was "lecturing anyone who would listen about sexual harassment and respect for women." During Trump's presidential campaign, 11 women accused him of unwanted touching or kissing over several decades. Trump called the allegations "pure fiction" and "fake news" and referred to the women as "horrible, horrible liars." Sarah Huckabee Sanders said the White House position is that the women who have accused Trump of sexual harassment are lying. Franken, meanwhile, apologized for his behavior and encouraged a Senate Ethics Committee review of his actions. (Washington Post)
The Al Frankenstien picture is really bad, speaks a thousand words. Where do his hands go in pictures 2, 3, 4, 5 & 6 while she sleeps? .....
Trump has more than a dozen, on-the-record, allegations of sexual assault against him, and was caught on tape bragging about committing sexual assault. This is a dangerous game for him to play. https://t.co/seUnYcBuhU
2/ Trump has repeatedly declined to call on Roy Moore to quit Alabama's Senate race despite several women accusing Moore of sexually assaulting them when they were teenagers. Trump has not publicly condemned Moore’s actions, or pulled his endorsement of the Republican candidate, even as Mitch McConnell and Paul Ryan have called for Moore to drop out of the race. Sarah Huckabee Sanders said, "The president believes that these allegations are very troubling" but that "the people of Alabama should make the decision on who their next senator should be." (New York Times / Associated Press)
3/ Kellyanne Conway justified Trump's silence on Roy Moore by saying the Al Franken story was a "brand new news story." Conway told Fox News that "the Roy Moore story is eight days old and the president put out a statement," which said Moore should step aside "if these allegations are true." (Politico)
4/ Robert Mueller issued a subpoena to Trump's campaign for Russia-related documents from more than a dozen officials. The subpoena, issued in mid-October, is the first time Trump's campaign has been ordered to turn over information. It does not compel any officials to testify but it surprised the campaign, which had been voluntarily complying with Mueller's requests for information. (Wall Street Journal)
George Papadopoulos claimed that Trump gave him a "blank check" to choose a senior Trump administration job and was authorized to represent the candidate in overseas meetings with foreign leaders. Papadopoulos also claimed that Trump called him last year to discuss his role as a foreign policy adviser and that the two had at least one personal introductory meeting that the White House has not acknowledged. (Politico)
Russian Ambassador Sergey Kislyak said he won't name all the Trump officials he's met with because "the list is so long" and that it would take him more than 20 minutes to do so. Kislyak made the remarks during an interview with Russia-1, a state-owned Russian TV channel. (CNBC)
The British publicist who helped set up the Trump Tower meeting will talk with Robert Mueller's office. Rob Goldstone has been living in Bangkok, Thailand and is expected to travel to the US at some point "in the near future" to discuss the meeting between Trump Jr. and a group of Russians in June 2016. (NBC News)
Jared Kushner is working with an interim security clearance 10 months into Trump’s administration. Kushner’s interim clearance allows him to view sensitive material, and that it is valid unless revoked. (Politico)
5/ The Republican Party is no longer paying Trump's personal legal bills related to the Russia probe. Trump is working with the Office of Government Ethics and tax firm to use his personal funds to help current and former White House staffers caught up in the Justice Department's special counsel investigation with their legal costs. The RNC had previously paid out more than $230,000 for Trump's legal bills. (Bloomberg / CNN)
6/ The FCC voted to loosen media ownership rules. The 3-2 vote rolls back a 1970s rule intended to ensure a diversity of voices and opinions could be heard on the air or in print, and makes it easier for media companies to be bought and sold. Critics of the FCC repeal say that the decision will result in less diversity in local news media and lead to inferior phone and broadband services in some areas. The FCC also voted to limit spending on the Lifeline program, which provides discounted internet and phone service to low-income homes. (Washington Post / CNET / The Verge)
7/ The Senate Finance Committee approved the $1.5 trillion Republican tax overhaul, but not without an angry shouting match between Republicans and Democrats after nearly 12 hours of talk about taxes. Sherrod Brown and Orrin Hatch sparred over Republican talking points about trickle-down economics with the Ohio Democrat charging "that whole thing about higher wages, well, it’s a good selling point." Hatch replied: "I really resent anybody saying I’m just doing it for the rich." The committee voted along party lines, 14-12, to forward the proposal on to the full Senate, where the Senate is expected to take action after the Thanksgiving break. (CNN / New York Times / Politico)
8/ Of Trump's 58 judicial nominees, 74% are white men. About 19% are women while 2% are both female and non-white. In total, 53 of Trump's judicial nominees are white, three are Asian-American, one is Hispanic, and one is African-American. He has nominated 47 men and 11 women. (Associated Press)
poll/ Obama is more popular in Alabama than Trump. 52% of likely voters in the state have a favorable opinion of Obama vs. 49% for Trump. (The Hill)
1/ House Republicans passed their tax bill, which would cut taxes by $1.5 trillion over 10 years in a rewrite of the tax code. The bill also cuts the corporate tax rate to 20% from 35%, collapses the number of tax brackets from seven to four, and eliminates or scales back many popular deductions of individuals, including the state and local tax deduction, medical expenses deduction, and student loan deductions but would double the standard deduction. The bill passed with 227 votes in favor and 205 against. (New York Times / Washington Post / Politico)
2/ The Senate tax bill would raise taxes on the middle class while giving large cuts to millionaires over the next decade, according to analysis by the Joint Committee on Taxation. Taxpayers would see their taxes cut by 7.4% on average in 2019, but by 2027 their taxes would rise by an average of 0.2%. Those making between $20,000 and $30,000 would have their tax bills rise 25.4% by 2027 while people earning over $100,000 continue to receive tax cuts. (Washington Post / The Hill)
3/ A radio newscaster accused Al Franken of kissing and groping her without consent during a 2006 U.S.O. tour of the Middle East before he took public office. Franken apologized to Leeann Tweeden, saying he doesn't remember the events of a kiss rehearsal "the same way" as she described. Franken added that a photo of him with his hands over a sleeping Tweeden's breasts "was clearly intended to be funny but wasn’t. I shouldn’t have done it." (New York Times / Washington Post / KABC)
Mitch McConnell immediately called for an Ethics Committee investigation of Al Franken after allegations that he groped a woman in 2006. "As with all credible allegations of sexual harassment or assault, I believe the Ethics Committee should review the matter. I hope the Democratic Leader will join me on this," McConnell said. "Regardless of party, harassment and assault are completely unacceptable—in the workplace or anywhere else." (Politico)
4/ The Alabama Republican Party is sticking with Roy Moore despite at least nine women accusing him of inappropriate, unwanted sexual behavior. Mitch McConnell has called Moore unfit to serve in the Senate and has threatened him with an ethics investigation if he is elected in the December 12th special election. Moore responded to McConnell's threat in a tweet: "Bring. It. On." (NBC News / Washington Post / CNBC)
5/ Senate Republicans are exploring the legal feasibility of a second new special election in Alabama in order to save the Republican seat. The plan would call for Luther Strange – who was appointed to fill Jeff Sessions' vacant seat – to resign, causing a new special election in Alabama. Recent polling has the Democrat Doug Jones leading Moore by at least 12 points in the race. (Politico)
6/ The Trump administration lifted the ban on hunters importing elephant trophies from Zimbabwe and Zambia, reversing a 2014 rule put in place by the Obama White House. Elephants are listed as endangered under the Endangered Species Act. (ABC News / NBC News)
7/ A bipartisan group of senators introduced new gun control legislation to improve state and federal agency compliance with the existing background check system. The bill penalizes agencies that fail to report relevant records while incentivizing states to improve their overall reporting. (CBS News / The Hill)
8/ Jared Kushner forwarded emails about a "Russian backdoor overture and dinner invite" to campaign officials, according to a letter the Senate Judiciary Committee sent Kushner's lawyer. Kushner received emails in September 2016 about Russia and WikiLeaks, but failed to turn them over to lawmakers with the rest of his documents on November 3rd. In the letter to Kushner, Chuck Grassley and Dianne Feinstein wrote: "There are several documents that are known to exist but were not included." Kushner has been asked to turn over all relevant documents by November 27th. (Business Insider / Politico)
Carter Page delivered his subpoenaed documents to both the House and Senate Intelligence Committees. Page has interviewed with both committees in past weeks as part of their parallel investigations into Russian interference in the U.S. election. He declined to comment on his interactions with Mueller's team. (The Hill)
9/ The Keystone Pipeline was shutdown after leaking 210,000 gallons of oil in Marshall County, South Dakota. The spill is equivalent to about 5,000 barrels of oil. Regulators in Nebraska will vote Monday on whether to approve the permit and construction of the Keystone XL pipeline. (CNN)
1/ The author of the Trump dossier believes his report is 70-90% accurate. Christopher Steele's reports were commissioned by Fusion GPS as opposition report and detail allegations that the Kremlin had personally compromising material on Trump, including sex tapes recorded during a 2013 trip to Moscow, as well as evidence that Trump and his associates actively colluded with Russian intelligence to influence the election. (The Guardian)
RT registered in the US as a foreign agent, bowing to pressure from the Justice Department. Russia's parliament voted to allow the Kremlin to brand foreign media outlets like CNN as "foreign agents" in retaliation. (NPR / The Guardian)
2/ Nearly 1.5 million people have signed up for an Affordable Care Act health care plan in the first two weeks of open enrollment, outpacing last year's sign ups by nearly 500,000. The Trump administration cut the 2018 open enrollment period from 12 to 6 weeks, and reduced the ACA advertising budget by 90%. (Reuters)
3/ The Trump administration rejected 4,000 "late" DACA renewals despite some applications sitting in its mailbox at the October 5th deadline. The United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) only counted applications it had marked as "received" before the deadline. USCIS did not honor the postmarked date. The plaintiffs in a lawsuit against the Trump administration allege that many more DACA renewal applications arrived on time to USCIS mailboxes, but were rejected as late anyway. The US Postal Service has taken responsibility for an "unintentional temporary mail processing delay" in New York, Chicago, and two other states. (Vox / New York Times)
4/ A federal judge ruled that the Trump administration can't withhold money from "sanctuary cities" for refusing to cooperate with federal authorities on immigration. Jeff Sessions and the Justice Department have argued that cities should hold foreign detainees until Immigration and Customs Enforcement can pick them up. (The Hill)
5/ Mitch McConnell proposed that Jeff Sessions could be run as a write-in candidate to replace Roy Moore in the Alabama Senate race and reclaim his old seat. McConnell suggested that if Moore won the election, he could be sworn in but immediately subjected to an ethics investigation that would include his testifying under oath. Moore has made no public indication he plans to leave the race. (Wall Street Journal / CNN)
poll/ Roy Moore trails Democrat Doug Jones by 12 points in the Alabama special Senate election. Jones leads Moore 51-to-39%. (Politico)
6/ Trump tweeted condolences about the wrong mass shooting. In the botched copy/paste job, Trump referenced the tragedy in Sutherland Springs, Texas from nine days ago while offering condolences for the shooting at the Rancho Tehema Elementary School in northern California. Roughly nine hours later the tweet was deleted without explanation. (Vanity Fair / Fortune)
Trump just tweeted again about the church shooting in Sutherland Springs. The 1st tweet was the day of the event, 9 days ago. Is this his shooting tweet template? He forgot to change the location to today's shooting: California. pic.twitter.com/IToC7UXkyP
7/ The House passed a $700 billion defense policy bill that would authorize a military buildup beyond what Trump has proposed. The legislation, however, is tens of billions of dollars above the $549 billion spending cap. (Politico)
8/ Trump's economic adviser was surprised when a room of CEOs said they don't plan to increase investments if the GOP tax plan is passed. The White House argues that cutting the corporate tax rate would increase average household income by making it less expensive for companies to invest in assets like machines… which would allow workers to produce more stuff… which would allow businesses to pay their workers more… because they can sell more stuff… etc. (The Hill / Vox)
VIDEO: CEOs asked if they plan to increase their company's capital investments if the GOP's tax bill passes. A few hands go up. "Why aren't the other hands up?" Gary Cohn asks.#WSJCEOCouncilpic.twitter.com/TD2oAlN27S
9/ A key Senate Republican said he would not support the GOP tax plan and another expressed reservations about the bill. Ron Johnson said he was opposed to both the Senate and House bills because neither "provide fair treatment." Meanwhile, Susan Collins said she was concerned about Republicans changing the tax bill to repeal the Affordable Care Act's individual mandate, calling it a "mistake." Republicans can only lose two senators and still pass their tax plan in the Senate without Democratic votes. (Washington Post / Politico)
10/ The director of the Consumer Protection Bureau resigned. Richard Cordray told staffers he "will step down from his position here before the end of the month." (New York Times / The Hill)
11/ Democrats introduced articles of impeachment against Trump. The articles, introduced by five Democrats, accuse Trump of obstruction of justice, undermining the independence of the federal judiciary, and more. The effort faces long odds in the Republican-controlled House. (Associated Press)
poll/ In a hypothetical matchup, Joe Biden leads Trump by 11 points in the 2020 general election. 46% of voters said they'd vote for Biden compared to 35% who would choose to reelect Trump. While Biden has said he has "no plans" to run in 2020, he's also said it would be "foolish" to rule it out completely. (Politico)
poll/ 52% of voters disapprove of the Republican tax plan while 25% approve of the plan. 61% believe the wealthy would mainly benefit from this tax plan. (Quinnipiac)
1/ Jeff Sessions told the House Judiciary Committee he didn't lie under oath, but he has "no clear recollection" of the proposed Trump-Putin meeting. Despite repeatedly answering "I do not recall" to questions about a March 2016 meeting where George Papadopoulos proposed that Trump meet with Putin, Sessions said he believes he rejected the suggested meeting. Later during testimony, Sessions was more direct: "At the meeting, I pushed back." In January, Sessions testified that he had no communications with Russians during the 2016 campaign. It was later revealed that he met with Russian ambassador Sergey Kislyak at least twice during the campaign. (Politico / Reuters / New York Times)
2/ Sessions: There is "not enough basis" for assigning a new special counsel to investigate Hillary Clinton. Earlier, Sessions sent the House Judiciary Committee a letter informing them that the Justice Department was looking into whether a special counsel should be appointed to investigate the Clinton Foundation and a 2010 deal to sell a US uranium company to Russia. On November 3rd, Trump said he was "very unhappy," "disappointed," and "frustrated" with the Justice Department for not investigating Hillary Clinton. (Washington Post / New York Times / The Guardian)
3/ Senate Republicans added a provision to their tax bill that would repeal the Affordable Care Act's individual mandate. In order to be protected from a Democratic filibuster, the tax bill can't add more than $1.5 trillion to federal deficit over a decade. The CBO said that repealing the mandate would free up more than $300 billion in funding over the next decade while also causing 13 million fewer people to have health insurance. Mitch McConnell said Republicans are "optimistic that inserting the individual mandate repeal would be helpful." (Washington Post / New York Times)
4/ The US embassy in Moscow hired a security firm owned by Putin's former KGB counter-intelligence director to provide "local guard services" for the US mission in Russia. Moscow forced Washington to cut its diplomatic staff in Russia from more than 1,200 to 455 in response to sanctions adopted against Russia in August. To make up for the loss of security guards, Washington awarded a $2.8 million no-bid contract to Elite Security, which was founded in 1997 by Viktor Budanov and his son Dmitry. Budanov retired from espionage in 1992. (The Telegraph / New York Times)
5/ The FBI is investigating Russian embassy payments "to finance election campaign of 2016." The Russian foreign ministry made more than 60 wire transfers that exceeded $380,000 in total to its embassies around the world, most of them bearing the memo line "to finance election campaign of 2016." Nearly $30,000 was sent to the Russian embassy in Washington, D.C. (BuzzFeed News)
6/ Trump tweeted about John Podesta's hacked emails 15 minutes after WikiLeaks told Trump Jr. "we just released Podesta Emails Part 4." While Trump Jr. didn't respond to the message, he tweeted out a link WikiLeaks had provided him two days later. (The Hill / The Atlantic)
Very little pick-up by the dishonest media of incredible information provided by WikiLeaks. So dishonest! Rigged system!
Mike Pence denied knowing that Trump Jr. was in contact with WikiLeaks during the campaign. In October 2016, Pence was asked if the Trump campaign was "in cahoots" with WikiLeaks as it released droves of damaging information about Hillary Clinton. "Nothing could be further from the truth," Pence replied. (Politico)
7/ Democrats raised concerns about Trump's ability to use nuclear weapons during a Senate Foreign Affairs Committee meeting. "We are concerned that the President of the United States is so unstable, is so volatile, has a decision-making process that is so quixotic that he might order a nuclear weapons strike that is wildly out of step with US national security interests," Senator Chris Murphy said. The bipartisan panel doesn't plan to seek legislative changes to rein in the Trump's authority to use nuclear weapons, but rather ensure legal and strategic oversight measures are in place to prevent ill-advised use of nuclear weapons. (CNN)
1/ Trump asked Putin if Russia meddled in the election. Putin said they didn't. Trump believed him. After meeting on the sideline of the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation summit meeting in Vietnam, Trump said he was done asking Putin about election meddling. "He said he didn’t meddle — I asked him again. You can only ask so many times … Every time he sees me he says, 'I didn’t do that,' and I really believe that when he tells me that, he means it." Trump added: "I think he is very insulted by it, which is not a good thing for our country." The comments came during a question-and-answer session with reporters aboard Air Force One on Saturday. (New York Times / CNN)
2/ Trump called US intelligence leaders "political hacks" and labeled the community's conclusion that Russia interfered in the election as an "artificial Democratic hit job." Later Trump tweeted: "When will all the haters and fools out there realize that having a good relationship with Russia is a good thing, not a bad thing." On Sunday, Trump walked back his comments, saying "I'm with our agencies." (Politico / The Hill)
When will all the haters and fools out there realize that having a good relationship with Russia is a good thing, not a bad thing. There always playing politics - bad for our country. I want to solve North Korea, Syria, Ukraine, terrorism, and Russia can greatly help!
CIA Director Mike Pompeo said he stands by the US intelligence assessment that Russia meddled in the election. Pompeo had falsely claimed Russian meddling didn't affect the election results. (CNN)
Former Deputy Attorney General Sally Yates called Trump "shamelessly unpatriotic" for accepting Putin’s denial that Russia interfered in the 2016 election. (The Hill)
POTUS embraces Putin yet again telling world he believes former KGB agent’s denial of attack on our election over our own Intel public servants, calling them “political hacks.” Disturbing and shamelessly unpatriotic, on Veterans Day no less.
3/ The former CIA director said Trump is being "played" by Putin regarding election meddling. "By not confronting the issue directly and not acknowledging to Putin that we know you’re responsible for this, I think he’s giving Putin a pass," former CIA director John Brennan said. "I think it demonstrates to Mr. Putin that Donald Trump can be played by foreign leaders who are going to appeal to his ego and try to play upon his insecurities." Brennan added that Trump called him and two other top intelligence officials "political hacks" in order to "delegitimize" the intelligence community’s conclusion that Russia interfered in the 2016 presidential election. (Washington Post / Wall Street Journal)
4/ Trump Jr. corresponded with Wikileaks during the campaign via Twitter direct messages, which were turned over to congressional investigators as part of its probe into Russian meddling. Wikileaks made multiple requests of Trump Jr., including asking for Trump's tax returns, urging the Trump campaign to reject the results of the election as rigged, not to concede if he lost, and, later, asking the president-elect to have Australia appoint Julian Assange as ambassador to the United States. Intelligence agencies believe Wikileaks was chosen by the Russian government to share the hacked DNC emails. (The Atlantic)
George Papadopoulos told Stephen Miller he had received "interesting messages" from Moscow a day after learning that Russia had "dirt" on Hillary Clinton. (Business Insider / New York Times)
5/ Kim Jong-un called Trump an "old lunatic." Trump tweeted that Kim was "short and fat". "Why would Kim Jong-un insult me by calling me 'old,' when I would NEVER call him 'short and fat?' Oh well, I try so hard to be his friend - and maybe someday that will happen!" (Washington Post / CNN)
Why would Kim Jong-un insult me by calling me "old," when I would NEVER call him "short and fat?" Oh well, I try so hard to be his friend - and maybe someday that will happen!
6/ Mitch McConnell called on Roy Moore to "step aside" from the race for the Alabama Senate seat. "I believe the women" who have accused Moore of sexual misconduct when they were teenagers, the Senate majority leader said. Moore tweeted that McConnell is "the person who should step aside … He has failed conservatives and must be replaced." Republicans are exploring whether to pursue a write-in candidate for the December 12th special election in an effort to retain their Senate seat. (New York Times / Politico / The Hill)
7/ Trump nominated Alex Azar to lead the Health and Human Services Department, which was vacated by Tom Price after it was revealed that Price used government and private jets to take repeated trips that cost taxpayers more than $1 million. Azar is a former pharmaceutical executive and was a top health official during the George W. Bush administration. (Washington Post / Politico)
8/ Trump's judicial nominee didn't disclose he's married to the chief of staff to the White House counsel. Brett Talley has practiced law for three years, has never tried a case, and has been unanimously rated as "not qualified" by the American Bar Association. (New York Times)
1/ Trump cast doubt on the accusations that Roy Moore initiated sexual contact with a 14-year-old when he was 32. "Like most Americans, the president believes that we cannot allow a mere allegation – in this case, one from many years ago – to destroy a person's life," Sarah Huckabee Sanders said in a statement. "However, the president also believes that if these allegations are true, Judge Moore will do the right thing and step aside." (Washington Post / ABC News)
2/ Roy Moore called the allegations against him "completely false and misleading" and that he would remain in the race for the Alabama Senate seat. Senate Republicans are trying to block their candidate, having discussed fielding a write-in candidate, delaying the December 12th special election, and possibly not seating Moore at all if he is elected. (CNN / New York Times)
3/ The Republican Party's Senate campaign committee ended its fundraising agreement with Roy Moore. The joint fundraising committee involving Moore's campaign, the Alabama Republican Party, the Republican National Committee, and the National Republican Senatorial Committee allowed Moore to raise $80,500 at a time from individual contributors. (Politico / The Daily Beast)
4/ Robert Mueller is investigating Michael Flynn's role in a plan to extradite a Muslim cleric in the US and deliver him to Turkey in return for $15 million. Investigators are looking into the role Flynn and his son may have played in the alleged proposal to deliver Fethullah Gülen to the Turkish government. Erdoğan views Fethullah Gülen as a political enemy and has repeatedly pressed the US to extradite him. Flynn is facing military, congressional, and criminal investigations for concealing his financial ties to Turkey and Russia, and whether the ties played a role in his decisions as Trump's national security adviser. Any deal where a government official is bribed to act on behalf of a foreign government would involve multiple federal crimes. (NBC News / Wall Street Journal)
5/ Mueller's team is investigating a meeting between Michael Flynn and a pro-Russia congressman. The meeting between Dana Rohrabacher and Flynn took place in Washington on September 20th, 2016, while Flynn was an adviser to Trump’s campaign. Rohrabacher has pushed for better relations with Russia, traveled to Moscow to meet with officials, and advocated for overturning the Magnitsky Act, a 2012 bill that froze the assets of Russian investigators and prosecutors. It's the first known time that Mueller's investigation has touched a member of Congress. (NBC News)
6/ George Papadopoulos initially lied to the FBI out of loyalty to Trump. Papadopoulos has since pleaded guilty to lying to the FBI, while Trump has tried to distance himself from Papadopoulos, tweeting that "few people knew the young, low level volunteer named George, who has already proven to be a liar." (ABC News)
7/ The Senate Judiciary Committee approved a Trump nominee for a federal judgeship who has never tried a case. Brett Talley, 36, was unanimously rated as "not qualified" by the American Bar Association. Talley has practiced law for three years. As a blogger he denounced "Hillary Rotten Clinton" and pledged support for the National Rifle Association. He has been approved for a lifetime appointment to the federal bench. (Los Angeles Times)
8/ Five states have asked a federal judge to halt the rollback of the Affordable Care Act's birth control mandate. California, New York, Maryland, Delaware, and Virginia filed the motion for a preliminary injunction, arguing that the policy change is unconstitutional and discriminatory. In October, Trump rolled back the federal requirement for employers to include birth control coverage in their health insurance plans, citing moral and religious grounds. (The Hill)
1/ Trump: "I don't blame China" for taking "advantage" of the US with its "very one-sided and unfair" trade deal. Trump instead blamed past US administrations "for having allowed it to get so far out of kilter." The comments were made during a joint appearance with President Xi in Beijing. Trump added: "After all, who can blame a country for being able to take advantage of another country for benefit of their citizens? I give China great credit." (Washington Post / The Hill / Axios)
I don’t blame China, I blame the incompetence of past Admins for allowing China to take advantage of the U.S. on trade leading up to a point where the U.S. is losing $100's of billions. How can you blame China for taking advantage of people that had no clue? I would've done same!
My meetings with President Xi Jinping were very productive on both trade and the subject of North Korea. He is a highly respected and powerful representative of his people. It was great being with him and Madame Peng Liyuan!
"I don't blame China. After all, who can blame a country for being able to take advantage of another country for the benefit of its citizens? I give China great credit. But, in actuality, I do blame past administrations for allowing this out-of-control trade deficit to take place and to grow. We have to fix this because it just doesn't work for our great American companies, and it doesn't work for our great American workers." –Trump
2/ Affordable Care Act signups are outpacing last year's enrollment with more than 600,000 people selecting a plan through HealthCare.gov in the first four days since enrollment opened. In the first 12 days of last year’s open enrollment, 1,008,218 people selected plans. Enrollment this year lasts 45 days – half as long as in the past – and for most states enrollment will end on December 15th. Several states are allowing residents to sign up for ACA plans into January. (Wall Street Journal / Washington Post)
3/ John Kelly pressured the acting Homeland Security secretary, Elaine Duke, to expel tens of thousands of Honduran immigrants after she granted them a six-month extension of Temporary Protected Status (TPS). Kelly and Tom Bossert, White House homeland security adviser, both called Duke, telling her that her decision "prevents our wider strategic goal" on immigration. Underlying the call was Kelly's concern that his handpicked nominee for DHS secretary, Kirstjen Nielsen, would face potentially uncomfortable questions about TPS during her confirmation hearing on Wednesday. (Washington Post)
Background:
About 57,000 Hondurans are living in the US under Temporary Protected Status, which Congress created to refrain from deporting foreign nationals to countries too unstable to receive them following natural disasters, civil unrest, or health crisis.
4/ Robert Mueller interviewed Stephen Miller. The White House senior policy adviser is the highest-level aide still working at the White House known to have talked to investigators. Miller was at the March 2016 meeting where George Papadopoulos said that he could arrange a meeting between Trump and Putin. (CNN)
Papadopoulos represented the Trump campaign in a working capacity with foreign officials up until the inauguration. He's been dismissed as a "low-level volunteer" and just a "coffee boy" by Trump and campaign officials. (CNN)
5/ Michael Flynn is worried about his son's legal exposure as Robert Mueller continues to investigate Russian meddling and the business dealings of key campaign advisers to Trump. Flynn Jr. served as his father's chief of staff and top aide, and was actively involved in his father's consulting and lobbying work at their firm, Flynn Intel Group. In December 2015, the Flynns traveled to Moscow, where the elder Flynn dined with Putin at a gala for the RT television network, which US intelligence views as a Russian propaganda outlet. (CNN)
6/ The House Intelligence Committee will interview the Russian-American lobbyist who was at the Trump Tower meeting with Trump Jr., Jared Kushner, and Paul Manafort. Rinat Akhmetshin will meet with House investigators next week. The panel last week interviewed Ike Kaveladze, a Russian who attended the meeting on behalf of Russian billionaire Aras Agalarov, the oligarch who initiated the session. (CNN)
7/ The Justice Department is seeking a plea deal with Paul Manafort's son-in-law. The investigation into Jeffrey Yohai by the FBI and the US attorney's office in Los Angeles is separate from the Robert Mueller investigation. However, in the Mueller's indictment of Manafort alleges that Yohai and his father-in-law worked together on real estate deals in Los Angeles and New York, some of which involved loan fraud. (Wall Street Journal)
8/ Trump's bodyguard testified that Russians offered to "send five women" to Trump's hotel room in Moscow. "We don't do that type of stuff," Keith Schiller said. The comments came as Schiller disputed the allegations made in the dossier that describes Trump as having an encounter with prostitutes at the hotel during the 2013 Miss Universe Pageant. Schiller testified that Trump went to bed alone and that he stood outside the room for a time before going to bed. He could not say for sure what happened during the remainder of the night. (NBC News)
9/ The Education Department has shed about 8% of its staff since December and hopes to offer buyouts to an additional 255 employees. The budget proposal Betsy DeVos plans to submit would cut $9.2 billion from the department's budget, eliminating teacher training and college-prep programs while investing in charter schools and potentially offering vouchers for private schools. Congress would likely restore many of the cuts, but DeVos can cut staff and her proposal would cut 154 positions from the department — including 46 from the Office for Civil Rights. (Washington Post)
10/ The Senate unveiled an outline of its tax reform bill that differs significantly from the House and the White House. The Senate tax package would delay cutting the corporate tax rate from 35% to 20% until 2019 – a departure from Trump’s expectation for immediate tax cuts. The Senate bill would keep seven tax brackets, while the House bill would collapse them down to four. The Senate bill would also double the estate tax exemption and keep it, while the House bill would double the exemption but repeal it in 2025. The Senate bill wouldn't change the mortgage interest deduction, while the House would cap it at $500,000, and not allow the deduction for second homes. Both the House and Senate plan to pass their bills this month and then sort out differences in an effort to get a final bill to Trump by the end of the year. (New York Times / Washington Post / Politico)
11/ A former Treasury secretary charged that current Treasury secretary Steven Mnuchin is making "irresponsible" economic assessments of the administration's tax plan and acting as a "sycophant" to Trump. Lawrence Summers, who was Bill Clinton's Treasury secretary, has been criticizing Mnuchin in podcasts, blog posts, and op-eds and on Twitter for suggesting that the tax plan currently being debated by Congress would not add to the federal deficit. "I’m not aware of so irresponsible an estimate coming from a Treasury secretary in the last 50 years," he said. (New York Times)
12/ Trump's voter fraud commission was sued by one of the panel's own members. Matt Dunlap, one of four Democrats on the 11-member board, filed a suit claiming that he's being denied access to the commission's records and has been effectively frozen out of its activities. (Politico)
13/ Mitch McConnell called on the Republican nominee in Alabama to withdraw from the Senate race if the reports that he pursued teenage girls in his 30's are true. Several women told the Washington Post that Roy Moore initiated sexual contact with them when as teenagers, including one who said she was 14 and he was 32. "If these allegations are true, he must step aside," McConnell said. Moore, meanwhile, told supporters: "I refuse to stand down." (Washington Post / Politico / The Hill)
poll/ 45% of voters who are familiar with the GOP tax plan support the proposal, down from 48% last week. (Politico)
poll/ A generic 2020 Democratic presidential candidate leads Trump by 10 points. 8% of the people who voted for Trump said they would instead vote for the unidentified Democrat candidate in 2020. (The Hill)
1/ Trump told 12 Senate Democrats that he would "get killed" financially by the GOP tax bill in an attempt to increase Democratic support by claiming the bill would hurt wealthy taxpayers like himself. Trump wants Democrats to support repealing the estate tax, because they need to give something to rich people. Repealing the estate tax would provide an additional $300 billion dollar tax break to the wealthy.
The Joint Committee on Taxation found that the tax bill would add $1.574 trillion to the deficit over a decade, which is $74 billion over the maximum amount it can add if Republicans want to take advantage of special Senate rules that would allow them to pass the bill with 50 votes. The Senate plans to release its tax bill this week; it is expected to differ significantly from the House bill. (NBC News / Washington Post)
The CBO: Repealing the Affordable Care Act's individual mandate would leave 13 million more Americans without insurance and reduce the federal deficit by $338 billion over a decade. Republicans are considering cutting the ACA's requirement that most Americans obtain health coverage as part of tax reform. (Politico)
2/ Trump warned North Korea that developing nuclear weapons was putting the country in "grave danger." Trump, during a speech to South Korea's National Assembly, called on all countries to isolate Pyongyang by denying it "any form of support, supply or acceptance," saying the "world cannot tolerate the menace of a rogue regime that threatens it with nuclear devastation." He warned North Korea to "not underestimate us and do not try us." Trump’s return to tough talk came a day after he had softened his rhetoric and asked Pyongyang to "come to the table" and "make a deal." (Reuters)
3/ Corey Lewandowski's "memory has been refreshed" about Carter Page's trip to Russia. In March, Trump’s former campaign manager said he "never met Carter Page." On Tuesday, Lewandowski described Page as a "low-level volunteer" who had "no formal role in the campaign," and "to the best of my recollection, I don't know Carter Page." Page testified last week to the House Oversight Committee that he had asked Lewandowski and Hope Hicks for permission to travel to Moscow. After the trip, Page emailed Lewandowski, Hicks, Sam Clovis, JD Gordon, and then-Senator Jeff Sessions about his trip to Russia, where he met with Russian officials and discussed the presidential campaign. (Politico / Talking Points Memo)
4/ Leadership at the State Department is being "depleted at a dizzying speed," the president of the Foreign Service officers’ union said. Since January, the State Department has lost 60% of its career ambassadors, 42% of its career ministers, and 15% of its minister counselors – and the numbers "are still falling." (ABC News / Vox)
5/ Scott Pruitt will continue to roll back the Clean Power Plan despite a government report that finds climate change to be "unambiguous" with "no convincing alternative explanation" that anything other than humans are the cause. Pruitt said that the National Climate Assessment was part of the ongoing debate between scientists over the causes of global warming and the report won't deter him from rolling back the rule aimed at combating climate change. Trump has dismissed climate change as a "hoax" perpetrated by the Chinese in order to gain an edge over the US. (USA Today)
6/ A fourth Trump judicial nominee has been deemed unqualified for the job by the American Bar Association. Brett Talley has faced criticism for a 2013 blog post in which he called on readers to "join the National Rifle Association" and characterized gun control legislation passed after the massacre at Sandy Hook as "the greatest attack on our constitutional freedoms in our lifetime." Talley was tapped by Trump for the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Alabama. (The Hill)
7/ A federal judge issued a gag order in the Paul Manafort and Rick Gates case, preventing both from making public statements about the case. The order doesn't ban statements to the media outright, but prohibits any remarks that "pose a substantial likelihood of material prejudice" in the money laundering and conspiracy case. (USA Today / Politico)
8/ The Justice Department told AT&T and Time Warner to sell off CNN's parent company or DirecTV if they want to approval of their proposed merger. During the campaign, Trump criticized the proposed merger, arguing that "deals like this destroy democracy" and that it's "an example of the power structure" he was fighting. Trump has also repeatedly labeled CNN "fake news." (New York Times)
Election Night in America:
Democrats won victories in governor's races in Virginia and New Jersey last night. In Virginia, Democrat Ralph Northam beat Republican Ed Gillespie, 54% to 45%. And in New Jersey, Democrat Phil Murphy defeated Republican Kim Guadagno, 55.4% to 42.5%. (New York Times)
After going to bat for Gillespie during the run-up, Trump distanced himself after the loss, tweeting that Gillespie "did not embrace me or what I stand for." (Washington Post / NBC News)
Ed Gillespie worked hard but did not embrace me or what I stand for. Don’t forget, Republicans won 4 out of 4 House seats, and with the economy doing record numbers, we will continue to win, even bigger than before!
The first African American woman was elected mayor of Charlotte, North Carolina. Democrat Vi Lyles won about 58% to 42% of the vote in unofficial returns. (Charlotte Observer)
The first openly transgender woman of color was elected to public office. Andrea Jenkins won a seat on the Minneapolis City Council. (The Hill / NBC News)
In Virginia, Danica Roem was first openly transgender person to be elected and seated in a state legislature after beating a 13-term incumbent who called himself Virginia’s "chief homophobe." (Washington Post)
The first woman was elected mayor in Manchester, New Hampshire. Joyce Craig is the first Democrat to be elected mayor of Manchester in 14 years. (New Hampshire Union Leader)
In Maine, voters approved a ballot measure to expand Medicaid coverage. Some 80,000 adults will qualify under the expansion. Maine will be the 32nd state to expand the program, but the first where voters – not governors or legislators – have directly authorized an expansion. (Politico / New York Times)
Maine's Republican governor said he won't implement the expansion unless it is fully funded by the state's Legislature. Paul LePage has vetoed legislation to expand Medicaid five previous times. LePage will be term-limited out of office next year. (Press Herald / The Hill)
House Republican Frank LoBiondo announced his retirement, which puts his New Jersey congressional district up for grabs in the 2018 election. (NJ.com)
Ted Poe also announced that he would not seek re-election, becoming the second House Republican to announce retirement yesterday. The Texas congressman was diagnosed with leukemia last year. (CNN)
Arizona congresswoman Martha McSally has told colleagues that she will run for Senate in 2018 as a GOP primary challenger to Kelli Ward. McSally would be the first Republican to join the Senate race since Jeff Flake retirement announcement. (AZ Central)
exit poll/ Half of Virginia voters said Trump was the reason for their vote with twice as many saying they were voting to oppose him (34%) as to support him (17%). (Politico)
1/ Carter Page testified that he received permission from Corey Lewandowski to visit Moscow in July 2016, he told the House Intelligence Committee during his seven-hour testimony yesterday. Page also told senior campaign officials Sam Clovis, Hope Hicks, and JD Gordon, as well as then-Senator Jeff Sessions, about his trip to Russia. When he returned, Page sent an email to campaign officials saying he had received "incredible insights and outreach" from "senior members" of Putin’s administration and suggested that Trump should make a foreign policy speech in Russia and "raise the temperature a little bit." Page maintains that his trip was made as a private citizen and was unrelated to his role in the Trump campaign. (CNN / NBC News / Washington Post)
Carter Page hearing transcript. The House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence has released the transcript of the committee's hearing with Carter Page. (House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence)
2/ Jeff Sessions will testify before the House Judiciary Committee on November 14th about his past statements regarding contacts between Trump campaign and Russian intermediaries. Sessions is also expected appear in a closed session with the House Intelligence Committee on the same day. (Reuters)
Justice Department dropped their case against a woman who laughed at Jeff Sessions during his confirmation hearing. (HuffPost)
Another protester escorted out of Sessions hearing. Her original offense appeared to be simply laughing. pic.twitter.com/p6lWzBVFRW
3/ Trump told CIA director Mike Pompeo to meet with a former intelligence officer who claimed the DNC emails were "leaked" – not hacked. Pompeo met last month with William Binney, who has challenged a January 2017 intelligence community report from the CIA, the FBI, and the NSA that concludes "Putin ordered an influence campaign … to undermine public faith in the US democratic process, denigrate Secretary Clinton, and harm her electability and potential presidency." Trump has called the report "fake news." (The Intercept)
4/ The White House has prepared an executive order to weaken the Affordable Care Act's individual mandate, which requires taxpayers to demonstrate proof of insurance or pay a fine. The order would broaden the "hardship exemption" that was established for those facing extraordinary circumstances (e.g., the death of a family member, bankruptcy, or natural disaster). Trump would sign the order if Republicans fail to include such a measure in the tax reform process. (Washington Post / Washington Examiner)
5/ Syria will join the Paris climate agreement, leaving the US as the only country to reject the global deal. France, meanwhile, said that Trump, "for the time being," is not invited to December's climate change summit in Paris. (New York Times / Reuters)
6/ Trump urged North Korea to "come to the table" and discuss giving up its nuclear weapons, casting the threat as a global crisis that required cooperation from Russia and China. Trump previously called Rex Tillerson's effort to negotiate with North Korea a waste of time and threatened to unleash "fire and fury" against Kim Jong Un if he continued to provoke the US. (Bloomberg / Politico)
7/ Trump said "hundreds more" would have died in Texas if gun laws were tougher and another man using his own gun hadn't been able to "neutralize" the shooter. Paul Ryan suggested that "prayer works" as an effective form of gun control. (Washington Post / The Hill)
8/ The Air Force failed to report Devin Patrick Kelley's domestic violence court martial, which should have prevented him from buying guns. Defense Secretary Jim Mattis directed the Pentagon's inspector general to review Kelley's case and "define what the problem is." The Pentagon has known for at least two decades about failures to report the outcome of criminal cases to the FBI, according to a 1997 report by the inspector general. (NBC News / Associated Press)
Senators plan to introduce bipartisan legislation to force the military to report domestic violence to the National Instant Criminal Background Check System, the database used for firearms background checks. Jeff Flake and Martin Heinrich are introducing the legislation after the Texas shooting to close a loophole where the military has not been reporting misdemeanors of domestic violence. (CNN)
Trump's nominees for a top Pentagon job said it's "insane" that civilians can buy assault rifles. Dean Winslow, Trump's nominee for the Department of Defense’s top health affairs job, was asked if service members, like Kelley, who are convicted of domestic violence charges should be dishonorably discharged. He replied that it is "insane" that "a civilian can go out and buy a semiautomatic assault rifle like an AR-15." John McCain told Winslow that this isn't his "area of responsibility or expertise." (Politico / Vox)
poll/ 32% of voters in "Trump counties" believe the country is better off with Trump as president than before. 41% say the country is worse off than it was before Trump became president. 53% say they don't think Trump has a clear agenda. (NBC News)
poll/ 37% of Americans have a favorable view of the Democratic party – the lowest mark in more than a quarter century of polling. 30% of Americans hold a favorable view of the Republican party. (CNN)
1/ Trump: The Texas church shooting isn't a guns issue, it's a mental health issue. "Mental health is your problem here," Trump said. "This isn't a guns situation. This is a mental health problem at the highest level." Devin Patrick Kelley, a young white male, was dressed in all-black "tactical-type gear" and wearing a ballistic vest when he opened fire on the church using a Ruger AR-556 semiautomatic rifle. He killed at least 26 people. Kelley passed a background check despite being discharged from the Air Force for "bad conduct" – assaulting his wife and their child. The discharge did not show up as a prohibited offense on his background check. (CNN / New York Times)
Ted Cruz accused gun control advocates of "politicizing" the Sutherland Springs shooting, pointing out that trucks can kill people, too. He was, of course, referencing the terror attack in New York City where a driver ran over pedestrians and cyclists with a truck. (The Daily Beast)
Cruz says it’s not the time to “politicize” the deadly church shooting in Texas: “Evil is evil is evil" https://t.co/QnJMi14Mt5
2/ Robert Mueller has enough evidence to charge Michael Flynn and his son as part of the Russia probe. Mueller's team is looking at possible money laundering charges, lying to federal agents, and Flynn's role in a plan to remove an opponent of the Turkish president from the US in exchange for millions of dollars. (NBC News / Reuters)
3/ A Russian lawyer said Trump Jr. offered to have an anti-Russian law re-examined if Trump won the election. "Looking ahead, if we come to power, we can return to this issue and think what to do about it," Trump Jr. said of the Magnitsky Act, which the lawyer, Natalia Veselnitskaya, was lobbying against. Trump Jr. met with Veselnitskaya lawyer in June 2016 at Trump Tower with Paul Manafort and Jared Kushner after being promised "information that would incriminate" Hillary Clinton. (Bloomberg)
4/ Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross retained investments in a shipping company tied to Putin's inner circle. Ross and his private equity firm are the biggest shareholders in Navigator Holdings. Navigator's largest client is the Russian energy firm Sibur, which is partly owned by a Russian oligarch and Putin's son-in-law. The revelation comes after the so-called Paradise Papers were leaked to the German newspaper Süddeutsche Zeitung. The trove of more than 13 million documents reveal how some wealthy individuals have used offshore havens to avoid paying taxes. (New York Times / The Daily Beast / Washington Post)
Russian tech leader Yuri Milner invested $850,000 in a startup called Cadre that Jared Kushner co-founded in 2014. Kushner did not disclose his ownership in Cadre on his initial financial disclosure form when he became a White House adviser. In July, Kushner told the Senate Intelligence Committee in a closed-door meeting that he never "relied on Russian funds to finance my business activities in the private sector." (New York Times)
At least nine Trump associates had contacts with Russians during the campaign or presidential transition and include Paul Manafort, Michael Cohen, Trump Jr., Jared Kushner, George Papadopoulos, Carter Page, J.D. Gordon, Michael Flynn, and Jeff Sessions. Experts who've studied Russian tactics see a concerted and multifaceted Kremlin effort to infiltrate Trump’s campaign. (Washington Post)
5/ Paul Manafort's attorney plans to challenge Robert Mueller's authority. Kevin Downing will file pre-trial motions that question "the legal basis for and sufficiency of the charges, the suppression of evidence improperly obtained by search warrant, subpoena or otherwise." Downing said he may try to prevent Mueller's prosecutors from presenting some of their evidence during the criminal trial. (Politico)
6/ Trump told Japan that it can protect itself from North Korea by purchasing US military equipment to shoot down missiles. "The prime minister of Japan is going to be purchasing massive amounts of military equipment, as he should," Trump said. North Korea launched a missile over Japan in September. (New York Times)
Trump asked Japan to build its cars in the US. Three out of four Japanese cars sold in the US last year were built in North America. "Try building your cars in the United States instead of shipping them over," Trump told Japanese automakers. "Is that possible to ask? That's not rude. Is that rude? I don't think so." (CNN)
7/ The House Republican tax plan would cause taxes to go up for 28% of Americans by 2027, according to analysis by the nonpartisan Tax Policy Center. Families earning less than $10,000 a year would see a tax cut of about $10. Those making $48,000 to $86,000 would get an average tax cut of $700 next year, while taxpayers in the top 1% (those making more than $730,000) would receive an average cut of $37,000. Overall, 70% of people would get a tax cut next year averaging $2,000, but 12% would pay an average of $1,560 more. By 2027, those paying more would grow to 28% of all taxpayers, who would pay an average $1,980 more, while 57% would save $2,400. (Washington Post / Vox / USA Today/ Tax Policy Center)
8/ George Bush called Trump a "blowhard" who is only interested in feeding his own ego. (New York Times)
9/ Donna Brazile admits she has "no evidence" the Democratic primary was rigged. "I found no evidence, none whatsoever," she said. (CNN)
poll/ 65% of Americans say Trump has accomplished "not much" to "little or nothing" as president. 67% don’t trust him to act responsibly in handling the situation involving North Korea. (ABC News / Washington Post)
poll/ 44% of Americans are "very concerned" about the Trump campaign's contacts with the Russians, up from 27% who said so in July. (CNN)
Current Status: Trump and Jeff Sessions have denied knowing about the Trump campaign's contacts with Russia. Court documents suggest otherwise. Records show that at a March 31, 2016, meeting between Trump, Sessions, and the campaign's foreign policy team, George Papadopoulos introduced himself and said "that he had connections that could help arrange a meeting between then-candidate Trump and President Putin." (New York Times)
1/ Trump does not "remember much" from the meeting with George Papadopoulos, where Papadopoulos offered to arrange a meeting between Trump and Putin. Trump called it a "very unimportant meeting [that] took place a long time [ago]. Don't remember much about it." According to a person present for the meeting, Trump didn't dismiss the idea of meeting with Putin, but Jeff Sessions did. Trump has described himself as having "one of the greatest memories of all time." (Politico / NPR)
2/ Carter Page testified that he told Jeff Sessions about his 2016 trip to Russia during the presidential campaign. At a Senate Intelligence Committee hearing in June, Sessions testified that he had "no knowledge" of any conversations between "anyone connected to the Trump campaign." During his confirmation hearing, Sessions was asked if "anyone affiliated with the Trump campaign communicated with the Russian government" during the campaign. Sessions responded: "I'm not aware of any of those activities … I didn't have — did not have communications with the Russians, and I'm unable to comment on it." (CNN)
3/ Republicans called on Robert Mueller to resign as special counsel over what they contend to be "obvious conflicts of interest." Matt Gaetz, Andy Biggs, and Louie Gohmert introduced a measure to put the House on record describing Mueller as unfit to lead the Russia probe because of his relationship with James Comey, who was Mueller's successor at the FBI. (Reuters / Politico)
Robert Mueller estimates he will need three weeks to present his case against Paul Manafort and Rick Gates to a jury. U.S. District Judge Amy Berman Jackson set May 7th as a possible trial date. (ABC News)
4/ Trump's not worried about the unfilled State Department jobs, because "I'm the only one that matters." As of last month, the administration had filled about a quarter of the roughly 600 State Department positions that require Senate confirmation. "We don't need all of the people," Trump said in an interview with Fox News, arguing that the lack of nominees for key positions at the State Department wouldn't affect his agenda. "You know, it's called cost-saving." (NPR / The Hill)
Trump says he's not worried about unfilled State Department roles b/c "the one that matters is me. I am the only one that matters." pic.twitter.com/JxcWiy7ozY
5/ Trump is "very unhappy," "disappointed," and "frustrated" with the Justice Department for not investigating Hillary Clinton. Despite acknowledging that presidents are not supposed to intervene with law enforcement decisions – which he called "the saddest thing" – Trump insisted that the DOJ investigate "Crooked Hillary," "Crazy Bernie," and "Pocahontas," a nickname he uses for Elizabeth Warren. (New York Times / Washington Post)
Everybody is asking why the Justice Department (and FBI) isn't looking into all of the dishonesty going on with Crooked Hillary & the Dems..
6/ A Twitter contractor leaving the company deactivated Trump's account, which was down for 11 minutes before being restored. Trump tweeted Friday morning, "I guess the word must finally be getting out-and having an impact." (CNN / Reuters)
Earlier today @realdonaldtrump’s account was inadvertently deactivated due to human error by a Twitter employee. The account was down for 11 minutes, and has since been restored. We are continuing to investigate and are taking steps to prevent this from happening again.
Through our investigation we have learned that this was done by a Twitter customer support employee who did this on the employee’s last day. We are conducting a full internal review. https://t.co/mlarOgiaRF
7/ The Trump administration approved a report that contradicts its position on climate change. The National Climate Assessment finds the global, long-term warming trend to be "unambiguous" and that there is "no convincing alternative explanation" that anything other than humans are the cause. Scott Pruitt, Rick Perry, and Trump have all questioned the extent of humans’ contribution to climate change. (New York Times / Washington Post)
8/ House Republicans passed legislation to fund the children’s health program in a 242-174 vote. Republicans plan to pay for the program by cutting a separate public health program and raising Medicare premiums. Senators, meanwhile, have agreed on a bill extending the program’s funding for five more years, but are divided over how to pay for it. The CHIP program provides more than 8 million low-income children with low-cost health insurance. (Associated Press)
poll/ 60% of Americans say Trump's tax plan will benefit the wealthy, while 17% think it will treat people equally. Among those that make $100,000 or more, 61% think Trump's plan will benefit them most. (ABC News)
1/ House Republicans unveiled the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, which reduces the number of tax brackets from seven to five, maintains the top tax rate at 39.6%, raises the standard deduction from $6,350 to $12,000 for individuals and from $12,700 to $24,000 for married couples. The bill reduces the corporate tax rate from 35% to 20%, repeals the state and local income tax deductions, limits the property tax deduction to $10,000, and expands the child tax credit from $1,000 to $1,600. The treatment of pre-tax contributions to 401(k) and IRA would be preserved. Homeowners can keep their mortgage interest deduction, but the bill caps the deduction for new mortgages at $500,000, while also repealing the estate tax in 2024. The bill is estimated to cost $1.487 trillion over a decade, but lawmakers must keep the cost of the bill to $1.5 trillion if they want to pass it along party lines and avoid a filibuster by Democrats. (NBC News / New York Times / Wall Street Journal)
Trump wanted to call the tax plan the "Cut, Cut, Cut Act." Paul Ryan initially asked the White House for input because of the Trump's knack for branding. Ryan and Kevin Brady, the House Ways and Means Committee Chairman, pushed back. (ABC News)
2/ Sam Clovis has withdrawn his nomination for the Department of Agriculture's chief scientist role after coming under criticism for his lack of science credentials (he's not a scientist) and for his role supervising George Papadopoulos. In a letter to Trump, Clovis wrote that he does "not want to be a distraction or a negative influence." Clovis is a self-described skeptic of climate change. (Politico / Bloomberg)
3/ The White House learned that Sam Clovis testified before the grand jury from media reports. Last week Clovis testified before the investigating grand jury and was questioned by Robert Mueller's team about his role on Trump’s campaign. Emails between Clovis and George Papadopoulos, whom he supervised, show Clovis encouraging Papadopoulos to engage with his Russian contacts. (ABC News)
4/ Senate Democrats asked Jeff Sessions to clarify his confirmation hearing remarks regarding attempts by the campaign to coordinate a meeting between Trump and Putin. Both the Senate intelligence and judiciary committees asked Sessions to formally clarify his remarks after it was reported that Trump declined to rule out the idea proposed by George Papadopoulos. Sessions weighed in and rejected the proposal to use Papadopoulos' "Russian contacts" to arrange a meeting. During his confirmation testimony, Sessions testified that he was "not aware" of anyone from the Trump campaign communicating with the Russians. (CNN / NBC News)
Carter Page met with the House Intelligence Committee in private looking into Russian involvement in the 2016 election. Page originally wanted to be questioned by the panel in public. The committee agreed to release a transcript three days after the interview. (Bloomberg)
Paul Manafort wired millions of dollars into the US through a company linked to one of Russia’s most notorious criminals. The Cyprus-based Lucicle Consultants Limited received millions of dollars from a businessman and Ukrainian parliamentarian named Ivan Fursin, who is closely linked to Semion Mogilevich, who is frequently described as "the most dangerous mobster in the world." (The Daily Beast)
5/ Jared Kushner turned over documents from the campaign and the transition to Robert Mueller in recent weeks. The documents are similar to the ones Kushner gave to the Senate Intelligence Committee. Mueller has been asking witnesses about Kushner's role in the firing of FBI Director James Comey. (CNN)
6/ The Justice Department has identified at least six Russian government officials involved in the DNC hack that resulted in thousands of emails being released by WikiLeaks last year. Prosecutors have assembled evidence to charge the Russian officials and could bring a case next year. U.S. intelligence agencies have attributed the hack to Russian intelligence services. (Wall Street Journal)
7/ The hackers who targeted Hillary Clinton's campaign had international targets corresponding with Russian interests. A digital "hit list" shows a multi-year operation that tried to break into the inboxes of 4,700 Gmail accounts worldwide and targeted the emails of Ukrainian officers, Russian opposition leaders, U.S. defense contractors, and more. The list was found by the cybersecurity firm Secureworks after the "Fancy Bear" hacking group forgot to set an active Bitly account to private. One of the experts who reviewed the list described the data as "a master list of individuals whom Russia would like to spy on, embarrass, discredit or silence." (Associated Press)
8/ Robert Mercer, whose money helped elect Trump, will step down as as co-CEO of Renaissance Technologies in an effort to distance himself from Trump. Mercer will also sell his stake in Breitbart to his daughters "for personal reasons." In a letter to investors, Mercer also that he was severing ties with Milo Yiannopoulos, a former Breitbart writer who had cultivated white nationalists and used them to generate ideas on the site. Mercer was also a large financial backer of Cambridge Analytica, a voter-data firm that worked for Trump's campaign. (New York Times / BuzzFeed News / Bloomberg)
9/ Rick Perry suggested that expanding the use of fossil fuels could help prevent sexual assault. "From the standpoint of sexual assault," Perry said. "When the lights are on, when you have light that shines, the righteousness, if you will on those types of acts." The energy secretary also said that while he thinks climate change is real, "I still think the science is out on" whether humans are the cause of it. (The Hill / Axios)
U.S. government researchers say that it is "extremely likely" that human activities are the "dominant cause" of global warming, the Climate Science Special Report finds. The conclusions contradict statements by Trump and his Cabinet members, who have openly questioned the role humans play in changing the climate. (NPR)
10/ Elizabeth Warren and Donna Brazile both say the 2016 Democratic primary was "rigged." In an excerpt promoting her upcoming book, Brazile accused Hillary Clinton's campaign of "unethical" conduct that "compromised the party's integrity" through a joint fundraising agreement with the DNC that allegedly gave Clinton control of the "party's finances, strategy, and all the money raised" before she officially won the nomination. Bernie Sanders' campaign also signed its own joint fundraising agreement with the DNC in 2015. Warren agrees that the 2016 Democratic primary was "rigged." (CNN / Washington Post)
Do you agree with the notion that the DNC was rigged in Hillary Clinton's favor?
poll/ 49% of Americans think Trump likely committed a crime. 58% approve of how special counsel Robert Mueller is handling the investigation. (ABC News)
A look ahead:
Trump and Jeff Sessions denied knowing if anybody from the campaign was in contact with the Russians. Records suggest otherwise. (New York Times)
Carter Page testified that he told Jeff Sessions about his trip to Russia. (CNN)
1/ Trump did not dismiss the idea of meeting with Putin when it was suggested by George Papadopoulos in March 2016. "He didn't say yes and he didn't say no," according to a person in the room at the time. Jeff Sessions shot down the idea. However, in a July 2016 email to his Russian contact, Papadopoulos proposed a meeting in August or September between "my national chairman and maybe one other foreign policy adviser" and members of Putin's office and Russia's foreign ministry. "It has been approved by our side," Papadopoulos wrote. It's not clear if the meeting ever occurred, but Paul Manafort was the campaign chairman at the time. (CNN / Bloomberg)
Paul Manafort and Rick Gates posed a "serious risk of flight," Robert Mueller argued in the pair's bail memo. He requested sizable bail and travel restrictions on the two because of their "substantial overseas ties, including assets held abroad, significant foreign work connections, and significant travel abroad." Manafort's bail was set at $10 million, Gates's at $5 million. Manafort currently has three US passports. Both are on house arrest. (NBC News/ CNN)
Speculation: Jeff Sessions may have perjured himself. During his confirmation hearing in January, Sessions was asked "if there is any evidence that anyone affiliated with the Trump campaign communicated with the Russian government" during the campaign. Sessions responded: "I’m not aware of any of those activities… I didn’t have – did not have communications with the Russians, and I’m unable to comment on it." (New Republic)
2/ Facebook, Google, and Twitter testified before the Senate Intelligence Committee. It was the second day in a row the tech companies answered questions on Capitol Hill. The tech firms admitted that they could have done more to prevent Russian meddling in the US election. Yesterday, the firms said that content by a Russian troll farm known as the Internet Research Agency sought "to create discord between Americans" during the election, but after the election, the troll farm sought to undermine Trump's legitimacy. (Washington Post / Politico)
Members of the House intelligence panel released the social media ads Russia wanted Americans to see. (Politico)
3/ Twitter offered Russian television network RT 15% of its US election advertising inventory for $3 million dollars. The US intelligence community describes RT as "the Kremlin’s principal international propaganda outlet." (BuzzFeed News)
As many as 20 million Americans may have seen Russian-backed content on Instagram in the run-up to the 2016 presidential election. (Reuters)
4/ In a call with Steve Bannon, Trump blamed Jared Kushner for his role in decisions that led to Robert Mueller's appointment as special counsel. In the call, Trump complained about Kushner's advice that led to the decisions to fire Michael Flynn and James Comey.
Separately, Roger Stone told Trump that Kushner was giving him bad political advice. A former Trump campaign aide described "Jared [as] the worst political adviser in the White House in modern history," adding that "Trump is at 33 percent [approval] in Gallup. You can’t go any lower. He’s fucked." In a call with the New York Times, Trump said he was "not angry at anybody" and that the investigation into his campaign's links to Russia have "nothing to do with us." (Vanity Fair)
5/ Trump blamed Chuck Schumer for yesterday's terror attack in New York City where a motorist killed several people after driving onto a bicycle path near the World Trade Center memorial. Trump tweeted that "the terrorist came into our country through what is called the 'Diversity Visa Lottery Program,' a Chuck Schumer beauty. I want merit based." Trump added: "I have just ordered Homeland Security to step up our already Extreme Vetting Program. Being politically correct is fine, but not for this!"
In 2013, Schumer was a member of the Senate's Gang of Eight, which proposed to eliminate of the diversity lottery. The bill passed in the Senate but died in the House. Schumer’s response: "I guess it’s not too soon to politicize a tragedy."
Speaking from the Senate floor, Schumer criticized Trump, asking: "President Trump where is your leadership? The contrast between President Bush's actions after 9/11 and President Trump's actions this morning could not be starker." Trump, meanwhile, called the justice system a "joke" and "a laughing stock." (Washington Post / CBS News)
In NYC, looks like another attack by a very sick and deranged person. Law enforcement is following this closely. NOT IN THE U.S.A.!
6/ House Republicans delayed the release of their tax bill until Thursday as they try to meet the $1.5 trillion spending limit set by the budget. The tax plan is expected to maintain the top individual tax rate of 39.6%, cut the corporate tax rate to 20%, delay the planned repeal of the estate tax, and limit the individual tax-free contributions to 401(k)s. Trump has insisted that the bill be called the Cut Cut Cut Act and called on Congress to repeal the Affordable Care Act's individual mandate as part of its tax overhaul. (NBC News / Wall Street Journal / ABC News)
Wouldn't it be great to Repeal the very unfair and unpopular Individual Mandate in ObamaCare and use those savings for further Tax Cuts.....
7/ The EPA barred anyone that receives EPA grant money from serving on panels that counsel the agency on scientific decisions. In doing so, EPA head Scott Pruitt removed six scientists and academics from advisory positions at the EPA. Pruitt is expected to now appoint several industry representatives to the panels. (New York Times / Washington Post)
8/ The Senate confirmed a circuit court nominee who has suggested that Roe v. Wade was an "erroneous decision." Amy Coney Barrett has also called the Affordable Care Act's birth control benefit "an assault on religious liberty." Barrett was confirmed 55-43 to a lifetime position on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 7th Circuit — one level below the Supreme Court. (HuffPost)
poll/ 59% of Americans think this is the lowest point in the nation's history that they can remember. 63% say they are stressed about the nation's future. (American Psychological Association)
1/ Trump spent yesterday "seething" as he watched the Mueller probe unfold on TV. The indictments of Paul Manafort and Rick Gates weren't a surprise to Trump, but the guilty plea by George Papadopoulos for making false statements to the FBI was not expected. "The walls are closing in," said a senior Republican in close contact with top Trump staffers. "Everyone is freaking out." (Washington Post / CNN)
2/ Team Trump dismissed Papadopoulos as a "liar," their "coffee boy," and just a "young, low level volunteer" after the former foreign policy adviser cut a plea deal with prosecutors yesterday. In a morning tweet, Trump cast the Manafort charges as a sort of vindication for the campaign, but belittled Papadopoulos as a proven liar, despite having called him "an excellent guy" in March 2016. On CNN's "New Day," Michael Caputo, a former Trump campaign aide, reduced Papadopoulos to a "coffee boy" that "never did anything" for the campaign. (Politico / Washington Post / New York Times)
The Fake News is working overtime. As Paul Manaforts lawyer said, there was "no collusion" and events mentioned took place long before he...
3/ Court documents show that Papadopoulos shared his Russian outreach with several senior Trump campaign officials. Here's the breakdown:
"The Campaign Supervisor" named in the documents is Sam Clovis, who served as Trump's national campaign co-chairman. Clovis urged Papadopoulos to organize an "off the record" meeting with Russian officials.
The "High-Ranking Campaign Official" named is campaign manager Corey Lewandowski. Papadopoulos wrote to Lewandowski several times to let him know that the Russians were interested in forging a relationship with the campaign, including an email about discussing "Russia’s interest in hosting Mr. Trump."
"Another high-ranking campaign official" is Paul Manafort, who Papadopoulos sent an email to with the subject line "Request from Russia to meet Mr. Trump." Manafort forwarded the email to another campaign official, stating: "We need someone to communicate that DT is not doing these trips," referring to a trip to Russia. "It should be someone low level in the campaign so as not to send any signal." (Washington Post / US v. George Papadopoulos)
Carter Page admitted that Russia "may have come up" in his Trump campaign emails, but "nothing major" was discussed. Former Trump campaign foreign policy adviser is scheduled to testify behind closed doors before a House Intelligence Committee panel on Thursday. (CNN / Politico)
4/ Sam Clovis was questioned by Robert Mueller's team last week and testified before the investigating grand jury. Clovis supervised George Papadopoulos during the campaign. The former co-chair and policy adviser to Trump’s campaign was also interviewed recently by the Senate Intelligence Committee’s investigation of Russian interference in the 2016 election. He was described as "a fully cooperative witness." Clovis is Trump's pick to be the Department of Agriculture's chief scientist and is awaiting Senate confirmation. He is not a scientist. (NBC News / Politico)
5/ Hope Hicks will meet with Robert Mueller in mid-November. The White House communications director, and longtime Trump aide, has been at the president's side and in the room since before he launched his presidential campaign. The White House currently expects Mueller to wrap up his interviews by Thanksgiving. (Politico)
6/ Steve Bannon advised Trump to find new lawyers, because he believes that Ty Cobb and John Dowd, the top two attorneys on Trump's legal team, "are asleep at the wheel." Bannon is also pushing Trump to take action against Robert Mueller, urging him to defund the investigation – a move that would curtail Mueller without having to formally fire him. (The Daily Beast /Politico)
7/ Facebook, Twitter, and Google appeared before a Senate Judiciary subcommittee today for the first of three public hearings. Facebook told members that Russians bought 3,000 Facebook ads, which had the potential reach of 126 million users – equivalent to more than half of the total U.S. voting population. Google found 1,108 videos with 43 hours of content related to the Russian effort on YouTube. And Twitter identified 2,752 accounts controlled by Russian operatives and more than 36,000 bots that tweeted 1.4 million times during the election campaign. (Washington Post / Bloomberg / CNN)
What You Should Know about the Senate Judiciary Sub-Committee Hearing on Extremist Content and Russian Disinformation Online - Working with Tech to Find Solutions.
8/ House Republicans are rushing to finalize their tax bill before tomorrow's anticipated release. Many key details of the bill, which has been drafted behind closed-doors, have not been finalized and some are worried that the unveiling may have to be postponed. Trump said he wants "the House to pass a bill by Thanksgiving. I want all the people standing by my side when we sign by Christmas." (New York Times / The Hill / Politico)
poll/ 49% of voters support impeaching Trump, to 41% who are opposed to doing so. Of Trump voters, 79% think he should remain in office even if collusion is proven, and 75% claim the entire Russia story is “fake news." (Public Policy Polling)
1/ In a 12-count indictment, Robert Mueller charged Paul Manafort and his associate Rick Gates with conspiracy to launder more than $18 million, making false statements to the Justice Department, and other charges stemming from probes into possible Russian influence in US political affairs. The indictment of Manafort, Trump's former campaign chairman, and Gates focused on their work advising a pro-Russia party in Ukraine between 2006 to 2015, laundering money through 2016, and continuing the conspiracy against the US in 2017. The charges – the first by Mueller – make no mention of Trump or Russian election meddling. Both Manafort and Gates surrendered to Justice Department and pleaded not guilty on all counts today. (New York Times / Washington Post / Wall Street Journal / Politico)
Read the unsealed federal grand jury indictment against Manafort and Gates. (CNN)
The 12-count Manafort and Gates indictment, annotated. (Washington Post)
A conservative website funded by a major Republican donor was the first to hire Fusion GPS to conduct opposition research on Trump. The Washington Free Beacon, funded in large part by the New York hedge fund billionaire Paul Singer, hired Fusion GPS in October 2015. (New York Times)
2/ Trump's former foreign policy adviser pleaded guilty to lying to the FBI about an April 2016 conversation with a professor with close ties to the Russian government that said Moscow had "dirt" on Hillary Clinton in the form of "thousands of emails." George Papadopoulos repeatedly tried to arrange a meeting between the Trump campaign and Russian government officials. Papadopoulos was arrested in July 2017 and has been working with Mueller ever since as a "proactive cooperator," court documents show. The single felony count against Papadopolous directly relates to the 2016 presidential campaign. (New York Times / Bloomberg / NBC News / Politico)
Trump, Pence, and Jeff Sessions are schedule to meet today. Sessions was invited to Trump's weekly lunch with Pence. (The Hill)
Trump will not interfere with Robert Mueller's investigation or try to fire the former FBI director, Trump's lawyer Jay Sekulow said. Sarah Huckabee Sanders added that Trump has “no intention or plan” to fire Mueller. (Reuters / Politico)
Russian agents began reaching out to Trump's campaign as early as March 2016, the Justice Department established in documents released Monday. (NPR)
3/ Trump tweets loud noises in response to the indictment news. Starting Sunday, Trump in a tweet storm challenged Republicans to "DO SOMETHING!" about Obamacare, Hillary Clinton, Democrats, the Fusion GPS dossier, tax cuts, and the Mueller investigation. He continued Monday following the indictments: "Sorry, but this is years ago, before Paul Manafort was part of the Trump campaign. But why aren’t Crooked Hillary & the Dems the focus?????" Trump continued: "….Also, there is NO COLLUSION!" The White House added that "today has zero to do with the" Trump campaign. (NBC News / The Hill / Vox)
As usual, the ObamaCare premiums will be up (the Dems own it), but we will Repeal & Replace and have great Healthcare soon after Tax Cuts!
4/ Tony Podesta will step down from his lobbying firm after coming under investigation by Robert Mueller. Podesta (the brother of John Podesta) and the Podesta Group had worked on a campaign with Paul Manafort to promote Ukraine's image in the West. Podesta’s decision to leave the firm came on the same day that Manafort and Rick Gates were indicted on multiple charges. The Podesta Group and Mercury Public Affairs are the two unnamed companies in the grand jury indictment of Paul Manafort and Rick Gates, which were referred to as "Company A" and "Company B" in the indictment. (Politico / NBC News)
5/ Puerto Rico cancelled its contract with Whitefish Energy. The $300 million contract awarded to a two-person Montana utility company linked to the Trump administration to repair Puerto Rico's electrical infrastructure has drawn criticism. FEMA said it has "significant concerns" about the contract. (NPR / Washington Post)
The FBI is investigating the decision by Puerto Rico’s power authority to award a $300 million contract to a tiny Montana energy firm to rebuild electrical infrastructure damaged in Hurricane Maria. (Wall Street Journal)
6/ More than 50% of Trump’s nominees are tied to the industries they're supposed to regulate. Of the 341 nominations Trump has made to Senate-confirmed administration positions, more than half (179) have some notable conflict of interest. One hundred and five nominees worked in the industries that they were being tasked with regulating; 63 lobbied for, were lawyers for, or otherwise represented industry members that they were being tasked with regulating; and 11 received payments or campaign donations from members of the industry that they were being tasked with regulating. (The Daily Beast)
One of Trump’s judicial nominees has been deemed "not qualified" by the American Bar Association. The ABA says members of its standing committee unanimously concluded, with one person abstaining, that Leonard Steven Grasz was not qualified to serve as a federal judge. (Politico)
7/ A federal judge blocked enforcement of Trump's ban on transgender troops in the military. US District Judge Colleen Kollar-Kotelly said Trump's reasons for the ban "do not appear to be supported by any facts." Kollar-Kotelly added that current and aspiring transgender service members "fear that the directives of the Presidential Memorandum will have devastating impacts on their careers and their families." (HuffPost / Washington Post / USA Today)
poll/ 38% of voters approve of Trump's job performance – down five points since September – while 58% of voters disapprove. (NBC News)
poll/ 33% of voters approve of Trump's job performance. 60% disapprove. (Gallup)
1/ Trump hasn't imposed sanctions on Russia because Rex Tillerson dissolved the office that implements them. After the Coordinator for Sanctions Policy office was eliminated just one mid-level official is now responsible for coordinating the implementation of sanctions across the State Department and other government agencies. The administration missed the October 1st deadline to implement new penalties against Russia, which were adopted by Congress in August. (Foreign Policy / The Hill)
2/ Trump claimed that it's "commonly agreed" that he didn't collude with Russia. Instead, he accused Hillary Clinton of working with the Kremlin amid reports that Clinton and the DNC paid for the dossier of accusations about Trump and his ties to Russia. Trump tweeted that "after many months of COSTLY looking, that there was NO collusion between Russia and Trump. Was collusion with HC!" (Politico / The Hill)
It is now commonly agreed, after many months of COSTLY looking, that there was NO collusion between Russia and Trump. Was collusion with HC!
Two top Democrats denied knowledge of payments to the firm behind the Trump dossier. Clinton's campaign chairman John Podesta and former DNC chairwoman Debbie Wasserman Schultz both privately told congressional Russia investigators that they did not know who had paid Fusion GPS for opposition research on Trump. (CNN)
3/ Republican lawmakers intend to wind down their Trump-Russia investigations even though the issue of collusion remains unresolved. The Senate Intelligence Committee wants the panel’s investigation to end by February – ahead of the first 2018 primary elections – while the House Intelligence Committee hopes to finish before that. (Politico)
Feinstein demands White House hand over details on Russia, Comey firing. "The Judiciary Committee requested documents related to the White House's interactions with FBI Director James Comey regarding the FBI's investigation of alleged ties between President Trump's associates and Russia, or the [Hillary] Clinton email investigation. … To date, we have received no response to these requests," Feinstein wrote in a wide-ranging letter to White House counsel Don McGahn. (The Hill)
4/ The memo Natalia Veselnitskaya brought to the Trump Tower meeting was coordinated with the Kremlin, undercutting the Russian lawyer's claim that she was an independent actor when she sat down with Trump Jr., Jared Kushner, and Paul Manafort. In the months before the meeting, Veselnitskaya had discussed allegations that Democratic donors were guilty of financial fraud and tax evasion with Russia’s prosecutor general, Yuri Y. Chaika. The memo she brought to the meeting closely followed a document that Chaika’s office had given to Representative Dana Rohrabacher, a California Republican who is considered to be one of the most pro-Russia lawmakers in Congress and who heads a subcommittee that helps oversee U.S. policy toward Russia. (New York Times)
5/ Kellyanne Conway "can’t be bothered" that the Trump campaign's data analytics firm attempted to partner with WikiLeaks. During the campaign, Cambridge Analytica reached out to WikiLeaks about locating Hillary Clinton’s emails. Julian Assange declined to work with the firm. Conway was Trump's campaign manager at the time and said she knows "nothing about that." (The Hill)
A Trump donor asked Cambridge Analytica to better organize the Hillary Clinton's emails released by WikiLeaks. Rebekah Mercer wanted to index the WikiLeaks emails to make them more searchable so they could be leveraged by the Trump campaign or a super PAC. (Wall Street Journal)
6/ Trump personally directed the Justice Department to lift an FBI informant's gag order so they could testify to Congress about Russia's attempt to gain influence in the uranium industry in the United States during the Obama administration. The request is unusual for two reasons: 1) The DOJ limits the White House's involvement in criminal law enforcement, and 2) the request is related to Obama and the Clintons.
Before Obama approved the 2010 deal to give Moscow control of a large swath of American uranium, the FBI had evidence showing Russian nuclear officials routing millions of dollars to the US designed to benefit Bill Clinton’s charitable foundation while Hillary Clinton was serving as Secretary of State. She was not involved in the review by the Committee on Foreign Investment, which approved the deal. (CNN / The Hill)
7/ The Whitefish contract with Puerto Rico doesn't allow the government to "audit or review the cost and profit elements" under the agreement. FEMA said in a statement that it was looking into whether the contract "followed applicable regulations to ensure that federal money is properly spent." The statement added that FEMA "has significant concerns over how PREPA [Puerto Rico Electric Power Authority] procured this contract and has not confirmed whether the contract prices are reasonable." (The Hill / Washington Post)
8/ The White House claimed it had no involvement in the Whitefish Energy deal. “This is a contract that was determined by the local authorities in Puerto Rico, not something that the federal government played a role in,” Sarah Huckabee Sanders said. Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke told Trump that "we have no role, the federal government, specifically he had no role in that contract." (Associated Press / Politico)
9/ The White House: All of the women who have accused Trump of sexual harassment are lying. Last week Trump called accusations of sexual harassment by at least 16 women "fake news." During a White House briefing, a reporter asked if the official position is that all of the women are lying. “Yeah," Sanders said, "we’ve been clear on that from the beginning, and the president’s spoken on it." (Washington Post)
1/ The House passed its budget blueprint, which maps out the recommended spending and revenue levels for the 2018 fiscal year. No Democrats voted for the budget, which passed 216 to 212. The legislation will also allow Republicans to now pass tax reform and add as much as $1.5 trillion to the deficit over the next decade without any Democratic votes. The deficit for the 2017 fiscal year totaled $666 billion (New York Times / Washington Post)
2/ After months of promises, Trump declared the opioid epidemic a public health emergency today – not a national emergency, which would have unlocked federal funding through FEMA's Disaster Relief Fund. Under the Public Health Services Act designation, no federal funding will be automatically directed to the crisis. Federal agencies will, however, be directed to devote more grant money to the problem. Jeff Sessions said that people should just "say no" to opioids while Trump suggested that "really great advertising" will keep kids off drugs. (ABC News / CNN)
3/ Premiums for the most popular Affordable Care Act plan have risen 34% due to the marketplace instability caused by the Trump administration's actions, a report by Avalere Health concluded. Market instability has been driven by Trump’s decision to end subsidy payments to insurers, the continued debate over repeal and replace of the Affordable Care Act, and an executive order allowing for lower cost plans outside of the Obama-era law. (Associated Press)
4/ Congress will investigate the $300 million government contract awarded to a Trump donor. Members of the Natural Resources Committee said "the size and unknown details of this contract raise numerous questions" about how a two-person Montana utility company linked to the Trump administration won the contract to repair Puerto Rico's electrical infrastructure. Whitefish Energy is also located in the hometown of Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke. (Associated Press)
5/ The Government Accountability Office will investigate Trump's voter fraud commission. Three Democratic senators asked the government watchdog to look how the federal funds are being used, what information and methodology the commission is using for its conclusions, how it is protecting any voter information, and how it is following regulations. (CNN)
Georgia election servers and backups were deleted four days after a lawsuit asked the court to annul the results of the June 20 special election for Congress and to prevent Georgia’s existing computer-based voting system from being used again. The data was destroyed July 7th by technicians. (Ars Technica / Associated Press / NBC News)
6/ It's been more than three weeks since the October 1st deadline passed for the White House to imposed new sanctions on Russia. The administration still has not implemented the sanctions that Congress passed with veto-proof majorities in July. The State Department issued guidance on how to implement sanctions shortly after Bob Corker and other Senate Republicans pledged to find out if the White House was intentionally delaying them. Trump signed the bill in early August, imposing new sanctions and limiting his authority to lift them. He called the bill "seriously flawed," but signed it anyway. (The Daily Beast / CNN)
7/ Trump said the soldier's widow must be wrong because he has "one of the greatest memories of all time." Trump suggested that there was no way he could have stumbled on Sgt. La David Johnson's name during his condolence call with Myeshia Johnson, because he has "one of the great memories of all time." That and his staff gave him a chart with the Green Berets name on it. (Slate)
I "really started this whole fake news thing." He went on to say that "if you look at the level of approval of the media, of general media—if you look at it from the day I started running, to now, I’m so proud I have been able to convince people how fake it is, because it has taken a nosedive." (CNN)
"I think the press makes me more uncivil than I am. You know, people don’t understand. I went to an Ivy League college. I was a nice student. I did very well. I’m a very intelligent person. You know, the fact is I think — I really believe — I think the press creates a different image of Donald Trump than the real person." (Washington Post)
Q: Should you be more civil? Trump: Press makes me more uncivil than I am... I went to an Ivy League college. I'm a very intelligent person pic.twitter.com/x2sYu4tYV2
"Your show is fantastic," Trump to Lou Dobbs. He added that he watches the program "absolutely almost all the time." Dobbs returned the compliment, calling Trump “one of the most loved and respected” presidents "in history." (Newsweek)
Trump has given Fox News 19 interviews since his inauguration. No other media outlet comes close to Fox's level of access. Here's the current score: Fox (19), New York Times (4), NBC News (3), Reuters (3), Wall Street Journal (2), Christian Broadcasting Network (2), ABC News (1), CBS News (1), Washington Post (1), Associated Press (1), Time (1), Forbes (1). (CNN / Politico)
8/ Trump delayed the release of classified documents related to John F. Kennedy's assassination, but approved the immediate release of 2,800 of the 35,000 documents by the National Archives. The rest will remain secret, due to national security concerns by the CIA, FBI and other federal agencies. The intelligence agencies have 180-days to re-review their reasons for keeping the records redacted. The files are the final batch to be released under a 1992 law that ordered the government to make all remaining documents related to the assassination public. While flying to Dallas's Love Field, Trump tweeted that the "long anticipated release" of the files will take place today – the same airport where Kennedy landed just before he was shot. Trump described the files as "so interesting!" (Associated Press / NPR / Washington Post)
The long anticipated release of the #JFKFiles will take place tomorrow. So interesting!
How to Read the JFK Assassination Files. The government is releasing thousands of long-secret files on Kennedy’s murder. Here are some tips for making sense of all the code names, redactions and confusing jargon. (Politico)
poll/ Democratic candidates lead by 15 points in a hypothetical matchup for the 2018 midterm elections. 50 percent of respondents said that if the election for Congress were held today, they would vote for the Democratic candidate. Only 35 percent said they would vote for a Republican. (The Hill)
poll/ 53% of military officers said they have an unfavorable view of Trump. 40% of all troops have an unfavorable view of Trump. (Military Times)
1/ Senate Republicans repealed a rule that allowed Americans to sue their banks and credit card companies in class-action lawsuits. Senators passed the measure by a vote of 50-50, with Pence breaking the tie. The Obama-era rule banned Wall Street banks and credit card companies from inserting arbitration clauses into contracts that prevented consumers from banding together to bring class-action lawsuits. Democrats and consumer advocates called the effort a gift to financial institutions like Wells Fargo and Equifax. (New York Times / CNN)
Tonight @VP Pence & the @SenateGOP gave a giant wet kiss to Wall Street. No wonder Americans think the system is rigged against them. It is.
2/ Business is booming for a private prison company after it contributed to Trump's campaign and moved its company meetings, dinner receptions, and golf outings to Trump National Doral. GEO Group, through a company subsidiary, gave $225,000 to a pro-Trump super PAC and an additional $250,000 to Trump's inaugural committee. It also hired two former aides to Jeff Sessions as outside lobbyists. In exchange, Sessions reversed an Obama-era directive to stop using private prisons, which allowed the company to secure a deal with the government in April worth tens of millions a year. GEO's stock price has tripled since last year. (Washington Post)
3/ Foreign steel imports are up 24% since Trump's "Buy American" pledge. In particular, a Russian steel company has won several pipeline contracts, including the Keystone XL. The biggest shareholder in Evraz North America is an oligarch and Trump family friend. (Bloomberg)
4/ Rick Perry claimed Obama discriminated against the coal and nuclear industries. Perry has proposed rewarding nuclear and coal fired power plants that store 90 days of fuel on site for contributing to the reliability of the power grid. Natural gas producers, renewable energy generators, and public utilities – who rarely agree on anything – have asked regulators to reject the proposal, arguing that the approach would distort markets, inhibit competition, and raise consumer prices. (Reuters / Bloomberg)
5/ The House Ways and Means Committee chairman declined to rule out changes to 401(k) plans despite Trump's promise that there would be "NO change" as part of tax reform. Kevin Brady said he's working with Trump and "we think in tax reform we can create incentives for people to save more and save sooner." Brady will introduce his tax bill when the House passes a budget. Orrin Hatch, the top tax writer in the Senate, also declined to agree with Trump’s vow to protect 401(k) plans. (Washington Post / NBC News)
There will be NO change to your 401(k). This has always been a great and popular middle class tax break that works, and it stays!
6/ The head of Cambridge Analytica tried to work with Wikileaks to find Hillary Clinton’s 33,000 deleted emails. Alexander Nix, whose firm worked for Trump’s campaign, wrote an email to Julian Assange asking if the two could work together to find and release Clinton's emails. Assange replied that he didn't want Nix's help. (The Daily Beast)
7/ Paul Manafort is facing a third money laundering probe. The Manhattan US attorney's office is working in collaboration with special counsel Robert Mueller's investigation to look at Trump's former campaign chairman. The state of New York also has its own money laundering investigation going. (Wall Street Journal)
8/ CBO Score: The bipartisan health care bill would reduce the deficit by nearly $4 billion over 10 years. If the insurer subsidies aren't funded, however, the federal deficit would increase by $194 billion by 2026. (The Hill)
A judge rejected a request by Democratic attorneys general in 18 states to block Trump's decision to end subsidy payments to health insurers under the Affordable Care Act. U.S. District Judge Vince Chhabria in San Francisco said the government does not have to make the payments while litigation over the subsidies unfolds. (Reuters)
9/ The FCC will roll back media consolidation rules designed to preserve media diversity in local markets. FCC Chairman Ajit Pai's plan will eliminate a 1975 rule that prevented a single company from owning a TV station and newspaper in the same market. Critics say the move will lead to greater media consolidation and the loss of independent voices, while Pai said it would help struggling media outlets in the age of digital consumption. The FCC could also eliminate a rule that prevents TV stations from merging in the same market in order to ensure a variety of perspectives on the air. (Washington Post / Reuters)
poll/ 56% of voters think Trump is reckless. 35% say Trump is honest. (Politico)
poll/ 64% of Americans support legalizing marijuana, including 51% of Republicans. The Trump administration said February that it viewed recreational marijuana use as a flagrant violation of federal law. (Gallup)
1/ The Clinton campaign and the DNC helped fund research that resulted in the Trump dossier. A lawyer representing the Clinton campaign and the DNC retained Fusion GPS in April 2016 to conduct the research. Prior to that agreement, Fusion GPS’s research into Trump was funded by a still unknown Republican client during the GOP primary. (Washington Post)
2/ The firm behind the Trump dossier asked a judge to block the House Intelligence Committee from obtaining its bank records. Fusion GPS argues that the committee's subpoena threatens the First Amendment rights of the journalists who compiled the dossier by revealing the identities of clients who sought political research from the firm, and poses an "existential threat" to the company. (Politico)
3/ Two House panels opened a joint investigation into the Justice Department's actions during the 2016 campaign. The House Judiciary Committee and the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee Chairman said their investigation will look at FBI decisions regarding Hillary Clinton’s handling of classified information and the FBI's investigation into Trump campaign associates. (Reuters / Politico)
4/ Rematch: The feud between Trump and Bob Corker was relit ahead of the president's critical meeting with Senate Republicans on taxes after Corker appeared on both NBC's "Today" show and ABC's "Good Morning America." He said Trump should "step aside" from tax reform, stop "kneecap[ing] your secretary of state," and "leave it to the professionals for a while and see if we can do something that's constructive for our country."
Trump tweeted that Corker was trying to stymie his agenda, called him a "lightweight," and charged that Corker "couldn't get elected dog catcher in Tennessee" – whatever that means. Corker replied on Twitter: "Same untruths from an utterly untruthful president. #AlertTheDaycareStaff."
Then, in an interview with CNN, Corker escalated his criticism, calling Trump a serial liar, saying he regretted supporting him for president, accused him of debasing the country, and refused to say whether he trusted Trump with the nuclear codes. In an interview with ABC News, Corker stopped short of calling Trump a liar. Instead, he characterized Trump as "utterly untruthful."
Sen. Bob Corker doubles down on Trump critique; on North Korea "I would like him to leave it to the Professionals for a while" pic.twitter.com/ArgbRTxhnB
Paul Ryan: people should ignore the "Twitter this and Twitter that" and focus on the legislative actions taken by Congress. "So all this stuff you see on a daily basis on Twitter this and Twitter that, forget about it," Ryan said. "Let's focus on helping people, improving people's lives, and doing what we said we would do that accomplishes that. That's what we're focused on." (Business Insider)
5/ Jeff Flake announced that will not run for re-election, saying he "will no longer be complicit or silent" in the face of Trump's "reckless, outrageous and undignified" behavior. The Republican senator delivered a 17-minute speech on the Senate floor less than an hour after Trump met with Republicans for lunch, saying the "stability of the entire world [is] routinely threatened by the level of thought that goes into 140 characters" and to "do nothing in the face of such mercurial behavior is ahistoric" and "profoundly misguided." (New York Times / CNN)
The full transcript of Jeff Flake’s retirement speech. “None of this is normal,” Flake said. “And what do we, as United States senators, have to say about it? The principles that underlie our politics, the values of our founding, are too vital to our identity and survival to allow them to be compromised by the requirements of politics, because politics can make us silent when we should speak and silence can equal complicity.” (Vox)
6/ Mitch McConnell and John McCain praised Flake's speech, while Sarah Huckabee Sanders characterized it as "petty," adding: "I don't think Sen Flake’s language was befitting of the Senate floor." (The Hill / CNN)
7/ A two-person Montana utility company linked to the Trump administration won a $300 million contract to repair Puerto Rico's electrical infrastructure. The private-equity firm that finances Whitefish Energy was founded by Joe Colonnetta, who contributed $20,000 to the Trump Victory PAC during the general election, $2,700 to Trump’s primary election campaign, $2,700 to Trump’s general election campaign, and a total of $30,700 to the Republican National Committee in 2016. Whitefish Energy is also located in the hometown of Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke, who is friends with the Whitefish CEO Andy Techmanski. (Washington Post / The Daily Beast)
Zinke funneled millions to questionable PACs. The Interior secretary has helped raise money for political operatives that some Republicans accuse of collecting donations from conservative voters while doing little for their cause. (Politico)
8/ Trump has personally attacked 1 in 5 Republican senators: Bob Corker, Ted Cruz, Jeff Flake, Lindsey Graham, Dean Heller, John McCain, Mitch McConnell, Lisa Murkowski, Rand Paul, Marco Rubio, and Ben Sasse have all drawn Trump's ire. Republicans hold a 52-48 advantage in the Senate and can only afford to lose two votes on any piece of legislation. (CNN)
9/ Trump's personal lawyer met with the House Intelligence Committee today. Michael Cohen emailed Putin's spokesman, Dmitry Peskov, during the presidential campaign seeking help getting a Trump Tower built in Moscow. Peskov said he never responded to the email. (NBC News)
10/ The Trump administration will allow refugees admission from all countries, but with new rules to better vet applicants. Refugee admissions had been halted in June for 120 days as part of Trump's travel ban. The administration will now collect more personal data, such as names of family members and places of employment, as well as mine social media posts. (Wall Street Journal)
poll/ 55% of white Americans believe they face discrimination, although only 19% of white people say they have been personally discriminated against when apply for a job. (NPR)
poll/ 35% of Americans feel that diversity initiatives have left out white men. Of that group, 62% said they thought white men were missing promotions and other advancement opportunities. (Washington Post)
1/ Betsy DeVos rescinded 72 guidelines that protect the rights of disabled students under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act and the Rehabilitation Act. The Department of Education called the policies "outdated, unnecessary, or ineffective." During her confirmation hearing in January, DeVos said she was "confused" about the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act when asked whether she supported it. DeVos said she thought it was best "left to the states," but "is certainly worth discussion." (Washington Post / VICE News)
Stunning: Maggie Hassan (who has a disabled son) realizes that DeVos doesn't know the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act exists. pic.twitter.com/ht2dK9iqL8
2/ Congress let funding for the Children’s Health Insurance Program expire 23 days ago. The program's budget lapsed on September 1st, which provides low-cost health insurance to 9 million children. While there is no evidence that any children have lost coverage, there are roughly 4 million CHIP enrollees living in states whose programs are at risk of losing coverage. (Vox / Politico)
3/ Trump rush-shipped condolence letters to military families last week after he falsely claimed he had called or written letters to "virtually all" of the families. Four families of fallen soldiers received next-day UPS letters from Trump two days after Trump told the widow of a fallen soldier "he knew what he signed up for." (The Atlantic)
4/ Trump "stumbl[ed] on my husband's name" in his condolence call to the widow of the fallen soldier. Myeshia Johnson told "Good Morning America" she was "very angry at the tone of [Trump's] voice and couldn't remember my husband's name" during the same call where Trump said the solider "knew what he signed up for." Trump defended himself on Twitter, saying: "I had a very respectful conversation with the widow of Sgt. La David Johnson, and spoke his name from beginning, without hesitation!" (ABC News / NPR / Washington Post)
5/ Senators didn't know there were 1,000 troops in Niger. Lindsey Graham, who sits on the Senate Armed Services Committee, said "I didn’t know there was a thousand troops in Niger" when asked about whether Congress needed to vote on an Authorization of Use of Military Force for the mission that left four Green Berets dead. He added: "The military determines who the threats are, they come up with the engagement policy and if we don’t like what the military does, we can defund the operation." Chuck Schumer also admitted that he didn't know about the number of troops in Niger. (The Daily Beast)
6/ Trump dismissed the House Republicans' plan to limit 401(k) contributions as part of their effort to rewrite the tax code. The plan could cap pre-tax 401(k) contributions at $2,400 annually. "There will be NO change to your 401(k)," Trump tweeted. "This has always been a great and popular middle class tax break that works, and it stays!" (Reuters / New York Times)
There will be NO change to your 401(k). This has always been a great and popular middle class tax break that works, and it stays!
Republicans on the House Ways and Means Committee are considering retaining the income tax rate for people who earn $1 million or more per year. The current thinking is that people who earn between $418,000 and $999,999 will have their tax rate reduced from 39.6% to 35%, but those earning $1 million or more will not. (Axios)
Ivanka Trump characterized the Republicans' tax reform plan as good for working middle-class families. "For me this tax plan really couples two things that are really core values as a country, which is work and supporting the American family," Ivanka said. "We have to support the American worker, we have to create jobs, we have to create growth, but we also have to support that American worker’s family." (Politico)
7/ The EPA blocked three agency scientists from discussing climate change at a conference. The scientists contributed substantial material to a 400-page report about how climate change is affecting air and water temperatures, precipitation, sea level and fish in and around the Narragansett Bay estuary. The EPA helped fund the report. (New York Times)
Scott Pruitt's security detail is adding a dozen more agents as the number of threats against the EPA head has increased "four to five times." Pruitt has also purchased a secure soundproof communications booth for his office at a cost of nearly $25,000, even though similar rooms already exist at the EPA. Congress has said the costs are a "potential waste or abuse of taxpayer dollars" and that "taxpayer funds are being misused." (CNN)
8/ Trump's digital director will meet with the House Intelligence Committee about Russian meddling in last year’s election. It will be Brad Parscale’s first interview with any of the committees investigating the matter. Parscale claimed that Facebook, Google, and Twitter employees were "embedded" inside the Trump campaign. (Reuters)
Special Counsel Robert Mueller is investigating a Democratic lobbying firm about whether it violated the Foreign Agents Registration Act. Tony Podesta (the brother of John Podesta) and the Podesta Group had worked on a campaign that Paul Manafort had organized to promote the Ukraine's image in the West. John Podesta is not currently affiliated with the Podesta Group and is not part of Mueller's investigation. (NBC News)
9/ Trump will spend at least $430,000 of his own money to cover the legal costs his aides have incurred related to the Russia investigation. The RNC has paid roughly $430,000 to lawyers representing Trump and Trump Jr. The White House said Trump has pledged to spend the same amount, from his personal finances, "to defray the costs of legal fees for his associates, including former and current White House aides." (Axios / Washington Post)
10/ The State Department revoked the visa of a Putin critic after Russia placed Bill Browder on Interpol's wanted list. Browder was responsible for the Magnitsky Act, a law aimed at punishing Russian officials believed responsible for the death in a Moscow prison of Sergei Magnitsky. In response to the Magnitsky Act, Russia cut off the US adoption of Russian children, which was the premise for the Trump Tower meeting between the Russian lawyer and representatives of the Trump campaign. (NPR / The Guardian / The Hill)
UPDATE:
The US rejected Russia's criminal complaint against Browder and allowed him into the country. The initial action blocking Browder had been taken automatically in response to an Interpol notice filed against him by Russia and was not an affirmative action by the American government. (New York Times)
11/ Chuck Schumer said "all 48 Democrats" in the Senate are on board with the bipartisan health care deal. Mitch McConnell, meanwhile, said he would bring the Alexander-Murray bill to the floor if Trump signals that he would sign the legislation aimed at stabilizing health insurance markets. Last week Trump tweeted that he could never support the bill, which he characterized as "bailing out" insurance companies. (NBC News / Politico)
12/ Trump signed an executive order on Friday that would allow the Air Force to recall 1,000 retired pilots in order to address what the Pentagon says is a pilot shortage. The order amends a post-9/11 emergency declaration that allows the Air Force to recall pilots from retirement. The Air Force is currently short approximately 1,500 pilots. (The Hill / Washington Post)
The Air Force denied that it is preparing to put nuclear-armed bombers on 24-hour ready alert. On Sunday, it was reported that the Air Force could put its fleet of B-52 bombers on "a ready-to-fly posture" for the first time since 1991. An Air Force spokesperson said: "We are not planning or preparing to put B-52s on alert." (CNBC)
13/ Trump’s voter fraud commission has left Democratic members in the dark about what it’s doing. Two of the commission’s four Democrats have written letters to its executive director, asking for basic information such as when the panel might meet again, what kind of research is being conducted, and when it might send a report to Trump. (Washington Post)
poll/ 42% of voters approve of the job Trump is doing, while 58% disapprove. (The Hill)
1/ The Senate approved its budget by a 51 to 49 vote. The spending blueprint will allow Republicans to use a procedural maneuver to pass tax reform in the Senate with just 50 votes while avoiding a Democratic filibuster. The House and Senate need to pass identical budgets in order for Republicans to sidestep the Senate’s typical 60-vote threshold for passage. Trump tweeted: "We got ZERO Democrat votes with only Rand Paul (he will vote for Tax Cuts) voting against. This now allows for the passage of large scale Tax Cuts (and Reform), which will be the biggest in the history of our country!" (New York Times / Washington Post / Politico)
The Budget passed late last night, 51 to 49. We got ZERO Democrat votes with only Rand Paul (he will vote for Tax Cuts) voting against.....
2/ Trump falsely attributed a spike in UK crime to a "spread of Radical Islamic terror," tweeting that the 13% year-over-year increase in crime was "not good, we must keep America safe!" A report by the UK Office for National Statistics made no link between rising crime and terrorism, but instead showed a double-digit increases in violent crimes, such as gun crime, knife crime, and sexual offenses. (The Guardian)
Just out report: "United Kingdom crime rises 13% annually amid spread of Radical Islamic terror." Not good, we must keep America safe!
3/ Putin called on Americans to respect Trump. "Inside the country, disrespect is shown for him. This is a regrettable negative component of the U.S. political system," Putin said. He continued, saying that "Trump was elected by the American people. And at least for this reason, it is necessary to show respect for him, even if you do not agree with some of his positions." Putin's comments came the same day that U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley accused the Russian government of committing "warfare" against the United States. (The Hill)
4/ A federal judge refused to void Joe Arpaio’s conviction despite Trump's pardon. U.S. District Judge Susan Ritchie Bolton said Trump's pardon does not "revise the historical facts" of his case and that she will not vacate her ruling. Arpaio had been found guilty of criminal contempt of a federal court order for his failure to stop detaining individuals on the basis of their suspected immigration status. (NPR / Washington Post)
5/ The EPA removed from its website climate change resources that local governments used to address climate change, curb emissions, and devise strategies for adapting to weather extremes. An EPA spokesman said the resources have been archived and are available by searching through the agency’s archive. (New York Times)
6/ The FBI has joined the investigation into the ambush that left four Green Berets dead after the 12-member team was attacked by 50 ISIS fighters in Niger two weeks ago. Investigators are questioning whether US forces had adequate resources for what Defense Secretary Jim Mattis called an "unlikely" attack. A senior congressional aide characterized the ambush as a "massive intelligence failure."
The troops were engaged in a firefight for 30 minutes and relied on French military for air support, which made low-pass flyovers in an attempt to disperse the attackers. It did not have permission to drop bombs.
Private contractors used helicopters to evacuate the injured and dead, but Army Sgt. La David Johnson was somehow left behind for almost two days before his remains were found.
Trump waited nearly two weeks before mentioning the Niger incident, even though his staff had drafted a statement of condolence for him on October 5th. Some have asked if this is Trump's Benghazi.
Yesterday, John McCain threatened to use a Senate Armed Services Committee subpoena in order to get more information about the attack, which prompted Mattis to meet with McCain today.
Mattis said the "US military does not leave its troops behind," but did not provide additional details into why Johnson's body was initially left behind. (Wall Street Journal / CNN / Politico)
7/ Trump called a congresswoman "wacky" and said she told a "total lie" about his call to the widow of a solider killed in Niger. "The Fake News is going crazy with wacky Congresswoman Wilson(D), who was SECRETLY on a very personal call, and gave a total lie on content!" Trump tweeted. Frederica Wilson said Trump told the widow her husband "knew what he signed up for" in a condolence call. (Politico)
The Fake News is going crazy with wacky Congresswoman Wilson(D), who was SECRETLY on a very personal call, and gave a total lie on content!
1/ George W. Bush all but called Trump a threat to democracy, saying "bigotry seems emboldened. Our politics seems more vulnerable to conspiracy theories and outright fabrication." He called bigotry "blasphemy against the American creed" and that the "identity of our nation depends on the passing of civic ideals to the next generation." He did not mention Trump by name. (Politico / New York Times)
2/ Trump suggested that the Democratic Party, the FBI, or the Kremlin paid for the dossier alleging ties between him and the Russian government. "Workers of firm involved with the discredited and Fake Dossier take the 5th," Trump tweeted. "Who paid for it, Russia, the FBI or the Dems (or all)?" Two officials from Fusion GPS, the firm behind the dossier, invoked their Fifth Amendment rights against self-incrimination and refused to answer questions from the House Intelligence Committee yesterday. (Politico)
Workers of firm involved with the discredited and Fake Dossier take the 5th. Who paid for it, Russia, the FBI or the Dems (or all)?
3/ CIA Director Mike Pompeo falsely claimed Russian meddling didn't affect the election results. A US intelligence report released in January concluded that Moscow’s aims were to undermine the democratic process and help elect Trump. It did not reach a conclusion about whether meddling had altered the outcome, because the question was considered out of the scope of the report. (Washington Post / NBC News)
4/ Trump's former campaign manager met with the Senate Intelligence Committee for a closed-door interview. Corey Lewandowski said earlier this year that he did not have any contact with Russian officials, but if there was contact, it was made by Manafort or others on the campaign and Trump didn't know about it. (CNN)
Jeff Sessions declined to answer questions from the Senate Judiciary Committee about his conversations with Trump before he fired James Comey. As with his June testimony before the Senate Intelligence Committee, Sessions cited Trump's executive privilege for his refusal to answer questions. (New York Times)
5/ On November 1st, the general counsel for both Facebook and Twitter will testify before the House and Senate intelligence committees on Russia's use of technology to try to interfere with the 2016 presidential election. Google, which was also invited, has not said if it will send a representative to testify. (NBC News / The Hill)
The Internet Research Agency used Russian trolls to co-opt unwitting American activists to stoke fear and influence the election. Two online groups — BlackMattersUS and BlackFist — were among those used by Russian operators to encourage activists to help organize rallies, train in self-defense, and create music videos. In some cases, those activists even received financial support. (ABC News)
6/ John McCain and two Democratic senators will introduce a bill requiring Facebook, Google, and other internet companies to disclose who is purchasing political ads to the election commission. The tech industry has resisted previous efforts to mandate advertising disclosures, saying the ads on their platforms were too small to fit the disclaimers. (New York Times)
7/ Senate Republicans are set to pass their $4 trillion budget plan, which would serve as a vehicle for tax reform later this year without Democratic support. Trump endorsed the plan, tweeting that it is the "first step toward massive tax cuts" but suggested he's not confident of the measure's passage. "I think we have the votes, but who knows?" (ABC News / Fox News)
Republicans are going for the big Budget approval today, first step toward massive tax cuts. I think we have the votes, but who knows?
8/ John Kelly didn't know Trump would publicize that Obama didn't call when his son died. Kelly and the White House were caught off-guard by Trump using the death of Kelly's son to defend his handling of four soldiers killed in Niger. Kelly also defended Trump's condolence call to the widow of a fallen soldier where Trump said the solider "knew what he signed up for." (CNN / New York Times)
9/ Trump sent the $25,000 check to the fallen soldier's family the same day it was reported that he never did. The Washington Post reported that Trump had promised the soldier's father a personal donation during a June condolence call but had never followed through. (CNN)
10/ Trump gives himself 10/10 for his response to Puerto Rico, which he called "worse than Katrina." He said his administration has done "a really great job." 30% of the island doesn't have access to drinking water and 80% are still without power. (ABC News / HuffPost)
poll/ 42% of Americans think Trump will be remembered as one of worst presidents in history. 16% think Trump will be remembered as a below average leader. (Marist)
1/ Trump denied telling the widow of a fallen soldier "he knew what he signed up for," contradicting a Florida congresswoman who was with the woman at the time. "Basically, he said, 'Well, I guess he knew what he signed up for," Congresswoman Frederica Wilson said, recounting the conversation she heard on speakerphone. "But I guess it still hurt.' That's what he said."
Trump tweeted that the "Democrat Congresswoman totally fabricated what I said to the wife of a soldier who died in action (and I have proof)," raising questions about whether Trump tapes calls and conversations. Sarah Sanders said there is no recording of the call, adding that Wilson's conduct is "appalling and disgusting." The mother of the fallen soldier stood behind Wilson's account, saying that Trump "did disrespect" the family with his comments during the call. (Washington Post / ABC News / CNN)
Democrat Congresswoman totally fabricated what I said to the wife of a soldier who died in action (and I have proof). Sad!
2/ The White House had drafted a statement of sympathy following the ambush in Niger where four Green Berets were killed. Trump never issued the statement, which was circulated to the National Security Council and Defense Department. On Monday, Trump was asked why he had not spoken publicly about the deaths. He defended himself by saying he'd written letters, and then lied that Obama and other past presidents had never or rarely called the families of troops who died. (Politico)
3/ Trump offered a grieving military father $25,000 and said he would establish an online fundraiser for the family. Neither happened. The father said the White House sent a condolence letter from Trump instead. "I opened it up and read it, and I was hoping to see a check in there, to be honest," the father said. A White House spokesperson said "the check has been sent," adding that "It’s disgusting that the media is taking something that should be recognized as a generous and sincere gesture, made privately by the President, and using it to advance the media’s biased agenda." (Washington Post)
4/ Trump backed off his support for the bipartisan healthcare deal, tweeting he could never support legislation "bailing out" insurance companies "who have made a fortune" from Obamacare. The comment comes a day after Trump embraced the deal as "a short-term solution so that we don’t have this very dangerous little period." The chairman of the Senate health committee said Trump "completely engineered the plan" to fund subsidies for health insurers, but "wants to reserve his options." (New York Times / Wall Street Journal / Axios)
I am supportive of Lamar as a person & also of the process, but I can never support bailing out ins co's who have made a fortune w/ O'Care.
5/ Paul Ryan does not support the Alexander-Murray healthcare bill. Ryan's press secretary said "The speaker does not see anything that changes his view that the Senate should keep its focus on repeal and replace of Obamacare." (Axios)
6/ A second federal judge blocked Trump's latest travel ban attempt citing Trump's tweets as evidence the policy carries the same intent as his Muslim ban proposal. The Maryland judge granted a nationwide preliminary injunction against the latest iteration of the travel ban, following a similar order by a federal judge in Hawaii. District Court Judge Theodore Chuang said the administration had "not shown that national security cannot be maintained without an unprecedented eight-country travel ban." (Politico / Washington Post)
7/ Trump tweeted that James Comey had prematurely exonerated Hillary Clinton "long before [the] investigation was complete" into her private email use. The FBI released emails that indicate Comey had drafted a statement about ending the investigation two months before he announced he would not to seek charges. "Wow, FBI confirms report that James Comey drafted letter exonerating Crooked Hillary Clinton long before investigation was complete," Trump tweeted. "James Comey lied and leaked and totally protected Hillary Clinton." (Washington Post / Associated Press)
Wow, FBI confirms report that James Comey drafted letter exonerating Crooked Hillary Clinton long before investigation was complete. Many..
8/ Jeff Sessions appeared before the Senate Judiciary Committee and defended Trump's firing of James Comey. He linked the FBI director’s dismissal to his handling of the Hillary Clinton email server investigation. Sessions refused to discuss private conversations he had with Trump that led up to Comey’s firing. The attorney general also said he hasn't been interviewed by Special Counsel Robert Mueller, yet. (Associated Press)
9/ Democrats asked the chairman of the House oversight committee to subpoena the White House for documents related to Michael Flynn and his company the Flynn Intel Group. "[T]he White House has been openly defying this Committee’s bipartisan request for documents regarding General Flynn for months without any assertion of privilege of any kind," 18 Democrats wrote in a 10-page letter to Trey Gowdy. "We believe that this paper trail must be pursued to answer the gravest questions of all — did General Flynn seek to change the course of our country’s national security to benefit the private interests he previously promoted?" A Gowdy aide said he was reviewing whether the White House’s limited response to previously inquiries was sufficient. (Politico)
10/ An exiled Russian oligarch believes Putin tried to collaborate with the Trump campaign. "I am almost convinced that Putin's people have tried to influence the U.S. election in some way," Mikhail Khodorkovsky said. He added that the Russian banker Jared Kushner met with last December was not "acting on his own behalf." (NBC News)
11/ Several Republicans have called for the three congressional Russia investigations to end this year. The GOP members contend that the Democrats on a fishing expedition, which Trump has called a "witch hunt." Democrats say they don't want to rush testimony from witnesses. (CNN)
12/ A federal judge ordered the Trump administration to allow an undocumented teenager to get an abortion. The pregnant teenager, who was apprehended crossing the border from Mexico illegally last month, was being held in a federally funded shelter in South Texas where Trump administration officials had prevented the shelter from allowing her to travel to an abortion provider. The judge said she was “astounded” at the government’s position that the teen’s only options were to either carry the unwanted pregnancy to term or go back to her home country. (BuzzFeed News / Washington Post)
poll/ 46% of voters believe the news media fabricates stories about Trump and his administration. 76% of Republican voters think the news media invents stories about Trump compared to 65% of Democrats who think the news media does not. (Politico)
poll/ 52% of Americans oppose Trump's recent tax reform proposal while 34% say they support the plan. The tax plan would consolidate the number of tax rates from seven to three: 12%, 25% and 35%. The plan would also increase the standard deduction, increase the child tax credit, repeal the alternative minimum tax, and drop the corporate tax rate to 20%, which could increase the deficit by $1.5 trillion over 10 years. (CNN)
1/ John McCain condemned Trump's "America First" policy as "half-baked, spurious nationalism" and charged that Trump would "rather find scapegoats than solve problems." McCain's remarks came as he was honored with the Liberty Medal by the National Constitution Center. While he didn't refer to Trump or his administration by name, McCain added that it's unpatriotic to "abandon the ideals we have advanced around the globe" and to "refuse the obligations of international leadership." (CNN / Washington Post)
2/ Trump warned McCain "to be careful because at some point I fight back," adding that "I’m being very, very nice but at some point I fight back and it won’t be pretty." McCain’s response: "I have faced tougher adversaries." (Associated Press)
3/ Trump falsely claimed that Obama didn't call the families of troops killed in the line of duty. "If you look at President Obama and other presidents, most of them didn’t make calls," Trump said in response to a question about why he had not publicly acknowledged the four Green Berets killed in an ambush in Niger two weeks ago. "A lot of them didn’t make calls. I like to call when it’s appropriate."
Obama’s former aides were quick to respond: Eric Holder tweeted that Trump needs to "Stop the damn lying - you’re the President." And Benjamin Rhodes, a former deputy national security adviser, called Trump's claim an "outrageous and disrespectful lie even by Trump standards." Trump offered no evidence to back up his claim. (New York Times / Reuters)
Stop the damn lying - you’re the President. I went to Dover AFB with 44 and saw him comfort the families of both the fallen military & DEA. pic.twitter.com/HhE4KbTBkJ
4/ Trump told reporters to ask John Kelly if Obama called him after his son died in Afghanistan. "As far as other presidents," Trump said, "I don't know, you could ask Gen. Kelly, did he get a call from Obama? I don't know what Obama's policy was." He added that "I really speak for myself. I am not speaking for other people. I don't know what (George W.) Bush did. I don't know what Obama did." Kelly's son died after he stepped on a landmine in 2010. (CNN)
A senior White House official said John Kelly "did not receive a call" from Obama after his son was killed in Afghanistan. Kelly and his wife, however, attended a 2011 White House event for Gold Star families, and sat at Michelle Obama's table. (Axios)
5/ Senators have agreed "in principle" to a bipartisan deal to fund subsidies for health insurers and stabilize insurance markets under the Affordable Care Act. Trump had threatened to cut off the payments which lower out-of-pocket costs for low-income consumers. The deal will fund subsidies for two years, providing short-term certainty to insurers. (New York Times / ABC News)
6/ Putin's "chef" is believed to have financed the Russian "troll factory" that used social media to spread fake news during the 2016 US presidential campaign. Yevgeny Prigozhin is a Russian oligarch and the main backer of the St. Petersburg-based Internet Research Agency. A declassified assessment by US intelligence concluded in January that the "likely financier of the so-called Internet Research Agency of professional trolls located in Saint Petersburg is a close Putin ally with ties to Russian intelligence." It did not name Prigozhin directly. Prigozhin was at one point, allegedly, Putin's "personal chef," in addition to having catering contracts with Russia's armed forces. He also once served caviar and truffles to George W. Bush during a summit in St. Petersburg. (CNN)
7/ Sean Spicer met with Robert Mueller's team on Monday for an interview that lasted most of the day. Spicer was asked about the firing of former FBI director James Comey, his statements regarding the firing, and Trump’s meetings with Russians officials, including Sergei Lavrov in the Oval Office. (Politico)
8/ The Senate Intelligence Committee subpoenaed Carter Page as part of its investigation into Russia meddling in the 2016 election. Page previously said he would not cooperate and would invoke his Fifth Amendment rights and refuse to answer questions. (NBC News)
9/ The Senate Intelligence Committee has requested documents and testimony from Michael Flynn's son. They have not received a response yet. Michael G. Flynn was involved in the day-to-day operations of Flynn Intel Group and served as his father's chief of staff. The committee could issue a subpoena if he doesn’t comply, but he would likely assert his right against self-incrimination under the Fifth Amendment. The younger Flynn is also the subject of Robert Mueller's criminal and counterintelligence investigation. (NBC News)
The content ad network Outbrain is investigating whether Russian ads or other forms of election tampering took place on its service during the 2016 election. Outbrain reaches more than 550 million visitors per month via content recommendation modules on websites of publishers such as CNN, People, and ESPN. Outbrain is “currently conducting a thorough investigation specific to election tampering and continue[s] to monitor our index,” the company said in a statement. (BuzzFeed News)
10/ A federal judge in Hawaii has blocked Trump's third attempt to implement his travel ban, which was set to go into effect Wednesday. The order was found to discriminate on the basis of nationality. Judges said the two earlier attempts were motivated by bias against Muslims. (Bloomberg / Axios)
11/ Trump's nominee for drug czar has withdrawn his name from consideration after it was reported the lawmaker guided legislation in Congress that made it harder for the DEA to act against giant drug companies. "Rep.Tom Marino has informed me that he is withdrawing his name from consideration as drug czar," Trump tweeted. "Tom is a fine man and a great Congressman!" (CBS News / Washington Post)
Rep.Tom Marino has informed me that he is withdrawing his name from consideration as drug czar. Tom is a fine man and a great Congressman!
12/ The EPA issued new guidelines that claim higher radiation levels "usually" pose "no harmful health effects." The change is part of the EPA's "guidance" on messaging and communications in the event of a nuclear power plant meltdown or dirty bomb attack, and sets a level of acceptable radiation ten times the drinking water standard for radiation recommended under Obama. A 2007 version of the same document said that no level of radiation is safe and concluded that "the current body of scientific knowledge tells us this." (Bloomberg)
13/ Scott Pruitt directed the EPA to stop settling lawsuits with environmental groups behind closed doors, saying the groups have had too much influence on regulation. Pruitt sued the agency he now runs more than a dozen times while he was the attorney general of Oklahoma. The practice of "sue and settle" is used by green groups to push the EPA to speed up regulation on issues such as air and water pollution, as well as climate change. (Reuters)
14/ A group of 18 Democratic attorneys general are suing Betsy DeVos over the Education Department's refusal to enforce regulation meant to protect students from predatory career college programs. DeVos froze an Obama-era rule called "gainful employment." The rule would have cut off federal financial aid funding from for-profit colleges that leave students with low incomes and massive debt. (BuzzFeed News / The Hill)
poll/ 46% of American believe things in the country are going well, down from 53% in August. Trump's approval stands at 37% with 57% who disapprove – almost identical to his approval rating in late September. (CNN)
1/ Mitch McConnell and Trump met for lunch today after Steve Bannon called for a "season of war" against the Senate majority leader and the rest of the GOP establishment. Bannon compared McConnell to Julius Caesar and vowed to challenge any Senate Republican who doesn’t publicly condemn attacks on Trump. “Yeah, Mitch, the donors are not happy. They’ve all left you. We’ve cut your oxygen off,” Bannon said. (Politico / The Guardian / CNN)
2/ After his meeting with McConnell, Trump said they are "closer than ever before." Trump also said he would try to talk Bannon out of declaring war on "some" of his primary targets saying, "I'm going to see if we can talk him out of that, because I think they're great people." (Axios / CNN)
3/ Rex Tillerson refused to answer whether he called Trump a "moron," dismissing the question as the "petty stuff" of Washington. Meanwhile, Trump tweeted that Tillerson "is wasting his time" trying to talk with North Korea, and Bob Corker charged that Trump had "publicly castrate[d]" him. "I checked," Tillerson said, "I’m fully intact." (Washington Post / NBC News)
The next CIA director could be Tom Cotton if Trump replaces Tillerson with current CIA Director Mike Pompeo. (Axios)
4/ Robert Mueller’s team interviewed Reince Priebus. The former chief of staff was present for many key moments, including Trump's efforts to limit questions about Russian meddling in the election and the discussions that led to James Comey’s firing. (Washington Post)
5/ Paul Manafort's financial ties to a Russian oligarch total around $60 million over the past decade. Previously unreported documents revealed a $26 million loan between a Manafort-linked company and Oleg Deripaska, a billionaire with close ties to the Kremlin. (NBC News)
6/ Trump said that Pence "wants to hang" all gay people. The comment, an apparent joke, came after a legal scholar told the two that if the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade, many states would legalize abortion on their own. "You see? You've wasted all this time and energy on it, and it's not going to end abortion anyway," Trump said to Pence. The conversation then turned to gay rights and Trump motioned toward Pence and said, "Don’t ask that guy—he wants to hang them all!" (The New Yorker)
Jeff Sessions sent a federal hate crimes lawyer to help prosecute a man charged with murdering a transgender high school student. Sessions has spoken out against same-sex marriage, voted against expanding federal hate crimes laws to protect transgender people, directed the Justice Department to no longer protects gay or transgender people from workplace discrimination, and reversed a policy encouraging schools to let transgender students use bathrooms that fit their gender identities. (New York Times)
7/ Trump's top allies aren't sure if he realizes his feuds with Republicans and lack of legislative wins are putting his presidency at risk. Top White House aides, lawmakers, donors, and political consultants have privately wondered if Trump grasps that losing the House next year could bring on new subpoenas, an intense focus on the Russia investigation, and possible impeachment proceedings. (CNN)
8/ Eighteen states sued the Trump administration to stop him from scrapping subsidies to insurers that help millions of low-income people pay medical expenses. Trump said he would dismantle the Affordable Care Act "step by step," which prompted Adam Schiff to tweet that "Trump is the worst President in modern history," accusing him of "deliberately undermining people’s health care out of spite." The 18 states and District of Columbia are asking the court to force Trump to make the next payment, but legal experts say they face an uphill battle in court. (Reuters / The Hill)
ObamaCare is a broken mess. Piece by piece we will now begin the process of giving America the great HealthCare it deserves!
Latest reason why President Trump is the worst President in modern history: Deliberately undermining people’s health care out of spite. https://t.co/mh9JXLYJp7
poll/ 66% think it is more important for Trump and Congress to work to improve the ACA marketplaces rather than continue their efforts to repeal and replace the 2010 health care law. (Kaiser Health Tracking Poll)
9/ Steven Mnuchin: repealing the estate tax "disproportionately helps rich people." The Treasury secretary's concession contradicts what Trump said about the estate tax last month: "To protect millions of small businesses and the American farmer, we are finally ending the crushing, the horrible, the unfair estate tax, or as it is often referred to, the death tax." (New York Times)
9/ A woman who said Trump groped her has subpoenaed his campaign for documents about "any woman alleging that Donald J. Trump touched her inappropriately." Trump has denied her accusations and is fighting the subpoena, calling the accusations "lies, lies, lies." Trump's lawyers have sought to have the suit by the former "The Apprentice" contestant dismissed or at least delayed until he is out of office. (BuzzFeed News / NBC News)
10/ The firm behind the Trump dossier is objecting to subpoenas issued by the House Intelligence Committee to the partners who run Fusion GPS and questioned whether Chairman Devin Nunes, who recused himself from the investigation earlier this year, was authorized to issue them. The firm claims the subpoenas violate the First Amendment and would “chill” future opposition research. A lawyer for Fusion GPS called the subpoenas "a clear abuse of power" that were "designed to obfuscate the facts and conjure up rank conspiracy theories at the behest of the president and his most obsequious allies in Congress." (Bloomberg)
11/ Trump will declare a national opioid crisis next week and will be "looking into" his drug czar nominee after it was reported that Tom Marino helped guide legislation that weakened the DEA's ability to go after drug distributors, even as opioid-related deaths continued to rise. The law makes it very difficult for the DEA to stop suspicious drug distribution companies supplying doctors and pharmacists who sell narcotics to the black market. The drug industry worked behind the scenes with lobbyists and members of Congress, pouring more than a million dollars into their election campaigns. (Washington Post)
poll/ 58% of Americans believe the current reforms being discussed would favor the rich, while 18% think they would favor the middle class and 19% feel the changes would treat all equally. (CBS News)
1/ Trump will cut off essential subsidy payments to Affordable Care Act insurers. The subsidies are used to pay out-of-pocket costs for low-income people and represent an estimated $7 billion this year. A White House statement directed Congress to "repeal and replace the disastrous Obamacare law and provide real relief to the American people" because "the government cannot lawfully make the cost-sharing reduction payments." Trump said the ACA was "imploding" and called it a "broken mess" in a pair of tweets. Chuck Schumer and Nancy Pelosi responded, saying Trump had “apparently decided to punish the American people for his inability to improve our health care system.” Nearly 6 million enrollees qualify for the cost-sharing payments this year. (Politico / New York Times / CNN)
The Democrats ObamaCare is imploding. Massive subsidy payments to their pet insurance companies has stopped. Dems should call me to fix!
2/ Insurers pushed back against Trump's decision to cut the ACA's cost-sharing reduction subsidies. “This action will make it harder for patients to access the care they need. Costs will go up and choices will be restricted,” the Blue Cross Blue Shield Association and America’s Health Insurance Plans said in a joint statement. “These benefits help real people every day, and if they are ended, there will be real consequences." (The Hill)
3/ New York and California threatened to sue the Trump administration over health care subsidies the White House said it would cut off. "Again and again, President Trump has threatened to cut off these subsidies to undermine our healthcare system and force Congress to the negotiating table," New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman said in a statement. He added that Trump is using people as "political pawns in his dangerous, partisan campaign to eviscerate the Affordable Care Act at any cost." (The Hill)
4/ Trump will not certify Iran’s compliance with the nuclear agreement, but won't immediately withdraw from the 2015 accord. Trump put the onus on Congress to amend the law and establish “trigger points,” which could be used to impose new sanctions on Iran to address continued ballistic missile development, alleged support for terrorist groups in Lebanon, Yemen and elsewhere, and more. Trump threatened to terminate the deal if Congress is not able to reach a solution. (New York Times / Associated Press / Washington Post)
5/ The background check chief said he has "never seen [the] level of mistakes" Jared Kushner made on his security clearance application. Kushner's initial SF-86 form did not mention any foreign contacts. He updated the form in the spring, listing about 100 contacts, but omitted the June 2016 meeting with the Russian lawyer, Trump Jr., and Paul Manafort. He updated the SF-86 forms once more in June to include that meeting. (CNN)
6/ Twitter's privacy policy required it to delete data relevant to the Russia probe. Whenever a user removes a tweet, promotion, or account, Twitter is obligated to also delete that data from its servers. Because Russian operatives immediately erase all of their digital footprint, a substantial amount of valuable information held by Twitter has been lost. Twitter engineers are trying to determine what data is recoverable. (Politico)
7/ Facebook removed thousands of posts from public view that were linked to the Russian disinformation campaign. The data was deleted a day after researcher Jonathan Albright published a report showing that the reach of the Russian campaign was at least twice what Facebook had said. Facebook claimed it simply fixed a "bug," which allowed researchers to access cached information from inactive Facebook Pages. (Washington Post)
8/ Trump nominated a climate change skeptic to lead the White House’s environmental policy board. While a fellow at the Texas Public Policy Foundation, Kathleen Hartnett White led a project to "explain the forgotten moral case for fossil fuels." She's written that carbon dioxide is the gas "that makes life possible on the earth and naturally fertilizes plant growth" and that "global warming alarmists are misleading the public about carbon dioxide emissions." She's called the Obama administration’s environmental initiatives a "deluded and illegitimate battle against climate change." Her TPPF fellowship received funding from the fossil fuel industry. (The Hill)
9/ Trump will extend the March 5th DACA deadline if Congress fails to pass legislation before then. Trump told Senator James Lankford that he was willing to “give it some more time” to allow lawmakers to find a solution for "dreamers." There are currently 690,000 young people with DACA status. (Washington Post)
10/ The Pentagon and FEMA accidentally included a reporter on their email chain about how to "spin" the Puerto Rico recovery effort. They suggested saying 'the federal government’s full attention is on Hurricane Maria response' to combat what San Juan Mayor Carmen Yulín Cruz characterized as a 'people-are-dying story.'" FEMA was told to stress its success in reaching "all municipalities in Puerto Rico" in response to Trump attacking the San Juan mayor for "poor leadership ability." (Bloomberg)
quotables/ A selection of quotes from Trump's speech at the Values Voter Summit:
My presidency is "substantially ahead of schedule" and he is making "tremendous strides" against ISIS, the Iran nuclear deal, tax reform, and repealing the Affordable Care Act. (Politico)
I'm "returning moral clarity to our view of the world" and ending "attacks on Judeo-Christian values." (CNN)
It's almost Christmas but "people don’t talk about [it] anymore. They don’t use the word Christmas because it’s not politically correct […] well guess what? We’re saying merry Christmas again." (The Hill)
1/ Trump signed an executive order eliminating some Affordable Care Act insurance rules for small businesses that band together to buy health insurance as an association. The order will also lift limits on limited coverage, short-term insurance, and expand ways workers could use employer-funded accounts to buy their own insurance policies. Critics say that by relaxing standards, Trump would be creating low-cost insurance options for healthier, younger consumers, which would result in higher costs for the sick and potentially destabilize and undermine the ACA insurance marketplace. (New York Times / Washington Post / Wall Street Journal)
How Trump’s executive order undermines the Affordable Care Act. Trump is asking federal agencies to look for ways to expand the use of association health plans, groups of small businesses that pool together to buy health insurance, and to broaden the definition of short-term insurance, which is exempt from the Affordable Care Act’s rules. (Vox)
2/ Trump on NAFTA: "We’ll see what happens." Justin Trudeau visited the White House yesterday in hopes of seeking a “fairer trade” deal between the United States, Canada, and Mexico. The US Chamber of Commerce president said that abandoning the agreement would pose an “existential threat” to the continent’s national and economic security. Trudeau told members of the House Ways and Means Committee that he was worried about “poison pills,” proposals the US might make that were designed to kill, not repair, the NAFTA agreement. Trump has called NAFTA a "disaster" and that "NAFTA will have to be terminated if we’re going to make it good. Otherwise, I believe you can’t negotiate a good deal." (Washington Post)
3/ European allies and Republicans are pressuring Trump to preserve the Iran nuclear deal. Trump is expected to decertify the nuclear deal tomorrow, despite his own cabinet saying that Iran has abided by the deal. Lawmakers have remained largely in the dark about what Trump's ultimate plan is. Congress, however, will have 60 days to pass legislation to reimpose sanctions on Iran if Trump decertifies the deal. Trump was reportedly "incensed" by the arguments Rex Tillerson and Jim Mattis made when he certified Iran's compliance in July. “He threw a fit,” said one person familiar with the meeting. “. . . He was furious. Really furious. It’s clear he felt jammed.” (New York Times / Washington Post / NBC News / CNN)
4/ The US withdrew from UNESCO, citing anti-Israeli bias from the United Nations cultural organization. The US hasn’t paid its roughly $70 million yearly dues to UNESCO since 2011, due to a 1990s-era amendment mandating a cutoff of American money to any UN organization accepting Palestine as a full member. Previously, the US withdrew from the organization in 1984 over Cold War concerns, but rejoined in 2003 in a show of international cooperation leading up to the Iraq War. (Bloomberg / Politico) / New York Times)
5/ Trump tweeted that "we cannot keep" federal relief workers in Puerto Rico "forever." As of earlier this week, 84% of the island remained without electricity, two-thirds of cellphone towers were down, and about 6,000 people were still in shelters. Trump tweeted the situation represents a "total lack of accountability" and that the "electric and all infrastructure was disaster before hurricanes. Congress to decide how much to spend. We cannot keep FEMA, the Military & the First Responders, who have been amazing (under the most difficult circumstances) in P.R. forever!” (Politico / New York Times / Washington Post)
"Puerto Rico survived the Hurricanes, now a financial crisis looms largely of their own making." says Sharyl Attkisson. A total lack of.....
6/ The House passed $36.5 billion in emergency relief for Puerto Rico and other communities affected by recent hurricanes and wildfires. The package includes $18.7 billion for FEMA's disaster relief fund, $16 billion to address national flood insurance program debt, and $576.5 million for wildfire recovery efforts. It also provided $1.27 billion for disaster food assistance for Puerto Rico. The bipartisan bill passed the Republican-controlled House in a 353-to-69 vote. (Reuters / The Hill)
7/ John Kelly told reporters "I'm not quitting today… I don't think I'm being fired today," either. The statement comes as Trump and Kelly have reportedly engaged in “shouting matches” recently. Kelly added that "I'm not so frustrated in this job that I'm thinking of leaving." On Tuesday, Trump tweeted praise for Kelly, saying his chief of staff "is doing a FANTASTIC job." (Politico / ABC News)
The Fake News is at it again, this time trying to hurt one of the finest people I know, General John Kelly, by saying he will soon be.....
8/ The phrase "climate change" does not appear in the EPA's draft four-year strategic plan. Scott Pruitt outlines his agency's prioritizes as a focus on the "core mission" of clean air, land, and water, "rebalance" the federal role in environmental regulation, and enforce laws "as Congress intended." The plan does not mention carbon dioxide or greenhouse gas emissions. (CNN)
9/ Trump’s lawyers are open to having the president sit down for an interview with Robert Mueller in an effort to speed up the Russia probe and dispel suspicions surrounding Trump. Trump told reporters this spring that he was “100 percent” willing to testify under oath about alleged Russian ties to his campaign. Trump's personal lawyer, John Dowd, called the report that they were willing to cooperation with the special counsel “Totally false!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!” (Politico)
1/ Trump told his highest-ranking military leaders he wanted a tenfold increase in the US nuclear arsenal during a July 20th meeting at the Pentagon. Shortly after the meeting ended, Rex Tillerson called Trump a "fucking moron" to the officials who remained behind. Any increase in the nuclear arsenal would break with decades of US nuclear doctrine and violate international disarmament treaties signed by every president since Ronald Reagan. (NBC News)
2/ In response to the NBC News story, Trump tweeted that NBC’s broadcast license should be pulled as punishment for reporting what he considers fake news. “Fake @NBCNews made up a story that I wanted a ‘tenfold’ increase in our U.S. nuclear arsenal. Pure fiction, made up to demean. NBC = CNN!” Trump tweeted. “With all of the Fake News coming out of NBC and the Networks, at what point is it appropriate to challenge their License? Bad for country!” (Politico / The Hill)
Fake @NBCNews made up a story that I wanted a "tenfold" increase in our U.S. nuclear arsenal. Pure fiction, made up to demean. NBC = CNN!
One of Trump’s oldest friends says the president is "better than this." Thomas Barrack Jr. said he has been “shocked” and “stunned” by Trump's rhetoric and tweets, and wonders why his longtime friend spends so much of his time appealing to the fringes of American politics. (Washington Post)
3/ Homeland Security is exploring how it could transform the immigration system without Congress. The possible changes could limit protections for unaccompanied minors who come to the US illegally, expand the use of quick deportation proceedings, and tighten visa programs that could limit legal immigration to the US. None of the policies have been finalized. (CNN)
4/ The Supreme Court dismissed one of the challenges to Trump’s now-expired travel ban. The justices were not ruling on the merits of the issue, but said that because the executive order “expired by its own terms” on September 24th, "the appeal no longer presents a 'live case or controversy.'" (Washington Post)
5/ Cambridge Analytica’s work for Trump’s campaign is now as part of the Russia probe. The company is in the process of turning over documents to the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence. Steve Bannon had a stake in Cambridge Analytica worth between $1 million and $5 million as recently as April of this year. (The Daily Beast)
The House Intelligence Committee will publicly release the Facebook ads purchased by Russian operatives during last year’s presidential election. The committee received more than 3,000 politically divisive ads believed to have been purchased by Russia. (Reuters)
Russia hijacked Kaspersky Lab anti-virus software and turned it into a tool for spying. The software routinely scanned files looking for terms like "top secret" and classified code names of US government programs. (Wall Street Journal)
6/ North Korea hackers may have stolen joint US-South Korean military secrets, including a "decapitation strike" targeting Kim Jong Un and other leaders. The hackers broke into South Korea’s defense database in September 2016 and took a blueprint known as Operations Plan 5015, which was developed in 2015 in case war broke out with North Korea. (Wall Street Journal / Bloomberg)
North Korea targeted US electric power companies with spearphishing emails. There is no evidence that the hacking attempts were successful. (NBC News)
7/ Republicans and close advisers are describing Trump as “unstable,” “losing a step,” and “unraveling.” There’s a new level of concern that the White House is in crisis as advisers struggle to contain him. Trump reportedly vented to his security chief: “I hate everyone in the White House! There are a few exceptions, but I hate them!” Meanwhile, John Kelly has tightened the flow of information and visitors, which has frustrated Trump and resulted in “shouting matches” between the two men. (Vanity Fair / Los Angeles Times)
poll/ 64% of voters support stricter gun laws, including 41% who strongly support them. 29% oppose stricter gun laws, including 16% who are in strong opposition. (Politico)
poll/ 53% of adults “strongly agree” that the wealthiest Americans should pay higher tax rates. An additional 23% “somewhat agree” the wealthiest should pay higher tax rates. (Reuters)
poll/ 55% of voters say that Trump is not fit to serve as president. 70% of voters say the president should stop tweeting from his personal account. (Quinnipiac)
1/ Trump plans to go around Congress to provide new insurance options for Americans. The White House is finalizing an executive order, which Trump is expected to sign this week, that would expand health care plans offered by associations and allow individuals to pool together to buy insurance outside their states. “Since Congress can’t get its act together on HealthCare, I will be using the power of the pen to give great HealthCare to many people – FAST,” Trump tweeted. By banding together to buy coverage, associations could join the large group insurance market, which is exempt from the ACA’s requirement that plans cover essential health benefits. (Washington Post / Bloomberg)
Since Congress can't get its act together on HealthCare, I will be using the power of the pen to give great HealthCare to many people - FAST
2/ The White House blamed Bob Corker for the Twitter tiff with Trump. On Sunday morning, Trump tweeted that Corker “didn’t have the guts” to run for re-election. Corker replied that it's "a shame the White House has become an adult day care center. Someone obviously missed their shift this morning.” Kellyanne Conway called Corker's tweet "incredibly irresponsible" with Pence defending Trump against what he called "empty rhetoric and baseless attacks."
In an interview with the New York Times, Corker said that Trump is acting "like he's doing 'The Apprentice'" and that he could set the nation "on the path to World War III." As chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, Corker could block the confirmation of a new secretary of state if Trump pushed out Rex Tillerson and would play a key role on whether to "decertify" the Iran nuclear deal. (New York Times)
3/ Trump gave Bob Corker a nickname as their feud escalates. "The Failing @nytimes set Liddle' Bob Corker up by recording his conversation," Trump tweeted. "Was made to sound a fool, and that's what I am dealing with!" The transcript of the conversation has Corker saying "I understand we're on the record. I don't like normally talking to you on the record – I'm kidding you – but I will." Labeling Corker "liddle" is a reference to the 2016 campaign, when he called Marco Rubio little. "Let me start with Little Marco. He just looked like Little Marco to me. And it's not Little. It's Liddle. L-I-D-D-L-E." The New York Times reporter disputed Trump's claim that Corker was recorded without his knowledge, tweeting that "Corker had 2 aides on line, also recording, and they made sure after it ended that I was taping, too." (CNN / The Hill / New York Times)
The Failing @nytimes set Liddle' Bob Corker up by recording his conversation. Was made to sound a fool, and that's what I am dealing with!
4/ Trump challenged Tillerson to an IQ test after the secretary of state's "moron" comment. "I think it's fake news," Trump said, "but if he did that, I guess we'll have to compare IQ tests. And I can tell you who is going to win." Tillerson reportedly called Trump a "fucking moron" and nearly resigned this summer. (Forbes / Washington Post)
Mensa offered to host the IQ test for Trump and Tillerson. “American Mensa would be happy to hold a testing session for President Trump and Secretary Tillerson,” said Charles Brown, the group’s communications director. (The Hill)
5/ Scott Pruitt wants to eliminate the federal tax credits for the wind and solar power industries, saying the credits prevent utility companies from making the best decisions about power generation. “I’d let them stand on their own and compete against coal and natural gas and other sources," the EPA chief said. (The Hill / Bloomberg)
6/ Carter Page told the Senate Intelligence Committee he will not cooperate with any requests to appear and would plead the Fifth. The Trump campaign's former foreign policy adviser met with Sergey Kislyak on the sidelines of the GOP convention last year. In addition, the FBI has been monitoring Page since he travelled to Russia and met with high-level associates of Putin last year. (Politico)
7/ The House Intelligence Committee issued subpoenas to the partners who run Fusion GPS, the research firm that produced the dossier of memos of alleged Russian efforts to aid the Trump campaign. Chairman Devin Nunes signed off on the subpoenas that demand documents and testimony. Nunes recused himself from the House's panel earlier this year after going directly to the White House with information about “incidental” surveillance of Trump's transition team. (CNN)
8/ Trump threatened to use federal tax law to penalize NFL players who kneel in protest during the national anthem. "Why is the N.F.L. getting massive tax breaks while at the same time disrespecting our Anthem, Flag and Country?” Trump tweeted. “Change tax law!” In a letter to all 32 NFL teams, commissioner Roger Goodell said he wants players to stand during the anthem despite the current NFL policy not requiring players to stand. Sarah Huckabee Sanders said the White House "would certainly support the NFL coming out and asking players to stand." (New York Times / ESPN / The Hill)
Why is the NFL getting massive tax breaks while at the same time disrespecting our Anthem, Flag and Country? Change tax law!
9/ Trump, meanwhile, sent a fundraising email praising Pence for walking out of an NFL football game after players kneeled. "Their stunt showed the world that they don't believe our flag is worth standing for," the email reads. "But your Vice President REFUSED to dignify their disrespect for our anthem, our flag, and the many brave soldiers who have died for their freedoms." Nearly two dozen players from the 49ers knelt during the national anthem in what is now seen as an expensive political stunt. (CNN)
10/ Trump has made 1,318 false or misleading claims over the past 263 days. He has averaged five claims a day, even picking up pace since the six-month mark. (Washington Post)
poll/ Trump's approval rating has fallen in every state since he took office. A majority of voters in 25 states and the District of Columbia said they disapproved of Trump's job performance, including 55% in Michigan, 53% in Wisconsin and Iowa, and 51% in Pennsylvania. The share of Republicans who strongly approve of Trump has declined from 53% to 43% since January. 71% of Democrats strongly disapproved of Trump. (Morning Consult)
1/ The Trump administration will roll back the Clean Power Plan. Scott Pruitt will sign the new rule tomorrow, which will override Obama's policy to curb greenhouse gas from power plants. "The war on coal is over," Pruitt declared. (Associated Press / New York Times)
2/ The attorney for the Russian billionaire who pushed for the Trump Tower meeting said an email shows the meeting wasn't about Hillary Clinton. In the newly disclosed email, Natalia Veselnitskaya asked music publicist Rob Goldstone if she could bring a “lobbyist and trusted associate" to the meeting, because of his knowledge of the Magnitsky Act, a 2012 law that imposed financial sanctions on wealthy Russians as punishment for human rights abuses. The email was disclosed by Scott Balber, who represents Aras and Emin Agalarov, the billionaire real estate developer and his son who requested the June 2016 meeting.
The emails between Goldstone and Trump Jr. tell a different story, however. Goldstone requested the meeting Trump Jr., saying the Russian government wanted to help the Trump campaign by providing documents that “would incriminate Hillary" and "be very useful to your father.” Trump Jr. replied: “If it’s what you say I love it." (Washington Post / CNN)
3/ Trump is demanding funding for his border wall in exchange for signing legislation to provide legal status for "Dreamers." The administration's list of hard-line immigration principles includes overhauling the country's green-card system, cracking down on unaccompanied minors entering the country, funding his wall along the southern border, and denial of federal grants to "sanctuary cities." Last month, Trump rescinded the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program, which provides legal status for 800,000 young immigrants brought to the US illegally as children. (Politico / New York Times / Washington Post)
4/ Trump called Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer in an effort to revive a deal to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act. Trump said he would be open to cutting a one-year or two-year deal with Democrats. “I told the president that’s off the table,” Schumer said in a statement. “If he wants to work together to improve the existing health care system, we Democrats are open to his suggestions.” (Reuters / New York Times)
5/ Bob Corker: Trump is treating his office like “a reality show” and his reckless threats could set the nation “on the path to World War III.” The chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee added that Trump acts “like he’s doing ‘The Apprentice’ or something.” On Sunday, Trump tweeted that Corker “didn’t have the guts” to run for re-election and that the Senator had “begged” for his endorsement. Corker responded on Twitter that it's "a shame the White House has become an adult day care center. Someone obviously missed their shift this morning.”
Last week, Corker said that Rex Tillerson, James Mattis, and John Kelly “help separate the country from chaos" and hopes they stay "because they're valuable to the national security of our nation." (New York Times / Washington Post / Politico)
Senator Bob Corker "begged" me to endorse him for re-election in Tennessee. I said "NO" and he dropped out (said he could not win without...
6/ Mattis urged the military "to be ready" with options on North Korea as Trump tweets that "only one thing will work." In a pair of tweets sent Saturday, Trump said that 25 years of agreements with North Korea have failed, "making fools" of the US. When asked what he meant, Trump told reporters: "You'll figure that out pretty soon." Sarah Huckabee Sanders was also cryptic: “You’ll have to wait and see.” Last week at a photo-op, surrounded by military leaders, Trump warned that "maybe it’s the calm before the storm." (Politico / CNN / Washington Post)
Our country has been unsuccessfully dealing with North Korea for 25 years, giving billions of dollars & getting nothing. Policy didn't work!
North Korea is preparing to test a long-range missile which it believes can reach the west coast of the United States. “As far as we understand, they intend to launch one more long-range missile in the near future," said Anton Morozov, a member of the Russian lower house of parliament’s international affairs committee. "And in general, their mood is rather belligerent.” (Reuters)
7/ Facebook, Google, and Twitter employees were "embedded" inside the Trump campaign. Brad Parscale, the Trump campaign's digital director, said employees from the tech companies "were there multiple days a week" to "teach us how to use their platform." Parscale said Trump's digital team "took opportunities" that Hillary Clinton's did not, like pulling Facebook staffers into their folds multiple times a week. The Clinton campaign confirmed they turned down the offer to have Facebook provide the same service. The Trump campaign spent roughly $70 million on Facebook by election day. (CBS News / Washington Post)
8/ Google said Russian agents bought ads aimed to spread disinformation on YouTube, Google Search, Gmail, and DoubleClick, the company’s ad network. The ads don't appear to be from the same Kremlin-affiliated troll farm that bought ads on Facebook. Google runs the world’s largest online advertising business, and YouTube is the world’s largest online video site. (Washington Post)
Russian operatives used Twitter and Facebook to target veterans and military personnel with propaganda. Researchers found fake or slanted news from Russian-controlled accounts mixed with a wide range of legitimate content consumed by veterans and active-duty personnel in their Facebook and Twitter news feeds. (McClatchy DC / Washington Post)
9/ Pence walked out of the Colts-49ers game yesterday after nearly two dozen players from the 49ers knelt during the national anthem in what was an expensive, well-planned political stunt. Pence tweeted that he left because he "will not dignify any event that disrespects our soldiers, our Flag, or our National Anthem." Shortly after Trump tweeted that he "asked @VP Pence to leave stadium if any players kneeled, disrespecting our country." (New York Times)
I left today's Colts game because @POTUS and I will not dignify any event that disrespects our soldiers, our Flag, or our National Anthem.
poll/ 47% of voters in non-metro areas approved of Trump's job performance, while 47% disapproved. That is down from Trump’s first four weeks in office, when 55% said they approved of the president while 39% disapproved. (Reuters)
1/ Trump's advisers are floating the idea of replacing Rex Tillerson with CIA Director Mike Pompeo after Morongate. Trump was reportedly furious that Tillerson didn't deny he called the president a "fucking moron," leaving many to believe their relationship is broken beyond repair. Tillerson praised Trump and insisted he never considered resigning in a public statement he made later that day. (Axios / NBC News)
2/ Surrounded by military leaders, Trump warned that "maybe it’s the calm before the storm." The unprompted comment came during a photo-op at the White House with the top national security officials. “We have the world’s great military leaders in this room,” Trump said to reporters. When pressed to explain what he meant, he simply said: "You’ll find out." (Politico)
3/ Robert Mueller's investigators met with the author of the Trump dossier, Christopher Steele, this past summer in an effort to understand if people associated with the Trump campaign and suspected Russian operatives broke any laws. US intelligence agencies reportedly took the Steele dossier more seriously than previously acknowledged, keeping it out of a publicly-released January report on Russian meddling in order to not divulge which parts of the dossier they had corroborated. Trump and his allies have repeatedly called the dossier "totally made-up stuff" written by a "failed spy." (CNN / Associated Press)
4/ Christopher Steele is talking with the Senate Intelligence Committee about formally speaking with its leaders. The sticking point for the former British intelligence operative, who authored a 35-page dossier alleging that the Trump campaign had colluded with Russia, has been over his unwillingness to discuss who underwrote his work. Steele was hired by Fusion GPS to conduct opposition research, which was originally funded by undisclosed Republican opponents of Trump. During the general election, unknown Democrats began picking up the tab. Senators had previously said they have had unable to get traction on the dossier, because Steele had not agreed to meet with investigators or the senators. (NBC News)
5/ White House tech support believes John Kelly's personal cellphone was compromised. Staff discovered the suspected breach after Kelly turned his phone in to White House tech support this summer complaining that it wasn’t working properly or updating. Kelly now uses a different phone. Yesterday, Rachel Maddow reported the Secret Service will now ban personal mobile devices in the West Wing, according to a memo sent to agents. Other news outlets have not confirmed the authenticity of the memo. (Politico)
The Senate Judiciary Committee does not have an active "Russia probe" going. A staffer said the committee is engaged in routine oversight of the Justice Department. (The Daily Beast)
6/ Trump rolled back the federal requirement for employers to include birth control coverage in their health insurance plans. The new regulation allows for a broad group of employers and insurers to exempt themselves from covering contraceptives on religious or moral grounds. More than 55 million women have access to birth control without co-payments because of the contraceptive coverage mandate in the Affordable Care Act. (Washington Post / New York Times)
Critics fear the policy may provide a loophole for discrimination. l Jeff Sessions instructed federal agencies and attorneys to protect religious liberty in a broad guidance memo that critics fear could give people of faith — including government workers and contractors — a loophole to ignore federal bans on discrimination against women and LGBT people. (BuzzFeed News)
ACLU filed a lawsuit against the Trump administration over the roll back of the birth control mandate. The rollback “basically gives broad license to employers to discriminate against their employees and withhold a benefit guaranteed by law,” said Brigitte Amiri, senior staff attorney at the ACLU. (The Hill)
7/ FEMA removed statistics about drinking water access and electricity in Puerto Rico from its website. A FEMA spokesman said both measures are still being reported, but are available on a website maintained by the Puerto Rican governor's office. He did not explain why FEMA no longer maintains the statistics on the main FEMA website. (Washington Post)
UPDATE:
As of Friday afternoon, FEMA's website is now reporting the two statistics about access to drinking water and electricity.
8/ Trump nominated a coal lobbyist to help lead the EPA. Andrew Wheeler, who is an outspoken denier of established science on climate change, would become the second most powerful person at the EPA. (New York Times)
9/ Treasury employees allege its Intelligence and Analysis unit is illegally spying on Americans' private financial records. At least a dozen employees in the Financial Crimes Enforcement division at the Treasury Department have warned officials and Congress that banking and financial data had been illegally searched and stored. They say that other intelligence agencies have been using the Treasury’s intelligence division as a back door in order to gain access to citizens’ financial records. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin oversees how the department conducts intelligence operations. (BuzzFeed News)
Steven Mnuchin has flown on military aircraft seven times at a cost of more than $800,000 to taxpayers. In total, the treasury secretary has made nine requests for military aircraft, including a request to use a military plane for his European honeymoon with his wife. (New York Times)
poll/ 24% of Americans believe the country is heading in the right direction, representing a 10-point drop since June. 44% of Republicans agree that the country is headed in the right direction, down from 60% in June. (ABC News)
1/ Russian hackers stole NSA data about US cyber defense after an employee removed the highly classified material, put it on his home computer, and used an antivirus app made by Russia-based Kaspersky Lab. The US government had previously banned the use of Kaspersky Lab software over concerns of Russian cyberespionage. The stolen material includes details about how the NSA penetrates foreign computer networks, the code it uses, and how it defends networks inside the US. (Wall Street Journal)
Russian propaganda may have been shared hundreds of millions of times on Facebook, new research shows. From the 470 Facebook accounts that have been made public, the content had been “shared” 340 million times. (Washington Post)
The three Russians named in the Trump dossier are suing Fusion GPS for libel. Mikhail Fridman, Petr Aven and German Khan claim that their reputations have been unfairly ruined by the dossier. (Politico)
FBI deputy director on Russian hacking: We "should have seen this coming." Speaking at the Cambridge Cyber Summit, Andrew McCabe implied that Russian meddling hasn't stopped, either: "The experience in the 2016 elections allowed us to diagnose the problem. Have we cured it yet? Absolutely not." (CNN)
2/ Two former CIA chiefs said Russia needed help targeting US voters and districts in the 2016 presidential campaign. "It is not intuitively obvious that they could have done this themselves," former CIA director Michael Hayden said. Russia either needed someone to help give it information on who to microtarget or it stole the necessary information through hacking. (Bloomberg)
3/ Senate Judiciary Chairman said there is "no way of avoiding" a public hearing for Trump Jr., who has come under scrutiny from multiple committees in Congress for meeting with a Russian lawyer in June 2016. "Before this is over with," Senate Intelligence Chairman Richard Burr said, "we will know everything about the Don Jr. meeting." (CNN)
4/ Trump criticized the Senate Intelligence Committee for continuing its investigation into possible collusion between Russia and his campaign, tweeting: "Why Isn't the Senate Intel Committee looking into the Fake News Networks in OUR country to see why so much of our news is just made up-FAKE!" Trump tweeted. The tweet comes in response to yesterday's news that the committee is still investigating possible collusion between the Trump campaign and Russia during the 2016 presidential race. (The Hill / ABC News)
Why Isn't the Senate Intel Committee looking into the Fake News Networks in OUR country to see why so much of our news is just made up-FAKE!
5/ Jeff Sessions rescinded a policy that protects transgender workers from discrimination. The Obama-era policy argued that Title VII of the Civil Rights Act protected employees from being discriminated against due to an "individual's race, color, religion, sex, or national origin." Sessions said that "Title VII's prohibition on sex discrimination encompasses discrimination between men and women but does not encompass discrimination based on gender identity per se, including transgender status." (ABC News / CNN / BuzzFeed News)
6/ Rex Tillerson, James Mattis, and Steven Mnuchin have a "suicide pact," where all three cabinet secretaries will leave in the event that Trump fires one of them. Bob Corker, the chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, said that Tillerson, Mattis, as well as Chief of Staff John Kelly “help separate the country from chaos" – meaning Trump. He added that "I hope they stay because they're valuable to the national security of our nation." Yesterday, Tillerson refuted reports that he’d been persuaded to stay on in his role over the summer by Mike Pence. He did not, however, address questions about whether he had called Trump a "fucking moron" or not. (BuzzFeed News / Politico)
Speculative.
The details about a "suicide pact" have not been confirmed by other, reputable news outlets.
7/ Trump will “decertify” the international nuclear deal with Iran, saying it is not in the best interest of the US. Congress would have 60 days to decide whether to reimpose sanctions on Tehran under the agreement. Trump has long criticized the nuclear pact with Iran. (Reuters / Washington Post)
8/ With the GOP agenda at a standstill, some donors are closing their wallets and threatening to deprive Republicans of resources ahead of the 2018 midterms. Fundraisers say they’re having an unusually hard time setting up meetings with major contributors. An email from a sought-after donor to a GOP fundraiser read: “The GOP leaders should know, no movement on remaining agenda: tax reform, infrastructure, deregulation, etc. means no funding from supporters like me. No meetings, calls, contributions until we see progress.” (Politico)
9/ The House GOP passed its budget today, which calls for more than $5 trillion in spending cuts over the next decade. The budget plan promises deep cuts to social programs while paving the way for a GOP drive to rewrite the tax code later this year using budget reconciliation – a key procedural hurdle that would allow Republicans to pass tax reform without the threat of a filibuster by Senate Democrats. (Associated Press / Politico)
10/ The House Homeland Security Committee approved $10 billion for a border wall as part of a border security bill. The legislation will head to the House floor, which Democrats have criticized as a political stunt to appease Trump. The bill is expected to pass the House, but unlikely to clear the Senate, where it needs a 60-vote majority. (The Hill)
11/ Democrats introduced a bill to ban "bump stocks," a gun conversion kit that turns semiautomatic weapons into weapons capable of firing a continuous stream of bullets. Top congressional Republicans signaled they would be open to considering legislation on bump stocks, which the Las Vegas gunman used on his rifles. The legislation would ban the sale, manufacture and possession of bump stocks and other devices that increase a firearm’s rate of fire. (New York Times / NBC News)
The NRA called for a additional regulation on "bump stocks," but stopped short of calling for legislation. Instead, they urged lawmakers to pass "National Right-to-Carry reciprocity," which would allow gun owners to travel between states with concealed weapons – even when traveling to states with laws restricting concealed weapons. (The Hill)
The NRA doesn't allow bump stock firing systems at their shooting range. Bump stocks increase the rate bullets are fired, causing the entire weapon to move back and forth in the shooter’s grip and decreasing accuracy. (Politico)
poll/ 62% of voters have an unfavorable view of the GOP. 43% of voters are looking to congressional Democrats to protect families when it comes to health care, compared to 15% who trust Trump on health care. Less than 10% say the Republican Party should lead the way. (Suffolk University)
1/ Rex Tillerson reportedly called Trump a "fucking moron" and nearly resigned this summer. The comment came during a July meeting at the Pentagon with members of Trump’s national security team and Cabinet officials. Mike Pence reportedly counseled Tillerson on how to ease tensions with Trump, with other top administration officials urging him to remain in the job until the end of the year. (NBC News)
2/ Today, Tillerson denied he considered resigning from his job, but did not address whether he called Trump a "moron." Minutes before Tillerson's remarks, Trump tweeted that NBC News was "fake news" and "more dishonest than even CNN. They are a disgrace to good reporting. No wonder their news ratings are way down!" Immediately after Tillerson spoke, Trump tweeted, again, that the NBC News "story has just been totally refuted" by Tillerson and that the news network "should issue an apology to AMERICA!" Later in the day Trump called it “a totally phony story” and said he has "total confidence” in Tillerson. (USA Today / CBS News / New York Times)
NBC news is #FakeNews and more dishonest than even CNN. They are a disgrace to good reporting. No wonder their news ratings are way down!
3/ The Senate Intelligence Committee endorsed the conclusions of American intelligence agencies that Putin directed a campaign of hacking and propaganda to disrupt the 2016 presidential election. Richard Burr, chairman of the committee, said they "trust the conclusions" of the Intelligence Community Assessment that Russia was behind the hacking of the John Podesta’s email account and had attempted to exploit public opinion with false information through fake social media accounts. The issue of collusion remains open.
Senators also acknowledged that they have been unable to get traction on the Steele dossier, which contains a series of claims about Trump and Russia. The memos’ author, Christopher Steele, has not agreed to meet with investigators or the senators. Robert Mueller's special counsel has taken over FBI inquiries into the Steele dossier. (New York Times / Washington Post / ABC News)
4/ Facebook and Twitter agreed to testify publicly before the Senate intelligence committee as part of the congressional probe into Russian interference during the 2016 presidential election. Facebook will also testify at the House Intelligence Committee hearing. Twitter and Facebook have already briefed both committees on their findings regarding Russian use of their platforms to influence the election. While invited, Google has not said if it will also appear at either hearing. (Recode / The Hill)
The House intelligence committee is focusing on Russian ads bought on Google, search engine manipulation, fake news, and the potential uses of YouTube. Google had initially said it found no evidence of targeted tactics like the thousands of election-related ads purchased on Facebook. (Bloomberg)
Almost all RT ads on Twitter designed to push negative coverage of Clinton, Adam Schiff, the ranking member of the House Intelligence Committee, said. (The Hill)
5/ Russian-linked Facebook ads specifically targeted Michigan and Wisconsin, two states Trump won by less than 1% of the vote. The ads promoted divisiveness and anti-Muslim messages. Trump beat Hillary Clinton in Michigan by about 10,700 votes out of nearly 4.8 million ballots cast. In Wisconsin, Trump won by only about 22,700 votes. (CNN)
Russia targeted NATO soldiers' smartphones in an effort to gain information about operations and troop strength in Poland and the Baltic states. The campaign targeted a contingent of 4,000 NATO troops deployed this year to protect the alliance’s European border with Russia. (Wall Street Journal)
6/ Ivanka and Donald Trump Jr. avoided a criminal indictment in 2012 after Trump's personal lawyer met with the Manhattan District Attorney. Marc Kasowitz donated $25,000 to District Attorney Cy Vance Jr.'s reelection campaign and three months later the case was dropped when the DA overruled his staff. The donation was returned, but less than six months later, Kasowitz made an even larger donation of more than $50,000 to Vance’s campaign. For two years, prosecutors had been building a criminal case against Ivanka and Trump Jr. for misleading prospective buyers of units in the Trump SoHo hotel, which included emails showing coordination about how to move forward giving false information to prospective buyers. (ProPublica / The New Yorker / WNYC)
7/ Kushner and Ivanka were both fined $200 for missing a deadline to submit financial disclosures required by government ethics rules as part of a months-long process of divesting Kushner's stock and assets. It’s the second time that Kushner has been fined for late filing. In July, Kushner made his 39th change to his financial disclosure. (McClatchy DC)
Paul Manafort's son-in-law accused him of conspiring to mislead a federal bankruptcy court about four California real estate investments. Jeffrey Yohai alleged that Manafort and others had misled him and the court about the funding and ownership of the companies that have proposed to clear up the bankruptcy issues. (USA Today)
8/ A Texas judge ruled against Trump's voter fraud commission, saying state officials would be violating state privacy laws if they hand over voters’ personal information to commission members. Kris Kobach's voter fraud commission has asked state election officials to share specific voter information, including voters’ felony conviction history, voter history, and partial Social Security numbers, along with other personal details. (The Daily Beast)
9/ The EPA will propose repealing the Clean Power Plan, a central piece of Obama's plan to cut carbon emissions from power plants, fight climate change, and meet emissions goals promised in the Paris Climate Agreement. Trump signed an executive order in March directing the EPA to start the legal process of withdrawing and rewriting the Clean Power Plan. The EPA will solicit input on “developing a rule similarly intended to reduce CO2 emissions from existing fossil fuel electric utility generating units.” (Reuters)
10/ The DACA renewal deadline is Thursday. The Trump administration didn't notify immigrants about it. Jeff Sessions announced on September 5th that the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program, which has provided renewable, two-year work permits to nearly 800,000 "dreamers," would end on March 5, 2018. Citizenship and Immigration Services had sent out notices prior to the announcement reminding DACA recipients they had 180 days to reapply. USCIS, however, never sent out corrections notifying immigrants that if they followed the instructions in the letter, they would miss the new deadline. About 154,000 DACA recipients are eligible for one last two-year extension, but must file their their application by the end of the day Thursday. (Vox)
11/ Trump said the US will need to "wipe out" Puerto Rico's debt in order to address the US territory's financial crisis. Trump’s budget director, meanwhile, said not to take the suggestion literally. Mick Mulvaney tried to clarify Trump's statement: "I think what you heard the president say is that Puerto Rico is going to have to figure out a way to solve its debt problem." He added: "We are not going to bail them out. We are not going to pay off those debts. We are not going to bail out those bond holders.” (Politico / Bloomberg)
1/ Trump said he’ll "be talking about gun laws as time goes by," echoing what Sarah Huckabee Sanders said yesterday that “there will certainly be a time for that policy discussion to take place, but that’s not the place that we’re in at this moment.” Steve Bannon warned that it "will be the end of everything" if Trump supports gun control legislation, and Roger Stone added that the "base would go insane and he knows it." (Politico / Washington Post / Axios)
Jimmy Kimmel Seizes On Las Vegas Shooting to Champion Gun Laws in Emotional Monologue. Jimmy Kimmel, who is from Las Vegas, called on President Trump and members of Congress to act in the wake of the shooting. (New York Times)
2/ Robert Mueller's top legal counsel is researching limits on pre-emptive presidential pardons. Michael Dreeben has been researching past pardons to determine if any limits exist as Trump's current and former advisers come under the special counsel's scrutiny. Trump previously tweeted that "all agree the U. S. President has the complete power to pardon." Pardons of a president’s campaign workers, family members, and himself are largely uncharted legal territory. Mueller has a team of 16 seasoned prosecutors investigating Russian interference in the 2016 election as well as any potential collusion between Russian and members of Trump’s campaign. (Bloomberg)
3/ The Justice Department overruled memos that concluded presidents cannot appoint their relatives to the White House staff or presidential commissions, a Freedom of Information Act request revealed. The request to rule the earlier opinions erroneous or obsolete came from the incoming Trump administration in January, which cleared the way for Jared Kushner and Ivanka Trump to take roles in the White House. Appointments of family members have been illegal under an anti-nepotism law passed in 1967. (Politico)
4/ Jared Kushner and Ivanka Trump used a third private email address for government business. Hundreds of emails were sent from the couple's White House email addresses to accounts on Kushner's private domain that they shared with their personal staff. The emails contained nonpublic travel documents, internal White House schedules, and other official White House materials. It was previously reported that Kushner and Ivanka used personal email accounts to conduct some government business. The couple has since moved their personal email accounts to computers run by the Trump Organization. (Politico)
5/ The Senate Foreign Relations Committee wants to know if White House officials used private emails for diplomacy. Senator Ben Cardin, the top Democrat on the committee, asked Rex Tillerson and White House Counsel Don McGahn for information about whether Kushner or other officials communicated via private email or text with representatives of foreign governments, political parties, or international organizations. (ABC News)
6/ The CIA denied a request by the Senate Judiciary Committee to let them view information about Russian meddling that the intelligence committee was allowed to see. The material pertains to obstruction of justice matters that are in the Judiciary Committee’s jurisdiction. (Politico)
HP Enterprise let Russia scrutinize cyberdefense system used by Pentagon. The Russian review of ArcSight’s source code, the closely guarded internal instructions of the software, was part of HPE’s effort to win the certification required to sell the product to Russia’s public sector. (Reuters)
7/ Russian operatives used Facebook's retargeting tool to target specific ads and messages to voters who had visited misleading web sites and social media pages designed to mimicked those created by political activists. By using Facebook's Custom Audiences, Russian-linked ad buyers were able to spend $100,000 on more than 3,000 ads that were seen by roughly 10 million users — approximately 44% of which were seen before the November 8th election. (Washington Post / CNN)
Russian Ads Delivered to Congress. An estimated 10 million people in the US saw the ads. Of total ad impressions, 44% were before the US election on November 8, 2016. Roughly 25% of the ads were never shown to anyone. For 50% of the ads, less than $3 was spent; for 99% of the ads, less than $1,000 was spent. (Facebook)
8/ Trump visited Puerto Rico today, against urging from aides to put off the trip over concerns of protests about the slow relief effort. FEMA hasn't authorized every disaster response tool it has at its disposal despite 5% of the electrical grid working, 17% of cellphone towers working, and less than half of residents with running water. (New York Times / Vox)
9/ Trump called for Puerto Rico to be “very proud” that more didn't die in “a real catastrophe like Katrina,” adding that by needing hurricane relief funds, the devastated island has "thrown our budget a little out of whack." He also praised the federal response, saying "what a great job we’ve done," and that local officials in Puerto Rico “have to give us more help” in responding to the destruction caused by Hurricane Maria. (Washington Post / Associated Press)
10/ Pence’s chief of staff called for wealthy donors to "purge" Republican lawmakers that don’t support Trump’s agenda. Nick Ayers urged donors to "form a coalition" to take on leadership and members who don’t back the president, saying "we can purge the handful of people who continue to work to defeat [Trump]." The White House and Pence's office declined to comment. (Politico)
11/ Scott Pruitt has held almost daily meetings with top corporate executives and lobbyists from all the sectors that he regulates. The EPA chief has held almost no meetings with environmental groups or consumer or public health advocates. (New York Times)
Trump's pick for EPA safety chief believes children are less sensitive to chemical toxicity than adults. Michael Dourson faces a confirmation hearing this week. In a 2002 paper, paid for by the American Chemistry Council and the pesticide industry group CropLife America, Dourson suggested that most children are no more sensitive to chemical toxicity than adults and that in some cases, they are even less sensitive. This idea places him well outside the scientific mainstream and suggests how he might approach not just these pesticides but all chemicals affecting children. (The Intercept)
1/ Trump called the Las Vegas shooting "an act of pure evil." At least 58 people were killed and more than 500 injured. Police said the gunman was found dead in his Mandalay Bay Hotel room. Trump praised the “miraculous” speed with which local law enforcement responded to the shooting, ordered flags flown at half-staff, and said he would visit Las Vegas on Wednesday. Gunmaker stocks, meanwhile, are up nearly 4% after one of the deadliest mass shootings in American history. (New York Times / Washington Post / MarketWatch)
Full Transcript and Video: Trump Speaks After Las Vegas Shooting. (New York Times)
My warmest condolences and sympathies to the victims and families of the terrible Las Vegas shooting. God bless you!
2/ The House could vote on legislation this week that would roll back restrictions on gun silencers. The silencer measure is part of the Sportsmen's Heritage and Recreational Enhancement Act, a bill that was delayed in June after House GOP Whip Steve Scalise and two Capitol Hill police officers were shot during a congressional baseball practice. The House is also expected to vote this fall on separate legislation, the Hearing Protection Act, which would allow people to carry their legally concealed weapons across state lines into jurisdictions that restrict weapons concealment. (San Francisco Chronicle)
Sportsmen's Heritage And Recreational Enhancement Act, H.R.3668. (Congress.gov)
3/ Trump's associates had two more previously undisclosed contacts with Russia during the 2016 campaign. The documents were turned over to congressional committees and special counsel Robert Mueller. Trump’s personal attorney, Michael Cohen, was invited to a conference in Russia that would be attended by Putin; in the other case, Cohen received a second proposal for a Trump-branded Moscow project during the campaign. Trump Jr., Jared Kushner, Paul Manafort, low-level foreign policy advisers and, now, Cohen were all contacted by Russians with interests in business and politics in the weeks before or after Trump accepted the nomination. (Washington Post)
4/ Paul Manafort attempted to leverage his role on Trump's campaign team to curry favor with a Russian oligarch close to Putin during the campaign. Emails turned over to investigators show how the former campaign chair tried to please Oleg Vladimirovich Deripaska, one of Russia’s richest men. Manafort was ousted from the Trump campaign after Manafort’s name was listed in a secret ledger of cash payments from a pro-Russian party in Ukraine that detailed his failed venture with Deripaska. At the time, Manafort was in debt to shell companies connected to pro-Russian interests in Ukraine for some $16 million. (The Atlantic)
5/ Rex Tillerson said the US is in direct communication with North Korea about its nuclear program even after Trump tweeted in August that “talking is not the answer!” and vowed to “totally destroy” North Korea. “We are probing, so stay tuned,” the Secretary of State said. “We can talk to them, we do talk to them directly, through our own channels,” adding that the US has “a couple, three channels open to Pyongyang.” (Bloomberg / New York Times)
6/ Trump called Tillerson's effort to communicate with North Korea a waste of time, undercutting his Secretary of State and seemingly ruling out a diplomatic resolution to the confrontation with Pyongyang. "I told Rex Tillerson, our wonderful Secretary of State, that he is wasting his time trying to negotiate with Little Rocket Man," Trump tweeted, adding, "Save your energy Rex, we'll do what has to be done!" (New York Times / Politico / Washington Post)
I told Rex Tillerson, our wonderful Secretary of State, that he is wasting his time trying to negotiate with Little Rocket Man...
7/ Trump urged senior staff to portray him as a "crazy guy," while discussing whether the US would withdraw from the South Korean trade deal. "That's not how you negotiate," Trump told trade negotiator Robert Lighthizer. "You don't tell them they've got 30 days. You tell them, 'This guy's so crazy he could pull out any minute,'" adding "You tell them if they don't give the concessions now, this crazy guy will pull out of the deal." The White House did not dispute the account. Meanwhile, North Korean officials have been trying to arrange talks with Republican analysts in Washington in an attempt to make sense of Trump and his confusing messages to Kim Jong Un’s regime. (Axios)
8/ Congress let funding for the Children’s Health Insurance Program expire, which provides low-cost health insurance to 9 million children. The CHIP program is a partnership between the federal government and states that insures American children from low and moderate-income families. States still have some CHIP money available, but several are expected to drain their funding by the end of the year. Trump, meanwhile, proclaimed today is Child Health Day and committed to "protecting and promoting the health and well-being of our Nation's young people." (ABC News / Washington Post)
9/ The National Security Agency warned senior White House officials against using personal cellphones and email, which could make them vulnerable to espionage by Russia, China, Iran, and others. The briefing came shortly after Trump was sworn into office on January 20, and before some top aides began using their personal email and phones to conduct official business. At least five current and former White House officials have used private email, including Kushner, Ivanka Trump, Gary Cohn, Steve Bannon, and Reince Priebus. (Politico)
10/ Since John Kelly took over the West Wing in July, Jared Kushner and Ivanka Trump's role have shrunk. The couple has focused on the issues in their portfolios and making more of an effort to "stay in their lane." Until Kelly’s arrival, Ivanka Trump and Kushner always had the last word with Trump, especially when it came to personnel matters. Kushner has complained to friends that he can no longer float in and out of the Oval Office. White House Counsel Don McGahn, meanwhile, considered resigning this summer after growing frustrated by the lack of protocols surrounding meetings between Trump and Kushner, which he said could be construed by investigators as an effort to coordinate their stories. Trump has been privately surveying people close to him about whether Kushner and Ivanka Trump are creating too much noise and how they can withstand the personal attacks. (Politico / Wall Street Journal / Axios)
11/ Facebook is turning over more than 3,000 Russian-linked advertisements to congressional investigators. The House and Senate Intelligence Committees and the Senate Judiciary Committee will receive copies of the ads. The Senate Intelligence Committee also wants Facebook, Google, and Twitter to testify before a Congressional panel on November 1 regarding Russian interference in the 2016 election. None of the companies have confirmed they will attend. The House Intelligence Committee will hold a public hearing in October, and would like the three companies to attend as well. (New York Times / ABC News / The Hill)
12/ Trump accused the San Juan mayor of "poor leadership" and suggested that the island's residents are not doing enough to help themselves. "Such poor leadership ability by the Mayor of San Juan, and others in Puerto Rico, who are not able to get their workers to help," Trump tweeted from his golf club in Bedminster, New Jersey on Saturday, continuing: "They want everything to be done for them when it should be a community effort." On Sunday, Trump dedicated a golf trophy to the people of Puerto Rico. (CNN / Associated Press)
The Mayor of San Juan, who was very complimentary only a few days ago, has now been told by the Democrats that you must be nasty to Trump.
1/ Tom Price resigned as Trump's Health and Human Services Secretary after racking up at least $400,000 in private charter flights. Yesterday, in an effort to satisfy Trump, Price offered to reimburse the government $51,887. Price's resignation came hours after Trump told reporters he considered Price a “fine man” but that he “didn't like the optics” and would make a decision about his future by the end of the day. Additionally, Politico reported that Price had used a military aircraft to travel to Africa, Europe, and to Asia earlier this year at a cost of more than $500,000 to taxpayers. The overseas trips bring the total cost of Price’s travels to more than $1 million since May. (NBC News / New York Times / Washington Post)
Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke and his aides have taken several flights on private or military aircraft, including a $12,000 charter plane to take him to events in his hometown in Montana and private flights between two Caribbean islands. (Politico / Washington Post)
2/ The nonpartisan Tax Policy Center says the Republican tax plan would overwhelmingly benefit the wealthiest Americans and businesses. The report found that the average tax bill for all income groups would decline by $1,600 (2.1%) in 2018. Those earning incomes above $730,000 who would see their after-tax incomes rise by an average of 8.5%, or about $129,000, while those earning an average of $66,960 would see their after-tax income rise by 1.2% or about $660. (New York Times)
3/ Trump could personally save about $1.1 billion in taxes under his proposed plan. The analysis is based on Trump’s 2005 federal tax return and his estimated $2.86 billion net worth. In theory, Trump could save about $1.1 billion from repealing the estate tax, $31 million from repealing the alternative minimum tax, about $16 million from changes to certain types of business income, and about $500k from reducing the highest tax rate from 39.6% to 35%. (New York Times)
4/ Trump's top economic adviser suggested that a family of four earning $100,000 can expect to save $1,000 a year in taxes – enough to "renovate their kitchen. They can buy a new car. They can take a family vacation. They can increase their lifestyle.” Yesterday, Gary Cohn said he "can't guarantee" taxes won't go up for the middle class" and “the wealthy are not getting a tax cut" under Trump’s tax plan. Cohn is worth an estimated $266 million. (HuffPost)
Uh, Gary Cohn (who is worth several hundred million dollars) thinks it costs $1000 to buy a new car (or renovate your kitchen) pic.twitter.com/6IwRDgGSCN
5/ Senate Republicans released their budget blueprint, paving the way for tax reform without Democratic support. The 89-page plan sets up the use of budget reconciliation to advance the legislation with 50 votes in the Senate, rather than the usual 60-vote supermajority. Under the proposal, Republicans can add up to $1.5 trillion to the deficit over 10 years, giving lawmakers the ability to lower tax rates for businesses and individuals. Republicans believe they will offset the lost revenue with increased economic growth prompted by the tax cuts. Trump described the blueprint as a "giant, beautiful, massive, the biggest ever in our country, tax cut." (Politico / ABC News / Washington Post)
6/ The Treasury Department removed a paper from its website that contradicted Steven Mnuchin's argument that workers would benefit the most from a corporate income tax cut. The analysis found that workers pay 18% of the corporate tax while owners pay 82%. A Mnuchin spokeswoman said that other “studies show that 70% of the tax burden falls on American workers” and that a “lower corporate rate, as proposed in the [GOP tax] framework, will generate the incentives needed to increase productivity and wages, as well as create jobs.” (Wall Street Journal)
7/ The acting Homeland Security Secretary called Puerto Rico's recovery "really a good news story." San Juan Mayor Carmen Yulín Cruz shot back: "Dammit, this is not a good news story. This is a 'people are dying' story. It's a life-or-death story." Early this week, Trump placed some blame on Puerto Rico for its situation, tweeting that the US territory had "broken infrastructure & massive debt." Today, he tweeted that "big decisions will have to be made as to the cost of its rebuilding!" (CNN / Politico / The Hill)
Puerto Rico Governor Ricardo Rossello just stated: "The Administration and the President, every time we've spoken, they've delivered......
8/ The Justice Department wants Facebook to turn over information about people who "liked" an anti-Trump Facebook page. The department obtained search warrants requiring The DisruptJ20 Facebook page – now Resist This – and two others to hand over "nonpublic lists of people who planned to attend political organizing events and even the names of people who simply liked, followed, reacted to, commented on or otherwise engaged with the content on the Facebook page." Information from the three accounts could provide the personal details of thousands of activists who expressed interest in anti-Trump rallies. The DOJ originally requested that 1.3 million IP addresses from disruptj20.org be turned over, which a DC judge ruled that the web hosting company was obligated to turn over. (NBC News)
A social media campaign calling itself "Blacktivist" and linked to the Russian government used both Facebook and Twitter in an attempt to amplify racial tensions during the election. The Twitter account has been handed over to Congress with the Facebook account expected to be handed over in the coming days. (CNN)
9/ Russia warned the US not to take action against their government-funded media outlets RT and Sputnik: "every step against a Russian media outlet will be met with a corresponding response." Earlier this month, the Department of Justice notified the company supplying services for RT America that it is obligated to register under the Foreign Agents Registration Act due to the work it does for RT. Federal investigators are also looking into whether RT and Sputnik were part of Russia's influence campaign in the 2016 election. (CNN)
The Senate confirmed Jon Huntsman to be the US ambassador to Russia. Huntsman testified earlier this month before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee that there is "no question" that Moscow meddled in the election. Huntsman previously served as ambassador to China and Singapore. (Politico)
10/ The White House launched an internal probe of private email use after it was reported that Jared Kushner and several senior White House officials used private email accounts to conduct government business. At least five current and former White House officials have used private email, including Kushner, Ivanka Trump, Gary Cohn, Steve Bannon, and Reince Priebus. (Politico)
11/ The State Department ordered nonessential diplomats and families out of Cuba after several sonic attacks. At least 21 US diplomats and family members have been affected, causing an array of issues from hearing loss to dizziness to concussions. (CNN / New York Times)
12/ Republicans launched a group to fight Democratic-drawn political maps in court using data and legal efforts to “serve as a central resource to coordinate and collaborate” on redistricting for party organizations and members. Democrats setup a similar group earlier this year. Both the National Republican Redistricting Trust and the National Democratic Redistricting Committee are focused on influencing congressional and state legislative boundaries after the next census. (Politico)
poll/ 49% say NFL players who kneel during the National Anthem are doing the wrong thing to express their political opinion, while 43% say it's the right thing. (CNN)
poll/ 83% of voters support a path for illegal immigrants to become legal residents, up nine points since last year. 14% say “deport as many as possible,” down from a high of 30 percent in July 2015. (Fox News)
1/ Trump's top economic adviser "can't guarantee" taxes won't go up for the middle class. Gary Cohn said Trump's tax plan is "purely aimed at middle-class families," but "it depends which state you live in." He added that the rich will not benefit under the plan. Trump wanted to propose a 15% corporate rate rather than the 20% announced, which is down from the current 35%. (ABC News / Axios)
2/ Jared Kushner didn't disclose the existence of his personal email account to the Senate intelligence committee when he testified in July, which he used from January through August. The chair and vice chair of the committee wrote his attorney, Abbe Lowell, instructing Kushner to double-check that he has turned over all relevant documents to the committee, including those from his personal email account, "as well as all other email accounts, messaging apps, or similar communications channels you may have used, or that may contain information relevant to our inquiry." (CNN)
3/ Trump waived the shipping restrictions for Puerto Rico, which were limiting access to food, medicine, clothing, and supplies for hurricane relief. The move comes after criticism that the White House had been slow to help Puerto Rico recover from Hurricane Maria. The waiver will be in effect for 10 days and will cover all products being shipped to the island. The State Department evacuated 225 people from the Caribbean island of Dominica, who signed promissory notes agreeing to reimburse the State Department for travel costs. (CNN / Washington Post / The Hill)
UPDATE:
The State Department is not requiring anyone evacuated from hurricane-ravaged Puerto Rico to sign promissory notes reimbursing the government for travel costs.
The electric power grid in Puerto Rico is totally shot. Large numbers of generators are now on Island. Food and water on site.
4/ Twitter briefed members of the Senate and House intelligence committees about fake news spread by Russian accounts and what steps the company took to stop it. Twitter told Congress that about 200 accounts are tied to some of the same Russian-linked sources that purchased ads on Facebook. The vice chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee criticized Twitter for failing to aggressively investigate the Russian misuse of its platform beyond the accounts linked to fraudulent profiles already identified by Facebook. Mark Warner said the company's presentation “showed an enormous lack of understanding from the Twitter team of how serious this issue is, the threat it poses to democratic institutions and again begs many more questions than they offered." He added: “Their response was frankly inadequate on every level.” (Recode / New York Times)
An Oxford University study shows there was a higher concentration of misinformation, polarizing political and conspiratorial news shared on Twitter from Russian, WikiLeaks, and junk news sources in the swing states Trump won than in uncontested states. (Oxford Internet Institute)
A Russian hacker who previously worked for Putin’s United Russia party was arrested in Barcelona on a US warrant. Prosecutors charged Peter Levashov with operating a network of tens of thousands of infected computers used by cyber criminals. (Reuters)
5/ The Senate Intelligence Committee has asked Facebook, Google, and Twitter to testify on Russian meddling at a public hearing on November 1st. The House Intelligence Committee also wants to hold a public hearing next month with representatives from several unnamed technology companies (hint, hint) in an effort to “better understand how Russia used online tools and platforms to sow discord in and influence our election.” (Reuters / New York Times / Politico)
6/ A Russian-backed group impersonated a real American Muslim organization on Facebook and Instagram to spread misinformation. The United Muslims of America pushed memes that claimed Hillary Clinton admitted the US “created, funded and armed” al-Qaeda and ISIS, claimed that John McCain was ISIS’ true founder, and alleged Osama bin Laden was a “CIA agent.” (The Daily Beast)
7/ Tom Price will repay taxpayers for his private jet travel, saying "I regret the concerns this has raised regarding the use of taxpayer dollars." He added: "The taxpayers won’t pay a dime for my seat on those planes." Price has taken at least 26 charter flights costing more than $400,000 since May to conduct official business. Price, however, will only reimburse taxpayers for just under $52,000. Meanwhile, EPA chief Scott Pruitt has taken at least four noncommercial and military flights since mid-February, costing taxpayers more than $58,000. House Democrats introduced legislation to prevent Trump administration officials from using private jets with taxpayers funds. (Politico / Washington Post / The Hill)
1/ Trump's tax plan will cut rates for businesses and the wealthy, while eliminating widely used exemptions and deductions. He dubbed the plan a "middle class miracle," which would collapse the tax brackets from seven down to three while raising the lowest rate from 10% to 12% and cut the top rate from 39.6% to 35%. The standard deduction would double to $12,000 for individuals and to $24,000 for married couples. The White House and the Republicans haven't said what loopholes would be closed in order to offset the trillions of dollars in revenue lost by cutting tax rates. Republicans want to pass a tax bill by the end of the year, which would be their first major legislative achievement this year. (Washington Post / Reuters / New York Times)
2/ Trump will cap refugee admissions at 45,000 in the next fiscal year. The ceiling has never been lower than 67,000, the number Ronald Reagan set in 1986, and the US hasn't taken in so few refugees in a single year since 2006, when 41,223 were allowed to enter. In 2016, the US welcomed 84,995 refugees with Obama pushing to raise that number to 110,000 in 2017. Defense and State Department officials, the Joint Chiefs of Staff, and the United Nations had recommended that Trump admit at least 50,000 refugees during the next fiscal year. Meanwhile, Stephen Miller and John Kelly advocated admitting as few as 15,000 refugees. (Associated Press / New York Times)
3/ The acting head of the DEA will resign after losing confidence in Trump’s respect for the law. Last month, Chuck Rosenberg sent an agency-wide memo rebuking Trump's suggestion that police were being “too nice” to suspects and shouldn't shield their heads from hitting the roof of the police car during arrests. “We must earn and keep the public trust and continue to hold ourselves to the very highest standards,” Rosenberg wrote. “Ours is an honorable profession and, so, we will always act honorably.” Rosenberg will resign at the end of the week. (Politico / New York Times)
4/ Trump deleted his tweets supporting Luther Strange after Strange lost in Alabama's primary runoff. The deleted tweets were archived by ProPublica and are no longer public on Twitter, but watchdog groups believe Trump is breaking the law when he deletes his tweets. Trump deleted at least three favorable tweets, including one saying that Strange “has been shooting up in the Alabama polls since my endorsement.” Strange lost to Roy Moore, who took nearly 55% of the vote. (New York Times / Washington Post)
5/ Russian-bought political Facebook ads criticized Hillary Clinton, promoted Trump, and supported Bernie Sanders even after his presidential campaign had ended. The ads appeared designed to create divisions while sometimes praising Trump, Sanders, and Green Party candidate Jill Stein. A number of the ads questioned Clinton’s authenticity and touted liberal criticisms of her candidacy. Trump took to Twitter to suggest that Facebook had colluded with the news media against him during the campaign, tweeting: "Facebook was always anti-Trump. The Networks were always anti-Trump hence, Fake News @nytimes (apologized) & @WaPo were anti-Trump. Collusion?" He added: "But the people were Pro-Trump! Virtually no President has accomplished what we have accomplished in the first 9 months – and economy roaring." (Politico / The Hill)
The Russia hoax continues, now it's ads on Facebook. What about the totally biased and dishonest Media coverage in favor of Crooked Hillary?
The Senate Intelligence Committee will call executives from Google to help understand Russian election meddling. The panel is seeking Google’s cooperation as it studies how Russia’s government might have exploited American social media and Internet companies during the 2016 campaign. (Politico)
6/ Three Americans with Russian business connections contributed almost $2 million to political funds controlled by Trump. All three men are associated with Viktor Vekselberg, one of the richest men in Russia, who holds frequent meetings with Putin. Donations began flowing to the RNC just as Trump was securing the Republican nomination and culminated in two large gifts – totaling $1.25 million – to the Trump inaugural fund following his victory. Unless the contributions were directed by a foreigner, they would be legal donations. (ABC News)
7/ The House Oversight Committee will investigate Tom Price's use of private jets for government business, which he's done at least 26 times and cost taxpayers more than $400,000. Trump told reporters that he's "not happy about it. I’m going to look at it. I am not happy about it, and I let him know it.” When asked if he would fire Price, he replied: "we'll see." (The Hill / New York Times / CNN)
poll/ 68% of Americans say the federal income tax system needs either a complete overhaul or major changes, cutting across party lines to include support by 77% of Republicans, 70% of independents, and 62% of Democrats. (CNN)
poll/ 57% of Americans disagree with Trump that the NFL should fire players who kneel. The results were split along party lines with 82% of Democrats and 29% of Republicans disagreeing with Trump's comments about firing football players. (Reuters)
poll/ 51% of Americans say they are embarrassed to have Trump serve as president. 59% say Trump is not honest, 60% say he does not have good leadership skills, and 61% say he does not share their values. 69% of voters want Trump to stop tweeting. (Quinnipiac)
1/ The House Oversight Committee asked the White House for information about the use of private emails for government duties by Jared Kushner and five other current and former senior aides. At least six of Trump’s closest advisers, including Steve Bannon, Reince Priebus, Gary Cohn, Stephen Miller, and Ivanka Trump have used private email addresses to discuss White House matters. Elijah Cummings said the committee would examine whether administration officials were “deliberately trying to circumvent (federal) laws by using personal, private, or alias email addresses to conduct official government business.” Hillary Clinton called the revelation "the height of hypocrisy." It is not illegal for White House officials to use private email accounts so long as they forward work-related messages to their government accounts so the records can be preserved. (Reuters / New York Times / ABC News)
2/ The Senate will not vote on the Graham-Cassidy bill to repeal Obamacare, Mitch McConnell told Republicans in a closed-door meeting. Opposition by Susan Collins, John McCain, and Rand Paul was enough to sink the legislation. McConnell said Republicans are not giving up on a health care bill, but will pivot to tax reform in search of a legislative victory. (CNN / Bloomberg / Politico / New York Times)
3/ Senate Republicans are discussing whether to merge another Obamacare repeal effort into tax reform. They would use budget reconciliation, which would allow them pass legislation with just 50 votes. Republicans have two options: attempt to pass both health care and tax reform for the 2018 fiscal year budget, or take up a budget for the 2019 fiscal year early next year and address an Obamacare repeal in that budget. Doing so would put health care back in the spotlight during the 2018 midterm elections. The CBO said the latest Senate health bill would cause millions of people to lose “comprehensive health insurance” over the next decade. (Politico / Axios / Forbes)
4/ Roger Stone rejected all allegations of collusion between Trump's associates and Russia during the 2016 election. In a closed House of Representatives Intelligence Committee hearing, Trump's longtime ally denied he had any contact with Russian operatives during the campaign. Stone also denied that he had any advance knowledge that emails of Clinton’s campaign chairman would be hacked and his emails released by WikiLeaks, despite tweeting days before that John Podesta’s “time in the barrel” would soon be coming. (Reuters / Washington Post)
5/ Robert Mueller could start interviewing current and former White House staff as soon as this week. On Mueller's short list are Reince Priebus, Sean Spicer, Hope Hicks, Don McGahn, Josh Raffel, and James Burnham. Related, Trump’s former campaign manager, Paul Manafort, has said he's been informed by Mueller that he will be indicted as part of the FBI's Russia probe. Mueller has been looking at Manafort's possible financial and tax crimes, his contacts with Russian officials, and his work as a foreign agent with links to the Kremlin and Ukraine's pro-Russia Party of Regions. A Democratic senator said he's "99% sure" Michael Flynn will also be indicted. (CNN / Yahoo / Business Insider / Politico)
6/ The IRS Criminal Investigation division is sharing information with Robert Mueller about Trump's campaign associates, including Paul Manafort and Michael Flynn. IRS agents had been working before the election with the FBI to investigate Manafort in a similar probe that centered on possible money laundering and tax fraud issues. It's unclear if the special counsel has asked for or has obtained Trump's tax returns. (CNN)
7/ Wisconsin's strict voter ID laws kept nearly 17,000 registered voters from the polls in the November election. The November turnout in Wisconsin, 69.4% of eligible voters, was the lowest in a presidential election year since 2000. Trump defeated Clinton by 22,748 votes. (New York Times)
8/ Trump will travel to Puerto Rico next week to survey damage from Hurricane Maria after tweeting that the Caribbean island was "broken" and in "deep trouble" because of its outdated infrastructure and large debt. San Juan's mayor responded to Trump, saying "you don't put debt above people, you put people above debt." Puerto Rico's governor said the island was on the brink of a “humanitarian crisis," stressing that the United States commonwealth deserved the same treatment as hurricane-ravaged states. (Bloomberg / CNN / New York Times / The Hill)
Texas & Florida are doing great but Puerto Rico, which was already suffering from broken infrastructure & massive debt, is in deep trouble..
poll/ Only 54% of Americans know that Puerto Ricans are US citizens. Puerto Rico is not a state and does not vote in presidential elections, but they do send one nonvoting representative to Congress. (New York Times)
1/ The Graham-Cassidy bill appears dead on arrival after Susan Collins announced she'll join John McCain and Rand Paul in opposing the legislation. The latest health care proposal included more funding to Alaska, Arizona, Kentucky, and Maine in an effort to win votes from Lisa Murkowski, McCain, Paul, and Collins. Ted Cruz said he doesn’t support the bill and suggested that Mike Lee also opposes it. The three “No” votes likely kill the last-ditch GOP effort to repeal Obamacare this week before protections against a Democratic filibuster expire. (Washington Post / New York Times / Politico / Associated Press / CNN)
Healthcare.gov will be shut down for 12 hours on all but one Sunday morning during open enrollment for the Affordable Care Act. (PBS)
2/ Trump issued an executive order to expand his travel ban and permanently restrict visitors from eight countries. With his revised, temporary travel ban now expired, the new order will stay in place until Iran, Libya, Somalia, Syria, Yemen, Chad, North Korea, and Venezuela meet security requirements set by Homeland Security. Starting October 18th, the new order indefinitely bans almost all travel to the US from the eight countries. (NBC News / New York Times / Washington Post)
Making America Safe is my number one priority. We will not admit those into our country we cannot safely vet.https://t.co/KJ886okyfC
3/ Jared Kushner used a private email account through his first nine months in the White House to trade emails with senior White House officials and outside advisers. At times, Steve Bannon and Reince Priebus also used private email accounts to correspond with Kushner. During the campaign, Trump routinely attacked Hillary Clinton for using a personal email account to handle government business when she was secretary of state. Kushner's lawyer, Abbe Lowell, said he adhered to government record-keeping requirements by forwarding all the emails to his government account. (Politico / New York Times / Washington Post)
Ivanka Trump used a personal email address to communicate with a government official after her father took office. Documents from a Freedom of Information Act request show that on February 28, Trump emailed the administrator of the Small Business Administration from a personal domain. At the time, Trump was operating inside the White House in a nonofficial capacity. (Newsweek)
4/ Homeland Security notified 21 states that they had been targeted by Russian government hackers during the 2016 election campaign. Hackers penetrated computer systems in a handful of states, but there is no evidence that hackers tampered with voting machines. DHS left it to individual states to decide whether to publicly acknowledge if they had been targeted, but officials confirmed that Alabama, Colorado, Connecticut, Iowa, Maryland, Minnesota, Ohio, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, Virginia, Wisconsin and Washington were among the states targeted. (Washington Post)
5/ The White House and Justice Department have missed deadlines and are withholding records related to the Russia investigation by the House intelligence committee and the Senate judiciary committee. The Senate judiciary committee has requested information about the DOJ's decision to prevent two senior FBI officials from sitting down for transcribed interviews to provide eyewitness accounts of the Comey firing. The House intelligence committee is threatening to hold a public hearing over documents the DOJ failed to turn over regarding the FBI's ties to the British operative who compiled a dossier of allegations on Trump's connections with Russia. (CNN)
6/ North Korea accused Trump of declaring war, saying it has “every right to make countermeasures, including the right to shoot down U.S. strategic bombers, even if they are not yet inside the air-space border of our country.” The North’s assertion that the US has declared war comes two days after Trump tweeted that "Little Rocket Man (and North Korea) won’t be around much longer!” while the Air Force flew B-1B Lancer bombers and F-15C Eagle fighter escorts in international airspace near North Korea.
Last week, White House aides warned Trump not to personally attack the North Korean leader during his United Nations speech, saying that insulting Kim Jong Un in such a prominent venue could irreparably escalate tensions. Ignoring the advice, Trump went ahead and said the US may have to "totally destroy" North Korea and that "rocket man is on a suicide mission." The White House rejected the notion that the US had declared war, calling the suggestion "absurd." (New York Times / CNN / Politico / NBC News)
Just heard Foreign Minister of North Korea speak at U.N. If he echoes thoughts of Little Rocket Man, they won't be around much longer!
7/ Tom Price will stop using taxpayer-funded travel on private jets, pending a formal review by his department’s inspector general. The Health and Human Services Secretary has spent more than $400,000 on at least 24 private charter jets since May. (Politico)
8/ Steve Bannon tried to place a mole inside Facebook days before he took over Trump’s president campaign in August 2016. The plan was "for Breitbart to flood the zone with candidates" for a Public Policy Manager role at Facebook’s WhatsApp, who would then report back to Bannon. Breitbart News Tech Editor Milo Yiannopoulos forwarded Bannon’s request to a group of contracted researchers, one of whom responded that it “Seems dificult [sic] to do quietly without them becoming aware of efforts.” (BuzzFeed News)
9/ More than 200 football players, coaches, and team owners sat, knelt or raised their fists in defiance during the national anthem on Sunday after Trump called for NFL teams to suspend or fire players who protested the anthem. Several teams stayed in their locker rooms during the anthem. "Wouldn't you love to see one of these NFL owners, when somebody disrespects our flag, to say, 'Get that son of a bitch off the field right now," Trump said to a crowd Friday night at a rally in Huntsville, Alabama. "Out. He's fired. He's fired." Later, Trump tweeted that “If NFL fans refuse to go to games until players stop disrespecting our Flag and Country, you will see change take place fast. Fire or suspend!”
Trump Jr. piled on, attacking Roger Goodell after the NFL commissioner released a statement criticizing Trump's comments, saying “If only Roger Goodell cared as much about domestic abuse and traumatic brain injury as he does about disrespecting America." Steven Mnuchin defended Trump's comments, saying that players "have the right to have the First Amendment off the field."
But that's not all. Trump also disinvited the Golden State Warriors from the traditional White House visit because Stephen Curry said he didn't want to go. LeBron James then called Trump a "bum," and tweeted that going to the "White House was a great honor until you showed up!" Phew! (New York Times / Associated Press / Washington Post)
Going to the White House is considered a great honor for a championship team.Stephen Curry is hesitating,therefore invitation is withdrawn!
poll/ 52% of Americans disapprove of the Graham-Cassidy health care bill. 20% said they approved of the Republican legislation aimed at repealing and replacing the Affordable Care Act, while 28% don't have an opinion. (CBS News)
poll/ 86% of Americans support DACA, the residency program for undocumented immigrants who arrived in the United States as children. 62% oppose also Trump's demand for a wall on the US border with Mexico. (ABC News)
poll/ 29% of Americans hold a favorable view of the Republican Party – down 13 percentage points since March. The previous low point for the GOP was 30% – hit twice – in 2013 following the shutdown over Obamacare, and 1998, in the wake of the House approving two articles of impeachment against then Bill Clinton. (CNN)
poll/ 72% of Americans trust military generals more than Trump on North Korea. 42% trust Trump "not at all." 67% oppose a preemptive strike by the US on North Korea. (Washington Post)
1/ Following Trump's United Nations speech, North Korea threatened to detonate a hydrogen bomb in the Pacific. Kim Jong Un in a statement said Trump would "pay dearly" for his words and that North Korea would enact the "highest level of hardline countermeasure in history." The North Korean foreign minister clarified this phrase, suggesting it could refer to an H-bomb. (Financial Times / New York Times)
Kim Jong Un of North Korea, who is obviously a madman who doesn't mind starving or killing his people, will be tested like never before!
Trump signed an executive order authorizing sanctions on companies and individuals who conduct business with North Korea. The move comes after China's central bank "told their other banks … to immediately stop doing business" with the country. (NBC News)
2/ After Paul Manafort left the Trump campaign in 2016, the United States placed him under surveillance as part of its early investigation into Russian election interference. The monitoring did not include listening to real-time phone conversations. It is currently unclear when the surveillance was suspended. (Wall Street Journal)
3/ Facebook agreed to turn over to Congress details of ads sold to Russia-linked accounts during the 2016 election. The decision represents a reversal of the company's previous position. Facebook has already provided the ads and information to special counsel Robert Mueller's team. On Twitter, Trump dismissed potential nefarious Russian use of the social media platform as a "hoax." (CNN / Washington Post)
The Russia hoax continues, now it's ads on Facebook. What about the totally biased and dishonest Media coverage in favor of Crooked Hillary?
Russia denied having leveraged Facebook to sway the election. Speaking to reporters, a Kremlin spokesman said Russia does "not know … how to place an advert on Facebook. We have never done this, and the Russian side has never been involved in it." (Reuters)
4/ Trump's travel ban is set to expire on Sunday, and he is expected to broaden the order. Early reports suggest a new order may include additional countries and not specify an end date. On September 15, Trump tweeted the ban ought to be "far larger, tougher and more specific." (Reuters / Bloomberg)
5/ Mueller requested phone records related to the statement coordinated aboard Air Force One about the Trump Tower meeting organized by Donald Trump Jr. Mueller also seeks documents related to a May 3 press briefing in which Sean Spicer claimed Trump had full confidence in James Comey. (Comey was fired on May 9.) (Politico)
6/ Trump will roll back existing limits on drone strikes outside conventional battlefields. The move encompasses commando raids, as well. National security advisors are also proposing dismantling a rule that limits kill missions to top militants, instead relaxing the constraint to cover foot soldiers. (New York Times)
7/ In defiance of Trump's United Nations speech, Iran announced it will continue to strengthen its ballistic missile capabilities. Speaking at a military parade, Iranian President Hassan Rouhani said Iran will increase its "military power as a deterrent" and that it "will not seek permission from anyone to defend" itself. (Reuters)
8/ HHS Secretary Tom Price has chartered at least 24 private flights since early May for a total estimated cost of $300,000. While officials have suggested Price only flies private when commercial air travel is not feasible, an analysis of flight data suggests commercial flights that accommodated Price's schedule were often available. (Politico / Washington Post)
poll/ Less than a quarter of Americans support the latest push to dismantle the Affordable Care Act. 54 percent support Obamacare. (Vox)
1/ Writing through an intermediary, Paul Manafort offered to give private briefings to a Russian billionaire during the 2016 campaign. Oleg Deripaska is an aluminum magnate and former business associate of Manafort's with close ties to the Kremlin. It is unclear if Deripaska received or acted on the offer. (Washington Post)
Manafort also used his Trump campaign email account to communicate with Ukrainian political operative Konstantin Kilimnik, seeking payment for previous consulting work in Ukraine. Kilimnik is suspected to have ties to Russian intelligence operations. Manafort spokesman Jason Maloni said it is "no secret" Manafort "was owed money by past clients." (Politico)
The Department of Justice is seeking documents related to a New York law firm's handling of a 2012 draft report commissioned by Manafort on Viktor Yanukovych, the former president of Ukraine. Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom's report was used by the president's allies to justify the imprisonment of a Yanukovych rival. The document request may or may not be part of special counsel Robert Mueller's probe. (New York Times)
2/ Trump is reportedly leaning toward decertifying Iran's compliance with the nuclear deal reached in 2015. Doing so would force Congress to decide whether the United States will pull out of the agreement. Trump faces international pressure not to withdraw. (NBC News)
3/ Trump pledged to impose new sanctions on North Korea, but did not offer further details. In New York, he met with South Korean President Moon Jae-in and Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe. In his United Nations address, Moon called for resolving the nuclear crisis in a "stable manner." (Bloomberg)
4/ Nicaragua plans to join the Paris Agreement "soon," leaving the United States and Syria as the only two countries outside the climate pact. Nicaraguan President Daniel Ortega had previously refused to enter the agreement because it did not go far enough in combatting climate change and was "not very strict with the richest nations of the planet." (Bloomberg / CleanTechnica)
5/ Trump appointed several campaign staffers with no agriculture or policy experience to Department of Agriculture posts. An analysis of documents also suggests some appointees lack the relevant credentials required for their governmental salary levels. In a statement, USDA defended the hires, writing that all “appointees have skills that are applicable to the roles they fill.” (Politico)
6/ In a speech to African leaders at the United Nations, Trump twice mispronounced Namibia as "Nambia" as he praised the country's health care system. Before later White House clarification, it was unclear if Trump was referring to Namibia, Zambia, or Gambia. In the same speech, Trump said Africa has "tremendous business potential" and that he has "so many friends going to your countries, trying to get rich." (CNN)
poll/ More than 70 percent of Americans support Trump's recent deal with Democrats. Less than a quarter support his handling of race relations and the violence in Charlottesville. (NBC News/Wall Street Journal)
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 / Washinton 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 protestors 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)
1/ Paul Manafort was wiretapped following an FBI investigation in 2014, and the surveillance continued through this year (albeit interrupted). A Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) warrant was originally granted for Manafort's work for the former Ukrainian government and later discontinued due to lack of evidence. A second FISA warrant—concerning the Russia investigation—was obtained at some point last year. The details of the recorded communications have been provided to special counsel Robert Mueller. (CNN)
2/ Federal agents raided Manafort's Virginia home in July, and Mueller's prosecutors told Manafort they planned to indict him. Agents picked Manafort's lock, took binders and copied computer files, and photographed his belongings. The scope of the investigation also includes questions of money-laundering and foreign lobbying. Mueller's team has subpoenaed several Manafort associates. (New York Times)
3/ Speaking at the United Nations General Assembly, Trump said the United States may have to "totally destroy" North Korea if the country refuses to back down from its nuclear rhetoric. "Rocket man is on a suicide mission for himself and his regime," said Trump. In his 41-minute speech, he also called out Iran, Venezuela, and Cuba. (Reuters)
4/ Trump is paying legal fees related to the Russia investigation with RNC and reelection campaign funds. Under the FEC, the move is legal, but Trump is the first president in modern history to use campaign funding in this manner. Trump lawyer John Dowd told reporters the question of financing Trump's legal bills was "none of your business.” (Reuters)
5/ The Trump administration rejected a Department of Health and Human Services study demonstrating the positive economic impact of refugees. The draft report said refugees "contributed an estimated $269.1 billion in revenues to all levels of government" over the past decade, amounting to a net gain of $63 billion. The White House is seeking a rationale for reducing the number of refugees the country accepts. (New York Times)
6/ Trump said the United States is "prepared to take further action if the government of Venezuela persists." Speaking at a United Nations dinner in New York, Trump argued the United States must "take important steps to hold the regime accountable," referencing the erosion of democracy under President Nicolás Maduro. (Politico)
7/ Trump Jr. and Kellyanne Conway are dropping their Secret Service detail. The two cases are unrelated: Trump Jr. seeks more privacy, and Conway was only temporarily covered due to threats she received earlier this year. (New York Times)
8/ The Senate Intelligence Committee canceled an interview with former Trump lawyer Michael Cohen. Cohen was set to deny he'd ever "engaged with, been paid by, paid for or conversed with" Russia to interfere with the election. Cohen's lawyer said they look forward to "voluntarily cooperating with the House committee and with anyone else who has an inquiry in this area." (Washington Post)
poll/ Most voters are happy with the ideological positions of their political parties. Despite the pervasive idea that parties are embroiled in internal wars, 60 percent of Democrats and 50 percent of Republicans believe their party is "about right." (Morning Consult/Politico)
1/ Overheard in a Washington steakhouse, a White House counsel discussed the extent to which the administration should cooperate with the Russia investigation. Ty Cobb supports prompt turnover of all relevant emails and documents to special counsel Robert Mueller; Trump lawyer Don McGahn is concerned doing so might weaken the White House's future position. (New York Times)
2/ Trump addressed the United Nations General Assembly, calling it out for "mismanagement" and claiming it had not reached "its full potential." In his opening remarks, he also praised Trump World Tower, a "successful project" located "right across the street" from the United Nations. Trump's rhetoric toward North Korea escalated over the weekend. (CNBC / The Week)
3/ Republican senators are pushing for a last-minute vote on the latest bill to repeal the Affordable Care Act. Led by Lindsey Graham and Bill Cassidy, the effort to pass the bill in question has not currently garnered enough votes. John McCain continues to advocate for putting the bill through committee. (New York Times)
4/ Mike Flynn's family established a legal defense fund, citing a "tremendous financial burden" stemming from the Russia investigation. In a public statement, Flynn's siblings emphasized that the legal fees required of former Trump aides "far exceed their ability to pay." The Trump administration recently legalized anonymous donations to legal defense funds. (ABC News)
5/ The Trump administration confirmed it is indeed pulling out of the Paris Agreement despite reports to the contrary. Over the weekend, The Wall Street Journal reported that top officials were considering remaining a party to the agreement. National Security Adviser H.R. McMaster called the article "a false report." The United States cannot formally withdraw from the deal until 2020. (Washington Post)
6/ The Department of the Interior recommended cutting, scaling back, or otherwise changing the boundaries of seven national monuments. An Interior report recommends, for example, reducing the size of Bear Ears in Utah and opening protected ocean waters for commercial fishing. The White House has not yet acted on the report's recommendations. (Wall Street Journal)
7/ The Trump administration is considering closing the U.S. embassy in Cuba. Rex Tillerson attributed the potential move to "the harm that certain individuals have suffered" at the embassy from unexplained "health attacks." The Havana diplomatic compound reopened in 2015. (AP)
1/ In response to a London subway attack, Trump touted his travel ban and claimed Scotland Yard had failed to be "proactive." British officials called Trump's tweets about "loser terrorists" unproductive. Said Theresa May: "I never think it’s helpful for anybody to speculate on what is an ongoing investigation." The train bomb injured 22 people. (Politico)
Loser terrorists must be dealt with in a much tougher manner.The internet is their main recruitment tool which we must cut off & use better!
2/ North Korea launched another missile over Japan, further escalating the Pacific crisis. The missile—the latest of more than a dozen in 2017—had the range to reach Guam. Trump will meet with other world leaders at the United Nations next week to discuss Pyongyang. (Washington Post / New York Times / Bloomberg)
3/ A spokesman for Paul Manafort testified before a federal grand jury. Jason Maloni has worked for Manafort since early 2017. Sources suggest Maloni is not a target of the investigation. (Politico)
Roger Stone will testify before the House Intelligence Committee later in September. Despite the political operative's claim that he "called for an open public hearing in the interest of full transparency," he will meet with the panel behind closed doors. Stone corresponded with Guccifer 2.0 in 2016. (The Hill)
4/ The Senate Judiciary Committee will take steps to ensure Trump cannot fire Robert Mueller. Two bills in development come after concerns that Trump was considering dismissing special counsel Mueller in his frustration about the Russia probe, despite White House claims to the contrary. House Judiciary Committee heads met with Mueller on Thursday. (CNN)
5/ The Department of Justice declined to release visitor logs for Mar-a-Lago despite a federal court ordering the Secret Service to do so. Earlier this year, Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington, the National Security Archive, and the Knight First Amendment Institute sued the administration for the Mar-a-Lago logs, as well as those for the White House and Trump Tower. The Department of Homeland Security had previously denied the groups' Freedom of Information Act requests. (New York Times / CNN)
6/ The Trump administration will cut funding for Affordable Care Act enrollment groups by up to 92%. Known as navigators, the grassroots organizations help people sign up for ACA health insurance during the open enrollment period. Under Trump, the Department of Health and Human Services has repeatedly questioned their value. (Washington Post)
7/ The State Department held off on further sanctions on Iran while it decides to continue with the Iran nuclear deal. The administration will decide next month if Iran has met its commitments under the deal. An official said the Trump administration "seeks to bring a change in Iran's behavior." (Washington Post)
8/ Trump signed a congressional joint resolution condemning white supremacists. In a statement, he said Americans denounce "the recent violence in Charlottesville and oppose hatred, bigotry, and racism in all forms." (NBC News)
Aboard Air Force One, Trump also resurrected his "both sides" argument, stating "you have some pretty bad dudes on the other side also." The statement came one day after meeting with Tim Scott, who addressed the president directly about his false equivalence rhetoric. (New York Times)
9/ Trump visited Florida, where he praised recovery efforts and contradicted his previous comments on hurricanes. In Naples, he and Melania passed out sandwiches. When asked about climate change, Trump said "we've had bigger storms than this." He'd previously called Hurricane Irma "of epic proportion, perhaps bigger than we have ever seen." (Orlando Sentinel / CNN)
10/ The California State Assembly passed a bill requiring presidential candidates to release their tax returns. The Presidential Tax Transparency and Accountability Act now heads to the state Senate. (The Hill)
poll/ Repealing the Affordable Care Act remains GOP voters' top priority. More than half of Republican respondents said repealing and replacing Obamacare is an "extremely important priority," and 26 percent said it is "very important." (Politico/Harvard)
1/ Top Democrats announced they had struck a deal with Trump to save DREAMers from deportation. After a White House dinner, Chuck Schumer and Nancy Pelosi reported they would pursue a legislative option for DACA that included provisions for border security—excluding building a wall. In response to criticism from right-wing media and his base, Trump tweeted that "no deal" had been struck and that the wall "will continue to be built." (Washington Post / AP)
Weak R's have betrayed voters. @POTUS needs to stay the course and keep his promises or it's over! Pelosi and Schumer can never be trusted. https://t.co/ky0NWvZoBv
@RealDonaldTrump If AP is correct, Trump base is blown up, destroyed, irreparable, and disillusioned beyond repair. No promise is credible. https://t.co/uJjxk6uX5g
2/ Flynn promoted a Middle East nuclear power plant deal while serving in the White House. The project, reported yesterday, originally involved several Russian companies, along with a group of former U.S. military officers with whom Flynn had worked on the potential deal. The deal would erect dozens of nuclear power plants in Saudi Arabia and elsewhere in the Middle East. (Wall Street Journal)
3/ In a policy reversal, the Office of Government Ethics will now allow anonymous donations to White House legal defense funds. The anonymity frees up lobbyists and others "with business before the government" to step in and pay White House aides' legal fees, including those related to the Russia probe. (Politico)
4/ Tim Scott, the sole black Republican in the Senate, sat down with Trump to rebut the president's claim that "both sides" were to blame for the violence in Charlottesville. Scott said he shared his thoughts on "the affirmation of hate groups" and "the last three centuries of challenges from white supremacists, white nationalists, KKK, Nazis." The White House described the meeting as indicative of Trump's commitment to "positive race relations." (New York Times)
5/ National Security Adviser H.R. McMaster wrote a memo outlining a new anti-leak program that encompasses unclassified information. The memo suggested "every Federal Government department and agency" hold trainings on the dangers and consequences of leaks. The memo subsequently leaked to reporters. (Buzzfeed News)
6/ Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin requested use of a U.S. Air Force jet for his and Louise Linton's European honeymoon this summer. The jet costs $25,000 per hour to operate. Mnuchin's request was ultimately denied. (ABC News)
7/ Russia reduced the number of parking spots available to U.S. diplomats at their consulates. The move represents the latest in a series of U.S.–Russian diplomatic expulsions and denials. The parking spots were painted over with a pedestrian crossing. (AP)
1/ Congressional Democrats told special counsel Robert Mueller that Michael Flynn failed to disclose a summer 2015 Middle East trip to broker a Saudi–Russian nuclear power deal. Upon returning to the States, the Democrats say, Flynn omitted his contacts with foreign nationals during his reapplication for security clearance, which includes paperwork and an FBI interview. (CNN)
Flynn has again refused to appear as a witness before the Senate intelligence committee. He first declined to speak with the committee following a subpoena in May, claiming Fifth Amendment rights. (CNN)
Flynn's son, Michael G. Flynn, is a subject of the federal Russia probe, as well. The investigation focuses in part on Flynn's work with Mike Flynn's lobbying firm. (NBC News)
2/ The U.S. government has banned the use of Kaspersky Lab software over concerns of Russian cyberespionage. Federal agencies will have three months to remove the software. Homeland Security called the risk that Russia could "capitalize on access provided by Kaspersky products" a national security threat. Kaspersky Lab denies any wrongdoing and claims it is "caught in the middle of a geopolitical fight." (Washington Post)
3/ Congress unanimously passed a joint resolution calling on Trump to denounce hate groups. The measure, which now heads to Trump's desk in search of a signature, explicitly condemns "White nationalists, White supremacists, the Ku Klux Klan, neo-Nazis, and other hate groups." It is nonbinding. (New York Times)
4/ The Trump administration is mulling lowering the refugee quota to its lowest level since at least 1980. Trump has already reduced the resettlement cap to 50,000. Now, some White House officials, including Stephen Miller, are pressing for a lower ceiling. (New York Times)
5/ The Supreme Court blocked two rulings that would have forced Texas to redraw congressional and state districts. The lower court had ruled Texas had intentionally tried to weaken Hispanic voters' political power via its district maps. The districts in question will likely be used in 2018. (The Hill / Bloomberg)
6/ The Department of Justice is blocking the Senate judiciary committee from interviewing two FBI officials over the firing of James Comey. DOJ cited the appointment of Mueller and "related matters" as the reasoning behind their stonewalling of Senate investigators. (CNN)
7/ The Department of Justice won't bring civil rights charges against the Baltimore police officers who arrested Freddie Gray. Gray died of spinal cord injuries in April 2015 after the officers failed to secure him in a police van. In a statement, DOJ called his in-custody death "undeniably tragic." (AP)
8/ Bernie Sanders introduced a universal health care bill with the support of at least 15 Democratic senators. Sanders argues "Medicare for All" is the only way to fix "a dysfunctional, wasteful, bureaucratic system." The bill will not pass a Republican-led Congress. (Washington Post)
1/ Earlier this summer, a handful of Trump lawyers believed Jared Kushner should step down due to legal complications arising from the Russia probe. After internal debate, the suggestion was ultimately dismissed as one of several efforts "focused on sabotaging" Kushner, who had several interactions with Russia during the 2016 campaign and transition. (Wall Street Journal / Washington Post)
2/ A Supreme Court justice temporarily reinstated Trump's refugee ban. Last week, the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals ruled the government couldn't prohibit refugees from entering the country if they had reassurances from a resettlement agency. Justice Kennedy overruled the lower court. The Supreme Court will hear arguments on the travel ban on October 10. (Bloomberg / Reuters)
3/ Trump's voter fraud commission is heading to New Hampshire, where Kris Kobach claimed out-of-state voters' ballots led to the election of Senator Maggie Hassan over Kelly Ayotte in 2016. Trump has repeatedly charged without evidence that millions voted illegally in the last election, and he established the commission in May. (Reuters / NBC News)
4/ Lawmakers rejected Trump's proposal to slash health research funding. Trump had requested deep cuts to the National Institutes of Health. Instead, Congress increased funding for biomedical research, passing a $36.1 billion appropriations bill for the agency. (New York Times)
5/ Mexico rescinded its offer of aid to the United States after Trump failed to offer condolences following the Mexico City earthquake and its own hurricane. The country had previously pledged to help fund the Hurricane Harvey recovery effort "as good neighbors should always do in trying times." (LA Times)
6/ The U.N. Security Council unanimously passed its toughest sanctions on North Korea yet. The sanctions will limit Pyongyang's oil imports and halt its textile exports in an attempt to "take the future of the North Korean nuclear program out of the hands of its outlaw regime." (Washington Post)
Trump will visit China in November. He has repeatedly called on Beijing to put an end to North Korea's nuclear weapons program. (Bloomberg)
7/ Russian actors remotely organized and promoted pro-Trump, anti-immigrant protests via Facebook. A former FBI agent referred to the events as Russia's "next step" in its influence campaign. Facebook confirmed it "shut down several promoted events as part of the takedown" it reported last week. (Daily Beast)
8/ The White House legislative affairs director said Trump would not tie border wall funding to DACA legislation. The claim echoes that of House Freedom Caucus Chairman Mark Meadows, who made similar remarks last week. The legislative affairs director said Trump "is not backing off a border wall." (The Hill)
9/ Two senators unveiled a bipartisan proposal to block Trump's transgender military service ban. Kirsten Gillibrand's and Susan Collins' amendment would bar the military from removing transgender service members based on their gender identity alone. (CNN)
1/ Bannon called Trump's firing of Comey the biggest mistake "in modern political history." In an online-only segment from a sweeping "60 Minutes" interview, the Breitbart chairman claimed that if Comey was still in place, "we would not have a special counsel." Bannon, who is plotting several GOP primaries, also criticized the "pearl-clutching mainstream media," Paul Ryan, and Mitch McConnell. (CBS News / New York Times / Washington Post)
2/ The Trump administration has asked Supreme Court justices to continue to allow strict enforcement of its temporary refugee ban. Last week, the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that the government could not ban refugees who have formal assurances from resettlement agencies. The administration wants the Supreme Court to stay that part of the ruling. (ABC News)
3/ The FBI is investigating whether Russian news agency Sputnik has violated the Foreign Agents Registration Act. The law bars organizations from acting as undeclared governmental propaganda arms. The FBI has obtained several thousand internal Sputnik documents and emails and has interviewed a former White House correspondent who was fired in May. It is unclear whether or not the investigation falls under Mueller's broader efforts. (Yahoo News)
4/ Aboard the papal plane, Pope Francis said the move to rescind DACA is not "pro-life." Francis told reporters that if Trump is indeed pro-life, then he must understand that "family is the cradle of life and its unity must be protected." Previously, the Pope has suggested calls to build walls are "not Christian." (CNN)
5/ Infrastructure for Trump's latest golf club, in Dubai, will be partially built by a Chinese firm, despite Trump's promise not to work with foreign entities as president. Trump's business partner awarded a $32-million contract to state-owned China State Construction Engineering Corporation for the work, which includes building a six-lane road. (McClatchy)
6/ A Senate report characterized Trump's foreign policy as an "apparent doctrine of retreat," given the budget request for the State Department. The International Affairs budget is 30 percent below 2017's enacted level. Report author Lindsey Graham wrote that the United States' distancing from multilateralism only serves "to weaken America’s standing in the world." (The Hill)
7/ Trump said recent hurricanes are helping the U.S. Coast Guard improve its brand. "They are really—if you talk about branding, no brand has improved more than the United States Coast Guard," he told reporters after returning from Camp David. (The Hill)
8/ Trump's lawyer has hired a lawyer to advise him in the Mueller investigation. Mueller is seeking to question both White House Counsel Don McGahn and former Chief of Staff Reince Priebus. Priebus has retained the same lawyer. (Law360 / Business Insider)
9/ Jeff Sessions wants all National Security Council staff to be subjected to lie detector tests. The alleged goal would be to identify leakers. There are over 100 people on the NSC. (Axios)
1/ The House passed a $15 billion disaster relief package, sending the measure to Trump to sign. The bipartisan deal also raises the debt limit and funds the government through December, despite objections from conservatives. (NBC News / ABC News)
2/ ICE cancelled its plan to round up 8,400 undocumented immigrants, citing the "weather situation" in Florida and Texas. Homeland Security referred to the plan as "Operation Mega," and described it as "the largest operation of its kind in the history" of Immigration and Customs Enforcement. (NBC News)
3/ The White House’s Election Integrity Commission accused New Hampshire voters of fraud for using out-of-state driver's licenses to vote. In a Breitbart op-ed, Kris Kobach, the vice chairman of the commission, alleges that approximately 5,500 same-day voters may have stolen New Hampshire's four electoral votes and a US Senate seat away from Republicans, because they haven’t registered vehicles in New Hampshire or gotten in-state driver's licenses since the election. Experts say the allegation is baseless. New Hampshire is one of fifteen states that allow same-day voter registration. (Washington Post / New Hampshire Public Radio)
4/ Robert Mueller's team wants to interview White House staffers about Trump Jr.'s initial statement regarding his meeting with the Russian lawyer at Trump Tower during the campaign. Trump personally helped craft his son's misleading statement while aboard Air Force One. It claimed Trump Jr. "primarily discussed a program about the adoption of Russian children" during his meeting with the Russian lawyer. That claim was later debunked by multiple accounts of the meeting. Mueller wants to know whether information was intentionally left out and who was involved. (CNN)
5/ Scott Pruitt doesn't want to talk about climate change right now. The EPA chief said that with Hurricane Irma, “to have any kind of focus on the cause and effect of the storm – versus helping people, or actually facing the effect of the storm – is misplaced." Experts have said that climate change has contributed to the increased strength of hurricanes this season. (CNN)
6/ The Senate Appropriations Committee passed a $10 million spending bill to help fund the United Nations’ climate change group that oversees the Paris Climate Agreement, despite Trump’s decision to stop funding it. The panel approved funding for the U.N. Framework Convention on Climate Change as well as the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. (Reuters)
1/ Trump Jr. met with Russian lawyer Natalia Veselnitskaya to determine Hillary Clinton's "fitness, character or qualifications" for office, according to a prepared statement delivered to Senate Judiciary Committee investigators. He maintains that nothing came of the meeting, and he denies explicit collusion with Russia. Trump Jr. took questions behind closed doors. (New York Times)
2/ Nancy Pelosi urged Trump to reassure DACA recipients they would not be deported within the next six months, and he acquiesced. The message runs counter to previous White House talking points, which suggest DREAMers should "prepare for" imminent departure from the country. Pelosi later said that if Congress passes the DREAM Act, Trump "would sign it." (The Hill)
For all of those (DACA) that are concerned about your status during the 6 month period, you have nothing to worry about - No action!
3/ Under Betsy DeVos, the Department of Education will replace an Obama-era guidance on campus sexual assault. In a speech, DeVos argued the move is "not about letting institutions off the hook," but rather about balancing the rights of victims and the accused. The Obama guidance said universities were compelled to combat sexual harassment and violence under Title IX. (Politico / Washington Post)
4/ The United States is urging the U.N. Security Council to impose a North Korean oil embargo and ban exports of the country's textiles. South Korea expects another North Korean ICBM launch on Saturday. (Reuters)
5/ In a meeting with Congressional leaders, Trump suggested the debt ceiling should be scrapped altogether. The suggestion came in the same meeting in which Trump struck a fiscal deal with Democrats for a short-term debt ceiling increase, angering Republicans. (Politico)
6/ Almost 400 EPA employees have left the agency in recent days, mostly due to buyouts. When combined with retirements in the same time window, the departures amount to a workforce reduction of about 2.5%. (Wall Street Journal)
poll/ About half of white evangelicals think Muslims and atheists want to "limit their freedom," according to a wide-ranging Baylor University survey. Two-thirds of Americans with no religious affiliation said the same of conservative Christians. (Washington Post)
1/ Dozens of government lobbyists and contractors have memberships at Trump’s private golf clubs. At least 50 executives whose companies hold federal contracts and 21 lobbyists and trade group officials are members of the golf clubs Trump has visited most often as president – two-thirds have played the same day Trump was there. While legal, ethics experts questioned whether it’s appropriate for a sitting president to collect money from lobbyists trying to shape policy or win government business. (USA Today)
2/ Trump plans to "revisit" his DACA decision in six months if Congress can't pass legislation on the issue. "Congress now has 6 months to legalize DACA (something the Obama Administration was unable to do). If they can't, I will revisit this issue!" Trump tweeted. Administration officials tried to clarify Trump's tweet, saying he would use the “tools at his disposal to put more pressure on Congress." Trump said he has "no second thoughts" on DACA. (CNN / Politico / Washington Post)
Congress now has 6 months to legalize DACA (something the Obama Administration was unable to do). If they can't, I will revisit this issue!
3/ A White House talking points memo urged DACA recipients to prepare for a "departure from the United States." The statement was contained in a memo sent by the White House to offices on Capitol Hill, providing talking points for supporters. "The Department of Homeland Security urges DACA recipients to use the time remaining on their work authorizations to prepare for and arrange their departure from the United States – including proactively seeking travel documentation – or to apply for other immigration benefits for which they may be eligible," the memo says. (CNN)
4/ Fifteen states and the District of Columbia filed a lawsuit challenging Trump’s decision to end DACA. The multistate lawsuit argues their state economies will be hurt if residents lose their status and seeks to block Trump’s decision and maintain DACA. (Reuters)
5/ Trump sided with Democrats and agreed to increase the debt limit and fund the government until mid-December. The agreement came after the House approved nearly $8 billion in disaster aid for Hurricane Harvey victims. Democratic leaders offered to support the short-term package to fund the government, raise the debt ceiling, and provide relief for Harvey victims in order to maintain leverage on issues like government spending, health care, and DACA later this year. (New York Times / Washington Post / Politico)
6/ Facebook found $100,000 in ad spending during the election tied to a Russian “troll farm” with a history of pushing pro-Kremlin propaganda. Facebook said 3,300 ads had digital footprints that led to a Russian company targeting voters. The Facebook team also discovered 470 suspicious and likely fraudulent Facebook accounts and pages that were operated out of Russia. (Washington Post)
7/ Trump Jr. will meet with the Senate Judiciary Committee on Thursday to discuss the Trump campaign’s contacts with Russia. It's the first time someone from Trump's inner circle will speak with the committee members about the campaign’s alleged attempts to engage with Kremlin surrogates. Committee members still hope to interview Paul Manafort and Jared Kushner about the meeting they held at Trump Tower with the Russian lawyer claiming to have damaging information about Hillary Clinton. Kushner and Manafort have already spoken to the Senate Intelligence Committee. (Washington Post)
8/ The House intelligence committee subpoenaed the FBI and Justice Department last month, seeking documents related to a dossier that alleged Russia collected compromising material on Trump. The pair of subpoenas were issued last month and are designed to "undermine" the claims about the Trump campaign and the Kremlin. "We've got to run this thing to ground," said Republican Rep. Michael Conaway, who is heading the House Russia investigation. Rep. Adam Schiff said that he and other Democrats on the committee objected to the subpoenas. (CNN / Reuters)
9/ The Senate wants to force Trump to go on the record and condemn the white supremacist rallies in Charlottesville while “rejecting white nationalists, white supremacists, the Ku Klux Klan, neo-Nazis and other hate groups.” The joint resolution means it will be sent to Trump to sign into law. (Politico)
10/ Putin: The North Korea situation could be "impossible" to resolve and may lead to a "global catastrophe" if its nuclear tests lead to anything other than talks. He added that sanctions and pressure won't be enough to rein in North Korea. (CNN)
poll/ 55% of voters say they’re comfortable with the nation becoming more diverse and tolerant of different lifestyles, gender roles, languages, cultures and experiences. 24% say they’re uneasy with these changes, because they believe what makes the US special is the country’s uniquely American experience, speaking English and sharing a background that brings everyone together. (NBC News / Wall Street Journal)
1/ Trump rescinded DACA and called on Congress to replace the policy before it expires on March 5, 2018. The Department of Homeland Security will no longer accept new applications for Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, which has provided renewable, two-year work permits to nearly 800,000 dreamers. Jeff Sessions formally announced the shift of responsibility, saying DACA "was implemented unilaterally, to great controversy and legal concern.” He called the Obama-era policy an “open-ended circumvention of immigration laws” and an unconstitutional use of executive authority. “The executive branch through DACA deliberately sought to achieve what the legislative branch specifically refused to authorize on multiple occasions." (New York Times / Washington Post / Politico)
Transcript: Jeff Sessions on Trump ending DACA program. (Politico)
2/ Obama called Trump's decision to end DACA “cruel” and “self-defeating.” In a Facebook post, Obama added that "to target these young people is wrong – because they have done nothing wrong." (CNN / Politico)
3/ The Department of Homeland Security will be able to use DACA recipients’ personal information to deport them. DACA recipients gave DHS information proving they are undocumented so they could get relief from the threat of deportation, including where they live, work, and go to school. DHS said it won’t proactively provide immigration officers with a list with the names and addresses of DACA recipients, but if ICE officers ask for it, the agency will provide it. (The Daily Beast)
4/ North Korea “is begging for war,” Nikki Haley told the Security Council. The US ambassador to the United Nations' remark came a day after the North successfully tested a miniaturized hydrogen bomb capable of fitting on an intercontinental ballistic missile, and hours after South Korea said they might be preparing to launch another ICBM. Defense Secretary James Mattis warned of a "massive military response" and the "total annihilation" of North Korea if it threatens to attack the US and its allies. Trump accused South Korea of "appeasement" toward North Korea and warned that the US could halt trade with North Korea's trade partners – an almost impossible threat given American dependence on Chinese imports. (New York Times / Politico / Bloomberg)
The United States is considering, in addition to other options, stopping all trade with any country doing business with North Korea.
Trump offered to sell Japan and South Korea more "sophisticated military equipment" after Pyongyang said it tested a miniaturized hydrogen bomb that could be placed on an intercontinental ballistic missile. (The Hill)
I am allowing Japan & South Korea to buy a substantially increased amount of highly sophisticated military equipment from the United States.
5/ The House and Senate intelligence committees are expected to conduct closed-door interviews with Michael Cohen, Paul Manafort and Trump Jr. in the coming weeks now that Congress has returned from the August recess. The two panels could possibly hold public hearings this fall. In addition, Trump Jr. is set to appear before the Senate Judiciary Committee. The three committees are competing for information and witnesses with little coordination between them and Mueller's investigation, leading to conflicts over how they can share information. (Politico / CNN)
6/ The Justice Department said that it has no evidence to support Trump's claim that Obama wiretapped the phones in Trump Tower. The DOJ made the statement in response to a Freedom of Information Act lawsuit by the watchdog group American Oversight. "Both FBI and NSD confirm that they have no records related to wiretaps as described by the March 4, 2017 tweets," the department's motion reads. On March 4, Trump, citing no evidence, tweeted: "Terrible! Just found out that Obama had my 'wires tapped' in Trump Tower just before the victory. Nothing found. This is McCarthyism! How low has President Obama gone to tap my phones during the very sacred election process. This is Nixon/Watergate." (CNN / Politico)
7/ The EPA hasn't visited 13 of the 41 Superfund sites in Texas that are “experiencing possible damage” because they had “not been accessible by response personnel." The Associated Press, however, accessed 12 of the sites by vehicle or on foot, and used a boat to reach that last Houston-area Superfund site that was flooded. The EPA, citing Breitbart, labeled the Associated Press' reporting as “misleading” but did not dispute any of the facts of the story. (Associated Press / New York Magazine)
8/ GOP leaders are expected to attach raising the debt ceiling to the Harvey relief package, because members are likely reluctant to vote against disaster relief. The House would pass the $7.85 billion disaster relief bill on Wednesday, and the Senate would then attach a debt ceiling increase and send it back to the House for approval by the end of the week. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said that relief funding for Texas could be delayed if Congress doesn't act quickly to increase the government's debt limit. A number of Republicans have expressed reservations about combining the two bills. (Politico / NBC News / Reuters)
Trump joked that his hands were “too big” while putting on plastic gloves to serve food to victims of Hurricane Harvey in Houston. (The Hill)
9/ FEMA is expected to run out of money this week as Hurricane Irma approaches. The Disaster Relief Fund has just $1.01 billion on hand, less than half of the $2.14 billion that was there last Thursday morning – a spend rate of $9.3 million an hour. (Bloomberg)
10/ Trump's pick to lead NASA doesn't believe that humans are causing climate change. Representative Jim Bridenstine of Oklahoma would be the first elected official to hold the job and will need to be confirmed by the Senate. The two senators who represent Florida's Space Coast have publicly objected to the choice of a politician as head of the space agency. (NPR/ New York Times)
Poll/ 58% of voters oppose deporting Dreamers and think they should be allowed to stay and become citizens if they meet certain requirements. (Politico)
1/ Robert Mueller has a draft of a letter outlining Trump's reasons for wanting to fire James Comey. The letter was blocked by White House counsel, who believed its contents were problematic. A different letter was ultimately sent, written by Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein, focusing on Comey’s handling of the investigation into Hillary Clinton’s private email server. (New York Times)
2/ Senate Republicans accused Comey of trying to clear Clinton before the FBI had completed its investigation. Chuck Grassley, who chairs the Judiciary Committee, and Lindsey Graham, who chairs a subcommittee panel on crime and terrorism, say Comey drafted a statement exonerating Clinton's use of a private email server. They base their timeline on heavily-redacted transcripts where an unidentified FBI aide says that Comey first wrote a draft of his July statement that the FBI was shuttering its investigation in May 2016. However, Comey was not involved in the day-to-day steps of the investigation and the FBI had already reviewed most of the evidence by the spring of 2016 where it was clear the investigation was unlikely to bring charges. “Wow, looks like James Comey exonerated Hillary Clinton long before the investigation was over,” Trump tweeted. “A rigged system!” (Washington Post / CNN / New York Times)
Wow, looks like James Comey exonerated Hillary Clinton long before the investigation was over...and so much more. A rigged system!
3/ Mueller has teamed up with the IRS’ Criminal Investigations unit, which focuses exclusively on financial crime, including tax evasion and money laundering. If Mueller wants to bring charges against Trump associates over tax violations, he will need approval from the Justice Department’s Tax Division. Trump hasn’t nominated anybody to run the division, yet. (The Daily Beast)
4/ Black smoke was seen pouring from the Russian consulate in San Francisco. Yesterday, the Trump administration ordered Russia to close the consulate after the Kremlin cut American diplomatic and technical staff in Russia. (Associated Press)
5/ Trump's head of voter fraud is also a paid Breitbart News columnist. Kobach has published seven columns, most highlighting immigration and sanctuary cities, but also his own Commission on Election Integrity. “I get paid for my columns… just like you’re paid,” Kobach said. (The Hill / Kansas City Star)
6/ Adam Schiff is pushing to defund Trump's commission on voter fraud, introducing an amendment to the upcoming government spending bill. The California Democrat accused the commission of "appearing to lay the groundwork for a push to place new restrictions on voting that disproportionately disadvantages minority voters." (The Hill)
7/ Paul Ryan wants Trump to hold off on rescinding Obama's Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program. "I actually don't think he should do that," Ryan said. "I believe that this is something that Congress has to fix." Orrin Hatch added that rescinding DACA would be "an action that would further complicate a system in serious need of a permanent, legislative solution." Hundreds of business leaders have signed an open letter encouraging Trump to preserve DACA, which allows undocumented immigrants brought to the US as children a two-year eligibility for work permits and deferred action from deportation. Trump will announce his decision on Tuesday. "We love dreamers; we love everybody…the dreamers are terrific,'' Trump told reporters. (CNN / The Hill / ABC News / New York Times)
8/ Trump backed down from his threat to shut down the government over funding for his border wall. The White House notified Congress that the $1.6 billion needed to build 74 miles of border wall and fencing don't need to be included in a short-term spending bill that must be passed by the end of September in order to fund the government into December. Trump, however, wants the funding included in the December budget bill. (Washington Post)
Customs and Border Protection awarded contracts to four companies to build wall prototypes. The four companies each proposed concrete walls. DHS expects to announce contracts for four non-concrete wall prototypes next week. (NBC News)
9/ Another Trump aide will leave the White House. Keith Schiller, director of Oval Office operation, has told people he intends to leave the White House at the end of September. Schiller's departure comes just over a month after John Kelly became chief of staff and restricted access to Trump in an attempt to instill order inside the White House. (CNN)
10/ The ability for Senate Republicans to repeal Obamacare with 51 votes will end on September 30th when the budget reconciliation process expires, the Senate parliamentarian ruled. It takes 60 votes to overcome a Democratic filibuster, and Democrats are united against a full replacement of Obamacare. (Bloomberg / Vox)
1/ Robert Mueller and the New York attorney general have teamed up to investigate Paul Manafort and his financial transactions. Mueller and Eric Schneiderman have been sharing evidence on potential financial crimes, including potential money laundering, as well as attempting to get Manafort to cooperate by approaching his family members and former business partners. Several firms and people who have worked with him have received subpoenas. Mueller working with New York state is important because Trump's pardon power does not extend to state crimes. If Manafort or anyone else is charged under New York law, there will be nothing Trump can do about it. (Politico / Washington Post)
2/ Manafort's notes from the Trump Tower meeting mentioned "donations" near a reference to the Republican National Committee. Investigators want to know if the meeting included discussion of donations from Russians to either the Trump campaign or the Republican Party. It is illegal for foreigners to donate to American elections. (NBC News)
Manafort's political-consulting work often involved Russian oligarch Oleg Deripaska, whose ventures have aligned with some of Putin’s foreign-policy objectives. Manafort worked with Deripaska for more than a decade on projects in Ukraine, Georgia, Montenegro, and other countries of political interest to Russia and its sphere of influence. Deripaska has offered to give testimony about alleged Russian meddling in the election to the House and Senate intelligence committees in exchange for immunity. (Wall Street Journal)
3/ Mueller's grand jury heard testimony from the Russian-American lobbyist who attended the Trump Jr.-Russian lawyer meeting. Rinat Akhmetshin, a former Soviet military officer who served in a counterintelligence unit, testified before the jury for several hours on August 11th, signaling that Mueller is including the controversial Trump Tower meeting in his investigation. (Associated Press / The Hill / Financial Times)
4/ Trump's lawyer "vehemently" denied working with Russia to disrupt the election. Michael Cohen gave Congress a point-by-point rebuttal of the 35-page dossier compiled by retired British spy Christopher Steele, which alleges he has deep ties to Russian officials. Cohen denied the dossier's claims, including that he had secret meetings in Prague with a Russian official last summer. (New York Times)
5/ Trump's outside legal team submitted memos to Mueller arguing that Trump didn’t obstruct justice when he fired James Comey and called into question Comey’s reliability as a potential witness. Trump's attorneys hope the memos will end Mueller's obstruction of justice investigation. (Wall Street Journal)
6/ The State Department ordered Russia to close its consulate in San Francisco and two annex buildings in Washington, D.C. and New York City. The move comes in response to the Kremlin’s decision to cut American diplomatic and technical staff in Russia by more than half, which itself was in response to Congress approving new sanctions against Russia. (Reuters)
7/ Trump is expected to rescind Obama's Dreamer policy. The Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, or DACA, protects nearly 600,000 immigrants who entered the country illegally as children. They will be allowed to stay until their work permits expire. (Reuters / McClatchy DC)
8/ Health and Human Services cut the Affordable Care Act marketing budget by 90%. They'll spend $10 million promoting open enrollment, which starts in November. The Obama administration spent $100 million last year. (Axios)
9/ Trump's treasury secretary won’t commit to putting Harriet Tubman on $20 bill. Last year, Obama and his treasury secretary proposed to replace Andrew Jackson’s image with Tubman, the famous abolitionist who helped free enslaved people. She would be the first woman on American paper money as well as the first African American. (Washington Post)
10/ Jim Mattis signed orders to send additional troops to Afghanistan. The defense secretary didn't specify the size of the force, but Trump previously authorized him to send about 4,000 additional troops to Afghanistan. There are about 11,000 US troops serving in Afghanistan. (Reuters)
11/ The net neutrality comment period ended with nearly 22 million total replies. A telecom-backed study found that more than 90% of the comments were pre-written form letters. Of the unique comments, 98.5% oppose the plan to repeal the rules. The FCC has said it would consider the quality, not the quantity, of the comments in justifying its plans for net neutrality. (Recode / Ars Technica)
poll/ 61% of Americans have an unfavorable impression of Trump. 59% disapprove of the way Trump is handling his job as president. (NBC News)
poll/ 56% of voters feel Trump is “tearing the country apart,” compared to 33% who say he’s “drawing the country together.” (Fox News)
1/ Less than two weeks before Hurricane Harvey, Trump rescinded Obama's coastal flood protections, which required federal, state, and local agencies to take steps to protect infrastructure from flooding caused by climate change. The Federal Flood Risk Management Standard aimed to “reduce the risk and cost of future flood disasters” and “help ensure federal projects last as long as intended." (HuffPost)
2/ House Republicans want to cut almost $1 billion from FEMA's disaster relief fund, which only has $2.3 billion remaining in its budget. Trump, meanwhile, is promising billions to help Texas rebuild from Harvey-caused flooding. The $876 million cut pays for roughly half the cost of Trump’s down payment on the border wall. (Associated Press)
3/ Contrary to reports, Mattis did not “freeze” the transgender ban. USA Today reported that the defense secretary would delay the implementation of Trump’s directive and "allow" transgender troops to continue serving in the military while the Pentagon studied the issue. Instead, Mattis is doing what Trump directed him to do in his memo, which ordered the secretary of defense and the secretary of homeland security, to “determine how to address transgender individuals currently serving in the United States military.” Mattis has until February 21st to submit a plan for implementing the new policy. (Salon / Vox)
4/ The Kremlin confirmed that Trump’s personal lawyer reached out during the 2016 presidential campaign requesting assistance on a stalled Trump Tower real estate project in Moscow. Putin’s spokesman, Dmitry Peskov, said they received Michael Cohen’s email, but the Kremlin didn't reply. Peskov said that he had seen the email but that it was not given to Putin. (Associated Press / Washington Post)
5/ The Senate Intelligence Committee wants Michael Cohen to testify as part of its investigation into Russia’s meddling. Cohen has been in the spotlight this week following new revelations about his outreach to Russian officials for help with a proposal for a Trump Tower in Moscow. Trump Jr. and Paul Manafort are also likely to appear for closed-door interviews. Trump Jr. agreed to testify privately before the Senate judiciary committee in the “next few weeks.” (Politico)
6/ Trump called the Senate judiciary committee chairman to pledge policy support for the biofuel ethanol industry, a key issue for Chuck Grassley. The Iowa senator is investigating Trump Jr.'s meeting with the Russian lawyer. (The Guardian)
7/ Trump tweets that "talking is not the answer" when it comes to North Korea. "The U.S. has been talking to North Korea, and paying them extortion money, for 25 years," Trump tweeted. "Talking is not the answer!" (CNN)
The U.S. has been talking to North Korea, and paying them extortion money, for 25 years. Talking is not the answer!
8/ Mattis contradicted Trump: We're "never out of diplomatic solutions" on North Korea. Mattis echoed Rex Tillerson's statement that the US would continue its “peaceful pressure” campaign on Pyongyang, saying “We continue to work together, and the minister and I share responsibility to provide for the protection of our nation our populations and our interests, which is what we are here to discuss today." (The Hill)
9/ The White House will end an Obama-era policy aimed at addressing pay disparities. The data collection requirement would have required business owners to document how much they pay workers based on their gender, race, and ethnicity. Ivanka Trump, supporting the policy, issued a statement saying: “Ultimately, while I believe the intention was good and agree that pay transparency is important, the proposed policy would not yield the intended results." (Wall Street Journal)
10/ A focus group of Pittsburgh-area voters called Trump “outrageous,” “dishonest,” “disappointing,” “narcissistic,” “an abject disappointment,” “unique,” “not ready to be president,” “off the scale,” “crazy,” “unbelievable,” and “contemptible.” Five of the group's 12 members voted for Trump. (NBC News / Politico)
poll/ 20% of Americans under 30 approve of Trump. Obama's lowest approval rating for people between ages 18-29 was 42%. (Axios)
poll/ 61% of voters oppose shutting down the government in order to fund Trump's border wall. 28% support a government shutdown for that purpose. (The Hill)
1/ Robert Mueller is investigating whether Trump tried to conceal the purpose of Trump Jr.'s meeting with the Russian lawyer. Prosecutors want to know what Trump's role was in crafting Trump Jr.'s response to reports about the meeting. The White House initially said Trump only "weighed in" on Trump Jr.'s statement about the Russia meeting. It was later reported that Trump personally dictated Trump Jr.'s statement about the meeting. (NBC News)
2/ Trump Jr. agreed to testify privately before the Senate Judiciary Committee in the “next few weeks.” The panel had invited him to attend a July hearing to testify in public, but he declined. It's unclear if he will eventually testify publicly. (Politico / CNN)
3/ Michael Cohen said he didn’t inform Trump that he had sent the email to Putin’s top press official asking for “assistance” in arranging a licensing deal for a Trump Tower in Moscow. The Trump Organization attorney sent the email in January 2016 to Dmitry Peskov, the Kremlin’s top press aide, at the recommendation of Felix Sater, a Russian-American businessman who was serving as a broker on the deal. Cohen said he never heard back from Peskov and the project never got off the ground. (Wall Street Journal / Politico)
4/ Mueller issued subpoenas for Paul Manafort's current spokesman and his former lawyer seeking documents and testimony. The subpoenas are among dozens that the Mueller investigative team has sent out in recent months since taking over the investigation into Russian meddling in the 2016 presidential election. Manafort is under investigation for possible tax and financial crimes. (CNN)
5/ Trump warned North Korea that "all options are on the table" after it fired a missile over Japan. The recent ballistic missile test "has signaled its contempt" for the international community, Trump said in a statement. U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley added that “something serious has to happen.” (Politico / CNN)
6/ Trump fired the organizer for his Phoenix speech because he was upset about the crowd size and TV coverage. After his speech, Trump had his top security aide inform longtime aide George Gigicos that he’d never manage a Trump rally again. Gigicos has organized all of Trump’s main campaign events and occasional rallies since entering office and is one of the four longest-serving aides to the president. Gigicos joins Sean Spicer, Reince Priebus, Stephen Bannon, Sebastian Gorka, and Anthony Scaramucci, who have all resigned or been fired. (Bloomberg)
7/ Trump praised the crowd size while touring Corpus Christi in the aftermath Tropical Storm Harvey. "What a crowd, what a turnout," Trump said to several hundred people surrounding a fire station where he spoke from a ladder between fire trucks. (The Hill)
8/ Trump tweeted that he intentionally understaffed FEMA in order to shrink the federal government. His tweet came in response to a critical Fox and Friends segment where Laura Ingraham said the damage and flooding in Texas from Hurricane Harvey is proof that the Trump administration needs to be fully staffed. Of the 591 key positions that require Senate confirmation, just 117 have been filled. (Politico)
.@foxandfriends We are not looking to fill all of those positions. Don't need many of them - reduce size of government. @IngrahamAngle
poll/ 16% of Americans say they like the way Trump conducts himself as president. 58% say they do not like the way Trump conducts himself. (Pew Research Center)
1/ Trump's company was pursuing a plan to develop a Trump Tower in Moscow while he was running for president. Discussions about the Moscow project began in September 2015 until it was abandoned just before the presidential primaries began in January 2016, emails show. The details of the deal had not previously been disclosed. The Trump Organization has turned over the emails to the House Intelligence Committee, pointing to the likelihood of additional contacts between Russia and Trump associates during the campaign. (Washington Post)
2/ Trump's business associate promised that Putin would help Trump win the presidency if he built a Trump Tower in Moscow. “I will get Putin on this program and we will get Donald elected,” Felix Sater, a Russian immigrant, wrote to Trump’s lawyer, Michael Cohen, in 2015. “Our boy can become president of the USA and we can engineer it,” Sater wrote in an email. “I will get all of Putins team to buy in on this, I will manage this process.” At the time, Sater was a broker for the Trump Organization and was paid to deliver real estate deals. (New York Times)
3/ Trump discussed a proposal to build a Trump Tower in Moscow with his company’s lawyer three times. The project was abandoned in January 2016 “from solely a business standpoint” and had nothing to do with Trump’s campaign his attorney Michael Cohen told the House intelligence committee. "I made the decision to terminate further work on the proposal," Cohen said. “The Trump Tower Moscow proposal was not related in any way to Mr. Trump’s presidential campaign.” (Bloomberg)
4/ Trump's attorney sent an email to Putin’s personal spokesman to ask for help advancing a stalled Trump Tower project in Moscow. Michael Cohen sent the email in January 2016 to Dmitry Peskov, the Kremlin’s top press aide, at the recommendation of Felix Sater, a Russian-American businessman who was serving as a broker on the deal. "I respectfully request someone, preferably you, contact me so that I might discuss the specifics as well as arranging meetings with the appropriate individuals," Cohen wrote. "I thank you in advance for your assistance and look forward to hearing from you soon." The email marks the most direct documented interaction of a top Trump aide and a senior member of Putin’s government. (Washington Post)
5/ Four months into the presidential campaign, Trump signed a “letter of intent” to pursue building a Trump Tower in Moscow. The involvement of then-candidate Trump in a proposed Russian development deal contradicts his repeated claims that his business had “no relationship to Russia whatsoever." The Trump Organization signed a non-binding letter of intent in October 2015. (ABC News)
6/ Trump declined to single out Russia as a "security threat," saying he considers “many countries threats.” He added that it would be beneficial for the US to have a better relationship with Russia, in order to ensure "world peace." (The Hill)
7/ Rex Tillerson said that Trump "speaks for himself" when asked about the president's values and response to the violence in Charlottesville. "I don't believe anyone doubts the American people's values or the commitment of the government or the government's agencies to advancing those values and defending those values," Tillerson said on "Fox New Sunday," adding that "the president speaks for himself." (The Hill)
Trump's frustration with Tillerson is rising fast. "Rex just doesn't get it, he's totally establishment in his thinking." (Axios)
Tillerson could be replaced by U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley. The Deputy Secretary National Security Adviser Dina Powell could then be promoted to Haley's job in New York. (Axios)
8/ Trump pardoned former Sheriff Joe Arpaio, who was convicted of criminal contempt related to his refusal to stop imprisoning suspected illegal immigrants. Trump didn't follow his predecessors' practice of consulting the Justice Department before announcing his first pardon. Arpaio was an early Trump supporter who also helped fuel unfounded allegations that Obama was not born in the United States. In a tweet, Trump called Arpaio a "patriot" and said he "kept Arizona safe." (CNN / ABC News / Washington Post)
I am pleased to inform you that I have just granted a full Pardon to 85 year old American patriot Sheriff Joe Arpaio. He kept Arizona safe!
9/ Months ago Trump asked both Jeff Sessions and the White House counsel if Arpaio's case could be dropped altogether. Trump was advised that it would be inappropriate and the case and charges could not be dropped. (New York Times / Washington Post)
10/ Paul Ryan, John McCain, and Jeff Flake all criticized Trump for pardoning Arpaio. "The Speaker does not agree with this decision," a Ryan spokesman said in a statement. "Law enforcement officials have a special responsibility to respect the rights of everyone in the United States. We should not allow anyone to believe that responsibility is diminished by this pardon." John McCain added that the president's "pardon of Joe Arpaio, who illegally profiled Latinos, undermines his claim for the respect of rule of law." Jeff Flake tweeted that "I would have preferred that the President honor the judicial process and let it take its course." And, Phoenix Mayor Greg Stanton called the pardon a "slap in the face to the people of Maricopa County, especially the Latino community." (CNN / Wall Street Journal)
.@POTUS's pardon of Joe Arpaio, who illegally profiled Latinos, undermines his claim for the respect of rule of law https://t.co/2FckGtwQ2m
Joe Arpaio illegally targeted and terrorized Latino families. Our community voted him out of power. Donald Trump can't change that. pic.twitter.com/WZXjmXd76G
11/ Trump announced Arpaio's pardon as Hurricane Harvey made landfall because he “assumed the ratings would be far higher.” Trump told reporters at a press conference: "In the middle of a hurricane, even though it was a Friday evening, I assumed the ratings would be far higher than they would be normally. You know, the hurricane was just starting.” (The Hill)
12/ Sebastian Gorka left the White House and will return to Breitbart News, reuniting with Steve Bannon. One White House official said Gorka submitted his resignation to John Kelly, while a second White House official said "Gorka did not resign, but I can confirm he is no longer with the White House." The White House issued an unattributed statement saying that Gorka no longer works in the administration, but didn't say he resigned. (New York Times / CNN / Politico)
13/ Trump rescinded Obama's restrictions on the transfer of surplus military-style equipment to local police departments. Obama’s 2015 order came in the wake of the Ferguson riots, where police used armored vehicles and military-type equipment to quell protests after the death of 18-year-old Michael Brown, who was unarmed when he was shot and killed by police. The Justice Department concluded that the use of military-style equipment made matters worse in Ferguson. (NBC News / Politico)
The militarization of our law enforcement is due to an unprecedented expansion of government power in this realm.
14/ North Korea launched three ballistic missiles and at least one of flew over Japan. It was the second time in four days that North Korea launched a missile. On Saturday, the North launched three short-range missiles. (Washington Post / Wall Street Journal / New York Times)
BREAKING: North Korea fires missile over Japan at 5:58 a.m. and Tokyo alerts northern prefectures
1/ Trump’s top economic adviser said the White House “must do better in consistently and unequivocally” condemning hate groups. Gary Cohn, a prominent Jewish member of Trump’s administration, drafted a letter of resignation after Trump defended the white nationalist protesters in Charlottesville. Cohn’s remarks were in contrast to Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin, who said that "under no circumstances" was he planning to resign after Trump’s remarks that "both sides" were to blame for the violence. Mnuchin is also Jewish. (New York Times / CNN / Politico / Financial Times)
2/ CIA Director Mike Pompeo has required that the unit investigating possible collusion between Russia and the Trump campaign report directly to him. Pompeo, who spends more time at the White House than his predecessors, has repeatedly played down Russia’s interference in the 2016 election. Officials in the CIA counterintelligence unit say they have to “watch” Pompeo over fear he might report new information directly to Trump. The worry among some at the agency is “that if you were passing on something too dicey [to Pompeo] he would go to the White House with it.” (Washington Post)
3/ Robert Mueller is examining what role, if any, Michael Flynn may have played in an effort to obtain Hillary Clinton’s emails from Russian hackers. The effort to seek out the hackers was led by longtime Republican activist Peter W. Smith, who in correspondence and conversations with his colleagues portrayed Flynn as an ally and implied that other senior Trump campaign officials were coordinating with him. Smith also named Flynn’s consulting firm and his son in the correspondence and conversations. At the time Smith was trying to find the emails, Flynn was a senior adviser to the Trump campaign. (Wall Street Journal)
4/ The former British spy who put together the dossier of allegations about Trump during last year’s campaign has been ordered to give a deposition in the libel case brought against BuzzFeed News, who published the document. Christopher Steele authored the 35-page dossier while working for Fusion GPS and its founder Glenn Simpson. The document was crafted as opposition research for unknown political rivals of Trump. None of the claims have been corroborated. Steele will now be questioned under oath about his role in producing the dossier. (Fox News)
5/ The White House's new sanctions against Venezuela explicitly exempt Citgo, which donated $500,000 to fund Trump's inaugural ceremony. The country’s state-owned oil company has also paid $160,000 to lobby the White House, hiring Trump's former campaign manager Corey Lewandowski and campaign adviser Barry Bennett to lobby for the exemption. (The Daily Beast)
6/ The Republican National Committee condemned white supremacy but didn't call it a rebuke of Trump’s remarks, saying "this has nothing to do with the president." (Washington Post)
7/ Trump is considering ending DACA, the Obama-era policy that shields some illegal immigrants from deportation. Jeff Sessions strongly believes Trump should end DACA, which would affect at least 750,000 people. Trump’s aides have recently pushed him to protect young children brought to the US illegally, despite his campaign promise to deport so-called Dreamers. (Axios / ABC News / NBC News)
8/ A federal court ruled that parts of Texas' state House maps are intentionally discriminatory and ordered them redrawn ahead of the 2018 elections. Last week, the court required that the state’s congressional maps had to be redrawn because they illegally discriminate against Hispanic and black voters. In both the congressional and state House rulings, Texas' attorney general signaled that the state would appeal both rulings. (Dallas News / The Texas Tribune)
9/ John Kelly and the White House staff secretary will now review all documents that cross Trump's desk. The new system is designed to ensure that Trump won’t see any external policy documents, internal policy memos, agency reports or news articles that haven’t been vetted. For months, people wandered into the Oval Office throughout the day giving Trump pieces of unvetted information. Policy decisions were often based on whoever had gotten Trump’s attention last. (Politico / New York Times)
1/ Trump's now deputy chief of staff received an email in June 2016 from a person attempting to set up a meeting with Putin. The email occurred around the time that Trump Jr., Jared Kushner, and Paul Manafort met with the Russian lawyer at Trump Tower. At the time, Rick Dearborn served as Jeff Sessions' chief of staff. Investigators want to know if Dearborn played a role in arranging the two meetings that occurred between the then-Russia ambassador to the US, Sergey Kislyak, and Sessions. (CNN)
2/ Kislyak downplayed his contact with the Trump campaign, calling allegations that he tried to recruit people within Trump's orbit as spies "nonsense." Kislyak is considered to be one of Russia's top spies and spy-recruiters in Washington. He left the US for Russia last month after concluding his tour of service. (CNN)
3/ The private investigator behind the infamous Trump dossier spent almost 10 hours behind closed doors with the Senate Judiciary Committee yesterday. Glenn Simpson, who cofounded the private research firm Fusion GPS, answered questions about the 35-page document. Fusion GPS hired a former British intelligence officer, Christopher Steele, to compile the dossier, which alleges that Trump had a long-running relationship with Russia and that the Kremlin holds compromising material on him.
Fusion GPS was initially hired by Republicans and later Democrats to explore then-candidate Trump’s past. Simpson did not reveal who paid for the research, but Fusion GPS said it remains “proud” of the work and “stands by it.”
Simpson is the first of three major players to speak with judiciary staff in the ongoing Russia probe. Trump Jr. and Paul Manafort both cut deals to speak with committee staff in private, but their dates have not been scheduled yet. (ABC News / NPR / CNN)
4/ The White House set guidance for implementing Trump's ban on transgender people in the military. The policy will give Defense Secretary Jim Mattis authority to expel transgender people from the military. The memo also directs the Pentagon to stop recruiting transgender troops and to stop paying for sexual reassignment surgery and other medical treatments for those already serving. Mattis has six months to prepare to fully implement the ban. (Wall Street Journal / New York Times)
5/ White House staffer paid to spot and distribute positive stories from the mainstream media has left his position. Andy Hemming worked at the White House from 5:30 a.m. to 11 p.m. every weekday, sending reporters stories favorable to the administration. Sarah Huckabee Sanders told us that it was a “[m]utual decision that he could best help promote the president’s agenda on the outside." (Politico)
6/ Seven members of Trump's infrastructure council resigned this week, citing his Charlottesville response and other issues. The National Infrastructure Advisory Council is made up of appointees from the private sector, academia, and government to advise the president on security for critical infrastructure. (HuffPost)
7/ Trump blamed Mitch McConnell and Paul Ryan for the debt ceiling "mess," saying it could have been avoided had they listened to him. The two GOP leaders refused to package legislation raising the debt ceiling to a measure on veterans affairs, which Trump advised them to do. "They didn’t do it," Trump tweeted, "so now we have a big deal with Dems holding them up (as usual) on Debt Ceiling approval. Could have been so easy-now a mess!” Congress needs to pass both a debt ceiling increase and a spending measure by the end of September. Both could pass the Republican-led House by a simple majority vote, but the Senate will need 60 votes to pass, requiring support from Democrats. (Reuters / Bloomberg)
I requested that Mitch M & Paul R tie the Debt Ceiling legislation into the popular V.A. Bill (which just passed) for easy approval. They...
8/ Trump is reportedly "serious" about shutting down the government if he doesn't get funding for his border wall. Kellyanne Conway said Trump was "steadfastly committed" to building the wall, and that he expects the funding to do it. "Anybody who’s surprised by that has not been paying attention for over two years," Conway said. "So he’s telling Congress he’s building the wall, he expects the funding, and it’s up to them to work collaboratively. We hope they do." (NBC News)
9/ A web hosting company was ordered to turn over information about an anti-Trump website to the DOJ despite arguments that doing so would impinge on users' First Amendment rights and stifle online political discourse. The DC judge ruled that DreamHost was obligated to turn over subscriber data as long as it was limited to individuals linked to the Inauguration Day riots and not people merely using the site. The DOJ originally requested that 1.3 million IP addresses from disruptj20.org be turned over. (The Hill / Bloomberg / Politico)
poll/ 71% agreed Trump's behavior is not what they expected from a president. 68% believe his words and actions could get the US "accidentally" involved in an international conflict. (George Washington University Battleground Poll)
1/ Trump ranted, rambled, and went on a rampage during his campaign-style rally in Arizona last night. Ignoring the message on his Teleprompter, Trump threatened to shut down the government over border wall funding, blaming “obstructionist Democrats” for standing in his way. He called for ending the filibuster in the Senate, a move that Republican leaders have refused to embrace. Trump suggested that "we'll probably end up terminating NAFTA" despite the renegotiation just getting underway. He also signaled that he would pardon former Arizona sheriff Joe Arpaio, who was convicted of criminal contempt for ignoring a judge’s order to stop detaining people because he suspected them of being undocumented immigrants. And, he attacked John McCain for his vote against repealing and replacing Obamacare: "One vote away, I will not mention any names." (New York Times / Washington Post / CNN / Politico)
On his Charlottesville comments: Trump defended his responses to the Charlottesville violence while omitting his reference to "many sides" or "both sides." He added that “I hit ’em with neo-Nazi. I hit them with everything. I got the white supremacists, the neo-Nazi. I got them all in there. Let’s see. K.K.K., we have K.K.K.."
On removing Confederate monuments: "They're trying to take away our culture. They're trying to take away our history," Trump said, blaming "weak, weak people" for allowing the removal of statues commemorating the Confederacy.
On pardoning former sheriff Joe Arpaio: “I won’t do it tonight because I don’t want to cause any controversy. I’ll make a prediction: I think he’s going to be just fine.”
On the news media: "It’s time to expose the crooked media deceptions. They’re very dishonest people. The only people giving a platform to these hate groups is the media itself and the fake news."
2/ James Clapper called Trump's speech "downright scary and disturbing." The former national intelligence director questioned Trump’s fitness for office and is worried about his access to the nuclear codes. “I also am beginning to wonder about his motivation for it," Clapper said. "Maybe he is looking for a way out.” (Washington Post / CNN)
James Clapper, former director of national intelligence, says he questions President Trump's fitness for office https://t.co/IRRXg7paZM
3/ The White House has prepared the paperwork for Trump to pardon former sheriff Joe Arpaio. One of the talking points is that Arpaio served his country for 50 years and that it is not appropriate to send him to prison for "enforcing the law" and "working to keep people safe." Arpaio was found guilty of criminal contempt for disregarding a court order in a racial profiling case. (CNN)
4/ Trump followed up his threat to shut down the government if Congress didn't fund his wall by going after Senator Jeff Flake of Arizona. Trump tweeted "I love the Great State of Arizona. Not a fan of Jeff Flake, weak on crime and border!” Flake is one of two Republican senators up for re-election next year and was among a handful of GOP lawmakers who did not endorse Trump for president. Flake has been skeptical of building a border wall between the US and Mexico. (Politico / New York Times)
Phoenix crowd last night was amazing - a packed house. I love the Great State of Arizona. Not a fan of Jeff Flake, weak on crime & border!
5/ The United Nations issued an “early warning” to the US over its "alarming" racism, urging the Trump administration to “unequivocally and unconditionally” reject discrimination. The only other countries to be issued an early warning were Burundi, Iraq, Ivory Coast, Kyrgyzstan and Nigeria. (The Guardian)
6/ There are 3,500 additional troops in Afghanistan than the Pentagon has publicly disclosed. The Pentagon has acknowledged that about 8,400 troops are in Afghanistan, but this doesn't include the approximately 3,500 troops there on temporary assignment, which brings the total number of troops above 12,000. The Pentagon is expected to send up to another 3,900 troops under the new Afghanistan strategy, for a total of about 16,000 troops. (Wall Street Journal / NBC News)
7/ The Secret Service agreed to stop erasing White House visitor log data while a lawsuit demanding public access to some of the information goes forward. Records held by federal agencies like the Secret Service are subject to Freedom of Information Act requests. (Politico)
8/ The editor in chief of The Wall Street Journal criticized his staff over their coverage of Trump’s rally in Phoenix, describing their reporting as overly opinionated. The Wall Street Journal is owned by Rupert Murdoch, who speaks regularly with Trump and recently dined with the president at the White House. (New York Times)
poll/ 62% of voters say Trump is doing more to divide the country, while 31% say he is doing more to unite the country. (Quinnipiac)
1/ Mitch McConnell has privately expressed uncertainty that Trump can salvage his administration. The two have not spoken to each other in weeks and in offhand remarks, McConnell questioned whether Trump will be in a position to lead the Republican Party into next year’s elections and beyond. (New York Times)
2/ Trump put forward his strategy for resolving the nearly 16-year-old conflict in Afghanistan last night. He insisted he would “not talk about numbers of troops” needed or telegraph military moves, but hinted that he supports the Pentagon’s proposal to add nearly 4,000 troops to the roughly 8,400 Americans there now. Trump also said the US will shift away from a time-based approach to a results-based approach, declining to specify the benchmarks for success or a timetable for withdrawal. He added, however, that there would be no “blank check” for Afghanistan and that “a hasty withdrawal would create a vacuum for terrorists, including ISIS and Al Qaeda.” He described his plan as "principled realism." (New York Times / Washington Post / Associated Press)
3/ Trump's national security team spent months talking him out of abruptly ending the war in Afghanistan. “It wasn’t a debate,” said a senior White House aide. “It was an attempt to convince the president.” Trump's acceptance was less a change of heart than a willingness to be persuaded as long as he could be seen as a strong and decisive leader, even if it broke with his “America First” campaign rhetoric. “We are not nation-building again,” Trump said in his speech. “We are killing terrorists.” National security adviser H.R. McMaster used black-and-white photos from 1972 of Afghan women in miniskirts in an effort to convince Trump that Western norms had existed there before and could return. (Politico / Washington Post / New York Times)
4/ Trump’s aides are pushing him to protect young children brought to the country illegally despite his campaign promise to deport so-called Dreamers. White House officials want to use the issue as a bargaining chip for a larger immigration deal that offers Dreamers protection in exchange for legislation that pays for a border wall and more detention facilities, curbs legal immigration and implements E-verify, an online system that allows businesses to check immigration status, and more. (McClatchy DC)
5/ The Treasury Department sanctioned China and Russia for assisting North Korea’s development of nuclear weapons and ballistic missiles. Six individuals and 10 companies were added to the sanctions list in order to increase economic leverage on North Korea and reduce the flow of money to its weapons development. (Bloomberg / CNBC)
6/ Pro-Trump rallies in 36 states have been canceled. The America First Rallies were scheduled for September 9th, but “out of an abundance of caution” due “to the recent violence in America and in Europe" the rallies will be held as online demonstrations because "citizens cannot peacefully express their opinion without risk of physical harm from terror groups domestic and international." (Newsweek)
7/ Paul Ryan said Trump “messed up” his response to Charlottesville when he failed to denounce white supremacy and defended them as "fine people." Ryan said that by blaming "both sides" for last week's violence, Trump “made comments that are much more morally ambiguous, much more confusing” than he should have. He stopped short of calling on Trump to apologize for his Charlottesville response. (Politico / New York Times)
8/ Pence: the US should be building more monuments, not tearing them down. "I'm someone who believes in more monuments, not less monuments," Pence told Fox News. "What we ought to do is remember our history," arguing that America's monuments should tell the country's full history. "We ought to be celebrating the men and women who have helped our nation move towards a more perfect union and tell the whole story of America." (The Hill)
9/ Mitch McConnell said there was “zero chance” Congress fails to raise the debt ceiling by late September in order to prevent an unprecedented default. He offered no information about how he hoped to persuade lawmakers to back such a measure. House conservatives have demanded significant spending cuts in return for lifting the debt ceiling. In addition, McConnell will need support from Democrats to increase the debt ceiling, who have not said what kind of bill they would support. (Bloomberg / Washington Post / Wall Street Journal)
10/ German police seized 5,000 Trump-shaped ecstasy tablets, worth tens of thousands of euros. (CNN)
11/ An email prankster fooled top editors at Breitbart into believing he was Steve Bannon. The editors pledged to fake Bannon that they would do the "dirty work" against White House aides, including having Jared Kushner and Ivanka Trump ousted "by end of year." (CNN)
12/ The Senate intelligence committee wants Congress to declare WikiLeaks a “non-state hostile intelligence service,” which would force spy agencies to release information about Russian threats to the US and open Julian Assange and his pro-transparency organization to new surveillance. The bill passed the committee late last month on a 14-1 vote. (The Daily Beast)
13/ In 214 days, Trump has made 1057 false and misleading claims. Trump averages nearly five false claims a day and more than 30 of his misleading statements have been repeated three or more times. (Washington Post)
1/ The Secret Service has blown through its budget to pay agents because of Trump's frequent travel and large family. More than 1,000 agents have hit the federally mandated caps for salary and overtime allowances that were meant to last the entire year. The Secret Service has enough to money to continue protecting Trump and his family through September. If Congress don’t lift the cap, about a third of the agency’s agents would be working overtime without being paid. (USA Today / Washington Post)
2/ Republican political committees have spent nearly $1.3 million at Trump-owned properties this year. Federal Election Commission records show the Republican National Committee paid the Trump International Hotel in Washington $122,000 last month and at least 25 congressional campaigns, state parties, and the Republican Governors Association have together spent more than $473,000 at Trump hotels or golf resorts this year. (Washington Post)
3/ The Trump administration disbanded the National Climate Assessment panel, a group aimed at translating scientific findings into concrete guidance for both public and private-sector officials. Its members have been writing the Climate Science Special Report, due for release in 2018, which estimated that human activities were responsible for an increase in global temperatures of 1.1 to 1.3 degrees Fahrenheit from 1951 to 2010. (Washington Post)
4/ The Trump administration cut funding for Obama's Teen Pregnancy Prevention program after three years instead of the planned five. The Department of Health and Human Services said in a statement that the "very weak evidence of positive impact of these programs stands in stark contrast to the promised results, jeopardizing the youth who were served." (Axios / Wired)
5/ Trump will address the nation tonight on a "path forward" in Afghanistan at 9PM ET. The speech will "provide an update on the path forward for America’s engagement in Afghanistan and South Asia." Defense Secretary Jim Mattis received authority in June to send as many as 3,900 troops to Afghanistan. It will be Trump's first prime-time broadcast on a specific policy issue. (NBC News / Washington Post / New York Times)
Important day spent at Camp David with our very talented Generals and military leaders. Many decisions made, including on Afghanistan.
6/ Paul Ryan will hold his first public town hall in nearly two years tonight. The town hall will air tonight at 9:30PM ET on CNN. Last month, Ryan said he would not hold public town halls due to concerns over potential protesters coming in from outside districts. (CNN / The Hill)
7/ Trump's pick for USDA chief scientist has argued that homosexuality could lead to the legalization of pedophilia. Sam Clovis also said that homosexuality is a choice and the science on "LGBT behavior" is unsettled. Clovis is not an agricultural scientist and lacks the "specialized training or significant experience in agricultural research, education and economics" required by law for the position. (CNN / Politico)
8/ At least 15 charities have cancelled their planned fundraisers at Mar-a-Lago. Large nonprofits began walking away from Mar-a-Lago after Trump blamed “both sides” for the violence in Charlottesville and claimed there were “very fine people on both sides.” (New York Times / Washington Post)
9/ Trump thanked a fake Twitter user and then attacked the "dishonest Fake News Media." The account was created in October 2015, but it first tweeted just 3 days ago, gathering over 6,000 followers with memes and posts exclusively celebrating Donald Trump. Trump thanked the bot for its tweet saying that "Every single day the #FakeNews media try to take you down.. You never falter, you always stand strong!" (Mashable)
10/ Mitch McConnell undercuts Trump that "most news is not fake." McConnell told a group at the Louisville Chamber of Commerce that he reads a variety of sources that Trump has blasted, including the New York Times, and that "it is my view that most news is not fake." (Politico)
11/ Robert Mueller is investigating the Russian lobbyist with deep ties to Moscow who attended the Trump Jr. meeting. It was previously reported that Rinat Akhmetshin attended the June 2016 meeting between Paul Manafort, Donald Trump Jr., Jared Kushner, and the Russian lawyer Natalia Veselnitskaya. However, Akhmetshin's ties to the Russian government and Kremlin-backed oligarchs are much deeper than was previously known. Akhmetshin has been accused of being involved in various hacking schemes and nurturing a relationship with the former deputy head of Russia’s intelligence service, who was until last year a top aide to Putin. (New York Times)
poll/ Trump's job approval rating is below 40% in three key states that won him the White House. Six-in-10 voters in Michigan, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin also say Trump’s conduct as president has embarrassed them. (NBC News)
poll/ 28% approve of Trump's response to Charlottesville. 42% believe Trump has been equating neo-Nazis and white supremacists to those who oppose them. (ABC News)
1/ Trump fired Steve Bannon. The White House issued a statement saying, "White House Chief of Staff John Kelly and Steve Bannon have mutually agreed today would be Steve's last day. We are grateful for his service and wish him the best." A person close to Bannon insists that it was his idea to part ways and that he submitted his resignation on August 7th, but it was delayed in the wake of Charlottesville. A White House official said Bannon and then-Chief of Staff Reince Priebus were supposed to be fired at same time, but the chairman of the conservative House Freedom Caucus urged Trump to keep Bannon on board. (New York Times / CNN / Politico / Washington Post)
2/ Bannon will return to Breitbart News as executive chairman and will be “going to war” for Trump, vowing to intensify the fight from the outside. “Steve is now unchained,” a source close to Bannon said. “Fully unchained.” Another added that "He’s going nuclear. You have no idea. This is gonna be really fucking bad.” Earlier this week Bannon met with billionaire Republican donor Bob Mercer for five hours to plot out their political and media strategy. (New York Times / Bloomberg / Politico)
3/ Robert Mueller is focusing on Trump Jr.'s intent when he met with the Russian lawyer as prosecutors investigate possible collusion between Russia and the Trump campaign. Trump Jr. has acknowledged that he was looking for negative information about Hillary Clinton, but he claimed he didn't receive anything useful. Prosecutors are trying to determine what information was provided. (BuzzFeed News)
4/ Mitt Romney called on Trump to apologize for his Charlottesville comments. Romney warned of “an unraveling of our national fabric” if Trump doesn’t take “remedial action in the extreme." He added that "whether he intended to or not, what he communicated caused racists to rejoice, minorities to weep, and the vast heart of America to mourn." (Washington Post / New York Times)
5/ Billionaire investor Carl Icahn stepped down as a special adviser to Trump. Unlike other executives who quit Trump’s advisory councils in protest over his refusal to condemn white supremacists, Icahn quit because he didn't want to be subject to questions of potential conflicts of interests over his role. (Financial Times / Bloomberg)
6/ The remaining members of Trump's arts commission resigned in protest over his comments on the violence in Charlottesville. The presidential arts and humanities panel, whose members are from Broadway, Hollywood, and the broader arts and entertainment community, said in a letter to Trump that “Supremacy, discrimination, and vitriol are not American values. Your values are not American values. We must be better than this. We are better than this. If this is not clear to you, then we call on you to resign your office, too.” (Washington Post)
Members of the digital economy council have resigned in protest. The committee’s aim is to “provide recommendations on ways to advance economic growth and opportunity in the digital age." It's the third advisory council to see resignations this week following Trump's remarks that there were “very fine people on both sides” of the Charlottesville violence. (Vice News)
7/ House Democrats have introduced a measure to censure Trump for his response to the violent white supremacist march in Charlottesville. At least 79 Democratic colleagues have signed on, including Nancy Pelosi, Jerry Nadler, Bonnie Watson, and Pramila Jayapal. A censure is a formal condemnation from Congress that's rarely used, but is the preliminary step before introducing impeachment. (Politico / ABC News)
8/ Five charities are cancelling planned fundraising events at Mar-a-Lago. The American Red Cross, The Salvation Army, Susan G. Komen foundation, the Cleveland Clinic, American Cancer Society, and the American Friends of Magen David Adom all said they wouldn't hold their 2018 galas at the resort. (CNN Money / Washington Post)
9/ James Murdoch pledged to donate $1 million to the Anti-Defamation League in a rebuke of Trump and his response to Charlottesville. James, the son of Rupert Murdoch, is the CEO of 21st Century Fox and an informal adviser to Trump. "Standing up to Nazis is essential," the younger Murdoch said in a statement. "There are no good Nazis. Or Klansmen, or terrorists. Democrats, Republicans, and others must all agree on this, and it compromises nothing for them to do so.” (New York Times)
10/ Pence praised Trump as the modern reincarnation of Theodore Roosevelt. “Just as President Roosevelt exhorted his fellow Americans to ‘dare to be great,’" Pence said, "President Donald Trump has dared our nation to ‘make America great again,’ and we’ll do it with all of our friends in the world.” (Washington Post)
11/ Neil Gorsuch will speak at the Trump International Hotel in Washington next month, raising questions about his impartiality and ethics concerns. The speaking engagement is for the celebration of the 50th anniversary of The Fund for American Studies group and is scheduled just days before the Supreme Court's next term begins. (CNN)
12/ Trump reorganized the military's Cyber Command, putting it on the same level as other combatant commands. The move will help the US bolster its cyber weapons so it can match Russia's capabilities in addition to giving it some operational independence. The head of Cyber Command will eventually report directly to the secretary of defense. (CNN / Axios / Vox)
1/ Trump is "sad" that "our beautiful statues and monuments" to the Confederacy are being taken down. He tweeted that we're seeing the "history and culture of our great country being ripped apart." (Associated Press / Washington Post / New York Times)
Sad to see the history and culture of our great country being ripped apart with the removal of our beautiful statues and monuments. You.....
Apple’s Tim Cook "disagrees" with Trump’s take on neo-Nazi violence in Charlottesville and will donate $1 million each to the Southern Poverty Law Center and the Anti-Defamation League. (Recode)
Unlike His Predecessors, Trump Steps Back From a Moral Judgment. Asked if he would put white supremacists and neo-Nazis on the same “moral plane” as their liberal and leftist resisters, Trump replied, “I’m not putting anybody on a moral plane.” (New York Times)
The rabbi who oversaw Ivanka Trump's conversion to Judaism criticized her father's response to Charlottesville in a letter to his congregation. (CNN)
2/ White House aides are wrestling with how to respond to Trump after he doubled down that “both sides” were to blame in Charlottesville. Gary Cohn, Trump’s top economic adviser, who is Jewish, was “disgusted” and “frantically unhappy" by Trump's remarks that there were some “very fine people" at the white nationalist rally. John Kelly, the new chief of staff, has been trying to instill a sense of discipline in the West Wing, but is "frustrated and dismayed" by Trump's self-inflicted controversies, from his North Korea rhetoric to publicly attacking Mitch McConnell. (Washington Post / Reuters / Politico)
"He is stubborn and doesn't realize how bad this is getting," a White House adviser said. Trump’s temper has been a constant force in the White House, making policy decisions after becoming irritated with staffers and escalating fights because he doesn't like being told what to do. (Politico)
3/ Jeff Sessions criticized Chicago’s “sanctuary city” policy, saying the "respect for the rule of law has broken down." He tied the violence in Chicago to its refusal to cooperate with federal immigration authorities, arguing that it's made Chicago a haven for predators and drug dealers. (New York Times / Reuters / Politico)
4/ Steve Bannon gave an outrageous interview then said he didn't know he was being interviewed in an attempt to divert attention from Charlottesville. Bannon called Robert Kuttner, the co-editor of The American Prospect, to say his rivals are "wetting themselves," called white supremacists “clowns” and “losers," and contradicted Trump on North Korea. (Washington Post / Axios / CNN)
5/ Trump’s personal lawyer forwarded an email warning that Black Lives Matter “has been totally infiltrated by terrorist groups" and that Robert E. Lee's rebellion was the same as the American Revolution against England. John Dowd forwarded the email with the subject line "The Information that Validates President Trump on Charlottesville" to conservative journalists, government officials and friends. (New York Times / CNN)
6/ Trump spread a debunked rumor while responding to the Barcelona terror attack on Twitter less than an hour after issuing an initial, measured statement. "Study what General Pershing of the United States did to terrorists when caught," Trump tweeted. "There was no more Radical Islamic Terror for 35 years!" The reference is to General John J. Pershing who allegedly dipped bullets in pigs' blood to execute Islamic terrorists in the Philippines whose religion forbid contact with the animals. The Pershing legend has been debunked multiple times. (CNN Money / Washington Post / PolitiFact)
The United States condemns the terror attack in Barcelona, Spain, and will do whatever is necessary to help. Be tough & strong, we love you!
7/ Trump abandoned plans for an infrastructure council after his two other business advisory councils disbanded in protest over his remarks legitimizing white supremacists. The council would have advised Trump on his plan to spend as much as $1 trillion upgrading roads, bridges and other public works. (Bloomberg)
poll/ 67% of Republicans approve of Trump's response to the Charlottesville violence. 82% of Democrats disapprove. (CBS News)
poll/ 40% of Americans support impeaching Trump and removing him from office. That’s compared to 30 percent who said the same in February. (NBC News)
poll/ More people worldwide trust Putin over Trump to handle foreign affairs. 22 of the 36 countries polled, including Germany, France and Japan, trust Putin more than Trump, while 13 countries, including Australia, Canada, and the UK trust Trump slightly more. The survey was conducted February 16th to May 8th, which is before Trump threatened to rain “fire and fury” on North Korea. (Pew / Bloomberg)
poll/ 53% of Americans – both Republicans and Democrats – say there is nothing Trump could do to change their mind about him. 72% of female Trump supporters say they will never change their support. (CNN)
1/ Trump's staff is "stunned and disheartened" by his Charlottesville remarks. They say they "never expected to hear such a voluble articulation of opinions that the president had long expressed in private." While Trump has repeatedly said he is not prejudiced, his statements against white nationalists and racist organizations have been equivocal: It started on Saturday with his comment placing blame “on many sides," which was followed by a stronger denunciation of hate groups via email, attributed to an unnamed “spokesperson.” On Monday, Trump said that “racism is evil," but by Tuesday, Trump had reassigned “blame on both sides” for the Charlottesville violence, singling out "alt-left" groups who were “very, very violent." (New York Times)
Donald Trump Denounces Amazon More Strongly Than Neo-Nazis. (HuffPost)
Pence: “I stand with the president, and I stand by those words.” (Politico)
What Steve Bannon thinks about Charlottesville. (Axios)
Jewish Trump Staff Silent on His Defense of Rally With Anti-Semitic Marchers. (New York Times)
2/ Obama’s response to the Charlottesville violence is now the most liked tweet in Twitter’s history. The former president quoted Nelson Mandela, saying: “No one is born hating another person because of the color of his skin or his background or his religion … People must learn to hate, and if they can learn to hate, they can be taught to love … For love comes more naturally to the human heart than its opposite." Trump, meanwhile, placed "blame on both sides. And I have no doubt about it." (BBC / Washington Post)
"No one is born hating another person because of the color of his skin or his background or his religion..." pic.twitter.com/InZ58zkoAm
3/ Former Presidents H.W. and W. Bush denounce racism in wake of Charlottesville. "America must always reject racial bigotry, anti-Semitism, and hatred in all forms," the statement said. (CNN)
4/ The White House is telling Republicans to say Trump's comments on Charlottesville are “entirely correct.” The evening communications briefing encouraged members to echo Trump's line that “both sides … acted inappropriately, and bear some responsibility.” The memo adds that the "media reacted with hysteria" and that "we should not overlook the facts just because the media finds them inconvenient.” (The Atlantic)
5/ Paul Ryan called white supremacy “repulsive” in a tweet hours after Trump doubled down on his claim that "many sides" are to blame for the violence in Charlottesville. “We must be clear," Ryan tweeted. "White supremacy is repulsive. This bigotry is counter to all this country stands for. There can be no moral ambiguity.” (Talking Points Memo / The Hill)
We must be clear. White supremacy is repulsive. This bigotry is counter to all this country stands for. There can be no moral ambiguity.
6/ Mitch McConnell issued a statement condemning white nationalist groups ahead of a planned alt-right rally in his home state of Kentucky. The Senate majority leader said their ideologies "should not be welcome anywhere in America." (CNN / Axios)
7/ The Navy, Marines, Army, Air Force, and the National Guard have all denounced racism via Twitter following the violence in Charlottesville. (Army Times)
Events in Charlottesville unacceptable & musnt be tolerated @USNavy forever stands against intolerance & hatred...https://t.co/tg0cETibaq
8/ Baltimore removed its four Confederate monuments early this morning after the City Council voted unanimously to take them down following the violence in Charlottesville. (CNN / New York Times)
Lincoln Memorial vandalized with profanity in Washington, DC. (BBC)
Holocaust Memorial in Boston Is Vandalized for Second Time This Summer. (New York Times)
9/ Hope Hicks is taking over as Trump's interim Communications Director and will work with White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders to find a permanent person for the job. Hicks was a spokeswoman for Trump during his presidential campaign and at the Trump Organization. (New York Times / NBC News)
10/ Trump's business councils disbanded after multiple executives quit over his equating white nationalist hate groups with the protesters opposing them. The Strategic and Policy Forum called to inform Trump the group would disband. After the call, Trump tweeted that it was his decision to disband that council. "Rather than putting pressure on the businesspeople of the Manufacturing Council and Strategy and Policy Forum, I am ending both," Trump tweeted. (ABC News / New York Times / Wall Street Journal)
Rather than putting pressure on the businesspeople of the Manufacturing Council & Strategy & Policy Forum, I am ending both. Thank you all!
11/ One of Robert Mueller's top FBI investigators has left the team. Peter Strzok oversaw the beginnings of the Russia probe last summer. About a month ago, Mueller brought Strzok in to help manage the investigation into Russian election meddling. (ABC News / CNN)
12/ A panel of federal judges ruled Texas voter maps illegally discriminate against Hispanic and black voters and can’t be used in the upcoming congressional midterm elections. The state has three days to say if and when the Texas Legislature will fix the congressional map. The court will redraw the districts maps itself if Texas decides not to fix them. (Bloomberg)
Former Trump campaign aides are starting a group to identify “disaffected” rural and working-class Americans who either do not vote or are not on the voter rolls, in order to register and mobilize them ahead of future elections. (New York Times)
13/ The Trump administration agreed to continue making health care subsidy payments after the CBO reported that cutting off the payments would increase federal spending and cause insurance premiums to rise sharply. (Los Angeles Times)
poll/ 52% of Americans think Trump's response to the violence in Charlottesville was "not strong enough." No shit. (NPR)
1/ Trump retweeted an alt-right conspiracy theorist, a train hitting CNN, and a critic calling him a fascist. Last night, Trump retweeted Jack Posobiec, an alt-right figure who pushed the Pizzagate and Seth Rich conspiracy theories. Then this morning, Trump retweeted an image of a person holding a CNN sign being hit by a train, with the commentary, "Nothing can stop the #TrumpTrain!!" The White House said the tweet was inadvertently posted and it was deleted. And, finally, Trump retweeted a critic who called Trump a "fascist" for "seriously considering" pardoning former Arizona sheriff Joe Arpaio, who was found guilty of ignoring a judge's order to stop racially profiling Latinos during patrols. (USA Today / CNN / Washington Post)
Trump finally calls out racism in Charlottesville.
Trump says he's seriously considering pardoning former Sheriff Joe Arpaio, a vocal Trump supporter during the 2016 presidential campaign. Earlier this month Arpaio was found guilty of criminal contempt for ignoring a court order to stop detaining suspected illegal immigrants. He faces up to six months in prison. (ABC News)
2/ Trump, again, blamed both sides for the Charlottesville violence, asking why the "alt-left" is not being blamed because, he says, they were “very, very violent” when they confronted white nationalist and Nazi groups. He asked if George Washington statues were going to come down next. (New York Times / Washington Post / Politico / Bloomberg)
Trump asks about "alt-left": "You had a group on one side that was bad, and you had a group on the other side that was also very violent" pic.twitter.com/9BpzwLqVVm
3/ Four CEOs have now resigned from Trump's advisory council over his slow denouncement of white supremacists. The chief executives of Merck, Under Armour, Intel, Alliance for American Manufacturing have all quit the manufacturing council. Trump, meanwhile, tweeted that "For every CEO that drops out of the Manufacturing Council, I have many to take their place. Grandstanders should not have gone on. JOBS!" Elon Musk, the CEO of Tesla, left the council earlier this year after Trump announced the US would withdraw from the Paris climate agreement. (CNN Money / Recode / Reuters / The Hill)
For every CEO that drops out of the Manufacturing Council, I have many to take their place. Grandstanders should not have gone on. JOBS!
4/ Trump won't visit Charlottesville, because “why the hell would we do that?" The White House official suggested that the administration sees no upside and whatever Trump might do in Charlottesville would be “used against” him by the media. (The Daily Beast)
5/ Trump went off script, ad-libbing his "many sides" remark in response to Charlottesville violence. "Those were his own words," a senior White House official said. His "on many sides" comment "were not" in his prepared remarks. (ABC News)
6/ The leaders of four minority House caucus groups sent a letter to Trump asking him to fire Steve Bannon, Stephen Miller, and Sebastian Gorka. “Americans deserve to know that white nationalists, white supremacists, and neo-Nazis are not in a position to influence U.S. policy,” the heads of the black, Hispanic, Asian and progressive caucuses wrote, suggesting that their continued presence in the White House is emboldening a resurgence of white supremacy. (Associated Press)
7/ North Korea won't fire missiles at Guam after all. State media said Kim Jong-un reviewed plans to fire missiles towards Guam but decided to hold off. He warned he could change his mind “if the Yankees persist in their extremely dangerous reckless actions.” (NPR / BBC / Wall Street Journal)
8/ The Justice Department has demanded that 1.3 million IP addresses from a Trump resistance site be turned over. The web hosting company, DreamHost, is fighting the search warrant, saying that the request for visitor logs, contact information, emails, and photos could be used to identify people who are exercising their Constitutional right of free speech to protest. Prosecutors obtained a search warrant for the records in July and are now asking a federal judge to force the company to turn over the information. (The Hill / Business Insider / CNN / DreamHost)
9/ Trump's threat to end Obamacare insurance subsidies would send premiums up 20% next year and increase the federal budget deficits by $194 billion in the coming decade, the Congressional Budget Office said. Trump has said he would "Let Obamacare implode" in order to force Democrats to negotiate on a replacement plan. (New York Times / Vox)
1/ The White House issued a statement criticizing white supremacists for the violence that led to one death in Charlottesville more than 36 hours after the protests began. It was meant to clarify Trump's earlier remarks and condemn “all forms of violence, bigotry and hatred” and “of course that includes white supremacists, KKK, Neo-Nazi and all extremist groups.” The statement came in an email sent to reporters and attributed to an unnamed representative. Trump had previously said: "We condemn in the strongest possible terms this egregious display of hatred, bigotry and violence on many sides, on many sides." (New York Times / CNN)
Trump Is Criticized for Not Calling Out White Supremacists. He was the only national political figure to spread blame for the “hatred, bigotry and violence” that resulted in the death of one person to “many sides.” (New York Times)
2/ The White House’s clarification stopped short of what Republicans have urged Trump to do: directly call out and condemn white supremacy. Three of Trump's top advisers attempted to defend his vague statements: Ivanka Trump tweeted: “There should be no place in society for racism, white supremacy and neo-nazis.” National security adviser H.R. McMaster said Trump was “very clear” in his statement and “called out anyone, anyone who is responsible for fomenting this kind of bigotry, hatred, racism and violence.” And, CIA Director Mike Pompeo said Trump was “specific,” “very clear” and, “frankly, pretty unambiguous” in responding to the violence, adding “when someone marches with a Nazi flag, that's unacceptable, and I think that's what the president said yesterday.” (Washington Post)
1:2 There should be no place in society for racism, white supremacy and neo-nazis.
Pence spoke out more forcefully than Trump on Charlottesville, saying: “We have no tolerance for hate and violence from white supremacists, neo Nazis or the KKK. These dangerous fringe groups have no place in American public life and in the American debate, and we condemn them in the strongest possible terms.” (Washington Post)
Even Anthony Scaramucci criticized Trump's unwillingness to single out white supremacy groups. “I wouldn’t have recommended that statement," the former White House communications director said. "I think he needed to be much harsher as it related to the white supremacists and the nature of that." (Washington Post)
3/ Contrasting Trump's reluctance to criticize white supremacists, Jeff Sessions said the “evil attack” in Charlottesville is an act of domestic terrorism. “You can be sure we will charge and advance the investigation toward the most serious charges that can be brought because this is unequivocally an unacceptable evil attack." McMaster added: "Certainly I think we can confidently call it a form of terrorism." (New York Times / NBC News)
4/ An African-American CEO quit Trump's advisory council after Trump failed to condemn white supremacists. Kenneth Frazier, Merck's CEO, is one of just a handful of black CEOs to run a Fortune 500 company. Frazier said: "America's leaders must honor our fundamental values by clearly rejecting expressions of hatred, bigotry and group supremacy." Within minutes, Trump attacked him on Twitter, saying Frazier's resignation will give him "more time to LOWER RIPOFF DRUG PRICES!" (CNN Money / New York Times / The Hill)
Now that Ken Frazier of Merck Pharma has resigned from President's Manufacturing Council,he will have more time to LOWER RIPOFF DRUG PRICES!
5/ Trump finally denounced white supremacists 48 hours after initially blaming the Charlottesville violence on “many sides," which prompted nearly universal criticism. “Racism is evil,” Trump said. “And those who cause violence in its name are criminals and thugs, including the KKK, neo-Nazis, white supremacists and other hate groups that are repugnant to everything we hold dear as Americans.” (New York Times / Politico)
6/ In May, the FBI and the Department of Homeland Security warned Trump about the white supremacist movement and that it “likely will continue to pose a threat of lethal violence over the next year.” The report, titled “White Supremacist Extremism Poses Persistent Threat of Lethal Violence,” showed that white supremacist groups had already carried out more attacks than any other domestic extremist group over the past 16 years. (Foreign Policy)
7/ Special Counsel Bob Mueller wants to interview Reince Priebus. Mueller has been talking with the West Wing about interviewing other current and former senior administration officials about specific meetings, who attended them and whether there are any notes, transcripts or documents about them. Mueller also wants to ask the officials about Trump’s decision to fire James Comey. (New York Times)
8/ A junior Trump campaign adviser repeatedly tried to setup a meeting with Putin. Starting in March 2016, George Papadopoulos sent at least a half-dozen emails to Trump campaign leadership to set up “a meeting between us and the Russian leadership to discuss US-Russia ties under President Trump.” He said that his Russian contacts welcomed the opportunity and that he was receiving “a lot of calls over the past month” about arranging a meeting. “Putin wants to host the Trump team when the time is right,” he wrote. Intelligence officials said the messages may have represented a Russian campaign to use lower-level aides to penetrate the 2016 campaign and see if the Trump campaign would be willing to cooperate. (Washington Post)
9/ North Korea’s successful ICBM tests have been linked to a Ukrainian factory with ties to Russia’s Cold War missile program. The engine design on North Korea's latest missiles match those that once powered the Soviet Union’s missile fleet and are based on a technology too complex for North Korea to have switched to so quickly themselves, a classified report by American intelligence agencies says. The report suggests that North Korea purchased black market rocket engines that were probably from the Ukrainian factory. (New York Times)
10/ Trump believes Steve Bannon is behind the White House leaks targeting McMaster and has considered firing him. West Wing colleagues say Bannon has instigated leaks to members of the far right, like Mike Cernovich, accusing McMaster of having a drinking problem (Trump is teetotaler) and getting the right-wing Zionist Organization of America to accuse McMaster of being anti-Israel. Rupert Murdoch has repeatedly urged Trump to fire Bannon and Scaramucci has said Trump's "toleration of [white nationalism] by Steve Bannon is inexcusable." McMaster has refused to say he could work with Bannon. (New York Times / Axios / ABC / CNN)
WATCH: Can National Security Adviser H.R. McMaster and Steve Bannon work together? McMaster won't say. #MTPpic.twitter.com/4iWhCHBBfC
Sheldon Adelson comes out in support of H.R. McMaster, disavowing a campaign against McMaster by a group Adelson funds, the Zionist Organization of America. (Axios)
A former Trump political adviser warned of consequences for McMaster and Matt Drudge if Steve Bannon is fired. Sam Nunberg said that "if Steve is fired by the White House and a bunch of generals take over the White House there will be hell to pay." Nunberg is mad that the Drudge Report continues to link to negative stories about Bannon, saying “Matt should understand that people like me can blow him the fook up. F-o-o-k, Conor McGregor. Blow him the fook up [sic].” He added that there will be "serious fucking consequences if he continues this jihad against Steve Bannon" and that he would “blow” McMaster “the fook out [sic]," too. (The Daily Caller)
poll/ Trump's job approval rating ticked down to 34% – the lowest of his presidency so far. (Gallup)
1/ Congressional investigators want to question Trump’s personal secretary as part of their ongoing probe into the meeting between Trump Jr. and the Russian lawyer. Rhona Graff worked at Trump Tower for nearly 30 years. Graff's name was mentioned in the June 2016 email exchange between publicist Rob Goldstone and Trump Jr. leading up to the meeting with Russian attorney Natalia Veselnitskaya at Trump Tower. “Since her name is in the email, people will want her to answer questions,” said Peter King, a member of the House Intelligence Committee. (ABC News)
2/ Paul Manafort is switching attorneys as the federal investigation picks up steam into his financial transactions. Manafort's case will now be handled by Miller and Chevalier, a firm in Washington that specializes in complicated financial crimes among other issues. (Politico)
3/ Trump was surprised by the FBI’s raid on Manafort's home last month, calling the action “pretty tough stuff." Manafort is “a very decent man,” Trump said, adding that “I thought [the raid] was a very, very strong signal, or whatever." (Washington Post)
4/ Trump said he has no plans to fire Robert Mueller, despite people close to him telling reporters the opposite. "I haven't given it any thought," Trump said. "I've been reading about it from you people. You say, 'Oh, I'm going to dismiss him.' No, I'm not dismissing anybody." (CNN)
5/ Trump to North Korea via Twitter: Our military is "locked and loaded, should North Korea act unwisely." It was the third warning of military action against North Korea issued by Trump this week. (New York Times)
Military solutions are now fully in place,locked and loaded,should North Korea act unwisely. Hopefully Kim Jong Un will find another path!
China warns North Korea: You’re on your own if you go after the US. (Washington Post)
6/ Despite the rhetoric, the Trump administration has been engaged in back channel diplomacy with North Korea for several months. Officials call it the “New York channel," which has been used on-and-off for years by past administrations. Shortly after the inauguration, the Trump administration reinitiated talks, which had gone silent over the last seven months of Obama’s presidency after Pyongyang broke them off in anger over US sanctions imposed on Kim Jong Un. (Associated Press)
7/ The Freedom Caucus is trying to force a vote on an outright repeal of Obamacare – a mirror of the 2015 repeal proposal that Obama vetoed. They're seeking a “discharge petition,” which would enable them to bypass House leaders to put the bill up for a vote. To do so, they'll need signatures from at least half the House – 218 members – to bring the bill to the floor, which is unlikely to succeed. (Politico)
poll/ 52% of Americans have a favorable view of Obamacare – the highest ever. 39% have an unfavorable view of the ACA. 60% of Americans say it's a “good thing” the Senate didn't pass the repeal and replace bill. (Kaiser Health Tracking)
poll/ 82% of Americans fear nuclear war with North Korea. 54% of Democrats and Republicans felt that war between the US and North Korea is somewhat close. (Axios)
1/ Federal investigators have sought the cooperation of Paul Manafort’s son-in-law in an effort to gain leverage over Trump’s former campaign chairman and turn him into a cooperating witness. Jeffrey Yohai, who hasn't been accused of wrongdoing, is a business partner of Manafort's. It's unclear if investigators have secured Yohai's cooperation. Manafort is a focus in the investigations into Russian meddling in the 2016 presidential campaign. He and Yohai are also under investigation for some of their business and real estate transactions. (Politico)
2/ Special counsel Robert Mueller subpoenaed Manafort's bank records. The subpoenas were sent in recent weeks from a Washington grand jury to global banks for account information and transaction records involving Manafort and some of his companies. It's unclear when it happened, but Manafort is responsible for alerting authorities to the meeting involving Trump Jr. and a Russian lawyer who promised damaging information on Hillary Clinton. (Bloomberg)
3/ Trump's lawyer called the FBI raid on Manafort's home a “gross abuse of the judicial process” for the sake of “shock value." John Dowd also questioned the validity of the search warrant, calling it an “extraordinary invasion of privacy.” (Fox News)
4/ Trump doubled down on his threats to unleash "fire and fury" on North Korea, suggesting that "maybe it wasn’t tough enough." Trump escalated his rhetoric, saying “things will happen to them like they never thought possible” should North Korea attack the US or its allies. He added that he's "backed by 100 percent by our military, we’re backed by everybody and we’re backed by many other leaders." (USA Today / ABC News / Washington Post)
5/ The White House has failed to coordinate with a coalition of Latino organizations to develop Affordable Care Act outreach campaigns ahead of the open enrollment period, which begins on November 1st. Since 2013, the Department of Health and Human Services and the White House have helped develop education campaigns aimed at helping millions of Latinos sign up for health insurance. Trump has repeatedly announced his intention to “let Obamacare implode." (Talking Points Memo)
6/ A nonpartisan study found that Trump's own actions have triggered health care premium increases. Trump's mixed signals have created uncertainty “far outside the norm,” which is leading to double-digit premium increases on individual health insurance policies purchased by many consumers. 15 of the 20 major metropolitan areas will see increases of 10% or more next year. (Associated Press)
7/ Key posts across the executive branch are still empty, because the Trump administration has yet to nominate anyone – including several pivotal to relations with North Korea. (CNN)
8/ Trump tweeted that Mitch McConnell should "get back to work" and "put Repeal and Replace, Tax Reform and Cuts and a great Infrastructure Bill on my desk for signing. You can do it!" It's Trump's third tweet in two days calling out the Senate majority leader. Later in the day, Trump suggested that if McConnell doesn't get health care reform, taxes, and an infrastructure bill passed, he should step down as majority leader. (CNN / ABC News / Axios)
Senator Mitch McConnell said I had "excessive expectations," but I don't think so. After 7 years of hearing Repeal & Replace, why not done?
9/ Scott Pruitt cast doubt on the idea that climate change poses a threat to the US, despite a recent report concluding that Americans are already feeling the effects of climate change. The EPA chief called for “red team/blue team” to try and challenge what he says is “so-called settled science” on climate change. Pruitt is skeptical of the scientific consensus that human activity is far and away the primary cause of climate change. NOAA and the American Meteorological Society published their annual "State of the Climate" report today, which concludes that 2016 was the third consecutive warmest year on record in 137 years of record keeping, with the highest levels of greenhouse gas concentrations, sea level, and sea surface temperature. (The Hill)
poll/ 70% of Americans believe Trump's finances are fair game in the federal investigation into Russia's efforts to influence the 2016 presidential election. (CNN)
poll/ Nearly half of Republicans say they would support postponing the 2020 presidential election if Trump proposed it in order to fix what they believe to be large-scale voter fraud. Claims that 3 to 5 million “illegals” voted in the election are not true, but that hasn't stopped a substantial number of Republicans from believing the rumors. (Washington Post)
1/ The Pentagon has prepared a plan for a preemptive strike on North Korea's missile sites should Trump order an attack. The plan calls for B-1B heavy bombers originating from Andersen Air Force Base in Guam to attack approximately two-dozen North Korean missile-launch sites, testing grounds, and support facilities. The B-1 bomber plan is one of several options under consideration. (NBC News)
2/ James Mattis warned North Korea that its actions will cause the "end of its regime" and the "destruction of its people." Despite the defense secretary's stern ultimatum, Mattis has consistently said that he prefers to resolve issues over North Korea's missile and nuclear programs through diplomacy. (ABC News / CNN)
3/ Trump turned to Twitter this morning to continue his attacks on North Korea and assert that the US nuclear arsenal is “far stronger and more powerful than ever before. Hopefully we will never have to use this power, but there will never be a time that we are not the most powerful nation in the world!” (Washington Post)
My first order as President was to renovate and modernize our nuclear arsenal. It is now far stronger and more powerful than ever before....
President Trump: If North Korea makes any more threats to the U.S., "they will be met with fire and fury like the world has never seen" pic.twitter.com/8dQed79L1W
4/ North Korea’s military dismissed Trump’s warning as a “load of nonsense," warning that "only absolute force can work on [Trump].” A North Korean general said they'll have a plan by mid-August to fire four mid-range missiles into the waters 18 to 25 miles from Guam. He called it a “historic enveloping fire at Guam.” (Associated Press)
5/ Rex Tillerson urged Americans to remain calm despite Trump and North Korea's continued exchange of threats. He said Americans should have “no concerns," adding that “Americans should sleep well at night,” because "nothing that I have seen and nothing that I know of would indicate that the situation has dramatically changed in the last 24 hours.” (Associated Press)
6/ Lawmakers in both parties criticized Trump's warning to North Korea that it would "face fire and fury like the world has never seen" if Pyongyang keeps threatening the US. Democrats called Trump's a reaction overly "bombastic" and "unhinged," with the top Democrat on the House Foreign Affairs Committee saying that Trump has undermined US credibility "by drawing an absurd red line." John McCain said, "The great leaders I've seen don't threaten unless they're ready to act and I'm not sure President Trump is ready to act." (CNN)
7/ Trump's ominous warning to Pyongyang yesterday was entirely improvised. In discussions with advisers beforehand, Trump had not run the language by them, which has now escalated the confrontation with North Korea to a new level. (New York Times)
8/ One of Trump’s evangelical advisers says "God has given Trump authority to take out Kim Jong Un.” Robert Jeffress, a pastor at a Texas megachurch, released a statement saying that "When it comes to how we should deal with evil doers, the Bible, in the book of Romans, is very clear: God has endowed rulers full power to use whatever means necessary — including war — to stop evil.” (Dallas News / Washington Post)
9/ Trump pushed back on Mitch McConnell's "excessive expectations" line about the legislative progress and his agenda, tweeting that "After 7 years of hearing Repeal and Replace, why not done?" in reference to Republicans' promise to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act. The White House director of social media, Dan Scavino, added his own take: "More excuses. @SenateMajLdr must have needed another 4 years - in addition to the 7 years – to repeal and replace Obamacare." (Vox / CNN)
Senator Mitch McConnell said I had "excessive expectations," but I don't think so. After 7 years of hearing Repeal & Replace, why not done?
More excuses. @SenateMajLdr must have needed another 4 years - in addition to the 7 years -- to repeal and replace Obamacare..... https://t.co/6FOVBm6BQU
10/ FBI agents raided the Virginia home of Paul Manafort last month, using a search warrant to seize tax documents and foreign banking records. The predawn raid at the home of Trump's former campaign chairman came on July 26, one day after he voluntarily met with the Senate Intelligence Committee. In that meeting, Manafort provided investigators with notes from the 2016 meeting with the Russian lawyer claiming to have damaging information on Hillary Clinton. Hours after the raid, Trump attacked Jeff Sessions for not firing Andrew McCabe, the acting FBI director. (Washington Post / New York Times)
11/ The Trump campaign has started to turn over thousands of documents to the Senate Judiciary Committee as part of the panel’s investigation into Russian election meddling. The Trump campaign has turned over 20,000 pages of documents, while Manafort has provided about 400 pages, and Trump Jr. about 250 pages. (Bloomberg)
12/ An unarmed Russian Air Force jet flew over the Pentagon, Capitol, and CIA as part of a longstanding treaty that allows the militaries of the United States and Russia to observe the other from the air. The flight is the 10th this year, which requires that the Russians give at least 72 hours notice and that the mission has American personnel on board as observers. (Politico / CNN)
poll/ 81% of self-identified Trump voters approve of the job he's doing. However, just 18% of all registered voters "strongly approve" of his job performance. 64% of voters say the country is going in the wrong direction. (Politico)
1/ Scientists fear the Trump administration could suppress a report that concludes climate change is real and Americans are already feeling its effects. The findings contradict Trump and members of his cabinet who claim that the human contribution to climate change is uncertain. The report finds it “extremely likely” that more than half of the global mean temperature increase since 1951 can be linked to humans. (New York Times)
Notes:
The EPA is one of 13 agencies that must approve the report by August 18th, which is headed by Scott Pruitt, who has said he does not believe that carbon dioxide is a primary contributor to global warming.
If humans immediately stopped emitting greenhouse gases, the world would still feel at least an additional 0.50 degrees Fahrenheit of warming over this century compared with today.
Read the Draft of the Climate Change Report. The draft report by scientists from 13 federal agencies concludes that Americans are feeling the effects of climate change right now. (New York Times)
2/ The USDA is censoring the use of "climate change" and advising staff to use the phrase "weather extremes" instead. A series of emails from February between staff at a USDA unit that oversees farmers’ land conservation shows the incoming Trump administration's impact on language by federal employees around climate change. Instead of “climate change adaption," staff were told to use “resilience to weather extremes.” Instead of “reduce greenhouse gases," use "build soil organic matter, increase nutrient use efficiency." (The Guardian)
How Americans think about climate change in six maps. Americans overwhelmingly believe that global warming is happening, and that carbon emissions should be scaled back. But fewer are sure that the changes will harm them personally. (New York Times)
3/ North Korea has successfully produced a miniaturized nuclear warhead that can fit inside its missiles. Pyongyang has outpaced expectations in its effort to build an intercontinental ballistic missile capable of striking cities on the American mainland. (Washington Post)
4/ Trump threatened to unleash "fire and fury" against North Korea if it continues to provoke the US. Trump's comments came hours after North Korea criticized the US and its allies for the latest round of UN sanctions, warning that it will mobilize all its resources to take “physical action” in retaliation. “North Korea best not make any more threats to the United States,” Trump told reporters from his golf club in Bedminster, N.J. “They will be met with fire and fury and frankly power the likes of which this world has never seen before.” (New York Times)
5/ North Korea said it is "carefully examining" a plan to strike Guam with missiles, hours after Trump told the North that any threat to the US would be met with "fire and fury." North Korea also said it could carry out a pre-emptive operation if the US showed signs of provocation. (Reuters)
6/ US spy satellites detect North Korea loading two anti-ship cruise missiles onto a patrol boat. It's the first time these missiles have been deployed on this type of platform since 2014. (Fox News)
7/ Trump retweeted a Fox News story containing classified information a few hours before US Ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley appeared on Fox. Haley indicated that the report of North Korea loading anti-ship cruise missiles onto a patrol boat were classified and leaked. "I can't talk about anything that's classified and if that's in the newspaper that's a shame," Haley said. (CNN)
8/ Trump has sent private messages of "appreciation and greetings" to special counsel Robert Mueller. “The president has sent messages back and forth,’’ Trump's chief counsel John Dowd said, declining to elaborate further. Trump has publicly called the investigation into Russia's election meddling a "witch hunt" and a hoax. (USA Today)
9/ Trump is considering a plan to privatize the war in Afghanistan. The unprecedented proposal would rely on 5,500 private contractors to advise Afghan combat forces as well as a 90-plane private air force that would provide air support. The plan will cost less than $10 billion a year, lower than the more than $40 billion the Pentagon has budgeted this year. The US military has 8,400 troops in Afghanistan to train and guide local forces. They do not have a direct combat role. (USA Today)
10/ Trump's Justice Department now supports Ohio's purging of inactive voters, reversing the Obama administration's position. Civil rights groups challenged Ohio’s process of removing thousands of inactive voters from the voting rolls, arguing the purge is prohibited under the National Voter Registration Act. Under Obama, the Justice Department filed an amicus brief siding with the groups. The Supreme Court is set to hear the case in the next term. (Washington Post)
11/ Mitch McConnell criticized Trump's "excessive expectations" about how Congress works, saying that he's set "too many artificial deadlines." (CNN)
12/ Twice a day Trump gets a folder full of positive news about himself. Instead of top-secret intelligence or updates on legislative initiatives, he receives folders filled with screenshots of positive cable news chyrons, tweets, and news stories. The document is prepared around 9:30 AM and the follow-up around 4:30 PM. Some in the White House refer to the packet as “the propaganda document.” (Vice News)
poll/ 35% are confident in Trump's ability to handle North Korea and its nuclear weapons. 61% are uneasy in his approach. (CBS News)
poll/ 36% of Americans consider Trump's first 200 days a success while 59% consider it a failure. 47% say they strongly disapprove of Trump's handling of the job and 43% say he can "bring the kind of change the country needs," down from 48% in April. 60% don't consider Trump honest and trustworthy. 52% say his tweets are not an effective way for him to share his views and 70% say they too often seem to be in response to TV news he may have seen. (CNN)
1/ Trump took to Twitter on his first day of vacation to lash out at the “Fake News” media and insist that his political base is only “getting stronger" despite a drop-off in his approval rating and the intensifying Russian investigation. “The Trump base is far bigger and stronger than ever before (despite some phony Fake News polling). Look at rallies in Penn, Iowa, Ohio and West Virginia,” Trump tweeted. “The fact is the Fake News Russian collusion story, record Stock Market, border security, military strength, jobs, Supreme Court pick, economic enthusiasm, deregulation and so much more have driven the Trump base even closer together. Will never change!” He added: “Hard to believe that with 24/7 #Fake News on CNN, ABC, NBC, CBS, NYTIMES and WAPO, the Trump base is getting stronger!”
A recent Quinnipiac poll showed that 61% of voters disapprove of Trump's job performance while 33% approve. Trump is at his golf resort in New Jersey for the start of a 17-day vacation. (New York Times / Washington Post)
The Trump base is far bigger & stronger than ever before (despite some phony Fake News polling). Look at rallies in Penn, Iowa, Ohio.......
2/ Robert Mueller asked the White House for documents related to Michael Flynn and whether he was secretly paid by the Turkish government during the presidential campaign. Flynn's consulting business was paid $530,000 to discredit an opponent of the Turkish government. Investigators want to know if the Turkish government was behind those payments. Meanwhile, Mueller is investigating whether Trump committed obstruction of justice by pressing James Comey to end the Flynn inquiry. (New York Times)
3/ Kellyanne Conway refused to say if Trump has ruled out firing Mueller while appearing on ABC’s This Week. “He’s not discussed firing Bob Mueller,” Conway said. "He is not discussing that." Four senators have introduced legislation to protect Mueller. (The Guardian)
4/ Rod Rosenstein said Mueller can investigate any crimes he discovers within the scope of his probe. Trump has said it would be inappropriate for Mueller to dig into his family's finances, dismissing the probe as “a total fabrication.” The Deputy Attorney General added that "the president has not directed us to investigate particular people," in reference to Trump’s recent comment that prosecutors should be investigating Hillary Clinton’s deleted emails. Democrats and some Republicans are concerned that Trump is looking for ways to undermine the investigation. (Washington Post / The Hill)
A Republican senator on the Senate Judiciary Committee doesn't agree that the Russia investigation is a "witch hunt." Thom Tillis said “I'm not sure that I agree with the witch hunt, and we'll let the facts lead us to whether or not it was a hoax." (ABC News)
5/ Rosenstein: Prosecutors don't intend to go after reporters. "We're after the leaker, not the journalist," he said. "We're after people who are committing crimes." The comments come two days after Jeff Sessions warned that the "culture of leaking must stop." The Justice Department is reviewing guidelines that make it difficult for prosecutors to subpoena journalists about their sources, calling them "procedural hurdles" that are delaying leak investigations. The number of criminal leak probes has more than tripled during the Trump administration. (NBC News)
6/ Chicago is suing the Trump administration for threatening to withhold public money from so-called sanctuary cities. In July, Jeff Sessions announced that the DOJ will only provide grants to cities that allow the Department of Homeland Security access to local jails and to provide 48 hours’ notice before releasing anyone wanted for immigration violations. Chicago claims that it already complies with the federal law and the new conditions are unconstitutional. (CNN / The Guardian / Associated Press)
7/ Trump called Richard Blumenthal “a phony Vietnam con artist" after the Democratic senator appeared on CNN to discuss the crackdown on leaks, sanctions on North Korea, and what he called "potential collusion" between the Trump campaign and Russia. Blumenthal was criticized during his Senate campaign for saying he had “served” in Vietnam, even though he did his full Marine service in the US. Trump, meanwhile, skirted Vietnam altogether due to bad feet. Blumenthal responded on Twitter that Trump's "bullying" won't be effective. (Washington Post / USA Today / CBS News)
Interesting to watch Senator Richard Blumenthal of Connecticut talking about hoax Russian collusion when he was a phony Vietnam con artist!
8/ Pence shot down a report that he was positioning himself to run for president in 2020, calling it "disgraceful and offensive." Pence has created his own political fund-raising committee, signaling to major Republican donors that he's the heir apparent if Trump does not seek a second term. “Whatever fake news may come our way, my entire team will continue to focus all our efforts to advance the president’s agenda and see him re-elected in 2020," Pence said in a statement. "Any suggestion otherwise is both laughable and absurd.” (Politico / New York Times)
9/ Peter Thiel dumps Trump. Silicon Valley's most prominent Trump supporter has told friends that there is a 50% chance the Trump presidency “ends in disaster” due to the “incompetent” administration. In June, Thiel said the Trump’s administration is “off to a terrific start.” (BuzzFeed News)
10/ Trump has filled about a fifth of the essential executive branch jobs and lags behind his predecessors in staffing up his administration. There are roughly 4,000 positions across the government and more than 1,200 require Senate confirmation. Trump has nominated 277 people for these key posts. The Senate confirmed more than five dozen outstanding nominees last week – roughly doubling the number of nominees Trump has had confirmed to 124. (CNN)
11/ Stephen Miller is a candidate to lead the White House's communications team. Miller is a senior policy adviser with hardline views on immigration, who recently sparred with reporters in a televised briefing. John Kelly, however, is eyeing his former Homeland Security spokesperson, David Lapan, for the role. (Reuters / CNN)
12/ The United Nations Security Council voted 15-0 to impose new sanctions on North Korea for its continued intercontinental ballistic missile testing. The resolution targets North Korea's primary exports, which will impact its annual export revenue of $3 billion by more than a third. North Korea has vowed a "thousands-fold" retaliation. (CNN)
1/ Robert Mueller's grand jury has issued subpoenas related to Trump Jr.'s 2016 meeting with the Russian lawyer. The subpoenas, issued in recent weeks, seek documents and testimony from people involved in the meeting. Yesterday, it was reported that Mueller had convened a grand jury investigation in Washington to examine allegations of Russian interference in the election. When Mueller took over the investigation in May, he inherited a grand jury in Alexandria, VA, which was impaneled to assist in the Michael Flynn investigation and focus on Flynn’s work in the private sector on behalf of foreign interests. (New York Times / CNN / Reuters)
Michael Flynn filed an amended disclosure showing his link to Cambridge Analytica, a controversial data analysis company that aided the Trump campaign. The disclosure shows that just before the end of the campaign, Flynn entered into a consulting agreement with SCL Group, a Virginia-based company related to Cambridge Analytica. (Associated Press)
2/ Trump used a campaign-style rally to attack the Russia investigation, hours after news broke that special counsel Robert Mueller had tapped a grand jury. He referred to the investigation as a "totally made-up Russia story" and a "total fabrication." He insisted that Democrats "can't beat us at the voting booths, so they're trying to cheat you out of the future and the future that you want. They're trying to cheat you out of the leadership you want with a fake story that is demeaning to all of us, and most importantly, demeaning to our country and demeaning to our Constitution." (Politico / CNN)
3/ Kellyanne Conway tried to downplay the ongoing investigation, saying: “Let me remind everyone what the president has said about this. It's a witch-hunt. It's fake. Last night I believe [Trump] called it a fabrication. And we know that the nature of these types of investigations become fishing expeditions, where you’re just throwing jello up against the wall and hoping it will stick.” (Politico)
4/ The FBI monitored social media on Election Day to track a suspected Russian disinformation campaign spreading "fake news" and identify possible disruptions to the vote. For the FBI, monitoring the news put them "right on the edge of Constitutional legality" given the First Amendment's free speech protections. (CNN)
5/ The Senate unanimously blocked Trump from being able to make recess appointments during the August break. The Senate will hold nine "pro-forma" sessions — brief meetings that normally last roughly a minute – and will not hold any legislative sessions until lawmakers return to Washington after Labor Day. (Axios / The Hill)
The Senate breaks for summer recess. There will be no more roll-call votes in the Senate until September 5th. (Washington Post)
6/ The Secret Service has vacated Trump Tower after a dispute between the government and Trump’s company over the terms of its lease. In March, the Secret Service requested $26.8 million to protect Trump Tower. Separately, the government is paying $130,000 a month to lease space in Trump Tower for a military office that supports the White House. Trump has not visited Trump Tower since he was inaugurated. (Washington Post)
7/ Jeff Sessions issued a warning that the "culture of leaking must stop" a day after transcripts leaked of Trump's January phone calls with Mexico and Australia. Sessions vowed to bring criminal charges against people who had leaked classified information, while announcing that the FBI had created a new counterintelligence unit to manage these cases. The Justice Department is pursuing three times as many leak investigations as the Obama administration. Sessions wants to pursue "effective" subpoenas on media outlets, because "simply put, these leaks hurt our country." Kellyanne Conway suggested using lie detectors to figure who's leaking information. "It's easier to figure out who's leaking than the leakers may realize," she said. (CBS News / ABC News / New York Times)
Diplomats laughing at Trump over leaked Mexico transcript, saying “he’s the opposite of Teddy Roosevelt. He speaks loudly and carries a small stick.” (McClatchy DC)
8/ John Kelly has brought rigor to the White House, attempting to give Trump bureaucratic competence while forcing staff members to stay in their lanes. He's attempting to broker peace between the different factions in the West Wing, telling employees that he was hired to manage the staff, not the president. Kelly encouraged National Security Adviser H.R. McMaster to make any staffing changes necessary, which resulted in the firing of a top intelligence aide Ezra Cohen-Watnick, who was hired by Michael Flynn, after months of trying. Kelly has also assured Jeff Sessions that his job is safe. (New York Times / Politico / Wall Street Journal)
9/ The Trump administration will notify the United Nations today that the US intends to withdraw from the Paris climate change agreement, despite planning to participate in UN climate negotiations later this year. Under the terms of the Paris deal, the US can’t fully withdraw until one day after the next presidential election. (New York Times / Politico)
10/ A Republican donor is suing the GOP for fraud over the failed Obamacare repeal. The lawsuit alleges that the GOP raised millions of dollars in campaign funds knowing they weren't going to be able to overturn the ACA, representing "a pattern of Racketeering which involves massive fraud perpetrated on Republican voters and contributors as well as some Independents and Democrats." (The Virginia-Pilot / Axios)
poll/ 44% of Americans in battleground districts would strongly oppose Trump firing special counsel Mueller. (USA Today)
poll/ Most voters want Democrats to take control of Congress in 2018. 52% want Democrats to take the House, while 53% are in favor of Democrats taking the Senate. There are 10 Senate Democrats in red states up for re-election in 2018 and one blue-state Senate Republican. (Quinnipiac)
1/ Special Counsel Robert Mueller has launched a grand jury to investigate Russia’s interference in the 2016 elections and whether Trump or any of his team colluded during the campaign. A grand jury will allow prosecutors to subpoena documents, put witnesses under oath and seek indictments, if there is evidence of a crime. The decision to impanel a grand jury suggests he believes he will need to subpoena records and take testimony from witnesses. Trump has denied any collusion with Russia, calling the investigation a "witch hunt." (Wall Street Journal / CNN)
2/ Mueller has turned his attention to Trump and his associates’ financial ties to Russia. Federal investigators have widened their focus on possible financial crimes, which could offer a more concrete path toward potential prosecution than the broader questions of collusion in the 2016 campaign. Trump previously warned Mueller that his financial dealings were a red line that he shouldn't cross, despite Mueller being authorized to investigate matters that "arose or may arise directly from the investigation." (CNN)
3/ Top FBI officials could be asked to testify against Trump. Acting FBI Director Andrew McCabe told the highest-ranking members of the bureau that they should consider themselves possible witnesses in any investigation into whether Trump obstructed justice. McCabe acknowledged that he's also a potential witness in the probe, as well as the investigation into whether Team Trump colluded with the Russians. (Vox)
4/ The Senate Judiciary Committee is introducing a bipartisan bill to protect Robert Mueller and ensure the integrity of independent investigations. The bill would allow any special counsel for the Department of Justice to challenge their removal in court, with a review by a three-judge panel within 14 days of the challenge. Lindsey Graham said that he was working on a similar bill that would prevent the firing of a special counsel without judicial review. (CBS News)
5/ Congressional investigators want the phone records related to Trump Jr.'s meeting with the Russian lawyer. They want "all relevant documents" connected to the people before, during, and after the meeting, including Jared Kushner and Paul Manafort. It's unclear if it's the Senate Intelligence Committee or the House Intelligence Committee seeking the records. Senator James Risch, who serves on the Senate Intelligence Committee, said, "I guarantee you there were phone calls in addition to those emails, and I want to hear all of it before I answer the question you put to me." (CBS News)
6/ Trump blamed Congress for the poor US relations with Russia, a day after he imposed new sanctions, which he called flawed and unconstitutional. Trump described America’s relationship with Russia on Twitter as “an all-time and very dangerous low." John McCain shot back that "our relationship w/ Russia is at dangerous low. You can thank Putin for attacking our democracy, invading neighbors & threatening our allies." (New York Times / The Hill)
Our relationship with Russia is at an all-time & very dangerous low. You can thank Congress, the same people that can't even give us HCare!
7/ Trump urged the Mexican president to stop publicly saying that he would never pay for the border wall, during their January 27 call. “You cannot say that to the press,” Trump repeatedly told Enrique Peña Nieto. “If you are going to say that Mexico is not going to pay for the wall, then I do not want to meet with you guys anymore because I cannot live with that."
The next day, Trump called Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull, which was even more contentious and the conversation immediately devolved over a US agreement to accept refugees from Australian detention centers. “I hate taking these people,” Trump said. “I guarantee you they are bad. That is why they are in prison right now. They are not going to be wonderful people who go on to work for the local milk people” (Washington Post)
Transcripts of Trump’s calls with Mexico and Australia. (Washington Post)
8/ Trump criticized his military advisers because "we aren't winning, we are losing" the Afghanistan war. Trump directed his frustration at Defense Secretary James Mattis, saying Trump had given the military authority months ago to make advances in Afghanistan and yet the US was continuing to lose ground. (NBC News)
9/ The White House conceded that the Boy Scouts never called to say his was the best speech ever. Trump told the Wall Street Journal last week that “I got a call from the head of the Boy Scouts saying it was the greatest speech that was ever made to them, and they were very thankful.” The Boy Scouts of America, however, said it was not aware of any call from its leadership to Trump. Sarah Huckabee Sanders, however, said that "multiple members of the Boy Scouts leadership” had praised Trump’s speech, but the conversations "simply didn’t take place over a phone call, they happened in person.” (New York Times)
10/ Stephen Miller told CNN's Jim Acosta that his question "is one of the most outrageous, insulting, ignorant and foolish things you’ve ever said." The White House senior policy adviser was responding to a question about Trump's endorsement of a Senate bill that seeks to cut legal immigration to the US in half. He accused Acosta of "cosmopolitan bias" before apologizing "if things got heated." (Politico / Washington Post)
11/ Federal prosecutors subpoenaed Kushner Cos. for its use of an investment-for-immigration program. The company drew attention in May for a marketing campaign that solicited Chinese investors to put up $500,000 for green card eligibility, known as the EB-5 program. The campaign mentioned Jared Kushner and used a video clip and photo of Trump in its pitch. (Wall Street Journal)
1/ Trump signed the bill to impose sanctions on Russia and limit his authority to lift them. He expressed concerns that the measure included “a number of clearly unconstitutional provisions,” leaving room for interpretation of how the law is enforced. Trump said he believed the bill to be "seriously flawed," but signed it anyway. The bill also imposes sanctions on Iran and North Korea. (New York Times / CNN / Bloomberg)
2/ Trump endorsed a Senate bill aimed at slashing immigration levels over a decade and shift the system's emphasis away from family ties and toward skills. GOP Senators Tom Cotton and David Perdue introduced a modified version of their bill, which would cut immigration by half, tighten rules for temporary workers, restrict family-based visas, and cap the refugee program at 50,000 per year. More than 1 million green cards are currently granted per year. The bill faces long odds, as Republicans will have difficulty getting the 60 votes needed to prevent a filibuster.
“This competitive application process will favor applicants who can speak English, financially support themselves and their families and demonstrate skills that will contribute to our economy,” Trump said. "This legislation demonstrates our compassion for struggling American families who deserve an immigration system that puts their needs first and that puts America first.” (Washington Post / CNN / Politico / New York Times)
3/ The Trump Justice Department will sue universities that it deems to have discriminated against white students through their affirmative action admissions policies. The new civil rights division doesn't explicitly identify who is at risk of discrimination, but says it'll investigate “intentional race-based discrimination in college and university admissions" that give an edge to disadvantaged groups over applicants with comparable or higher test scores. The project follows recent conservative Justice Department policy changes on voting rights, gay rights, and police reform. (New York Times)
4/ Trump's nominee for Agriculture once accused progressives of "enslaving" minorities, called black leaders "race traders," and labeled Obama a "Maoist" with "communist" roots. Sam Clovis wrote the blog posts in between 2011 and 2012. He's since deleted the blog and is serving as the senior White House adviser to the USDA. Clovis' nomination for the chief scientist job at the Department of Agriculture requires Senate confirmation. (CNN)
5/ The House Judiciary Committee has prioritized investigating Hillary Clinton over Russian meddling, Trump’s decision to fire James Comey, and the public attacks on Jeff Sessions. The panel asked Jeff Sessions to appoint a second special counsel to investigate the “troubling, unanswered questions” about Clinton and officials appointed by Obama, after Democrats tried to force a resolution demanding more information on Sessions’s role in Comey’s firing. The House Judiciary Committee would have jurisdiction over any impeachment proceeding. (Bloomberg)
6/ The lawyer in the Fox "fake news" suit wants Trump and Spicer to testify. Rod Wheeler’s lawsuit claims that Fox fabricated quotes implicating DNC staffer Seth Rich in the WikiLeaks scandal. “We’re going to litigate this case as we would any other,” and that means “we’ll want to depose anyone who has information,” including the president, Wheeler's attorney. (Yahoo News)
7/ Rex Tillerson tells North Korea: "We are not your enemy." He added that the US does "not seek a regime change, we do not seek a collapse of the regime, we do not seek an accelerated reunification of the peninsula, we do not seek an excuse to send our military north of the 38th Parallel." Yesterday, Lindsey Graham said "there is a military option to destroy North Korea's (missile) program and North Korea itself… (Trump) told me that to my face." (Washington Post / BBC)
8/ Tillerson won't spend nearly $80 million allocated for fighting terrorist propaganda and Russian disinformation, despite pleas from State Department officials. $60 million will expire on September 30th if it's not transferred to the State Department by then. The money is potentially unwelcome because attempts to counter Russian influence would anger Moscow. (Politico)
9/ Senate Republicans are planning to pass their tax plan with just GOP votes. Mitch McConnell will use budget reconciliation in order to sideline Democrats and protect Republicans from a filibuster. McConnell needs just 50 votes to pass his tax reform bill. (Politico)
10/ Trump is considering Rick Perry for Homeland Security secretary. The Energy Secretary would replace John Kelly, who is now Trump's chief of staff. Perry's views on immigration don't align with Trump’s. During Perry's 2012 presidential campaign, he accused his Republican opponents of not having a “heart” about letting undocumented children of immigrants pay in-state tuition for college. (Bloomberg)
11/ Trump: "That White House is a real dump," he told members at his Bedminster golf club. He then teed off. (Golf)
12/ Before running for president, Trump threatened to sue "Sharknado 3: Hell No!" for not casting him as president. While Trump wanted to do the film, he was also considering a run for president at the time. After weeks of silence from the Trump camp, producers pulled the part, prompting Trump’s lawyer Michael Cohen to threaten action: “He basically said, ‘How dare you? Donald wanted to do this. We’re going to sue you! We're going to shut the entire show down!’” (Hollywood Reporter)
poll/ 56.3% disapprove of Trump's job performance. 38.9% approve. (RealClearPolitics)
poll/ 56.9% disapprove of Trump's job performance. 37.6% approve. (FiveThirtyEight)
poll/ 58.6% disapprove of Trump's job performance. 38.7% approve. (HuffPost)
poll/ 60% disapprove of Trump's job performance. 36% approve. (Gallup)
poll/ 61% disapprove of Trump's job performance. 33% approve. 71% say Trump is not levelheaded. (Quinnipiac)
1/ Trump personally dictated Trump Jr.'s statement about his meeting with the Russian lawyer, saying they had “primarily discussed a program about the adoption of Russian children” when they met in June 2016. Trump Jr. ultimately acknowledged that he met with the Kremlin-connected Russian lawyer after receiving an email promising damaging information about Hillary Clinton. Trump's advisers fear his direct involvement leaves him needlessly vulnerable to potential obstruction of justice and could place members of his inner circle in legal jeopardy. (Washington Post)
2/ The White House said Trump only "weighed in" on Trump Jr.'s statement about the Russia meeting. Sarah Huckabee Sanders said "The statement that Don Jr. issued is true, there's no inaccuracy in the statement. The President weighed in as any father would, based on the limited information that he had." The White House response contradicts what Trump's lawyer, Jay Sekulow, said in July: "The president did not draft the response…I can't say whether the president was told the statement was going to be coming." (CNN / Axios)
3/ George W. Bush's ethics lawyer says Trump “very likely" obstructed justice by drafting a “knowingly false” statement for Trump Jr. “You’re boxing in a witness into a false story,” Richard Painter said. “That puts them under enormous pressure to turn around and lie under oath to be consistent with their story. I think it’s obstruction of justice.” (The Guardian)
4/ Senate Republicans intend to move on from health care, despite Trump's continued pressure to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act. Republicans have signaled that they were looking for other victories, as the 50 votes needed to roll back Obamacare appears unlikely. (Washington Post)
Ryan Zinke said it's “laughable” to suggest he threatened Alaska’s senators over the health care vote. Zinke had threatened retribution against Alaska over Lisa Murkowski's no vote on health care. (Associated Press)
5/ A GOP House member called on special counsel Robert Mueller to resign, saying he has a “conflict of interest” since Comey was the deputy attorney general in 2003 when Mueller served as the FBI director. Trent Franks is attempting to cast Mueller and Comey as “longtime allies" who is "in clear violation of the law." (The Hill / Washington Post)
A former Justice Department official joins Mueller's team. Greg Andres is a white-collar criminal defense lawyer who served at the Justice Department from 2010 to 2012. He was deputy assistant attorney general in the criminal division, where he oversaw the fraud unit and managed the program that targeted illegal foreign bribery. (Reuters)
6/ The Senate confirmed Christopher Wray as the new FBI director, filling the post that has remained vacant since Trump fired James Comey in May. The vote was 92 to 5 with five Democrats voting against his nomination. The FBI has been run by Andrew McCabe, the acting FBI director, whom Trump has attacked repeatedly because his wife is a Democrat who ran unsuccessfully for a seat in the Virginia Legislature. (New York Times / Washington Post)
7/ The Senate and House have 12 working days to raise the debt ceiling before the Treasury Department defaults on its obligations. A default would likely set off a major disruption to the world financial system, with a stock market crash and surging interest rates that could send the economy into a recession. Congress has to raise the debt ceiling by September 29th to ensure the government can continue paying all of its bills. (Washington Post)
8/ Multiple White House officials were tricked by an email prankster masquerading as Jared Kushner, Reince Priebus, and Eric Trump. The UK prankster fooled Anthony Scaramucci, Homeland Security Adviser Tom Bossert, and others into responding. In Bossert's case, he revealed his personal email address. Real Scaramucci responded to Fake Priebus: "You know what you did. We all do. Even today. But rest assured we were prepared. A Man would apologize." (CNN)
9/ Jared Kushner told congressional interns that Trump’s election team was too disorganized to collude with Russia. “They thought we colluded, but we couldn’t even collude with our local offices,” Kushner said, adding: “I’m a lot more comfortable talking to you guys today ’cause there isn’t any press." (Foreign Policy / WIRED)
10/ Fox News and a Trump donor created a fake news story to deflect attention from the administration's ties to Russia, a lawsuit alleges. The story is about the death of Seth Rich, a Democratic National Committee staffer, which first aired in May, but was retracted a week later. The lawsuit, filed by Rod Wheeler, a paid commentator for the news network, claims a Fox News reporter created quotations out of thin air and attributed them to him in order to propel the story. A month before the story ran, Trump donor Ed Butowsky and Wheeler met at the White House with Sean Spicer to brief him on what they were uncovering. At a press gaggle after the story ran, Spicer claimed to have no knowledge of the Rich story. Spicer now confirms meeting with the two. (NPR)
11/ A former Fox News executive who helped Roger Ailes cover up sexual harassment could be joining Trump’s communications team. Bill Shine has been named in lawsuits that accuse him of abetting Ailes’s harassing behavior toward women. The former co-president of Fox News and top lieutenant to Ailes has denied knowing that Ailes had sexually harassed employees. (New York Times)
12/ The military will test launch an ICBM early Wednesday morning. The test launch comes days after North Korea’s second ICBM test and is meant "to validate and verify the effectiveness, readiness, and accuracy of the weapon system." Lindsey Graham, meanwhile, said that military options are "inevitable if North Korea continues." He added that "there is a military option to destroy North Korea's (missile) program and North Korea itself. If there's going to be a war to stop them, it will be over there. If thousands die, they're going to die over there, they're not going to die here and (Trump) told me that to my face." (NBC News / CNN)
The US military has detected "highly unusual and unprecedented levels" of North Korean submarine activity and evidence of an "ejection test" in the days following Pyongyang's second intercontinental ballistic missile launch this month. (CNN)
poll/ 60% of voters believe the White House is in chaos, compared with 33% who say it is running well. 29% believe Trump's staff serves him well, compared with 39% who say his staff doesn't serve him well. (Politico)
1/ Trump fired Anthony Scaramucci as White House communications director 10 days after he was brought in. Scaramucci's verbal tirade led to the departures of Sean Spicer and Reince Priebus. The change came at the request of new chief of staff John Kelly, who "has the full authority to operate within the White House, and all staff will report to him," including Jared Kushner, Ivanka Trump, and Steve Bannon. Meanwhile, Scaramucci does not have an administration role "at this time," Sarah Huckabee Sanders said. (New York Times / Politico / CNN)
2/ Trump swears in his new chief of staff, saying he has “no doubt” that John Kelly will do a “spectacular job” in his new role. Kelly is a retired four-star Marine general and will take over for Reince Priebus. (Washington Post / CNN)
3/ Kelly called James Comey after Trump fired him to say he was considering resigning from the Department of Homeland Security. Comey told Kelly not to resign. (CNN)
4/ Trump tweeted that Republican Senators look "like fools" and will be "total quitters" if they fail to revive their effort to rollback Obamacare. He threatened to cut lawmakers’ own health insurance plans. Republicans, meanwhile, may have to choose between attempting to repeal Obamacare or tackling tax reform, because they don't have time to do both. The Senate and House must also pass a spending plan with Democrat cooperation in order to keep the government open past the end of the fiscal year on September 30th. Congress must also raise the debt limit in September or risk defaulting on its debt obligations. (New York Times / Bloomberg)
Republicans in the Senate will NEVER win if they don't go to a 51 vote majority NOW. They look like fools and are just wasting time......
The senate is too divided to keep up health care push, Orrin Hatch said. (Reuters)
5/ Trump threatened to end Obamacare payments unless a repeal-and-replace bill is passed. "After seven years of 'talking' Repeal & Replace, the people of our great country are still being forced to live with imploding ObamaCare!" Trump tweeted. "If a new HealthCare Bill is not approved quickly, BAILOUTS for Insurance Companies and BAILOUTS for Members of Congress will end very soon!" Senate Minority Leader Charles Schumer responded, saying Trump should "stop playing politics with people's lives and health care, start leading, and finally begin acting presidential." (The Hill)
After seven years of "talking" Repeal & Replace, the people of our great country are still being forced to live with imploding ObamaCare!
Kellyanne Conway said Trump would make a decision "this week" on whether to make Obamacare payments. Trump tweeted a warning on Saturday that if Congress didn't pass a bill to overhaul the Affordable Care Act soon, he would end the "bailouts" for insurance companies as well as for members of Congress. (CNN)
Susan Collins said Trump’s threats to cut off funding for key Obamacare payments won’t change her vote on the GOP’s plan to repeal it. “It would not affect my vote on healthcare, but it’s an example of why we need to act: to make sure that those payments, which are not an insurance company bailout, but rather help people who are very low-income afford their out-of-pocket costs toward their deductibles and their co-pays,” Collins said. “It really would be detrimental to some of the most vulnerable citizens if those payments were cut off.” (The Hill)
Health and Human Services secretary Tom Price suggested that he might expand waivers from the Affordable Care Act's individual mandate — a step that health insurers have warned against because it could drive up premiums. (Axios)
The official White House policy doesn't want the Senate to vote on another issue unless it's on health care. White House budget director Mick Mulvaney said “You can't promise folks you're going to do something for seven years, and then not do it.” (Politico)
6/ A bipartisan group of House members will unveil their plan to fix Obamacare. The plan will focus on stabilizing the insurance market by funding the cost-sharing subsidies and then pushing for Obamacare changes that have received bipartisan backing in the past. (Politico)
7/ After a contentious week in Washington, one GOP senator says Republicans are complicit if they don't call out Trump. Jeff Flake added that the Republican Party has "lost its way," and is urging members to turn back to what he calls traditional conservatism. "The last thing you want to do is wake up every morning and see a tweet… You know, it's tough not to just say, 'I'm not going to respond,'" Flake said. "And we can't respond to everything. But there are times when you have to stand up and say, 'I'm sorry. This is wrong.'" (CBS News)
8/ Trump plans to sign the Russian sanctions bill, which places sanctions on Russia, North Korea, and Iran. It also limits Trump's ability to lift sanctions unilaterally. It was passed by veto-proof margins in the Senate (98-2) and House (419-3). (NBC News)
Pence reassured NATO’s Baltic member states that the US stands behind its mutual-defense commitment and will "hold Russia accountable for its actions." (Politico)
9/ Russia slashed 60% of US embassy and consular staff in response to new American sanctions. The US will need to cut 755 of its roughly 1,200 diplomatic staff in Russia, meant to cause discomfort for Washington and its representatives in Moscow. (New York Times / Reuters)
10/ Democrats have moved to revoke Jared Kushner’s security clearance, introducing the Security Clearance Review Act, which gives the FBI Director the authority to revoke the security clearance of executive branch employees whose actions may pose a threat to national security. At least 20 Democrats have cosigned on the bill. (Salon)
11/ Trump appeared to advocate for rougher treatment of people in police custody. “Don’t be too nice,” Trump told law enforcement officers in Suffolk County, New York. He spoke dismissively of the practice by which arresting officers shield the heads of handcuffed suspects as they are placed in police cars. “I said, ‘You could take the hand away, OK,’” Trump said. (Associated Press)
12/ The Trump administration urged China to confront North Korea over its nuclear ambitions. At the United Nations, US Ambassador Nikki Haley said “the time for talk is over” and that a Security Council resolution that doesn’t “significantly increase the international pressure” on North Korea would be “worse than nothing.” Meanwhile, Trump told reporters that the US will "handle North Korea. We’ll be able to handle North Korea. It will be handled. We handle everything." (Wall Street Journal / The Hill / CNN)
13/ Trump's voter fraud commission is divided on whether there was widespread fraud at the ballot box. Trump's appointees say yes, while others on the commission argue there wasn't fraud and would rather focus on upgrading the voting systems and encouraging registration. (NBC News)
At a cybersecurity conference, hackers were able to breach 30 different machines in "only a few minutes." The DEF CON conference hosted a "Voting Machine Village," where attendees could try to hack a number of systems to help catch vulnerabilities and raise awareness about election machine security issues. The conferences hopes that the attendees will pressure states to do more to protect those systems. (The Hill)
14/ The Republican National Committee told staff to preserve all documents related to the 2016 campaign. RNC lawyers described it as precautionary, but necessary, as investigations continue into Russia’s meddling in the election. The memo orders employees not to “delete, destroy, modify, or remove from your paper files, laptop computer, desktop computer, tablet, mobile device, e-mail, or any storage system or device, any documents, records, or other materials that relate to the 2016 presidential election or that may relate to any investigation concerning the election.” (BuzzFeed News)
poll/ 64% of Americans want Congress to move on from health care reform by either keeping Obamacare "entirely as is" or fixing "problem areas." That's up from 54% in January. (Reuters)
poll/ 47% of Americans prefer the Republicans work with Democrats to improve Obamacare. 21% would rather Republicans try to repeal it outright. 19% want Republicans to replace it with something else. (CBS News)
poll/ 39% of likely US Voters approve of Trump’s job performance, while 61% disapprove. 26% "strongly approve" of the way Trump is performing and 49% "strongly disapprove." (Rasmussen Reports)
1/ Trump's hardball tactics backfired as the Senate rejected its slimmed-down Obamacare repeal with Collins, Murkowski, McCain all voting no. The bill would have left 16 million more people uninsured by 2026 than Obamacare. Earlier in the week, Susan Collins and Lisa Murkowski voted against the motion to proceed, causing Trump to attack Murkowski on Twitter, saying she "really let the Republicans, and our country, down." Then, before yesterday's vote, Trump had Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke call Murkowski and Alaska's other Republican senator, threatening that the administration may change its position on issues that affect the state in order to punish Murkowski. She didn't budge. Shortly after the vote failed 49-to-51, Trump took to Twitter: "3 Republicans and 48 Democrats let the American people down. As I said from the beginning, let ObamaCare implode, then deal. Watch!" (Washington Post / New York Times / Bloomberg)
Go Republican Senators, Go! Get there after waiting for 7 years. Give America great healthcare!
The night John McCain killed the GOP’s health care fight. A seven-year quest to undo the Affordable Care Act collapsed — at least for now — as John McCain kept his colleagues and the press corps in suspense over a little more than two hours late Thursday into early Friday. (Washington Post)
How McCain tanked Obamacare repeal. The maverick senator delivers a stunning rebuke to President Donald Trump and his own party leadership. (Politico)
How GOP rebels took down the Senate's plot to kill Obamacare. John McCain joined Republicans Susan Collins and Lisa Murkowski to obliterate President Trump’s health-care pledge. (The Daily Beast)
GOP Obamacare repeal bill fails in dramatic late-night vote. The Senate has dealt a devastating setback to Republican efforts to repeal and replace Obamacare, defeating a GOP "skinny repeal" bill early Friday morning. (CNN)
Why Senate Republicans couldn’t repeal Obamacare. The result is, for now, a crushing blow to seven years of promises to uproot the health care law. (Vox)
2/ A bipartisan group of roughly 40 House members have been exploring ways to stabilize Obamacare over the past month. Efforts are expected to take on greater urgency after the collapse of the Senate’s Obamacare bill. Trump has threatened to cut off Obamacare cost-sharing subsidies as soon as next month, which could leave about 25,000 people in 38 states at risk of having no insurers willing to offer coverage next year. (Politico)
Obama urged Congress to exercise the "political courage" to improve healthcare while praising everyone who "made their voices heard" against the GOP health care bill, an Obama spokesperson said. (The Hill / Vox)
NEW: Pres Obama reacts to repeal & replace failure, praising "everyone who mobilized, organized and made their voices heard." pic.twitter.com/yWf8pIVIgL
3/ Reince Priebus resigned. The move comes after a week in which Priebus endured a non-stop attack by incoming White House communications director Anthony Scaramucci. John Kelly, a retired Marine four-star general currently serving as secretary of homeland security who oversaw the implementation of Trump’s travel ban, will take over as the new White House chief of staff. Trump's advisers pushed back on the Kelly appointment, saying Trump needs someone more in tune with the nationalist political agenda that helped propel him to the White House. Trump announced the news, naturally, on Twitter, saying Priebus was a "good man" but called Kelly a "star." Priebus is the last of the RNC staffers to exit the West Wing. Months ago, Priebus' deputy, Katie Walsh left after being accused of leaking documents, followed by Sean Spicer. (New York Times / NPR / NBC News / CNN / Wall Street Journal)
I am pleased to inform you that I have just named General/Secretary John F Kelly as White House Chief of Staff. He is a Great American....
Anthony Scaramucci’s wife filed for divorce due to his “naked political ambition." Deidre Ball apparently despises Trump. (Page Six)
Why Anthony Scaramucci hates Reince Priebus. After Trump’s victory, Priebus was named chief of staff, and Scaramucci was assured that he was in line for a big position within the administration. Priebus told Trump that he felt Scaramucci had been offered too much for his stake in SkyBridge by HNA Group, a Chinese group that might expect favors from within the administration for the inflated price. (HuffPost)
4/ Russia retaliated against Congress' new sanctions bill, ordering the US to cut “hundreds” of personnel at its embassy and consulates in Russia. The Senate and House passed a bill that strengthens existing sanctions on Russia and gives Congress the power to block Trump from lifting them. (Bloomberg / New York Times / Associated Press)
Senate slapped new sanctions on Russia, putting Trump in corner. The bill, which includes a provision that allows Congress to stop any effort by Trump to ease existing sanctions on Russia, will now be sent to the White House for Trump to sign into law or veto. (Reuters)
5/ North Korea fired another ballistic missile. The missile launched Friday flew for about 45 minutes and landed off the Japanese coast in waters between Japan and the Korean Peninsula. Experts estimate that the intercontinental ballistic missile had the reach to hit practically all of the major cities on the US mainland. (Associated Press / ABC News / New York Times / Politico)
6/ The House has passed a $788 billion spending bill to boost military spending and $1.6 billion for Trump’s border wall. The bill would increase the Department of Defense budget by $68.1 billion. (Associated Press / Reuters)
7/ The Trump Organization requires all employees at all levels to sign a confidentiality agreement, or else they will lose their jobs. The agreement rolled out after the election, which recently leaked, shows that employees must keep secret any information they learn about anyone in the "Trump family" and extended family, including their "present, former and future spouses, children, parents, in-laws." The agreement lasts forever and is retroactive. (CBS News)
poll/ 58% of adults believe that transgender individuals should be allowed to serve in the military. When asked about the impact on military capabilities, 14% said prohibiting transgender service members made the military "more capable" while 43% said "no impact," 22% said "less capable," and the rest said they don't know. (Reuters)
1/ The Department of Justice is arguing that the Civil Rights Act does not protect gay employees from discrimination. The DOJ filed an amicus brief (meaning the government isn’t a party in the case) weighing in on a private employment lawsuit. They argue that while Title VII of the 1964 Civil Rights Act bars the discrimination in the workplace based on “race, color, religion, sex or national origin," it does not protect employees from discrimination based on sexual orientation despite “notable changes in societal and cultural attitudes.” The brief claimed that the federal government has a “substantial and unique interest” in the proper interpretation of Title VII because it's the largest employer in the country. (New York Times / BuzzFeed News)
2/ The Joint Chiefs said there will be “no modifications” to the military’s transgender policy until Trump clarifies what he meant. “I know there are questions about yesterday's announcement on the transgender policy by the President,” Joe Dunford, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said in a memo to military leaders. “There will be no modifications to the current policy until the President's direction has been received by the Secretary of Defense and the Secretary has issued implementation guidance.” (NBC News / Politico)
3/ Trump has discussed a recess appointment to replace Jeff Sessions if he leaves the job, in an effort to sidestep Senate oversight. Democrats have said they'll use parliamentary stalling tactics to prevent the Senate from formally adjourning throughout the upcoming August break — in part to prevent Trump from being able to unilaterally install a new attorney general. (Washington Post)
4/ Lindsey Graham will introduce a bill next week that curtails Trump's power to fire Special Counsel Robert Mueller without first getting approval from a federal judge. “We need a check and balance here,” Graham said. "A special counsel cannot be fired when they were impaneled to investigate the president or his team unless you have judicial review of the firing." Trump could veto the legislation, which could be overturned by two-thirds of the House and Senate. (Wall Street Journal)
5/ The Trump administration threatened retribution against Alaska over Lisa Murkowski's no vote on health care. Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke called Alaska's other GOP senator, Dan Sullivan, to deliver a "troubling message" that left him worried "that the strong economic growth, pro-energy, pro-mining, pro-jobs, and personnel from Alaska who are part of those policies are going to stop." (Alaska Dispatch News)
6/ Mitch McConnell is expected to unveil the GOP’s “skinny repeal” bill during today's “vote-a-rama." The bill will rollback the individual mandate, partially repeal the employer mandate, defund Planned Parenthood for one year, and provide more money for community health centers. The skinny repeal isn’t really that skinny at all. The CBO estimated 15 million to 16 million Americans would lose coverage while premiums to rise 20% in the individual market. (Politico / Axios / Vox)
State health care waivers violate Senate budget rules. Republicans want to expand the ACA's waivers that allow states to opt out of ACA rules, including the "essential health benefit" requirements. But, the Senate Budget Committee Democrats said parts of the proposal can't be passed under Senate budget rules and would require 60 votes in order to pass. (Axios)
7/ Four Republicans said they would not vote for a slimmed-down partial repeal of the Affordable Care Act without guarantees that the House will negotiate a comprehensive measure. Read a different way: Senate Republicans hope the skinny repeal won't become law. Lindsey Graham, John McCain, Bill Cassidy, and Ron Johnson want a guarantee from Paul Ryan that the bill will go to conference committee and not simply passed by the House and sent to Trump. Meanwhile, House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy is warning lawmakers to hold off on leaving for the August recess this weekend in case the Senate passes a bill and they're under pressure to act. “The skinny bill as policy is a disaster,” Graham said. (New York Times / Politico / The Hill)
House conservatives say the skinny repeal is untenable. Even if Senate Republicans can pass their minimalist plan to alter the ACA, uniting with their House colleagues to enact a bill would be far more challenging. Mark Meadows, chairman of the House Freedom Caucus, said a skinny repeal would be “dead on arrival” in the House. (Washington Post)
8/ Scaramucci blamed Reince Priebus for leaking his publicly available financial disclosure form, which showed that he still stands to profit from an ownership stake in his investment firm SkyBridge Capital. Scaramucci tweeted that “In light of the leak of my financial disclosure info which is a felony I will be contacting FBI and the TheJusticeDept.” He tagged Priebus in the tweet, which he later deleted after the internet pointed out that it was called a public disclosure for a reason. In a CNN interview, Scaramucci said that "if Reince wants to explain he's not a leaker, let him do that." Later in the interview, he added that foreign policy leaks "are the types of leaks that are so treasonous that 150 years ago, people would have actually been hung for those types of leaks."
In a separate interview, Scaramucci continued: “Reince is a fucking paranoid schizophrenic, a paranoiac." He then turned his sights on Steve Bannon while denying that he craves the media's attention: “I’m not Steve Bannon, I’m not trying to suck my own cock,” he said. “I’m not trying to build my own brand off the fucking strength of the President. I’m here to serve the country.” (New York Times / Politico / The New Yorker / CNN / Wall Street Journal)
Scaramucci said his split with Priebus may not be reparable. Scaramucci joined the White House last week and reports directly to the president, rather than to the chief of staff as is customary. (Wall Street Journal)
9/ Trump gave Scaramucci the "green light" to go after Priebus, a White House adviser said. Additionally, Scaramucci himself claimed that he had secured Trump’s “blessing” for his words and actions. Sarah Huckabee Sanders declined to publicly express Trump's confidence in the chief of staff during today's press briefing. Privately, Kellyanne Conway has told people that Priebus is "gone" and that he is trying to figure out his next steps. (The Daily Beast / BuzzFeed News)
10/ The Senate approved sanctions against Russia, forcing Trump to decide whether to veto the bill or accept the tougher line against Moscow. The administration has said that Trump may veto the bill, despite there being veto-proof majorities in both the Senate and House. The Senate voted 98-2 to pass the bill two days after the House passed it 419-3. (Washington Post / New York Times / Reuters)
1/ Senate Republicans shot down their own repeal-and-replace bill last night as nine of the 52 Republicans voted against it. The repeal-and-replace bill was a compromise measure meant to appeal to both conservatives and moderate Republicans. Mitch McConnell needed 60 votes to pass the bill. Instead, the vote failed 43-57 just hours after the Senate had narrowly voted to begin debate on a bill to repeal the Affordable Care Act. (New York Times / Washington Post / Reuters / CNN)
2/ The Senate rejected the GOP repeal-only measure, which would have repealed major parts of the Affordable Care Act without providing a replacement. The vote failed 45-55. The last viable path for Senate Republicans is to now try their "skinny repeal," which rolls back the mandate that most people have insurance, but leaves most of Obama’s health law in place. Senators would then take their narrow bill into negotiations with the House. (New York Times / Washington Post / CNN)
The CBO estimated that the “skinny repeal” would lead to 15 million fewer Americans having health insurance 10 years from now. The skinny repeal would repeal the individual mandate, the employer mandate, and some taxes on the health care industry, while leaving most of Obamacare in place. (Vox)
Tom Price: do whatever "gets us to 50 votes so that we can move forward on a health-care reform legislation." The Health and Human Services Secretary urged Senate Republicans to aim for the "lowest common denominator" to keep the Obamacare repeal alive. (CNBC)
Trump took aim at Senator Lisa Murkowski, tweeting that she "really let the Republicans, and our country, down yesterday. Too bad." Murkowski and Senator Susan Collins were the only two GOP senators to vote against a procedural vote to begin debate on repealing Obamacare. (CNN)
Senator @lisamurkowski of the Great State of Alaska really let the Republicans, and our country, down yesterday. Too bad!
3/ The House approved bipartisan sanctions against Russia while limiting Trump's power to waive them without a Congressional review. The package, which also includes sanctions against Iran and North Korea, passed 419 to 3. It sets up a veto dilemma for Trump: he can sign or veto the bill, but the Senate, like the House, is expected to pass the legislation by a veto-proof margin. (NBC News / Washington Post / CNN)
4/ Russia threatened to retaliate against the new sanctions, warning of a "painful" response and saying the sanctions make it impossible to achieve Trump's goal of improved Russian relations. Russia has reportedly prepared “economic and political measures that will be adopted if the Senate and Trump support the bill." (Bloomberg)
5/ Trump tweets that the US will no longer “accept or allow” transgender people in the military, saying the military “must be focused on decisive and overwhelming victory” and it could not afford to accommodate them. The policy decision reverses the transformation of the military under Obama, whose administration allowed transgender people to openly serve in the military. The Pentagon will defer enlistments by transgender applicants, but it's not clear how Trump intends to implement the ban as transgender people already serve in the military. (NPR / New York Times)
After consultation with my Generals and military experts, please be advised that the United States Government will not accept or allow......
Inside Trump’s snap decision to ban transgender troops. A congressional fight over sex reassignment surgery threatened funding for his border wall. (Politico)
The Texas Senate approved a bill that restricts bathroom access for transgender people, endorsing a piece of legislation denounced by civil liberties advocates as discriminatory. (Reuters)
The military spends 10 times as much on erectile dysfunction medicines as it does on transgender troops’ medical care. A Rand study estimated that treatment for transgendered troops cost the military between $2.4 million and $8.4 million annually. By contrast, total military spending on erectile dysfunction medicines amounts to $84 million annually. (Washington Post)
Trump’s transgender ban could force out thousands of service members. One research think tank estimated there are between 1,320 and 6,630 transgender Americans serving in the military out of 1.3 million active-service members. Another think tank put the total number of active-duty and guard or reserve service members higher, estimating that 15,500 transgender people are part of those military forces. The institute’s researchers also calculated that 134,300 veterans identify as transgender. (The Atlantic)
6/ At a rally in Ohio, Trump claimed he can be "more presidential than any president that's ever held this office" – except for Lincoln. He said that it's easier to "act presidential than what we are doing here tonight" (give a speech) and that "with few exceptions, no president has done anywhere near what we've done in his first six months. Not even close." (The Hill / CNN)
7/ Trump attacked Jeff Sessions for not firing Acting FBI Director Andrew McCabe after James Comey was fired in May. The attack came, predictably, via Twitter, where he wrote in a pair of tweets: “Why didn’t A.G. Sessions replace Acting FBI Director Andrew McCabe, a Comey friend who was in charge of Clinton investigation but got big dollars ($700,000) for his wife’s political run from Hillary Clinton and her representatives. Drain the Swamp!” At a news conference yesterday, Trump was asked if he would fire Sessions. “We’ll see what happens,’’ Trump said. (Politico / Washington Post)
Why didn't A.G. Sessions replace Acting FBI Director Andrew McCabe, a Comey friend who was in charge of Clinton investigation but got....
Several top White House officials have urged Trump to stop his public criticism of Sessions. Steve Bannon, Reince Priebus, and others have been talking up Sessions in conversations with Trump, reminding him that the attorney general has been one of the most effective members of his Cabinet in advocating for and advancing his agenda. (CNN)
An Alabama Senate candidate offered to withdraw from the race so Sessions can take his former seat. Mo Brooks proposed that all nine candidates drop out of the race simultaneously if Trump ousts Sessions from the Justice Department. The other candidates are almost certain to reject the proposal. (Politico)
8/ Sessions escalated his crackdown on so-called sanctuary cities, saying they could lose millions of dollars in federal grants unless they cooperate with federal agents to deport suspected undocumented immigrants held in local jails. The new policy will apply to all cities that apply for a federal grant program that provides roughly $250 million in crime-finding aid to states and local governments. (Los Angeles Times / The Guardian / NBC News / New York Times)
9/ Rex Tillerson is "just taking a little time off," but has no plans to resign as Secretary of State. After Trump's public attack on Jeff Sessions, rumors swirled that Tillerson could resign from his role citing Trump's behavior as unprofessional. Tillerson took some days off earlier this week, but returned to work today after "a lengthy meeting with the vice president at the White House on some important policy issues." (USA Today / The Hill)
10/ North Korea threatened a nuclear strike on "the heart of the US" if it attempts to remove Kim Jong Un as Supreme Leader. Meanwhile, US intelligence agencies believe North Korea will be capable of delivering a missile that can reach the continental US within a year. (CNN / New York Times)
poll/ 49% of Trump voters believe Trump won the popular vote. Kris Kobach — the vice chair of Trump’s election commission — floated the idea that "we may never know" whether Clinton won the popular vote. (Politico)
poll/ 45% of Republicans favor shutting down "biased" media outlets. Meanwhile, 18% of Democrats favor the courts to shut down news media outlets for publishing or broadcasting stories that are biased or inaccurate. (The Daily Beast)
poll/ Trump's job approval stands at 43% in 11 states he won. Overall, Trump has a 40% approval rating among all adults over his first six months. (CNN)
1/ Senate Republicans secured the 51 votes needed to advance their health care bill after Pence cast the tie-breaking vote. The Senate will now begin debating, amending, and ultimately voting in the coming days on the future of Obamacare. The vote was too close to call until the last moments, when several Republican holdouts announced their support, including Rand Paul, Dean Heller, Rob Portman, and Shelley Moore Capito. Senators Susan Collins and Lisa Murkowski both voted against the motion to proceed. (New York Times / Washington Post / CNN)
2/ The Senate will now have 20 hours of debate the health care bill, evenly split between the two sides. Senators can bring up and debate an unlimited number of amendments to the bill as long as they are “germane” to the bill and would not add to the budget deficit.
Then a period known as vote-a-rama happens, where Senators votes on the amendments. The first amendment will be the Obamacare Repeal Reconciliation Act, which repeals most of the Affordable Care Act without a replacement.
If that fails (as is expected), Senators will then vote on the Better Care Reconciliation Act, which cuts massive portions of the ACA. Because of reconciliation rules, these amendments would require 60 votes to pass. If BCRA fails, Senators will consider what is being called a “skinny repeal,” which repeals the individual mandate penalty, the employer mandate penalty, and the tax on medical devices. (New York Times / Vox / Time / NBC News)
John McCain returned to the Senate for the health care vote after being diagnosed with brain cancer last week. McCain's vote is critical to today's procedural vote. His absence would have left Senate Republicans with no margin of error. (Washington Post / Politico)
Senate Republicans don't know what's in their health care plan, but they voted anyway on the motion to proceed. About a half-dozen senators were publicly undecided about whether to start debate on rolling back the Affordable Care Act. Several senators have said they want a "replace" plan ready to go before voting "yes." An agreed upon replace plan is not in place. The bill will have to pass the House before making its way to Trump's desk. McConnell forced the procedural vote to put every senator on record. (Politico / Vox / CNN)
3/ Trump ripped Jeff Sessions on Twitter, calling him “very weak” when it comes to investigating Hillary Clinton. Trump has repeatedly taken aim at Sessions in recent days, leading to speculation that it’s just a matter of time before the attorney general resigns or is fired. The recent tweets come a day after Trump publicly described Sessions as "beleaguered." (NBC News / CNN)
Ukrainian efforts to sabotage Trump campaign - "quietly working to boost Clinton." So where is the investigation A.G. @seanhannity
4/ Later in the day, Trump added that he is "very disappointed in Jeff Sessions" but won’t say if he'll fire him. Trump has previously discussed replacing Jeff Sessions in a move viewed by some of Trump's advisors as part of a strategy for firing special counsel Robert Mueller in order to end his investigation into the campaign's efforts to coordinate with the Kremlin to influence the 2016 election. Sessions recently asked White House staff how he could patch up relations with Trump, but that went nowhere. Instead, Trump floated longtime ally Rudy Giuliani as a possible replacement for Sessions. (Wall Street Journal / Washington Post / Associated Press)
5/ Sessions is "pissed" at Trump for the attacks, but doesn't plan to quit. Senate Republicans have said that attacks on Sessions, who spent 20 years in the Senate, strain their relationship with Trump. Many GOP senators have expressed annoyance with Trump's tweets, saying "I really have a hard time with this” and "I’d prefer that he didn’t do that. We’d like Jeff to be treated fairly." Senators have also been nonplussed by Trump’s criticism of Sessions’ decision to recuse himself, saying “Jeff made the right decision. It’s not only a legal decision, but it’s the right decision." Trump's senior policy adviser Stephen Miller and Steve Bannon also support Sessions. (The Daily Beast / McClatchy DC)
6/ Anthony Scaramucci says it's "probably" correct that Trump wants Sessions gone. The new White House communications director didn't want to speak for the president, but said he thinks Trump has a "certain style" and he is "obviously frustrated." (The Hill)
7/ Senate Democrats are planning a procedural move to prevent Trump from making recess appointments by forcing the Senate to hold "pro forma" sessions – brief meetings, often only a few minutes. Democrats are worried Trump could attempt to bypass Congress and appoint a new attorney general and undermine special counsel Robert Mueller's ongoing probe into alleged Russian meddling in the US election during the planned August recess. (CNN / Reuters)
8/ The Senate Judiciary Committee issued a subpoena to Paul Manafort to testify in its Russia probe. Manafort had agreed to provide notes of the meeting at Trump Tower last year with the Russian lawyer, according to a person close to the investigation. Committee chairman Chuck Grassley and ranking member Dianne Feinstein said they had been “unable to reach an agreement for a voluntary transcribed interview with the Judiciary Committee” with Manafort. (ABC News / Politico)
UPDATE:
The Senate Judiciary Committee has dropped the subpoena against Paul Manafort and plans are underway for the former Trump campaign chairman to speak to investigators. (Politico)
9/ Parents are angry after Trump delivered a politicized speech to tens of thousands of boy scouts. Over 35 minutes, Trump threatened to fire one of his Cabinet members, attacked Obama, dissed Hillary Clinton, marveled at the size of the crowd, warned the boys about the “fake media,” mocked the polls, and said more people would say “Merry Christmas." Responding to criticism, the Boy Scouts of America insisted it was "wholly non-partisan and does not promote any one position, product, service, political candidate or philosophy." (Washington Post / BBC)
Trump joked he would fire Health and Human Services Secretary Tom Price if the health care bill doesn't pass. “Hopefully he’s going to get the votes tomorrow to start on the path to kill this thing called ObamaCare that’s really hurting us,” Trump said during a speech to Boy Scouts at the 2017 National Jamboree. "He better get them, otherwise I’ll say, ‘Tom, you’re fired.'" (The Hill)
The 29 most cringe-worthy lines from Donald Trump's hyper-political speech to the Boy Scouts (CNN)
Trump's transcript from his 2017 Boy Scout Jamboree speech. (Time)
10/ Trump confirmed a covert CIA program while tweeting that the Washington Post had “fabricated the facts” about his decision to end a program aiding Syrian rebels fighting the government of President Bashar al-Assad. Trump was referring to a story about ending an Obama program where the CIA armed and trained moderate Syrian rebels, a move long sought by the Russian government. (Washington Post / Politico)
The Amazon Washington Post fabricated the facts on my ending massive, dangerous, and wasteful payments to Syrian rebels fighting Assad.....
11/ A federal judge ruled that Trump's voter fraud commission may request voter roll data from states. Opponents contend the effort could infringe on privacy rights. The judge said the lawsuit did not have grounds for an injunction because the commission was not technically an action by a government agency – the commission is an advisory body that does not have legal authority to compel states to hand over the data. (Reuters)
12/ Jared Kushner bought real estate from an oligarch's firm represented by the Russian lawyer. Lev Leviev was a business partner at Prevezon Holdings, where Natalia Veselnitskaya acted as legal counsel. Prevezon was being investigated by Preet Bharara for money laundering before he was fired by Trump in March. Prevezon Holdings attempted to use Manhattan real estate deals to launder money stolen from the Russian treasury. In 2015, Kushner paid $295m to acquire several floors of the old New York Times building at 43rd street in Manhattan from the US branch of Leviev’s company. The Prevezon case was abruptly settled two days before it was due in open court in May for $6 million with no admission of guilt on the part of the defendants. (The Guardian)
13/ A White House press aide resigned after Anthony Scaramucci said he planned to fire him over alleged leaks. Michael Short is the first to leave after Scaramucci promised all aides “a clean slate” and “amnesty” to prove that they were not leaking. "This is the problem with the leaking," Scaramucci told reporters outside the White House. "This is actually a terrible thing. Let’s say I’m firing Michael Short today. The fact that you guys know about it before he does really upsets me as a human being and as a Roman Catholic." Short, who initially said Tuesday that he hadn’t yet been informed of any decision, resigned Tuesday afternoon. (Washington Post / Politico / The Hill)
1/ Jared Kushner told a closed-door Senate Intelligence Committee "Let me be very clear: I did not collude with Russia, nor do I know of anyone else in the campaign who did so." Kushner said he was unaware that the June 2016 meeting at Trump Tower with the Russian lawyer was about providing the Trump campaign with damaging information about Hillary Clinton. He added: "I had no improper contacts. I have not relied on Russian funds for my businesses and I have been fully transparent in providing all requested information." Kushner was not under oath for the Senate meeting. He will speak to the House Intelligence Committee tomorrow. (New York Times / Washington Post / Associated Press)
Jared Kushner's statement on Russia to congressional committees. (CNN)
2/ Kushner's statement included details of a previously undisclosed meeting with the Russian ambassador from April 2016. Kushner met Ambassador Sergei Kislyak at an event at the Mayflower Hotel in Washington, DC in April 2016 – the same event where Jeff Sessions met with the Kislyak, but didn't remember. Kushner blamed the omission on his security clearance forms as a mistake made by his assistant. (Wall Street Journal / Politico)
3/ Trump pressured Republican senators to get on board and "do the right thing" and repeal Obamacare, saying: "Any senator who votes against starting debate is telling America that you are fine with the Obamacare nightmare." Earlier, he threatened Republicans that the "repercussions will be far greater" than they expect and that Republicans are doing "very little to protect their President." Mitch McConnell wants to move ahead with a procedural vote tomorrow to take up the health care bill. If he can find 50 votes, the Senate would begin debate on a bill to repeal and replace Obamacare. (New York Times / Reuters / Politico / The Hill)
It's very sad that Republicans, even some that were carried over the line on my back, do very little to protect their President.
The Trump administration scrapped Obamacare signup assistance in 18 cities. People will now have 45 days to shop for 2018 coverage, starting Nov. 1 and ending Dec. 15. They previously had twice that much time. (CNBC)
4/ A Texas Republican congressman blamed "some female senators from the Northeast" for the health care bill's issues. Blake Farenthold said it's "absolutely repugnant" that Susan Collins, Shelley Moore, and Lisa Murkowski have failed to show the courage to dismantle the health care law. "If it was a guy from south Texas," Farenthold said. "I might ask him to step outside and settle this Aaron Burr-style." Burr shot and killed Alexander Hamilton in a duel. (NBC News / BBC)
5/ Trump wants to know why "beleaguered" Jeff Sessions isn't investigating Clinton. On Saturday, Trump tweeted that “so many people” were asking why Sessions was not looking into Clinton and her deleted emails despite Trump telling the Justice Department they should not investigate Clinton after he won the election. Last week, Trump said he never would have nominated Sessions if he knew he intended to recuse himself from the Russia investigation. (CNN / New York Times)
So many people are asking why isn't the A.G. or Special Council looking at the many Hillary Clinton or Comey crimes. 33,000 e-mails deleted?
6/ Trump floated the possibility of bringing in Rudolph Giuliani to head the Justice Department after sandbagging Sessions in recent days. Giuliani was an early Trump supporter, raising questions about his independence, and making it hard to find 50 Republicans senators to confirm him. (Axios)
7/ After Trump's rebuke of Sessions, Rex Tillerson could resign from his role. Tillerson has expressed growing frustration with the Trump administration and sees Trump's public attacks on Sessions as unprofessional. Tillerson has told friends outside of Washington that he's determined to stay on the job at least through the end of the year. (CNN)
8/ Scaramucci: Trump is unconvinced that Russia attempted to influence the 2016 election. The new communications director said Trump doesn't accept the intelligence community's conclusion that the Russian government attempted to hurt Hillary Clinton and help Trump. Trump tweeted: "As the phony Russian Witch Hunt continues, two groups are laughing at this excuse for a lost election taking hold, Democrats and Russians!" (CNN)
As the phony Russian Witch Hunt continues, two groups are laughing at this excuse for a lost election taking hold, Democrats and Russians!
9/ Kellyanne Conway says Russia is "not a big story" and that Trump “doesn’t think he’s lying” about voter fraud and wiretapping. Conway claimed that the media doesn’t offer “complete coverage” of the Trump administration and that it's “incredibly unfair and systematically against this president.” Trump has claimed that millions have voted illegally and accused Obama of wiretapping him — despite having no proof of it happening. Conway said Trump "doesn’t think he’s lying about those issues." (CNN / Salon)
10/ Trump’s pick to lead the DOJ's criminal division disclosed that he once represented a Putin-tied Russian bank while working for a US law firm. Brian Benczkowski is scheduled to appear before the Senate Judiciary Committee for a confirmation hearing tomorrow. Alfa Bank is one of Russia’s largest financial institutions, whose owners have ties to Putin. Benczkowski previously worked in the Justice Department during the Bush era. (New York Times)
11/ Scaramucci outs Trump as his anonymous source while disputing the conclusion that Russian meddled in the election. “Somebody said to me yesterday — I won’t tell you who — that if the Russians actually hacked this situation and spilled out those emails, you would have never seen it, you would have never had any evidence of them," Scaramucci said. After meeting with Putin in Germany, Trump said that "somebody did say" that if Putin did order the hacking, "you wouldn’t have found out about it." Trump didn't say who that "somebody" was but called the idea "a very interesting point." (The Hill / New York Times / Reuters)
12/ To slow White House leaks Scaramucci plans to fire everybody. "If you're going to keep leaking, I'm going to fire everybody." He called leaking information "un-American," "unprofessional and harmful." (CBS News)
13/ Sarah Huckabee Sanders should use the hair and makeup person from Friday’s briefing, Scaramucci says on live TV. “I want to do everything I can to make her better at that podium… Like every athlete that's training for the Olympics, every day we got to make ourselves incrementally better,” Scaramucci said. “The only thing I ask Sarah, Sarah if you’re watching, I loved the hair and makeup person that we had on Friday. So I’d like to continue to use the hair and makeup person,” Scaramucci added. (The Daily Beast / Washington Post)
Anthony Scaramucci says Sarah Sanders Huckabee would be better at her job if she looked better. No, really. #CNNSOTUhttps://t.co/0S758V1MTZ
poll/ Trump averaged a 50% or higher job approval rating in 17 states from January to June. And now, let the wild rumpus start: West Virginia (60% approval), North Dakota (59%), South Dakota (57%), Montana (56%), Wyoming (56%), Alabama (55%), Oklahoma (54%), Kansas (53%), Kentucky (53%), Arkansas (53%), and Idaho (53%). (Gallup)
poll/ Americans are split – 42%-42% – over whether Trump should be removed from office. 46% say Trump won't complete his first term, while 27% are confident that he'll serve all four years of his term. A third said they would be upset if Trump was impeached, while an equal third said they would be upset if he's not. (USA Today)
1/ Trump lost his shit on Twitter today. In a two hour rant he asserted his "complete power" to pardon himself, decried "illegal leaks," blamed Hillary, defended Trump Jr. and his new communications director, called Democrats obstructionist, and declared Obamacare dead. (The Daily Beast / ABC News / Washington Post / New York Magazine)
A new INTELLIGENCE LEAK from the Amazon Washington Post,this time against A.G. Jeff Sessions.These illegal leaks, like Comey's, must stop!
Legal experts doubt Trump could pardon himself in the Russia inquiry. The constitution does not weigh in explicitly on the issue and there is no direct precedent. No president has ever attempted to self-pardon. (The Guardian)
2/ Jeff Sessions discussed the Trump campaign with the Russian ambassador while serving as Trump's foreign policy adviser. US intelligence intercepts show Sessions and Sergey Kislyak had “substantive” discussions on Trump’s positions on Russia-related issues, prospects for US-Russia relations in a Trump administration, and other policy issues important to Moscow. Sessions initially failed to disclose his contacts with Kislyak, but later said that the meetings were not about the Trump campaign. (Washington Post)
Senator Chuck Grassley called on the anonymous leaker to release the alleged Sessions-Russia conversations. "LEAKER: stop tease/leak entire conversation/end speculation," Grassley tweeted. (The Hill)
So much speculation on CNN abt Session/Russian ph call bc of intelligence leak LEAKER:stop tease/ leak entire conversation/end speculation
3/ Jared Kushner and Ivanka Trump filed new financial disclosures revealing they could be worth more than $762 million. In his 39th revised filing, Kushner "inadvertently omitted" 77 items from his first form. Ivanka Trump, for the first time, filed documents disclosing the couple's art collection (valued at up to $25 million) and that she's been paid as much as $5 million from her outside businesses between January 1st and when she entered the White House on March 8th. (CNN / Bloomberg / Washington Post)
4/ Key provisions in the Republican health care bill don't comply with the Senate’s budget rules. The so-called “Byrd Rule” makes sure policies passed under “budget reconciliation” — which allows legislation to advance with only 51 votes instead of the usual 60 needed to get past a filibuster — either decrease federal spending or increase revenue. The 52 Senate Republicans will now need to vote to preserve each provision flagged by the Senate Budget Committee for violating the Byrd rule. (Politico / Vox)
5/ The House and Senate reached a Russia sanctions deal. The legislation will give Congress the ability to block Trump from easing sanctions on Moscow. The bill includes new sanctions against Russia, Iran, and North Korea. The bill is set for a vote Tuesday. (CNN / Washington Post / ABC News)
6/ The new White House communications director praised Breitbart News, saying they've "captured the spirit of what's actually going on in the country." Anthony Scaramucci said he wants to get Trump's unfiltered message to his supporters via Twitter, bypassing mainstream media Trump often calls "fake news," while hoping to de-escalate "unfairness and bias in the media." (Politico)
7/ The Director of National Intelligence said no US intelligence agencies dispute Russian election meddling, pushing back on Trump’s claim there was a misunderstanding between the agencies. “There is no dissent, and I have stated that publicly and I have stated that to the president,” Dan Coats said. Trump had previously claimed that only “three or four” agencies came to the conclusion that Russia meddled in the election. (The Hill)
1/ Trump’s lawyers are discussing his authority to grant pardons to aides, family members, and himself in connection with the Russia probe. Because no president has ever pardoned himself, there is no precedent, which leaves the question open: can a president use their constitutional power to pardon themselves? The power to pardon is granted in Article II, Section 2, of the Constitution, which gives the president the power to “grant Reprieves and Pardons for Offences against the United States, except in Cases of Impeachment.” (Washington Post)
2/ Trump’s lawyers are exploring ways to stymie Robert Mueller's Russia investigation. They're scouring the professional and political backgrounds of investigators hired by the special counsel, looking for conflicts of interest they could use to discredit the investigation or force members of the team to recuse themselves – and possibly build a case to fire Mueller. Trump has been particularly upset that Mueller could access his personal tax returns, which he has repeatedly declined to release to the public. (New York Times / The Hill)
3/ Trump tapped Anthony Scaramucci to be the new White House communications director, a wealthy Wall Street financier, schmoozer, and fixture on the global financial scene. Trump sees Scaramucci as a strong defender of him on television and wants him to focus on the surrogate strategy as communications director. Scaramucci supported Trump's campaign, dealing with fundraising and appearing on cable TV as a frequent defender of the president. The role has been open since Mike Dubke resigned in May. (Axios / Washington Post / NBC News / Politico)
Scaramucci once called Trump a "hack politician" and said his rhetoric was "anti-American." In August 2015, then-candidate Trump railed against “hedge-fund guys paying nothing” in taxes. Scaramucci shot back, calling him “another hack politician,” whose remarks “anti-American and divisive.” (Time)
4/ Sean Spicer resigned as the White House Press Secretary, telling Trump he "vehemently disagreed" with the appointment of New York financier Anthony Scaramucci as communications director. After offering the job to Scaramucci, Trump asked Spicer to stay on. Spicer declined, telling Trump he believed the appointment was a major mistake. Spicer was largely left in the dark, unaware of Trump's intention to hire Scaramucci until this morning, as were Reince Priebus and Steve Bannon, both of whom fiercely opposed Scaramucci's hire. Jared Kushner and Ivanka Trump encouraged the move. Sarah Huckabee Sanders was named White House press secretary. (New York Times / CNN / ABC News / Politico)
It's been an honor & a privilege to serve @POTUS@realDonaldTrump & this amazing country. I will continue my service through August
5/ Robert Mueller asked White House staff to preserve all documents relating to Trump Jr.'s meeting with the Russian lawyer. The notice, called a document preservation request, asked White House staff to save any text messages, emails, notes, voicemails, and other communications and documentation from the June 2016 meeting. (CNN)
6/ The Russian lawyer Trump Jr. met with had Russian intelligence connections. Natalia Veselnitskaya had previously represented Russia’s top spy agency, the Federal Security Service, in a land dispute in Moscow. There is no information that Veselnitskaya is an intelligence agent or an employee of the Russian government. (Washington Post)
7/ Russia's foreign minister suggested Trump may have had more meetings with Putin at the G-20 summit. Sergey Lavrov shrugged off the importance of the encounters, dismissing speculation about the leaders' meetings, and joking that "maybe they went to the toilet together." Trump and Putin met three times at the summit. (NBC News)
8/ Susan Rice privately met with the Senate intelligence committee as part of the committee's investigation into Russia meddling in the election. Rice, who served as Obama's national security adviser, is under scrutiny from House Republicans because they believe she improperly "unmasked" the identities of Trump associates in US intelligence reports. (CNN)
9/ Trump reshuffled his legal team. Marc Kasowitz, Trump's longtime personal attorney who has been the lead lawyer on the Russia investigation, will step aside as the role requires Washington-centric expertise. John Dowd and Jay Sekulow will now be Trump's primary personal attorneys for the investigation, with Dowd in the lead. From inside the White House, Ty Cobb will take the lead on the investigation from a legal and communications perspective. (CNN)
10/ The spokesman for Trump’s legal team resigned two months after starting. Mark Corallo said the dynamics in the White House were untenable and that there was "too much fighting all the time." He had grown frustrated with the operation and was concerned about whether he was being told the truth about various matters. (Politico)
poll/ 57% of all Americans say Trump Jr. shouldn't have taken the meeting with the Russian lawyer. 83% of Democrats say the group should not have taken the meeting, while 48% of Republicans say they should have. (CNN)
poll/ Trump averaged a 38.8% job approval during his second quarter in office. No other president has had a worse second-quarter average. The historical average second-quarter rating is 62%. (Gallup)
1/ Trump would have never hired Jeff Sessions had he known he would recuse himself from the Russia investigation. "Sessions should have never recused himself," Trump said, "and if he was going to recuse himself, he should have told me before he took the job, and I would have picked somebody else." Trump called the decision “very unfair to the president. How do you take a job and then recuse yourself?" Asked if Robert Mueller’s investigation would cross a line if it started to look at his family’s finances beyond Russia, Trump said, “I would say yes,” but declined to say what he would do about it. “I think that’s a violation. Look, this is about Russia.” (New York Times)
Excerpts from Trump's interview with the New York Times. Trump spoke on Wednesday with three New York Times reporters — Peter Baker, Michael S. Schmidt and Maggie Haberman — in an exclusive interview in the Oval Office. Also in attendance was Hope Hicks, a White House spokeswoman. (New York Times)
Trump's blast of Sessions has a "chilling" effect inside the West Wing. White House officials are thinking: If this kind could happen to Sessions, it could happen to anyone. One official described the President's blasting of Sessions as only intensifying the already low morale inside the West Wing. (CNN)
GOP senators rebuked Trump's criticism of Sessions. "The attorney general is America's top law enforcement official," one GOP senator said. "It's unclear if he understands that, and that's pretty disturbing." (CNN)
2/ Jeff Sessions plans to stay in his role despite Trump’s comments that he'd have picked someone else had he known Sessions would recuse himself from the Russia investigation. Sessions said he's had the “honor of serving as attorney general,” and he planned “to continue to do so as long as that is appropriate.” (Washington Post / CNN)
3/ The White House says Trump still has confidence in Sessions, despite being "disappointed" in Sessions' decision to recuse himself. Sarah Huckabee Sanders told reporters that Trump “clearly he has confidence in him or he would not be the Attorney General," adding “if he wanted somebody to take an action, he would make that quite clear.” (NBC News)
4/ Robert Mueller expanded his probe to include Trump's business transactions, ignoring Trump's warning not to dig into matters beyond Russia. Investigators are looking at Russian purchases of apartments in Trump buildings, Trump’s involvement in a SoHo development with Russian associates, the 2013 Miss Universe pageant in Moscow, and Trump’s sale of a Florida mansion to a Russian oligarch in 2008. In Trump's interview with the New York Times, he defended his involvement with Russia saying, "it’s possible there’s a condo or something, so, you know, I sell a lot of condo units, and somebody from Russia buys a condo, who knows? I don’t make money from Russia." (Bloomberg)
5/ Jared Kushner, Paul Manafort, and Trump Jr. will testify before Senate committees next week. Kushner will appear before the Senate intelligence committee on Monday, while Trump Jr. and Manafort are scheduled to testify before the Senate judiciary committee on Wednesday. (CNN / ABC News)
6/ Paul Manafort was in debt to pro-Russia interests when he joined Trump’s campaign in March 2016. Shell companies linked to Manafort's businesses in Ukraine owed as much as $17 million. (New York Times)
7/ Mueller is investigating Manafort for possible money laundering. The inquiry began several weeks ago and looks at how Manafort spent and borrowed tens of millions of dollars in connection with properties in the US over the past decade. The Senate and House intelligence committees also are probing possible money laundering by Manafort. (Wall Street Journal)
8/ Trump’s embrace of Russia places him at odds with his national security and foreign policy advisers. "Deep divisions" are growing in the White House on the best way to approach Moscow. Foreign officials have said Trump and his team have sent “mixed signals” with regards to their Russia policy, leaving diplomats and intelligence officials “dumbfounded” by Trump's approach. (Associated Press)
9/ The Trump team used Obamacare money to run ads that undermined the health care law. The Trump administration requested $574 million from the Department of Health and Human Services' “consumer information and outreach” budget, which is supposed to be used for advertising the ACA and encouraging enrollment. Instead, they bought social media ads and produced more than 130 videos designed to damage public opinion of Obamacare. (The Daily Beast)
10/ John McCain was diagnosed with brain cancer. McCain had a blood clot removed from above his left eye last week and "subsequent tissue pathology revealed that a primary brain tumor known as a glioblastoma." McCain and his family are reviewing further treatment options, including potential chemotherapy and radiation. (BuzzFeed News)
11/ After their White House meeting, Senate Republicans are still unlikely to repeal Obamacare in the coming days. Mitch McConnell needs 51 votes (or 50 plus Pence as a tie-breaker) to begin debate. There are 52 Senate Republicans and at least four Republican senators having announced opposition to starting debate on the current health care replacement plan: Susan Collins, Rand Paul, Mike Lee, and Jerry Moran. John McCain’s diagnosis of brain cancer also has the GOP down a vote. McCain has privately indicated that he would not support a repeal-only bill. Shelley Moore Capito and Lisa Murkowski say they would also oppose a repeal-only bill. The path to 50 votes is extremely unlikely. (Politico / HuffPost)
12/ The Senate confirmed a federal judge who once compared abortion to slavery, calling them “the two greatest tragedies in our country.” The Senate confirmed John K. Bush's lifetime appointment as a judge on the United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth. The vote was 51-47. (HuffPost / The Daily Beast)
13/ Trump ended a covert CIA program to arm anti-Assad rebels in Syria, a move sought by Moscow. Closing the program is an acknowledgment of Trump's limited leverage and desire to remove Assad from power. (Washington Post)
poll/ 88% percent of Trump voters would vote for him again. 12% said they would not vote for Trump "if the 2016 presidential election were held today." (Reuters)
poll/ 47% of liberal Democrats can't stand friends who voted for Trump, saying it puts a strain on their friendships. Among Democrats and Democratic-leaning voters more broadly, the number is 35%. White and more-educated Democrats are more likely to feel that it's tough to even be friends with a Trump supporter. (Pew Research Center / Washington Post)
1/ Trump and Putin met for nearly an hour in a second, previously undisclosed meeting during a dinner for G20 leaders. The White House called the meeting "brief" and said Trump spoke with Putin through Russia's translator. No other American officials other than Trump were present for the meeting. (CNN / New York Times / Reuters)
2/ In response to the news of the meeting, Trump tweeted that the "Fake News" story about his "secret dinner with Putin is "'sick.'" He added that "the Fake News is becoming more and more dishonest" and makes his previously undisclosed meeting with Putin "look sinister!" (Twitter)
3/ A Republican congressman attempted to alter Russian sanctions after receiving a confidential document while in Moscow. Dana Rohrabacher tried to set up a virtual "show trial" last June, around the same time that Trump Jr. met with the Russian lawyer, in an attempt to undermine a set of sanctions placed on Russia. The document contends that the US – and the rest of the world – was "duped by a fake $230 million scandal that resulted in sanctions being imposed on 44 Russians linked to murder, corruption, or cover-ups." During a congressional hearing, Rohrabacher wanted to present "a feature-length pro-Kremlin propaganda movie" made by the "Prosecutor General’s office in Moscow, which is run by Yuri Chaika, a close associate of President Vladimir Putin." (The Daily Beast)
4/ Trump is threatening to gut the Obamacare markets, repeatedly telling aides and advisers that he wants to end the subsidy payments. The deadline for sending out the monthly Affordable Care Act subsidies to health plans is Thursday. Trump has the discretion to decide unilaterally whether the payments continue while a lawsuit House Republicans won in 2014 is being appealed. (Politico)
5/ Senate Republicans who opposed the health care bill are meeting tonight to try and revive the repeal and replacement bill after being told by Trump that they need to get a deal done before the August recess. Mitch McConnell wants vote next week for the procedural motion to take up the bill and start debate. Trump told senators that "inaction is not an option" and that “any senator who votes against starting debate is really telling America that you’re fine with Obamacare." (Politico / Axios / New York Times / CNN)
6/ The CBO estimates that the Senate "repeal only" bill would leave 32 million more uninsured and double premiums over a decade. The legislation is on track to reach the Senate floor early next week, where it would likely fail. (Politico)
7/ The Supreme Court allows the "grandparent" exemption to Trump's travel ban. The court upheld parts of a lower court order that temporarily exempts grandparents and other relatives from the travel ban. Now grandparents, grandchildren, brothers-in-law, sisters-in-law, aunts and uncles, nephews and nieces, and cousins are considered "close family." (NPR / CNN / Washington Post)
8/ More than 20 members of Congress want the FBI to review Ivanka Trump’s security clearance. The group sent a letter to acting FBI Director Andrew McCabe asking him to “conduct a review of a potentially serious issue" involving Ivanka and whether she properly filled out her SF-86 form, which is the security clearance required for federal officials. (Yahoo)
9/ The Russian lawyer said she's willing to testify to Congress about what she called "mass hysteria" regarding her meeting with Trump Jr. Natalia Veselnitskaya told Russia's Kremlin-backed RT TV channel that she never obtained damaging information about Clinton and that she has no ties with the Kremlin. (Reuters)
10/ The military is paying $130,000 a month to lease space in Trump Tower for offices that support the White House despite Trump not spending a night there since becoming president. The military’s lease in Trump Tower is far above market rate for similarly sized apartments in the luxury high rise market, making it one of the most expensive residential rentals in Manhattan. (Wall Street Journal)
11/ Trump sanctioned Iran a day after certifying its compliance with the nuclear deal. The sanctions targeted 18 people and entities that were involved in missile development, weapons procurement, and software theft. (CNN / New York Times)
12/ Jeff Sessions rolled back an Obama directive that prevented police from seizing cash and property from people suspected of crimes but not charged. The technique has been linked to civil rights abuses where people lose their cash, cars, and homes without any proven link to illegal activity. (NBC News / Washington Post)
13/ Trump Jr. is reportedly "miserable" and wants "these four years to be over." PEOPLE, who talked to "a source who knows the family well," said that “Don can’t do any deals, because he’ll be overly scrutinized. He just goes to work every day and is miserable.” (People)
poll/ 32% of Trump voters don't believe Trump Jr. had a meeting with the Russian lawyer about information that might be harmful to Hillary Clinton. 45% believe the meeting happened and 24% say they're not sure despite Trump Jr. confirming the meeting took place and tweeting out the email chain used to setup the meeting with the Russian lawyer. (Public Policy Polling)
poll/ 53% of Americans say they want to see Democrats take control of Congress in 2018 “to act as a check on Trump," versus 35% who’d like to see the GOP retain control in order “to support Trump’s agenda.” (ABC News)
poll/ 65% of Republicans and GOP-leaning independents say they are likely to vote next year, compared to 57% of Democrats and Democratic-leaning independents. "The survey results suggest … Democrats have not been able to capitalize yet on voter antipathy toward Trump. For one thing, Americans who strongly disapprove of Trump do not appear to be any more motivated to vote than the average American." (Washington Post)
1/ The GOP health care bill collapsed after two more Republican senators said they would oppose the bill to repeal and replace Obamacare, leaving Mitch McConnell at least two votes short of the 50 needed to begin debate on their bill to dismantle the health law. Senators Mike Lee and Jerry Moran joined Rand Paul and Susan Collins of Maine in opposition of the bill, preventing GOP leaders from bringing the bill to the floor and ending Republicans' seven-year goal of repealing Obamacare. (New York Times / Politico / Washington Post / CNN / Wall Street Journal)
Trump blindsided by the implosion of the GOP health care bill. While the president strategized with Republican lawmakers at the White House over steak, two senators were finalizing their statements tanking the current proposal. (Politico)
How the Republican health care bill fell apart. Trump was "annoyed" at the news, which came after a dinner with Republican senators. (CNN)
2/ Trump immediately called on Republicans to repeal Obamacare now and work on a healthcare plan that would draw Democratic support later. "Republicans should just REPEAL failing ObamaCare now & work on a new Healthcare Plan that will start from a clean slate," Trump tweeted. "Dems will join in!" (Reuters / The Hill)
Republicans should just REPEAL failing ObamaCare now & work on a new Healthcare Plan that will start from a clean slate. Dems will join in!
3/ Trump blamed Democrats for the collapse of the GOP health care bill and urged Republicans to let Obamacare fail in an attempt to force Democrats to the negotiating table. In a series of tweets, just hours after saying Republicans should act now to repeal the law, Trump said: “We were let down by all of the Democrats and a few Republicans. Most Republicans were loyal, terrific & worked really hard. We will return! As I have always said, let ObamaCare fail and then come together and do a great healthcare plan. Stay tuned!” (Washington Post / Politico / The Hill)
We were let down by all of the Democrats and a few Republicans. Most Republicans were loyal, terrific & worked really hard. We will return!
4/ McConnell said he would attempt to hold a vote on a repeal-only bill in the coming days that would delay the repeal of Obamacare for two years. "Regretfully, it is now apparent that the effort to repeal and immediately replace the failure of Obamacare will not be successful," McConnell said in a statement. He added that "in the coming days," the Senate would vote on "a repeal of Obamacare with a two-year delay to provide for a stable transition period to a patient-centered health care system that gives Americans access to quality, affordable care." (CNN / ABC News)
Why is Mitch McConnell still calling for a health-care vote? The effort to “repeal and immediately replace” Obamacare “will not be successful,” McConnell admitted. (Washington Post)
5/ Three Republican senators said they would oppose McConnell's repeal-only idea. Susan Collins, Shelley Moore Capito, and Lisa Murkowski said they would oppose any vote to proceed with an immediate repeal of the health care law without a replacement — enough to doom the effort before it could get any momentum. (New York Times / Washington Post)
6/ House Republican unveiled their 2018 budget proposal, which slashes billions in spending to social programs like Medicaid and food stamp, and paves the way for a major overhaul of the tax code. Defense spending would steadily increase over the next 10 years while non-defense, discretionary spending would decline to $424 billion — about 23% below current spending in the category. The budget calls for at least $203 billion in cuts to programs such as Medicare and Social Security over the next decade. In addition, the proposal sets out special procedures that could allow Republicans to pass legislation over the objections of Senate Democrats using a process known as reconciliation and setting the stage for tax reform legislation. (Washington Post / New York Times / CNN / ABC News)
7/ House Republicans want to defund the only federal agency that works to ensure the voting process is secure as part of proposed federal budget cuts. Republicans say that the Federal Election Commission could bear the Election Assistance Commission's responsibilities and that the EAC improperly interferes in the right of states to conduct their elections. (Wall Street Journal)
8/ The vice chair of Trump’s voter fraud commission wants to add new requirements for voting. The day after Trump was elected, Kris Kobach, the Kansas Secretary of State, proposed a change federal law to make voter registration requirements stricter and "to make clear that proof of citizenship requirements are permitted." Kobach is now the vice chair of the Presidential Advisory Commission on Election Integrity. (Washington Post / HuffPost)
9/ Thousands of voters are removing themselves from state voter rolls, worried that Trump’s vote fraud commission will reveal their personal information. Colorado has seen 3,738 voters remove their names from the rolls since Trump's election commission sent letters to all states requesting voter information. (NBC News)
10/ The eighth person at the Trump Tower meeting has been identified. Ike Kaveladze, attended as an interpreter for the Russian lawyer, is an American-based employee of a Russian real estate company owned by Emin and Aras Agalarov, the Russian developers who hosted the Trump-owned Miss Universe pageant in 2013. In October 2000, a report by the Government Accountability Office accused Kaveladze of laundering $1.4 billion of Russian and Eastern European money through US banks. Special Counsel Robert Mueller's team is investigating the meeting. (Washington Post / CNN / New York Times / Wall Street Journal / The Daily Beast)
11/ White House staff is worried that Jared Kushner's security clearance is in jeopardy. Kushner has an interim security clearance, but met with the FBI on June 23 to be interviewed for his permanent security clearance – two days after amending his SF-86 form for a third time with details of the meeting with Trump Jr. and the Russian lawyer at Trump Tower. Without a security clearance, Kushner wouldn't be able to take part in most West Wing decisions and it would hamstring his foreign policy work. (CNN)
12/ Trump claims to have signed more bills than any president ever in his first six months. “We’ve signed more bills — and I’m talking about through the legislature — than any president, ever,” Trump said at a “Made in America” event. Carter signed 70 bills in his first six months, Clinton signed 50., W. Bush signed 20 bills, and Obama signed 39 bills during the period, including an $800 billion stimulus program to confront an economic disaster, legislation to make it easier for women to sue for equal pay, a bill to give the Food and Drug Administration the authority to regulate tobacco and an expansion of the federal health insurance program for children. Trump has signed 42 bills as of this week. (New York Times)
13/ Trump is fighting a demand that he testify in the suit by protesters that were roughed up at his rally. At a March 2016 event, Trump called out to the crowd to remove the three protesters, saying "get 'em out of here." The three were then physically attacked. Trump has attempted to get the suit dismissed on First Amendment grounds, as well as arguing that he is immune from civil lawsuits while serving as president. (Politico / Washington Post)
poll/ 76% of Americans are worried that the U.S. will become engaged in a major war in the next four years, jumping 10 points since February, when 66% of Americans said they were worried about military conflict. (NBC News)
poll/ 81% of Americans see North Korea as a threat to the U.S., including 66% who see it as a “serious” threat, up 12 points from 2005. 36% trust Trump’s ability to handle the situation, while 63% distrust him, and 40% trusting him “not at all.” (ABC News)
poll/ 12% of key Trump counties supported the GOP health care effort, while 41% said it was a bad idea. Among Trump voters specifically in these counties, 25% believe the House GOP health care bill is a good idea. (NBC News)
poll/ Hillary Clinton more unpopular than Trump. 39% of Americans view Hillary Clinton favorably, compared to 41% for Trump. Meanwhile, 58% have an unfavorable view of Clinton, compared to 55% who have an unfavorable view of Trump. (Bloomberg)
1/ The Trump reelection campaign paid $50,000 to Trump Jr.'s attorney two weeks before the release of his emails. Alan Futerfas started representing Trump Jr. on July 10th, but was paid at least $50,000 on June 27th. Futerfas’s expertise is in white collar criminal defense, not political or election law. In total, Trump disclosed $677,826 in payments described as “legal consulting” between April and June. (Politico / The Daily Beast)
2/ Trump's lawyer blamed the Secret Service for vetting and allowing Trump Jr.'s meeting with the Russian lawyer. The Secret Service pushed back, saying that Trump Jr. was not a "protectee of the USSS in June, 2016. Thus we would not have screened anyone he was meeting with at that time." On ABC's "This Week," Jay Sekulow said: "Well, I wonder why the Secret Service, if this was nefarious, why the Secret Service allowed these people in. The President had Secret Service protection at that point, and that raised a question with me." (Reuters / CNN)
3/ Sean Spicer contradicted both Trump and Trump Jr. on the Russian lawyer meeting. Spicer said that “there was nothing as far as we know that would lead anyone to believe" that the meeting was about anything other than international adoption policy. The statement contradicts the contents of Trump Jr.'s email setting up the meeting. And, earlier in the day, Trump tweeted that "Most politicians would have gone to a meeting like the one Don jr attended in order to get info on an opponent. That's politics!" (The Daily Beast)
Most politicians would have gone to a meeting like the one Don jr attended in order to get info on an opponent. That's politics!
4/ Mitch McConnell delayed the Senate vote on the health care bill until John McCain returns from surgery where he had to remove a blood clot above his left eye. Neurosurgeons said McCain's recover could take a week or two. Rand Paul said the delay would strengthen critics’ position by giving them more time to mobilize against the bill. “The longer the bill is out there, the more conservative Republicans are going to discover it is not repeal,” he said. (New York Times / Washington Post)
McCain’s surgery will delay Senate votes on health care bill. McConnell said the Senate would “defer consideration” of the bill, scheduled for this week, because John McCain would be absent, recovering from surgery that he had to remove a blood clot above his left eye. (New York Times)
5/ The CBO will not release its updated score for the Senate health care plan today as planned. The Senate Budget Committee did not provide an explanation or when the analysis was expected, saying it will provide further information and updates as appropriate. (CBS News / Washington Post)
6/ Insurers called the Senate health care bill “simply unworkable in any form” and warned that it would cause major hardship for middle-class people with serious medical problems. America’s Health Insurance Plans and the Blue Cross Blue Shield Association said “millions of more individuals will become uninsured." (HuffPost)
7/ The office of a Republican senator who's voiced concerns about GOP health care bill was burglarized. A note was found at Dean Heller's office that reportedly read, “Vote no on the health care bill or I will lose my health care and die, and you will, too." Heller has not said whether or not he will support the revised version of the bill. His seat is a top target for Democrats in 2018. (NBC News / Politico)
Breaking: Note on @SenDeanHeller's door: Vote no on the health care bill or I will lose my health care and die, and you will, too. https://t.co/laUgX3ndll
8/ Homeland Security will turn over Mar-a-Lago visitor logs. Citizens for Responsible Ethics in Washington filed suit with the National Security Archive and the Knight First Amendment Institute at Columbia University for the logs of visitors from Mar-a-Lago, the White House and Trump Tower. DHS will release the logs by September 8th. (Politico)
9/ Trump tweets that his low poll numbers are "not bad at this time." His 36% approval rating means he has his base, and that’s it. (ABC News)
The ABC/Washington Post Poll, even though almost 40% is not bad at this time, was just about the most inaccurate poll around election time!
poll/ Americans prefer Obamacare to the Republican replacement by a 2-to-1 margin – 50% to 24%. More specifically, 77% of Democrats prefer Obamacare, while 59% of Republicans favor their party’s solution. (Washington Post)
poll/ 61% of Americans say the nation is headed down the wrong path and 55% now view Trump unfavorably. Both up 12 points since December. (Bloomberg)
poll/ Trump's job approval rating in counties that fueled his election victory stands at 50%, while 46 percent disapprove. (NBC News)
poll/ 36% of all Americans approve of Trump’s job performance, down 6 points from his 100-day mark, itself a low. The previous president closest to this level at or near six months was Gerald Ford, at 39%, in February 1975. (ABC News)
1/ A former Soviet counterintelligence officer attended the Trump Jr. meeting. The Russian lawyer, Natalia Veselnitskaya, was accompanied by Rinat Akhmetshin, a Russian-American lobbyist and former Soviet counterintelligence officer suspected by some US officials of having ongoing ties to Russian intelligence. The revelation brings the total in attendance to eight: Trump Jr., Kushner, Manafort, Veselnitskaya, Akhmetshin, publicist Rob Goldstone, who helped set up the meeting, and at least two other people: a translator and a representative of the Russian family who had asked Goldstone to set up the meeting. Senator Charles Grassley said Akhmetshin failed to register as a foreign agent even though he had been lobbying in the US for Russian interests. Grassley also said that Akhmetshin had been working with the opposition-research firm that compiled the highly disputed dossier on Trump. Akhmetshin has denied ever working as an intelligence agent. (NBC News / Associated Press / CNN / Washington Post)
Government watchdogs filed a complaint against Trump Jr., Jared Kushner, and Paul Manafort with the Federal Election Commission, arguing the three violated the law by meeting with a Russian who was offering damaging information on Hillary Clinton. The complaint said the emails provided evidence that Trump Jr. violated the law by asking a foreign national for something of value. (Reuters)
The top Democrat on the Senate Intelligence Committee fears Trump will pardon those convicted in Russia probe. "The possibility of presidential pardons in this process concerns me and also would be, I think, a really, really bad move," Mark Warner said. (The Hill)
Kushner was angry that the White House wasn't more aggressive in its defense of the Trump Jr. meeting. Kushner wanted the White House to complain about chyrons on cable news, call reporters to update stories with White House statements, and push out surrogates with talking points to change the narrative around the latest twist in the Russia scandal. Sean Spicer and other senior staffers have expressed reservations, saying it’s best to leave it to outside counsel. (Politico)
2/ The former intel officer was accused of hacking a Russian mining company and stealing documents. Court papers from 2015 say Rinat Akhmetshin was paid $140,000 to organize a public relations smear campaign targeting International Mineral Resources. Shortly after he began that work, IMR was hacked and gigabytes of data were allegedly stolen. Akhmetshin has denied the accusation, but admitted to passing around a “hard drive” filled with data on IMR’s owners he’d gotten from the former prime minister of Kazakhstan. The charges were later withdrawn. (The Daily Beast)
3/ Veselnitskaya presented the Trump team with documents that she believed showed people tied to Russia were funding the Democratic National Committee and supporting Clinton. Veselnitskaya brought a plastic folder with printed-out documents detailing the flow of illicit funds to the DNC and suggested that making the information public could help the Trump campaign. Trump Jr. said he did not receive the information he was promised. (Associated Press)
4/ The lawyer Trump Jr. met with was in contact with Russia's top prosecutor. Natalia Veselnitskaya said she wasn’t working for Russia, but regularly met with and shared information with the Russian prosecutor general’s office, which included Prosecutor General Yuri Chaika. Rob Goldstone, the British publicist who arranged the meeting, wrote in an email to Trump Jr. that Aras Agalarov had met with Russia’s "crown" prosecutor – Yuri Chaika – and offered to provide the Trump campaign with incriminating information on Clinton. Veselnitskaya said she asked Agalarov to help arrange the meeting with the Trump campaign. Both Veselnitskaya and Agalarov denied that the meeting was arranged at Chaika’s request. Agalarov also denied meeting with Chaika as described in Goldstone's email. (Wall Street Journal)
5/ Trump’s lawyers learned of Trump Jr.'s email chain more than three weeks ago. The White House has said Trump heard about the meeting "in the last couple of days" and hadn't see the emails until Trump Jr. released them. Trump's lawyer for the Russia investivation, Marc Kasowitz, and the chief legal officer for the Trump Organization, Alan Garten, were both informed about the emails in the third week of June, after they were discovered by lawyers for Kushner. (Yahoo)
6/ The White House is shaking up its legal team, bringing on board a veteran Washington criminal defense lawyer. Ty Cobb will join the White House staff as a special counsel to the president and will handle all legal and media-related issues relating to the Russia probe. Fun fact: The attorney is a relative of the baseball legend of same name. (Yahoo / Bloomberg)
7/ Kushner's lawyer dropped the Russia case and turned over all responsibilities to Kushner's other attorney, Abbe Lowell, a well-known Washington criminal defense lawyer. Jamie Gorelick will continue to represent Kushner on issues relating to ethics and his security clearance form. Gorelick was a partner at WilmerHale, where Bob Mueller was also a partner until becoming the special counsel. (Politico / National Law Journal)
8/ Homeland Security contradicted Trump's claim that Loretta Lynch let the Russian lawyer into the US. "DHS paroled Natalia Veselnitskaya into the U.S. in concurrence with the U.S. Attorney's Office, Southern District of New York, allowing her to participate in a client’s legal proceedings," the Department of Homeland Security said in a statement. In Paris, Trump said that "that her visa or her passport to come into the country was approved by Attorney General Lynch […] So, she was here because of Lynch." Almost immediately, a spokesperson for Lynch put out a statement insisting that she had no authority over whether or not the Russian lawyer was allowed to enter the country. (BuzzFeed News)
9/ A Hawaiian judge loosened Trump's travel ban, changing the definition of a "bona fide" relationship. The decision means that "grandparents, grandchildren, brothers-in-law, sisters-in-law, aunts, uncles, nieces, nephews, and cousins of persons in the United States" will now count as close family relationships and can gain entry into the country. (Wall Street Journal / CNN)
10/ Jeff Sessions said the Trump administration will appeal the latest travel ban ruling to the Supreme Court. Sessions said "the district court has improperly substituted its policy preferences for the national security judgments of the executive branch in a time of grave threats, defying both the lawful prerogatives of the executive branch and the directive of the Supreme Court." (Reuters / Politico / Associated Press)
11/ Trump's lawyer threatened a critic in a series of emails to "watch your back, bitch… I already know where you live." The email was in a response to a retired public relations professional sending Marc Kasowitz an email with the subject line: “Resign Now.’’ Kasowitz initially replied with "Fuck you," before sending series of angry messages. Kasowitz has since apologized, saying "the email [exchange] came at the end of a very long day." (ProPublica / Politico)
12/ Trump takes the upper hand in the Battle of the Handshakes with Macron, unleashing yet another awkward handshake that lasted for a 29-seconds. At one point, while still holding Macron's hand, Trump reached over to kiss Macron's wife, on her cheek and grabbed her hand as well, holding both Macron and his wife's hands at the same time. The never-ending handshake between Trump and the French president is par for the course between the two. In May, Macron out-Trump'd Trump in a "fierce" handshake that lasted six seconds. Yesterday, Trump greeted Brigitte Macron by tugging her hand around in the air. He later told the French first lady that she’s "in such good shape." (CNN)
poll/ 53% think Trump Jr.'s meeting with the Russian lawyer was inappropriate, while 22% thought it was appropriate and 25% were unsure. 47% of Republican respondents said the meeting was appropriate. (The Hill)
1/ Senate Republicans released their new Obamacare repeal bill. The new bill would maintain some Obamacare taxes on the wealthy, provide new financial support to help low-income people purchase health insurance, allow people to pay for insurance with pre-tax money, and spend $45 billion to fight opioid addiction. The plan also includes an amendment from Ted Cruz to win over conservatives aimed at building enough GOP support to open debate on the bill next week, but it's not clear if the votes will be there. The Cruz amendment would allow insurers offering Obamacare plans to also offer cheap, deregulated policies meant to appeal to conservatives. The change could drive away moderates who are concerned the amendment would cause premiums to spike for those with pre-existing conditions. The revised bill would provide an additional $70 billion in funds that states could use to make health care more affordable on top of the more than $100 billion already included. (Politico / CNN)
2/ At least three Senate Republicans will vote against the revised health bill. Susan Collins, Rand Paul, and Rob Portman all remain opposed. Collins said the deep cuts to Medicaid were standing in the way. “My strong intention and current inclination is to vote no on the motion to proceed,” Collins said. Mitch McConnell needs the support of 50 of his 52 members to pass the legislation. (Washington Post / Axios)
Still deep cuts to Medicaid in Senate bill. Will vote no on MTP. Ready to work w/ GOP & Dem colleagues to fix flaws in ACA.
— Sen. Susan Collins (@SenatorCollins) July 13, 2017
3/ Two Republican senators introduced an alternative health care plan moments before McConnell briefed senators on the revised bill to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act. The plan by Lindsey Graham and Bill Cassidy would keep most of Obamacare's federal taxes in place, but direct that money to the states to control. "We're going to support Mitch's effort with his new plan, but we want an alternative and we're going to see which one can get 50 votes," Graham said. "We're not undercutting Mitch, he's not undercutting us." (CNN / Politico)
4/ Senate Republicans exempt members of Congress and their staff from their latest health care plan. The exemption is similar to the loophole that existed in the House health bill, which the House voted to close. (Vox)
5/ Trump threatened to get "very angry" if Republicans fail to pass the health care bill. "I don't even want to talk about it because I think it would be very bad," Trump said in an interview with the Christian Broadcasting Network. “I am sitting in the Oval Office with a pen in hand, waiting for our senators to give it to me." (Washington Post / CNN)
6/ The DOJ issued a mostly blank security clearance form detailing Jeff Sessions’ contacts with the Russians. The form shows he denied having any contact with foreign governments or their representatives in the past seven years. The page, used to apply for a security clearance, was released in response to a Freedom of Information Act lawsuit. (NPR / The Atlantic)
— American Oversight (@weareoversight) July 13, 2017
Sessions gave a closed-door speech to a Christian religious freedom advocacy group known for its anti-gay stance. The "Summit on Religious Liberty" was hosted by the Alliance Defending Freedom, which is representing a Colorado baker who refused to make a wedding cake for a same-sex couple, claiming that to do so would violate his right to religious liberty under the Constitution. That case will be heard by the Supreme Court next term. (CNN)
7/ Trump, again, defended Trump Jr.'s meeting with a Russian attorney, saying that “zero” improprieties occurred in a meeting that “most people would have taken.” He added that “it’s called opposition research or even research into your opponent” as justification for the meeting with the "Russian government attorney." (Washington Post)
8/ The Senate judiciary committee asked Trump Jr. to testify. Chairman Chuck Grassley also said he wants former Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort to testify before the committee as early as next week. (CNN)
9/ Sarah Huckabee Sanders claimed the White House is "as transparent as humanly possible" in an off-camera briefing. “Every single day we do our very best to give you the most accurate information that we have,” Sanders said in response to a question about why so many members of the administration have not divulged meetings they had with Russian individuals. (Politico)
10/ A 2013 video shows Trump attending dinner with the associates tied to Trump Jr.'s email controversy. Trump dined with Aras Agalarov and Emin Agalarov, and their publicist Rob Goldstone. Aras Agalarov has ties to Putin. In the 2016, Goldstone claimed to have damaging information against Hillary Clinton and setup the meeting between Trump Jr., Paul Manafort, and Jared Kushner with the Russian lawyer. (CNN)
11/ Pence’s press secretary repeatedly refused to say if the VP had met with any Russians during the campaign. "Clear up a few things for us now. Did the vice president ever meet with representative from Russia?” Bill Hemmer, host of Fox News' America’s Newsroom. “The vice president is not focused on the areas where, you know, on this campaign, especially things that happened before he was even on the ticket. As he has said, that when he joined the campaign his entire focus was on talking to the American people, taking the case that President Trump was going to make to the American people,” Pence’s spokesman Marc Lotter replied. (HuffPost)
12/ Trump won't say whether he believed Putin's denial of Russian meddling in the election. He did say, however, that he’s willing to invite Russian president to the White House. (Bloomberg)
13/ Trump’s friend Jim may not exist. Throughout the campaign, Trump mentioned a friend named Jim while linking immigration policies in Europe to increased terrorist attacks, particularly those in France. Trump has never given his last name. The White House has not responded about who Jim is or whether he will be on Trump's trip to Paris. Jim allegedly claimed that "Paris is no longer Paris" and they he no longer visits because the city has been infiltrated by foreign extremists. (Associated Press / HuffPost / The New Yorker)
14/ Trump claimed he's "done more in five months than practically any president in history." He added that the current mood in the White House is "fantastic," despite recent pressure following allegations of Trump Jr.'s involvement with Russia during last year's election campaign. (CNBC)
15/ Kellyanne Conway used flash card props to explain the Russia controversy and how the White House views the scrutiny of Trump's associates' ties to Russia. "What's the conclusion? Collusion? No. We don't have that yet. I see illusion and delusion," Conway said. (CNN)
16/ Trump told the French first lady that she’s "in such good shape." He then turned to French President Emmanuel Macron to affirm the fact, saying "She’s in such good physical shape," before looking back at Brigitte Macron to say “Beautiful.” Earlier in the day, Trump and Brigitte Macron shared an “awkward handshake." (NBC News)
WATCH: President Trump tells the French first lady, "You're in such good shape" pic.twitter.com/UjiSIWWzoq
17/ The CBO refuted Trump’s claim that his plan will balance the federal budget in a decade. The CBO did say that Trump's budget proposal would reduce the federal deficit over a decade, but the estimated deficit reduction would be lower than the administration's because the White House projects higher economic growth. (CNBC)
poll/ 65% of people that disapprove of Trump's performance say it's because of his character and personality. 16% say they disapprove of his work based on his policies and stances on issues. In contrast, Americans who disapproved of Obama's job performance during his first year in office focused mainly on his policies and stances on issues. (Gallup)
1/ Investigators are examining if Trump's digital operation helped guide Russia's election meddling. The digital team was overseen by Jared Kushner. The House and Senate Intelligence committees and the Justice Department are focusing on whether Trump’s campaign pointed Russian cyber operatives to certain voting jurisdictions in states that supported Hillary Clinton. (McClatchy DC)
The White House is under siege by Trump Jr.’s Russia revelations. The president is enraged that the Russia cloud still hangs over his presidency and, now, over his family. (Washington Post)
2/ Jared Kushner’s lawyers discovered Trump Jr.’s emails while reviewing documents. The team amended Kushner's clearance forms to disclose it, but Kushner still faces potential trouble because he currently works in the White House and neglected to mention the encounter on the forms he filled out for a background check to obtain a security clearance. (New York Times)
3/ The White House won’t say whether Jared Kushner still has a security clearance after he omitted the interaction with the Russian lawyer on his application for a security clearance. He later included the meeting on a supplemental form. Sarah Huckabee Sanders dodged the question, saying the White House has “never discussed the security clearance” of a staff member. (Talking Points Memo / CNN)
4/ Trump's lawyer said the President didn't see the emails until Trump Jr. released them. Jay Sekulow also said Trump was not aware Trump Jr. was offered information about Clinton from Russia. "The President, by the way, never saw an email – did not see the email – until it was seen today," Sekulow said, referring to Trump Jr.'s tweets containing copies of the email chain. Trump said he did not fault his son for holding the meeting. "I think many people would have held that meeting," he added. (CNN / Reuters)
5/ Trump’s other lawyer, Marc Kasowitz, isn't seeking a security clearance. Several lawyers who have represented presidents and senior government officials said they could not imagine how Kasowitz could handle a case full of sensitive material without a clearance. Kasowitz is Trump's attorney in the Russia investigations. (ProPublica)
6/ Kasowitz wants to wall off Jared Kushner from discussing the Russia investigation with Trump. The goal is to protect Trump from special counsel Bob Mueller's investigation into Kushner's three meetings with the Russians. Kasowitz has "complained that Kushner has been whispering in the president's ear about the Russia investigations […] while keeping the lawyers out of the loop." (Axios / New York Times)
7/ US intelligence overheard Russian officials discussing Trump associates before the campaign began. Starting in the spring of 2015, intelligence agencies detected conversations where Russian government officials discussed meetings with Trump business associates and advisers. It's not clear which Trump associates or advisers the Russians were referring to, or whether they had any connection to his presidential aspirations. (Wall Street Journal)
8/ Trump tweets that he has "very little time for watching T.V.," saying his "W.H. is functioning perfectly, focused on HealthCare, Tax Cuts/Reform & many other things." (Politico)
The W.H. is functioning perfectly, focused on HealthCare, Tax Cuts/Reform & many other things. I have very little time for watching T.V.
9/ An Iowa Republican wants to use funding from food stamps and Planned Parenthood to pay for Trump's border wall. Representative Steve King said the government needs to "ratchet back down" the number of Americans on food stamps and that he'd "find half a billion" of the $1.6 billion needed for the wall "from right out of Planned Parenthood's budget." (CNN)
10/ The State Department spent more than $15,000 for rooms at the Trump hotel in Vancouver. The 19 rooms booked represent the first evidence of State Department expenditures at Trump-branded properties since he took office in January. (Washington Post)
1/ Trump Jr. was told – in an email – that the Russian government wanted to help the Trump campaign. The email was sent by Rob Goldstone, who brokered the June 2016 meeting with a Kremlin-connected lawyer – Natalia Veselnitskaya – that promised damaging information about Clinton as part of a Russian government effort to aid the Trump campaign. The meeting took place less than a week before thousands of DNC emails were released by hackers. Goldstone is a publicist who represents a Russian pop star, whose father – Aras Agalarov – helped bring Trump's 2013 Miss Universe pageant to Moscow. Agalarovis is also a close friend of Putin. (New York Times)
The Justice Department will look at Trump Jr.'s emails and meeting. Special Counsel Robert Mueller's investigators plan to examine the meeting and email exchanges disclosed by Trump Jr. as part of the broader Russian-meddling investigation. (CNN)
Senators respond to Trump Jr.'s emails. Lindsey Graham called them "disturbing" and "very problematic," while Tim Kaine suggested Trump Jr. may have committed treason. (CNN / The Hill)
Trump's deputy assistant shrugged the news off. Sebastian Gorka said that getting dirt "is what political campaigns do." (CNN)
Trump Jr. may have crossed the legal line on collusion, a white-collar lawyer who represented officials in the Clinton White House said. Jeffrey Jacobovitz said the emails are firm evidence that Trump Jr. had intent to commit a crime by conspiring with the Russians "to commit election fraud or conspiracy to obtain information from a foreign adversary,” he said. “You cannot benefit from a foreign adversary in this kind of scenario.” (Washington Post)
2/ The email sent to Trump Jr. said the documents “would incriminate Hillary" and "would be very useful to your father.” Within minutes, Trump Jr. replied: “If it’s what you say I love it especially later in the summer." Four days later, Goldstone wrote back proposing a meeting with a “Russian government attorney.” Trump Jr. agreed, saying he would bring “Paul Manafort (campaign boss)” and “my brother-in-law,” Jared Kushner, now one of the president’s closest White House advisers. (New York Times)
3/ Trump Jr. tweeted out the email chain used to setup the meeting with the Russian lawyer. “To everyone, in order to be totally transparent, I am releasing the entire email chain of my emails," he wrote. “I first wanted to just have a phone call but when that didn’t work out, they said the woman would be in New York and asked if I would meet. […] To put this in context, this occurred before the current Russian fever was in vogue." (Politico)
4/ The White House said Trump didn't know about his son's meeting with the Russian lawyer. Sarah Huckabee Sanders said Trump learned of the meeting "in the last couple of days," adding that Trump Jr. "did not collude with anybody to influence the election." Kellyanne Conway denied evidence of collusion, saying "everybody is trying to convert wishful thinking into hard evidence and haven't been able to do that." (CNN / Politico / ABC News)
Trump promised big news about Clinton’s crimes in his Republican nominee victory speech, which occurred four days after Goldstone's first contact with Trump Jr. and two days before the meeting at Trump Tower on June 9th. "I am going to give a major speech on probably Monday of next week and we're going to be discussing all of the things that have taken place with the Clintons." (Talking Points Memo / Time)
Ten times Trump denied collusion with Russia. We can count at least 10 times when President Trump has directly said there was no collusion between Russia and his 2016 campaign. (NBC News)
5/ Trump called Trump Jr. a "high-quality person" after emails about the Russian lawyer and meeting were released. Sarah Huckabee Sanders held an off-camera press briefing to address the emails, which offer the most direct link between Trump’s campaign and the Russian government during the 2016 presidential campaign. She stood by her statement that there was no collusion, declining to clarify how the situation described in Trump Jr.’s emails was not collusion. (Politico)
6/ The Russian lawyer denied having any connection to the Kremlin or damaging information on Clinton. Veselnitskaya said she met with Trump Jr. in 2016 to discuss sanctions between Russia and the US. “I never had any damaging or sensitive information about Hillary Clinton. It was never my intention to have that,” Veselnitskaya said. “It is quite possible that maybe they were longing for such an information. They wanted it so badly that they could only hear the thought that they wanted.” Trump Jr. has confirmed that the meeting occurred, saying the topic of conversation was primarily about adoption. (NBC News)
7/ The man connecting Trump Jr. to the Russian lawyer checked in for the meeting at Trump Tower on Facebook. A screenshot from Rob Goldstone's Facebook page suggests he was at Trump Tower the day of the meeting. The caption reads “preparing for meeting.” (Business Insider)
8/ Trump's election commission freezes its effort to gather voter data from states as legal challenges grow. The panel's designated officer, Andrew Kossack, asked state elections officers to "hold on submitting any data." The panel asked states for voter data, including birth dates and the last four digits of voters' Social Security numbers. Most US states have rejected full compliance, which many called unnecessary and a violation of privacy. (Reuters)
9/ Mitch McConnell delayed the Senate's August recess in order to "complete action on important legislative items." The move comes as McConnell aims to pass the GOP health care bill, which has been "stalled by a lack of cooperation from our friends across the aisle." Disagreements within the caucus center on a conservative proposal from Mike Lee and Ted Cruz, which would allow the sale of cheap insurance plans outside of Obamacare’s regulatory structure. The next revision of the bill could be unveiled to as soon as Thursday, with a Congressional Budget Office score likely to follow as soon as Monday. The Senate will remain at work through the week of August 7th. (Wall Street Journal / Washington Post / Politico)
10/ Trump's secret political appointees are trying to scale back government regulations. In February, Trump signed an executive order requiring federal agencies to form deregulation teams, many of which are staffed by political appointees with deep industry ties and potential conflicts of interest, such as reviewing rules their previous employers sought to weaken or kill. Most government agencies have declined to disclose information about their deregulation teams and what the appointees are working on. (ProPublica / New York Times)
11/ Twitter users blocked by Trump sued him and two White House aides, arguing that his account amounts to a public forum that he cannot bar people from as a government official. Sean Spicer previously said Trump's tweets are official statements. (New York Times)
12/ Trump's state visit to the UK has been delayed until next year, citing "a scheduling issue," an official said. "Finding a date that works for everyone turned out to be difficult. We're looking at next year." (Reuters)
13/ Steve Bannon and Jared Kushner recruited two war profiteers to devise alternative options in Afghanistan to counter the Pentagon’s plan to send thousands of additional troops. Erik Prince, founder of the private security firm Blackwater Worldwide, and Stephen Feinberg, a billionaire financier who owns the giant military contractor DynCorp International, developed a proposal that relied on contractors instead of American troops. Defense Secretary Jim Mattis declined to include the outside strategies in his review of Afghanistan policy that he is leading along with the national security adviser, H. R. McMaster. (New York Times)
14/ Jared Kushner sought a half-billion dollar investment from Qatar's former prime minister a few months before Trump encouraged the blockade. He didn't get it and now Qatar is facing an ongoing blockade led by Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, and joined by Egypt and Bahrain, which Trump has taken credit for sparking. Kushner reportedly played a key behind-the-scenes role in hardening the US posture toward the nation. (Bloomberg / The Intercept)
poll/ 58% of Republicans and Republican-leaning independents think colleges hurt the country. 72% of Democrats say colleges and universities have a positive effect on the country. Overall, 55% think colleges and universities help the US. (The Hill)
1/ Donald Trump Jr. met with a Kremlin-connected Russian lawyer to acquire damaging information about Hillary Clinton in June 2016 at Trump Tower in New York City. On Saturday, Trump Jr. said the meeting was about the issue of US adoptions of Russian children and not the campaign. However, in March, Trump Jr. said he never met with any Russians while working in a campaign capacity. The meeting – attended by Trump Jr., Paul Manafort, and Jared Kushner – was disclosed when Kushner filed a revised form in order to obtain a security clearance. Manafort also recently disclosed the meeting, and Trump Jr.’s role in organizing it, to congressional investigators looking into his foreign contacts. (New York Times / Washington Post)
Putting the Trump-Russia timeline into perspective. This timeline of what now know is circumstantial evidence itself of some kind of relationship that the Trump campaign had with Russian sources. (NBC News)
Schiff: House Intelligence Committee "will want to question" Trump Jr. The top Democrat on the House Intelligence Committee said he will want to question Donald Trump Jr. after news came out that the President’s son met with a Kremlin-linked lawyer last June. (Talking Points Memo)
2/ Trump Jr.'s meeting may have violated a federal law prohibiting the solicitation or acceptance of anything of value from a foreign national. Trump Jr. admitted that the meeting was an attempt to acquire damaging information on Hillary Clinton. Despite the meeting not bearing any “meaningful information” about Clinton, solicitation itself is the offense. (Vox / Politico)
3/ Trump Jr. tried to downplay his meeting while hiring a lawyer to represent him in the Russia probe. He tweeted that "obviously I'm the first person on a campaign to ever take a meeting to hear info about an opponent." He added that there was "no inconsistency" in his two statements, saying the meeting ended up being primarily about adoptions. Trump Jr. hired Alan Futerfas, a criminal defense attorney that's represented organized crime and cybercrime cases. (ABC News / Reuters / BuzzFeed News)
Obviously I'm the first person on a campaign to ever take a meeting to hear info about an opponent... went nowhere but had to listen. https://t.co/ccUjL1KDEa
No inconsistency in statements, meeting ended up being primarily about adoptions. In response to further Q's I simply provided more details. https://t.co/FdT1D4hfhz
Schumer: Trump Jr. should testify before Senate Intel. "This revelation should be the end of the idea pushed by the administration and the president that there is absolutely no evidence of an intent by the Trump campaign to coordinate or collude. It is certainly not proof positive … but these reports in the press at least demand further investigation," Schumer said from the Senate floor on Monday. (The Hill)
4/ The Kremlin denied knowing about Trump Jr.'s meeting with a Russian lawyer. A Putin spokesman said the Kremlin doesn't know the lawyer, adding that they “cannot keep track of every Russian lawyer and their meetings domestically or abroad.” (Washington Post)
5/ Trump backtracked on his push for a US-Russia cybersecurity unit, saying it cannot happen. On Sunday, Trump tweeted that he and Putin "discussed forming an impenetrable Cyber Security unit so that election hacking […] will be guarded." Just 12 hours later, Trump returned to Twitter to clarify his remarks, saying just because they discussed it "doesn't mean I think it can happen. It can't." (Politico / CNBC)
Putin & I discussed forming an impenetrable Cyber Security unit so that election hacking, & many other negative things, will be guarded..
6/ Trump accused Comey of illegally leaking classified information. After Trump warned James Comey against leaking to the press, suggesting there are "tapes" of their private conversations, Comey asked a friend to leak his memos to the media which were an unclassified, a personal "recollection" of his interactions with Trump. There were seven memos by Comey after his nine conversations with Trump. Four were allegedly marked as “secret” or “confidential." (Washington Post / The Hill)
James Comey leaked CLASSIFIED INFORMATION to the media. That is so illegal!
7/ Comey's confidant refuted Trump's claim he shared classified information with journalists. Daniel Richman, the Columbia University Law School professor with whom Comey shared at least one memo, said Trump was wrong and that "no memo was given to me that was marked 'classified.'" Richman said the "substance of the memo passed on to the Times was not marked classified and to my knowledge remains unclassified." During Senate testimony in June, Comey said he specifically wrote his memos to avoid including classified information. (CNN)
8/ Republicans grow pessimistic about their health care bill as Trump tweets that Congress wouldn't "dare" leave for summer recess without its "beautiful" health care bill. John McCain said the bill is "probably going to be dead." GOP leaders are debating a proposal from Ted Cruz that many have called a non-starter. Shelly Moore Capito has threatened to kill the legislation if the vote comes down to her. (The Hill / Reuters / Politico)
I cannot imagine that Congress would dare to leave Washington without a beautiful new HealthCare bill fully approved and ready to go!
9/ Paul Ryan will no longer hold public town halls because he doesn't "want to have a situation where we just have a screaming fest, a shouting fest, where people are being bused in from out of the district to get on TV because they're yelling at somebody." (CBS News)
10/ Trump defended Ivanka's seat-holding at the G20, saying "If Chelsea Clinton were asked to hold the seat for her mother, as her mother gave our country away, the Fake News would say CHELSEA FOR PRES!" Clinton responded on Twitter: "Good morning Mr. President. It would never have occurred to my mother or my father to ask me." Ivanka sat in for Trump when he stepped away for a one-on-one discussion with other leaders. Ivanka serves as an unpaid adviser to Trump as the assistant to the president with an office in the West Wing, blurring the lines between family and official business. (CNN / Bloomberg)
When I left Conference Room for short meetings with Japan and other countries, I asked Ivanka to hold seat. Very standard. Angela M agrees!
Good morning Mr. President. It would never have occurred to my mother or my father to ask me. Were you giving our country away? Hoping not. https://t.co/4ODjWZUp0c
11/ Putin said Trump was "satisfied" with his denial of election meddling. Putin told Trump that Russia was not behind the hacking of emails belonging to rival Hillary Clinton's campaign. Trump called it "a tremendous meeting" with Putin. (USA Today / Reuters)
12/ Mike Pence touched NASA equipment marked "DO NOT TOUCH" because Marco Rubio dared him. Rubio responded on Twitter, joking that he warned Pence not to break the equipment: "you break it, you own it." (Time)
1/ Trump tells Putin “it’s an honor to be with you" during their first face-to-face talk. “I’m delighted to meet you,” Putin replied. Their closed-door session lasted more than two hours, far longer than the expected 45 minutes. Six people attended the meeting: Trump, Rex Tillerson, Putin, Sergey V. Lavrov, and two interpreters. (New York Times)
2/ Putin denied election hacking after Trump "pressed" him. The two had a "robust" conversation about the allegations that Russia tried to interfere in the election, discussing a "commitment that the Russian government has no intention" of interfering in future elections. The Russians have asked the US for proof of their interference in the election. Tillerson said the meeting did not focus on punishing Russia for hacking and leaking information that helped Trump win the election. Instead, Tillerson said the two focused on “how do we move forward." (Washington Post / Associated Press / CNN)
3/ Trump tweets: "Everyone" at the G-20 summit is talking about why John Podesta wouldn't give the DNC server to the FBI and CIA. Podesta did not run the Democratic National Committee, he chaired Clinton's presidential campaign. Podesta fired back at Trump with tweets of his own, telling him to “Get a grip man, the Russians committed a crime when they stole my emails to help get you elected President. Maybe you might try to find a way to mention that to President Putin.” He added: "I had nothing to do with the DNC… Dude, get your head in the game. You’re representing the US at the G20.” A DNC spokeswoman tweeted that "1) Podesta never ran the DNC. 2) DNC worked with FBI to kick out Russians. Worked with DHS. 3) Putin make you tweet this before mtg?" (Politico / The Daily Beast / Associated Press)
Everyone here is talking about why John Podesta refused to give the DNC server to the FBI and the CIA. Disgraceful!
4/ Russian spies have stepped up their intelligence-gathering efforts, emboldened by the lack of retaliatory response from both Trump and Obama. It's believed the Russians now have nearly 150 suspected intelligence operatives in the US. (CNN)
5/ Hackers have been targeting nuclear power plants in the US since May, according to a joint report issued by the Department of Homeland Security and the FBI. The report did not indicate whether the attacks were an attempt at espionage or part of a plan to cause destruction. (New York Times)
6/ The US and Russia reached a cease-fire deal in Syria, set to take effect Sunday at noon Damascus time. The agreement is part of broader discussions on trying to lower violence in the country. (Associated Press / Wall Street Journal)
7/ ICE officers were told to take action against all undocumented immigrants they encounter while on duty, regardless of their criminal histories. The Trump administration and Homeland Security Secretary John Kelly had promised to ramp up enforcement of immigrants who pose a public safety threat. The new guidance goes beyond that promise. (ProPublica)
8/ A judge denied Hawaii's motion to limit the scope of Trump's travel ban. Hawaii argued that the travel ban wrongly excluded grandparents and relatives from the list of close family members who would be able to get visas to travel to the US. The motion was denied, saying the Supreme Court is the proper venue to deal with the issue. (NBC News)
9/ Trump still wants Mexico to "absolutely" pay for his border wall after meeting with Enrique Peña Nieto, Mexico's president. Nieto has insisted that Mexico will not pay for the border wall while Trump has floated alternative ideas, such as paying for the wall with solar panels. (Politico)
10/ Mitch McConnell: Republicans will be forced to compromise with Democrats to shore up Obamacare if he can't find 50 votes for the GOP health care bill. It's first time McConnell has raised the prospect of drafting a more modest bill with Democratic support. (Washington Post)
11/ Ted Cruz aligned himself with Trump, calling for a "clean repeal" of the ACA if the Senate bill falls apart. He said the Senate should vote on a narrower bill to simply repeal the law and work on a replacement later. (Washington Post)
12/ Republican lawmakers are buying health insurance stocks as they attempt to repeal Obamacare. Representative Mike Conaway and Senator James Inhofe have added health insurance companies to their portfolios worth as much as $30,000 and $100,000, respectively. (The Intercept)
poll/ 28.2% support the GOP health care bill – the most unpopular legislation in three decades. It's less popular than the Affordable Care Act when it was passed, the 2008 bank bailout bill, and Bill Clinton's failed health reform effort in the 1990s. (Axios)
1/ Trump downplayed Russian election meddling, saying it "could be Russia" but "nobody really knows for sure." He added that it "could’ve been other people and other countries," casting doubt on the conclusion of 17 US intelligence agencies and likening it to the incorrect assessment that Iraq had weapons of mass destruction. He blamed Obama for not doing anything to stop the meddling. (Bloomberg / CNN / The Daily Beast)
2/ Trump to Russia: stop “destabilizing activities” and end support for “hostile regimes,” like Iran and Syria. The remark came during his speech in Poland the day before he meets with Putin for the first time. (New York Times / NBC News)
3/ Democrats are urging Trump to confront Putin, calling it a "severe dereliction of duty" not to do so. Five Senate Democrats, including Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, sent a letter to Trump telling him to "set the agenda from the start” with Putin “and make absolutely clear that Russian interference in our democracy will in no way be tolerated." (NBC News / Politico)
4/ Trump reaffirmed NATO's mutual defense clause, after failing to do so on his first Europe trip. He then called on allies to honored the agreement to contribute at least 2% of their GDP to their own defense. (CNBC / Washington Post)
5/ Trump asks "whether the West has the will to survive," saying military spending alone is not enough. He told the bused-in, friendly Polish crowd that “radical Islamic terrorism” has threatened “our civilization and our way of life," adding that "the fundamental question of our time" is whether "we have the confidence in our values to defend them at any cost? Do we have enough respect for our citizens to protect our borders? Do we have the desire and the courage to preserve our civilization in the face of those who would subvert and destroy it?” (New York Times)
6/ Meanwhile, the Trump Organization renewed its Russia-related domain names. TrumpRussia.com and TrumpTowerMoscow.com are just two of more than 1,000 domain names renewed by the organization, which has said it will not pursue any new foreign business deals while Trump is in the White House. (Politico)
7/ Trump vs North Korea: They're "behaving in a very, very dangerous manner." Trump said he could respond to the North's missile test with "some pretty severe things," declining to elaborate. (CNN)
8/ The voter fraud commission may have violated the law, by ignoring federal requirements governing requests for information from states. The failure is potentially significant, since states could argue it means they are under no obligation to respond. (The Hill)
9/ Steve Bannon's ally on the National Security Council has been reassigned. The move enables National Security Adviser H.R. McMaster to consolidate power by placing another staffer of his choosing on the council. (BuzzFeed News)
10/ Top White House aides have hired public relation staffs to support their own agendas instead of using the traditional White House policy and messaging operation. Kellyanne Conway, Steve Bannon, and Jared Kushner all have chiefs of staff, assistants, and PR people working for them in an effort to build up their own brands and policy portfolios. (Politico)
11/ 18 states are suing Betsy DeVos for delaying student loan regulations meant to protect borrowers from being defrauded by predatory schools. The regulations were finalized by the Obama administration and were set to take effect on July 1, but DeVos has delayed the implementation of the rules. (Politico)
12/ White House advisers have discussed using CNN as "leverage" in the AT&T-Time Warner merger. Time Warner is CNN's parent company. Trump’s Justice Department will decide whether to approve the merger. (New York Times)
13/ The government's ethics director resigns, saying rules need to be tougher. Walter Shaub Jr.'s resignation follows months of clashes with the White House over Trump's refusal to divest his businesses and the administration's delay in disclosing ethics waivers for appointees. He was the government’s top ethics watchdog. (New York Times / Washington Post / NPR)
poll/ A majority of Americans believe Trump has done something either illegal or unethical when it comes to Russia. 54% believe he has done something illegal or unethical, with 25% saying he has done something illegal and another 29% thinking he has done something unethical although not necessarily illegal. (NPR)
1/ North Korea successfully fired an intercontinental ballistic missile. The test-launch came early Tuesday morning with the ICBM taking a steep trajectory to avoid flying over neighboring countries. The North’s state-run news agency said the missile was capable of hitting the “heart of the United States” with “large heavy nuclear warheads.” Experts don't believe the North can make a nuclear warhead small enough to be mounted on ICBMs, yet. If fired at a conventional trajectory, the missile was capable of flying for about 4,160 miles – not enough to reach the lower 48 states or the large islands of Hawaii, but within range of Alaska. American lawmakers have long seen the development of an ICBM as a critical threshold that North Korea shouldn't be allowed to cross. (Wall Street Journal / New York Times)
What can Trump do about North Korea? His options are few and risky. (New York Times)
2/ Trump tweets his reaction to North Korea's missile test: "Does this guy have anything better to do with his life?" He added that it's "hard to believe that South Korea and Japan will put up with this much longer. Perhaps China will put a heavy move on North Korea and end this nonsense once and for all!" (CNN)
North Korea has just launched another missile. Does this guy have anything better to do with his life? Hard to believe that South Korea.....
3/ The US tells North Korea it's prepared to go to war if provoked. Rex Tillerson described the missile test as an escalation of the threat to the US and that the US "will never accept a nuclear-armed North Korea." The US and South Korea then conducted a live-fire drill, launching tactical surface-to-surface missiles off the east coast of Korea. "Global action is required to stop a global threat," Tillerson said, adding that any country helping North Korea "is aiding and abetting a dangerous regime." (CNN / Wall Street Journal)
4/ At least 44 states and DC have refused to comply with Trump's election integrity commission. In response, Trump tweeted that states are "trying to hide" things from his commission, which is seeking voter's full names, addresses, dates of birth, political parties, the last four digits of their social security numbers, voting history since 2006, military status, whether they lived overseas, and more. Kansas Secretary of State Kris Kobach, who leads Trump's Commission on Election Integrity, sent a letter to all 50 states last week requesting the voter data, which will eventually be made available to the public. (CNN / Washington Post)
Numerous states are refusing to give information to the very distinguished VOTER FRAUD PANEL. What are they trying to hide?
Trump’s voting commission asked states to hand over election data. Some are pushing back. (Washington Post)
5/ A federal court blocked the EPA's effort to suspend an Obama restriction on methane emissions from new oil and gas wells. The court concluded that the EPA could reconsider a 2016 rule limiting methane and smog-forming pollutants emitted by oil and gas wells, but couldn't delay the effective date while it rewrites the regulation. The EPA had proposed extending the initial delay to two years. (New York Times / Washington Post)
Scott Pruitt has moved to undo, delay or otherwise block more than 30 environmental rules, a regulatory rollback larger in scope than any other over so short a time in the agency’s 47-year history. (New York Times)
6/ Investigators are exploring if Russia colluded with far-right, pro-Trump sites during the election in order to spread bogus stories aimed at discrediting Hillary Clinton. The top Democrat on the Senate intelligence committee said that at least 1,000 “paid internet trolls working out of a facility in Russia” were pumping anti-Clinton fake news into social media sites during the campaign. The head of Trump's digital team, Brad Parscale, has been asked to appear before the House intelligence committee. (The Guardian)
7/ Trump flew to Europe today, stopping in Poland where the government bused-in thousands to ensure a friendly, cheering crowd for his speech. In contrast, the G20 summit in Hamburg, Germany is expecting up to 100,000 protesters. In London, mass demonstrations are expected when Trump makes his long-awaited state visit to the UK. (BBC / Associated Press)
8/ Trump's top aides are worried he'll get "boxed in" when he meets with Putin this week. After months of controversy involving Russia, foreign policy experts are starting to think Trump's actions have made it impossible to improve relations with Russia. Trump will meet with Putin on the sidelines of the G20 summit in Hamburg on Friday. (New York Times / Washington Post)
9/ The US denied visas for Afghanistan's all-girl robotics team. The six teenage Afghan inventors made a 500 mile trek to the American embassy in Kabul to interview for one-week travel visas so they could escort their robot to the inaugural FIRST Global Challenge. Teams from Iraq, Iran, and Sudan were all able to secure travel visas. Only team Afghanistan and team Gambia have been denied visas so far. (Forbes)
10/ Trump tweets a WrestleMania video of himself body-slamming CNN; calls it "MODERN DAY PRESIDENTIAL." The modified video from 2007 shows Trump attacking and subduing a figure whose face is obscured by a CNN logo. (The Hill)
My use of social media is not Presidential - it’s MODERN DAY PRESIDENTIAL. Make America Great Again!
Twitter says Trump's tweets don't violate its rules. Twitter said it considers three factors: the political context of the conversation surrounding the tweet, the various ways it could be interpreted and the lack of details in the tweet itself. (CNN)
11/ Trump used his Saturday night speech to continue his attack on the news media. “The fake media is trying to silence us," Trump said. "But we will not let them. Because the people know the truth. The fake media tried to stop us from going to the White House. But I’m president and they’re not.” (New York Times)
12/ NPR tweeted the Declaration of Independence. Trump supporters called it "propaganda." In 113 consecutive posts, NPR tweeted out the Declaration of Independence. Twitter users reacted angrily to the thread, accusing NPR of spamming them and trying to push an agenda. (BuzzFeed News / Washington Post)
poll/ 89% of Republicans view Trump as more trustworthy than CNN while 91% of Democrats think the opposite. Among all adults, trust for CNN is 7 points ahead of Trump. (Axios)
1/ Trump’s voter-fraud commission asked all 50 states to turn over their full voter roll data for every voter in the US. The request includes a person's voting history, party affiliation, name, address, date of birth, last four of their Social Security number, and their voting history dating back to 2006. Trump created the commission to investigate the alleged 3 million to 5 million undocumented immigrants he claimed voted illegally in the 2016 election. There is no evidence this happened. The commission is chaired by Kris Kobach, the Kansas secretary of state and a voter-fraud hardliner. (Washington Post)
Presidential commission demands massive amounts of state voter data. A commission created by President Donald Trump to enhance confidence in America’s elections has asked all 50 states for copies of their voter records which often include names, addresses and ages. The commission has said it intends to make the information widely available. (ProPublica)
2/ At least 24 states are refusing to turn over voter data to Trump's election panel. "At best this commission was set up as a pretext to validate Donald Trump’s alternative election facts, and at worst is a tool to commit large-scale voter suppression,” Virginia Governor Terry McAuliffe said in a statement. (The Hill)
24 states won't provide voter data to Kobach: AZ, CA, CT, IN, KY, MA, MN, MS, NC, NM, ND, NV, NY, OH, OK, PA, RI, SD, TN, UT, VA, VT, WA, WI
3/ Trump wants to "immediately" repeal Obamacare if the Senate health care bill fails. Trump tweeted that "If Republican Senators are unable to pass what they are working on now, they should immediately REPEAL, and then REPLACE at a later date!" Trump's tweet came minutes after Senator Ben Sasse said on Fox News: "We need repeal. We need replace. Trying to do them together hasn’t seemed to work." McConnell declined to comment on Trump's suggestion. (Axios / Politico / ABC News)
If Republican Senators are unable to pass what they are working on now, they should immediately REPEAL, and then REPLACE at a later date!
4/ Repealing Obamacare now would cause 18 million Americans to lose health coverage in the first year, which would reach 26 million a few years later. About 20 million people are covered now under the Obamacare markets or the law's Medicaid expansion. One GOP aide said the chances of repealing first and then replacing are "zero." Another added that it is "not going to happen." (Politico / Axios)
Senate health bill could hit employer-sponsored plans. A
little-noticed provisions could cut four million people from employer coverage and boost out-of-pocket costs. (Wall Street Journal)
5/ A GOP opposition researcher sought Clinton's emails while claiming to represent Michael Flynn. Peter W. Smith considered Flynn an ally in his effort to contact hackers hoping to find the 33,000 personal emails deleted by Clinton. “He said, ‘I’m talking to Michael Flynn about this – if you find anything, can you let me know?’” said a computer security expert who searched hacker forums on Smith’s behalf. Smith, who died on May 14, supported Flynn’s efforts to establish relations with Russian officials. (Wall Street Journal)
6/ "Morning Joe" hosts suggest Trump tried to blackmail them with a National Enquirer hit-piece. On Friday's show, Joe Scarborough recounted a story where "three people at the very top of the administration" called and texted him to say the National Enquirer was going to run a negative story about him and Mika Brzezinski. "If you call the president up, and you apologize for your coverage," the officials said, "then [Trump] will pick up the phone and basically spike this story." In a Washington Post op-ed by Scarborough and Brzezinski today, the couple said that during the campaign, Trump called Mika “neurotic” and promised to personally attack them after the campaign ended. Trump is friends with David Pecker, the publisher of the National Enquirer. (CNN / Washington Post)
Watched low rated @Morning_Joe for first time in long time. FAKE NEWS. He called me to stop a National Enquirer article. I said no! Bad show
7/ Republicans and cable news talk shows denounced Trump's attack on Brzezinski, accusing him of demeaning women and his office. Republican lawmakers, from Paul Ryan to Lindsey Graham, reacted by making public pleas for Trump to stop the personal attacks. (CNN / Washington Post)
Please just stop. This isn't normal and it's beneath the dignity of your office.
8/ Kellyanne Conway said the media's coverage of Trump is "neither productive nor patriotic" and supports Trump’s use of social media to attack his opponents. “I like the fact that the president uses social media platforms to connect directly with Americans and in this case," Conway said. "What [White House spokeswoman] Sarah Sanders said yesterday is true, that the president normally does not draw first blood. He is a counterpuncher as he said on the campaign trail." (Politico)
9/ Trump appoints an anti-transgender activist to the office of Gender Equality and Women's Empowerment. In 2016, Bethany Kozma campaigned to oppose the Obama's guidance to public schools that transgender students have the right to use bathrooms matching their gender identity, repeating an unsubstantiated assertion the policy leads to sexual assault. (BuzzFeed News)
10/ The White House council for women and girls has been silently disbanded while the administration evaluates whether to keep the office. Obama’s White House Council on Women and Girls was created in 2009 to monitor the impact of policy changes and liaise with women's groups. (Politico)
11/ Scott Pruitt is launching an initiative to "critique" climate science at the EPA. Pruitt's stated that he believes the climate is changing and humans have some role, but is skeptical that greenhouse gases are the primary cause of climate change, despite overwhelming scientific consensus. (Climatewire / The Hill)
12/ The House intelligence committee to interview another former Trump adviser in its Russia probe. Michael Caputo, a former Trump campaign communications adviser, has agreed to come before the committee next month. Caputo once worked in Moscow and has connections to Russia. He has denied any collusion with Russian officials. (CNN)
13/ A Russian-funded radio station replaced a bluegrass station in DC. 105.5 FM now broadcasts Sputnik, a “global wire, radio and digital news service" funded by the Russian government. (DCist)
14/ NASA denied that it's running a child slave colony on Mars. An Alex Jones guest alleged the space agency had kidnapped children and sent them on a two-decade mission to space… (The Daily Beast)
1/ Trump assailed television host Mika Brzezinski on Twitter for "bleeding badly from a face-lift." Trump targeted both Brzezinski and Joe Scarborough in a pair of morning tweets, referring to Brzezinski as "low I.Q. Crazy Mika" and Scarborough as "Psycho Joe." He then opined on the physical appearance of Brzezinski, saying he declined meeting with the pair at Mar-a-Lago during the winter because "she was bleeding badly from a face-lift." Brzezinski responded in a tweet of her own, mocking Trump's "little hands." Brzezinski and her fiancé Scarborough are co-hosts of the MSNBC show “Morning Joe." About two hours before his tweets, Brzezinski said on the show that “it’s not normal behavior” for any leader to tweet about a person's appearances, bully, lie, undermine managers, or throw people under the bus. (CNN / New York Times / The Daily Beast / Associated Press)
I heard poorly rated @Morning_Joe speaks badly of me (don't watch anymore). Then how come low I.Q. Crazy Mika, along with Psycho Joe, came..
Trump knocked CNN and Nancy Pelosi at his first re-election fundraiser, hosted at the Trump International Hotel in Washington, D.C. He derided CNN for errors and presented himself as a victim of its reporting, which he said was deeply unfair. (Politico)
The White House defended Trump’s tweets about Brzezinski. (Think Progress)
2/ The White House offered an unapologetic defense of Trump's tweets. Sarah Huckabee Sanders responded to questions by reporters about Trump’s inflammatory tweets, saying “The only person I see a war on is this president and everybody that works for him. I don’t think you can expect someone to be personally attacked, day after day, minute by minute, and sit back. The American people elected a fighter.” (The Hill)
3/ Paul Ryan called Trump's tweet attacking Brzezinski inappropriate. “I don’t see that as an appropriate comment,” Ryan said at a press conference. (Politico)
4/ Rex Tillerson ripped a White House aide for sinking his nominees, questioning his judgment, and leaking to the press. A frustrated Tillerson ripped into Johnny DeStefano, head of the presidential personnel office, in front of Reince Priebus, Jared Kushner and others, saying he did not want DeStefano’s office to “have any role in staffing” and “expressed frustration that anybody would know better” than him about who should work in his department. Kushner called the outburst unprofessional. (Politico)
5/ Trump's travel ban takes effect at 8PM ET today. Visa applicants from the six countries — and all refugees — will be required to show close family or business ties to the US. Grandparents, grandchildren, aunts, uncles, nieces, nephews, cousins, brothers-in-law and sisters-in-law, fiancees or other extended family members are not considered to be "close relations." (Washington Post / New York Times)
US tightens aviation security to avoid broader laptop ban. (CNN / Washington Post)
6/ New CBO analysis: The Senate health bill would reduce Medicaid spending by 35% by 2036 compared to the current law. By 2026, Medicaid spending would be cut by 26%. (Washington Post)
7/ Putin will meet with Trump on the sidelines of the G20 summit next week in Hamburg. Trump asked White House aides to come up with possible concessions to offer as bargaining chips for the meeting. No other meetings are planned between the two. (Reuters / The Guardian)
8/ The House Intelligence Committee wants to talk to Trump’s longtime bodyguard-turned-White House aide as part of their investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 presidential campaign. Keith Schiller is the former head of security for the Trump Organization and now serves as the White House director of Oval Office operations. He's been at Trump’s side for nearly 20 years. (ABC News)
9/ Pence is replacing his chief of staff with Nick Ayers, one of the leaders of America First Policies, which ran retaliatory ads against a Republican Senator who opposed the Obamacare repeal plan. (New York Times)
poll/ 42% of Americans feel "alarmed" about how things are going in Washington. 33% feel "uneasy" while just 11% are "excited." (USA Today)
1/ Trump and the White House intensify their war on the media. It started with Trump tweeting about a "failing" New York Times story suggesting he was detached from the effort to overhaul the health care bill. He called the story false and said the Times didn't call for a comment. The Times responded saying they did call – as they always do. (CNN)
The failing @nytimes writes false story after false story about me. They don't even call to verify the facts of a story. A Fake News Joke!
2/ Later, Trump tweeted that the "FAKE NEWS" Washington Post is the "guardian of Amazon" for taxes purposes. Amazon doesn’t own the newspaper. It's privately owned by Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos. There is no federal “internet tax.” Fake news. (Politico / Recode)
The #AmazonWashingtonPost, sometimes referred to as the guardian of Amazon not paying internet taxes (which they should) is FAKE NEWS!
3/ Mitch McConnell wants to send a revised version of the health care bill to the CBO by Friday, in an effort to hold a vote before the August recess. Trump teased that “a big surprise” could be coming in the effort to repeal and replace Obamacare, suggesting that Senate Republicans are “going to get at least very close” to passing their health care bill. It's unclear if Trump even knows what's in the Senate bill. When asked by reporters if Trump understood the details, McConnell ignored the question and smiled. (Washington Post / Politico / New York Times)
4/ An estimated 208,500 additional deaths could occur by 2026 under the Senate health plan, based on the study of the effects of health care reform in Massachusetts on mortality. The authors found that for every 830 individuals insured, one life was saved. 14 million Americans could lose their health insurance in 2018 and 22 million by 2026, the CBO projects. Using state-level coverage losses and the findings of the study, it's estimated that 22,900 excess deaths would occur in 2020 and grow to 26,500 extra deaths by 2026. [Editor's Note: there's some obvious nuance here and it's recommended you read the entire article to fully grasp the potential impact of the health care bill on mortality] (Vox)
5/ Trump's advisers are struggling to convince him that Russia still poses a threat. There is no paper trail – schedules, readouts or briefing documents – to indicate Trump has dedicated time to the issue. He has, however, continued to tweet about Obama failing to stop Russian meddling in the election. Trump has repeatedly blamed the Democratic National Committee, China, and "someone sitting on their bed that weighs 400 pounds" for election-related cyberattacks. (CNN)
Just out: The Obama Administration knew far in advance of November 8th about election meddling by Russia. Did nothing about it. WHY?
6/ Trump’s lawyer postponed filing a complaint about Comey and his memos in what Trump considered to be an illegal “leak." Marc Kasowitz, however, still intends to file the complaint with the Justice Department. He has delayed it as a courtesy to Robert Mueller and his investigation, which Trump has repeatedly called a "witch hunt." Trump has also refrained from publicly criticizing the special counsel lately as part of his legal team’s approach to reducing further confrontation. (Bloomberg)
7/ Paul Manafort's consulting firm received more than $17 million from a pro-Russian Ukrainian political party. In Manafort's retroactive registration as a foreign agent, he indicated that he was retained by the Party of Regions to advise Ukrainian officials in their dealings with American government officials. The report makes Manafort the second former senior Trump adviser to disclose work for foreign interests. Michael Flynn was the other. (New York Times / Bloomberg / Washington Post)
8/ Trump tapped the lawyer that helped draft the Patriot Act for the top State Department role. If confirmed, Jennifer Newstead would serve as the State Department’s top legal adviser, overseeing issues involving foreign policy and security, as well as playing a key role in justifying the use of military force, how to apply the laws of war to cyber attacks, determining what represents a military coup, and more. The Patriot Act was amended in 2015 after years of criticism from civil liberties groups that it violated Americans’ privacy. (BuzzFeed News)
9/ The FBI interviewed at least a dozen employees of a Russia-based cyber-security company, gathering facts about how Kaspersky Lab works, including to what extent the US operations report to Moscow. Kaspersky has long been of interest to the US government, whose founder graduated from the KGB-backed Institute of Cryptography, Telecommunications, and Computer Science. Kaspersky Lab paid former national security adviser Michael Flynn $11,250 in 2015 for cyber security consulting. (NBC News)
10/ The computer system of at least one US nuclear plant was hacked. There is no evidence that any sensitive or operational systems were breached. Authorities have not said who may be responsible, but agencies are looking at the possibility that another country may be behind the hack. (ABC News)
11/ Fox News hired Jason Chaffetz to provide political analysis. In May, Chaffetz announced that he he would resign from Congress to pursue other opportunities. His congressional job ends Friday and will start his role at Fox on July 1. (The Daily Beast / The Hill)
poll/ 17% of Americans approve of the Senate's health care plan, according to a NPR/PBS NewsHour/Marist poll. 55% disapprove. (NPR)
poll/ 16% of American voters support the Republican health care plan, according to a Quinnipiac University national poll. 58% disapprove. (Quinnipiac University)
poll/ 12% of Americans support the Senate Republican health care plan, a USA TODAY/Suffolk University Poll finds. 53% say Congress should either leave Obamacare alone or fix its problems while keeping the framework intact. (USA Today)
1/ Mitch McConnell delayed the Republican health care vote until after the July 4th recess as they search for the 50 votes needed to start debate on the bill. McConnell told GOP senators that he wants to make changes to the bill, get a new Congressional Budget Office score, and have a vote after the holiday. Meanwhile, Trump has invited all Senate Republicans to the White House to discuss the health care bill. The senators-only meeting is scheduled for 4PM EST at the White House. (Politico / CNN)
2/ The Senate health care bill is "hanging by a thread" as Republicans struggle to find the votes needed. At least six Republican senators are currently opposed to the bill: Rand Paul, Ted Cruz, Mike Lee, Ron Johnson, Dean Heller, and Susan Collins. Republicans can only lose two votes from their own party and still pass the bill. It's been Pence's team – not Trump – that has played the prominent role in trying to whip up votes this week. Stephen Bannon and Reince Priebus have been all but sidelined. (New York Times / CNN / NBC News)
The CBO estimates that 22 million more people would be uninsured under the Senate bill, leaving Mitch McConnell with less than the 50 votes he'd need for a procedural motion to bring his health care bill to the floor. (Axios)
The equivalent of 16 states' populations could lose insurance under the Senate health care bill. 22 million people is equal to the total population of 16 US states. (Washington Post)
3/ McConnell: If Obamacare repeal fails, Republicans will be forced to compromise with Democrats. Failure to repeal the health care law would mean the GOP would lose its opportunity to do a partisan rewrite and have to enter into bipartisan negotiations with Democrats to save the failing insurance markets. Democrats will want to retain as much of Obamacare as possible. (Politico)
After the CBO score, Republicans can divvy up nearly $200 billion to secure votes for the health care bill. It's "all about side deals" one Senate aide said. (Politico)
4/ The White House warned Syria that it would “pay a heavy price” if it carried out another chemical attack. The Pentagon said it detected “active preparations” similar to those that occurred before the chemical attack in April. Several military officials were caught off guard by the White House statement. (Associated Press / Washington Post / New York Times)
5/ Trump's lawyer directed millions in nonprofit donations to family members. Since 2000, Jay Sekulow has steered more than $60 million to his family and their businesses after pushing poor and jobless people to donate money – a “sacrificial gift" – to his Christian nonprofit. The nonprofit has raised tens of millions of dollars a year, mostly in small amounts from Christians who receive direct appeals for money from telemarketers. (The Guardian)
6/ At least 10 Trump aides have hired lawyers for the Russia probe, or are planning to do so. Inside the White House, Trump, Pence, and Kushner have hired private attorneys, as have former campaign advisers Michael Caputo, Boris Epshteyn, and Roger Stone, among others. (Wall Street Journal)
Jared Kushner has hired Abbe Lowell, a leading criminal defense lawyer. Kushner has also kept his current lawyer, Jamie Gorelick, who was a partner at WilmerHale, where Bob Mueller was a partner until becoming the special counsel. (New York Times / Politico)
7/ Congressman making $174k wants a 17% pay raise. Jason Chaffetz wants to give House and Senate lawmakers a $2,500 per month allowance to subsidize lawmakers’ housing costs in D.C., which would cost about $16 million a year for all 535 congressional members. (The Hill)
8/ The Pentagon could cancel enlistment contracts for 1,000 foreign-born recruits, putting them at risk of deportation. The recruits have seen their visas expire while waiting for basic training leaving them without legal immigration status. They were recruited into a program designed to award fast-tracked citizenship in exchange for needed medical and language skills. (Washington Post)
9/ North Korea compared Trump to Hitler, likening Trump's “America First” policy to “Nazism in the 21st century." (Wall Street Journal)
10/ Sarah Huckabee Sanders lectured reporters about the "constant barrage of fake news" by the media. She then promoted a video by James O'Keefe, a journalist known for his deceptive video editing and interview tactics, who released an undercover video where a CNN producer called the network's Russia coverage "mostly bullshit." She conceded that she did not know "whether it's accurate or not," then added that "if it is accurate, I think it's a disgrace to all of media, to all of journalism." (Washington Post / Politico / HuffPost)
11/ Trump tweeted that CNN, NBC, CBS, ABC, The New York Times, and The Washington Post are all "fake news" after CNN retracted a story tying a member of Trump’s transition team to the ongoing Russia investigations. (Politico)
Fake News CNN is looking at big management changes now that they got caught falsely pushing their phony Russian stories. Ratings way down!
13/ Sean Spicer barred TV cameras and live audio broadcasts from Monday's media briefing. Spicer has allowed question-and-answer sessions with reporters to be televised just six times in the past six weeks. A reporter asked, "Why are the cameras off, Sean?" Spicer's eventual answer: "Some days we'll have them, some days we won't. The President is going to speak today in the Rose Garden. I want the President's voice to carry the day." (Washington Post)
14/ The EPA, the Army, and the US Army Corps of Engineers are proposing a new rule to rollback Obama's Waters of the United States. Scott Pruitt's EPA has prioritized the economic concerns of industry and agricultural interests over environmental concerns. (Wall Street Journal)
The EPA chief of staff pressured the top scientist to alter her congressional testimony and play down the dismissal of expert advisers. Deborah Swackhamer, who leads the EPA's Board of Scientific Counselors, was told to stick to the agency’s “talking points” on the dismissals of several members of the scientific board. (New York Times)
15/ Rick Perry wants an "intellectual conversation" about the impacts of humans on the climate. While Perry said he believes in climate change, he doesn't believe carbon dioxide is the main driver of climate change, putting him at odds with climate scientists. (Politico)
poll/ More people worldwide have confidence in Putin than Trump. Just 22% have confidence in Trump to do the right thing when it comes to international affairs, down from 64% who had confidence in Obama, and compared to 27% for Putin. Globally, the US favorability rating has decreased from 64% at the end of Obama’s presidency to just 49%. (Pew Research Center)
1/ The Supreme Court partly reinstated Trump's travel ban. The administration may now impose a 90-day ban on travelers from Libya, Iran, Somalia, Sudan, Syria and Yemen and a 120-day ban on all refugees entering the US, as long as they lack a “credible claim of a bona fide relationship with a person or entity in the United States.” Trump said the court’s decision to hear arguments on the travel ban cases in October was a “clear victory” for national security and will go into effect in 72-hours. Three justices — Clarence Thomas, Samuel Alito and Neil Gorsuch — said they would have let the complete ban take effect while the court considers the case. (Associated Press / Washington Post / New York Times / Wall Street Journal)
2/ Trump will meet with Putin in Germany next month. Trump wants a full bilateral meeting, while the State Department and National Security Council are urging for restraint. All 17 US intelligence agencies have agreed Russia was behind the hack of DNC's email and tried to influence the election to benefit Trump. A former KGB general said Putin has “other priorities” than discussing the accusations that Russia hacked the election, such as easing sanctions, raising oil prices, as well as next year’s presidential elections in Russia. (Associated Press)
3/ A Russian government official making $75,000 per year spent nearly $8 million on Trump condos in South Florida. There is also no public disclosure of Igor Zorin's properties in Russia, which is illegal under Russian law. None of Zorin’s property purchases used bank financing, meaning he most likely paid cash. He made roughly $75,000 in 2015 and $159,000 in 2016. In one sale, a Florida company transferred a condo valued at $1.5 million to Zorin. No deed of sale was recorded, meaning the price paid — if any — is unknown. (Miami Herald)
4/ Russia is recalling Sergey Kislyak as the FBI and Congress continue to investigate the 66-year-old diplomat’s contacts with Trump’s team during the 2016 presidential campaign. Kislyak spent nearly 10 years at the center of US–Russia relations. (BuzzFeed News)
5/ The Trump administration has done little to prevent Russian hacking in the next election. Trump has shown no interest about how to prevent future election interference. Comey testified that Trump never asked him about how to stop a future election attack, while Jeff Sessions, who sits on the National Security Council, testified that he has not received a classified briefing on Russian election interference. Sean Spicer has never addressed the topic with Trump, either. Despite blaming the 2016 hacks on Obama, Trump hasn't said what he would do to stop Russian hacking. (NBC News)
6/ The Senate health bill would leave 22 million more uninsured by 2026, slightly lower than the 23 million the House bill was projected at. 15 million more people would become uninsured next year compared to the current law. The federal deficit would decrease by $321 billion over a decade, compared to $119 billion for the House’s version. (New York Times / Washington Post)
7/ White House allies are retaliating against a Republican Senator who opposes the Obamacare repeal plan. America First Policies launched a $1 million attack against Dean Heller to both punish and sway his vote. (Politico)
8/ Trump confirmed that he called the health care bill "mean" and then accused Obama of stealing his term. Last week Obama said the Senate health care bill "will do you harm.”, adding that there is a "fundamental meanness" to the Republican health care bill. In a Fox and Friends interview, Trump took credit. "Well he actually used my term, 'mean.' That was my term," he said. "Because I want to see – and I speak from the heart – that's what I want to see, I want to see a bill with heart." (CNN)
9/ Kellyanne Conway suggested people who lose Medicaid coverage could find jobs to provide health insurance. Projections show the Senate health bill would cut Medicaid by $800 billion, which Conway asserted is not a cut, but rather "getting Medicaid back to where it was." (CNBC / ABC News)
10/ Senate Republicans are skeptical their health care bill can pass this week. Republicans say the biggest problems with the Obamacare repeal bill are its steep Medicaid cuts and effects on older Americans’ premiums. “There's no way we should be voting on this” before the recess, Senator Ron Johnson said, urging party leaders to “not rush this process.” (Politico)
11/ Trump tweets that Democrats are "OBSTRUCTIONISTS" and that Obama “colluded or obstructed” on Russia. Here is Trump's full tweetstorm: "The Democrats have become nothing but OBSTRUCTIONISTS, they have no policies or ideas. All they do is delay and complain.They own ObamaCare! The reason that President Obama did NOTHING about Russia after being notified by the CIA of meddling is that he expected Clinton would win and did not want to 'rock the boat.' He didn't 'choke,' he colluded or obstructed, and it did the Dems and Crooked Hillary no good. The real story is that President Obama did NOTHING after being informed in August about Russian meddling. With 4 months looking at Russia under a magnifying glass, they have zero 'tapes' of T people colluding. There is no collusion and no obstruction. I should be given apology!" (CNN / The Daily Beast)
The Democrats have become nothing but OBSTRUCTIONISTS, they have no policies or ideas. All they do is delay and complain.They own ObamaCare!
12/ Kushner finalized a $285 million loan from a bank trying to settle a federal mortgage fraud case and charges that it aided a possible Russian money-laundering scheme. The loan came a month before the election and both cases were settled in December and January. Deutsche Bank is Trump’s biggest lender. (Washington Post)
13/ Ivanka Trump, senior adviser to the president: "I try to stay out of politics," gives him "an A, of course" for his performance. She's met with senators to discuss paid family leave, delivered the keynote at the Republican National Convention, and has met with world leaders. She added that her father has "phenomenal" political instincts. (ABC News / Politico / CNN)
14/ Trump drives his golf cart on the green. Doesn't care. Does it all the time. (Washington Post)
1/ Obama weighed pre-election retaliation against Moscow for the Russian assault on the US election. The Obama administration debated dozens of options for deterring or punishing Russia, including cyberattacks on infrastructure, the release of CIA material to embarrass Putin, and sanctions that could “crater” the Russian economy. Instead, he expelled 35 Russian diplomats and closed two compounds. Obama also approved an operation in late December to embed "digital bombs" in Russia’s infrastructure that could be detonated if the US found itself in an escalating exchange with Moscow. The project was still in its planning stages when he left office, leaving Trump to decide whether to use the capability. “It is the hardest thing about my entire time in government to defend,” a former senior Obama official said. “I feel like we sort of choked.” (Washington Post)
2/ Trump denied obstructing Comey's FBI probe in a Fox & Friends interview. He said his tweet hinting of "tapes" was intended to influence Comey's testimony before Congress, suggesting it was possible that anyone could have taped their discussions. "With surveillance all over the place,” Trump said in the interview, “…you never know what’s out there, but I didn’t tape, and I don’t have any tape and I didn’t tape.” (New York Times / Reuters)
3/ Trump called Preet Bharara the day before dozens of US attorneys were asked to resign. The now former US Attorney sent an email to the Justice Department expressing his concern about a voicemail he received from Trump’s secretary. "It appeared to be that [Trump] was trying to cultivate some kind of relationship," Bharara said. "…It's a very weird and peculiar thing for a one-on-one conversation without the attorney general." Bharara refused to resign, and was firedthe following day. (BuzzFeed News)
4/ The director of national intelligence told House investigators that Trump seemed obsessed with the Russia probe and repeatedly asked him to publicly acknowledge there was no evidence of collusion. At a Senate hearing earlier this month, Dan Coats said Trump never pressured him to do anything inappropriate, but refused to confirm or deny allegations that Trump asked him to push back against the FBI probe into collusion between the campaign and the Russian government. (NBC News)
5/ Trump: It's "bothersome" that Robert Mueller is "very, very good friends with Comey." He added that “there’s been no collusion, no obstruction, and virtually everybody agrees to that" and that Mueller's team of lawyers are "all Hillary Clinton supporters." (ABC News)
6/ Frustrated by the Russia probe, Trump loses patience with his White House lawyer. Trump took Don McGahn to task in the Oval Office for not doing more to squash the Russia probe early on despite having handed over the Russia investigation to his personal attorney Marc Kasowitz. (Politico)
7/ West Wing aides struggle to keep Trump calm on Russia. His new morning routine begins at 6:30 AM with a venting session with his outside legal team in an effort to prevent the Russia probe from consuming him all day. (Washington Post)
8/ Art of the Deal: Carrier is preparing to lay off 600 employees next month as Trump's deal fails to live up to the hype. Carrier will continue to employ at least 1,069 people at their plant for 10 years in exchange for up to $7 million in incentives. But, only 730 of those positions are the manufacturing jobs that were at the heart of the debate. The rest are technical jobs that were never scheduled to be cut. (CNBC)
9/ The FBI is investigating business deals involving Paul Manafort and his son-in-law. Manafort helped finance a series of real estate deals by Jeffrey Yohai, who has been accused of defrauding investors. Manafort was Trump’s campaign chairman until reports surfaced that he had received millions of dollars off-the-book for his consulting work in Ukraine. (New York Times)
10/ Trump proposed a law that's existed for 20 years. During his rally on Wednesday, Trump called for a new law barring immigrants from receiving welfare for at least five years. Clinton signed the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act in 1996. The law prevents immigrants from receiving federal benefits, such as food stamps, Medicaid, and Social Security for five years after entering the country. (USA Today)
11/ The White House is frustrated with Rex Tillerson's deliberate approach to hiring at the State Department. Tillerson is more concerned about setting the State Department up for success, rather than satisfying the White House's desire to place Republican appointees in the numerous vacant positions. (Washington Post)
poll/ 13% of US adults have a favorable opinion of Putin, down from 22% in February. Putin's unfavorable rating stands at 74%. (Gallup)
poll/ More Americans believe Comey over Trump. 45% say they believe Comey's version of events compared to 22% who believe Trump more. (NBC News)
1/ The Senate unveiled its health care bill today. It's similar to the House bill that passed last month, but with changes aimed at pleasing moderates: linking federal insurance subsidies to income, curbing Medicaid expansion, and ending the mandate that most Americans have health insurance. Mitch McConnell has vowed to hold a vote before senators go home for the July 4th recess, but he is still short the 50 votes he needs to pass the legislation. (New York Times / Washington Post / CNN / Politico)
What's in the Senate Republican health care bill. Like the House version, McConnell’s proposal would slash taxes, cut Medicaid, and eliminate Obamacare’s insurance mandates for individuals and employers. (The Atlantic)
The GOP health plan is really a Medicaid rollback. It would also permanently restructure Medicaid, which covers tens of millions of poor or disabled Americans, including millions who are living in nursing homes with conditions like Alzheimer’s or the aftereffects of a stroke. (New York Times)
2/ Obama said the Senate health care bill "will do you harm.” In a nearly 1,000-word critique, Obama framed the GOP health care plan as fundamentally inhumane. “The Senate bill, unveiled today, is not a health care bill,” he wrote. “It’s a massive transfer of wealth from middle-class and poor families to the richest people in America." (Barack Obama / HuffPost / Washington Post)
3/ Four Republican senators say they will not vote for the GOP health care bill unless changes are made, putting passage of the bill at risk hours after it was unveiled. In a statement, Ted Cruz, Ron Johnson, Mike Lee, and Rand Paul said they are "not ready" to support the measure. They are open to negotiating changes to win their support. (Politico / NBC News / Washington Post / ABC News)
Where Senators stand on the health care bill. It needs at least 50 votes to pass. Every Democrat is expected to oppose the bill, which means three Republican “no” votes would block it. (New York Times)
4/ The White House refused to say if Trump will support the Senate health care bill. Trump previously called the House health care bill "mean" and wanted the Senate version to be "more generous." (Politico)
5/ Trump tweets that he didn't tape his conversations with Comey after all. In May, Trump warned Comey against leaking to the press, suggesting there were "tapes" of their private conversations. Soon after reports surfaced of memos Comey had written detailing Trump's effort to shut down the Michael Flynn investigation. Today, Trump tweeted that "with all of the recently reported electronic surveillance, intercepts, unmasking and illegal leaking of information, I have no idea whether there are "tapes" or recordings of my conversations with James Comey, but I did not make, and do not have, any such recordings." (NBC News / New York Times / Washington Post)
...whether there are "tapes" or recordings of my conversations with James Comey, but I did not make, and do not have, any such recordings.
Trump's tease of possible Comey tapes fits familiar pattern. In 2011, Trump promised to reveal what his private investigators had found in Hawaii about Obama's birth certificate. He never released anything. (Associated Press)
6/ Two of the top intelligence officials told Robert Mueller that Trump suggested they refute collusion with the Russians. Director of National Intelligence Dan Coats and National Security Agency Director Mike Rogers described the interaction as odd and uncomfortable, but that they don't believe Trump gave them orders to interfere. The two repeatedly refused to say whether Trump asked them to intervene in the Russia probe during their public Senate intelligence committee testimony. (CNN)
7/ Trump at Iowa rally: "All we do is win, win, win." He then blamed Democrats for his problems, boasted about his "amazing progress," and called the Russia investigation a "phony witch hunt" at his campaign-style rally in Cedar Rapids last night. During the 70-minute speech, Trump promised to lay out the next steps in “our incredible movement to make America great again," but continually veered off on tangents, reflected on the past, and contradicted himself. He knocked trade deals the Iowa economy relies on, dismissed wind energy in a state filled with thousands of turbines, and denounced the war in the Middle East despite reauthorizing troops in Afghanistan. Trump also revealed his plan for putting solar panels on his proposed border wall "so it creates energy and pays for itself." (New York Times / Washington Post / CBS News)
8/ Trump: "I just don't want a poor person" in charge of the economy. "When you get the president of Goldman Sachs, smart," Trump told the crowd at his Cedar Rapids rally. During the campaign, Trump frequently bashed the investment bank for having too much influence in politics. Trump has one of the wealthiest Cabinets in history. (CNN)
9/ House Democrats want to suspend Jared Kushner's security clearance. Kushner's previously undisclosed meetings with Russian officials have drawn the attention of investigators. Democrats say these contacts should be enough to suspend his access to sensitive information. (ABC News)
10/ Hackers successfully altered at least one voter roll in 2016 and stole voter records that contain private information like partial Social Security numbers. Investigators have not identified whether the hackers in that case were Russian agents. (Time)
11/ The White House is urging House Republicans to weaken its Russia sanctions bill, which was overwhelmingly passed by the Senate. The bill would place new sanctions on Russia for its meddling in the 2016 election and allow Congress to block Trump from lifting penalties against Moscow. (New York Times)
12/ Betsy DeVos picked the CEO of a private student loan company to run the federal student loan system. 42 million Americans currently owe $1.4 trillion in student loans. (The Hill)
13/ Trump will host his first re-election fundraiser at the Trump International Hotel next week, raising ethics concerns from conflict of interest attorneys. Trump is “becoming more and more brazen in his efforts to monetize the presidency,” Obama’s lead ethics attorney said. (Associated Press)
14/ North Korea called Trump a "psychopath" and warned South Korea that no good will come from aligning with him. The commentary, published in a state newspaper, suggested that Trump could launch a preemptive strike on North Korea to distract from his domestic problems. (AOL News / Washington Post)
15/ The White House told reporters not to report on instructions about not reporting on a press conference. Sarah Huckabee Sanders said today's press conference would not be a video affair and then said the announcement itself was "NOT REPORTABLE." (Slate)
poll/ A majority of voters think the American Health Care Act would be harmful for low-income Americans, people with pre-existing health conditions, and Medicaid recipients. 41% oppose the House plan, while 30% support it. 13% think the plan will improve the quality of their healthcare. 9% think it would make their health care cheaper. (Reuters)
poll/ 16% of adults believe that House health care bill is a good idea compared to 48% who say it’s a bad idea. (NBC News)
1/ CIA Director Mike Pompeo continued to brief Michael Flynn on national intelligence despite concerns Flynn was vulnerable to Russian blackmail. The FBI, the CIA, the Justice Department, and the Office of the Director of National Intelligence all concluded that Flynn had become susceptible to blackmail. Pompeo never raised these concerns with Trump. “Either Director Pompeo had no idea what people in the CIA reportedly knew about Michael Flynn, or he knew about the Justice Department’s concerns and continued to discuss America’s secrets with a man vulnerable to blackmail,” Senator Ron Wyden said in a statement. “I believe Director Pompeo owes the public an explanation.” (New York Times)
2/ Trump is expected to reveal whether tapes of conversations with Comey exist this week. After firing Comey in May, Trump tweeted that Comey “better hope that there are no ‘tapes’ of our conversations before he starts leaking to the press.” Trump and aides have since refused to clarify the ambiguous warning. The House intelligence committee wants the White House to provide an answer about the tapes by Friday. Under a post-Watergate law, destroying recordings would be a crime. (Associated Press)
3/ Jeff Sessions hired a personal lawyer amid the expanding Russia investigation. The Attorney General's longtime friend Charles Cooper has been providing counsel to Sessions, both for his Senate Intelligence Committee hearing last week, as well as during his January confirmation hearing. Sessions recused himself from the FBI’s investigation into Russia meddling and whether any Trump associates colluded in that effort. Special counsel Robert Mueller could seek information from Sessions about the circumstances surrounding the firing of James Comey. (Bloomberg / USA Today / National Law Journal)
4/ The Congressional Black Caucus will reject an invitation to meet with Trump. Members say the caucus-wide meeting would amount to little more than a photo op that Trump could use to bolster his standing among African-Americans. “No one wants to be a co-star on the reality show,” said one aide. (Politico)
5/ Queen Elizabeth didn't mention Trump's planned visit to the UK during her speech at the opening of Parliament. Trump's visit was already in doubt after he insisted on a gold‑plated welcome in the Queen’s royal carriage and started a feud with London's mayor on Twitter after the terrorist attack. The London mayor previously said Trump should be denied a state visit because of his “cruel” policies on immigration. The Queen's speech is used to set the government's legislative agenda for the next two years and announce planned state visits. (BBC / CNN / The Telegraph)
6/ Trump will hold a "Make America Great Again" rally to get a boost from outside of Washington. 8,600 political supporters will join Trump in Cedar Rapids, Iowa where he's expected to repeat his campaign rhetoric at a time when he has the lowest job approval rating of any president in modern history at this point in his tenure. (Washington Post / AOL News)
Trump has only held one solo press conference since becoming president, lagging behind his predecessors. Obama had held six solo press conferences by this point in his presidency, George W. Bush had held three, and Clinton seven. Trump's last press conference was four months ago, where he delivered a series of raw and personal attacks on the media in a news conference for the ages. (NBC News)
7/ Michael Bloomberg tells Trump to "stop tweeting and focus on running the government." The former mayor of New York City added that Trump's refusal to acknowledge that climate change is real is an embarrassment. "No reputable person or scientist doubts that we are creating an environmental and a climate change problem," he said. (CNN)
Bloomberg: Trump not saying climate change is real is "embarrassing" https://t.co/HewjgcEEIs
8/ The EPA plans to buy out more than 1,200 employees this summer as part of a push by the administration to shrink the agency Trump once promised to eliminate “in almost every form.” It would be about an 8% reduction of the current 15,000-person EPA workforce. The administration has also proposed a 31% cut to the EPA budget. (Washington Post)
9/ Trump’s budget seeks to cut funding for programs that shelter the poor and combat homelessness, except for a federal housing subsidy that earns him millions of dollars a year. (Washington Post)
10/ The Pentagon spent $28 million on uniforms for Afghan soldiers, which were appropriate for just 2.1% of Afghanistan. In 2007, the Afghan Defense Ministry decided the army needed a “new and distinctive uniform” to set is apart. He chose woodland camouflage. (USA Today)
11/ Russian-linked hackers targeted election-related computer systems in 21 states. Systems involved in vote counting were not affected. The hackers appeared to be scanning for vulnerabilities. In May, it was reported that Russian hackers had hit election systems in 39 states, accessing software used by poll workers on Election Day. The Russian military intelligence executed a cyberattack on at least one US voting software supplier last year, sending spear-phishing emails to more than 100 local election officials days before the election. (Washington Post / CNN)
12/ Republican Karen Handel beat Democrat Jon Ossoff in Georgia's special election for a House seat. Trump tweeted his excitement: “Well, the Special Elections are over and those that want to MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN are 5 and O! All the Fake News, all the money spent = 0." The Georgia race was the most expensive House race in history, with candidates spending roughly $55 million combined. (CNN / New York Times / Politico)
Well, the Special Elections are over and those that want to MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN are 5 and O! All the Fake News, all the money spent = 0
1/ Sean Spicer is searching for his own replacement as he's expected to transition to a behind-the-scenes role overseeing communications strategy – senior to both the communications director and press secretary. Spicer’s deputy, Sarah Huckabee Sanders, has frequently replaced him in the daily press briefings as he's slowly retreated from public view over the past month. He's often caught between striving for the respect of the press corps and Trump's erratic tweets. (Politico / Bloomberg / Washington Post)
2/ Steve Bannon explains the change in Spicer's role: “Sean got fatter." The White House has pared back the daily press briefings, downgrading them from “briefings” to “gaggles,” and from on-camera to off-camera. They are now shorter and less frequent. (The Atlantic)
.@RosieGray asked Steve Bannon why White House briefings are now off camera. He texted back: "Sean got fatter.” https://t.co/90ZuVqt9Lx
3/ Spicer hasn't talked to Trump about whether Russia interfered in the election. The US intelligence community concluded that Russia orchestrated a hacking and influence campaign to swing the election in Trump's favor. “I have not sat down and asked him about the specific reaction,” Spicer said. “I'd be glad to touch base with him and get back to you.” Trump's repeatedly raised doubts about their conclusions. (Politico / The Hill)
Spicer says he has not talked to POTUS about whether the Russians interfered in the election
4/ The Senate will vote on their health care bill next week, despite not having enough support to pass it. The Senate will release the bill's text Thursday, with the CBO expected to score its impact on the federal budget and insurance coverage by early next week. The Senate could hold a vote next Thursday, before lawmakers leave for the July 4th recess. Failure to vote by then would open Republican lawmakers up to pressure from constituents at town-hall meetings. (Wall Street Journal / BuzzFeed News)
Democrats held the Senate floor last night to spotlight Republicans behind-the-scenes efforts to repeal Obamacare. Democrats criticized the closed-door meetings using series of floor motions, inquiries, and lengthy speeches to highlight what Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer called "the most glaring departure from normal legislative procedure that I have ever seen." (Reuters / ABC News)
Here's what we know about the Senate health-care bill. The blurry outlines of an Obamacare overhaul are coming into focus as Senate Republican leaders prod their members toward a health-care vote next week. (Washington Post)
5/ Trump's pick for FBI Director removed a past case involving the Russian government from his law firm bio at King and Spalding. Christopher Wray made the edit on January 12, when he was not considered for the FBI Director job, "or any position in government." Wray's law firm has worked closely with the Russian the energy sector, representing companies in deals with the Russian state-owned oil company Rosneft and Gazprom. (CNN)
6/ Wray billed New Jersey taxpayers more than $2.1 million while representing Chris Christie during the Bridgegate trial for legal charges and expenses. The public wasn't aware that Wray was working for Christie for almost two years. Christie hasn't said whether he recommended Wray for the FBI job. (WYNC)
7/ Michael Flynn failed to report a business trip to Saudi Arabia where he represented US and Russian state-sponsored companies, and Saudi financing interests to build 16 nuclear power plants a congressional letter issued Monday shows. The letter questions why Flynn failed to mention one trip and underreported a second for the renewal of his federal security clearance. It also questions why Flynn failed to mention “any of these contacts with Saudi or other foreign officials on his security clearance application or during his interview with security clearance investigators." (McClatchy – DC)
8/ The FBI is investigating Flynn’s former business partner and looking at whether payments from foreign clients were lawful. The now-defunct Flynn Intel Group received payments by three Russian companies and the Netherlands-based company Inovo. (Reuters)
9/ Robert Mueller adds a witness-flipping expert to his team. Andrew Weissmann is best known for gaining witness cooperation in the Enron investigation. He previously headed the Justice Department's criminal fraud unit. (Reuters)
10/ Rex Tillerson has a three-point plan for future US-Russia relations in an effort to seek constructive working relationship with Putin on a limited set of issues. Step 1: Tell Moscow that aggressive actions against the US are a losing proposition. Step 2: Engage on issues that are of strategic interest to the US. Step 3: Emphasize the importance of "strategic stability" regarding geopolitical goals. (BuzzFeed News)
11/ The House health care plan is unpopular in three states where a Republican Senator will have a swing vote. 31% of Nevada voters, 35% of West Virginia voters, and 29% of Alaska voters approve of the AHCA. (Axios)
poll/ 81% of Americans don't want Trump to interfere with the Mueller probe. Trump's approval rating stands at 36%, his lowest in the CBS News Polls since becoming president. 57% percent now disapprove. (CBS News)
poll/ 18% of Americans support Trump’s decision to withdraw from the Paris climate accord. 44% of Americans are "very concerned" and 26% are "moderately concerned" that withdrawing from the agreement will hurt the country’s standing in the world. 64% of Americans disapprove of how Trump is handling the issue of climate change, with 34% approving. (Associated Press)
poll/ 73% of Americans feel the current tone of politics is encouraging violence. 68% say the tone and level of civility in politics is getting worse. (CBS News)
1/ The US military shot down a Syrian fighter jet after it dropped bombs near local forces supported by Americans in the fight against the Islamic State. A US military statement said it acted in “collective self-defense” of its partner forces. This was the first Syrian plane shot down by the US. (Associated Press / New York Times)
Russia threatened to target US-led coalition warplanes over Syria in response. "Any aircraft, including planes and drones belonging to the international coalition operating west of the Euphrates river, will be tracked by Russian anti-aircraft forces in the sky and on the ground and treated as targets," the Russian defense ministry said. (New York Times / BBC / Reuters / Associated Press)
BREAKING: Russia says it will treat US-led coalition planes in Syria, west of the Euphrates, as targets after US downed Syrian jet.
2/ Trump's lawyer insists the president "is not under investigation." Appearing on several Sunday morning news shows, Trump's personal attorney Jay Sekulow stressed that "the president has not been and is not under investigation." He added that Trump has not been notified of any investigation. On Friday, Trump took to Twitter, saying: “I am being investigated for firing the FBI Director by the man who told me to fire the FBI Director! Witch Hunt.” (New York Times / Associated Press)
I am being investigated for firing the FBI Director by the man who told me to fire the FBI Director! Witch Hunt
3/ Trump tweets that his "MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN agenda is doing very well despite the distraction of the Witch Hunt" – aka Robert Mueller's Russia investigation. Mueller is considering whether there is evidence to launch a full scale obstruction of justice investigation. (CNN)
The MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN agenda is doing very well despite the distraction of the Witch Hunt. Many new jobs, high business enthusiasm,..
4/ The White House is pushing the House Republicans for a friendlier sanctions deal against Russia. Senate Democrats fear the Trump administration will defang the bill designed to punish Russia for election meddling. The legislation would tie the White House's hands on US-Russia relations, the administration says. (Politico)
5/ Jared Kushner is reconsidering his legal team. He's contacted high-powered criminal lawyers about potentially representing him in the wide-ranging investigation into Russia’s influence on the 2016 election. (New York Times)
6/ McConnell wants to force a health care vote by July 4th and is considering making even deeper cuts to Medicaid spending than the bill passed by the House. The Senate won't vote without a CBO score, which means they need to finish negotiations this week. The CBO, however, found that the House bill would cause 14 million fewer people to be enrolled in Medicaid over 10 years. (Axios / The Hill)
7/ Democrats are turning to procedural moves to slow Republican efforts to repeal Obamacare by objecting to all unanimous consent requests in the Senate. It likely won’t change the timing of the health care vote, but it will force Republicans to answer for what Democrats say is a rushed process and bad policy. (Politico)
House republicans to are sending McConnell a letter demanding certain provisions remain in the Senate health bill. Republican Study Committee outlines four components of the House-passed health care bill that are “particularly crucial” to maintaining support from GOP lawmakers in the House. (Independent Journal Review)
Six people have resigned from Trump's HIV/AIDS advisory council because he "doesn't care." Trump has not appointed anyone to head the White House Office of National AIDS Policy. The agency's website has not been updated five months after taking office. "We have dedicated our lives to combating this disease and no longer feel we can do so effectively within the confines of an advisory body to a president who simply does not care." (BuzzFeed News)
8/ The Supreme Court will hear a landmark case on partisan gerrymandering. The case could have "enormous ramifications" on how to draw district lines nationwide. Obama has said that one of his post-presidency projects will be to combat partisan gerrymanders after the 2020 Census. (CNN / Washington Post)
9/ The personal information and voter profile data on 198 million American voters was stored on an unsecured server owned by Republican data analytics firm Deep Root Analytics. The folder includes dozens of spreadsheets containing a unique identifier for each voter for the 2008 and 2012 presidential campaigns, which link to "dozens of sensitive and personally identifying data points, making it possible to piece together a striking amount of detail on individual Americans specified by name." (ZDNet / Wall Street Journal)
10/ Trump’s business ties in the Gulf raise questions about his allegiances after spending years trying to enter the Qatar market. As Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, and Qatar feud, Trump has thrown his weight behind the two countries where he's done business, raising new concerns about a conflict between his public role and his financial incentives. Qatar hosts America's largest air base in the region. (New York Times)
11/ Energy Secretary Rick Perry said he doesn't believe CO2 emissions from human activity are the primary driver of climate change, a view that is at odds with the conclusions of the Environmental Protection Agency, NASA, and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. (CNBC)
News You May Have Missed
At the height of Russia tensions last summer, Trump's campaign chairman met with a former Russian army business associate. Konstantin Kilimnik had helped run the Ukraine office for Paul Manafort international political consulting practice for 10 years. (Washington Post)
Milwaukee Sheriff David Clarke withdrew his name from consideration for an assistant secretary of Homeland Security post. Clarke's appointment had been subject to significant delays, contributing to his withdrawal. He was also accused of plagiarism, as well as drawing scrutiny for the conditions in his jails that left one mentally ill inmate dead. (Washington Post)
A 17-year-old Muslim girl was killed after leaving her Virginia mosque on Sunday. Police found human remains in a pond about three miles from where the initial altercation took place. A baseball bat was also recovered. Police charged Martinez Torres with the murder of the 17-year-old, which is not currently being investigated as a hate crime. (Washington Post / NBC News)
Trump demands face time with his favorite Cabinet appointees, turning the White House into a hangout for his chosen department heads. Trump doesn’t trust bureaucrats who do the day-to-day work of the federal government, referring to them as the “deep state,” and blaming them for the frequent leaks to the press. But for Trump’s Cabinet members, being present means they have a say in policymaking. (Politico)
The body-slamming congressman now calls for civil politics, four days after being convicted for assaulting a reporter who asked him a question about health care. In May, Greg Gianforte had grabbed a reporter by the neck with both hands, slammed him into the ground, and then began punching the reporter. Gianforte had to pay a fine, perform community service, and take anger management training, but no jail time. (Associated Press)
1/ Trump tweets that he's under investigation for his role in firing James Comey and accused Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein of overseeing the "witch hunt" against him. Rosenstein wrote the memo recommending Comey's firing, but also approved the appointment of Robert Mueller, the special counsel now leading the Russia investigation. (New York Times / CNN / Washington Post)
After 7 months of investigations & committee hearings about my "collusion with the Russians," nobody has been able to show any proof. Sad!
The greatest threat to Trump and his presidency comes from his own conduct. And his obsessive behavior. (Politico)
2/ Rod Rosenstein urged Americans to "exercise caution" when evaluating stories attributed to anonymous officials. It's unclear why Rosenstein would issue the statement, but it follows several stories quoting unnamed sources on the direction of the Russia probe. (Washington Post)
3/ Rosenstein privately acknowledged that he may have to recuse himself from the Russia investigation. Rosenstein told Associate Attorney General Rachel Brand, the Justice Department's new third-in-command, that if he were to recuse himself, she would have to step in and take over the probe. She was sworn-in little more than a month ago. (ABC News)
Former Bush official Rachel Brand takes over as the Justice Department’s third-highest-ranking official. Brand was confirmed in May. (Washington Post)
4/ Jared Kushner's finances and business dealings are now part of the Mueller investigation. Kushner joins the list of Trump associates Michael Flynn, Paul Manafort, and Carter Page who are now under investigation by FBI agents and federal prosecutors. Kushner has agreed to discuss his Russian contacts with the Senate Intelligence Committee. (Washington Post)
5/ The Trump transition team ordered members to preserve Russia-related documents, including records related to Ukraine and certain campaign advisers and officials. The memo says members “have a duty to preserve any physical and electronic records that may be related in any way to the subject matter of the pending investigations.” (New York Times / Politico)
6/ The House Intelligence Committee wants to talk to Trump's digital director about Russia and possible connections between the Trump team and Russian operatives. Brad Parscale played a critical role on the Trump campaign, directing online spending and voter targeting with the use of a data bank built by the Republican National Committee. (CNN)
7/ The FBI won't release Comey's memos because they're part of a "pending or prospective law enforcement proceeding," a Freedom of Information Act request revealed. At least one of the memos is unclassified, but wouldn't because it could "reasonably interfere with enforcement proceedings." (BuzzFeed News)
8/ The White House is referring questions about a potential Oval Office recording device to outside counsel. A national security attorney suggested that the White House is attempting to defer and deflect the issue for as long as possible. (The Daily Beast)
9/ Trump’s personal lawyer hires his own lawyer to navigate the Russia probe. Michael Cohen's decision is the latest sign that the Russia probe is intensifying and could end up focusing on many Trump associates, both inside and outside the White House. (Washington Post)
Exclusive: Trump personal lawyer, Michael Cohen, has hired his own counsel: Stephen Ryan, of McDermott, Will & Emery.- source w knowledge
10/ An American lobbyist representing Russian interests contradicted Jeff Sessions' sworn testimony about not having contacts with lobbyists working for Russian interests over the course of Trump’s campaign. Richard Burt attended "two dinners with groups of former Republican foreign policy officials and Senator Sessions." (The Guardian)
11/ Trump picked his family's event planner to run federal housing programs in New York. Lynne Patton will oversee the distribution of billions of taxpayer dollars despite having no housing experience and claiming to have a law degree the school says she never earned. (NY Daily News)
12/ Senate Republican leaders want to bring their health care bill to the Senate floor by the end of June as disagreements threaten to derail their efforts. Mitch McConnell and a small group of GOP aides are crafting the bill behind closed doors. Earlier this week, Trump called the House version "mean." The comment has angered House Republicans and its likely damaged his ability to negotiate with them on infrastructure and tax reform. (Washington Post / Axios)
13/ Trump rolled back Obama's Cuba policy, tightening travel restrictions and blocking business with the island. Trump called it a "completely one-sided deal." At one point, Trump considered severing diplomatic relations with Cuba. (NBC News / The Hill)
14/ The Pentagon will send about 4,000 more American troops to Afghanistan, the largest deployment of Trump's presidency. Trump gave Defense Secretary Jim Mattis the authority to manage troop levels to help Afghanistan's army against a resurgent Taliban. (Washington Post)
poll/ 65% think Trump has little to no respect for country's institutions. Only 34% of Americans think Trump has a great deal or a fair amount of respect for them. (The Hill)
The three prongs of Mueller's Russia investigation explained. Mueller is investigating Russian meddling in the election and possible collusion with the Trump campaign, attempts to obstruct justice, and any possible financial crimes. (Washington Post)
Mueller is examining whether Trump obstructed justice. The special counsel investigation has expanded to look into president's firing of former FBI Director James Comey. (Wall Street Journal)
The top Democrat on the House Intelligence Committee wants obstruction to be part of House Russia probe. Adam Schiff is negotiating with his Republican counterpart about whether to investigate Trump for obstruction of justice as part of the panel’s Russia investigation. (Politico)
The Senate intelligence committee won't investigate whether Trump obstructed justice, leaving the criminal inquiry to special counsel Robert Mueller. (CNN)
Putin – jokingly – offered Comey asylum during a marathon phone-in session with the Russian people. (The Guardian)
2/ Aides blame Trump for the obstruction of justice probe: "The president did this to himself" and "shot himself in the foot again with this cockamamie scheme to get Mueller to play ball" by spreading rumors that Trump might fire the special counsel. Senators, White House aides, former prosecutors, and FBI veterans are urging Trump not to do it, as firing Mueller now would require him to personally direct the Department of Justice to do so, which "could be shown that his purpose was to impede the investigation" and "could be additional evidence of obstruction of justice." (The Daily Beast)
3/ Pence hired outside counsel to help with House and Senate committee inquiries, and the special counsel investigation into possible collusion between Trump’s campaign and Russia. (Washington Post)
4/ Trump revised his travel ban to address arguments that it would expire today. Under the ban's original wording, it would last "for 90 days from the effective date of this order." A separate provision set the effective date as March 16, meaning the ban would have expired June 14. The administration is arguing that the court orders blocking the ban had implicitly delayed the effective date. (Bloomberg)
5/ A GOP congressman wants members of Congress to "curtail" their town halls after the Scalise shooting "until we agree that we need to be more civil." In addition to yesterday's shooting, Lou Barletta cited "those town halls where the police had to carry people out" as a safety concern and reason to cut back on hosting town hall forums. (CNN)
6/ Dennis Rodman gave Kim Jong Un a copy of Trump's book "The Art of the Deal." Rodman may be the only person in the world who has personal relationships with both Trump and the North Korean supreme leader. (Washington Post / CNN)
7/ The Australian Prime Minister mocked Trump in a speech. Malcolm Turnbull's told a room of journalists, advisers, and politicians that "the Donald and I, we are winning and winning in the polls. We are winning so much! We are winning like we have never won before. We are winning in the polls. We are! Not the fake polls. Not the fake polls. They're the ones we're not winning in. We're winning in the real polls." (CNN / Wall Street Journal)
8/ Despite being investigated by the FBI, Paul Manafort is still offering prospective business partners access to Trump. Manafort consulted on a proposal for a Chinese construction billionaire. A lawyer involved in discussions said, “He’s going around telling people that he’s still talking to the president and — even more than that — that he is helping to shape Trump’s foreign policy." Trump’s former campaign chairman is at the center of the FBI investigation into ties between Trump’s team and the Russians. (Politico)
9/ The Energy Department closed its office working on climate change abroad. The office was formed in 2010 to help the United States provide technical advice to other nations seeking to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. (New York Times)
10/ Trump ordered the government to stop working on the Y2K bug, 17 years after year 2000 came and went. Federal workers still report on preparedness for the Y2K bug, consuming some 1,200 man-hours every year.[Editor's note: I misunderstood this statistic. It was attributed to other, pointless paperwork. The Y2K requirements are often ignored in practice.] (Bloomberg)
poll/ 41% of Republicans say they are satisfied with the way things are going in the US, down 17% since May. (Gallup)
poll/ 50% of the CEOs, business leaders, government officials and academics gave Trump an "F" for his first 130 days in office. 21% gave Trump's performance a "D" and just 1% gave him an "A." (CNN Money)
1/ Robert Mueller is now investigating Trump for possible obstruction of justice, marking a major turning point in the nearly year-old FBI investigation. The obstruction of justice investigation into the president began days after Comey was fired on May 9 with the team actively pursuing potential witnesses inside and outside the government. The White House is referring all questions about the Russia investigation to Trump’s personal lawyer, Marc Kasowitz. (Washington Post)
2/ Almost 200 congressional Democrats will sue Trump over foreign business ties. They contend that Trump has ignored the emoluments clause of the Constitution, which prohibits federal officials from accepting gifts from foreign powers without congressional approval. The case is one of at least four pending lawsuits alleging that by retaining interests in a global business empire, Trump has violated the foreign emoluments clause. (Politico / New York Times / Washington Post)
3/ China preliminary approved six new trademarks for the Trump brand as it relates to veterinary services and construction sectors. The new marks brings his total to at least 123 registered and provisionally approved trademarks in China. (New York Times)
4/ The majority of Trump's real estate sales are to secretive shell companies, which obscure the buyers’ identities. Since winning the Republican nomination, about 70% of buyers of Trump properties were LLCs, compared with about 4% of buyers in the two years before. Since the election, Trump’s businesses have sold 28 properties for $33 million. (USA Today)
5/ Trump gave the Pentagon authority to unilaterally send new troops to Afghanistan. The Pentagon is weighing plans to send 3,000 to 5,000 troops after years of reductions in hopes that Kabul could handle threats on its own. There is fewer than 9,000 troops currently in Afghanistan. (Wall Street Journal)
6/ Trump blocked a veterans group on Twitter that was critical of him. While on the campaign trail, Trump praised veterans as "amazing," "distinguished" and "tremendous." Today, he blocked them on Twitter for criticizing his tweet about the "Fake News Media." (Talking Points Memo / Newsweek / The Hill)
The Commander in Chief can block @VoteVets, the voice of 500k military veterans and families, but we will NOT be silenced. pic.twitter.com/SaCN5hKU9R
7/ A Trump business partner is in the running for a $1.7 billion contract to build the new FBI headquarters. Vornado Realty Trust is a partial owner with the Trump Organization in two buildings and a major investor in a Kushner Cos. skyscraper. (Associated Press)
8/ Tomorrow's congressional hearing to debate gun legislation has been canceled until further notice in the wake of today's shooting at a Republican congressional baseball practice. The panel was suppose to debate the "Sportsmen's Heritage and Recreational Enhancement Act," which would make it easier to purchase silencers, transport guns across state lines, and ease restrictions on armor-piercing bullets. The bill's sponsor was at the baseball practice. (CNN)
9/ Not a single state supports the House health care bill. Even in the most supportive states, like Oklahoma, Florida, and Texas, only 38%, 35%, and 34% of voters, respectively, support the law, compared to 45%, 48%, and 49% who oppose it. (New York Times)
10/ The Senate approved new bipartisan sanctions against Russia, which establishes a congressional review of any changes the Trump administration wants to make to the current penalties. Senators voted 97-2, but its future in the GOP-controlled House is unclear, as is whether Trump would even sign the bill. (Politico)
11/ Robert Mueller met with the Senate intelligence committee to plot a path forward on their investigations into Russian meddling in the 2016 election. The two sides discussed to share information and not step on each others' toes. (CNN)
poll/ Trump's job disapproval rating hits 60%. When does the winning start? (Gallup)
1/ Russian hackers hit election systems in 39 states, accessing software designed to be used by poll workers on Election Day. The scope and sophistication was so concerning that the Obama administration complained directly to Moscow, detailing Russia’s role in the election meddling and warned that the attacks risked setting off a broader conflict. (Bloomberg)
2/ Senate leaders agree on bipartisan sanctions to punish Russia for election meddling, placing the White House in an uncomfortable position. The agreement would impose sanctions on “corrupt Russian actors" and people conducting “malicious cyberactivity on behalf of the Russian government," and “provide for a mandated congressional review” if the White House sought to waive or ease existing sanctions unilaterally. “I’d be very, very surprised if the president vetoes this bill,” the top Democrat on the Foreign Relations Committee said. (New York Times / Politico)
3/ The House Intelligence Committee is adding funding and staff to its Russia probe. A lack of resources has been an issue for the House investigation, due in part to Devin Nunes,the panel’s chairman, being forced to recuse himself over allegations that he was openly colluding with the White House. (The Daily Beast)
4/ Trump is considering firing Robert Mueller, the special counsel investigating possible ties between his campaign and Russian officials. Trump was "considering, perhaps, terminating the special counsel," Trump's friend Christopher Ruddy said. To do so, Trump would have to order Rod Rosenstein to rescind department regulations protecting a special counsel from being fired and then to fire Mueller. If Rosenstein refused, Trump could fire him, too. Trump is being counseled to steer clear of such a dramatic move like firing the special counsel. (New York Times / CNN)
Chris Ruddy to @JudyWoodruff: President Trump is considering firing special counsel Robert Mueller, who he considered for another position. pic.twitter.com/X4IIHlh8at
Republicans tell Trump not to mess with Mueller. Mueller’s investigation is considered the most threatening to Trump’s presidency and is largely out of his control. (Politico)
5/ Rod Rosenstein: Only I have the power to fire the special counsel on Russia. During testimony before the appropriations committee, Rosenstein said he would only comply with "lawful and appropriate" requests. Rosenstein added that there's no cause to fire Mueller and that he's "confident" the special counsel has full independence. (Washington Post / USA Today / Wall Street Journal)
6/ Jeff Sessions declined to answer questions about his conversations with Trump, including whether he spoke to Trump about Comey’s handling of the Russia investigation. Sessions cited Trump's executive privilege to not answer questions about his confidential talks with the president despite Trump not having invoked executive privilege. Sessions called any suggestion that he colluded with Russians during the campaign an "an appalling and detestable lie." (Washington Post / New York Times / NBC News)
Key moments from Jeff Sessions’ Russia testimony. (Politico)
7/ Senate Republicans are trying to rein in expectations for their Obamacare repeal effort, worried they'll blow their July 4th deadline or fall short of 50 votes. Senators continue to raise doubts about coming to an agreement, even though McConnell has said that "failure is not an option." (Politico)
Senate Democrats plan offensive to try to save Obamacare and potentially even delay a June vote to force the GOP to endure a July recess when Democratic allies will mobilize in their states. (Politico)
8/ Trump called the House health care bill "mean" and that the Senate version should be "more generous." Trump told the lawmakers that the House bill didn't go far enough in protecting individuals in the marketplace – and appeared to use that as his rationale for why he has ambiguously called twice for the Senate to "add more money" to the bill. (CNN / Associated Press)
9/ Trump’s personal lawyer told colleagues that he got Preet Bharara fired. Bharara was asked to stay in his job as the United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York when the two met in November at Trump Tower. But, in March Trump reversed himself and fired Bharara, who was investigating Trump’s secretary of health and human services at the time. (ProPublica)
10/ Senate Republicans barred reporters from filming senators in the Capitol hallways without special permission and breaking with years of precedent allowing videotaping and audio recording in the public areas of the House and Senate office buildings. Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer tweeted, "Press access should never be restricted unfairly, particularly not when one party is trying to sneak a major bill through Congress." (CNN Money / The Hill)
UPDATE:
Senate Republicans back off their proposed restrictions on the media. (The Hill)
Press access should never be restricted unfairly, particularly not when one party is trying to sneak a major bill through Congress.
11/ Shocker: Trump criticized the latest court ruling against his travel ban. The three-judge panel of the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals ruled against Trump's revised travel ban, using his own tweets against him in making their decision. (CNN)
Well, as predicted, the 9th Circuit did it again - Ruled against the TRAVEL BAN at such a dangerous time in the history of our country. S.C.
12/ Jeff Sessions asked congressional leaders to undo federal medical marijuana protections so he could prosecute providers. Research strongly suggests that cracking down on medical marijuana laws could make the opiate epidemic even worse. (Washington Post)
1/ The 9th Circuit court ruled against Trump's revised travel ban. It's the second federal appeals court to uphold the block on the travel ban, declaring that Trump exceeded his authority in suspending the issuance of visas to residents of six Muslim majority countries. “A reasonable, objective observer — enlightened by the specific historical context, contemporaneous public statements and specific sequence of events leading to its issuance — would conclude that the executive order was issued with a purpose to disfavor a particular religion,” Judge Watson wrote. (New York Times / Washington Post / Politico / NPR)
2/ Jeff Sessions will testify in an open hearing before the Senate Intelligence Committee on Tuesday about his role in the Russia investigation. Last week, James Comey testified that Sessions may have had a third, undisclosed meeting with Russia's ambassador to the US. Before Sessions recused himself from the investigation, Comey believed certain details made Sessions involvement in the investigation "problematic." The Committee hasn't allotted time for Sessions to privately discuss classified matters after his public forum. The hearing is scheduled for Tuesday at 2:30PM ET. (Washington Post / Politico / CNN)
3/ The Senate Intelligence Committee plans to interview Jared Kushner in late June or early July and is expected to be a closed session. A date has not been set, but Kushner is expected to provide documents and then return for questions from senators. (ABC News)
4/ D.C. and Maryland are suing Trump, alleging he violated anti-corruption clauses by accepting millions in payments and benefited from foreign governments since moving into the White House. The lawsuit says Trump’s continued ownership of a global business has makes him “deeply enmeshed with a legion of foreign and domestic government actors," which has undermined the integrity of the US political system. (Washington Post / Politico)
5/ In a separate case, the Justice Department argued that Trump can accept payments from foreign governments while he is in office. Advocates from the Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington brought the suit against Trump in January, asserting that because Trump-owned buildings take in rent, room rentals and other payments from foreign governments he breached the emoluments clause. (Washington Post / Politico / The Hill)
6/ Senate Republicans won't release a draft of their health care bill. It's unclear what changes Republicans have made, because there have been no hearings and no possibility for amendment. They want to vote on the bill before the July 4th recess. (Axios / The Week)
7/ Trump’s attorneys won't rule out firing Robert Mueller, the special counsel appointed to look into the Trump campaign’s ties to Russia. "I'm not going to speculate on what he will, or will not, do," Trump attorney Jay Sekulow said. “That, again, is an issue that the president with his advisers would discuss if there was a basis.” (Politico)
8/ The secret service says it has no audio or transcripts of any tapes recorded in the White House. The FOIA request doesn’t exclude the possibility that recordings could have been created by another "entity." (Wall Street Journal)
9/ Reince Priebus has until July 4th to clean up the White House. Trump has threatened to fire his chief of staff if major changes are not made. While Trump has set deadlines for staff changes before, he's under more scrutiny than ever with the sprawling Russia investigation. (Politico)
10/ Trump's visit to the U.K. might be put on hold to avoid large-scale protests. Trump's come under criticism for starting a feud with London's mayor on Twitter following the terrorist attack in London. Prime Minister Theresa May said there had been no change of plans for Trump's state visit. More than half of the British public views Trump as a threat to global stability. (New York Times / Reuters)
11/ Preet Bharara said Trump tried to build a relationship with him before he was fired. The former US attorney in Manhattan said his contacts with Trump’s were strikingly similar to those between the president and Comey, which made him increasingly uncomfortable as they broke with longstanding Justice Department rules on communicating with the White House. (New York Times)
12/ The first full Cabinet meeting turned into a Trump tribute session. Pence, Sessions, Perry and Priebus took turns praising Trump's first five months. Trump opened the meeting with a statement touting that he had led a “record-setting” pace of activity and that few presidents have passed more legislation than he has, despite Congress having passed no major legislation since he took office 144 days ago. (CNN / CNBC / New York Times)
poll/ 49% of voters think Trump committed obstruction of justice. 37% of voters say they think Trump is honest, to 56% who say he's not. 53% of voters consider Trump to be a liar. (Public Policy Polling)
1/ Trump breaks his Twitter silence, declaring "total and complete vindication" in response to Comey's testimony. The tweet ends his second-longest Twitter drought – at about 2,753 minutes – since he declared his candidacy. Comey detailed months of distrust during testimony and asserted that Trump had fired him to interfere with the probe of Russia's ties to the campaign. (ABC News / Washington Post)
Despite so many false statements and lies, total and complete vindication...and WOW, Comey is a leaker!
Behind Trump’s temporary Twitter silence: Let others do the punching. First it was Donald Trump Jr. who played his father’s role on Twitter, then Trump's personal lawyer delivered the formal response. (Washington Post)
"I was right": Trump insisted to his legal team while he watched the Comey testimony. (New York Times)
Comey’s indictment of Trump. The fired FBI director’s demeanor did little to mask his barbed accusations. (Politico)
2/ Trump's lawyer plans to file a complaint against Comey for leaking his memos. Marc Kasowitz will file complaints with the Justice Department Inspector General and the Senate judiciary committee accusing Comey of violating executive privilege, which was called "frivolous grandstanding" by an expert in whistleblower protection. (CNN / Washington Post)
Trump’s personal lawyer released a letter filled with typos in response to Comey’s Senate testimony. (Vox)
Trump's lawyer claims Comey violated executive privilege. 10 legal experts say he didn't. (Vox)
3/ Jeff Sessions may have met with the Russian ambassador a third time, Comey told senators in a closed hearing. The information is based in part on Russian-to-Russian intercepts talking about the meeting. (CNN)
4/ Paul Ryan insisted that Republicans wouldn’t call for impeachment of a Democratic president accused of the same actions as Trump. Ryan also suggested that Trump’s behavior might be the result of not having experience in government before becoming president. (The Hill)
5/ Trump will spend the weekend at his golf club in Bedminster, NJ. He's claimed in the past that working from "home" will save taxpayers money by not being at Trump Tower in New York City. (NJ.com)
Rather than causing a big disruption in N.Y.C., I will be working out of my home in Bedminster, N.J. this weekend. Also saves country money!
6/ Mitch McConnell took a procedural step to fast-track efforts to repeal Obamacare, which side-steps typical committee processes. By invoking Rule 14, McConnell can now put the bill on the Senate calendar so that a vote can be held as soon as the bill is ready. The move means the Senate GOP can bypass committee hearings and debates of the Republican health care bill in an effort to get a vote by July 4. (Washington Post / Talking Points Memo / Think Progress)
It begins: McConnell initiates the "Rule 14" process of putting the House-passed AHCA on the Senate calendar for fast-track consideration.
1/ Comey blasted the White House for "lies, plain and simple." The fired FBI director accused Trump and his aides during testimony before the Senate Intelligence Committee today of defaming him after he was fired. Comey believed that Trump had clearly tried to derail the FBI investigation into Michael Flynn. (Politico / New York Times)
Comey goes nuclear in showdown with Trump. He accused Trump and his top aides of lying, suggesting that the president wanted special treatment in exchange for loyalty, and he said he thinks he lost his job because of how he handled the Russia investigation. (ABC News)
Comey's testimony takes aim at Trump’s credibility. (Associated Press)
Comey's testimony shifts focus to Trump and his conduct in the office. (Washington Post)
Comey said that he found the shifting explanations for why he was fired both confusing and concerning. (Reuters)
Annotated copy of Comey's opening statement. Here are Comey's full prepared remarks, annotated by NPR journalists. (NPR)
Comey's testimony transcript. The full text. (Politico)
Republican National Committee will lead Trump's response to Comey's testimony. A team of about 60 RNC staffers will mount a political offensive aimed at Democrats in response to Comey's testimony. The RNC has lined up a host of surrogates to appear on national and local television and radio to support Trump. The rapid response team will leverage their database of opposition research to use Democrats' past statements against them. (Wall Street Journal)
2/ Comey has called Trump a liar 5 times today. The White House says that's not true. Comey punched back at Trump's characterization of him as being unpopular at the FBI and the idea that the bureau was disorganized and chaotic. In addition, Comey disputed claims by Trump that he had asked to keep his job. (CNN)
3/ Comey: The administration is working to "defame" me and the FBI, and telling "lies" to the American people. "Although the law requires no reason at all to fire an FBI director the administration then chose to defame me and more importantly the FBI by saying that the organization was in disarray, that it was poorly led, that the work force had lost confidence in its leader,” Comey said. (ABC News)
4/ Comey: "Lordy, I hope there are tapes." During his testimony, Comey expressed his hope that his conversations with Trump were recorded. (The Hill)
5/ The White House won't say if there's a recording system in the Oval Office. Sarah Huckabee Sanders said she has “no idea” if Trump has a recording system in his office, despite the president suggesting he may have recordings of his conversations with Comey. (HuffPost)
6/ Paul Ryan defended Trump's attempt to influence Comey: He's "new at this." He added that Trump is "new to government. And so he probably wasn’t steeped in the long-running protocols that establish the relationships between DOJ, FBI, and White Houses. (HuffPost)
7/ Comey helped release details of his meetings with Trump. Comey acknowledged that he shared copies of his memos documenting his Trump meetings with a “close friend” — a professor at Columbia Law School — who could share the information with reporters. (Washington Post)
8/ Trump's lawyer said Comey made "unauthorized disclosures" of privileged talks designed to damage the president. Marc Kasowitz said Comey's testimony "makes clear that the president never sought to impede the investigation into attempted Russian interference in the 2016 election." (USA Today)
9/ Paul Ryan: Trump asking for Comey's loyalty is "obviously" inappropriate and it's clear that Russia meddled in the US election. "What we need to determine is not whether they did it – we know that. It's what did they do, how did they do it, how do we prevent it from happening again? And then how do we help our allies so that this doesn't happen to them?" (CNN)
10/ Comey's testimony laid out the case that Trump obstructed justice and suggested senior leaders at the FBI might have contemplated the matter before Trump removed him as director. Whether justice was obstructed, Comey said, was a question for recently appointed special counsel Robert Mueller. (Washington Post)
11/ Former Watergate special prosecutor: I helped prosecute Watergate. Comey’s statement is sufficient evidence for an obstruction of justice case. The ball is in Bob Mueller’s court to decide whether he has enough evidence to charge Trump with obstruction and, if so, whether to reach the same conclusion that I reached in the Nixon investigation — that, like everyone else in our system, a president is accountable for committing a federal crime. (Washington Post)
12/ Trump's FBI pick has Russian ties. Christopher Wray's law firm – King & Spalding – represents Rosneft and Gazprom, two of Russia’s biggest state-controlled oil companies. (USA Today)
13/ The House of Representatives passed a bill that would gut major elements of Dodd-Frank, the regulatory legislation drafted in the aftermath of the 2008 financial crisis. The Financial Choice Act exempts financial institutions deemed "too big to fail" from restrictions that limit risk taking. Republicans say Dodd-Frank regulations are the primary reason for anemic economic growth in the US. While the bill passed the House, it faces long odds of becoming law as it would require the support of Democrats in the Senate in order to reach Trump’s desk. (New York Times / CNN Money / Washington Post / CNBC)
14/ House and Senate Democrats plan to sue Trump over conflicts of interest related to the his corporation’s business deals and foreign governments looking to curry favor with the administration. They claim he is breaking the law by refusing to relinquish ownership of his sprawling real-estate empire while it continues to profit from business with foreign governments. (Politico)
15/ Trump doesn't plan to fire Sessions, despite his frustration with Sessions for the handling of the administration’s failed travel ban and for recusing himself from the Russia probe. (Bloomberg)
The White House won't say if Trump has confidence in Jeff Sessions. For two straight days, Sean Spicer and Sarah Sanders declined to say if Trump has confidence in the attorney general. (Axios)
16/ Pulling out of the Paris climate agreement could accelerate damage to Trump's real estate empire. Mar-a-Lago, the apartment towers nears Miami, and his Doral golf course are all threatened by rising seas. (Associated Press)
17/ Hawaii passed a law to document rising sea levels and set strategies to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Hawaii is the first state to enact legislation implementing parts of the Paris climate agreement. (NBC News)
poll/ Trump's approval rating hits 34%, a new Quinnipiac poll released Wednesday finds. 40% of voters do not expect Trump to complete his four-year term. (CNN)
More Comey News
1/ Trump, Comey and Obstruction of Justice: A Primer. As the fired FBI director testifies about his dealings with the president, here’s what you need to know about a murky law. (New York Times)
2/ Comey’s Political Shrewdness Is on Display in Tussle With Trump. Comey, a savvy veteran of Washington, has shown why presidents are normally loath to fire their FBI directors. (New York Times)
3/ Trump vs. Comey: A timeline. Here's a timeline on the rupture between the president and the FBI director. (Washington Post)
4/ How cable news networks are reacting to Comey’s hearing. Coverage of former FBI director James Comey’s testimony looks about the same across cable news channels. A closeup of a Senator forming a question, a wide show of the room — there’s just not much to show on TV. (Washington Post)
How partisan media covered Comey’s hearing. These are the headlines from right-leaning and left-leaning news organizations. (Axios)
6/ Comey's Duty to Correct. The former FBI director’s insistence on setting the record straight may have cost Clinton the election and Comey his job—and now it’s costing Trump. (The Atlantic)
7/ Who are the senators asking Comey questions today? There are 15 full-time members of the committee — eight Republicans and seven Democrats — and the panel is considered to be one of the last bastions of bipartisanship on Capitol Hill. (Washington Post)
1/ Two intelligence chiefs repeatedly refused to say whether Trump asked them to intervene in the Russia probe during their public Senate intelligence committee testimony. Director of National Intelligence Dan Coats and National Security Agency Director Mike Rogers declined to discuss the specifics of private conversations they had with Trump and whether they had been asked to push back against an FBI probe into collusion between the campaign and the Russian government. Both hinted that they would share more information with senators privately. (CNN / Washington Post / Politico)
Democrats are furious at the evasive answers by Coats and Rogers during their Senate intelligence committee testimony. The two intelligence chiefs repeatedly said it wouldn't be appropriate to discuss their conversations with Trump in a public setting. Both indicated they might be more forthcoming in a classified setting, however. (CNN)
Senator tells the NSA chief: "What you feel isn’t relevant, admiral." Angus King became visibly frustrated after Mike Rogers repeatedly refused to answer questions about whether Trump tried to interfere in the FBI’s investigation before snapping. (The Hill)
2/ In March, Trump asked Dan Coats if he could get Comey to back off his investigation into Michael Flynn. The director of national intelligence chose not to step in, citing Trump's prodding as inappropriate. CIA Director Mike Pompeo, who was also present for Trump's request, declined to comment on the closed-door discussion. Trump had asked Comey to drop his investigation before he was fired in May. (Washington Post)
3/ Trump told Comey "I need loyalty, I expect loyalty" at a private White House dinner in January, according to Comey's prepared remarks, which were released ahead of his Senate Intelligence Committee testimony tomorrow. Comey said he thought the encounter was designed to "create some part of patronage relationship." Later, in March, Trump pressured Comey to “lift the cloud” put over the administration from the ongoing investigation and repeatedly asked Comey to announce that he was not personally under investigation. (Bloomberg / Washington Post / Politico / New York Times)
Comey’s seven-page written statement is the "most shocking single document compiled about the official conduct of the public duties of any President since the release of the Watergate tapes." Comey's statement makes no allegations and expresses no opinions, but instead recounts the set of facts Comey is prepared to testify on tomorrow. (Lawfare)
4/ Comey told Jeff Sessions he did not want to be left alone with Trump after the president pressured him to end his investigation into Michael Flynn. Comey confronted Sessions after the encounter, believing that the Justice Department should protect the FBI from White House influence, which it typically does to avoid the appearance of political meddling in law enforcement. (New York Times)
5/ Comey's role in the Russia probe has Trump "infuriated at a deep-gut, personal level," Newt Gingrich said. "He's not going to let some guy like that smear him without punching him as hard as he can." Trump's lawyers and aides have been urging him to resist engaging on Twitter, but are bracing for a worst-case scenario tomorrow: he ignores their advice and tweets his mind anyway. (Washington Post)
6/ Jeff Sessions offered to resign after a series of heated exchanges with Trump. Sessions wanted the freedom to do his job and is upset by Trump's tweets and comments about the Justice Department. Trump is still frustrated with Sessions' decision to recuse himself from the Russia probe, viewing the decision as a sign of weakness. (CNN / Wall Street Journal / New York Times)
7/ James Clapper: Watergate "pales" in comparison to the Trump-Russia scandal. The former US director of national intelligence added that Trump sharing intelligence with Putin was "very problematic" and said firing James Comey was "egregious and inexcusable." (The Guardian)
8/ Eric Trump says Democrats are "not even people" in an interview tirade with Sean Hannity. "I’ve never seen hatred like this. To me, they’re not even people. It’s so, so sad. Morality’s just gone, morals have flown out the window, and we deserve so much better than this as a country. You see the Democratic Party, they’re imploding. They’re imploding. They became obstructionists because they have no message of their own," he said before added that the head of the Democratic National Committee a "total whack job." (The Hill)
9/ Texas Democrat Al Green is drafting articles of impeachment against Trump, saying the president should be forced from office for firing James Comey in the middle of the bureau’s ongoing Russia investigation. (Politico)
10/ Trump's pick for FBI director blindsided White House staff and Congress, leaving much of his senior staff out of the loop before announcing he'd picked Christopher Wray on Twitter. At least six White House and senior officials said that they weren't aware of Trump's decision before his early morning tweet. Wray acted as Chris Christie’s personal attorney during the Bridgegate scandal. Trump called him a "man of impeccable credentials." (The Daily Beast / New York Times / NBC News / Politico)
I will be nominating Christopher A. Wray, a man of impeccable credentials, to be the new Director of the FBI. Details to follow.
11/ US investigators believe Russian hackers planted a fake news report in Qatar's state news agency. The Qatar News Agency attributed false remarks to the nation's ruler that appeared friendly to Iran and Israel and questioned whether Trump would last in office. In reaction, Qatar's neighbors, led by Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, cut off economic and political ties, causing a broader crisis. (CNN)
12/ Fox News host to Trump: "Fake news media" isn’t the issue. "It’s you." Neil Cavuto hit Trump for his criticism of how the media has covered his Twitter habits, saying "Mr. President, it’s not the fake news media that’s your problem. It’s you. It’s not just your tweeting, it’s your scapegoating. It’s your refusal to see that sometimes you’re the one who’s feeding your own beast and acting beastly with your own guys. Look at the critiques you’re now hearing from usually friendly and supportive allies as sort of like an intervention. Because firing off these angry missives and tweets risks your political discussion." (The Hill)
13/ North Korea condemned Trump’s decision to pull out of Paris accord, calling it "the height of egotism" and a “shortsighted and silly decision.” Despite its international isolation, even North Korea signed the Paris agreement. (Washington Post)
poll/ 61% say Trump fired Comey to protect himself and most think Trump is trying to interfere with official investigations of possible Russian influence in the 2016 election. (ABC News)
1/ Senate Republicans’ are aiming for a vote on their Obamacare repeal by the Fourth of July recess. Republican leaders are faced with two choices: craft a bill that can get 50 votes, or bring up a bill they know will fail in order to end the health care debate and move on to tax reform, demonstrating that Republicans are too divided. They're prepared to take a failed vote on the Obamacare repeal in order to "show them a body" and bring the seven-year quest to a definitive end. (Politico / Vox)
2/ Trump's frustration with Jeff Sessions grows, blaming him for the "watered down, politically correct version" of the travel ban. He's also upset with Sessions' decision to recuse himself from investigations related to the Russia probe. (New York Times)
3/ Eric Trump called the Trump-Russia collusion allegations the "greatest hoax of all time." He added that the investigation into possible coordination between his father’s presidential campaign and the Kremlin’s election meddling was a "witch hunt." (The Daily Beast / ABC News)
4/ Donald Trump shifted money from Eric Trump's kids cancer charity into his business. Eric Trump's charity golf event was supposed to use his family's golf course for free with most of the other costs donated, but the Trump Organization billed the charity for more than $1.2 million for its use. Golf charity experts say the listed expenses defy any reasonable cost justification for a one-day golf tournament. The "maneuver would appear to have more in common with a drug cartel's money-laundering operation than a charity's best-practices textbook." (Forbes)
5/ The contractor that leaked classified NSA documents on Russian hacking was charged by the Justice Department. Reality Leigh Winner, 25, is accused of "removing classified material from a government facility and mailing it to a news outlet." She leaked a top-secret NSA report showing that Russian military intelligence executed a cyberattack on at least one US voting software supplier last year. Winner faces up to 10 years in prison for leaking classified information. (CNN / Washington Post)
What we know about the leaked secret NSA report on Russia. (ABC News
6/ The Russian attacks on the election systems were broader and targeted more states than those detailed in yesterday's leaked intelligence report. The top Democrat on the Senate Intelligence Committee said, "I don't believe they got into changing actual voting outcomes." (USA Today)
7/ The acting US ambassador to China quit over Trump's climate policy, feeling unable to deliver the formal notification of the US decision to leave the agreement. (Reuters / CNN / NBC News)
8/ Scott Pruitt falsely claimed that "almost 50,000 jobs" have been added in coal. The actual gains were in "mining" jobs, which have nothing to do with coal. 1,000 coal jobs have been added since Trump became president. (Washington Post)
9/ Trump took credit for the $110 billion arms deal to Saudi Arabia that began in the Obama administration. Further, there is no deal: just letters of interest for "intended sales," but no contracts. (Brookings)
10/ He also appeared to take credit for the Gulf nations decision to cut diplomatic relations with Qatar, an important US ally. Qatar hosts one of the Pentagon's largest military bases in the Middle East and is a linchpin in the campaign against ISIS. (CNN / The Daily Beast)
During my recent trip to the Middle East I stated that there can no longer be funding of Radical Ideology. Leaders pointed to Qatar - look!
11/ Kids are quoting Trump to bully their classmates. There's been more than 50 incidents, across 26 states, where a white K-12 student used Trump's rhetoric to bully Latino, Middle Eastern, black, Asian, or Jewish classmates. Teachers don't know what to do about it. (BuzzFeed News)
12/ Comey will stop short of accusing Trump of obstructing justice in his congressional testimony, despite some legal experts saying Trump's requests could meet the legal definition of obstruction. Comey will also dispute Trump's assertion that Comey told him three times he is not under investigation. "He is not going to Congress to make accusations about the president’s intent, instead he’s there to share his concerns." (ABC News)
13/ Trump might live-tweet during Comey's testimony on Thursday. He "wants to be the messenger, his own warrior, his own lawyer, his own spokesman" and as such will directly respond to Comey on Twitter as the testimony is underway. "He wants to be the one driving the process." (CNBC / The Hill / Raw Story)
14/ Sean Spicer said Trump's tweets are official statements, but didn't indicate whether that included both of his Twitter handles: @realDonaldTrump and @POTUS. Regardless, the ACLU said they will use Trump's tweets to build their argument in the Supreme Court case on the travel ban. (CNN)
Yes, we may incorporate @realDonaldTrump's tweets about the ban into our Supreme Court argument.
The Knight First Amendment Institute asked Trump to unblock his critics on Twitter, saying his account is a “designated public forum” subject to the First Amendment and bars the government from excluding individuals from a public forum because of their views. (Knight First Amendment Institute at Columbia University )
1/ A top-secret NSA report shows Russian military intelligence executed a cyberattack on at least one US voting software supplier last year, sending spear-phishing emails to more than 100 local election officials just days before the election. The report indicates that Russian hacking penetrated further into voting systems than was previously understood and states unequivocally that it was Russian military intelligence that conducted the attacks. The NSA report is at odds with Putin’s denial that Russia had interfered in foreign elections: "We never engaged in that on a state level, and have no intention of doing so." (The Intercept)
2/ Putin denied having compromising information on Trump. During an interview with Megyn Kelly, Putin called the dossier of unverified information "just another load of nonsense." He added: "I haven’t seen, even once, any direct proof of Russian interference in the presidential election in the United States." Seventeen US intelligence agencies have concluded that Russia interfered with the election. (Politico / The Daily Beast)
3/ Even Trump's national security team was blindsided by his NATO speech. National security adviser H.R. McMaster, Defense Secretary James Mattis and Secretary of State Rex Tillerson had all urged Trump to explicitly reaffirm America’s commitment to the NATO mutual defense clause (known as Article 5) in his speech. Instead, Trump, along with Steve Bannon and policy aide Stephen Miller, made a last-minute decision to remove the commitment reference without consulting or informing McMaster, Mattis, or Tillerson. (Politico)
4/ Trump won't invoke his executive privilege to prevent Comey from testifying to Congress. Comey is scheduled to appear before the Senate Intelligence Committee on Thursday, testifying about conversations where Trump encouraged him to stop investigating Michael Flynn, as well as asking Comey to pledge his loyalty, which he declined to do. Legal experts said Trump had a weak case to invoke executive privilege, because he has publicly addressed his conversations with Comey, and any such move would carry serious political risks. (New York Times)
5/ Trump doubled down on his original travel ban, attacking the Justice Department for the "watered down" version now headed to the Supreme Court. Trump’s latest tweets undercut his own staff, who've insisted the order is not a travel ban. The administration rewrote his original order, which was thrown out by the courts, in an effort to pass legal muster. The second version was also rejected, but the administration appealed has since appealed it to the Supreme Court. Trump's called for the end to political correctness, saying terrorism "will only get worse" if the US doesn’t "get smart" and reinstate his travel ban. Legal analysts said Trump is undermining his own case. (New York Times / Politico / Washington Post)
People, the lawyers and the courts can call it whatever they want, but I am calling it what we need and what it is, a TRAVEL BAN!
Trump ramps up his push for a "TRAVEL BAN!" as opposition emerges from Republican and Democratic lawmakers. In a series of tweets, Trump circled back on his push for the travel ban in the wake of Saturday’s terrorist attack in London. (Washington Post)
6/ While world leaders called for unity after the London attack, Trump tweeted the complete opposite. Before London police had linked the attack to terrorism, or released any information on the identities, ethnicities or nationalities of the suspects, Trump retweeted an unsourced blurb from Drudge – "Fears of new terror attack after van 'mows down 20 people' on London Bridge" – and then started promoting his travel ban. (Washington Post)
We need to be smart, vigilant and tough. We need the courts to give us back our rights. We need the Travel Ban as an extra level of safety!
Trump’s tweets strain foreign ties, as he wasted little time defending his travel ban and attacking the mayor of London as not being tough on terrorism. (New York Times)
Trump can’t be counted on to give accurate information to Americans when violent acts are unfolding abroad. A look at some of his weekend tweets about the London attack and rhetoric that came from the president and his aides about climate change and more last week. (Associated Press)
Conway's husband rips Trump for "travel ban" tweets. (The Hill)
7/ A Louisiana Congressman proposed an extreme solution to the London terror attacks: kill any suspected radical Muslim. Representative Clay Higgins wrote on his Facebook page that "all of Christendom… is at war with Islamic horror" and that "not a single radicalized Islamic suspect should be granted any measure of quarter" and their "entry to the American homeland should be summarily denied. Every conceivable measure should be engaged to hunt them down. Hunt them, identity them, and kill them.” He concluded that the only appropriate solution was to “Kill them all. For the sake of all that is good and righteous. Kill them all.” (Facebook / Mother Jones)
8/ Jeff Sessions and Rod Rosenstein never told Comey they were uneasy with his "deeply troubling" and "serious mistakes" before they fired him. The former FBI director is "angry" they failed to flag their concerns and he wants the public to understand why when he testifies publicly this week about his axing, and alleged collusion between Trump associates and the Russian government. (ABC News)
Conservatives question Comey’s credibility ahead of his Senate hearing. “I don’t know that he’s credible with facts. He hasn’t been credible so far.” (McClatchy DC)
The Comey hearing consumes Washington ahead of his appearance before the Senate Intelligence Committee on Thursday and speculation grows on whether the ousted FBI director’s remarks could further damage Trump. (Politico)
9/ The Republican-controlled House Intelligence Committee asked to unmask organizations and individuals related to Russian meddling in the 2016 election. The requests came last year and required sign-off by Nunes, who's the chairman of the committee. Both Nunes and Trump have called unmasking an abuse of surveillance powers by the Obama administration. (Washington Post)
poll/ Trump's job approval rating drops to 36% with 58% of Americans disapproving of his performance. (Gallup / CNN)
poll/ Nearly 6 in 10 oppose Trump's scrapping of the Paris agreement. 59% of Americans oppose the decision to withdraw, saying the move will damage the United States’ global leadership, while 28% in support the decision. (Washington Post)
1/ Trump asked the Supreme Court to revive his travel ban, appealing a ruling by the 4th Circuit that upheld a nationwide halt on the ban. The move sets up a showdown over a "president’s authority to make national security judgments in the name of protecting Americans from terrorism." (Washington Post / New York Times / CNN)
2/ Cities, states, and companies are banding together to form a climate alliance. Washington, California, and New York – representing about a fifth of the US economy – have formed the United States Climate Alliance, which will serve as a way for states interested in dealing with climate change to coordinate. At least 80 mayors, three governors, more than 80 university presidents, and more than 100 businesses are preparing to submit a plan to the UN pledging to meet the United States’ greenhouse gas emission target, despite Trump’s decision to withdraw from the agreement. (New York Times / Washington Post / Politico / NBC News)
Climate Mayors commit to adopt, honor and uphold Paris Climate Agreement goals. 83 Mayors representing 40 million Americans, we will adopt, honor, and uphold the commitments to the goals enshrined in the Paris Agreement. (Climate Mayors)
Rex Tillerson said the US will likely to continue to reduce greenhouse gas emissions despite exiting the Paris climate change agreement. Trump has started to roll back nearly all of Obama’s climate change policies, including the limits on greenhouse and methane gas emissions. (The Hill)
3/ Michael Bloomberg pledges $15 million to help foot the Paris Climate Agreement bill. Bloomberg Philanthropies and its partners will cover part of the United States' share of the operating budget. Trump's budget could cut as much as $2 billion in funding for UN climate change programs as a result of leaving the Paris agreement. (CNN Money)
4/ The White House ordered federal agencies to ignore Democrats’ oversight requests, fearing the information could be weaponized against Trump. The goal is to choke off the Democratic congressional minorities from asking questions of the administration intended to embarrass or attack the president. (Politico)
5/ US intelligence agencies formally asked the Justice Department to investigate Russia-related leaks. As many as six recent leaks have been formally referred to the DOJ for criminal investigation. (ABC News)
6/ The Russia probe now includes a grand jury investigation into Michael Flynn. Robert Mueller's investigation is looking into Flynn’s paid work as a lobbyist for a Turkish businessman and contacts between Russian officials and Flynn and other Trump associates during and after the election. (Reuters)
7/ Mueller's also assumed oversight of the ongoing Paul Manafort investigation and could expand to include Jeff Sessions. Manafort was forced to resign as Trump campaign chairman related to business dealings years ago in Ukraine, which predated the 2016 counterintelligence probe into possible collusion between Moscow and Trump associates. Sessions role in the decision to fire Comey could also come under investigation. (Associated Press)
8/ The Trump team wanted to lift sanctions on Russia when he took office, but career diplomats pressured Congress to block the move. Bipartisan legislation was introduced in February to bar the administration from granting sanctions relief without a congressional review. The proposed bill was shelved six days later when Flynn resigned, making it "clear that if they lifted sanctions, there would be a political firestorm." (Yahoo News / NBC News)
9/ Hurricane season started yesterday with nobody in charge at FEMA or NOAA. The agencies that oversee the government's weather forecasting and response to disasters are both leaderless nearly five months after Trump was sworn in. Forecasters say the 2017 Atlantic hurricane season could bring "above-normal" storm activity. (NPR)
10/ At least one Republican senator thinks a health care deal is unlikely this year. At least three conservative Republicans are opposed to the health care goals of three moderate Republicans, making the path to 50 votes difficult despite Republicans controlling 52 seats in the Senate. (Wall Street Journal)
11/ Trump appoints a new CIA Iran chief, signaling a more aggressive line toward Iran. Michael D’Andrea oversaw the hunt for Osama bin Laden and the American drone strike campaign, and "perhaps no single CIA official is more responsible for weakening Al Qaeda." (New York Times)
The Trump administration is returning copies of the CIA torture report. The return of the report to the Senate committee “is extremely disturbing on a number of levels" and raises the possibility that copies of the 6,700-page report could be locked in Senate vaults for good. (New York Times)
1/ Trump pulled the US from the Paris climate accord, prioritizing the economy over the environment and global alliances. Trump will stick to the process laid out in the Paris agreement, which will take about four years to complete, leaving a final decision up to American voters in the 2020 election. Trump said the US will "begin negotiations to reenter the Paris accord" to "see if we can make a deal that's fair. And if we can, that's great." He argued that the Paris agreement would “punish” Americans by instituting “onerous energy restrictions” that stymie economic growth, while leaders around the world said the exit from the accord is an irresponsible abdication of American leadership. The US is the world's #2 greenhouse-gas producer, and would have accounted for 21% of the total emissions reduced by the accord through 2030. All but two countries — Nicaragua and Syria — signed onto the 2015 accord. (New York Times / Associated Press / Washington Post / Politico / NPR)
White House Memo:
"The Paris Accord is a BAD deal for Americans, and the President’s action today is keeping his campaign promise to put American workers first. The Accord was negotiated poorly by the Obama Administration and signed out of desperation."
Al Gore on Trump's withdrawal from the Paris Agreement: “Removing the United States from the Paris Agreement is a reckless and indefensible action. It undermines America’s standing in the world and threatens to damage humanity’s ability to solve the climate crisis in time. (Al Gore)
Obama: The Trump administration joins a "handful of nations that reject the future," adding the accord "opened the floodgates" to jobs as opposed to being the economic drag Trump has cast it as. (ABC News)
Elon Musk quits Trump's advisory council in response to the US withdrawing from the Paris climate accord. (The Daily Beast)
Am departing presidential councils. Climate change is real. Leaving Paris is not good for America or the world.
2/ Germany, France and Italy respond: The Paris deal cannot be renegotiated. "We deem the momentum generated in Paris in December 2015 irreversible and we firmly believe that the Paris Agreement cannot be renegotiated since it is a vital instrument for our planet, societies and economies," the leaders of the three countries said in a joint statement. (Reuters)
3/ Congress is examining whether Jeff Sessions had a third undisclosed meeting with Russia's ambassador Sergey Kislyak during the presidential campaign. During his confirmation hearing on January 10, Sessions testified that he "did not have any communications with the Russians" during the campaign. In March, reports emerged that Sessions met with Kislyak in July and September. He insisted those meetings were part of Senate duties and not the campaign. (CNN)
4/ Senators had asked Comey to investigate Sessions for possible perjury before he was fired by Trump. "We are concerned about Attorney General Sessions' lack of candor to the committee and his failure thus far to accept responsibility for testimony that could be construed as perjury," Senators Patrick Leahy and Al Franken wrote to Comey in their first request. The Senators sent requests to Comey and, later, acting FBI Director Andrew McCabe in three letters dated March 20, April 28 and May 12. (CNN)
5/ Putin insists Russia never engaged in hacking, but praised Trump's lack of political background as a good thing. Putin denied any state role, but acknowledged that some individual "patriotically minded" private Russian hackers could have mounted an attack. He added that Trump is "a straightforward person, a frank person," which is a political advantage because "he has a fresh set of eyes." (Associated Press / New York Times)
6/ The former pro-Brexit Ukip leader is a "person of interest" in the FBI investigation into Trump and Russia. Nigel Farage's relationships with both the Trump campaign and WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange has raised the interest of the FBI. “If you triangulate Russia, WikiLeaks, Assange and Trump associates the person who comes up with the most hits is Nigel Farage. He’s right in the middle of these relationships." (The Guardian)
7/ The administration is considering returning two Russian diplomatic compounds in NYC and Maryland, which were closed by Obama as punishment for interference in the election. The Trump administration told the Russians that it would give the properties back to Moscow if it would lift the freeze on construction of a new US consulate in St. Petersburg. (Washington Post)
8/ The White House will stop answering questions about the Trump-Russia investigation. Spicer told reporters that any future questions about the investigation would be addressed by Trump's personal lawyer. (The Hill)
9/ The federal government now requires US visa applicants to provide their last five years' worth of social media handles, email addresses and phone numbers. They must also provide 15 years of biographical information including addresses, employment and travel history. (Reuters)
10/ Trump exempted his entire senior staff from his own ethics rules, allowing them to work with political and advocacy groups that support the administration. Conway, for instance, can now communicate and meet with organizations that previously employed her consulting firm, while Bannon can talk with Breitbart News, which he chaired until last year. The White House said that the waivers were in the public interest because the administration needed appointees' expertise on certain issues. (The Daily Beast / Washington Post)
11/ Comey will testify before the Senate Intelligence Committee next Thursday as long as Trump doesn't block him. Trump could invoke executive privilege and try to prevent testimony from Comey, who is expected to be asked about several conversations he had with Trump. Presidents have a constitutional right to keep discussions a secret in many instances. However, Trump has made it difficult to assert executive privilege by repeatedly and publicly referring to his conversations with Comey. A public session will be held in the morning, followed by a private briefing. (New York Times / Politico)
poll/ A majority of Americans in every state say that the US should participate in the Paris Climate Agreement. 69% of all voters say the US should participate in the agreement, while 47% of Trump voters want the US to participate. (Yale - Climate Change in the American Mind)
1/ Trump will withdraw from the Paris climate deal. A small team is now deciding on whether to initiate a full withdrawal, which could take 3 years, or exit the underlying United Nations climate change treaty, which would be a faster, more extreme move. World leaders, the Pope, major oil companies, and even Ivanka and Kushner have pushed Trump to stay in the deal. (Axios / Politico / New York Times)
UN Secretary-General on climate change: "Get on board or get left behind." (Axios)
2/ Elon Musk threatens to leave Trump's advisory councils if the US exits the Paris climate deal. He joins twenty-five leading tech companies who signed a letter arguing in favor of climate pact that is set to run as a full-page ad in the New York Times and Wall Street Journal tomorrow. (Bloomberg / Politico / The Verge)
Don't know which way Paris will go, but I've done all I can to advise directly to POTUS, through others in WH & via councils, that we remain
3/ Comey will testify publicly about Trump pressuring him to end his investigation into Flynn's ties to Russia. Comey will appear before the Senate Intelligence Committee and is expected to confirm that Trump confronted him over the Russia investigations. Mueller and Comey discussed parameters to ensure his testimony won’t hurt the special counsel’s investigation. It will be Comey's first time speaking in public since Trump unexpectedly fired him. (CNN / Wall Street Journal)
4/ The House Intelligence Committee issued seven subpoenas. Four are related to the Russia investigation – Michael Flynn and Trump's personal attorney Michael Cohen, and their businesses. The other three – to NSA, FBI, CIA – are related to how and why the names of Trump's associates were "unmasked." (Wall Street Journal)
5/ Al Franken: "everything points to" collusion between Trump's campaign and the Russians. "My feeling is that there was some cooperation between the Trump campaign and the Russians," the Minnesota Democrat said. (Bloomberg)
6/ The Russia probe has slowed Trump’s effort to fill hundreds of vacant jobs across the federal government. The growing scandal is scaring off candidates and distracting aides from finding new recruits. The White House has announced nominees for just 117 of the 559 most important Senate-confirmed positions. (Politico)
7/ Trump's top advisers claim he backed NATO's Article 5, despite never explicitly doing so during his speech to NATO last week. In a Wall Street Journal op-ed by the national security adviser and director of the national economic council, they wrote that by "reconfirming America’s commitment to NATO and Article 5, the president challenged our allies to share equitably the responsibility for our mutual defense." (Wall Street Journal)
8/ Paul Ryan appointed a controversial cancer doctor to a Health and Human Services committee, which will advise the Trump administration on policy around health information technology. Patrick Soon-Shiong leads a network of for-profit and not-for-profit ventures researching cancer. The problem: the majority of the expenditures of his nonprofits flow to his for-profit businesses, raising questions about potential conflicts of interest. (Politico)
9/ Trump didn't expect so much "covfefe" of his midnight tweet. The big guy fired off "…negative press covfefe" just before going to bed. Six hours later, he corrected the mistake, but not before becoming a worldwide joke on social media. So much for letting his lawyers vet his tweets. (Associated Press)
Sean Spicer offered a cryptic explanation for Trump’s incomplete, misspelled tweet that went viral overnight: "The president and a small group of people know exactly what he meant." (The Hill)
10/ Meanwhile, Trump's been asking world leaders to call him on his cellphone, breaking protocol and raising concerns about the security and secrecy of his communications. (Associated Press)
11/ Jared Kushner built a luxury skyscraper using loans designed to benefit projects in poor, job-starved areas. Working with state officials in New Jersey, they defined a district that included some of the city's poorest and most crime-ridden neighborhoods, but excluded wealthy neighborhoods blocks away, allowing Kushner Companies and its partners to get $50 million in low-cost financing. While not illegal, critics liken it to the gerrymandering of legislative districts. (Washington Post)
poll/ 8% think GOP health care bill should pass. Nearly half of consumers say that their cost of health care will be "worse" under the American Health Care Act, compared to 16% who think the cost will be "better" and 36% who feel it will be "about the same." (CNN Money)
poll/ 43% want Congress to begin impeachment proceedings, but most don't believe that Trump is actually guilty of an impeachable offense, like treason, bribery or obstructing justice. (Politico)
1/ Russians discussed having potentially "derogatory" information about the Trump team during the campaign. Intercepted communications suggest that the Russians believed "they had the ability to influence the administration through the derogatory information." (CNN)
2/ Michael Flynn will turn over some business records to the Senate Intelligence Committee. Flynn initially refused to cooperate with a Senate subpoena, claiming his constitutional right against self incrimination. The committee then subpoenaed records from two of his businesses, which cannot be shielded by the Fifth Amendment. (Wall Street Journal)
3/ The Russia investigation now includes Trump's personal attorney. Michael Cohen turned down invitations from the House and Senate investigators "to provide information and testimony" about any contacts he had with people connected to the Russian government. He said he'll "gladly" testify if Congress subpoenas him. (ABC News / CNN / New York Times)
4/ Investigators are examining why Kushner met with a Russian banker during the transition and what they wanted from each other. It is not clear if Kushner wanted to use the banker as a go-between or whether it was part of the effort to establish a direct, secure line to Putin. The banker, Sergey Gorkov, is a close associate of Putin. (New York Times)
5/ James Clapper says Russia "absolutely" meddled in the 2016 election. The former director of national intelligence said there has never been a case of election interference more aggressive than what happened in 2016. He added, however, that it's unclear if the "interference actually affected the outcome of the election." (CNN)
Russian officials must be laughing at the U.S. & how a lame excuse for why the Dems lost the election has taken over the Fake News.
6/ Kellyanne Conway called Kushner's Russian backchannel "regular course of business." Former national security officials have said that backchannels are out of the norm for a presidential transition and that could possibly be illegal. (Politico)
7/ Trump called for the Senate to end the filibuster so his agenda could pass “fast and easy.” Eliminating the filibuster would allow legislation to pass with a simple majority (51 votes), rather than the 60 votes currently needed for a bill to pass the Senate. (The Hill)
The U.S. Senate should switch to 51 votes, immediately, and get Healthcare and TAX CUTS approved, fast and easy. Dems would do it, no doubt!
8/ The White House communication director resigned after three months. Mike Dubke’s exit comes as Trump weighs larger staff changes in an effort to contain the deepening Russia scandal. Dubke stepped down as communications director on May 18, but offered to stay through Trump's first foreign trip, which just ended. (Politico / Axios)
9/ Intelligence briefings must be short and full of "killer graphics" in Trump's administration. The daily briefings are so casual and visually driven – maps, charts, pictures, and videos – that the CIA director and director of national intelligence are worried Trump may not be retaining all the intelligence he is presented. Rank-and-file staffers are "very worried about how do you deal with him and about sharing with him sensitive material." (Washington Post)
10/ A Texas lawmaker threatened to shoot a colleague after reporting protesters to ICE. Representative Matt Rinaldi called ICE on "several illegal immigrants" after seeing signs in the gallery at the State Capitol that read, "I am illegal and here to stay." Rinaldi then threatened to shoot a lawmaker who objected. (New York Times / NPR)
11/ Trump called for more spending on health care so it’s "the best anywhere." Trump's budget proposal from last week called for cuts between $800 billion and $1.4 trillion in future spending on Medicaid, in addition to cuts in healthcare programs for low-income children. His budget did not propose new healthcare spending. (Washington Post)
I suggest that we add more dollars to Healthcare and make it the best anywhere. ObamaCare is dead - the Republicans will do much better!
12/ Trump is expected to roll back Obamacare's birth control coverage for religious employers. The White House is reviewing a draft rule to provide "conscience-based objections to the preventive-care mandate," which would undo the required free contraception requirement from the Affordable Care Act. (New York Times / Washington Post)
13/ Trump's budget proposal wants the poor to work for their government benefits by enabling states to apply for waivers to add work requirements. Currently, states can't force Medicaid recipients to work. While the food stamp program contains an employment requirement, it is often waived. Both would change if the budget is passed. (CNN Money)
1/ Trump is considering big changes at the White House in an effort to contain the escalating Russia investigation that threatens to consume his presidency. “Everything is in play,” an advisor said. Trump may bring back a trio of former campaign officials (Corey Lewandowski, David Bossie and David Urban) to handle communications and political duties related to the Russia investigation, and – shockingly – he's even considering having lawyers vet his tweets. (Wall Street Journal / Washington Post)
2/ Kushner wanted a secret communications channel with the Kremlin so Michael Flynn could discuss strategy in Syria and other security issues directly with senior military officials in Moscow. The channel was never set up, but was proposed by Kushner during an early December meeting at Trump Tower with ambassador Sergey Kislyak. Kushner suggested using Russian diplomatic facilities in the US for the communications. (Washington Post / New York Times)
Kushner had at least three previously undisclosed contacts with the Russian ambassador to the US during and after the 2016 presidential campaign, including two phone calls between April and November last year. Kushner's attorney said his client did not remember any calls with Kislyak between April and November. (Reuters)
In December Kushner met with Sergey Gorkov, a Russian banker and "Putin crony" who is also graduate of a "finishing school" for spies. (NBC News)
3/ Trump has "total confidence" in Jared Kushner, despite coming under fire that he tried to create backchannel with Russia to shield the Trump team from public view. Some Democrats are calling for Trump to revoke Kushner’s security clearances. (New York Times)
4/ National security adviser: "I would not be concerned" by backchannel communications with Russia. H.R. McMaster didn't specifically comment on the controversy surrounding Kushner. (CNN)
5/ Kushner is under pressure to "lay low" and take a leave of absence from the White House amid reports that he is under FBI scrutiny. (NBC News / The Hill)
NEW: @jonkarl: People close to the president are saying it might be time for Jared Kushner to take a leave of absence from the White House. pic.twitter.com/pIgqkNJNx1
7/ The Senate Intelligence Committee wants all of Trump's Russia-related documents, emails and phone records going back to his campaign’s launch in June 2015. It's the first time that Trump’s official campaign structure has been drawn into the Senate committee’s ongoing bipartisan investigation. (Washington Post)
8/ The Trump campaign likely didn’t preserve digital documents. "You’d be giving us too much credit," a former aide said. "The idea of document retention did not come up. The idea of some formal structure did not come up." Failure to keep track of emails, messages and other records could expose Trump’s current and former aides to criminal charges down the line. (Politico)
9/ A Russian oligarch with ties to Paul Manafort wants immunity for cooperating with congressional intelligence committees. The Senate and House panels turned him down because of concerns that immunity agreements will complicate federal criminal investigations. The two did business together in the mid-2000s, when Manafort was providing campaign advice to Kremlin-backed politicians in Ukraine. Oleg Deripaska is a member of Putin's inner circle. (New York Times)
10/ Trump privately said he plans to leave the Paris agreement on climate change, despite his public position that he hasn't made up his mind. Leaving the Paris agreement is the biggest thing Trump could do to unwind Obama's climate policies and signal to the rest of the world that climate change isn't a priority for his administration. (Axios)
I will make my final decision on the Paris Accord next week!
Exxon CEO urges Trump to keep the US in the Paris climate agreement in a personal letter. (The Financial Times)
11/ Angela Merkel: Europe can no longer "completely depend" on the US after G7 leaders failed to persuade Trump to back the Paris climate accord. "There are no signs of whether the US will stay in the Paris accords or not," Merkel said. (New York Times)
12/ Trump tweets that North Korea's latest ballistic missile test showed "great disrespect" to China. North Korea fired a short-range ballistic missile that landed in the Sea of Japan. (The Hill)
North Korea has shown great disrespect for their neighbor, China, by shooting off yet another ballistic missile...but China is trying hard!
1/ Comey acted on Russian information he knew was fake for fear that if it became public it would undermine the probe into Hillary Clinton's email and the Justice Department. The Russian intelligence claimed that then-Attorney General Lynch had been compromised and suggested she would make the FBI investigation of Clinton go away. If the Russians had released the information publicly, there would be no way for law enforcement and intelligence officials to discredit it without burning their sources and methods. (CNN)
2/ Jared Kushner is now a focus in the Russia investigation. Kushner is being investigated for possible coordination between the Kremlin and the Trump campaign to influence the 2016 presidential election, as well as possible financial crimes. (Washington Post / NBC News)
Kushner is willing to cooperate with investigators. Kushner had meetings last year with Russian ambassador Sergey Kislyak and Russian banker Sergey Gorkov. (Bloomberg)
3/ Trump called the Germans "bad, very bad" for selling a lot of cars in the US. He vowed to block German car exports to the US at a meeting with EU leaders, ignoring the fact that many “foreign” cars are actually made in the US, while many “American” cars are made in Canada and Mexico. (Der Spiegel / Slate)
4/ The FBI won’t provide Comey's memos to Congress, until it consults with Robert Mueller, the new special counsel overseeing the Russia investigation. (Politico)
5/ Senate Republicans are considering a plan to push the Obamacare repeal to 2020. They're weighing a two-step process to replace Obamacare, as they seek to draft a more modest version than a House plan. (Bloomberg)
McConnell may have been right that it may be too hard to replace Obamacare. The meetings Republicans have held to discuss a Senate health care bill have exposed deep issues within the party. (New York Times)
6/ Trump told Macron that he did not back Marine Le Pen, contrary to media reports saying he liked the far-right leader. He added: "You were my guy." (Reuters)
7/ John Boehner on Trump: "everything else he's done has been a complete disaster," other than getting the House to pass the health care bill. The former house speaker went on to say that Trump is "still learning how to be president." (CNN)
1/ Trump's prepping for a years-long war under the cloud of a special investigation. The White House is "getting street fighters ready to go" with legal, surrogate, communications, and rapid-response teams as part of a "new normal." With Trump on tour in the Middle East and Europe, Steve Bannon and Reince Priebus are at home, putting in place the means to keep his agenda moving ahead and avoid "paralysis." (Axios / Politico)
2/ Trump chastises "obsolete" NATO about how it's "not fair" some members don't pay their share. He lectured 23 of the 28 member for what he called their "chronic underpayments" to the military alliance. The mutual defense pledge requires nations to contribute at least 2% of their GDP. (ABC News / New York Times / Washington Post)
3/ A federal appeals court will not reinstate Trump’s revised travel ban, saying it "drips with religious intolerance, animus and discrimination." The 4th Circuit Court of Appeals upheld the injunction, saying the executive order violated the First Amendment’s ban on government establishment of religion – In this case singling out Muslims. (New York Times / Politico)
4/ Macron out-Trumps Trump in "fierce" handshake duel. Editor's note: The descriptions are too good to summarize, so I'm quoting in full:
From the Washington Post: "…the two men shook hands for six long seconds. Their knuckles turned white, their jaws clenched and their faces tightened. Trump reached in first, but then he tried to release, twice, but Macron kept his grip until letting go." (Washington Post)
From Bloomberg: "Trump’s trick is to go in strong and then hold on just slightly too long, often pulling the other man toward him. Meeting Macron for the first time before a NATO summit in Brussels, Trump went in firm as usual. But this time, it was Trump – not Macron – who tried to back out first. Macron simply wouldn’t let go as Trump tried to pull back once, and then flexed his fingers straight to get out. On the second try, he was able to pull away." (Bloomberg)
5/ A group of 22 Republican senators are urging Trump to exit the Paris climate deal. They say the provisions in the Clean Air Act and the Paris agreement would create "significant litigation risk," which puts fully rescinding the Clean Power Plan in danger. (Axios)
6/ Paul Manafort remained in contact and continued to advise the Trump team even after the FBI launched its Russia probe. Manafort called Priebus a week before the inauguration to tell him the dossier by a former British spy that alleged Russia had compromising information on Trump and his associates was "garbage." Manafort was forced to resign as Trump’s campaign chairman due to his ties to Kremlin-aligned politicians in Europe. (Politico)
Russians had discussed how to influence Trump advisors last summer. Specifically, Paul Manafort and Michael Flynn, who both had close ties to Russia. It's unclear if Russian officials attempted to influence either. (New York Times)
7/ Sessions was advised not to disclose his meetings with Russian officials when he applied for security clearance. Democratic lawmakers are demanding for Sessions’s resignation. "He’s lied under oath," Senator Kamala Harris said. "He’s misled on security clearance forms. It’s simple — he should not be the Attorney General." (New York Times)
He's lied under oath. He's misled on security clearance forms. It's simple - he should not be the Attorney General. https://t.co/JKUdHUWVdg
8/ Reince Priebus is sweating Comey's secret memos. Three White House officials said Priebus has expressed worry about a memo involving one of their chats, and how it might play in the press and to investigators. (The Daily Beast)
9/ A Montana GOP House candidate was charged with assault after "body-slamming" a journalist. Greg Gianforte grabbed the reporter by the neck with both hands, slammed him into the ground, and then began punching the reporter. Misdemeanor charges were filed against Gianforte, who was "sick and tired of this!" – "this" being a question. (The Guardian / Fox News)
Transcript of the "body-slam" audio. (The Atlantic)
10/ A Mar-A-Lago employee is doing work for Trump's foreign trip. The guest reception manager at Trump's "Winter White House" is in Italy helping Trump’s logistics team. (BuzzFeed News)
11/ Lieberman withdraws from consideration for FBI Director job. Once considered the front-runner to replace James Comey, he's formally withdrawn citing the appearance of a conflict of interest now that Trump’s tapped his boss, attorney Marc Kasowitz, as outside counsel in the Russia investigation. (Wall Street Journal / Politico / ABC News)
12/ Trump condemned "leaks of sensitive information" after complaints From Britain. Manchester police said they would no longer share details of the investigation with the US after crime-scene photos and suspected bomber's name were leaked to American media. (New York Times / Washington Post)
poll/ 40% approve of Trump job performance, with 53% disapproving. Pence, meanwhile, clocks in at a 42% approval to 43% disapproval rating. (The Hill)
1/ Trump called Kim Jong Un a "madman with nuclear weapons," days before stating publicly that he would be "honored" to meet with Kim. In an April 29 call with Philippines President Rodrigo Duterte, Trump asked for his input on whether Kim is "stable or not stable." Duterte has been accused of presiding over the extrajudicial killing of thousands of drug dealers and users. (Washington Post)
2/ The US has two nuclear submarines off the coast of North Korea, Trump told Duterte during last month's call. He revealed that “we have a lot of firepower over there. We have two submarines — the best in the world. We have two nuclear submarines, not that we want to use them at all." (New York Times)
3/ The Pentagon is in shock that Trump told Duterte about the submarines. The Pentagon never talks about the location of submarines on the belief that stealth is key to their mission. (BuzzFeed News)
4/ Trump congratulated Duterte for doing an "unbelievable job" in his war on drugs, where the government has allowed extrajudicial killing for drug dealers and users. "You are a good man," Trump told Duterte. "Keep up the good work." The State Department’s human rights report calls the Philippines "disregard for human rights and due process" one of the "most significant human rights problems." (The Intercept / Politico)
Transcript: Trump's call with Duterte. (DocumentCloud)
5/ Pope Francis urged Trump to meet US commitments on climate change. He gave Trump copy of his 2015 encyclical (a type of papal document used for significant or important issues) calling for urgent, drastic cuts in fossil-fuel emissions. Trump has called climate change a hoax perpetrated by the Chinese. (Bloomberg)
6/ Jeff Sessions did not disclose meetings with Russian officials when he applied for his security clearance. Sessions met with Russian Ambassador Sergey Kislyak at least twice last year, but didn't failed to note those interactions on the security clearance form. (CNN)
7/ The House Intelligence Committee will subpoena Michael Flynn after he declined to appear before the panel. Flynn already rejected requests from the Senate Intelligence Committee for a list of his contacts with Russian officials, invoking his Fifth Amendments rights against self-incrimination. (Reuters / Associated Press / Politico)
Flynn hit with two Senate Intelligence Committee subpoenas and risks being held in contempt of Congress if he doesn't comply. (ABC News)
8/ Trump lawyers up and retains Marc Kasowitz for the Russia investigation. Related, former Connecticut Senator Joseph Lieberman joined Kasowitz' law firm in 2013 and was Trump's top choice for the FBI director job. The administration hit the reset button on the search today, wanting to see a broader list of candidates. (NBC News / CNN)
9/ Trump's hotels are failing to track payments received from foreign governments despite his promise to donate all profits back to the Treasury. A Trump Organization policy suggests that it is up to foreign governments, not Trump hotels, to determine whether they self-report their business. (NBC News)
10/ The House health care bill would leave 23 million more uninsured by 2026, the Congressional Budget Office projected. If passed, 14 million people would lose insurance next year and would make coverage less comprehensive than it is now for those still insured. The Senate has already said it will make substantial changes to the measure passed by the House. (New York Times / Washington Post / Politico / Bloomberg)
11/ Mitch McConnell on Obamacare: "I don't know how we get to 50 (votes)." The Senate Majority Leader has not asked the White House for input on the legislation being crafted to dismantle Obamacare. McConnell has promised to undo Obamacare "root and branch," but Congress and the White House have struggled to come up with a consensus plan despite controlling both branches of government. (Reuters)
12/ Ben Carson called poverty "a state of mind." He said he believes that government can provide a "helping hand" for people to climb out of poverty, but warned against programs that are "sustaining them in a position of poverty." (Washington Post)
13/ Democrats flipped seats in two districts that voted for Trump. The new legislature seats in New York and New Hampshire won't change the balance of power, but may signal a change in the country's political climate. (HuffPost)
Poll/ 65% of voters believe there is a lot of fake news in the mainstream media. 84% of voters said it's hard to know what news to believe online. (Editor's Suggestion: Get the fuck off Facebook.) (The Hill)
1/ Trump's first budget can be summed up like this: Cuts for the poor. The budget would boost defense spending by $54 billion for the next fiscal year and another $2.6 billion for new border security measures, including $1.6 billion to build the border wall. Medicaid, food assistance and other anti-poverty and welfare programs – which provide benefits for up to a fifth of all Americans – would be cut by more than $1 trillion. Spending overall would be reduced by $3.6 trillion over 10 years. Trump’s budget is based on sustained growth above 3%, much higher than the expectations of most private economists. (CNN Money / Washington Post / New York Times / Associated Press / NBC News)
By The Numbers:
State Department – 29.1% decrease
Homeland Security – 6.8% increase
Department of Education – 13.5% decrease
EPA – 31.4% decrease
Department of Transportation – 12.7% decrease
Department of Defense – 10.1% increase
Department of Housing and Urban Development – 13.2% decrease
Republicans say the White House has gone too far with its proposed cuts to programs that help the poor. (Washington Post)
Trump's first budget proposal calls on Congress to spend $4.1 trillion next year, a little more than what is being spent this year. But it would greatly reallocate where many federal funds go: spend more on defense, border security, and infrastructure, but cut safety nets and domestic programs that focus on everything from the environment and education to student loans and scientific research. (CNN Money)
Which budgets would see the biggest cuts – or boosts? Only three departments would see increases in their budgets. (NPR)
Trump wants to sell off half of the US strategic oil reserve in order to trim the national debt. By draining the Strategic Petroleum Reserve, Trump's would raise $500 million in fiscal year 2018 and as much as $16.6 billion in oil sales over the next decade. (Bloomberg)
2/ Trump's budget will hit his own voters the hardest. The budget blueprint cuts taxes for the wealthy, boosts defense spending, and reduces programs for the poor and disabled – potentially hurting many of the rural and low-income Americans who voted him into office. (Politico)
3/ The budget is based on a $2 trillion math error. It appears Trump is double counting the benefits of economic growth: Once to offset the effects of lower tax rates and a second time to help close the budget deficit. (Wall Street Journal / New York Magazine)
4/ Russia may have successfully recruited Trump campaign aides and "brazenly" interfered in the election. John Brennan, the Former CIA Director, told the House Intelligence Committee that there was a “very aggressive” effort to intervene in the 2016 campaign, which he warned his counterpart in Russian intelligence about. Brennan said he didn't know if the Trump campaign colluded with Russia, but his confirmation that there was contact undermines Trump’s account of his campaign’s links to Russia. (Politico / Wall Street Journal / New York Times / Associated Press)
5/ Flynn was hit with two new subpoenas by the Senate Intelligence Committee in an effort to compel him to turn over documents about his contacts with Russian officials. Flynn invoked the Fifth Amendment in response to the previous subpoena attempt. The new subpoenas are aimed at Flynn's businesses, believing they can't plead the Fifth. (Politico)
6/ Comey's public House Oversight Committee testimony postponed. He wants to speak with Robert Mueller first, who is investigating the ties between Russia and the presidential election campaign. Comey is also expected to testify before the Senate Judiciary Committee on the Russia probe later this month. (Reuters)
7/ ISIS claimed responsibility for the Manchester attack; Trump calls them "evil losers" and vows to "call them, from now on, losers because that's what they are: losers." (Washington Post / NBC News)
8/ Chris Christie gave Jared Kushner legal advice when asked if Trump should hire a lawyer. In private, Christie told Kushner that the president "better lawyer up and keep his mouth shut," according to a person who recounted Christie's conversation with Kushner. (Vanity Fair)
9/ Jeff Sessions narrowed Trump's executive order on sanctuary cities. A federal judge said Trump had overstepped his authority in attaching conditions to federal money. Sessions' new memo says Trump's order will only apply to grants from the Departments of Justice and Homeland Security "and not to other sources of federal funding." (New York Times) / Politico)
10/ Sheriff David Clarke is unsure if the Trump administration will still hire him. A review of Clarke's master's thesis found 47 examples where Clarke copied entire sentences, but credited them with a footnote – not quotation marks to indicate that he took the language verbatim. (CNN)
11/ Democrats warned Trump against a pre-emptive attack on North Korea. In a letter, 64 Democratic legislators urged Trump to talk directly to the North Koreans and warned that he would need congressional approval for any pre-emptive military strike. (New York Times)
1/ Michael Flynn will invoke his Fifth Amendment protection against self-incrimination as he notifies the Senate Intelligence committee that he will not comply with a subpoena seeking documents. His decision to invoke his Fifth Amendment right puts him at risk of being held in contempt of Congress, which can also result in a criminal charge. After Flynn rejected the subpoena, Elijah Cummings released a letter saying Flynn misled Pentagon investigators about his income from Russian companies when he applied for a top-secret security clearance last year. Separately, he also failed to properly register as a foreign agent while advising the Trump campaign. Both are felonies. (Associated Press / New York Times)
Chris Christie weighs in on Flynn: "I wouldn’t let General Flynn in the White House, let alone give him a job." The New Jersey governor said he repeatedly recommended that Trump not give Flynn the job while on the campaign and as President-elect. (Washington Post)
2/ Trump asked two of the top intelligence chiefs to push back against the FBI investigation into possible collusion after Comey revealed its existence. Trump asked the director of national intelligence and the director of the National Security Agency to publicly deny the existence of any evidence of collusion during the 2016 election. Both refused to comply with the requests, which they both deemed to be inappropriate. (Washington Post)
3/ Trump: "I never mentioned the word or the name Israel" to the Russians. It was an off-script effort to push back and refute the damage he did to Israeli intelligence capabilities after revealing highly classified information to Russian operatives earlier this month. To add further insult to injury, he also told a room of Israelis that he "just got back from the Middle East." (CNN / Slate)
Really confusing moment here where Trump stops the press from being ushered out of his photo spray with PM Netanyahu. Full video—> pic.twitter.com/A7UVcw3Zt2
4/ Trump's budget is expected to cut $1.7 trillion from Medicaid and anti-poverty programs over the next 10 years. Assuming the GOP health care bill becomes law, the budget proposal will cut $800 billion from Medicaid leaving an estimated 10 million people without benefits. SNAP, the modern version of food stamps, will be reduced by $193 billion – about a quarter. During the campaign, Trump promised not to cut Social Security, Medicare or Medicaid. (Bloomberg / Washington Post / CNN)
5/ Comey believes that Donald Trump was trying to influence his judgment on the Russia probe. He initially thought he could teach Trump and the White House what was appropriate during their communications, despite noting that the new President was not following normal protocols during their interactions. (CNN)
6/ Trump is assembling outside counsel to help him navigate the Russian investigation now that Robert Mueller has begun work on the possible ties between the Trump campaign and Russian officials. The outside legal team would be separate from the White House Counsel’s Office, which is led by Donald McGahn, who served as the Trump campaign’s lawyer. (Washington Post)
Priebus and Bannon returned to Washington after Saudi visit. Major issues await Trump back home, including the possible hiring of outside legal counsel in the Russia probe, the selection of a new FBI director, and the effort to pivot his domestic agenda. (CNN)
7/ The White House is trying to block the disclosure of ethics waivers granted to former lobbyists who work in the administration or federal agencies. Ethics watchdogs are concerned that former lobbyists are taking high-ranking political jobs working on the exact topics they had previously handled on behalf of private-sector clients — including oil and gas companies and Wall Street banks. The Office of Government Ethics was created in the aftermath of the Watergate scandal to oversee compliance with federal ethics standards. The administration is challenging the legal authority to demand the information. (New York times)
8/ Sheriff David Clarke plagiarized portions of his master's thesis on homeland security. Clarke will be joining Trump's administration as assistant secretary in the Department of Homeland Security. He denied the report, calling the journalist a "sleaze bag." (CNN / Reuters)
9/ Commerce secretary Wilbur Ross said he was pleased that there were no protesters with "a bad placard" during his trip to Saudi Arabia. American-style protest is illegal in Saudi Arabia and can result in a death sentence. (Washington Post)
10/ McMaster won't say if Trump confronted Russian officials about election interference during the meeting at the White House. He said "there already was too much that's been leaked from those meetings," but wouldn't deny that Trump called Comey "crazy, a real nut job." (ABC News)
11/ The White House plans to ask a federal court for another 90-day delay in a lawsuit over Obamacare insurance subsidies, leaving the future of the health care marketplaces in limbo through late August. The suit centers on Obamacare's cost-sharing program, which reimburses health insurers to help low-income people make co-payments at the doctor or hospital. House Republicans say the program was never legally funded in Obamacare and Trump has argued that the markets are fatally flawed and will collapse no matter what his administration does. (Politico)
12/ Students walked out of the Notre Dame commencement ceremony in protest of Mike Pence's policies that "have marginalized our vulnerable sisters and brothers for their religion, skin color, or sexual orientation." (NPR)
1/ A White House official close to Trump is now a person of interest in the Russia probe. The senior adviser under scrutiny by investigators is someone close to the president, according to multiple sources, who would not further identify the official. Investigators are also interested in people who were previously part of the Trump campaign and administration, including Michael Flynn and former campaign chairman Paul Manafort. (Washington Post)
2/ Trump told the Russians in the Oval Office last week that firing Comey had relieved "great pressure" on him. A document summarizing the meeting quotes Trump as saying "I just fired the head of the FBI. He was crazy, a real nut job. I faced great pressure because of Russia. That’s taken off." (New York Times)
3/ The Trump-Russia probe now includes a possible cover-up. Former FBI Director Robert Mueller, "has been given the authority to investigate the possibility of a cover-up," though that "does not mean that is part of the investigation" currently. (McClatchy)
4/ Mike Pence wasn't informed about Flynn's alleged wrongdoings, a source close to the administration said. It's the second time that Pence claims he was kept in the dark about Flynn. The source said there is concern about "a pattern" of keeping the vice president distant from information about possible Flynn wrongdoings, calling it "malpractice or intentional, and either are unacceptable." (NBC News)
5/ James Comey has agreed to testify in a public session at the Senate Intelligence Committee. The hearing will occur after Memorial Day, committee leaders said. (Politico)
Comey tried to preserve distance between the FBI and the White House, by educating the administration on the proper way to interact with the bureau. Comey told Trump that if he wanted to know details about the bureau’s investigations, he should not contact him directly but instead follow the proper procedures and have the White House counsel send any inquiries to the Justice Department. (New York Times)
Comey may testify as soon as next week despite the appointment of a special counsel to investigate Russian meddling into last year's election. (The Hill)
The FBI warned a Republican congressman in 2012 that Russian spies were trying to recruit him. Dana Rohrabacher of California, has been known for years as one of Moscow’s biggest defenders in Washington and as a vocal opponent of American economic sanctions against Russia. He is one of Trump’s staunchest allies on Capitol Hill. (New York Times)
6/ Trump heads out on his first foreign trip since taking office, to meet with some of the most important figures in the Middle East and Europe during a nine-day, five-country journey. He's bucking tradition by not visiting Canada or Mexico with his first visits abroad, which the past five presidents have all done. The trip will conclude with the president meeting with NATO and attending a G7 summit, where leaders have been told that he prefers short presentations and lots of visual aids. White House aides fear that a difficult trip might lead Trump to hand off future traveling duties to Pence. (ABC News / Associated Press / (Wall Street Journal)
7/ Kushner intervened to help seal a $110 billion arms deal with the Saudis - just in time for Trump's visit to the kingdom this weekend where he hopes to frame it as a symbol of America’s renewed commitment to security in the Persian Gulf. (New York Times)
8/ Trump said he is "very close" to choosing a new FBI director. A senior White House official said the odds of a selection coming today were "better than 50-50." Former Sen. Joe Lieberman is his top choice. (CNN / NBC News)
9/ Trump's attorney didn’t want him to sign his financial disclosure to certify the information was true, because he was filing voluntarily. Trump’s 2016 disclosures will span his general election candidacy, election, and transition to power, which would potentially shed light on the impact his nomination and election had on his Trump Organization. (Associated Press)
10/ Health insurers are planning rate hikes on Obamacare — and they blame Trump. State insurance regulators — both Democrat and Republican — have concluded they cannot count on the Trump administration to help them ensure that consumers will have access to a health plan next year, which is forcing them to make plans to raise premiums to account for the turmoil. (Los Angeles Times)
11/ Nearly 700 positions at the CDC are vacant because of Trump's hiring freeze. Programs supporting local and state public health emergency readiness, infectious disease control and chronic disease prevention are all affected. At least 125 job categories have been blocked from being filled. (Washington Post)
12/ American warplanes attacked a pro-Syrian government convoy, which ignored warnings and violated a restricted zone around a base where US and British Special Forces train rebels to fight the Islamic State. The Syria and its Russian allies condemned the attack, which marked an escalation in hostile US action toward Bashar al-Assad. (New York Times / Wall Street Journal)
13/ Jeff Sessions and the Department of Justice are telling lawyers to stop representing immigrants in deportation proceedings. They're accusing immigrant-rights lawyers of breaking a rule that was put in place to protect people from lawyers who take their money and then drop their case. The cease and desist letter could dissuade law firms from letting their lawyers volunteer for these cases, scaring those firms away by convincing them that immigration-related projects are too risky pro-bono projects. (The Nation)
14/ White House lawyers are researching impeachment procedures in an effort to prepare for what officials believe is a distant possibility that Trump could have to fend off attempts to remove him from office. (CNN)
1/ The Trump campaign had at least 18 undisclosed contacts with Russians during the last seven months of the election. Six of the previously undisclosed contacts were phone calls between Sergei Kislyak, the Russian ambassador to the US, and Trump advisers, including Michael Flynn. (Reuters)
2/ Flynn stopped a military plan Turkey didn't like while being paid $500,000 as its lobbyist. The decision came 10 days before Trump was sworn in as president. Obama’s national security team asked for Trump’s sign-off, since the plan would be executed after Trump had become president. Lawmakers are questioning whether Flynn acted on behalf of a foreign nation when making a military decision, with some going so far as to ask whether it constitutes treason. Flynn also failed to register as a foreign agent, which is a federal crime. (McClatchy)
3/ Flynn told the Trump team he was under investigation for secretly working as a paid lobbyist for Turkey weeks before he came to the White House. Trump made Flynn his national security adviser anyway, giving him access to nearly every secret held by American intelligence agencies. (New York Times)
4/ Trump pressured a “reluctant” Michael Flynn into accepting the national security adviser job even after Flynn warned that he was under investigation over undisclosed lobbying on behalf of a foreign government. Trump has expressed hopes that a resolution of the FBI investigation might allow Flynn to rejoin the White House in some capacity. (The Daily Beast)
Trump sends Flynn a message: "stay strong." The two have remained in touch, raising questions about the president’s reported request to James Comey to shut down a federal investigation into Flynn. (Yahoo News)
5/ Trump denies telling Comey to back off the Flynn investigation into possible collusion between the Trump campaign and Russia. Asked whether he urged Comey to ease up on the Flynn investigation, Trump said at a news conference, "No, no," before ordering the media to move onto the "next question." (Washington Post)
6/ Flynn hasn't responded to a subpoena from the Senate intelligence committee. Legal experts say that it’s unlikely Flynn will agree to turn over the personal documents because he would be waiving his constitutional protection against self-incrimination by doing so. (Washington Post / ABC News)
7/ Trump Tweets: Where was the special counsel for Hillary and Obama? He then called the investigation into his campaign’s links with Russia “the single greatest witch hunt of a politician in American history!” hours after issuing a more muted official statement in coordination with aides. (CNN)
This is the single greatest witch hunt of a politician in American history!
8/ Rod Rosenstein already knew James Comey was going to be fired when he wrote the three-page memo that the White House used to justify firing Comey. Rosenstein learned Comey was being fired on May 8, but the memo is dated May 9 — the day the firing took place. (Politico / Los Angeles Times)
9/ Sean Spicer is no longer expected to do a daily, on-camera briefing, as Trump is frustrated with the way Spicer defends and explains his message. When Trump returns from his foreign trip, Sarah Huckabee Sanders will likely appear at the podium more with Spicer's public role being downsized. (Politico)
10/ NATO critic Stephen Miller is writing Trump's NATO speech. Miller, an anti-globalist, has called the military alliance "incongruent with our current foreign policy challenges." (BuzzFeed News)
11/ Trump notified Congress that he plans to renegotiate NAFTA, which triggers a 90-day consultation period between the administration and Congress. Negotiations with Canada and Mexico can begin as soon as August 16th. Trump has called NAFTA the worst trade deal in history. (New York Times / CNN Money / Washington Post)
1/ Rod Rosenstein appointed former FBI Director Bob Mueller to oversee the investigation of Russian interference in election. Mueller will take command of the prosecutors and FBI agents who are working on the far reaching Russia investigation. Trump said that he expects the probe will find no collusion between his 2016 White House campaign and foreign countries, calling the Russia inquiry a “taxpayer-funded charade." (NBC News / New York Times / Washington Post / Politico)
Former Trump aides Michael Flynn and Paul Manafort have emerged as key figures in the FBI's investigation into Russian campaign interference. Multiple grand jury subpoenas and records requests have been issued in connection with the two men. (NBC News)
Federal investigators have subpoenaed records for Manafort's $3.5 million mortgage that he took out on his Hamptons home just after leaving the campaign. (NBC News)
2/ The House majority leader told colleagues last year: "I think Putin pays" Trump. Paul Ryan told them not to leak the remarks and swore them to secrecy. (Washington Post)
3/ Jason Chaffetz asked the FBI to turn over all documents it has on Trump and Comey's conversations. The FBI has until May 24 to produce the records before the Republican chairman of the House Oversight Committee subpoenas them. Chaffetz said that if the memo exists and accurately reflects the conversation, "that seems like an extraordinary use of influence to try to shut down an investigation being done by the FBI." (NBC News / CNN)
.@GOPoversight is going to get the Comey memo, if it exists. I need to see it sooner rather than later. I have my subpoena pen ready.
— Oversight Committee (@GOPoversight) May 17, 2017
Comey’s memos were a product of a culture of note-taking. It is standard for people who work in law enforcement to keep detailed phone and meeting logs. (New York Times)
4/ Senate and House Republicans and Democrats want Comey to testify about his interactions with Trump, including whether Trump tried to obstruct the criminal probe into Michael Flynn. The collective political fallout from the past week “will make it difficult” for Republicans to resist a change in approach, Representative Charlie Dent said. "I think we need to hear from him as soon as possible in public to respond to the issues that have been raised in recent days," Mitch McConnell said. (Politico / Washington Post / (Wall Street Journal)
The Senate Intelligence Committee requested that James Comey testify publicly in the wake of his firing by Trump. Sentors Richard Burr and Mark Warner sent a letter asking Comey to testify before their panel in both open and closed sessions. The senators had previously asked Comey to testify in a closed session, but he declined. (Politico)
The House Oversight Committee invited Comey to testify next Wednesday. Jason Chaffetz has officially scheduled the hearing and is in the process of trying to connect with Comey. The hearing will be the day the FBI is due to send documents to the oversight panel. (Politico)
5/ Democratic congressman Al Green called for "the impeachment of the President of the United States of America for obstruction of justice." Green said it was the House of Representative's "duty" to take up impeachment. More Republicans and Democrats are starting to talk of the possibility that Trump could face impeachment after reports that he pressed James Comey to end an investigation of Michael Flynn. Representative Justin Amash said if the reports about Trump's pressure on Comey are true, it would merit impeachment. Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer and House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi both raised concerns about Trump’s action, but avoided the topic of impeachment in their statements responding to the news of Comey’s memo. “At best, President Trump has committed a grave abuse of executive power," Pelosi said. "At worst, he has obstructed justice." Democrats can't impeach Trump without significant Republican support. (CNN / The Hill / BuzzFeed News)
6/ Republicans blocked the Democrats attempt to force a vote on creating a bipartisan congressional commission to investigate Russian interference, how the intelligence community handled the matter, and the Trump administration's involvement. “You’re watching an obstruction of justice investigation developing in real time,” said Senator Richard Blumenthal, a member of the Senate Judiciary Committee. "If there were ever any question about the need for an independent special prosecutor, this report is the nail on the argument." (New York Times / Washington Post / Reuters)
Calls grow for an independent investigation. The deputy Republican whip Adam Kinzinger switched his position for an independent commission or special prosecutor to investigate possible ties between Trump’s campaign and Russia, saying the recent news reports had marked a turning point for him. (NBC News / Washington Post)
7/ Paul Ryan tried to contain the political fallout from the Comey memo by urging members to avoid "rushing to judgment." He called himself "a person who wants to get the facts" and said that "there are some people out there who want to harm the president." (CNN / Washington Post / Politico)
8/ McCain compares Comey memo about his meeting with Trump to Watergate. "The only thing I can say is I think we’ve seen this movie before. I think it's reaching the point where it's of Watergate size and scale," McCain said. His advice to Trump is "the same thing that you advised Richard Nixon, which he didn’t do… get it all out… it’s not going to be over until every aspect of it is thoroughly examined and the American people make a judgment. And the longer you delay, the longer it’s going to last." (ABC News / The Daily Beast)
9/ Putin offers to provide Congress with the transcript to prove Trump didn't pass Russia secrets, turning up the pressure on the White House to provide its own transcript of the meeting. Putin said Russia could hand over a transcript of Trump's meeting with Lavrov, if the Trump administration deemed it appropriate. (Reuters / New York Times / CNN / Washington Post)
Adam Schiff: "Last thing" Trump needs "is Putin vouching for him." Schiff called Putin's offer "yet another twist in the road" and said, "all of this gets more baffling every day." (CNN)
Senator Susan Collins says Trump needs to "right the ship" and get his "house in order" because "we cannot have this constant chaos" every single day from him. (CNN)
10/ Trump provided Russia with secrets so sensitive that news organizations are being asked not to report it. Trump told the Russian foreign minister and the Russian ambassador that the Islamic State had used stolen airport security equipment to test a bomb that could be hidden in electronic devices. US intelligence officials have asked media organizations not to report on the type of equipment, where it was stolen, and the name of the city where the intelligence was gathered. The intelligence has led to the new rules banning electronic devices in the cabins of certain flights. (NBC News)
11/ Trump: No politician "has been treated worse or more unfairly," warning graduating Coast Guard cadets that life is unfair. (Politico)
12/ Sally Yates disputed Sean Spicer's characterization of her warnings that Flynn could be open to blackmail by Russia as a "heads up." Yates said she expected the White House to act urgently on the information that Flynn had been compromised by his contact with Russian officials prior to Trump's inauguration. (CNN / NBC News)
13/ Members of the Turkish president’s security team breached police lines and attacked protesters outside the Turkish ambassador’s residence in the US. About two dozen demonstrators showed up outside of embassy hours after Erdogan met with Trump and a brawl erupted when Erdogan’s security detail attacked protesters carrying the flag of the Kurdish PYD party. (CNN / The Guardian / New York Times)
14/ The Iran nuclear deal will remain as Trump imposes new penalties over its ballistic missile program. The new sanctions is the latest attempt by the administration to signal its displeasure with Iran while not jettisoning the 2015 nuclear deal. (Politico / New York Times)
15/ Milwaukee County Sheriff David Clarke accepted a job at the Department of Homeland Security. Clarke has made a name himself for supporting Trump’s crackdown on illegal immigration and for patrolling of Muslim neighborhoods. (Milwaukee-Wisconsin Journal Sentinel / Los Angeles Times)
16/ Trump has turned to Corey Lewandowski, Jason Miller, and David Bossie as scandals pile up. The former campaign aides have slid back into his group of advisers as a steady stream of damaging leaks and critical blind quotes that have flowed out of the West Wing. (Politico)
17/ Trump’s education budget calls for deep cuts to public school programs in pursuit of school choice. Funding for college work-study programs would be cut in half, public-service loan forgiveness would end, and hundreds of millions of dollars that public schools could use for mental health and other services would vanish under the plan, which cuts $10.6 billion from federal education initiatives. (Washington Post)
poll/ Trump's approval rating hits a new low: 42% – and that's before claims that he disclosed sensitive information to Russian officials and tried to shut down an FBI investigation into Michael Flynn. (Politico)
1/ Trump asked James Comey to shut down the Michael Flynn investigation in a February memo he wrote shortly after meeting with Trump. “I hope you can let this go," Trump told Comey. The request is the clearest evidence that he tried to directly influence the Justice Department and FBI investigations. Comey kept detailed notes of his meetings with Trump, documenting what he perceived as improper efforts to influence a continuing investigation. An FBI agent’s notes are widely held up in court as credible evidence of conversations. (New York Times)
2/ Trump defended his decision to share ISIS intelligence with Russia, tweeting that he had an “absolute right” to do so in the interest of fighting terrorism. Trump's tweets undercut his administration's effort to contain the report, where Rex Tillerson, H.R. McMaster, and the deputy national security adviser for strategy all called the report that Trump revealed highly classified information to Russia false. The information was considered so sensitive that US officials had not shared it widely within the government or among allies. (New York Times / Washington Post / Wall Street Journal)
As President I wanted to share with Russia (at an openly scheduled W.H. meeting) which I have the absolute right to do, facts pertaining....
Three administration officials conceded that Trump simply did not possess the interest or knowledge of intelligence gathering to leak specific sources and methods that would do harm to United States allies. (New York Times)
Trump revealed highly classified information to Russian diplomats during their Oval Office meeting last week, which has jeopardized a critical source of intelligence on the Islamic State. (WTF Just Happened Today)
"This is really the nightmare scenario for the intelligence community," a former CIA officer said, and as a result Trump could have hampered the US response to ISIS. (Politico)
Initial thoughts on the Washington Post’s game-changing story: It matters who we have running the most powerful institution in the world. (Lawfare)
3/ McMaster backs Trump's sharing of sensitive intelligence with Russians: "It is wholly appropriate for the president to share whatever information he thinks is necessary." He added that Trump "wasn't even aware where this information came from. He wasn't briefed on the source or method of the information either." McMaster refused to confirm whether the information the president shared with the Russians was highly classified. (ABC News / Washington Post / Politico)
4/ Israel was the source of ISIS-related intelligence that Trump shared with Russia last week. Two Israeli officials said that the intelligence shared by Trump "syncs up" with intelligence that shared with its US counterparts. The revelation is Israel's "worst fears confirmed" as it raises the possibility that the information could be passed to Iran, Russia’s close ally and Israel’s main threat in the Middle East. (New York Times / BuzzFeed News / NBC News / Wall Street Journal)
5/ CIA Director Mike Pompeo will brief the members of the House intelligence committee today on what Trump discussed with Russian officials last week, following claims that Trump apparently revealed classified information. (CNN)
6/ Republican and Democratic lawmakers to Trump: hand over the transcript of the meeting with the Russians. Members of Congress have spent several days demanding that Trump turn over tapes of White House meetings after he suggested that he records his conversations. Those calls intensified after Trump acknowledged on Twitter that he had shared sensitive information during his meeting with the Russians. White House aides have neither confirmed nor denied the possibility that Trump records his conversations at the White House. (Washington Post)
Lawmakers express shock and concern about Trump disclosure of classified information. “They are in a downward spiral right now and have got to figure out a way to come to grips with all that’s happening,” the chairman of the Foreign Relations Committee said of the Trump administration. “The chaos that is being created by the lack of discipline is creating an environment that I think makes — it creates a worrisome environment." (Washington Post)
7/ Mitch McConnell called for "less drama" from Trump. "I think it would be helpful if the president spent more time on things we’re trying to accomplish and less time on other things," McConnell said. (Bloomberg)
8/ Trump will disclose some of his personal finances this year, which will likely indicate his personal income, assets, and liabilities. They won't contain details like his tax rate or any charitable donations. (Associated Press)
9/ Paul Manafort took out a $3.5 million mortgage and never paid taxes on it. The former Trump campaign manager took out the mortgage through a shell company just after leaving the campaign and never paid the $36,000 in taxes that would be due on the loan. (NBC News)
10/ Trump to meet with Turkey's president amid differences over the Trump administration's plan to directly arm Kurdish rebels in Syria for the fight against ISIS. Turkey considers the group a terrorist organization, because it maintains ties with a Kurdish revolutionary group inside Turkey. (ABC News)
11/ Gingrich urged Trump to shut down White House press room in order to send a message to the country "that the media is a corrupt institution and [Trump] is tired of being harassed by people whose only interest is making him look bad." (Politico)
poll/ 48% of voters support impeaching Trump compared to 41% that are opposed to the idea. 43% of voters think Trump is actually going to end up serving his full term, while 45% think he won't. 12% aren't sure one way or the other. (Public Policy Polling)
1/ Trump revealed highly classified information to Russian diplomats during their Oval Office meeting last week, which has jeopardized a critical source of intelligence on the Islamic State. Trump’s decision to disclose information risks cooperation from an ally that has access to the inner workings of the Islamic State. A US official said Trump “revealed more information to the Russian ambassador than we have shared with our own allies.” Trump’s disclosures are not illegal as he has the power to declassify almost anything. But sharing the information without the express permission of the ally who provided it represents a major breach of espionage etiquette, and could jeopardize a crucial intelligence-sharing relationship. (Washington Post / New York Times)
2/ Trump is considering a "huge reboot" that could take out everyone from Reince Priebus and Steve Bannon, to counsel Don McGahn and Sean Spicer. Trump is irritated with several Cabinet members and "frustrated, and angry at everyone." (Axios)
3/ Senate Republicans are looking at steep cuts to Medicaid that could drop millions of people from coverage and reduce programs for the poor. Under pressure to balance the budget, Republicans are considering slashing more than $400 billion in spending on food stamps, welfare, and even veterans’ benefits through a process to evade Democratic filibusters in the Senate. If the Medicaid cutbacks get passed by both chambers, it could significantly scale back the federal-state insurance program that covers 73 million low-income or disabled Americans and shift significant costs onto hospitals and states. (Politico /
Wall Street Journal)
4/ James Clapper said that US institutions are under assault from Trump and warned that federal checks and balances are eroding. Former Director of National Intelligence called on the other branches of the federal government to step up in their roles as a check on the executive. (CNN / Associated Press)
Republicans and Democrats agree that if Trump has tapes, he’ll need to turn them over to Congress. Lawmakers from both parties said any White House recordings must be preserved for congressional review and that “it’s probably inevitable” that they would be subpoenaed. (Washington Post)
5/ North Korea successfully test-fired a new type of ballistic missile, signaling an advance in their development of an intercontinental ballistic missile program. North Korea said the new "medium long-range" missile is capable of carrying a large nuclear warhead, warning that the United States’ military bases in the Pacific were within its range. (New York Times / Wall Street Journal / Reuters / Associated Press)
Putin warns against "intimidating" North Korea after its latest missile launch. Putin called for a peaceful solution to the ongoing tensions on the Korean peninsula and said that Russia is "categorically against the expansion of the club of nuclear states." (CNN)
6/ The 9th Circuit Court will hear the travel ban appeal, again. A three-judge panel will hear a challenge to a Hawaii judge's decision to halt travel ban 2.0. Lawyers at the Justice Department must convince at least two of the judges to ignore Trump's record of campaign calls to ban Muslims from entering the US. (CNN)
7/ Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein will brief the full Senate on Thursday about the firing of James Comey. The briefing is classified and will take place in the regular secure room in the Capitol Visitors Center. (CNN / Washington Post)
8/ The Supreme Court rejected an appeal to reinstate North Carolina’s voter identification law, which a lower court said targeted African-Americans “with almost surgical precision.” Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr. issued a statement noting that there was a dispute about who represented the state in the case and that nothing should be read into the court’s decision to decline to hear it. (Associated Press / Politico / New York Times)
9/ The Dakota Access pipeline has its first leak. The $3.8bn oil pipeline is not yet fully operational, but managed to spill 84 gallons of crude oil. (The Guardian)
10/ White Nationalist Richard Spencer led a torch-bearing group protesting the sale of a statue of Robert E. Lee in Virginia. The group chanted “You will not replace us." Spencer added: “What brings us together is that we are white, we are a people, we will not be replaced." (NPR / Washington Post)
11/ Trump thinks that exercising too much uses up the body’s "finite" energy. Trump mostly gave up athletics after college because he “believed the human body was like a battery, with a finite amount of energy, which exercise only depleted.” (Washington Post)
12/ Comey said he'd be willing to testify before the Senate Intelligence Committee, but wants it to be in public. Comey originally declined an invitation from the committee to be interviewed in a closed-door hearing. (New York Times)
13/ Syria is using a crematorium to hide executions, the State Department said. The US believes Syria's "building of a crematorium is an effort to cover up the extent of mass murders taking place in Saydnaya prison." A State Department official said the regime could be killing as many as 50 detainees a day. (CNN / BuzzFeed News / Washington Post)
14/ Senate Republicans are breaking away from Trump as they try to forge a more traditional Republican agenda and protect their political fortunes. Republican senators are drafting a health care bill with little White House input and pushing back on Trump's impending budget request. Many high-ranking Republicans have said they will not support any move by Trump to withdraw from the North American Free Trade Agreement. (New York Times)
poll/ 29% approve of Trump’s firing of James Comey. Trump's job-approval rating stands at 39%. (NBC News)
1/ In a tweet, Trump threatened to cancel all future press briefings for the "sake of accuracy," saying it's "not possible" to always tell the truth. While the White House can't get its story straight about the firing of FBI director James Comey, Trump has offered his solution: cancel all press briefings. Spicer declined to say whether Trump had decided to stop holding daily news briefings, saying that Trump is “a little dismayed” about the unwillingness of reporters to focus on the policy actions of his administration. (CNN / New York Times / Washington Post)
As a very active President with lots of things happening, it is not possible for my surrogates to stand at podium with perfect accuracy!....
2/ In a tweet, Trump warned James Comey against leaking to the press, suggesting there are "tapes" of their private conversations. It's unclear if any tapes exist. Regardless, Comey is "not worried about any tapes," a CNN source said, adding that "if there is a tape, there's nothing [Comey] is worried about" that could be on it. (Washington Post / Politico / CNN)
James Comey better hope that there are no "tapes" of our conversations before he starts leaking to the press!
3/ Trump asked for Comey to pledge his loyalty at a private dinner seven days after the inauguration. Comey declined to make the pledge, but instead told Trump that he would always give him "honesty." Trump pressed him on whether it would be "honest loyalty." Comey agreed. Trump claims Comey assured him "three times" that he was not under FBI investigation. (New York Times / NBC News / CNN)
4/ Comey declined to testify before the Senate Intelligence Committee. The panel is investigating Russia’s election meddling and allegations of collusion between the Trump campaign and Moscow. Testifying would have provided Comey a chance to discuss with lawmakers the circumstances of his firing. (Politico)
5/ Sean Spicer won’t say if Trump is taping conversations in the Oval Office. The White House won't deny Trump taped meetings with Comey — or that Trump may be recording conversations in the Oval Office. “The president has nothing further to add on that,” Spicer said, repeating the answer or some variation of it several more times as reporters pressed. (NBC News / New York Times)
6/ Trump shifts his reason for firing Comey to "this Russia thing" being a "made-up story." He labeled it "an excuse by the Democrats for having lost an election that they should have won." (New York Times)
Comey's reportedly furious by the lack of respect the White House showed him. Trump called Comey a "showboat" and "a grandstander," and even suggested he was not "competent." (ABC News)
7/ Jeff Sessions directed prosecutors to seek the toughest drug charges for offenders. The new sentencing guidelines roll back an Obama-era policy of avoiding charging nonviolent, less-serious drug offenders with long, mandatory-minimum sentences, and instead revives a Bush-era policy that tasked federal prosecutors with charging "the most serious readily provable offense." (Wall Street Journal / Washington Post / CNN)
8/ The lawyers who said Trump has no ties to Russia was named Russian law firm of 2016. Morgan Lewis tax partners said that a review of Trump's last 10 years of tax returns don't show "any income of any type from Russian sources." Except for some income from the 2013 Miss Universe pageant that was held in Moscow as well as a property sold to a Russian billionaire in 2008 for $95 million. The attorneys did not release copies of Trump’s tax returns. (The Guardian / Associated Press / Reuters)
9/ The EPA may allow a massive gold and copper mine at the headwaters of one of Alaska’s salmon fisheries. The Trump administration will allow a Canadian-owned company to seek a federal permit to build a mine near Bristol Bay. In 2014, the EPA released a study that concluded large-scale mining in the bay posed significant risk to salmon and could adversely affect Alaska Natives in the region. (Associated Press)
10/ Rex Tillerson signed a declaration acknowledging climate change. The move is at odds with the Trump administration's skepticism of climate change and comes at a time when he is weighing a potential withdrawal from the Paris Agreement. The Fairbanks Declaration acknowledges the threat posed by climate change to the Arctic and the need for action to curb its impact on the region. (The Hill)
1/ Acting FBI Director Andrew McCabe vowed to report any meddling in the Russia probe and said that the firing of James Comey had not affected the Justice Department’s investigation. McCabe also told the Senate Intelligence Committee that Comey had not lost the confidence of rank-and-file FBI agents, contradicting a claim by the White House. Trump then offered a new version of his decision to fire Comey, saying he would have dismissed him regardless of whether the attorney general and his deputy recommended it. He called Comey a "showboat" and "grandstander," and said that while he never tried to pressure Comey into dropping the FBI probe of the Trump campaign, he did ask Comey whether he was under investigation. (Politico / New York Times / NBC News / ABC News / Reuters)
The man now running the FBI just testified that the Trump White House is lying about Comey. McCabe’s statement directly contradicts what White House deputy press secretary Sarah Sanders told reporters, when she said Comey was fired because Trump, along with Jeff Sessions, had “lost confidence in him.” Sanders added that “most importantly, the rank and file of the FBI had lost confidence in their director.” (Quartz)
White House’s FBI story unravels as Trump undercuts statements from White House officials about the decision to fire Comey, underlining a growing credibility crisis for the administration. (The Hill)
Trump contradicted his three top spokespeople and offered a polar-opposite version the White House’s entire Comey narrative. (Washington Post)
2/ Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein threatened to resign after the White House cast him as the prime reason to fire Comey and that Trump acted only on his recommendation. The day before, Trump gave Sessions and Rosenstein a directive: to explain in writing the case against Comey. The next day Trump fired Comey. The White House says it is unaware that the deputy attorney general threatened to quit. (Washington Post / ABC News / BBC News)
UPDATE:
Rosenstein says he's "not quitting." Rosenstein expressed frustration with how the White House used his reputation as cover for how they handled Comey's dismissal. (CNN)
Rosenstein pressed the White House to correct the record on the Comey firing, saying he objected to the description of events, and hinted he couldn’t work in an environment where facts weren’t accurately reported. (Wall Street Journal)
Rosenstein is expected to brief all senators on Comey firing. The briefing will likely be closed and may be partially classified. (Politico)
Rosenstein has requested to meet with the Senate Intelligence Committee. (Politico)
3/ The White House was misled about the role of the Russian photographer and were surprised to see photos posted online showing Trump not only with Sergey Lavrov but also smiling and shaking hands with Russian Ambassador Sergey Kislyak. Russian officials described the person as Lavrov's official photographer without disclosing that he also worked for Tass, a Russian state-owned news agency. (Washington Post)
4/ Trump launched a commission to investigate voter fraud. The effort will be spearheaded by Mike Pence and will look into allegations of improper voting and fraudulent voter registration in states and across the nation. Trump is expected to sign the executive order today. (Associated Press / ABC News / CNN)
5/ The Justice Department won’t say whether Jeff Sessions will recuse himself from any part of hiring the next FBI director. In March, Sessions recused himself from investigations concerning the 2016 presidential campaigns. The DOJ declined to comment when asked if that policy would apply at all to the hiring process for the interim FBI director or the future nominee. Sessions has already interviewed candidates for interim FBI director. (BuzzFeed News)
6/ Trump is "very likely" to visit FBI headquarters soon. One intelligence official said that agents are more determined than ever to pursue probes into the alleged Russian interference in the presidential election and that Trump had "essentially declared war on a lot of people at the FBI. I think there will be a concerted effort to respond over time in kind." Separately, Trump will meet with Acting Director Andrew McCabe today to discuss the morale at the FBI. (CNN / Washington Post / CNBC News)
UPDATE:
Trump nixes plan to visit FBI after being told he would not be greeted warmly. The FBI told the White House the optics would not be good and made clear that Trump would not draw many smiles and cheers, having just unceremoniously sacked a very popular director. (NBC News)
7/ Comey refused to preview his Senate testimony for Trump, Attorney General Jeff Sessions and deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein, who wanted a heads-up about what he would say regarding his handling of an investigation into Hillary Clinton's use of a private email server. (Reuters)
8/ Jason Chaffetz asked the inspector general to expand the Russia probe to include Comey's firing. The Trump administration has denied Comey’s firing was related to the FBI’s Russia investigation. (HuffPost / Politico / CNN / Reuters)
9/ Trump admits his White House is too combative. He said it could be his fault, but added that "the only way you survive is to be combative." (Time)
Trump thinks he invented the phrase "priming the pump." (The Economist / CNN)
10/ Trump is considering former congressman Mike Rogers to replace James Comey as FBI director. Rogers is a former Intelligence Committee chair and FBI agent. (Bloomberg)
11/ Trump signed an executive order to bolster the government's cyber security. The order seeks to improve the network security of US government agencies, from which hackers have pilfered millions of personal records and other forms of sensitive data in recent years. (Reuters)
12/ Trump will nominate a member of DOJ transition team to be DC's US attorney. The US attorney’s office in Washington has long played a leading role in national security investigations and corruption cases against public officials and federal employees. If confirmed, Jessie Liu is poised to become an important player in both the local and national law enforcement community. (BuzzFeed News)
poll/ 54% think Trump's abrupt dismissal of Comey was not appropriate, while 46% think that Comey was fired due to the Russia investigation. (NBC News)
Perspective.
A sense of crisis deepens as Trump defends his abrupt dismissal of the FBI director. On Capitol Hill, at least a half-dozen Republicans broke with their leadership to express concern or dismay about the firing of Comey. They stopped short of joining Democrats’ call for a special prosecutor to lead the continuing investigation of Russian contacts with Trump’s aides. (New York Times)
Inside Trump’s anger and impatience — and his sudden decision to fire Comey. Trump had long questioned Comey’s loyalty and judgment, and was infuriated by what he viewed as the director’s lack of action in recent weeks on leaks from within the federal government. By last weekend, he had made up his mind: Comey had to go. (Washington Post)
America isn't having a constitutional crisis, but Trump may have just made one more likely in the future. (The Atlantic)
Trump after hours: From where he eats and sleeps, everything is going just great. Now if only everyone else would see it that way. (Time)
After Comey, justice must be served. Congress needs to get serious about holding the president accountable. (Bloomberg)
"Enough was enough": How festering anger at Comey ended in his firing. The collision between Trump and the FBI director culminated with Comey’s stunning dismissal. It had been a long time coming. (New York Times)
Comey has been invited to testify at a closed Senate Intelligence Committee hearing next week. Democratic Sen. Mark Warner said the invitation went out with Republican committee chairman Sen. Richard Burr's consent. (Reuters / ABC News)
The Senate intelligence committee subpoenas Michael Flynn for documents regarding his interactions with Russian officials. The order went out Wednesday after Flynn's attorneys informed the panel they would not cooperate with the probe unless the former general was granted immunity. The Senate panel first requested the documents on April 28. (Politico / CNN)
1/ Trump met with Putin’s top diplomats at the White House. The talks came one day after Trump fired the FBI Director, who was overseeing an investigation into Russia’s interference in the 2016 presidential election. Sergey Lavrov met with Rex Tillerson earlier in the day and sarcastically acknowledged the dismissal of James Comey by saying "Was he fired? You're kidding. You're kidding." The Kremlin said Trump's firing of Comey will have no effect on bilateral relations between the two countries. Trump also met with Sergey Kislyak, a key figure in the Flynn investigation. (Associated Press / Reuters / Washington Post / NPR)
2 photos of Trump in the Oval Office with Russian FM Lavrov and Ambassador Kislyak. They're from the Russians. Nothing from White House yet. pic.twitter.com/s8BSYDGn62
2/ Trump defended firing Comey and said both parties will thank him in an early morning tweetstorm. Trump justified dismissing Comey, saying Democrats and Republicans had lost faith in his leadership due to "scandals." Trump then mocked his critics and suggested that a Democratic senator be investigated after appearing on TV condemning the president’s action. Later, White House spokeswoman Sarah Huckabee Sanders said Comey was dismissed because he committed “atrocities” and that Trump had been considering the decision to fire Comey before his inauguration. Putin weighed in, saying the firing will have "no effect" on US-Russia relations and that Trump acted in accordance with the US law and Constitution. Thanks Putin! (New York Times / Vox / Associated Press / The Daily Beast / CBS News)
Cryin' Chuck Schumer stated recently, "I do not have confidence in him (James Comey) any longer." Then acts so indignant. #draintheswamp
Sessions was told to find reasons to fire Comey. To justify the decision, Sessions and his deputy, Rod Rosenstein, cited Comey’s handling of the probe into Hillary Clinton’s private email server, which Trump repeatedly promoted during the 2016 campaign. (The Hill)
Trump has now fired 3 officials who were investigating his campaign or administration. 10 days into his presidency, Trump fired Acting Attorney General Sally Yates, who announced that the Justice Department would not defend Trump's travel ban. A month later, Trump fired Preet Bharara, the US attorney for the Southern District of New York, who was investigating Rep. Tom Price, then Trump's nominee for Health and Human Services secretary. Then, on May 9, Trump fired FBI Director James Comey was fired who was leading the investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 election. (Washington Post)
Pence praised Trump's decision to fire Comey and insisted the decision wasn't due to the ongoing probe into alleged ties between Trump's campaign and Russia. (CNN)
3/ Days before he was fired, Comey asked for a significant increase in money and personnel for the Russia investigation. Comey asked for the resources during a meeting last week with Rod Rosenstein, the deputy attorney general who wrote the Justice Department’s memo used to justify his firing. (New York Times)
4/ Trump also met with Henry Kissinger, Richard Nixon’s national security adviser, less than a day after firing Comey in Nixonian fashion. Kissinger was there to discuss "Russia and various other matters." (Slate)
5/ Mitch McConnell rejected calls for a special prosecutor or independent commission to investigate Russia’s election meddling in the wake of the firing of FBI Director James Comey. The Senate Majority Leader said, "Today we'll no doubt hear calls for a new investigation, which could only serve to impede the current work being done." Democrats exerted pressure on their Republican colleagues, moving to shut down Senate committees, using procedural moves to block or delay hearings on Russia, cybersecurity, presidential nominees and more. (Politico / New York Times)
6/ Federal prosecutors have issued grand jury subpoenas to associates of Michael Flynn seeking business records. The subpoenas represent the first sign of a significant escalation of activity in the FBI's broader Trump-Russia investigation. (CNN / Reuters)
Senate Intelligence Chairman threatened to subpoena Trump campaign aides if they ignore deadlines to turn over records. Richard Burr has received just two responses to an initial request for information. The panel has asked a number of Trump campaign aides to provide records, including Page, Roger Stone, Paul Manafort and Michael Flynn. (Politico)
7/ Rudy Giuliani is visiting the White House, but says he's not a candidate for FBI director. A source close to the president confirmed Giuliani was in consideration for the position. Giuliani, hanging out at the Trump International Hotel in Washington, D.C., said he was "in town for several business meetings, law firm meetings." (New York Magazine / The Atlantic)
8/ Senate Russia investigators asked the Treasury criminal investigation division for financial information related to Trump, his top officials and his campaign aides. Sen. Mark Warner said they made the request to FinCEN, the federal agency that has been investigating allegations of foreign money-laundering through purchases of US real estate. (CNN)
9/ The Senate failed to revoke Obama-era methane rules. The measure would have given oil and gas companies a reprieve from methane emission rules on federal land. The defeat is a blow to oil and natural gas drillers who had made this a top priority. (Reuters / Bloomberg)
10/ The Census Bureau director resigns as the agency faces a funding debate over the 2020 Census. Congress wants the cost of the 2020 count to not exceed the cost of the 2010 count, the bureau wanting to implement a new system that relies more on electronic data collection, which was promoted as a cost-saving measure. (NPR / Washington Post)
11/ A West Virginia journalist was arrested after asking HHS Secretary Tom Price a question. Dan Heyman was charged with willful disruption of governmental processes, a misdemeanor, for allegedly causing a disturbance and yelling questions at federal leaders in town. (WSAZ News)
12/ Students booed and turned their backs on Betsy DeVos as she gave the keynote address at a historically black university. The speech was part of an effort by Trump and DeVos to reach out to historically black schools. Students and alumni said that outreach is an empty gesture. (Washington Post)
poll/ Trump's first 100 days have been "mainly a failure," 58% of voters say. (Quinnipiac)
poll/ Just 36% of voters approve of Trump's job performance. His disapproval rating rose to 58%. (Quinnipiac)
1/ Trump fired James Comey on the recommendation of Jeff Sessions. In a letter dated Tuesday to Comey, Trump concurred "with the judgment of the Department of Justice that [Comey is not] able to effectively lead the bureau."
Earlier today, the FBI notified Congress that Comey misstated key findings involving the Clinton email investigation during testimony, saying that only a "small number" of emails had been forwarded to disgraced congressman Anthony Weiner, not the "hundreds and thousands" he’d claimed in his testimony.
The move sweeps away the man who is responsible for the investigation into whether members of Trump's campaign team colluded with Russia in its interference in last year's election.
Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein laid out the reasons for Comey's firing, arguing that the handling of his investigation into Clinton's private server, his decision not to recommend charges be filed, and the news conference he held to explain his reasoning were the cause of his dismissal.
Democrats reacted with shock and alarm, accusing Trump of ousting the FBI director to escape scrutiny over his campaign’s Russia ties.
Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer urged deputy Rosenstein to appoint a special prosecutor for the federal probe into the Trump campaign’s ties with Russian officials — warning that failing to do so will lead the public to “rightly suspect” that Comey’s surprise firing “was part of a cover-up.” (Washington Post / New York Times / NBC News / CNN / Politico)
"Today will mark a new beginning for our crown jewel of law enforcement," Trump says in a statement. (Politico)
At the Pentagon, the news of Comey's firing was met with shock and a sense of foreboding that similar sudden change could befall their agency or department. (BuzzFeed News)
Attorney General Jeff Sessions and Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein recommended Comey's removal. (CNBC News)
The attorney general will likely name an interim FBI Director in the coming days while the search is on for a permanent replacement. The acting FBI Director is Andrew McCabe, who was Comey's deputy prior to his firing. (ABC News)
A timeline of James Comey's consequential final months as FBI director. (CNBC News)
Here’s how unusual it is for an FBI director to be fired. (Washington Post)
2/ Trump is preparing a certified letter attesting he has no ties to Russia. Senator Lindsey Graham said he wants to explore possible ties between Trump's businesses and Russia. US intelligence agencies have concluded that Russia interfered in the election in attempt to help Trump. (Bloomberg)
3/ James Comey’s testimony on Huma Abedin forwarding thousands of emails was inaccurate. The FBI hasn’t decided how to correct the director’s false claim. Abedin forwarded a handful of Clinton emails to her husband for printing — not the “hundreds and thousands” cited by Comey. (ProPublica)
Comey overstated key findings involving the Hillary Clinton email investigation during testimony to Congress last week. None of the forwarded emails were marked classified, but a small number contained information that was later judged to contain classified information. (Washington Post)
4/ Trump pointed the finger at Obama for failing to vet Flynn. At the time Flynn was fired, he had an interim clearance in order to allow him to do his job while he waited for his CIA clearance. The concerns about Flynn came after US intelligence realized he was discussing sanctions with the Russians and then misleading US officials about the nature of his conversations. He didn't disclose his payment from RT to government officials until after he was fired by Trump. (Washington Post)
Sean Spicer weighed in, suggesting that Obama's advice was taken with a grain of salt because Flynn "was an outspoken critic of President Obama's shortcomings." (Washington Post)
Obama warned then-President-elect Trump in November against hiring Michael Flynn as his national security adviser. (WTF Just Happened Today: Day 109)
How the White House explained waiting 18 days to fire Flynn. Here are the various explanations he and other administration officials have given in the past. (New York Times)
5/ Sean Spicer downplayed Sally Yates’ warnings about former Michael Flynn, calling her little more than a Democratic appointee with an agenda against Trump. Yates testified yesterday that the Justice Department believed Flynn had been “compromised” and was susceptible to blackmail after misleading Mike Pence about his discussions with the Russian ambassador to the US. (Politico)
6/ Wisconsin’s voter-ID law suppressed 200,000 votes in the 2016 election. Trump won by 22,748 votes. A new study by Priorities USA shows that strict voter-ID laws, in Wisconsin and other states, led to a significant reduction in voter turnout in 2016, with a disproportionate impact on African-American and Democratic-leaning voters. (The Nation)
7/ The US is poised to expand military efforts against the Taliban in Afghanistan. Trump’s most senior military and foreign policy advisers have proposed a major shift in strategy in Afghanistan that would effectively put the United States back on a war footing with the Taliban. The plan would add at least 3,000 troops to the existing force of about 8,400. The US force would also be bolstered by requests for matching troops from NATO nations. (Washington Post)
The US weighs sending as many as 5,000 more troops to Afghanistan. Trump, however, is still deciding on a variety of options being presented to him by military leaders. The current force in Afghanistan is about 8,400. (NBC News)
8/ Trump authorized limited arming of Syrian Kurds to help in the fight against ISIS and includes small arms, machine guns and armored vehicles. The move that has long been under consideration at the Pentagon but has been delayed due to strong opposition from American NATO ally Turkey. (CNN / NBC News)
9/ White House advisers postponed their meeting to decide US participation in the Paris Climate Agreement. Trump's key advisers are divided over whether he should keep his campaign promise to pull the United States out of the Paris agreement, which won the backing of 195 nations in 2015. Trump is expected to make a final decision on whether to withdraw sometime this month. (Reuters / Politico)
10/ An Iowa congressman abruptly ended a TV interview and then walked into an angry town hall meeting. He was unhappy with questions about who would be allowed into the series of town hall events he is holding this week in his district. A few hours later, he showed up at his town hall meeting where most of the prescreened audience screamed at him because of his vote on the House Obamacare repeal bill. (Politico / Washington Post)
11/ The Trump administration cited a segregation-era ruling to defend its travel ban. In 1971, the Supreme Court decided that courts shouldn’t investigate the motivations of officials who closed public pools in Jackson, Mississippi, rather than integrate them. (HuffPost)
12/ Trump Photoshopped a tweet denying collusion with Russia into his Twitter header. During Senate testimony yesterday, former Director of National Intelligence James Clapper said he was not aware of any evidence that proves there was collusion between the Trump campaign and Russia. Trump has since changed his Twitter header to a picture without the Photoshopped tweet. (New York Magazine / The Guardian)
13/ Mitch McConnell stacks the Senate Republican working group on health care with 13 conservative men – but no women. The working group includes the party’s top leaders, as well as three committee chairmen and two of the most conservative senators, Ted Cruz and Mike Lee. (New York Times / Los Angeles Times)
14/ Trump's review of Dodd-Frank will not be completed by early June as originally targeted. Instead, officials will report findings piece-by-piece, with priority given to banking regulations. In February, Trump ordered Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin to review the law and report back within 120 days, saying his administration expected to be cutting large parts of it. (Reuters)
15/ Trump's team marks its 6-month election anniversary by vowing to air video of the Clinton campaign's concession call. The White House director of social media tweeted a screen grab of the late night phone call where Hillary Clinton conceded to Trump and promised to share video of the conversation. (Yahoo)
Screen shot via @KellyannePolls cell phone- of Huma's call at 2:30amE....6 months ago. I have on video & will share that in the near future. pic.twitter.com/Mzy2o8XXwQ
16/ Republicans are struggling to recruit Senate challengers in states where Trump won. In Wisconsin and Michigan, Republicans have passed on challenging Democrats due to Trump's approval ratings. (ABC News)
1/ Obama warned then-President-elect Trump in November against hiring Michael Flynn as his national security adviser. Obama, who had fired Flynn as the head of the Defense Intelligence Agency, told Trump that he would have profound concerns about Flynn becoming a top national security aide. Trump hired Flynn anyway, only to fire him 24 days later when news broke that Flynn had lied to Mike Pence about his conversations with the Russian ambassador to the United States, amid an ongoing investigation into connections between the Russian government and the Trump campaign. The warning, which has not been previously reported, came less than 48 hours after the November election when the two sat down for a 90-minute conversation in the Oval Office. (CNN / New York Times / NBC News)
2/ Sally Yates said she warned the White House that Flynn could be "blackmailed" by Russia, and gave the White House a warning "so that they could take action." The former acting attorney general's testimony raises questions about how Trump responded to her concerns about Flynn, who wasn't fired until two weeks later. Former director of national intelligence James Clapper also testified, saying Russia launched “cyber operations” against the Democratic and Republican parties during the 2016 presidential campaign. He said Putin sought to “advantage” Trump’s campaign and confirmed that British intelligence officials shared “very sensitive” information about Russian connections to Trump’s campaign. (Washington Post / New York Times / NBC News)
Flynn was warned by the Trump transition team about the risks of his contacts with the Russian ambassador weeks before the December call that led to Flynn’s forced resignation. Officials were so concerned that Flynn did not fully understand the motives of the Russian ambassador that the head of Trump’s national security council transition team asked Obama administration officials for a classified CIA profile of Kislyak. The document was delivered within days, but it is not clear that Flynn ever read it. (Washington Post)
Flynn never told the Defense Intelligence Agency that Russians paid him. Flynn was paid nearly $34,000 by a Russian state media outlet when the DIA renewed his security clearance in April 2016. (NBC News)
Sally Yates testified today before the Senate Judiciary subcommittee investigating Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election. The hearing was Yates’s first appearance on Capitol Hill since her firing in January and is expected to fill in details about what and when she told the Trump White House in regard to Michael Flynn's ties to Russia. (CNN / Associated Press / Washington Post)
Hearing may shed light on what White House knew about Flynn. (New York Times)
3/ Trump's revised travel ban goes before a federal appeals court today. The 4th US Circuit Court of Appeals will examine the ruling that blocks the administration from temporarily barring new visas for citizens of Iran, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Syria and Yemen. It’s the first time an appeals court will hear arguments on the revised travel ban, which is likely destined for the Supreme Court. If the court sides with Trump, the travel ban will remain blocked unless the president also wins in another appeals court: the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals will meet next Monday to hear arguments in that case. (Associated Press / CNN)
4/ Trump's call for a Muslim ban was deleted from his campaign site shortly after Sean Spicer was pressed on why the plan was still there by a reporter. The site had a press release from then-candidate Trump's call for the "total and complete shutdown" of Muslims entering the US until the government could "figure out what is going on." A US district court judge in March said he found "the history of public statements continues to provide a convincing case that the purpose of the second executive order remains the realization of the long-envisioned Muslim ban." The Trump administration has argued that the order is not a Muslim ban, but rather a travel ban. (CNN / Washington Post)
5/ The EPA dismissed half of its scientific advisers on a review board, which provides guidance on whether research has sufficient rigor and integrity. The move, which Scott Pruitt cited as his desire to make a “clean break” with the Obama administration, came as a surprise to members of the board, who had been informed both in January and recently by EPA career staff members, that they would be kept on for another term. (Washington Post / New York Times)
6/ Trump expressed his "unwavering support" for historically black colleges after the White House announced that it would treat a program that helps HBCUs get low-cost loans “in a manner consistent with the (Constitutional) requirement to afford equal protection of the laws.” (Washington Post)
7/ Macron wins French presidency, bringing relief to European allies who had feared another populist upheaval would follow Britain's vote to quit the EU and Trump's election. Macron won 66% of the votes compared to just under 34% for Le Pen - a gap wider than the 20 or so percentage points that pre-election surveys had suggested. (Reuters)
Macron faces many domestic challenges in translating his centrist promises into policy. He laid the groundwork Monday for his transition to power, announcing a visit to Germany and a name change for his political movement and appearing with his predecessor at a solemn World War II commemoration. (New York Times / Associated Press)
The French National Front will change its name after Le Pen’s defeat. The far-right leader said that her party would undergo a “profound transformation” after its heavy loss to Emmanuel Macron. (Politico)
8/ An Idaho congressman told his constituents "nobody dies because they don’t have access to health care." The republican representative drew criticism after a town hall where he responded to a question suggesting that the lack of health care was essentially asking people to die. (Idaho Statesman)
9/ The Texas governor signed a “sanctuary cities” ban into law while broadcasting on Facebook Live. The measure threatens law-enforcement officials with jail time if they don’t cooperate with federal agencies in cracking down on undocumented immigrants. Dubbed a “Show Me Your Papers” law, it allows police to inquire about a person’s immigration status, which has been condemned by Democrats and human-rights groups as legalized discrimination. (Texas Observer)
10/ Kushner’s sister is promising Chinese investors a path toward US residency in exchange for putting $500,000 into a New Jersey real-estate project. She cited the EB-5 immigrant investor visa program to make her pitch, though critics have accused organizers of the event of playing up their ties to the White House. (New York Times)
Jared Kushner's family apologized for name dropping in its pitch to Chinese investors. Nicole Kushner Meyer mentioned the name of Trump’s son-in-law when seeking more than $150m from wealthy Chinese for New Jersey real estate project. (The Guardian)
11/ Obama called on members of Congress to exercise the “political courage” to save the Affordable Care Act. In his first public comments about the law since the House voted to repeal it, Obama urged Republicans to be guided by a personal standard of ethics and integrity. "It takes great courage to champion the vulnerable and the sick and the infirm." (NPR / Politico)
12/ Trump has privately expressed regret with his choice of national security adviser, complaining during intelligence briefings about General H.R. McMaster "undermining" of his policy and screaming at McMaster on a phone call, accusing him of undercutting efforts to get South Korea to pay its fair share. On policy, Steve Bannon is convinced McMaster is trying to trick Trump into the kind of nation building that he campaigned against, while Reince Priebus is blocking McMaster on a key appointment. (Bloomberg)
13/ White House advisors asked Canadians to call Trump to talk him down from scrapping NAFTA. Staff reached out to the Canadian Prime Minister's office to get Justin Trudeau to call Trump and lobby for NAFTA in what the paper calls with some understatement an "unconventional diplomatic manoeuvre." (National Post / Axios)
1/ Hospitals, doctors, and insurers are united in their criticism of the Republican health care bill and are urging significant changes to the legislation. The bill’s impact could potentially cause millions to lose coverage through a combination of deep cuts to Medicaid, scaled back employer-sponsored health care, lifetime limits on coverage, and rising costs for people with pre-existing conditions that could effectively price them out of the market. (New York Times)
Republicans claimed a major victory on the health care vote even as the measure faces an uncertain fate in the Senate. Under pressure to make good on their promise to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act, Republicans pushed the bill through after adopting a last-minute change that earned it just enough votes to pass. However, the House version fell significantly short of the GOP’s long-held goals of an outright repeal. (Washington Post)
2/ The Senate GOP rejects the House Obamacare bill. Senate Republicans say they’ll take the time they need to understand the bill’s ramifications and will insist on getting a score from the Congressional Budget Office before voting, unlike the House. The Senate needs to end up with a bill that can win over 50 of the 52 GOP senators. And even if they accomplish that, the Senate bill could be unpalatable to House conservatives, which squeaked through on a 217-213 vote. (Politico)
The Senate moves the House Obamacare repeal to the slow lane as recent changes to the measure complicate its path in Senate. (Bloomberg)
3/ Health care looks to be the defining issue in the next election cycles. GOP members of Congress will be asked to defend their votes for a bill that could strip insurance from 24 million Americans and jack up premiums and deductibles for the country’s sickest and oldest citizens in the 2018 midterms. Meanwhile, governors, gubernatorial candidates, and state legislators will be asked whether they intend to “opt out” of provisions in the Affordable Care Act that are overwhelmingly popular with voters. (Washington Post)
4/ Trump praised Australia's universal health care system hours after the Obamacare repeal, saying America's new plan is "going to be fantastic health care." Australia's universal health care system gives citizens free access to doctors and public hospitals paid for by the government. (CNN)
Of course the Australians have better healthcare than we do --everybody does. ObamaCare is dead! But our healthcare will soon be great.
Trump Tweets: "Everybody" has better healthcare than US. His latest comments appear to contradict his own spokeswoman, who said that Trump "was simply being complimentary of the prime minister and I don’t think it was much more than that" after saying Australians have better healthcare than we do. (The Hill)
Trump called his relationship with Australia'a prime minister "fantastic" following a meeting in New York. It was their first encounter since an acrimonious phone call in February where relations were strained due to Trump's reluctance to honor a deal to accept up to 1,200 refugees from Australian detention camps. (BBC)
Trump admits to his "testy" phone call with the Australian prime minister, but still calls it "fake news." (Washington Post)
5/ The US added 211,000 new jobs in April as the unemployment rate hits a 10-year low. The unemployment rate was 4.4%, the lowest in more than 10 years, however labor participation fell slightly to 62.9% – a signal that workers who had been sidelined are not being drawn back into the labor market. Outdated skills and the inability to move to a place where jobs are available may be preventing some people who would like to work from getting back into the labor market. (New York Times)
6/ North Korea accused the US and South Korea of an unsuccessful assassination attempt involving biochemical weapons. The alleged plan resembles the assassination earlier this year of Kim Jong Un’s exiled half brother. That attack, using the chemical war agent VX, was widely blamed on North Korea and led to calls in the United States to relist the North as a state sponsor of terrorism. (Associated Press)
7/ The White House fired its chief usher — the first woman and second African American to hold the position. The chief usher oversees all activities in the White House residence and works as general manager of the building. The job is one that typically involves a long tenure — there have been just nine since the beginning of the 20th century. (Washington Post)
8/ Refugee admissions plummet under Trump's threats to bar their entry. The US accepted 2,070 refugees in March, the lowest monthly total since 2013, and 3,316 in April, the second-lowest total since 2013. (USA Today)
9/ A New York GOP congressman admits he didn't read the health care bill and was unaware the bill would nix funding for a health care program in his state. The AHCA would eliminate the Essential Plan option, which provides New York with $3 billion annually for a program that offers benefits for low-income residents who do not qualify for Medicaid. (Talking Points Memo / The Buffalo News)
10/ The Senate asks Trump associates for records of communication with Russians in an effort to accelerate its broad investigation into Russian meddling in the presidential election. Roger Stone, Carter Page, Paul Manafort, and Michael T. Flynn were all sent requests. (New York Times)
11/ Trump’s fiscal 2018 budget would cut about 95% of funding for the drug control office, effectively ending its mission as the lead agency in charge of combating opioid and drug epidemics. (Politico)
12/ Trump's pick for Army Secretary has withdrawn his name from consideration after offending both the LGBTQ and Muslim communities with comments and policy positions seen as offensive and discriminatory – including comparing transgender people to ISIS militants. (NBC News)
1/ House Republicans narrowly passed the controversial health care bill to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act. The vote passed 217-213 six weeks after House leaders failed to get the votes needed to pass an earlier version of their bill. The bill included last-minute amendments designed to draw votes from the most conservative House Republicans in the House Freedom Caucus as well as from their more moderate counterparts. The vote occurred before the Congressional Budget Office had released a new analysis of the revised bill with its cost and impact. The measure moves to the Senate, where its fate is far from certain. Democrats are confident that some provisions of the House bill will not comply with special budget rules that Republicans must follow in order to skirt a Senate filibuster. (Washington Post / NPR / New York Times)
UPDATE:
What's actually in the GOP health care bill. (Politico)
Obstacles await the Republican health care bill in the Senate. Here’s what the Senate might do to change it. (Vox)
How every member voted on the House health care bill. (New York Times)
The Obamacare replacement bill would protect just 5% of people with pre-existing conditions. The Republican bill would potentially allow insurers to charge sick people higher premiums. To offset those costs, the bill also allocates funding for financial aid for sicker people. High-risk pools in states before Obamacare tended not to cover enough people. (CNBC)
Democrats troll House Republicans and sang "nah nah nah nah, hey hey hey, goodbye" to their GOP colleagues after the American Health Care Act passed. (Washington Post)
House Republicans plan health care vote today with few votes to spare and no assessment of how much it will cost. Republicans insist they've secured the 216 votes needed to pass their bill. About 15 Republicans are still on record rejecting the proposal and several others are undecided. House leaders can afford only 22 defections, since Democrats will vote en masse against the proposal. The measure to repeal Obamacare is still opposed by health care providers, patient advocates, and retirees. (Politico / New York Times / Associated Press / Reuters)
Watch the House session. The House took up the Republican replacement bill for the Affordable Care Act. (CSPAN)
What to know about today's House health care vote. The House will vote on this version of the Affordable Care Act replacement without a Congressional Budget Office estimate, and therefore no idea what it costs, how many people it might help, or how many it might hurt. (Axios)
2/ A last-minute amendment to the health care bill will allow states to waive 10 essential benefits and potentially impact everyone not insured by Medicare or small-business plans. People who obtain health insurance through their employers could be at risk of losing protections that limit out-of-pocket costs for catastrophic illnesses, maternity care, prescription drugs, mental health treatment, and hospitalization. (Wall Street Journal)
Sexual assault could be considered a pre-existing condition under the new MacArthur-Meadows amendment, which allows states to discriminate based on medical history. In addition to rape, postpartum depression, cesarean sections, and surviving domestic violence are all considered preexisting conditions. Companies can also deny coverage for gynecological services and mammograms. (New York Magazine)
The GOP health bill will cut special education funding by 25%. The $880 billion in cuts over the next 10 years would effectively "convert Medicaid from an entitlement designed to cover any costs incurred to a more limited program.” Republicans say the cuts are necessary due to skyrocketing health care costs. (New York Times)
3/ Several Senate Republicans said they will set aside the House health-care bill and write their own version instead. Without changes, the House bill arrives in the Senate well short of the 50 votes it needs to pass (including a tie-breaking vote by Mike Pence). Republicans have hold a 52-48 majority in the Senate, which means they can only afford to lose two votes. The bill is expected to undergo major changes that might leave it unrecognizable, including stripping away the provisions that earned the support of hard-right House members to secure its passage. Senate Republicans have opted to use a maneuver known as reconciliation to try to pass the bill with a simple majority, instead of having to clear the 60-vote threshold that is required for most legislation. (Bloomberg / New York Times / Washington Post)
4/ Health care bill will exempt members of Congress and their staffs from losing popular Obamacare provisions. The amendment would ensure that staffers continue to have access to Obamacare programs, like a ban on discriminating based on preexisting conditions, while other enrollees could lose those policies if their state applied for a waiver. A Republican legislator has vowed to close the loophole in separate legislation. (The Hill / Vox)[Editor's note: This was amended by H.R. 2192, which eliminated the non-application of certain State waiver provisions to Members of Congress and congressional staff.]
5/ Tillerson is asking State Department employees to weigh in on the agency's budget cuts. The Trump administration wants to cut State Department budget by 26% for "efficiency improvements." (CNN / CBS News)
Tillerson said that the US had been too accommodating to emerging nations and longtime allies and that “things have gotten out of balance.” Fulfilling Trump’s promise to put “America first" will right those imbalances. (New York Times)
6/ Sean Spicer debates the press over the definition of a wall. Spicer got into a heated back-and-forth with a Breitbart correspondent after he asked whether the Trump administration had lied to the public when he promised to build a concrete wall along the southern border, only to downgrade his proposal to a series of fence-like boundaries. The issue is over the definition of whether a “levee wall” or a “bollard wall” is more of a fence than a wall. (The Guardian)
7/ Trump called out Susan Rice for refusing to testify before a Senate committee investigating both Russian meddling in the 2016 election and allegations of Obama-era spying on Team Trump. Rice’s lawyer said she was declining to appear because the ranking Democratic member on the subcommittee did not agree Rice should testify, thereby making the request “a significant departure from the bipartisan invitations extended to other witnesses.” (Fox News)
Susan Rice declined to testify before Senate subcommittee on Russian hacking. Republicans have raised concerns that Rice may have acted improperly, but GOP and Democratic lawmakers so far have found no evidence of wrongdoing. (CNN / Politico)
8/ Border agents are wrongly telling asylum-seekers that the US won't take them. Customs and Border Protection said its policies haven’t changed and it’s adhering to the law, but more than 100 individuals and families seeking safety were turned away by border agents from November to April. (HuffPost)
9/ Trump signed an order aimed at allowing churches to engage in more political activity. The executive order would provide "regulatory relief" from the Affordable Care Act's requirement that health insurance cover birth control and other family planning services. The signing took place on the National Day of Prayer. (Politico / Washington Post)
10/ Trump attacks "fake news media" while congratulating Fox News for its high ratings. It's not clear what provoked Trump’s criticism of the media on Twitter this morning. (Politico)
The Fake News media is officially out of control. They will do or say anything in order to get attention - never been a time like this!
11/ The Senate passed the $1 trillion spending deal to avert a government shutdown. The spending bill funds the federal government through September. (Politico)
1/ James Comey said he’s "mildly nauseous" at the suggestions he swayed the election. The FBI director defended his "painful" decision on the Clinton email probe during testimony before the Senate Judiciary Committee today. "This was terrible," Comey said. "But honestly, it wouldn't change the decision," because failing to inform Congress would have required an “act of concealment" which would have been "catastrophic." Comey added that Russia is actively involved in trying to influence US politics, emboldened after the outcome of last year's election, because "this works." (New York Times / Politico / Associated Press / CNN / CBS News)
FBI Director Comey was the best thing that ever happened to Hillary Clinton in that he gave her a free pass for many bad deeds! The phony...
Comey says classified Clinton emails were forwarded to Anthony Weiner. (Washington Post / CNN)
2/ A pair of Republican holdouts now back the health care bill. The latest proposal provides $8 billion over five years to help about 160,000 people with pre-existing medical conditions afford coverage by putting "downward pressure" on premium costs. The total individual market claims over those five years will probably be about $500 billion, mostly from people with pre-existing conditions. Republicans are still two or three votes away from being able to guarantee passage, but are pushing for a vote sometime this week. (Bloomberg / Associated Press / New York Times / Axios / Washington Post)
UPDATE:
House Republicans plan to vote on their health care plan Thursday. They said they would hold a vote this week only if they felt certain it could pass — meaning they now believe they have the votes. If it passes, it will then face a challenge in the Senate, where widespread disagreement remains among Republicans about how to proceed on health care. (Washington Post)
The House doesn't know how many people the health care plan will cover or how much it will cost. The bill to repeal and replace Obamacare hasn't been scored by the Congressional Budget Office, yet. (Vox)
3/ Trump’s national security adviser described his foreign policy approach as "disruptive." H.R. McMaster said Trump’s unpredictable and unconventional ways could stabilize the Middle East, because Trump “does not have time to debate over doctrine.” Instead, he seeks to challenge failed policies of the past with a businessman’s results-oriented approach. (Reuters)
4/ Trump weighs how to approach a Middle East conflict while hosting Palestinian Authority leader Mahmoud Abbas at the White House today. The conflict has eluded resolution for seven decades. Trump called it the “ultimate deal" and has tasked Jared Kushner with negotiating the peace agreement. (Bloomberg / NBC News)
Trump vowed to broker an Israeli-Palestinian peace, but offers no new policies. (Reuters)
5/ Trump was "directly involved" in the post-inauguration hunt for the rogue National Park Service tweeter. A Freedom of Information Act request revealed that Trump was "concerned" about who used the National Park Service Twitter account to retweet a side-by-side comparisons of the crowds at the Trump and Obama inauguration ceremonies. The tweet was deleted. (CBS News)
6/ Trump is expected to sign a long-awaited and highly controversial executive order on religious liberties on Thursday – the National Day of Prayer. A draft of the order, which leaked in February, would establish broad exemptions and legal protections for people and groups to claim religious objections. Civil liberties groups claim it would allow for discrimination against LGBT Americans. (Politico / Fox News / CNN / New York Times)
7/ The NSA collected more than 151 million records of Americans' phone calls last year, despite Congress limiting its ability to collect bulk phone records. Under the old system, the NSA collected “billions of records per day." (NBC News / New York Times)
8/ Ben Carson is not a fan of comfortable government housing projects for low-income Americans. Compassion, Carson explained, means not giving people “a comfortable setting that would make somebody want to say: ‘I’ll just stay here. They will take care of me.’” As he toured facilities for the poor in Ohio last week, Carson nodded as officials explained how they had stacked dozens of bunk beds inside a homeless shelter and purposefully did not provide televisions. (New York Times)
9/ Spicer: It’s "somewhat sad" we’re still debating why Trump won. The press secretary hit back at Hillary Clinton's assertion that she would have won if not for late-in-the-game interference from the FBI and WikiLeaks, saying “you don’t get to pick what day the election is on.” (Politico)
David Axelrod on Clinton: "It takes a lot of work to lose to Donald Trump." The Democratic strategist add that "Jim Comey didn't tell her not to campaign in Wisconsin after the convention. Jim Comey didn't say don't put any resources into Michigan until the final week of the campaign." His advice to Clinton is to move on and stop talking about the election. (The Hill)
The Comey letter probably cost Clinton the election. The impact of Comey’s letter, at a maximum, might have shifted the race by 3 or 4 percentage points toward Trump, swinging Michigan, Pennsylvania, Wisconsin and Florida to him, perhaps along with North Carolina and Arizona. At a minimum, its impact might have been only a percentage point or so. Clinton lost Michigan, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin by less than 1 point. Meaning, the letter was probably enough to change the outcome of the Electoral College. (FiveThirtyEight)
10/ Susan Rice declined to testify before the Senate subcommittee on Russian hacking. Republicans have raised concerns that Rice may have acted improperly, but GOP and Democratic lawmakers so far have found no evidence of wrongdoing. (CNN / Politico)
1/ House Republicans are floundering on the Obamacare repeal as 20 Republicans have now opposed the plan. Paul Ryan can only lose 22 votes and still pass the bill. With the 20 lawmakers against the bill, GOP leaders would have to persuade almost every undecided lawmaker to support the legislation in order to reach the 216-vote threshold needed for passage. Republicans insist they're close. If only two more members come out as "No" votes, there will be no majority to pass the bill. (Politico / CNN)
An influential Republican attacked the party’s latest health care bill, saying the measure now “torpedoes” protections for people with pre-existing medical conditions. (New York Times)
2/ Trump: The US "needs a good shutdown" in September to fix the Senate "mess." He's frustrated by Senate rules that require a 60 vote supermajority to approve most major legislation. Trump's solution is to either elect more Republican senators in the 2018 midterms, “or change the rules now to 51%" and scrap the legislative filibuster althogether. Congress is poised to approve a budget to fund the government through September, but it doesn't include several provisions sought by Trump, including funding for a border wall and language for stripping federal money from so-called sanctuary cities. (The Hill / New York Times / ABC News / CNN)
The reason for the plan negotiated between the Republicans and Democrats is that we need 60 votes in the Senate which are not there! We....
McConnell shoots down Trump's call to end the filibuster. (The Hill)
3/ Hillary Clinton – describing herself as "part of the resistance" – criticized Trump’s conduct in office, his foreign policy, and for posting on Twitter. She also said that Trump “should worry less about the election and my winning the popular vote” than about urgent matters of policy confronting the country. While Clinton said she took “absolute personal responsibility” for her defeat, she said she believed she would have won if not for Russian meddling and Comey's surprise announcement. (New York Times)
4/ Sally Yates is expected to contradict the administration's version of events surrounding Michael Flynn. The former acting attorney general is prepared to testify before a Senate panel next week that she gave a forceful warning to the White House that Flynn's was lying when he denied in public and private that he had discussed US sanctions on Russia in conversations with a Russian Ambassador, which made him potentially vulnerable to being compromised by Russia. (CNN)
5/ The South Korea THAAD missile defense system is now operational. The system is meant to protect South Korea from ballistic missiles fired by North Korea, but China and other critics say the move will only increase tensions on the Korean Peninsula. (NPR)
6/ Trump's attack on Syria was "in lieu of after-dinner entertainment" for the guests dining at Mar-a-Lago the US commerce secretary Wilbur Ross said. Trump interrupted dessert to tell Chinese President Xi about the cruise missile attack. The "entertainment didn’t cost the president anything." (The Guardian / CNN)
7/ Trump puts antiabortion activist in charge of family planning funding for poor Americans and those without health insurance. About 4 million Americans receive family planning coverage through the Title X program, and the majority of them are low-income and people of color. (Washington Post)
8/ Putin said allegations that Russia had meddled in the US election were based on rumors and that Moscow did not want foreign powers to interfere in Russian politics. He blamed the allegations on the result of domestic US political battles. (Reuters)
South Korea’s likely next president warned the US not to meddle in its democracy. (Washington Post)
9/ A Republican congressman implied that people with pre-existing health conditions aren’t living their lives “the right way.” After catching himself, Brooks quickly conceded that people with pre-existing conditions may have them “through no fault of their own.” (The Daily Beast)
10/ Pro-Trump farmers now worry he was serious about the NAFTA repeal. Corn, soybean, and dairy farmers are worried that Trump's rhetoric could directly impact their narrow margins. The same rural communities that animated Trump's campaign, would feel the brunt of the changes to the trade deal. (CNN)
Here are the 23 environmental rules Trump has rolled back. Citing federal overreach and burdensome regulations, Trump has prioritized domestic fossil fuel interests and undone measures aimed at protecting the environment and limiting global warming. (New York Times)
11/ Trump keeps praising international strongmen, alarming human rights advocates. He praised the Egyptian president for doing “a fantastic job" on gunning down his opponents, invited Thailand’s prime minister to the White House who jailed dissidents after he took power in a coup, and congratulated Turkey's president after eroding basic freedoms. (Washington Post)
12/ Jared Kushner didn’t disclose his stake in a company that makes him a business partner with Goldman Sachs, George Soros, and Peter Thiel. Kushner is currently a part-owner of a real-estate finance startup and has a number of loans from banks on properties he co-owns, but didn’t identify these on his government financial disclosure form. (Wall Street Journal)
1/ Congress reached a deal to keep the government open through September. The plan would add billions for the Pentagon and border security, but it doesn't allow the money to be spent on building Trump's wall. There is no money provided for a deportation force and there are no cuts of federal monies to so-called sanctuary cities. Votes in both chambers are expected by the end of the week. (CNN)
2/ North Korea said it will continue its nuclear weapons tests and bolster its nuclear force "to the maximum." The North called US sanctions and its show of force – sending an aircraft carrier to the Korean peninsula and joint drills with South Korea – aggression and hysteria. (Reuters)
3/ Trump said he would be "honored" to meet with Kim Jong Un if the circumstances were right. "I would be honored to do it," he said amid heightened tensions over North Korea's nuclear weapons program. (Bloomberg)
Trump calls Kim Jong-un a “a pretty smart cookie” for managing to hold on to power after taking over at a young age. (The Guardian)
4/ Trump doesn't know what's in his health care bill. The Republican health care plan Trump described on Face the Nation is at odds with his health care goals. He said that people with preexisting conditions will be protected, but the latest amendment says they won’t be. Trump also said deductibles will go down under the Republican plan, but a nonpartisan analysis expects deductibles to go up. (Vox)
GOP faces a make-or-break moment on Obamacare repeal. This week may be the last, best chance to get it done in the House. (Politico)
5/ The administration ends Michelle Obama's girls education program. The "Let Girls Learn" program comes to an end as Melania Trump begins to define her own platform as first lady. (CNN)
6/ The Department of Agriculture is relaxing Obama-era school lunch standards. The new rules suspend the sodium reduction and whole-grain requirements, as well as allow 1% fat chocolate milk back into school cafeterias nationwide because of "palatability issues." (ABC News)
7/ Trump claims Andrew Jackson was upset about the Civil War and wonders why that the issues "could not have been worked out." Jackson died 16 years before the war began. Trump suggested that if Jackson had been president "a little later, you wouldn't have had the Civil War." (Associated Press)
Here's Trump's full answer on "swashbuckler" Andrew Jackson and the Civil War: "Why could that one not have been worked out?" pic.twitter.com/Zb8OQaDqyq
8/ Trump abruptly ended an interview after being pushed on his claims that Obama ordered surveillance of him. He said his allegation that he was illegally surveilled has “been proven very strongly" and that he is entitled to his own “opinions.” (Politico)
Trump's interview with "Face the Nation." (CBS News)
9/ Trump invited Duterte to visit him at the White House after their “very friendly conversation." The authoritarian leader is accused of ordering extrajudicial killings of drug suspects in the Philippines, which has drawn criticism from human rights groups. The State Department and the National Security Council were both caught off guard by the invitation and raised objections internally. (New York Times)
Rodrigo Duterte says he may be too busy for a White House visit. (New York Times)
10/ Reince Priebus said the Trump administration has "looked at" changes to libel laws that would curtail press freedoms. Trump has frequently slammed the press for its coverage of him and has suggested changing libel laws. Libel is when defamatory statements about someone are published. But the American press enjoys some protection from lawsuits claiming libel because of the First Amendment's guarantee of free speech rights. (ABC News)
11/ Trump says his rally crowd broke records despite empty seats at his 100-day rally in Pennsylvania on Saturday night. Journalists pointed out rows of empty seats at the expo center. (The Hill)
Trump says "we have a lot of ppl standing outside" and he "broke the all time record" in this arena. There are rows of empty seats here pic.twitter.com/ixbErKjrQu
1/ How Trump reshaped the presidency and how it's changed him. In his first 100 days, Trump has transformed the highest office in ways both profound and mundane, pushing traditional boundaries, ignoring longstanding protocol and discarding historical precedents as he reshapes the White House in his own image. (New York Times)
2/ At 100 days, Trump’s big talk on the economy lacks substance. Trump has tweeted a great game, but other than reversing some of Obama’s executive orders, he hasn’t really done much on the employment and economic fronts. Consumer confidence has risen, but it’s not clear what impact it will have on the economy. Or how long that optimism will last. (Washington Post)
3/ Trump’s first 100 days ranked by the best, the worst, and everything in between. Sizing up the milestone than with a ranking from best to worst, smooth to chaotic, squeaky-clean to scandalous, of all the president’s days in the White House so far. (Politico)
What mattered and what didn’t. Trump has done more—and less—to change America than you think. (Politico)
4/ In its first 100 days, the GOP scrambles to learn how to govern. As Republicans reach the end of their first hundred days of controlling all the levers of power in Washington, they now acknowledge that being put in charge of both ends of Pennsylvania Avenue has brought out the long-standing divisions within the party and tensions between the two houses of Congress. (Washington Post)
Congress at 100 Days: Frenetic action but few accomplishments. The broad policy agenda that Republicans bragged that they would deliver if they won control in Washington has eluded them thus far, disenfranchise the minority party, and created one of the least productive opening acts by Congress in recent memory. (New York Times)
5/ How the world sees Trump. The number of campaign promises that have morphed into presidential U-turns is staggering. Allies and adversaries alike are trying to figure out whether a Trump Doctrine is emerging, or whether one even exists. (CNN)
6/ White House reporters recall their most vivid moments of Trump’s first 100 days. Covering the Trump White House can be exhilarating, maddening, exhausting – but never boring. (New York Times)
7/ Inside Trump's tumultuous first 100 days. Trump wraps up his first 100 days with the lowest approval rating of any president at this juncture since Dwight Eisenhower. That vulnerability is underscored by the willingness of even Trump’s closest GOP allies to critique his shortcomings. (CNN)
8/ Trump's presidency has become the demoralizing daily obsession of anyone concerned with global security, the vitality of the natural world, the national health, constitutionalism, civil rights, criminal justice, a free press, science, public education, and the distinction between fact and its opposite. (The New Yorker)
9/ Trump has given progressives so many causes for fear and outrage, it can be difficult — both practically and psychologically — to keep on top of them all as they happen. (New York Magazine)
Trump has galvanized activists on the left, but can they stay energized? Thousands of groups have sprouted across the country, aimed at resisting the Trump's agenda. (Washington Post)
The Women's March still inspires, but can the enthusiasm hold? (NPR)
10/ A president's very public education. Over the course of his 100 days in office, Trump has been startlingly candid about health care being complicated, China as an ally, NATO obsolescence, and that being president is hard. (Associated Press)
WTF Happened Today:
1/ Trump is talking about consolidating his power. In an interview with Fox News, he dismissed the “archaic” rules of the House and Senate — using that word four times — and suggested they needed to be streamlined for the good of the country. Also, he doesn't like the filibuster. (Washington Post)
2/ In defiance of international pressure, North Korea tests another ballistic missile. The missile blew up over land in North Korean territory. It was the second consecutive failure in the past two weeks. (CNN)
3/ The People’s Climate March draws thousands in DC. Rather than pushing for stronger climate action, organizers this year say they are fighting to preserve the gains that have already been made. (Washington Post)
4/ The EPA removed its climate science site the day before march on Washington. The website previously housed data on greenhouse gas emissions and reports on the effects of climate change and its impact on human health. (The Guardian)
5/ Patagonia threatens to sue Trump over national monuments order. Earlier in the week Trump ordered federal officials to review two decades of national monument designations, calling them “another egregious abuse of federal power.” (The Hill)
6/ Trump, again, derides Elizabeth Warren as "Pocahontas" – a jab at her Native American ancestry. During the 2016, Trump suggested Warren was exaggerating or even lying about her background. (NBC News)
7/ Trump proclaims May 1 is "Loyalty Day" as a way to "recognize and reaffirm our allegiance to the principles" upon which America was built and express pride in those ideals. (Fox News)
1/ Congress passed a short-term spending deal to keep the federal government open for another week. House and Senate negotiators will work through the weekend to finalize a longer-term deal that would fund the government through the end of the fiscal year in September. (Washington Post)
2/ Trump says a "major, major conflict" with North Korea is possible over its nuclear and missile programs, but would prefer a diplomatic solution. The administration is preparing new economic sanctions, but has not taken the military option off the table. (Reuters)
China warns situation with North Korea is at a "critical point." (Reuters)
Tillerson urges the UN to act "before North Korea does," calling on the international community to implement sanctions and suspend or downgrade diplomatic relations with Pyongyang. (Reuters)
3/ North Korea released a propaganda video showing the White House in crosshairs and aircraft carriers exploding. The video declares that “the enemy to be destroyed is in our sights.” (Washington Post)
4/ House Republicans failed to round up enough votes for their bill to repeal the Affordable Care Act. Again. Revisions to the bill won over the Freedom Caucus this week, but those same changes drove away other members, including some who supported the first version. (New York Times)
Trump is "just a few" votes shy of having enough votes to pass his Obamacare replacement bill through the House. (Politico)
5/ The economy turned in the weakest performance in three years as consumers slowed their spending. Gross domestic product grew by just 0.7% in the first quarter following a gain of 2.1% in the fourth quarter. (Associated Press)
6/ Trump agrees with the majority of Americans: He wasn’t ready to be president. "This is more work than in my previous life," Trump said. "I thought it would be easier." (Washington Post)
7/ Trump expands offshore oil drilling activity with new executive order. The order also reconsiders rules designed to prevent a repeat of the Deepwater Horizon disaster. (Bloomberg)
8/ Sessions recused himself from any Michael Flynn investigation, extending his recusal from investigations into the 2016 election. (Politico)
9/ Trump’s original campaign manager is now promising to arrange meetings with Trump and “key members" of the administration. While Corey Lewandowski says he’s not a lobbyist, ethics watchdogs say he is flouting the spirit of the lobbying rules and abusing his access to the White House. (Politico)
10/ The State Department wants to clear Nikki Haley's remarks before she speaks in an attempt to foster greater coherence with American's foreign policy efforts. (New York Times)
11/ The NSA halts the collection of Americans' emails and texts due to compliance issues with FISA court rules. The warrantless surveillance program was suppose to only collect information from people overseas that mention a foreigner under surveillance. But, the NSA ended up collecting messages sent and received domestically as a byproduct. Oops. (New York Times)
1/ The Pentagon warned Flynn in 2014 against accepting foreign payments without prior approval. He's now under investigation by the Defense Department’s inspector general to determine whether he failed to get permission to receive payments, as he was explicitly told to do. Flynn received $45,000 from RT for a 2015 speech, which was not disclosed at the time, and belatedly he filed paperwork as a foreign agent for his work lobbying on behalf of Turkey. He was paid more than $500,000. (New York Times)
The Pentagon will try to determine whether Flynn “failed to obtain required approval prior to receiving” foreign payments. Retiring officers are advised that they may be subject to the Constitution’s rarely enforced emoluments clause, which prohibits top officials from receiving payments or favors from foreign governments. (Washington Post)
Spicer blames Obama for Flynn’s security clearance, brushing aside the notion that Trump has regrets over hiring Flynn. (The Hill)
2/ Trump said he will either renegotiate NAFTA or terminate it. Yesterday, the White House had drafted an executive order to withdraw the US from NAFTA. After hearing "pleas" from Canada and Mexico not to withdraw immediately, Trump warned he would pull out if he could not negotiate a better deal. (New York Times)
I received calls from the President of Mexico and the Prime Minister of Canada asking to renegotiate NAFTA rather than terminate. I agreed..
Trump says no plan to pull out of NAFTA "at this time." (Washington Post)
Republicans tell Trump that a NAFTA withdrawal would be a "disaster." (Politico)
3/ Congress aims to vote on a short-term spending bill Friday in order to avoid a shutdown. The bill would keep the government running through May 5. The White House has also backed off its threat to withhold payments that help lower-income Americans pay their medical bills, as well as its demand for money for Trump's border wall. (Associated Press)
4/ The GOP is still divided over the latest healthcare plan. While the Freedom Caucus has endorsed the latest version, moderate conservatives are now holding out. A Friday vote appears less likely now that the Republicans are still shy of the 216 votes needed. (Axios)
The race for votes on health care is on again. GOP leadership is setting the groundwork to move quickly if it becomes clear they can pass the bill. (CNN)
Trump is unlikely to get his healthcare vote this week as House Republican leaders search for the votes needed. Republicans are confident they can win over moderates for a new Obamacare repeal plan, but they're not there yet. (Politico)
5/ Democrats threaten to oppose short-term funding bill to prevent a shutdown if the healthcare vote happens this week. The House Rules Committee passed a rule that allows any legislation to be brought up between now and Saturday, including a vote on the latest healthcare plan. No vote has been scheduled. Paul Ryan said he was "confident" the government would keep running, but placed the threat of a shutdown on Democrats for "dragging their feet." (CNN)
6/ Steve Mnuchin can't guarantee the middle class won't pay more under his new tax plan. He said the "objective" of the plan is to ensure no absolute tax cuts for the wealthy, but declined to say how the plan would affect Trump himself. (ABC News)
Economists fear Trump’s tax plan will only heighten a "mountain of debt." The proposed tax overhaul calls for steep tax cuts with only modest offsetting revenue increases. Economists estimate it would add trillions to the national debt over the next decade. (New York Times)
7/ Ivanka Trump says the US should consider admitting Syrian refugees. If you haven't been paying attention, this is a significant break from her father, who is so against the idea that both failed versions of his travel ban have included temporary suspensions of all refugee resettlement. (New York Magazine)
8/ Homeland security unveils Trump's controversial immigrant crime office set up to support the victims of crimes committed solely by undocumented migrants. Critics warn that the office is misguided and is a device for “scapegoating immigrants” by advocates who pointed to numerous studies showing immigrants are significantly less likely to commit crime. (The Guardian)
9/ The White House says Ivanka will have "no authority" over the World Bank fund to invest in women-owned businesses. The idea is under consideration at the World Bank – inspired by Ivanka – but has raised legal and ethical questions due to her formal role as “assistant to the president.” By rule, she would be prohibited from using her official position to solicit money. (Washington Post)
10/ Sessions vows to press legal fight on sanctuary cities despite a court order barring federal officials from targeting localities that decline to cooperate with enforcement of immigration laws. (Politico)
poll/ Trump's first 100 days get "mixed reviews." 45% approve of the job he’s doing, below Obama’s 62% approval and Bush W's 63% approval at this same point. More than 50% think Trump is failing in bringing real change to Washington, and 52% say the US is less respected now compared to a year ago. (Fox News)
poll/ 44% approve of Trump's handling of the presidency, which is last among approval ratings for newly-elected presidents at the 100-day point. (CNN)
1/ Trump unveils his plan to overhaul the tax code. The proposal — a one-page outline that leaves key details incomplete — would eliminate key tax breaks and reduce the number of income tax brackets from seven to three. It would also lower the corporate tax rate from 35% to 15%. (Washington Post)
Trump's tax plan would cut corporate and small business rates and boost the standard deduction to $15,000 for individuals and $30,000 for families. The proposed plan could potentially put thousands of dollars each year into the pockets of tens of millions of Americans, but could lead to a large loss of government revenue and bloat the federal deficit. (Washington Post)
2/ The White House trumpets its tax cuts as the "biggest in history." It's unclear how the cuts would be financed, although the administration noted that the proposed cuts could dramatically add to the national debt. (New York Times)
Trump's goal of reducing the corporate tax rate has a fatal problem: Senate rules. (CNN)
Trump’s tax plan extends the corporate tax cut from mom-and-pop businesses to his own real estate empire. (New York Times)
3/ House Republicans gather to revive their Obamacare repeal. The latest proposal, which came late Tuesday, is a compromise designed to corral skittish Republicans reluctant to support earlier versions of the proposal. The new language allows states to opt out of some Obamacare protections as long as they offer an alternative that lowers premiums and increases the number of people insured. The plan retains Obamacare's guarantee of "access" to coverage for people with pre-existing conditions, but allows states to waive the prohibition on charging sick people higher premiums. (Politico)
Republicans are far from repealing Obamacare as nobody is sure the House has actually found a compromise that can pass. (Vox)
Latest GOP health bill amendment would exempt members of Congress from its effects. Democrats argue that Republicans are willing to take away protections for the general public, but not themselves. (The Hill)
4/ Lawmakers are leaning toward passing a one-week funding extension to avoid a shutdown. In the meantime, the White House said it would continue paying Affordable Care Act cost-sharing subsidies. (Politico)
5/ Trump attacks "ridiculous" 9th circuit judge who blocked his order to deny federal funding to “sanctuary cities.” Judge William Orrick doesn't sit on the 9th circuit. He sits on the court of the Northern District of California, which appeals to the 9th circuit. (Politico)
First the Ninth Circuit rules against the ban & now it hits again on sanctuary cities-both ridiculous rulings. See you in the Supreme Court!
6/ US missile defense system moved to a deployment site in South Korea, triggering protests from villagers and criticism from China. The deployment of the Terminal High Altitude Area Defense system will be used to defend against missiles launched by North Korea. China says the system's advanced radar can penetrate deep into its territory and undermine its security, while it will do little to deter the North. (Reuters)
7/ The administration is considering an executive order to withdraw from NAFTA. A draft has been submitted for review and could be a hardball negotiating tactic designed to bring Mexico and Canada to the table to renegotiate NAFTA. (Politico)
Trump loses trade dispute with Mexico over dolphin safe tuna. The World Trade Organization ruled in Mexico's favor that its fishermen played by the rules, allowing it to impose sanctions worth $163 million a year against the US. Related, Trump's decision to go after Canada first with tariffs was surprising given his harsh criticism of Mexico on the campaign. Now Trump has upset Canada while suffering a trade defeat from Mexico. (CNN Money)
8/ Trump triggers a review of national monument designations, which protect more than a billion acres of US public land and waters. The designation of monuments could be "rescinded, modified or resized" as part of the review. (The Guardian)
Trump is expected to sign an executive order aimed at opening up protected waters in the Atlantic and Arctic Oceans to offshore drilling. (New York Times)
9/ The Senate confirms the deputy attorney general who will now be in charge of the Russia probe. Rod Rosenstein takes over the high-profile inquiry and will make the decision on whether to appoint an outside prosecutor. (NBC News)
10/ Trump and his top national security advisers briefed congressional lawmakers on the “very grave threat” posed by North Korea. The administration has developed a range of economic, diplomatic, and military measures in the wake of a series of provocations from Kim Jong Un. There was no talk about a preemptive strike on North Korea. The approach would be “mainly events-driven." (Washington Post)
poll/ 56% think Russia tried to influence the election, and 39% think the Trump campaign intentionally tried to assist such an effort. (ABC News)
1/ The House oversight panel says Flynn did not comply with the law. Trump's former national security adviser did not properly disclosed payments from Russia on his security clearance application. Flynn received $45,000 for a speech he gave to RT-TV in Russia. (CNN)
2/ Flynn’s Turkish lobbying now linked to Russia. A Turkish man that gave Flynn a $600,000 lobbying deal just before Trump picked him to be national security adviser had business ties to Russia. (Politico)
Sally Yates is set to testify at the May 8 Senate hearing. Yates was supposed to tell lawmakers last month about phone calls between Michael Flynn and Russian ambassador to the US Sergey Kislyak. The hearing was abruptly postponed amid accusations the White House didn't want her to testify. (CNN)
3/ A federal judge has blocked Trump's directive seeking to deny federal funding to "sanctuary cities." The ruling is another high-profile blow to Trump's efforts to use executive orders to carry out major policy moves. (Politico)
4/ Trump promised the biggest tax cut in history. The plan he put forward as a candidate would reduce revenues by 2.6% of GDP. That would be less than the cuts that Truman made (2.7%) in 1945, as well as those that Reagan enacted (2.9%) in 1981. (Washington Post)
5/ The government's costs could increase by $2.3 billion in 2018 if Congress and Trump decide not to fund Obamacare-related payments to health insurers. Trump has threatened to withhold the payments to force Democrats to the negotiating table on a healthcare bill to replace Obamacare. (Reuters)
6/ The White House is "confident" it will avert a shutdown as Trump shows flexibility on his wall. Trump softened his demand that a deal to keep the federal government open include money to begin construction on his long-promised border wall. He is open to delaying funding for wall construction until September. (Washington Post)
White House backtracks after Trump opens the door to delaying funding for border wall. Sean Spicer said Trump has not given up on getting funding for the wall now, despite Trump telling conservatives he could come back to it in September. (ABC News)
7/ Mexico is worried that the border wall will worsen flooding. Engineers believe construction of the border barrier may violate a 47-year-old treaty governing the shared waters of the Rio Grande. If Mexico protests, the fate of the wall could end up in an international court. (NPR)
8/ Republican lawmakers ask Trump to scale back Obama-era protections for gays and lesbians in order to make good on campaign promises to protect religious liberty. Trump has said that he supports the LGBTQ community and does not support any kind of discrimination. But Trump also believes there should be policies that allow for people to express their religious beliefs. (USA Today)
9/ Ivanka Trump gets booed and hissed at during a Berlin event. She was put on the spot about her father's attitudes toward women and grilled by the moderator about what, exactly, her role is in the Trump administration. She defined her goal as enacting “incremental positive change.” (Politico)
10/ The US imposed sanctions on 271 employees of the Syrian government it said were responsible for producing chemical weapons and ballistic missiles. (New York Times)
11/ Trump warns Canada over its import tax on dairy: "We will not stand for this." Last April, Canada implemented a new import tax on dairy, which had been duty-free under the 1994 North American Free Trade Agreement. (The Hill)
12/ Trump slaps Canada with 20% tariffs on softwood lumber in response. The move has drawn criticism from the Canadian government, which vowed to sue if needed. (Bloomberg)
Analyst says Canadian lumber tariffs will not affect home prices. The US Home Construction ETF dropped nearly 1% following the announcement, which a homebuilding analyst called "a papercut." Investors worried about an increase in costs. (CNBC)
13/ State Department posts, then removes article promoting Trump’s Mar-a-Lago resort. Critics had complained that the website was moonlighting as a promotional outlet for Trump’s real estate empire. (Salon)
poll/ 37% of Americans say Obamacare should be repealed and replaced. 61% say it should be kept and fixed instead. 79% say Trump should seek to make the current law work as well as possible, not to make it fail as soon as possible, a strategy he’s suggested. (ABC News)
poll/ 50% have little to no confidence in the GOP healthcare plan. 51% say Obamacare is either working well the way it is or that it needs just minor modifications to improve it. (NBC News)
1/ Trump pushes for border wall funding in spending dispute with Democrats. Aides have stressed that funding for a border wall and a vote on an effort to repeal and replace Obamacare could both be accomplished this week despite a budget deadline looming that could lead to a government shutdown. (ABC News)
Nancy Pelosi calls Trump's border wall "immoral, expensive, unwise." The Trump administration is willing to push a government shutdown if funding for the border wall is not included in a bill to fund the government this week. (NBC News)
The border wall would be "catastrophic" for the environment and endangered species. (NBC News)
2/ As a government shutdown looms, lawmakers could pass a short-term spending bill that would keep the government open in the interim while a longer-term measure is finalized. (New York Times)
3/ The French president called on voters to reject far-right candidate Marine Le Pen and back Emmanuel Macron to succeed him. President Hollande said "France's make-up, its unity, its membership of Europe and its place in the world" are all at stake. (BBC)
4/ The Senate probe into Trump's connection to Russia has no full-time staff. Seven part-time staffers are working on the inquiry, none with significant investigative experience, and no interviews with key individuals have been conducted. (Daily Beast)
The Senate Intelligence Committee has made little progress in its investigation into Russian meddling in the 2016 election. It is increasingly stymied by partisan divisions that are jeopardizing the future of the inquiry. (Yahoo News)
5/ A California Democrat called Attorney General Jeff Sessions “a racist and a liar,” after Sessions’s comments about a federal judge in Hawaii. (The Hill)
Dear "Attorney General" Sessions: You are a racist and a liar. Actually, just joking. Oh wait, your record shows you are a racist & a liar. https://t.co/efSMggbe9Y
6/ Defense Secretary Mattis is in Afghanistan to discuss war needs and how best to confront Russia for providing machine guns and other medium-weight weapons to the Taliban. (ABC News)
7/ Republican donors, leaders, and candidates worry the 2018 midterms will be a referendum on Trump's performance. Republicans are expressing early concern over Trump’s lack of legislative accomplishments, his record-low approval ratings, and the overall dysfunction that’s gripped his administration. (Politico)
8/ Anti-Semitic incidents have surged since the election of Trump, and a "heightened political atmosphere" has played a role in the rise of actions ranging from bomb threats and cemetery desecration to assaults and bullying. (Reuters)
9/ Trump blasts approval rating polls as "fake news" conducted by media outlets whose polling about last year’s presidential election had proven incorrect. (Politico)
10/ "When I won," Trump thought, "now I’ll get good press." Once again, Trump displays a fundamental misunderstanding of the role of the media, which is to act as a check on power. (Washington Post)
Here's the full transcript of an Oval Office interview between Trump and Associated Press White House Correspondent Julie Pace. (Associated Press)
Trump: I gave "Face the Nation" the highest ratings "since the World Trade Center came down." (The Hill)
11/ As the carrier group heads for Korean waters, China calls for restraint. The deployment of an aircraft carrier strike group has angered North Korea, which called it "an extremely dangerous act by those who plan a nuclear war to invade." The US and Japan have begun joint naval drills in the region. (Reuters)
12/ The entire US Senate to go to the White House for a North Korea briefing. All 100 senators have been asked to attend the briefing by Secretary of State Rex Tillerson, Secretary of Defense Jim Mattis, Director of National Intelligence Dan Coats, and General Joseph Dunford, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. It's unusual for the entire Senate to go to an event like this at the White House. (NBC News)
13/ Trump wants to cut the corporate rate to 15%, even if it means a loss of revenue and exacerbating the procedural and partisan hurdles he faces in search of his first major legislative victory. (Wall Street Journal)
1/ Jeff Sessions says DREAMers, like “everyone that enters the country unlawfully,” are “subject to being deported.” On Friday, Trump said, “We aren't looking to do anything right now” about DREAMers and that young people protected under this policy “should rest easy.” (ABC News)
DHS Secretary John Kelly reaffirmed Trump's claim that DREAMers could "rest easy" despite heightened fears of deportation. He said that undocumented immigrants would face deportation if they break US law, however. (CBS News)
2/ Sessions: We'll get the border wall paid for "one way or the other" noting that he does not expect the Mexican government to outright pay for Trump's border wall. Rather, Trump has threatened to target cash transfers from people within the US to people in Mexico. (CNN)
Trump's push for the border wall threatens to cause a government shutdown. Officials are worried that Trump won't sign a funding bill without money for his wall. (The Guardian)
3/ French election: Macron and Le Pen are projected to advance to the runoff election. Polls closed in France's bitterly divisive presidential election and early projections suggest Emmanuel Macron and Marine Le Pen have made it through to the second round runoff after securing 24% and 21.8% of the vote, respectively. The centrist and far-right candidates will face each other in presidential runoff on May 7. (CNN)
4/ The Trump administration is pushing for a vote this week in the House to replace Obamacare. Trump tweeted that Obama's healthcare program is “in serious trouble.” House members, however, return from recess on Tuesday and are expected to concentrate on a must-pass bill to keep the federal government funded beyond April 28. (Bloomberg)
Paul Ryan promised to keep the government open but makes no promises on health care. (Washington Post)
5/ The White House offers conflicting details of Trump's tax plan after he tweeted that tax reform and reduction will be announced Wednesday. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin suggested the announcement would pursue a long-term overhaul of the tax code. But, Office of Management and Budget Director Mick Mulvaney cast doubt on Mnuchin's statements, saying the White House still hasn't decided whether to pursue a long-term or short-term overhaul. (Washington Post)
6/ More than 11,000 women in all 50 states plan to run for political office. Several dozen are considering runs to challenge House Republican incumbents.(Washington Post)
7/ North Korea detains a third US citizen. The Korean-American accounting teacher was arrested as he attempted to leave the country. Pyongyang University of Science and Technology says the arrest had nothing to do with his work as a teacher, but speculated that it was due to "some other activities… such as helping an orphanage." (Reuters)
8/ North Korea is "ready to sink" a US aircraft carrier heading for the peninsula. State media warned that the USS Carl Vinson could be sunk "with a single strike" and threatened to strike Australia with nuclear weapons if it remained an ally of the US. (BBC)
poll/ 42% of Americans approve of Trump's job performance, the lowest recorded at this stage of a presidency dating back to Dwight Eisenhower. (Washington Post)
poll/ 57% believe the government should do more to solve problems and help people. 39% said the government is doing too many things that are better left to business and individuals. (Wall Street Journal)
poll/ 96% of Trump voters say they'd do it again today. (ABC News)
1/ People are marching for science because "there is no Planet B." Scientists and “friends of science” are participating in the March for Science at the National Mall today, which is expected to draw tens of thousands of people. More than 600 satellite marches are scheduled across six continents to raise concerns about the erosion of the value of expertise, and the rise of pseudoscientific and anti-scientific notions. (Washington Post)
For first time since the 1800s, Britain goes a day without burning coal for electricity. Coal powered Britain into the industrial age and into the 21st century, contributing greatly to the “pea souper” fogs that were thought for decades to be a natural phenomenon of the British climate. (New York Times)
2/ Trump vows to unveil a “massive” tax cut for Americans next week, surprising Capitol Hill and leaving Treasury officials speechless. Trump said his tax reductions would be “bigger, I believe, than any tax cut ever," but revealed no details about what is an enormously complicated effort to overhaul the nation’s tax code. The announcement is supposed to come Wednesday. (New York Times)
3/ The Trump administration claims NYC is "soft on crime." Data says otherwise. Jeff Sessions said NYC "continues to see gang murder after gang murder, the predictable consequence of the city's 'soft on crime' stance" and is "crumbling under the weight of illegal immigration and violent crime." Since 1993, murder has decreased 82%, shootings have decreased 81%, and overall crime has decreased 76%. (WABC-TV)
4/ Russian bombers fly near Alaska for the 4th time in 4 days. While the Russian aircraft did not enter sovereign airspace, American and Canadian fighter jets intercepted the two military aircraft flying around the north coast of Alaska and Canada. (ABC News)
5/ Russian operatives tried to use Trump advisers last summer to infiltrate the Trump campaign. FBI investigators have found signs of possible collusion between the campaign and Russian officials, but there is not enough evidence to show that crimes were committed. (CNN)
6/ The US will "honor" the refugee resettlement agreement with Australia, despite Trump previously calling it a "dumb deal." (CNN)
7/ Trump asks Obama Surgeon General to resign. Vivek H. Murthy has been replaced by his deputy, Rear Adm. Sylvia Trent-Adams, one of the first nurses to serve as surgeon general. It was not immediately clear why Dr. Murthy was relieved from duty. (New York Times)
8/ The Florida state senator that unleashed an expletive-laden rant and racial slur resigns. Frank Artiles apologized the day after the episode, saying he let his “temper get the best of me.” (New York Times)
9/ Texas, New Mexico, Arizona and California lawmakers all balk at Trump’s wall request. No House or Senate members that represent territories on the southwest border have expressed support for Trump's $1.4 billion funding proposal. (Wall Street Journal)
1/ The threat of a government shutdown hinges on the Mexican border wall and Obamacare funding. Trump and Republicans will have four days to overcome intraparty ideological divisions and win over some opposition Democrats next week to pass a spending package to keep the government open beyond April 28. Mick Mulvaney, the White House budget director, says money for Trump's wall and immigration agents is a must. Democrats have taken a hard line against any money for the border wall and insist that the measure include the Obamacare payments to insurance companies. (Reuters)
Conway is "confident" there will be no government shutdown. (Politico)
Lawmakers hope to unveil a catchall spending bill next week in order avert a government shutdown. (ABC News)
Mattis tells Congress that Trump's budget request isn't sufficient to cover the cost of rebuilding the military. (CNN)
2/ Jeff Sessions dismissed Hawaii as just "an island in the Pacific" while criticizing a Federal District Court ruling last month that blocked the Trump administration from carrying out its ban on travel from parts of the Muslim world. “I really am amazed that a judge sitting on an island in the Pacific can issue an order that stops the president of the United States from what appears to be clearly his statutory and constitutional power,” Sessions said. (New York Times)
Hawaiians to Jeff Sessions: "We’re not just some island." (Washington Post)
3/ The Justice Department escalates its crackdown on "sanctuary cities". The DOJ sent letters to nine jurisdictions that limit cooperation with federal immigration authorities, threatening to withhold funding unless they comply with federal law. (New York Times)
4/ The Treasury denied Exxon's request for a waiver from Russian sanctions. Exxon won’t be allowed to bypass US sanctions against Russia in order to resume drilling for oil. (Bloomberg)
5/ South Korea is on heightened alert as the North readies for its anniversary of the Korean People's Army. The 85th army anniversary comes at the end of major winter military drills. The US and South Korea have been saying for weeks that the North could soon stage another nuclear test. (Reuters)
Trump puts pressure on China to rein in North Korea, saying "if they want to solve the North Korea problem, they will." (The Hill)
6/ Trump says Iran has not "lived up to the spirit" of the nuclear agreement. He also criticized the deal days after his secretary of state certified that Iran was complying with the terms of the agreement. Trump called it “terrible” and “as bad as I've ever seen negotiated.” (Washington Post)
7/ Syria still has chemical weapons. Israeli defense officials estimate that Syria still has up to three tons of chemical weapons in its possession. Mattis says Syria has "dispersed their aircraft" in the wake of the punitive US missile strike. The implication is that Syria may be concerned about additional strikes and is moving its combat aircrafts to make them less vulnerable to an attack. (ABC News)
8/ The House Intelligence Committee asked former acting Attorney General Sally Yates to testify publicly in the panel’s probe into Russian interference in the US election. The committee has also asked FBI Director James Comey and NSA Director Mike Rogers to return before the committee to testify in a closed setting. (The Hill)
9/ Trump’s lawyers have argued that anti-Trump protesters “have no right” to “express dissenting views” at his campaign rallies. Lawyers for Trump’s campaign say that his calls to remove the protesters were protected by the First Amendment. (Politico)
10/ Jeff Sessions makes arresting WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange a priority. WikiLeaks allegedly played an active role in helping Edward Snowden disclose a massive cache of classified documents he took from the NSA. (CNN)
11/ Georgia NAACP chief is suing the state for trying to block newly registered voters from taking part in a runoff election. Georgia law requires that individuals who vote in a runoff election must be registered to vote in the initial election. Election officials say that the June runoff is simply a continuation of the special election, so they don’t have to allow newly registered voters to participate. (Huffington Post)
12/ Nearing the 100-day mark with limited accomplishments, Trump calls it a "ridiculous standard." Trump hits the 100-day mark at the end of the next week and has no major wins on Capitol Hill beyond Gorsuch. (Washington Post)
The White House is desperate to demonstrate progress on Trump’s promise to repeal the Affordable Care Act. The Republicans are trying to resurrect the health care bill before his 100th day in office. (New York Times)
13/ At least 25 temporary political appointees are now getting permanent federal jobs with little or no public notice. In January, the Trump administration installed more than 400 political appointees across the federal government. Hiring rules allow them to have those positions for up to eight months. (ProPublica)
1/ House Republicans are making a new bid to repeal Obamacare. The current proposal gives states more flexibility to opt out of major Obamacare provisions, while preserving popular protections like banning discrimination against people with pre-existing conditions. The text of a new bill is likely to circulate by the weekend with intentions to have a vote by midweek before the president reaches his 100-day mark. (Politico)
Congress may have to choose between keeping the government open and voting to repeal Obamacare. Trump thinks they can do both. The current resolution funding the government expires on April 28. (CNBC)
2/ North Korea warns of a "super-mighty preemptive strike" after Rex Tillerson said the US was looking to put pressure on the country over its nuclear program. (Reuters)
Satellites spot unexpected activity at North Korean nuclear test site: volleyball. The games were probably intended to send a message, but what meaning the North wanted to convey is unclear. (New York Times)
3/ The CIA and FBI are searching for the leaker who gave top-secret documents to WikiLeaks. The leak exposed thousands of top-secret documents that described CIA tools used to penetrate smartphones, smart TVs, and computers. (CBS News)
4/ Tillerson accused Iran of "alarming ongoing provocations" aimed at destabilizing the Middle East and undermining American interests. Iran's foreign minister dismissed Mr Tillerson's criticism as "worn out." (BBC)
5/ Carter Page's trip to Russia last July became the catalyst for an FBI investigation into ties between Russia and the Trump campaign. In 2013, a Russian spy was trying to recruit Trump's former foreign policy adviser, and his 2016 trip further stirs the agency's interest in the businessman. It is unclear what about Page’s visit drew the FBI's interest: meetings, intercepted communications, or something else. (New York Times)
The FBI used the unverified dossier detailing Trump's ties to Russia in order to bolster its Trump-Russia investigation and win approval to secretly monitor Carter Page. The FISA court approved the monitoring of Page's communications, who advised Trump on national security last year. (CNN)
6/ A Russian think tank controlled by Putin developed a plan to swing the 2016 US presidential election. Two confidential documents provide the framework and rationale for what intelligence agencies have concluded was an intensive effort to undermine voters’ faith in the American electoral system. (Reuters)
7/ The judge Trump denigrated for his Mexican heritage last year will hear deported DREAMer case. Trump claimed that US District Judge Gonzalo Curiel could not impartially hear a lawsuit against Trump University last year because of Curiel's background and Trump's own hardline immigration policies. Curiel will now oversee a lawsuit where a California resident was deported despite being approved for the Deferred Actions for Childhood Arrivals program, which provides protective status for undocumented immigrants brought to the country as children. (CNN)
8/ Trump blows his own deadline for developing an anti-hacking plan within 90 days of taking office. Yesterday was the 90-day mark. There is no team, there is no plan, and there is no clear answer from the White House on who would even be working on what. Trump has repeatedly promised to get to the bottom of Russian election hacking. (Politico)
Trump claims that "no administration has accomplished more in the first 90 days." So far he hasn't taken action on 60% of the 60 promises he said he would fulfill in his first 100 days. Trump's also broken five of them, such as his promise to label China as a currency manipulator. (Washington Post)
9/ Chaffetz is considering an early departure from Congress. Chaffetz stunned Washington yesterday with an announcement that he is not running for reelection. Now he might not even finish his term. Chaffetz cited a desire to spend more time with his family in Utah and return to the private sector. (The Hill)
Why is Jason Chaffetz running away? A rising Republican star doesn’t just retire from Congress for nothing. (Salon)
10/ The Trump administration launches national security investigation into steel imports and whether the way other countries sell steel compromises US security. The review would consider how much steel the US needs to defend itself, and whether current domestic capacity meets those requirements. (Los Angeles Times)
11/ The White House sidewalk will be closed to public permanently. The closure will "lessen the possibility of individuals illegally accessing the White House grounds." (Reuters)
12/ The Justice Department is weighing whether to bring criminal charges against members of WikiLeaks. Prosecutors are examining the 2010 leak of cables and military documents, as well as the more recent revelation of sensitive CIA cyber-tools used to convert cellphones, televisions, and other ordinary devices into implements of espionage. (Washington Post)
poll/ Trump gets an "A" on his performance from 16% of voters. He received an "F" grade from 24% of voters. (Politico)
poll/ 63% of Democrats say they're "very excited" about voting in the 2018 election, compared to only 52% of Republicans. (Public Policy Polling)
1/ Jason Chaffetz will not seek re-election. The Utah Republican, who chairs the House Oversight Committee, has drawn attention and criticism for his handling of conflicts of interest investigations into Clinton and Trump. (BuzzFeed News)
2/ The US says Iran is complying with the terms of the 2015 nuclear deal negotiated by Obama. The US has extended the sanctions relief in exchange for curbs on its atomic program. Tillerson, however, said the administration is reviewing the agreement to evaluate whether it "is vital to the national security interests of the United States." (Associated Press)
3/ Mike Pence warns North Korea that "the sword stands ready." From the deck of the USS Ronald Reagan, Pence promised that the US would make an "overwhelming and effective" response to any use of conventional or nuclear weapons by North Korea. (Los Angeles Times)
4/ Fox News is preparing to cut ties with Bill O’Reilly. Advertisers fled from his show following the news that 21st Century Fox and O'Reilly had settled multiple sexual harassment complaints. (Wall Street Journal)
O’Reilly’s 21-year run at Fox News will come to an end. (New York Magazine)
5/ A Miami state senator referred to his fellow Republicans as "niggas." The Florida Democratic Party called on him to resign Tuesday night, saying his conduct was “disgusting, unacceptable and has no place in our democracy or our society.” (Miami Herald)
6/ The Justice Department does not have any US attorneys in place a month after dismissing federal prosecutors. Attorney General Jeff Sessions abruptly told the dozens of remaining Obama attorneys to submit their resignations immediately last month. None of them have been replaced. The 93 unfilled US attorney positions remain open. (Washington Post)
7/ Emirates is cutting flights to the US because of Trump's restrictive travel policies. Stricter visa regulations, heightened security vetting, and restrictions on electronic devices in aircraft cabins have had a direct impact on consumer interest and weakened travel demand into US. (Business Insider)
8/ Trump is expected to shift his weekend plans to his golf club in New Jersey once Mar-a-Lago closes for the season. Bedminster, New Jersey officials have been struggling to explain to the public who will pay for all the extra overtime work when the president is in their small rural town. (Politico)
9/ Exxon has asked the Treasury for exemption from US sanctions on Russia in a bid to resume its joint venture with oil giant PAO Rosneft. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson is Exxon’s former CEO. In 2012, Tillerson negotiated a deal for Exxon to explore Russia's arctic waters. 2014 sanctions sidelined the deal. (Wall Street Journal)
10/ The White House is looking to revive Obamacare repeal before the 100-day mark. The renewed effort comes as Congress returns from recess and as the Trump administration is fielding questions about its legislative accomplishments during its first 100 days in office. (CNN)
1/ Ivanka Trump won approval from the Chinese government for three new trademarks the same night she dined with the president of China at Mar-a-Lago. Criminal conflict of interest law prohibits federal officials, like Ivanka and Kushner, from participating in government matters that could impact their own financial interest or that of their spouse. (Associated Press)
2/ Spicer argued that more public disclosures are unnecessary and harmful to Trump’s ability to govern. He defended Trump’s reversal of Obama’s practice of periodically releasing visitor logs, and suggested that doing so would discourage outsiders who require anonymity to offer frank advice to the president and his top advisers. (New York Times)
Elijah Cummings on Trump's transparency: "If you want privacy, don't go into politics." Cummings knocked the White House's public disclosure practices, saying that Trump needs to learn there's little privacy in politics. (The Hill)
3/ The promise to enact a sweeping overhaul of the tax code is in jeopardy nearly 100 days into Trump's tenure. His refusal to release his own tax returns is emerging as a central hurdle to tax reform as Democrats pledge not to cooperate on any rewriting of the tax code unless they know specifically how revisions would benefit the billionaire president and his family. (New York Times)
Tax reform will be delayed because of Trumpcare failure. (New York Magazine)
4/ Democrats aim to "make Trump furious" in Georgia election. Today's special election lumps all 18 candidates on one ballot and is expected to be more competitive than Republicans' single-digit victory in Kansas last week. Unless one candidate captures a full 50% of the vote, there will be a runoff between the top two finishers, on June 20th. Democrats are hoping Jon Ossoff can pull off a major upset in the conservative Georgia congressional district. (ABC News)
5/ Georgia voting machines were stolen just days before the polls open for a special election. The Cobb County Elections waited two days to tell the Secretary of State about the theft of four ExpressPoll machines. (WSBTV)
6/ In an upcoming executive order, Trump will have the Department of Homeland Security review how H-1B visas are awarded. The agency will be instructed to suggest reforms to move away from the current lottery system and to a merit-based system so that visas only land in the hands of highly paid, specially skilled applicants. (Record)
Trump's executive order is aimed at making it harder for technology companies to recruit low-wage workers from foreign countries and undercut Americans looking for jobs. (New York Times)
7/ The South Korea-US free trade agreement will be reviewed. Pence said the US trade deficit has more than doubled in the five years since the agreement began and there are too many barriers for US businesses in the country. (Reuters)
8/ Theresa May stunned the UK political world by calling for an early general election in order to strengthen her hand in Brexit negotiations. May became PM by default last year in the days after the Brexit vote and David Cameron’s resignation. (CNN)
9/ Trump called Erdogan to congratulate him on his contested, controversial referendum, which changed Turkey from a parliamentary democracy to one led by an executive president with strong central powers. It passed by a slim margin, 51.3% to 48.7%. The State Department urged Turkey to respect the basic rights of its citizens and noted election irregularities witnessed by monitors with the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe. (Washington Post)
10/ Trump on North Korea: Obama and Clinton were "outplayed by this gentleman." He must be confused. Kim Jong Un has only been the leader of North Korea since 2012. His late father, Kim Jong Il, was the dictator who ruled from 1994 to 2011. (The Daily Beast)
11/ Critics of the Department of Homeland Security should "shut up" and assume the agency is acting appropriately, Secretary John F. Kelly said in a speech. The problem, Kelly said, is not the federal agents enforcing immigration laws, but the political games that have been played. He called criticism of the agency’s work misguided and based on inaccurate reporting. (Washington Post)
12/ US warships are now on a northerly course for the Korean Peninsula after sailing in the opposite direction. The Navy posted a photo of the U.S.S. Carl Vinson sailing in the Sundra Strait off the coast of Indonesia on Saturday - 3,500 miles southwest of the Korean Peninsula. The picture was taken four days after Sean Spicer described the warship's mission in the Sea of Japan. (New York Times)
1/ Pence puts North Korea on notice, warning them that "the era of strategic patience is over" regarding its nuclear and ballistic missile program. "North Korea would do well not to test his resolve — or the strength of the Armed Forces of the United States in this region," the Vice President warned. (NPR)
Japan's Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said "we need to apply pressure on North Korea so they seriously respond to a dialogue." He also urged China and Russia to play more constructive roles on the issue. (Associated Press)
Pence warns North Korea of US resolve as shown in Syria and Afghan strikes. (Reuters)
2/ North Korean envoy at UN warns of nuclear war possibility. The North Korean UN ambassador condemned the US naval buildup in the waters off the Korean Peninsula and said his country is ready to react to any "mode of war" from the United States. Any missile or nuclear strike by the United States would be responded to "in kind." (CNN)
North Korea "will test missiles weekly" despite international condemnation and growing military tensions with the US. (BBC)
3/ China and Russia have dispatched spy vessels to shadow Trump’s "armada" as it approaches North Korean waters. The two navies are hoping to track the movement of US ships in an effort to prioritize stability by “strengthening warning and surveillance activities in the waters and airspace around the area. (The Telegraph)
4/ South Korea is deploying an American missile defense system despite Chinese opposition. China had previously sanctioned South Korea to persuade them not to deploy the missile defense system. South Korea’s acting president vowed to press ahead with the “swift deployment” of the Terminal High Altitude Area Defense system. (Washington Post)
5/ Trump taunts Democratic candidate in Georgia special election. He called the 30-year-old candidate a "super Liberal Democrat" that is soft on crime and big on raising taxes. Many see the special election as an early referendum on Trump's performance so far. (Fox News)
6/ Jeff Sessions has brought sweeping changes to the Department of Justice. He's moved quickly to roll back protections for transgender students, rescinded plans to phase out the government’s use of private prisons, and is resurrecting the tough-on-crime policies. (The Hill)
7/ Swing state voters wonder when the "winning" will start. Many still trust Trump, but wonder why his deal-making instincts don't translate. They admire his zeal, but are baffled by his tweets. They insist he will be fine, but suggest that maybe Pence should assume a more expansive role. (New York Times)
8/ Corporate America is uniting on climate change. While consumer brands and industrial giants have been supporting government action on climate change for years, the biggest and most important US energy companies are now dropping their resistance to a global climate deal. The consensus is the broadest it's been in a decade. (Axios)
9/ Trump's border wall could leave some Americans on the "Mexican side." Technically residents living near the Rio Grande Valley would be on US soil, but outside of a barrier built north of the river separating the two countries. (NBC News)
10/ The EPA becomes a target after Trump asks manufacturers how to boost domestic manufacturing. Nearly half of the 168 recommendations submitted were aimed at the EPA. (Washington Post)
11/ Russian TV says Trump is more dangerous than Kim Jong-Un. The Kremlin’s top TV mouthpiece said “Trump is more impulsive and unpredictable than Kim Jong Un." (Bloomberg)
poll/ 45% say Trump keeps his promises, down from 62% in February. (Gallup)
1/ Trump "will take action" to end any North Korea threat to the US and will not accept a hostile regime with nuclear weapons. While the administration is not planning to respond to the failed missile launch, Trump's national security adviser said the launch "fits a pattern of provocative and destabilizing and threatening behavior on the part of the North Korean regime." (ABC News)
Trump administration warns North Korea to end its nuclear testing or face US reprisals. North Korean leader is “unpredictable” and a threat to the world, McMaster said, and it's "clear" that Trump would not allow the North to threaten the US. (Los Angeles Times)
Trump is willing to consider “kinetic” military action to counteract North Korea’s destabilizing actions, including a sudden strike. Trump's preference is for China to take the lead on dealing with North Korea. (Bloomberg)
2/ From South Korea, Pence calls the North Korean missile launch "a provocation." Trump is considering an array of military, diplomatic, and other options to respond to the "risks plaguing both the region and the United States." Pence is in South Korea on behalf of Trump to convey to the troops stationed there that “we’re proud of you and we’re grateful for your service.” (New York Times)
3/ Trump is "trying to out-North Korean the North Koreans" with his aggressive rhetoric against the totalitarian state, the former US ambassador to South Korea said. He added that people are nervous because they’re not sure what Trump means by it. "When you talk in those terms, you’ve got to be prepared to back it up." (Politico)
4/ A raft of potential conflicts are arising across the executive branch, according to an analysis of recently released financial disclosures. Trump's filled the White House and federal agencies with former lobbyists, lawyers and consultants who in many cases are helping to craft new policies for the same industries in which they recently earned a paycheck. (New York Times)
5/ The energy chief is ordering a study of the US electric grid to examining whether policies that favor wind and solar energy are accelerating the retirement of coal and nuclear plants critical to ensuring steady, reliable power supplies. The effort suggests that the administration may be looking for other ways to keep coal plants online. (Bloomberg)
6/ Trump wants to know why people are still talking about his taxes following a nationwide Tax March that drew thousands of people in dozens of cities. He declared on Twitter that “The election is over!” (Washington Post)
Protesters clash with Trump supporters in Berkeley, California. At least 21 people were arrested and 11 were injured, with seven transported to the hospital in unknown condition. (CNN)
7/ A GOP lawmaker responds to concerns about Internet privacy by saying the "Nobody’s got to use the Internet." Town hall attendees were told that using the Internet is a choice by their Wisconsin congressman, F. James Sensenbrenner Jr. (Washington Post)
8/ Marijuana is "not a factor" in the war on drugs Homeland Security Secretary John Kelly said. Solving the nation's drug problem does not involve "arresting a lot of users," either. Instead, he said methamphetamines, heroin, and cocaine were responsible for the deaths of 52,000 people that cost the country $250 billion. (Politico)
1/ North Korea parades new missiles in show of force, worrying analysts. Pyongyang's military hardware includes a new intercontinental ballistic missile, which appears to have elements of two other ICBMS, the KN-08 and KN-14 missiles. The KN-08 has a theoretical range of about 7,500 miles, which is enough to reach all of the United States from North Korea. The KN-14 is also capable of reaching the US mainland, although it has a shorter range. (Washington Post)
UPDATE:
North Korea – defying warnings from the Trump administration – fired off a ballistic missile that exploded almost immediately after launch. The launch occurred the morning after Kim Jong Un oversaw an elaborate military parade in the center of Pyongyang. (Bloomberg)
North Korea shows off long range missiles in military parade. (New York Times)
2/ Trump's strategy on North Korea is to apply "maximum pressure and engagement." The US is hopeful China and Russia will agree to tighter UN sanctions on North Korea if it conducts another nuclear test. The two countries are critical to pressuring North Korea because they both hold veto power on the UN Security Council. (Associated Press)
3/ Jeff Sessions says he admires Steve Bannon and that he has received no pushback from Ivanka Trump or Jared Kushner on his agenda. (CNN)
4/ Protesters call on Trump to release his taxes in tax day march. More than 100 marches are expected to occur throughout the day. (Washinton Post)
5/ The US tourism industry expects 4.3 million fewer visitors and lose $7.4 billion in revenue due to Trump's travel ban and reports of plans to implement “extreme vetting” of foreign travelers. (Washington Post)
6/ MOAB death toll up to 94 ISIS fighters, Afghanistan says. The US estimates there are 600 to 800 ISIS fighters in Afghanistan. (The Hill)
7/ Trump insists on a gold‑plated welcome in the Queen’s royal carriage when he visits Britain later this year. Obama chose not to travel in the carriage during a 2011 visit, opting to make the trip in his armored limousine. (The Times of London)
8/ Trump claims he can’t be sued for inciting his supporters to hurt protesters during a campaign rally. Trump’s lawyers argue that he cannot be sued for inciting violence because, as the President, he is immune from civil lawsuits. (Politico)
9/ The West Wing is a place where the ground is always shifting, with the exception of Ivanka and Kushner. The amount of time staff members have spent talking about one another to the media they despise has made the White House more visible to the public than any other presidential staff. (Vanity Fair)
10/ Trump's 2020 reelection campaign has raised $13.2 million in the first quarter. Meanwhile, the Republican National Committee says it raised another $41.3 million in the first three months of the year. (Politico)
poll/ Americans want to tax the rich. About 60% say they are very worried that corporations and wealthy individuals aren’t paying their fair share. (Vox)
1/ As global tensions flare over North Korea, Trump heads to Mar-a-Lago without his top aides. This is Trump's seventh trip to Mar-a-Lago since taking office. (CNN)
2/ The US is ready to launch a preemptive strike if North Korea is about to test a nuclear weapon. North Korea has warned that a "big event" is near. The threat of a preemptive strike comes on the same day the US announced the use of its "mother of all bombs." (NBC News)
North Korea's vice foreign minister says Trump's policy is more "vicious and aggressive" than Obama's. He added Trump's tweets that the North was "looking for trouble" were making tensions in the region worse. (Associated Press)
3/ North Korea threatens a preemptive strike of its own. The North said it would "hit the US first" with a "merciless retaliatory strike" should there be any signs of a US attack. (The Hill)
4/ China warned that tensions on the Korean Peninsula could get out of control and urged an end to “mutual provocation and threats.” North Korean military issued a statement threatening to attack American military bases in South Korea, warning that it could annihilate those targets “within minutes.” (New York Times)
5/ 36 ISIS fighters killed by "mother of all bombs." The blast destroyed three underground tunnels as well as weapons and ammunition, but no civilians were hurt. The military previously estimated ISIS had 600 to 800 active fighters in the area. (CNN)
6/ Russia said there is growing evidence that the Syrian chemical attack was staged. Russia says Syrian forces struck a building where terrorists kept the internationally banned chemical. The US says it has images proving the bomb left a crater in a road rather than hitting a building. (Bloomberg)
7/ Scott Pruitt called for an "exit" from the Paris climate agreement. It's the first time a high-ranking official has explicitly disavowed the agreement endorsed by nearly 200 countries to fight climate change. It would takes three years under the accord's terms for a party to withdraw, followed by a one-year waiting period — about the same length as Trump’s first term in office. (Washington Post)
8/ The White House won’t release records of its visitors, raising new concerns from transparency advocates. The decision not to voluntarily disclose visitor logs is a break from the policy of Obama’s, which released logs about about three months after visits occurred. Trump has called Obama the "least transparent president." (Politico)
9/ DeVos pick to head the Civil Rights Office once claimed reverse racism because she couldn't receive calculus help from a program designed to assist minority students while at Stanford. She is white. (ProPublica)
1/ British spies spotted the link between Trump’s campaign team and Russian intelligence operatives in late 2015. The GCHQ alerted their counterparts in Washington of suspicious “interactions” between figures connected to Trump and Russian agents. As part of routine surveillance of Russian intelligence assets, agencies began to see a pattern of connections emerge. (The Guardian)
Trump on Russia: "Things will work out fine." Despite candidate Trump’s repeated praise of Putin, the US has had a rocky relationship with Moscow under his administration. “We may be at an all-time low in terms of our relationship with Russia." (Politico)
2/ The US dropped the largest non-nuclear bomb in Afghanistan. The Massive Ordnance Air Blast Bomb – or MOAB – targeted an ISIS tunnel and cave complex. The bomb is more commonly known as the "mother of all bombs," since it's a 21,600-pound, GPS-guided munition with a one mile blast radius. (CNN)
Trump: I don’t know if using the "mother of all bombs" in Afghanistan will send a message to North Korea. He's not worried though, saying “the problem” with that country “will be taken care of,” regardless. (Politico)
3/ An airstrike by the American-led coalition fighting the Islamic State mistakenly killed 18 Syrian fighters allied with the US. The strike was the third time in a month that American-led airstrikes may have killed civilians or allies. The military called the episode “tragic." Central Command said the airstrike was "misdirected." (New York Times)
4/ Assad called the alleged chemical attack a "100 percent fabrication" in order to justify a US military strike. He denied any use of chemical weapons. Moscow said the deaths where the result of a conventional strike hitting a rebel arms depot containing "toxic substances". (Agence France Presse)
5/ Satellite photos show a North Korean nuclear site is "primed and ready" for a sixth nuclear test. Activity at the site over the past six weeks suggests they're in the final preparations for a test. North Korea marks the "Day of the Sun" this Saturday, which has typically been marked by displays of military strength. (CNN)
Trump threatens action on North Korea, but expressed “great confidence” in how China would deal with the North. He added the US would step in if needed. (Politico)
Trump says he offered China better trade terms in exchange for help on North Korea. He also said his administration won’t label China a currency manipulator in despite his campaign promise to do so. (Wall Street Journal)
6/ Kim Jong Un’s rockets are getting a boost from China. A North Korean booster rocket recovered by South Korea’s navy
show that many of the key components were acquired from businesses based in China. (Washington Post)
7/ Trump privately signed a bill aimed at cutting off federal funding to Planned Parenthood and other groups that perform abortions. The bill allows states to withhold federal money from organizations that provide abortion services, whether or not these facilities also provide other family planning and medical services. Planned Parenthood says 3% of the services it provides are abortions. (CNN)
8/ Scott Pruitt will receive around-the-clock security detail as the EPA budget shrinks by 31%. The proposed budget would double the agency’s infrastructure and operations staff as it gets slashed from $8.1 billion to $5.7 billion, eliminating a quarter of the agency’s 15,000 jobs. (New York Times)
9/ On the same day that Paul Manafort left Trump’s campaign he borrowed $13 million from Trump-connected businesses. Manafort’s ties to Ukraine and Russia have come under scrutiny as federal officials investigate Russian meddling in the American presidential election. (New York Times)
10/ Portland joins Seattle in suing the Trump administration over its order to withhold federal grants from "sanctuary cities". (The Oregonian)
11/ Sanders: Trump will be a one-term president. Bernie promises to “expose the Republican Party for what it is” during a nationwide tour to rally Democrats that launches next week. (Detroit News)
1/ Putin meets with Tillerson in Moscow. Relations between the US and Russia have grown so tense that it was unclear whether Putin would meet with the Secretary of State. Tillerson's job is to persuade Moscow to abandon its support for Syrian leader Bashar al-Assad. (New York Times)
Tillerson and Putin appeared to be unable to agree on the facts involving the deadly chemical weapons assault on Syrian civilians or Russian interference in the American election. “There is a low level of trust between our countries,” Tillerson said. Both sides did agree to establish a working group to examine “the irritants” in relations between the United States and Russia. (New York Times)
Trump and Putin trade barbs as ministers meet. Trump said Russia was backing "an animal" while Putin said the US had violated the law and that the level of trust with the US had worsened since Trump took office. (BBC)
2/ $1.2 million in payments from a pro-Russian political party have been linked to Paul Manafort's firm in the US. A handwritten ledger surfaced in Ukraine last August with dollar amounts and dates listed next to the name of Manafort, who was then Donald Trump's campaign chairman. Manafort originally said the transactions in the ledger were fabricated. Now, he says the transactions corroborated are legal. A Ukrainian lawmaker said $750,000 received by Manafort was part of a money-laundering effort. (Associated Press)
Paul Manafort's lobbying firm has registered as foreign agent. The moves comes after the fact that the firm worked on a covert influence campaign in the US under the direction of Manafort and his deputy Rick Gates, two former campaign advisers to Trump. (Associated Press)
3/ Trump won’t say he still backs Bannon. Instead he offered up that "Steve is a good guy," but "I’m my own strategist." (New York Post)
4/ DeVos rolled back an Obama administration attempt to reform how student loan debt is collected. Obama issued a pair of memorandums last year requiring that the Federal Student Aid office do more to help borrowers manage their debt. DeVos withdrew the memos, saying the approach was inconsistent and full of shortcomings. She didn’t detail what fell short. More than 1 million Americans are annually defaulting on their student loans. (Bloomberg)
5/ The Trump administration is moving quickly to build up a nationwide deportation force. A Department of Homeland Security assessment shows the agency has found 33,000 more detention beds to house undocumented immigrants, and has opened discussions with dozens of local police forces that could be empowered with enforcement authority and identified where construction of Trump’s border wall could begin. (Washington Post)
6/ The Trump administration is lifting the federal hiring freeze. The impact is likely to be limited. It will be up to Congress to set spending levels for federal agencies. Lawmakers from both sides of the aisle are highly critical of Trump's spending plan. (NPR)
7/ Trump’s budget director says their goal is to maximize high inequality, not low deficits. Republicans typically frame spending and taxes as a way to reduce out-of-control deficits, while framing regressive tax cuts as being unrelated to deficits. Mulvaney is conceding that deficits have nothing to do with the Republican fiscal agenda. (New York Magazine)
8/ Classified documents contradict both Nunes and Trump that Obama ordered wiretaps of Trump Tower to spy on him during the campaign. Lawmakers have not found evidence that Obama did anything unusual or illegal after reviewing the same intelligence reports brought to light by House Intelligence Chairman Devin Nunes. Nunes prompted outrage after claiming to have learned of possible “incidental collection” of the Trump team’s communications. (CNN)
9/ Silicon Valley is beginning to fight Trump's net neutrality plan. The lobbying group representing Facebook, Google, Twitter and others told FCC Chairman Ajit Pai that it shouldn’t weaken net neutrality rules. (Recode)
10/ Trump is “100% committed” to NATO. He reiterated that all NATO members need to increase their military spending to 2% of their economic output in order to strengthen the alliance’s long-term capabilities. (Wall Street Journal)
11/ Shifting course, Trump says health care repeal must happen before tax overhaul. Congressional budget rules will make it easier to pass broad overhauls of the tax code once the $1 trillion in Affordable Care Act taxes have been repealed. (Washington Post)
12/ The Trump administration has suspended its weekly report aimed at putting political pressure on sanctuary cities. The report was designed to name and shame sanctuary jurisdictions. (CNN)
1/ Sean Spicer claimed Hitler "didn’t even sink to using chemical weapons." Instead he sent Jews to "the Holocaust centers." While emphasizing how serious the US takes Assad's use of sarin gas, Spicer – unprompted – said that even someone as despicable as Adolf Hitler didn't use chemical weapons. Hitler used gas chambers to kill millions of Jews. (Washington Post)
Spicer apologized for claiming Hitler didn't use chemical weapons. "I mistakenly used an inappropriate, insensitive reference to the Holocaust," he said. (Politico)
2/ The White House accused Russia of engaging in a cover-up of the chemical weapons attack in Syria. US intelligence confirmed that the Syrians used sarin gas on their own people. In a declassified four-page report, the White House asserted that the Syrian and Russian governments sought to confuse the world community about the assault through disinformation and “false narratives.” (New York Times)
3/ Tillerson warned Russia that Assad’s reign is “coming to an end" and that Russia is becoming irrelevant in the Middle East by supporting him. Putin insisted that the chemical attack had stemmed from anti-Assad rebel units and are "worth investigating thoroughly." Putin likened the accusations to the flawed intelligence that the Bush administration used to justify the invasion of Iraq. (New York Times)
Russia wants the UN to investigate Syrian chemical attack. The Kremlin has blamed Syrian rebels for the chemical weapons attack delivered by a conventional airstrike. (Politico)
4/ Tillerson tells Moscow to pick Assad or the US. Putin immediately showed he wouldn't back down, saying Russia knew about planned "provocations" to blame Syria's government for using chemical weapons and that the U.N. should investigate the attack. (Associated Press)
5/ Putin says the US is planning a "fake" gas attack in Syria in order to discredit Assad and accuse him of using chemical weapons. Putin also says the US is planning to launch more missile strikes on Syria. (Reuters)
Spicer adds "barrel bombs" to the list of reasons why the US could attack Syria again. The use of barrel bombs is a near daily occurrence in Syria and taking action each time one is dropped would mark a dramatic shift in strategy. Spicer clarified that his comments should not be interpreted as a change in policy. (Washington Post)
6/ Eric Trump says Donald's decision to bomb Syria was influenced by a "heartbroken and outraged" Ivanka. Eric described his dad as "a great thinker, practical not impulsive." He also said "Ivanka is a mother of three kids and she has influence." Correct. (NBC News)
7/ Republicans are sweating a surprisingly close Kansas congressional race to fill Mike Pompeo's seat, which he gave up in order to head the CIA. The Republicans are up about a point in the polls and a slim win would be read as a sign of a backlash against Trump in the heartland. The situation has caused Trump and Pence to record robocalls, and Ted Cruz to flew to Wichita for a rally. (Kansas City Star)
8/ North Korea issued a warning as the US Navy strike group headed toward the Korean Peninsula. The North said it's "ready to react to any mode of war desired by the US" and will defend itself "by powerful force of arms." The North called the deployment of Navy ships a "reckless moves." (BBC)
North Korea is looking for trouble. If China decides to help, that would be great. If not, we will solve the problem without them! U.S.A.
9/ China offers concessions to avoid a trade war with the US. Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping agreed to a 100-day plan for trade that would provide better market access for financial sector investments and US beef exports. (Reuters)
I explained to the President of China that a trade deal with the U.S. will be far better for them if they solve the North Korean problem!
10/ The Government Accountability Office is reviewing Trump’s presidential transition, focusing on funding, ethics and communications with foreign governments. (Huffington Post)
The FBI obtained a secret FISA warrant last summer to monitor former Trump adviser Carter Page. This is the clearest evidence so far that the FBI had reason to believe during the 2016 presidential campaign that a Trump campaign adviser was in touch with Russian agents. (Washington Post)
11/ Trump's on pace to surpass 8 years of Obama's travel spending in 1 year. Travel to Mar-A-Lago have cost an estimated $21.6 million in his first 80 days as president. Trump has spent 21 days at Mar-A-Lago. Do the math. (CNN)
Palm Beach County is tired of spending money on Trump’s frequent visits to Mar-a-Lago. They spends more than $60,000 a day when Trump visits and are considering special tax be levied against the property if the federal government doesn’t reimburse its costs. (Pioneer Press)
poll/ People love Bernie Sanders, hate Mitch McConnell. 75% of Sanders constituents approve of his job performance – the highest approval rating in the poll. 44% approve of McConnell's performance. (Salon)
1/ The Trump administration demanded that Russia stop supporting the Syrian government with military aid and diplomatic cover. Rex Tillerson is set to meet in Moscow this week and says Russia bears partial responsibility for the chemical attack on villagers. The Kremlin said Putin has no plans to meet with the secretary of state. (Washington Post)
McCain: administration rhetoric is "partially to blame" for chemical attack in Syria. He disagrees with Tillerson’s position that the US needs to concentrate on defeating ISIS before it can further address Assad’s purported brutality against his own people, saying ISIS and Assad are “totally connected” issues. (CBS News)
Spicer: Trump's foreign policy is still "America first," calling the potential proliferation of chemical weapons a national security threat to Trump’s America-first. (Politico)
2/ Tillerson is taking a hard line against Russia on the eve of his first diplomatic trip to Moscow. He called the country “incompetent” for allowing Syria to hold on to chemical weapons and accused Russia of trying to influence elections in Europe using the same methods it employed in the US. (New York Times)
Tillerson: US will hold nations accountable for atrocities. Russia's support of the Syrian regime has made it complicit in Assad's actions, Tillerson said. (CNN)
US air strike gives Tillerson a boost for Moscow talks. (Reuters)
3/ Neil Gorsuch was sworn in as Supreme Court justice. It's taken more than a year of partisan fighting to get to this day. Obama nominated federal Judge Merrick Garland on March 16, 2016, but Republicans refused to consider Garland in the Senate, arguing that the next president should choose the nominee. (ABC News)
4/ The Office of Management and Budget will send a "guidance" letter to agencies ordering them to plan for big cuts. Agencies will likely consider selling real estate, laying off personnel, and eliminating programs deemed redundant in an effort to make themselves significantly smaller and less costly. (Axios)
5/ Trump scrapped the tax plan he campaigned on and is going back to the drawing board in a search for Republican consensus behind legislation to overhaul the US tax system. White House aides say the goal is to cut tax rates sharply enough to improve the economic picture in depressed rural and industrial pockets of the country where many Trump voters live. (Associated Press)
6/ Trump prepares order to expand offshore oil drilling, reversing an Obama-era policy that restricted the activity. The order is set to schedule the sale of new offshore oil and natural gas rights in US Atlantic and Arctic waters. The order is also expected to revoke former Obama’s decision to indefinitely withdraw most US Arctic waters and some Atlantic Ocean acreage from future leasing. (Bloomberg)
7/ Spanish police arrested a Russian programmer for alleged involvement in "hacking" the US election. Pyotr Levashov was arrested in Barcelona and was the subject of an extradition request by the US. (BBC)
8/ Trump makes nice with the Koch brothers, stopping by the table of the billionaire brothers while they were eating dinner at Mar-a-Lago. (Politico)
9/ Kushner and Bannon agree to "bury the hatchet." Reince Priebus told the feuding pair to end the "palace intrigue" after weeks of damaging infighting. (The Guardian)
Breitbart editors tell staffers to stop writing stories critical of Jared Kushner. Kushner had become a target of Breitbart after reports of his feuding with Stephen Bannon, the website's former executive chairman. (Business Insider)
10/ Three organizations sue Trump for not releasing White House visitor logs. The Secret Service has not provided visitor log information despite FOIA requests. The groups are asking for the records of who is visiting the White House and who Trump is meeting with at his private properties in New York and Florida. (The Hill)
11/ Trump takes credit for Toyota's planned $1.33 billion investment in an existing US factory. He said Toyota's investment “is further evidence that manufacturers are now confident that the economic climate has greatly improved under my administration." The spending plans have been in the works for years. (Bloomberg)
1/ Two bombs targeting Egyptian churches killed at least 38 people and wounded more than 100. The first attack hit the St. George Church in the Nile Delta town of Tanta, north of the Egyptian capital. Hours later a second blast went off in front of St Mark's Cathedral in Alexandria. (NBC News)
2/ ISIS claimed responsibility for both attacks on Egyptian Coptic Churches in the deadliest day of violence against Christians in the country in decades. The bombings came at the start of the Holy Week leading to Easter. The Egyptian government has struggled to protect Christians against the Islamic State, which is intent on driving a wedge between the two religions. (New York Times)
3/ The USS Carl Vinson strike group is headed toward the Korean Peninsula as a show of force. The group – an aircraft carrier and three other ships – will make its way from Singapore toward the Korean peninsula as concerns grow about North Korea's advancing weapons program. (Reuters)
4/ Schiff says Russia is absolutely "complicit" in the Syrian chemical attack. He added "Russian intelligence may not be as good as ours, but it's good enough to know the Syrians had chemical weapons, were using chemical weapons." (ABC News)
5/ Trump's deputy National Security Advisor has been asked to step down. K. T. McFarland lasted less than three months and will become the US ambassador to Singapore. (Bloomberg)
6/ The Trump Administration contradicts itself on regime change in Syria. The secretary of state says there’s no change to US policy, but the U.N. ambassador says there can be no peace with Syrian President Bashar Assad. (Huffington Post)
McMaster weighs in: THe US eager for regime change in Syria. The national security adviser said that while the US would push for regime change in Syria, “We’re not the ones who are going to effect that change.” (Politico)
1/ Trump's had enough of the Bannon and Kushner knife fights in the media. Fed-up and frustrated, Trump tells Bannon and Reince Priebus to "work this out" with Kushner. (New York Times)
2/ Trump ordered Bannon and Kushner to sit-down and attempt to bury the hatchet. The two have been feuding in the media over policy differences, with both accusing the other of planting negative stories in the media. (Politico)
3/ Bannon could be forced out unless he adopts a more cooperative approach. Trump is planning a more inclusive style and "either Steve becomes a team player and gets along with people, or he'll be gone." Priebus would likely stay, however. (Axios)
4/ Twitter erupts over whether Trump should #FireBannon or #FireKushner. Amid the power clash between Bannon and Kushner, conservatives on Twitter began fighting themselves as to who should get the heave-ho. (Mic)
5/ Trump's "America First" constituency is furious about the Syria strikes. The conspiracy site Infowars called the nerve agent attack a “false flag” planted by the US deep state meant to force the country into a war. The now-furious supporters rallied around the hashtag #SyriaHoax to urge Trump to stay out of Syria. (Washington Post)
6/ Warplanes returned to the Syrian town devastated by a chemical weapons attack to bomb them again. There are no reports of chemical weapons being used this time. (CNN)
7/ Russia deploys warship to Mediterranean after US missile strikes. The missile-armed frigate is headed toward the Syrian port of Tartus on a routine voyage. The USS Porter and the USS Ross are stationed in the eastern Mediterranean sea. (The Hill)
8/ Obama aides pushed back against criticism of inaction on Syria, saying they proposed similar airstrikes in Syria, but were stymied by a Republican-controlled Congress. Trump blamed for the chemical attack on Obama, saying the deaths were a "consequence of the past administration's weakness and irresolution." (ABC News)
9/ Betsy DeVos' security detail is costing the Department of Education almost $1 million per month. The US Marshals Service will provide protection for DeVos for the next four years and is hiring nearly two dozen people specifically to guard her. No other cabinet-level official is being guarded by federal marshals. (NBC News)
1/ Trump fired 59 Tomahawk cruise missiles at Syria in response to a chemical weapons attack that killed more than 100 people. All but one of the missiles hit their intended target – a military airfield in Homs. Syria claimed at least six people were killed. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson said Russia failed to carry out a 2013 agreement to secure Syrian chemical weapons, adding that Moscow was either complicit or incompetent in its ability to uphold that deal. (NBC News)
UPDATE:
The US is "prepared to do more" in Syria, US Ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley warned. Haley said the Russian government "bears considerable responsibility" for Assad's use of chemical weapons. (CNN)
Dozens of US missiles hit Syrian air base in response to the government’s chemical weapons attack. Trump said his decision was prompted by a failure of the world community to respond effectively to the Syrian civil war. (New York Times)
2/ Russia condemns missile strike and suspends air operation cooperation with the US. The accord was meant to prevent accidental encounters between the two militaries. Russia said it would bolster Syria’s air defense systems. Syria called the strikes “a disgraceful act.” (New York Times)
Syria strike puts US relationship with Russia at risk. Putin called the missile strike a “significant blow” to the Russian-American relationship, while Trump suggested Russia bore some responsibility for the chemical weapons attack on Syrian civilians. (New York Times)
3/ The US warned the Russians ahead of Syria missile strikes. In a statement: "Russian forces were notified in advance of the strike using the established deconfliction line. US military planners took precautions to minimize risk to Russian or Syrian personnel located at the airfield." (CNBC)
Eyewitness says Syrian military anticipated the airstrike. The military evacuated personnel and moved equipment ahead of the strike. (ABC News)
4/ Three killed in Swedish "terror attack." A truck drove into a crowd on a shopping street and crashed into a department store in central Stockholm. Nobody has been arrested in connection with the attack. (Reuters)
UPDATE:
Man arrested after truck plows into store killing 4. It's unclear whether he was the wanted man seen in the images released by police earlier in the day. (Fox News)
5/ The Senate confirmed Neil Gorsuch as the 113th Supreme Court justice. The vote was only possible after the Senate Republicans changed the rules meant to ensure deliberation and bipartisan cooperation. On Thursday, Democrats waged a filibuster, denying him the 60 votes required to advance to a final vote. (New York Times)
6/ Trump is contemplating major changes to his White House staff, which could include the replacement of Chief of Staff Reince Priebus and Steve Bannon. A top Trump aide said the situation is fluid, "but it's very unclear the president's willing to pull that trigger." (Axios)
Bannon attended National Security Council meeting after he was removed from the committe. Bannon attended the meeting because "he is one of the president's closest and most trusted advisors." (CNBC)
7/ House Freedom Caucus signals support for healthcare bill with changes. The group wants to see health insurance coverage waivers related to community rating protections with the exception of gender, essential health benefits and guaranteed issue. (Reuters)
8/ US employers added just 98,000 jobs in March, the fewest in a year. The unemployment rate, however, fell to a nearly 10-year low of 4.5%. (ABC News)
9/ The government withdraws its request ordering Twitter to identify a Trump critic. Twitter filed a lawsuit to protest that order, saying that it violated the user's First Amendment right to free expression. (Washington Post)
1/ Senate Republicans deploy the "nuclear option" to clear the path for Neil Gorsuch. Republicans changed the Senate rules to bar filibusters of Supreme Court nominees, allowing Gorsuch's nomination to go forward on a simple majority vote. The rule change fundamentally alters the way the Senate operates and will likely lead to the elevation of ideologically extreme judges if only a majority is required for confirmation. (New York Times)
The legislative filibuster will be at risk now that the Senate has gone nuclear. Since Mitch McConnell has loosened the rules for judicial nominees, he is certain to face intensifying pressure from conservative activists and Trump’s White House to do it again for legislation. (Washington Post)
Lawmakers once again choose partisanship over compromise. Even Republicans who voted with McConnell expressed regret. (Bloomberg)
2/ Democrats filibuster Gorsuch after Republicans fall short of the 60 votes needed to end debate on the nomination and proceed to a final vote of Gorsuch. Mitch McConnell has vowed to change the Senate rules in order to break the filibuster and move to a final vote to confirm him by simple majority. (New York Times)
The Senate is poised for a historic clash over Supreme Court nominee Neil Gorsuch. Democrats are vowing to block a procedural vote to advance Gorsuch's nomination. Republicans are expected to retaliate, changing the Senate rules to allow Gorsuch and future Supreme Court nominees to be confirmed by a simple majority. A final vote is not scheduled til Friday. (Washington Post)
3/ Devin Nunes temporarily steps aside from leading the House Intelligence Committee. The move comes as the House Committee on Ethics announced that Nunes was under investigation for "unauthorized disclosures of classified information.” Nunes blamed his decision on “left-wing activist groups” that filed accusations against him, which he called “entirely false and politically motivated.” (New York Times)
4/ Team Trump turns on Bannon. Here's what Steve Bannon's demotion tells us about the Trump White House. (Axios)
Trump was not pleased by the “President Bannon” puppet-master theme promoted by magazines, late-night talk shows and Twitter. (New York Times)
Kushner believes Bannon’s desire to deconstruct the government is hurting Trump. The onetime New York Democrat has clashed with the hard-right nationalist, as Kushner's taken on an increasingly prominent role in the West Wing. Bannon complained that Kushner is trying to undermine his populist approach. (Politico)
Bannon threatened to leave White House after he was removed from the National Security Council. “It hasn’t all been fun, and I know he’s been frustrated,” a Republican close to Bannon said. (Fox News)
Republican mega-donor, Rebekah Mercer, urged Bannon not to resign, saying his role is a "long-term play." (Politico)
Bannon calls Kushner a "cuck" and a "globalist." The fighting between Kushner and Bannon has been “nonstop” in recent weeks and is an “open secret” that the two often clash “face-to-face." (The Daily Beast)
Breitbart opens fire on Kushner. The news site published articles highlighting Kushner’s meetings with the Russian ambassador, questioning the ethics of his business dealings, criticizing his “thin resume in diplomacy,” and speculating about whether he is leaking negative stories about Bannon. (Media Matters)
Bannon to associates: "I love a gunfight." After a series of high-level White House leaks portraying Steve Bannon as fed up with his job and ready to quit, Trump's chief strategist has told associates the stories are "100 percent nonsense" and he's playing for keeps. (Axios)
5/ The EPA moves to dismantle programs that protect kids from lead paint. The proposed cuts would roll back programs aimed at reducing lead risks by $16.61 million and more than 70 employees. 38 million U.S. homes contain lead-based paint. (Washington Post)
6/ Trump prodded House Republicans to tweak the health care bill before leaving for spring break. The House Rules Committee will consider an amendment to the bill in an effort to show momentum toward a deal as lawmakers return home for two weeks. (Bloomberg)
7/ Ivanka Trump reached out to the president of Planned Parenthood seeking common ground. In a sit-down with Cecile Richards, the two talked about how the organization is being targeted by Republicans seeking to defund it. Richards made sure Ivanka fully understood what Planned Parenthood does, how it is funded, and why it would be a terrible idea to prevent it from being able to see Medicaid patients. (Politico)
8/ GOP senator believes Trump’s promise to build a border wall “was a metaphor for securing the border.” Trump has never referred to his campaign promise as a metaphor and repeatedly insisted and vowed the wall will be built. (The Hill)
9/ Trump on Syria's Assad: "Something should happen" after this week's chemical attack on civilians. Defense Secretary James Mattis will lead Trump through his options, including the potential consequences for military action. (CNN)
Tillerson: "No role" for Assad in Syria. The Secretary of State is considering an "appropriate response" to the Syrian government's apparent use of chemical weapons. (The Hill)
10/ The CIA had information last summer indicating that Russia was working to help elect Trump. The briefing revealed a split between the CIA and FBI, where officials believed that Russia’s cyberattacks were aimed only at disrupting America’s political system – not at getting Trump elected. (New York Times)
11/ Twitter sued the federal government to block the unmasking of an anonymous account that had been posting critical messages about the Trump administration. Twitter said it could not be compelled to disclose the account holder’s identity. The company argued that the government’s request and reasoning were unlawful, and that uncovering the identity of the user would have “a grave chilling effect” on the speech of the many “alt-accounts” that voice resistance to government policies. (New York Times)
12/ Trump reflects on his "successful 13 weeks" in office. It's been 11 weeks. (Talking Points Memo)
1/ Steve Bannon has been removed from the National Security Council. The White House said Bannon was placed on the committee to monitor Michael Flynn - he never attended a meeting. The national intelligence director and the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff are "regular attendees" of the NSC’s principals committee, again. National Security Adviser H.R. McMaster made the change. (Bloomberg)
Pence says Bannon's removal from the National Security Council is not a demotion. Adding, Bannon is a "very highly valued" member of Trump's administration and will "continue to play important policy roles." (Talking Points Memo)
2/ Neil Gorsuch failed to cite the source of work he copied in his book and an academic article. Gorsuch borrowed from the ideas, quotes, and structures of scholarly and legal works without citing them. The White House pushed back against suggestions of impropriety. Hey, @Gorsuch, here's how you cite a source => (Politico)
3/ Democratic senator holds floor in 15 hour marathon speech criticizing Gorsuch. Democrats say Gorsuch is too radical in his strict interpretations of the Constitution to serve on the Supreme Court. (ABC News)
4/ A federal appeals court ruled that companies cannot discriminate against LGBT employees because of their sexual orientation. The judge wrote that the Civil Rights Act, which bars discrimination based on race, color, religion, national origin or sex, needed to be interpreted based on evolving societal norms. The battle is likely headed to the Supreme Court. (The Philadelphia Inquirer)
5/ North Korea fired a ballistic missile as Trump prepares to meet with Chinese President Xi. The missile fell into the Sea of Japan, but the concern surrounding North Korea's weapons program is that it could eventually equip long-range missiles with a nuclear warhead. (CNN)
6/ Ivanka Trump: "If being complicit is wanting to be a force for good… then I'm complicit." Trump said people will have to do without her “public denouncements” and trust that she's telling her dad hard truths about his policies. (CBS News)
7/ The House Intelligence Committee wants Susan Rice to testify in the probe of alleged Russian election interference. The White House and the House panel’s chairman have accused the Obama administration of improperly using surveillance information, including “unmasking” the redacted names of Trump’s transition team members for political gain. (Wall Street Journal)
8/ Trump says Susan Rice may have committed a crime by seeking the identities of his associates. Trump provided no evidence to back his claim, but said he thinks this is "going to be the biggest story. It’s such an important story for our country and the world. It is one of the big stories of our time.” Current, former, Republican and Democratic intelligence officials have all said that there is nothing unusual or unlawful about Rice's requests. The identities of Americans swept up in surveillance of foreign officials by intelligence agencies are supposed to be obscured, but can be revealed for national security reasons – a regular occurrence. (New York Times)
Rice denies compiling and leaking names of Trump officials from intelligence reports. Rice said she “absolutely” never sought to uncover “for political purposes” the names of Trump officials concealed in intelligence intercepts. (Washington Post)
9/ Rubio: It's no coincidence that the Syria gas attack happened after Tillerson's "concerning" comments. Last week in Turkey, Tillerson said he thinks the long term status of President Assad will be decided by the Syrian people. (CNN)
10/ Trump: Chemical attacks in Syria “crossed many, many lines beyond a red line." He then criticized Obama for not taking military action in Syria – at the time Trump had publicly urged the president not to do so. (Politico)
Trump’s changes his view of Syria and Assad Altered after "unacceptable" chemical attack, say he would not tolerate the “heinous” chemical weapons attack. (New York Times)
11/ The Senate's most senior Republicans are split on the going “nuclear” and changing the rules to confirm Gorsuch. McConnell says the "nuclear option" helps the Senate, while McCain says "whoever says that is a stupid idiot." (Washington Post)
1/ The Republican health care proposal would undermine coverage for those with pre-existing conditions. States could could opt out of requiring insurers to cover essential health benefits. As well as do away with requiring insurance companies to charge the same price to everyone who is the same age. The result might be a market that is much more affordable for healthy people, but would become largely inaccessible to anyone who really needs help paying for medical care. (New York Times)
House Republicans rekindled health care talks. The White House and the Freedom Caucus discussed a proposal to revive the bill, which would cast aside the Affordable Care Act’s pre-existing conditions provision. (Washington Post)
Trumpcare revival talks are falling apart ahead of Pence's meeting tonight. Conservatives are blaming Paul Ryan for blocking the White House bill, while the Freedom Caucus is making unreasonable demands that are losing net votes. (Axios)
2/ Assad apparently "gasses" civilians days after Tillerson suggested he could stay in power. In a series of airstrikes, helicopters dropped what is likely sarin gas in an attack on the city of Khan Sheikhoun – the signs of trauma suggest it's a nerve agent, like sarin. The Trump administration has shifted from their accommodationist tone, to blaming the Assad regime and Obama for the attacks. (The Daily Beast)
Spicer said Syrian chemical attack is a "consequence" of Obama "weakness." Despite the attack, the Trump administration has said that it is up to the people of Syria to pick a leader and that their priority is not getting Assad out of office. (CNN)
McCain blames the Trump administration's decision to no longer prioritize ending the Syrian civil war. He called it "another disgraceful chapter in American history." The Trump administration has doubled down on prioritizing the fight against ISIS over ending the Syrian civil war and getting rid of Assad. (CNN)
3/ The Trump administration is considering steps for "extreme vetting." Foreigners entering US could be forced to disclose contacts on their mobile phones, social media passwords and financial records, and to answer probing questions about their ideology. (Wall Street Journal)
4/ Attorney General Jeff Sessions ordered a review of federal agreements with dozens of law enforcement agencies. In an effort to improve relations between the police and the communities they serve, the Obama administration negotiated reform agreements with troubled police forces. Sessions directed his staff to look at whether the consent decrees adhere to the Trump administration’s goals of promoting officer safety and morale while fighting violent crime. The sweeping federal review could affect consent decrees nationwide. (New York Times)
5/ Trump revoked the Fair Pay and Safe Workplaces order Obama put in place to ensure that companies with federal contracts comply with 14 labor and civil rights laws. Advocates say the order rolls back two hard fought victories for women in the workplace: paycheck transparency and a ban on forced arbitration clauses for sexual harassment, sexual assault or discrimination claims. (NBC News)
6/ Trump signs internet privacy bill, gutting rules that prohibited internet providers like Comcast, Verizon, and AT&T from sharing your web browsing history with other companies. The rules would have required wireless and broadband providers to get your permission before sharing your sensitive, private information. (CNET)
The Normal Person's Guide to Internet Security. A quick and dirty guide to basic internet security for the normal internet user. (What The Fuck Just Happened Today?)
7/ The State Department cut off funding to the UN's family planning agency that works on maternal and reproductive health. In 2016, US funding prevented an estimated 320,000 unintended pregnancies, averted almost 100,000 unsafe abortions, and provided about 800,000 people with access to contraception. (BuzzFeed News)
8/ Trump urged investigators to scrutinize alleged spying on his transition team. Trump's administration is concerned about the Obama administration’s role in unmasking identities in intelligence reports. Trump is facing two congressional investigations into Russia’s alleged meddling in the election. The FBI is also conducting its own investigation. (Wall Street Journal)
Susan Rice may "be of interest to us" the Senate Intelligence chairman says. Republican lawmakers are asking the Senate Intelligence Committee to force Rice to testify under oath after a report from Bloomberg suggested Rice requested the identities of people connected to Trump be “unmasked" on dozens of occasions. (Washington Post)
9/ California's Senate passes "sanctuary state" bill – gives middle finger to Trump. The bill limits state and local police cooperation in enforcing federal immigration laws in order to protect local immigrant populations. Jeff Sessions has said the administration will use federal funds to crack down on "sanctuary cities" and states that choose not to comply with federal immigration laws. (CNN)
poll/ Trump approval rating plummets. 34% of Americans approve of Trump’s job performance. (The Hill)
1/ Democrats secured the 41 votes needed to filibuster Gorsuch, setting the stage for Senate Republicans to enact the "nuclear option" – a unilateral rule change to eliminate the filibuster. Trump and the Republicans have vowed that Gorsuch will be confirmed despite any filibuster. (Washington Post)
Democrats are close to the 41 votes needed to block the nomination of Gorsuch. Mitch McConnell reiterated that he's prepared to kill the filibuster to get the high court nominee confirmed. (Politico)
Senators fear fallout of nuclear option. Both parties are speculating that a blowup over Trump’s nominee to the Supreme Court could lead not only to the end of the filibuster for such nominations, but for controversial legislation as well. (The Hill)
2/ Trump says the US can "solve" North Korea's nuclear weapons testing program without the help of China. The assertion comes four days ahead of Trump's first meeting with the Chinese President. (NBC News)
North Korean defector says the "world should be ready." The country's "desperate" dictator is prepared to use nuclear weapons to strike the US and its allies. (NBC News)
3/ Trump can take profits from his businesses at any time. Previously unreported changes to Trump’s trust stipulate that it “shall distribute net income or principal to Donald J. Trump at his request" – without ever telling us. (ProPublica)
4/ A former national security adviser requested the identity of dozens of people in raw intelligence reports. White House lawyers say Susan Rice requested intelligence reports that related to Trump transition activities. Rice’s unmasking requests were likely within the law. (Bloomberg)
5/ Blackwater founder Erik Prince and a Russian close to Putin established a back channel line of communication between Moscow and President-elect Trump. The meeting was brokered by the United Arab Emirates nine days before Trump's inauguration to explore whether Russia could be persuaded to curtail its relationship with Iran, which would likely require major sanction concessions. Prince had no formal role with the Trump campaign or transition team, but he was seen in the Trump transition offices in New York in December. His sister Betsy DeVos serves as education secretary in the Trump administration. (Washington Post)
6/ Trump’s proposed budget would disproportionately harm the rural areas and small towns that were key to his win. Excitement about Trump’s presidency has been dulled by confusion over an agenda that seems aimed at hurting communities more than helping them. (Washington Post)
7/ Trump shifts course on Egypt and praised its authoritarian leader, saying President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi has "done a fantastic job in a very difficult situation." Trump's predecessors considered authoritarians like Sisi to be distasteful and at times barred them from the White House. Instead, Trump signaled that a partner in the battle against international terrorism is more important to the US than concerns over its brutal suppression of domestic dissent. (New York Times)
8/ Jared Kushner flew to Iraq to get a first-hand assessment of counter-ISIS operations. Kushner was invited by the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff to examine ways of accelerating a US-led coalition campaign in uprooting Islamic State militants in Iraq and Syria. (Reuters)
9/ Trump won't throw out the first pitch on opening day. But it isn't because he can't. White House officials cite a scheduling conflict. CNN writes nearly 1,000 words that Trump can, indeed, get the ball over the plate. (CNN)
1/ Trump may have incited violence during a Lousiville campaign rally a federal judge in Kentucky said. Trump's attorneys sought to have the case dismissed on free speech grounds. The judge noted that speech inciting violence is not protected by the First Amendment and ruled that there is plenty of evidence that the protesters' injuries were a “direct and proximate result” of Trump's words. Trump repeatedly said “get 'em out of here” before the protesters were shoved and punched by his supporters. (Washington Post)
2/ Michael Flynn initially failed to disclose payments from Russian propaganda network. The former National Security Advisor’s financial disclosure forms made no mention of a $45,000 payment from a Russian state-run media network. (The Daily Beast)
3/ The United Nations warns that Americans’ right to protest is in danger under Trump. At least 19 states have introduced measures that would criminalize peaceful protests, stiffen penalties for demonstrators who block traffic, and even allow motorists to run over and kill agitators as long as the crash was "accidental." The bills represent an “alarming and undemocratic” trend that could have a chilling effect on activism. (Washington Post)
4/ Democrats are urging Trump to veto the bill allowing your internet provider to sell your browsing history without your permission. Senate Minority Leader Charles Schumer said consumers would be stripped of critical privacy protections and would make private data from laptops, iPads, and cellphones fair game for internet companies to sell.(Associated Press)
5/ The Chinese ambassador has established a back channel with Jared Kushner. The Chinese have found Trump to be a bewildering figure, but Kushner has been a steady hand, helping orchestrate a fence-mending phone call between Trump and the Chinese President over the four-decade-old “One China” policy on Taiwan. (New York Times)
6/ FBI is probing whether Trump aides helped Russian intelligence carry out cyberattacks on the Democratic National Committee and other political targets in early 2016. The FBI is going back further than originally reported to determine the extent of possible coordination. (CBS News)
7/ Obama administration officials made a list of Russian probe documents to keep them safe. The former administration was so concerned about what would happen to key classified documents after Trump took office that they created a list of document serial numbers to give to senior members of the Senate Intelligence Committee. (NBC News)
8/ Mark Cuban doesn't think Trump could have pulled off Russia collusion. Cuban argued that Trump "isn't detail oriented, organized or big picture enough" to pull off any such "conspiracy." (The Hill)
9/ The Senate Judiciary Committee panel is set to vote on Supreme Court nominee Neil Gorsuch. The vote sets the stage for a showdown in how Gorsuch's confirmation will be achieved: Democrats will try to filibuster the vote. Republicans have vowed to change the Senate's rules if necessary. (USA Today)
10/ Russian government posts April Fools' Day prank offering "election interference." The Russian Foreign Ministry posted on an audio message of an automated telephone switchboard to arrange a call from a Russian diplomat to “to use the services of Russian hackers,” and “to request election interference.” (CBS News)
1/ The Trump administration released the financial disclosures for White House staff. Here's the tl;dr. (New York Times)
Bannon made between $1.3 and 2.3 million last year.
Ivanka Trump and Jared Kushner still benefit from their real estate empires. (New York Times)
Gary Cohn, a former Goldman executive, is among the wealthiest White House employees.
Kellyanne Conway made over $800,000 from her consulting firm.
2/ Kushner’s privileged status stokes resentment among White House staff. Colleagues question if he is capable of following through on his commitments, complaining that he dabbles in a myriad issues and walks in and out of meetings. (Politico)
3/ Trump tweets at NBC to stop covering the "phony" story about Russian interference in the election. It's not clear what set Trump off, but he wants NBC News to devote more attention to the unproven claim that Obama spied on him. (The Hill)
When will Sleepy Eyes Chuck Todd and @NBCNews start talking about the Obama SURVEILLANCE SCANDAL and stop with the Fake Trump/Russia story?
4/ The White House is exploring a reorganization to stabilize the administration consumed by crisis and chaos. Following the failure to advance the health care legislation, Pence, Priebus, Kushner, Bannon, and chief economic adviser Gary Cohn gathered held post-mortems about what went wrong. (Politico)
Trump’s White House struggles to get out from under the Russia controversy. Aides have expressed frustration at their inability to gain control of the narrative. (Washington Post)
5/ Trump skipped out on signing two executive orders after a reporter asked about Michael Flynn. Pence tried to persuade Trump to return to his desk, where the orders remained unsigned. Instead, Trump made a gesture to Pence to gather the orders. Trump signed the orders out of sight of the media. (Huffington Post)
1/ Trump urged Flynn to seek immunity, calling the congressional inquiries a "witch hunt" by the media and Democrats. Trump tweeted the statement after Flynn asked for immunity in order to testify to the House and Senate Intelligence Committees. (New York Times)
Mike Flynn should ask for immunity in that this is a witch hunt (excuse for big election loss), by media & Dems, of historic proportion!
Flynn offered to cooperate with congressional investigators in exchange for immunity from prosecution. Officials said the idea of immunity was a "non-starter." (Washington Post)
2/ The Senate Intelligence Committee rejected Flynn's request for immunity in exchange for his testimony. Flynn's lawyer was told it was "wildly preliminary" and that immunity was "not on the table." (NBC News)
3/ Schiff said it's too early for the House Intelligence Committee to discuss immunity in exchange for Flynn's testimony. Schiff said he would discuss Flynn’s offer with the Senate Intelligence Committee and the Justice Department, and that he would need to receive details about what Flynn would say. (Bloomberg)
4/ Tom Price helped kill a rule that would hurt drug company profits the same day he acquired drug stock. The HHS secretary bought $90,000 worth of pharmaceutical stock. He said his broker acted on his behalf without his involvement or knowledge. (ProPublica)
5/ The first two Democrats back Trump's Supreme Court pick. The support by Senators Joe Manchin and Heidi Heitkamp of Neil Gorsuch give Republicans two of the eight Democratic votes needed to avoid a fight on the Senate floor next week. (Reuters)
6/ Trump says he will hold Congress "accountable" on health care. He began the day on Twitter, calling for his supporters to fight conservative members of his own party in the midterm elections. Trump’s director of legislative affairs called that “accountability.” (ABC News)
The Freedom Caucus will hurt the entire Republican agenda if they don't get on the team, & fast. We must fight them, & Dems, in 2018!
7/ Germany balks at Tillerson's call to spend more on NATO defense. The German foreign minister said it was neither "reachable nor desirable" for Germany to spend the 2% of member states' economic output on defense. NATO allies have until 2024 to do that. (Reuters)
8/ U.S. Defense Secretary Jim Mattis says North Korea has "got to be stopped." He emphasized diplomatic means of changing Pyongyang’s “reckless” agenda. (Washington Post)
9/ Senate voted to eliminate a rule aimed at boosting retirement accounts for low-income workers. Senators voted 50-49 to roll back a rule meant to encourage states to create retirement plans for private-sector workers whose employers do not offer their own retirement plans. (The Hill)
1/ Flynn offers to testify in exchange for immunity. The former national security adviser tells FBI, the House and Senate intelligence committees he’s willing to be interviewed in exchange for a grant of immunity from prosecution. (Wall Street Journal)
2/ The Energy Department's climate office banned the use of the phrase "climate change." It's also the only office with the word "climate" in its name. Staff were told not to use "emissions reduction" or the "Paris Agreement" in written memos or briefings. (Politico)
The Vatican urged Trump to reconsider climate change position and listen to "dissenting voices." The US could be passed by China as the leader in environmental protection, which is investing heavily in the export of clean energy products such as solar panels and wind turbines. (Reuters)
The House voted to restrict the kind of scientific studies and data that the EPA can use to justify new regulations. The Honest and Open New EPA Science Treatment Act passed 228-194 and prohibits the EPA from writing any regulation that uses science that is not publicly available. (The Hill)
3/ EPA chief Scott Pruitt rejected the agency's scientific conclusion to permanently ban one of the most widely used insecticides at farms nationwide. The agency’s own chemical safety experts said that exposure to chlorpyrifos potentially causes learning and memory declines. The insecticide was banned in 2000 for use in most household settings, but is still used at about 40,000 farms on about 50 different types of crops, ranging from almonds to apples. (New York Times)
4/ Trump declared war on the House Freedom Caucus, tweeting "we must fight them” in the 2018 midterm elections. The group of hard-line conservative Republicans blocked the health care bill. (Washington Post)
The Freedom Caucus will hurt the entire Republican agenda if they don't get on the team, & fast. We must fight them, & Dems, in 2018!
Ryan warned Republican holdouts they need to unify or risk Trump cutting a deal with Democrats. Republicans appear uncomfortable with the harsh new tone coming from Ryan. (Bloomberg)
Paul Ryan said the health care bill is going through a "growing pain." He's been encouraging members to keep talking to each other until they figure out "how we get to yes." (CBS News)
5/ A pair of White House officials provided intelligence reports to Devin Nunes that showed Trump and his associates were incidentally swept up in foreign surveillance by American spy agencies. Nunes has been faulted by his colleagues for sharing the information with Trump before consulting with the intelligence committee. (New York Times)
6/ Putin called Russia election meddling claims "fictional, illusory, provocations and lies." When asked if Russia interfered in the election, Putin responded: "Read my lips: No." He also downplayed the meeting between Kushner and Russian banker and says US-Russian relations have reached the "point of absurdity." (CNN)
The House and Senate probes on Russia are headed down different paths. The House Intelligence Committee has been publicly marred by controversy by Chairman Devin Nunes. The Senate Intelligence Committee has presented a united front as they shared details of their ongoing inquiry, including possible collusion, and vowed to "get to the bottom of this." (ABC News)
7/ North Carolina reached an agreement to repeal the restrictive transgender bathroom law. Gay rights advocates raised objections, arguing that the compromise would continue to allow discrimination. Lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people would have no statewide anti-discrimination ordinance or ability to seek protections from local government for several years. (New York Times)
8/ The city of Seattle sued the Trump administration over its executive order to withhold federal funds from "sanctuary cities." Seattle argued it amounted to unconstitutional federal coercion and the mayor called the Trump administration a "bully." (Reuters)
9/ The Trump administration signaled it would seek only modest changes to NAFTA, including a government-procurement section that could open up door for more "Buy American" policies. Trump called the North American Free Trade Agreement a “disaster” during the campaign. (Wall Street Journal)
10/ Pence breaks tie in Senate vote on Planned Parenthood funding. The Senate can now debate on a resolution that would reverse a proposed Obama administration action that bans states from blocking Title X family planning grants to Planned Parenthood and other health care providers that offer abortion. Title X funding covers services such as contraception, STD screenings and treatments but cannot be used to pay for abortion services. (Politico)
1/ Nunes could be facing an ethics probe after disclosing the existence of a foreign surveillance warrant. House Ethics Committee rules compel Congress to investigate any "unauthorized disclosure of intelligence." (The Daily Beast)
2/ FBI Director James Comey attempted to reveal Russian tampering months before the election. Obama administration officials blocked him. Comey had pitched the idea of writing an op-ed about Putin's effort to influence the election. It would not have mentioned whether the FBI was investigating Trump’s campaign workers or others close to him. (Newsweek)
3/ The Senate Intelligence Committee has asked to question 20 people in its investigation into Russian interference in the election. The bipartisan composure contrasts the House Intelligence Committee, where Representative Devin Nunes ties to the Trump White House have raised doubts about his ability to conduct an impartial investigation. (New York Times)
Senate steps up as House Russia probe flails. The leaders of the Senate Intelligence Committee delivered a bipartisan show of force. (Politico)
4/ The US won’t tally LGBT people in the 2020 census. A draft of subjects planned for the census initially had a proposal to include sexual orientation and gender identity for the first time. That inclusion was not listed in the finalized report delivered to Congress this week. (Huffington Post)
5/ Neil Gorsuch looks short of the 60 votes needed to avoid a filibuster. This is as close to must-win as it gets for Trump and the GOP after last week's health care debacle and McConnell has guaranteed Gorsuch will be confirmed on April 7. If Democrats filibuster, McConnell will then need to whip 50 of his 52 members to change the rules unilaterally to end the filibuster by simple majority and allow Gorsuch’s confirmation. (Politico)
6/ Ivanka Trump will take an unpaid federal job as her father's assistant. She'll be moving from an informal, voluntary role to an official adviser. Her previous role raised ethics concerns, which would allow her to avoid some rules and disclosures. (New York Times)
7/ House GOP is weighing another vote on Obamacare. Paul Ryan is encouraging members to continue talking about how to “get to a place of yes” on health care. Members of Freedom Caucus have been talking with Republican moderate holdouts in an effort to identify changes that could bring them on board with the measure. (Bloomberg)
8/ Theresa May triggers the official Brexit process in a letter to the EU. The move kicks off a two-year negotiation period for both sides to agree to the divorce and establish a new trade deal before the March 2019 deadline. (BBC)
9/ DNC Chairman asks all staffers for their resignation letters in a major overhaul of the party's organization. The mass resignation letters will give Tom Perez a chance to completely remake the DNC's headquarters from scratch. (NBC News)
10/ Trump’s company pursues a second Washington hotel amid criticism over ethics. The second hotel would be under the new Scion brand and licensed by a developer from the Trumps. (Washington Post)
11/ Police union warns Trump's "sanctuary city" cuts could risk safety. The Fraternal Order of Police were one of Trump's biggest supporters during the 2016 election. (Reuters)
12/ Sean Spicer lashes out at a reporter: "Stop shaking your head." Spicer snapped at the American Urban Radio Networks' correspondent April Ryan after she asked how Trump's administration would work to repair its image. (NBC News)
13/ Trump attacks The New York Times again. It's not clear what set Trump off this time, but he took to Twitter falsely recalling the time when the "failing" New York Times "apologized" to its subscribers after the election "because their coverage was so wrong." (Talking Points Memo)
.@realdonaldtrump False, we did not apologize. We stand by our coverage & thank our millions of subscribers for supporting our journalism.
14/ Health secretary pledges to uphold Obamacare, but little else. Tom Price was non-committal when asked if he would continue to promote Obamacare enrollment and enforce essential health benefits requirement, such as maternity benefits. (CNBC)
poll/ Republicans blame bill, not Trump, for the health care defeat. 49% of those surveyed said the Republican bill failed because it "just wasn’t popular." 30% of Republicans said it didn’t pass because "Democrats didn’t compromise." (CBS News)
1/ Democrats call for Nunes to recuse himself in Russia probe. Pelosi and Schiff both say Nunes is too close to the White House to lead a thorough investigation into Russia. His behavior has discredited and tarnished the House Intelligence Committee, making it difficult for him to remain credible. The committee has scrapped all meetings this week amid the turmoil. (CNN)
UPDATE:
The first GOP lawmaker calls for Nunes to recuse himself. "How can you be chairman of a major committee and do all these things behind the scenes and keep your credibility? You can't keep your credibility," Walter Jones said. (The Hill)
2/ Trump administration tried to block Sally Yates from testifying to Congress on Russia. The Justice Department notified Yates earlier this month that the administration considers a great deal of her possible testimony to be barred from discussion in a congressional hearing because the topics are covered by the presidential communication privilege. (Washington Post)
3/ Trump signs an executive order to dismantle Obama's climate change policies. Trump celebrated the move as a way to promote energy independence and restore thousands of lost coal industry jobs. The executive order directs the EPA to start the legal process of withdrawing and rewriting the Clean Power Plan. (New York Times)
Trump to sign an order dismantling Obama's efforts to reverse climate change. The order will suspend, rescind, or flag for review more than a half-dozen measures in an effort to boost domestic energy production in the form of fossil fuels. Trump has called global warming a "hoax" invented by the Chinese. (Associated Press)
Trump moves decisively to wipe out Obama’s climate-change record. The sweeping executive order seeks to lift a moratorium on federal coal leasing and remove the requirement that federal officials consider the impact of climate change when making decisions. (Washington Post)
Despite Trump's move to ease carbon emissions, companies will continue to shift from coal. Energy experts say Trump's expected roll back of the Clean Power Plan is unlikely to reverse the U.S. utility industry’s shift to natural gas, solar and wind as leading sources of electricity. (Wall Street Journal)
4/ Trump repeatedly turned to wealthy Russians and oligarchs allegedly connected to organized crime. Trump and his companies have been linked to at least 10 wealthy former Soviet businessmen with alleged ties to criminal organizations or money laundering. (USA Today)
5/ Congress votes to gut internet privacy rules. The vote repeals a set of landmark privacy protections, allowing internet providers to sell your browsing history, monitor your online habits, and deploy hidden tracking cookies on your phones. The measure heads to the White House, where Trump is expected to sign it. The measure was approved by the house 215-205. The Senate approved it last week by a 50-48 vote. (BuzzFeed News)
6/ Trump tweets: "Russia story is a hoax." In a 37-minute, four-tweet Twitter tirade, Trump attacks Bill and Hillary Clinton, the "Podesta Russian Company," the Freedom Caucus, Democrats, and Obamacare. (Politico)
7/ Congress may stiff Trump on funding to build his wall along the U.S.-Mexico border. Trump's hoping to jump-start construction with money in a must-pass government funding bill. Democratic leaders are vowing to block any legislation that includes a single penny for the wall. The result could end in a government shutdown next month if the bill doesn't pass. (Politico)
8/ Trump wants to do tax reform and infrastructure at the same time. The shift to infrastructure is to buy the support of Democrats while avoiding negotiations with the Freedom Caucus, which sank the health care bill. The infrastructure plan was likely going to be parked until next year. (Axios)
9/ Paul Manafort has engaged in a series of real estate deals in New York City over the past 11 years that fit a pattern used in money laundering. The former Trump campaign manager is also facing multiple investigations for his political and financial ties to Russia. (WYNC)
10/ The White House is asking Congress to cut $18 billion on everything from education to mental health programs. The cut would help pay for Trump’s military supplemental request, the proposed border wall, and the rest absorbed to help prevent a government shutdown. (Politico)
11/ House Republicans and the White House have restarted negotiations on legislation to repeal the Affordable Care Act. Just days after Trump said he was moving on to other issues, the White House is now saying hope they can still score the kind of big legislative victory that has so far eluded Trump. (New York Times)
12/ Trump believes the Supremacy Clause bars state lawsuits against a sitting president. A lawsuit claims Trump tarnished an "Apprentice" alum's reputation and accuses him of kissing her twice in 2007 and attacking her in a hotel room. (Hollywood Reporter)
13/ Sanctuary city mayors fire back at Trump administration's threat to cut fed funding. “If they actually act to take away our money, we’ll see them in court,” vowed New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio. (Fox News)
1/ Kushner to testify before the Senate Intelligence Committee as part of their inquiry into ties between Trump and Russia. The Committee wants to question Kushner about previously undisclosed meetings he arranged with the Russian ambassador Sergey I. Kislyak. The Senate's decision to question Kushner would make him the closest person to Trump to be called upon in any of the investigations, and the only one currently serving in the White House. (New York Times)
2/ Nunes says he was on White House grounds the day before revealing Trump surveillance information. He was not in the White House itself that day and nobody from the White House even knew he was there. Nunes said he went to the White House grounds for additional meetings "to confirm what I already knew" and needed a secure area to view the information he has received. (CNN)
Devin Nunes explains his White House visit. Nunes went off the grid to view dozens of intelligence reports the night before announcing that the "intelligence community incidentally collected information about U.S. citizens involved in the Trump transition." After briefing reporters the next day, Nunes then went back to the White House to inform Trump. (Bloomberg)
3/ Democrats delay the vote on Supreme Court nominee Neil Gorsuch. At least 19 Democrats have come out in opposition to Gorsuch and Chuck Schumer has said that he will filibuster the nominee. Republicans hold 52 seats, which means they will need at least eight Democrats to vote with them to end the filibuster and send Gorsuch forward for a final confirmation vote that would then require a simple majority. Republicans have the extreme option of employing the "nuclear" option – changing Senate rules to eliminate the filibuster for Supreme Court nominees. (NBC News)
4/ Trump taps Kushner to lead a new White House office aimed at fixing government using business ideas. The White House Office of American Innovation will operate as its own power center within the West Wing and will report directly to Trump. The office will be staffed by former business executives and is designed to infuse fresh thinking into Washington and float above the daily political grind. (Washington Post)
5/ Republicans set their sights on tax reform after the bruising collapse of their health care plan. The failure also makes the tax overhaul more politically complex. If Republicans use a procedure called budget reconciliation to have the Senate pass tax legislation with a simple majority, their plans cannot add to deficits over a period of 10 years. Eliminating the $1 trillion of Affordable Care Act taxes and the federal spending associated with that law would have made this easier. (New York Times)
6/ Sessions says grants to be withheld from sanctuary cities. Compliance with federal immigration laws will be a prerequisite for states and localities that want to receive grants from the department’s Office of Justice Programs that provide billions of dollars in funding to help criminal justice programs across the country. (The Hill)
7/ Stocks sank on worries that the Trump White House may not be able to help businesses as much as once thought. Many of the trends that have been in place since Election Day went into sharp reverse: The dollar's value sank against other currencies, as did bank stocks, while prices jumped for Treasury bonds. (ABC News)
8/ US economy expected to grow slower than Trump pledged. According to 50 economists, the economy will grow 2.3% this year and 2.5% in 2018. Those rates would be up from 2016's 1.6%, but below the 3% to 4% growth Trump has promised to bring through steep corporate and individual tax cuts and more spending on roads, airports and tunnels. (Associated Press)
9/ Russians take to the streets in nationwide anti-government protest. The Kremlin dismissed the protests as "provocation" by anti-corruption activist Alexei Navalny. Thousands of Russians turned out to protest corruption under Putin. More than 1,000 people taken into custody by police. (NPR)
10/ White House denies report that Trump handed Merkel a bill for NATO services. The Times, a U.K.-based publication, cited unnamed sources that claimed Trump handed Merkel a bill for the US's services to the alliance when the two met recently in Washington. (CNBC)
11/ Carl Icahn's role dual role as investor and Trump advisor raises ethics flags. Ichan has been busy working behind the scenes to try to revamp an obscure Environmental Protection Agency rule that governs the way corn-based ethanol is mixed into gasoline nationwide. The issue: Icahn is a majority investor in an oil refinery that would have saved $205.9 million last year had the regulatory fix he is pushing been in place. (New York Times)
poll/ Trump's approval rating drops to new low of 36%. Trump's three-day reading prior to the failed effort to pass a new health care bill was 41%. (Gallup)
1/ Trump shifts blame to conservatives on health care bill failure. Two days after pointing his finger at Democrats for the failure of the GOP health care proposal, Trump says he is open to working with Democrats on health care reform. (ABC News)
Lindsey Graham on health care: Republicans and Democrats need to work together. "I don't think that one party's going to be able to fix this by themselves," he said. "I think the President should reach out to Democrats." Trump blamed Democrats and vowed to let Obamacare "explode." (CNN)
2/ Fox News host demands Paul Ryan resign, hours after Trump urged followers to watch. Jeanine Pirro, host of “Justice With Judge Jeanine,” delivered a diatribe against the House speaker, calling on him to step down after letting Trump down by not doing his share of the work in corralling Republican votes to fulfill a seven-year promise to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act. (New York Times)
3/ EPA chief Scott Pruitt says Trump will sign a new executive order this week that unravels Obama's plan to curb global warming. The order will undo the Clean Power Plan, which restricts greenhouse gas emissions at coal-fired power plants. (Talking Points Memo)
4/ Trump handed Angela Merkel a bill for more than £300bn when they met last week. The bill is for money Germany “owed” NATO, calculating the extent to which German defense spending had fallen short of the 2% of GDP target required and then charged interest. (The Times and The Sunday Times)[Editor's note: Germany didn’t receive NATO invoice from Trump. There is no "debt account at NATO," says German government spokesman. (Politico)]
5/ Democrats introduce "MAR-A-LAGO" act to force Trump to provide visitor logs. The act would require the Trump administration to disclose the names of anyone who visits the White House or "any other location at which the President or the Vice President regularly conducts official business." (NBC News)
6/ Nearly 1 out of every 3 days he has been president, Trump has visited a Trump property. 21 of the 66 days he has been in office, meaning that for the equivalent of three full weeks of his just-over-nine weeks as commander in chief, he has spent all or part of a day at a Trump property. (Washington Post)
7/ A pro-Trump rally ended with a man getting beaten with a "Make America Great Again" sign. One man was held down to the ground and punched and hit in the face with pepper spray. (Washington Post)
1/ Bannon tells Trump to "keep a shit list" of Republicans that opposed him. The proposed “hit list” for Republicans not sufficiently loyal is to send the message that “we’ll remember you.” (The Daily Beast)
2/ Flynn met with Turkish government ministers and discussed ideas about how to get a Muslim cleric to Turkey without going through the U.S. extradition process while he was serving as an adviser to the Trump campaign. Turkey has accused Fethullah Gulen of orchestrating last summer’s failed military coup. (Wall Street Journal)
3/ The U.S. military admitted that an airstrike in Iraq corresponds to a site where 200 civilians allegedly died, but said it is still assessing the details of the strike and the validity of allegations of civilian casualties. (ABC News)
4/ Trump's unhappy that Jared Kushner was skiing while the health care bill was floundering. It has not clear what specific role Kushner would have played in the legislative effort, but Trump is already pointing fingers at his top staffers for what he considers shoddy support. (CNN)
5/ Schiff says Nunes canceled the Russia hearing to spare the president a bad news cycle. Nunes said the hearing would be postponed to allow FBI director James Comey and NSA director Mike Rogers to address the committee in a closed session. (New York Magazine)
6/ Trump claims credit for creating 20,000 jobs that were actually created in 2015. The jobs were promised as part of assurances made to an Obama-appointed FCC chair to help approve Charter Communications' purchase of Time Warner Cable for $56.7 billion. (The Daily Beast)
7/ Keystone XL pipeline would only create 35 permanent jobs. Trump hailed the State Department's approval of the controversial Keystone XL pipeline as a big win for American workers. (CNN)
8/ Eric Trump will share business updates with Donald "probably quarterly." Trump and his White House have argued that he is exempt from any conflicts of interest, despite opting against selling his business or placing it in a blind trust. (Politico)
9/ Toronto schools will no longer allow student trips to US. The Toronto District School Board cited uncertainty over the travel ban and expressed concerns about how the US immigration policy could affect students on school trips. (CNN)
10/ The American Action Network PAC ran ads congratulating Republicans for repealing Obamacare. Several Republican-adjacent TV markets saw prematurely bought ads inviting viewers to call their representatives and thank them for repealing Obamacare – something that did not happen. (Deadspin)
11/ Breitbart says the White House and GOP lawmakers are talking about replacing Paul Ryan after he failed to deliver the votes needed on the health care bill. The main complaint is that Ryan misled Trump on the level of GOP support for the bill. (Axios)
12/ Russia's state news service applies for a White House press pass. The state-owned news website Sputnik is seeking membership in the White House Foreign Press Group in order to become a part of pool rotations. Sputnik has been described as the "BuzzFeed of propaganda." (Politico)
poll/ 66% of Americans want an independent commission to investigate Trump-Russia ties. 65% of respondents think alleged Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election is either “very important” or “somewhat important,” and 63% said they were “very concerned” or “somewhat concerned” about Trump’s relationship with Russia. (Politico)
1/ House leaders pull Obamacare repeal bill. A slew of late-breaking defections by Republicans were unbowed by Trump's ultimatum to vote for the plan or live with Obamacare. House Republican leaders abruptly pull the bill moments before the vote was due to begin. The House is now holding an emergency GOP caucus meeting. (Politico)
President Trump just called me. Still on phone. "We just pulled it," he tells me.
Trump’s first legislative effort fails as GOP pull bill to repeal Obamacare. Facing a revolt among conservatives and moderates in their ranks, House Republican pulled legislation to repeal the Affordable Care Act in a humiliating defeat for Trump. (New York Times)
House Republican leaders abruptly pull their rewrite of the nation’s health-care law. The opposition continued despite Trump's ultimatum: Vote for the bill, or reject it and move on. (Washington Post)
Ryan lacks enough votes for the health care bill as Republicans mutiny. Ryan rushed to the White House to inform Trump he did not have the votes to pass legislation to repeal the Affordable Care Act. If the bill does not pass, it would represent multiple failures for Trump and the Republican Congress. (New York Times)
After Trump’s ultimatum, some GOP lawmakers change stance on the health care bill. It's unclear whether Trump and Paul Ryan have the votes to get the package through the House. At least three lawmakers who had previously pledged to vote against the bill have changed their minds. (Washington Post)
GOP leaders not confident they have the votes to pass the health bill. (Bloomberg)
2/ Trump blames Democrats for his health care defeat and predicted that they would seek a deal within a year after “Obamacare explodes” because of high premiums. Trump and Stephen Bannon demanded to see a confidential whip count list compiled to exact revenge on the bill’s Republican opponents. (New York Times)
The White House is prepared to blame Paul Ryan if the health bill fails. In public, however, Trump said that Ryan shouldn’t lose his job if the bill goes down. (Bloomberg)
White House on health care bill: Don’t blame Trump. The iron-clad confidence is gone and damage control is underway. "The president has given it his all," Sean Spicer said. (Politico)
3/ “It’s time for Ivanka to… stand for women." Planned Parenthood's president called on Ivanka to step into the debate over the Republican health care bill, saying her silence has been "deafening" and that the bill is "the most anti-woman bill that I have ever seen." (BuzzFeed News)
The irony is that the Freedom Caucus, which is very pro-life and against Planned Parenthood, allows P.P. to continue if they stop this plan!
4/ Schiff: New evidence shows possible Trump-Russia collusion, suggesting "it's the kind of evidence" that a grand jury investigation would want to consider. (CNN)
5/ Nunes cancels Tuesday's public hearing with the former director of National Intelligence, CIA director, and attorney general. The former members of the Obama administration were scheduled to testify on Russia's interference in the 2016 election. Schiff suggested the move was to avoid more bad publicity for the White House. (Politico)
Trump’s former campaign chairman volunteers to testify before the House Intelligence Committee. News surfaced this week that Manafort signed a multimillion-dollar contract with a Russian oligarch in 2006 to advance Putin’s interests around the world. (The Hill)
Intelligence chair now unsure if Trump associates were even directly surveilled. Nunes does not know "for sure" whether Trump or members of his team were even on the phone calls. (ABC News)
6/ Trump grants approval for Keystone XL pipeline, calling it “the first of many infrastructure projects” that he would approve in order to put more Americans to work. (Washington Post)
7/ ICE is targeting "sanctuary cities" with raids in an effort to pressure those jurisdictions to cooperate with federal immigration agents. (CNN)
8/ Treasury secretary "not at all" worried about robots taking jobs. The displacement of jobs by artificial intelligence and automation is "not even on my radar screen" because the technology is "50-100 more years" away. The techcommunityisdumbfounded. (The Verge)
1/ Trump demands vote on health care plan Friday. If the bill fails, Trump is prepared to move on and leave Obamacare in place. Regardless, Trump and Paul Ryan are finished with negotiations on their health care bill. (CNN)
2/ GOP health care plan in doubt after Freedom Caucus rebuffs White House offer to strip a key set of mandates. Ryan can only lose 21 Republican votes. 37 Republicans say they will vote against the bill as it now stands. The only existing mandates conservatives are open to preserving are ones that bar insurers from denying coverage based on preexisting conditions and allow children to stay on their parents’ plans until age 26. (Washington Post)
UPDATE:
The House will not vote on the Republican health care bill today. Enough Republican publicly said they would vote against the bill to sink it. (CNN)
Today's vote on the health care bill has been canceled. Paul Ryan likely did not have the votes needed to pass the measure after Trump's inability to clinch an agreement with Freedom Caucus members. (Bloomberg)
The Freedom Caucus is closing in on a deal to rewrite the health care bill at the 11th hour. The group is negotiating directly with Trump and the White House on an amendment to the bill, cutting out GOP leadership from the conversation as Paul Ryan and his deputies work to corral votes for a bill that is, in these latest provisions, a mystery even to them. The changes could save face in the House, but doom the bill in the Senate. (Huffington Post)
Trump struggles to win votes on Obamacare repeal. Trump and Ryan need strong support from their side of the aisle and can only afford to lose 21 Republican votes. (Reuters)
3/ Latest House GOP health care bill would still cause 24 million more Americans to be uninsured. The CBO analysis says the newest plan would reduce savings in federal spending by half as much as the original legislation, but would leave just as many uninsured by 2026. (Washington Post)
4/ Trump's health care repeal concessions to the House likely wouldn't pass in the Senate. Democrats in the Senate say they have enough votes to block any Republican attempt to repeal health benefits at a 60-vote threshold. (Politico)
5/ Democrats plan to filibuster Gorsuch nomination. Senate Minority Leader Charles Schumer announced he would oppose Gorsuch and join Democrats in filibustering the nomination, making it likely that the judge will struggle to find the support needed to clear a 60-vote procedural hurdle. (Washington Post)
Democrats are weighing a deal to let Gorsuch through In exchange, Republicans would keep the filibuster intact for a subsequent vacancy during Trump’s term. The next court opening could alter the balance, and some argue that will be far more consequential than the current one. (Politico)
6/ Nunes puts the credibility of the House Intelligence panel in doubt. Nunes raised questions about his own ability to conduct an impartial bipartisan investigation when he bypassed Democrats and went directly to the White House with information that showed intelligence agencies may have “incidentally” picked up communications of Trump's transition team members. (New York Times)
Nunes apologizes after going directly to White House with monitoring claims. Schiff blasted Nunes for briefing the White House on his claims before telling his own committee. (Politico)
McCain calls for select committee to investigate Russian interference following the "bizarre" behavior by Nunes and Schiff. Republican leaders on Capitol Hill have so far resisted such a move. (NBC News)
7/ In a step toward "extreme vetting," Trump orders new security checks on people seeking visas for family, business or tourism reasons. Diplomatic cables sent from Rex Tillerson to all American embassies instructed consular officials to broadly increase scrutiny. (New York Times)
8/ Trump defends his wild claims: "I'm president, and you're not" in an interview with TIME about the way he handles truth and falsehood. (TIME)
9/ Senate Republicans vote to gut privacy rules that require internet providers to first get your permission before they can sell your private information, like browsing history and location data. (BuzzFeed News)
1/ Trump associates may have coordinated with Russians to release of information damaging the Clinton campaign. One official said the information suggests the "people connected to the campaign were in contact and it appeared they were giving the thumbs up to release information when it was ready." (CNN)
2/ Paul Manafort, Trump's former campaign chairman, secretly worked for a Russian billionaire to advance the interests of Putin a decade ago. He proposed a political strategy to undermine anti-Russian opposition across the former Soviet republics, contradicting assertions by the Trump administration and Manafort himself that he never worked for Russian interests. (Associated Press)
3/ Trump and House GOP leaders lack the votes needed to pass the Obamacare repeal. More than 25 Freedom Caucus members are threatening to derail the legislation, saying the latest revisions don’t go far enough. It only takes 22 GOP lawmakers to block the bill. (Politico)
4/ Schumer calls for delaying Gorsuch vote because of the Trump-Russia probe. While his demand is unlikely to gain traction with Senate GOP leaders, the move illustrates a strategy of using the stain of an FBI probe to undercut the rest of Trump’s agenda. (Politico)
5/ While Gorsuch was testifying, the Supreme Court unanimously overturned his ruling on providing students with disabilities with an education. Gorsuch's 2008 opinion said school districts simply had to provide disabled students with a little more than nothing, rather than a free and "appropriate public education." All eight justices said Gorsuch 2008's opinion was wrong and that public school instruction must be "specially designed" to meet a child’s "unique needs." (Think Progress)
"I’ll criticize judges," Trump says, hours after Gorsuch said he'd rule against Trump if the law required it. “When anyone criticizes the honesty or integrity or motives of a federal judge,” Gorsuch said at his confirmation hearing, “I find that disheartening and demoralizing.” Trump called out a federal court judge in Hawaii who placed a stay on his second travel ban. (New York Times)
6/ Members of the Trump transition team were under inadvertent surveillance following the election. House Intelligence Chairman Devin Nunes said the surveillance appears to have been legal, incidental collection and that it does not appear to have been related to concerns over collusion with Russia. (Politico)
7/ Former National Security Adviser Michael Flynn didn’t sign Trump’s ethics pledge. The pledge barred federal appointees from lobbying their former colleagues for five years after leaving the administration and banned them from lobbying on behalf of foreign governments for life. (The Daily Beast)
8/ North Korea has no fear of U.S. sanctions move and will pursue "acceleration" of its nuclear and missile programs. This includes developing a "pre-emptive first strike capability" and an inter-continental ballistic missile. (Reuters)
9/ The White House is preparing to dismantle Obama’s climate change policy. Trump will order Scott Pruitt, EPA chief, to withdraw and rewrite a set of Obama-era regulations known as the Clean Power Plan, which was devised to shut down hundreds of heavily polluting coal-fired power plants and freeze construction of new coal plants, while replacing them with vast wind and solar farms. (New York Times)
10/ Trump signs NASA bill aimed at sending people to Mars. The bill authorized $19.5 billion in funding to support NASA's long-term goal of sending humans to Mars by the 2030s. (Washington Post)
11/ The Secret Service has asked for $60 million extra for travel and protection resulting from the complicated Trump family lifestyle. $26.8 million would pay to protect Trump Tower. (Washington Post)
Trump’s team said it didn't ask for military vehicles at inauguration. Emails show it did. (Huffington Post)
12/ Ex-Colorado GOP leader said only Democrats committed voter fraud. Now he’s charged with voter fraud. (Washington Post)
1/ GOP leaders unveiled changes to healthcare bill in an effort to win more votes for their ObamaCare replacement. The tweaks addressed optional work requirements and block granting in Medicaid, as well as more help for older Americans to buy insurance. (The Hill)
2/ Trump to Republicans: Vote for Obamacare repeal or lose your seat. Trump went directly to Congress two days ahead of a planned vote to repeal the 2010 health care law in a test of the new president’s deal-making prowess in a notoriously factional and conflict-prone Republican conference. (Politico)
3/ Trump's adviser Roger Stone repeatedly claimed to know of forthcoming WikiLeaks dumps as well as having a backchannel line to founder Julian Assange. Stone's comments about WikiLeaks have come under scrutiny as the FBI and congressional committees investigate the Trump-Russia connection. (CNN)
4/ The FBI is investigating whether members of Trump’s campaign colluded with Russia to influence the 2016 election. Comey’s testimony on Monday was the first public acknowledgment of the case. (New York Times)
Kremlin says US intelligence committee is "confused" after hearing testimony from Comey about an investigation into the Russian ties of Trump's associates. "They are trying to find confirmation of their own conclusions but can't find either proof or confirmation and are going round in circles." (ABC News)
5/ Tillerson prioritizes Moscow and China over NATO. Tillerson is skipping what would have been his first meeting with the 28 NATO allies so that he can attend Trump's visit by Chinese President Xi Jinping at Trump's Mar-a-Lago resort. The move could be interpreted as another snub to the US' traditional allies in favor of Russia. (CNN)
6/ Gorsuch vows to "put politics aside" on the second day of his confirmation hearing. He called the landmark Roe v. Wade ruling a "precedent" of the Supreme Court that has been "reaffirmed." During the campaign, Trump, said that his Supreme Court nominees would be “pro-life,” and that Roe would "automatically” be overturned once he had made enough appointments. (Bloomberg)
7/ Ivanka Trump moves into West Wing office despite no formal White House job. She acknowledges there is "no modern precedent" for her role and will “voluntarily” follow government ethics rules. (Washington Post)
8/ Fox News boots Judge Napolitano off the air for pushing Obama wiretap claims. The senior judicial analyst is off the air indefinitely amid the controversy over his unverified claims that British intelligence wiretapped Trump Tower at the behest of former Obama. (Los Angeles Times)
9/ Trump won’t allow you to use iPads or laptops on certain airlines. Emirates, Etihad Airways, and Qatar Airways have long been accused by their US competitors of receiving massive effective subsidies from their governments. The airlines are likely to lose a major amount of business from their most lucrative customers — people who travel in business class and first class. (Washington Post)
1/ Comey says the Justice Department has no information supporting Trump's tweets alleging Obama ordered a wiretap in the run-up to the election. “I have no information that supports those tweets," Comey says. (Washington Post)
Trump's wiretapping accusations come to a head as Comey testifies at the House Intelligence Committee. He is expected to say that there was no wiretapping, debunking allegations that Trump has repeatedly refused to withdraw. (CNN)
Gowdy used Trump-Russia hearing to accuse Obama officials of leaking Flynn's undisclosed contact with the Russian ambassador to the U.S. He proceeded to grill Comey as to which former official in Obama's administration could have potentially "unmasked" Flynn's name. (Talking Points Memo)
NSA Chief denies British spying accusation when asked about a claim that British intelligence might have spied on Trump tower on behalf of the US. (CNN)
2/ Comey confirms FBI probe into Trump-Russia collusion. The director of the FBI says the probe is part of a larger investigation into whether Russia meddled in the 2016 U.S. election, but sees “no information” to support wiretapping claim. (Politico)
Comey says Russia wanted to hurt US and Clinton, and help Trump. "They wanted to hurt our democracy, hurt her, help him. I think all three we were confident in at least as early as December," Comey said. (CNN)
3/ Trump slams Comey hearing as "fake news" four hours before Comey confirmed the existence of a probe on "the Russian story." Trump preemptively tried to swat down lingering allegations that his campaign engaged in improper activities with the Russian government during the 2016 election. (Salon)
James Clapper and others stated that there is no evidence Potus colluded with Russia. This story is FAKE NEWS and everyone knows it!
4/ Gorsuch begins his confirmation hearings. While Judge Neil Gorsuch faces broad support among Republicans, but Democrats are angry that Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell decided to block a hearing in 2016 for Obama’s nominee, Judge Merrick Garland. (Washington Post)
CALL YOUR SENATOR
Gorsuch is an avowed originalist and an enemy of women’s healthcare, LGBTQ rights, and access to justice. Here's everything you need to know to call your senator. (5 Calls)
Democrats make case against supreme court nominee, challenging Gorsuch's "originalist" approach to the constitution. Gorsuch believes he should interpret the words of the constitution as they were understood at the time they were written. Which, you know, was in the era of slavery. (The Guardian)
5/ White House installs political aides at Cabinet agencies to be Trump’s eyes and ears. The unusual shadow government of political appointees is tasked with monitoring the secretaries' loyalty to Trump. (Washington Post)
6/ New York attorney general steps up scrutiny of the White House as it hires a public-corruption prosecutor to target the Trump administration. (Wall Street Journal)
7/ At least 10 GOP lawmakers have said that Trump should release his tax returns. They've all declined, however, to join efforts to use the power of Congress to make it happen. (The Hill)
8/ Germany rejects Trump's claim it owes NATO and U.S. "vast sums" for defense. "There is no debt account at NATO," the German Defense Minister said, adding that it was wrong to link the alliance's target for members to spend 2% of their economic output on defense to NATO. (Reuters)
9/ Latest North Korean rocket test shows "meaningful progress" in its effort to build a more powerful rocket and missile. The test indicates that the North has developed a more sophisticated engine. (New York Times)
North Korea says it's not afraid of US threat of military strike. "The nuclear force of (North Korea) is the treasured sword of justice and the most reliable war deterrence to defend the socialist motherland and the life of its people," the official Korean Central News Agency quoted the spokesman as saying. (ABC News)
10/ Biden to rally with House Democrats to save Obamacare a day before House Republicans vote to dismantle the health law. Republican leaders have scheduled a vote on their Obamacare repeal bill for Thursday, the actual anniversary of the signing of the law. (Politico)
poll/ Almost half of Canadians want illegal border crossers deported. 40% of respondents said the border crossers could make Canada "less safe." (Reuters)
poll/ Trump approval rating sinks to 37%, lower than any other commander-in-chief at this point in his first term since Gallup started tracking the issue in 1945. (ABC News)
1/ The head of the House Intelligence Committee said there is no evidence of collusion between the Trump campaign and Russia. Rep. Devin Nunes wants to focus the committee on the alleged espionage and leaks of classified information, such as releasing information about Michael Flynn speaking to the Russian ambassador. (NPR)
2/ Schiff: "Circumstantial evidence of collusion" exists between the Trump campaign and Russia despite denials from top intelligence officials that Russian operatives tried to interfere with the 2016 election. Schiff defended the House Intelligence Committee continuing to look into the matter. (NBC News)
3/ Five things to watch at Monday's House Intelligence Committee’s Russia hearing. Both the FBI director and the director of the NSA will speak about alleged Russian meddling in the 2016 elections, including potential connections between Trump’s inner circle and the Kremlin. (Washington Post)
4/ Top NSA official ridicules allegations that Britain spied on Trump, calling the claim "arrant nonsense." Richard Ledgett, deputy director of the NSA, said the idea that Britain had a hand in spying on Trump was "just crazy" and that "it belies a complete lack of understanding of how the relationship works between the intel community agencies, it completely ignores the political reality of 'would the UK government agree to do that?'" (Reuters)
5/ Ryan plans tweaks to the health care bill in order to help people in their 50s and 60s buy insurance. Ryan said he would “most likely” bring a health care bill forward for a floor vote on Thursday. (Bloomberg)
6/ Tom Price says Trump's health care promises will be true down the line. Meaning, the government would pay for health care for those who need it and everyone would be covered. Price said the passage of the health care bill is just one of three steps. The second two being administrative reforms and the passage of other legislation dealing with health care outside of the American Health Care Act. (CNN)
7/ Trump administration is asking the federal judge in Hawaii to limit the scope of his ruling so the U.S. can immediately stop taking in refugees worldwide. The judge temporarily halted Trump’s new travel ban. (Fox News)
8/ Trump's budget director says Meals on Wheels is not being gutted. The funding source Trump seeks to eliminate — the Department of Housing and Urban Development’s community development block grants — accounts for 3% of Meals on Wheels’ overall funding. (Washington Post)
9/ Trump continues the use of Special Forces to keep war against the Islamic State and terrorist groups at arm's length. Trump has maintained the strategy of training and supporting local forces to fight their own wars instead of deploying large American forces to far-flung hot spots in an effort to minimize the American military’s footprint overseas. (New York Times)
10/ Despite millions of dollars being spent on security for Trump's trips to Mar-a-Lago, Mulvaney says the president is cutting costs in the administration budget. Trump's first three Mar-a-Lago weekends cost taxpayers an estimated $10 million. (CBS News)
1/ U.S. attorney Preet Bharara was investigating HHS Secretary Tom Price when he was fired. Trump’s head of the Department of Health and Human Services traded stocks of health-related companies while working on legislation affecting the firms. Bharara was overseeing the investigation into the trades made by the health secretary. (ProPublica)
2/ U.S. breaks with allies over trade issues amid Trump's "America first" vow. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin signaled that American policy would follow the campaign promises to not accept existing trade norms and pursue a more antagonistic approach with trading partners around the world. (New York Times)
3/ Tillerson calls the North Korea nuclear program an "imminent" threat while ruling out negotiations with the country. He left open the possibility of a pre-emptive military strike to eliminate its nuclear program while China's foreign minister urged the U.S. to remain "cool-headed." (Politico)
The Trump administration is prepared to scrap nearly a decade of U.S. policy toward North Korea in favor of a more aggressive effort to eliminate the country’s nuclear weapons program. Whether that means pre-emptive action, which he warned was “on the table,” will depend a great deal on how China responds. (New York Times)
Tillerson says "all options are on the table" when it comes to North Korea. The Trump administration challenged China to do more to pull its ally North Korea back from the nuclear brink as Tillerson bluntly declared that the U.S. will do whatever is necessary to prevent a North Korean attack. (Washington Post)
4/ Trump seeks proposals for 30-foot-high, "physically imposing" wall at the Mexican border. The request from Customs and Border Protection also said that wall designs should make it essentially impossible for a person to climb or gain access with a ladder. (Associated Press)
5/ Trump administration files notice that it will appeal the ruling against its second version of the travel ban. The Justice Department filed papers in federal court in Maryland, setting up a new legal showdown in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 4th Circuit. (Washington Post)
6/ Trump optimistic on new health law, saying he expects the House Republican health plan will be passed "substantially pretty quickly." Trump called it a "great plan" and says it is "getting more and more popular with the Republican base, the conservative base and with people generally." (Associated Press)
7/ Trump seems to ignore Merkel's handshake request.
In the exchange, photographers gathered around Trump and Merkel in the Oval Office and suggested that the two leaders shake hands for the camera. Merkel turned toward Trump and asked, “Do you want to have a handshake?” Trump did not respond. When Japan’s prime minister visited Trump, they exchanged a 19 second handshake. (Politico)
8/ Rex Tillerson blocked reporters from his first diplomatic trip to Asia, then defended the decision, saying “I’m not a big media press access person. I personally don’t need it.” For decades, newspapers have paid the state department for airplane seats when the diplomat travels. This time, however, the only one reporter that was allowed to join him was from the conservative Independent Journal Review, a website partly owned by a top adviser to Vice-President Pence. (The Guardian)
9/ Kellyanne Conway’s husband is set to lead the Justice Department’s civil division. The job would put George Conway at the forefront of defending immigration executive orders and other lawsuits against Trump administration. (Wall Street Journal)
10/ Russian elites invested nearly $100 million in Trump buildings. At least 63 people with Russian passports or addresses have bought $98.4 million worth of property in seven Trump-branded luxury towers in southern Florida. (Reuters)
1/ Trump offers no apology for claim on British spying. Trump has stuck by his unsubstantiated assertion that Obama ordered his telephone tapped last year despite across-the-board denials and wryly used Merkel’s visit to repeat his contention that the White House had nothing to retract or apologize for. (New York Times)
Sean Spicer flatly denies that the White House apologized to the British government over the allegations that a UK intelligence agency wiretapped Trump Tower. Spokesman for UK Prime Minister says Britain has received assurances that claims won't be repeated. (CNN)
Ryan, Senate Intel committee see no evidence of Trump wiretap. Ryan said, however, that he still trusted Trump, and that the apparently false claims the President aired on Twitter would not damage the White House's credibility. (CNN)
2/ Britain’s surveillance agency says it's "utterly ridiculous" that it was involved in the Trump "wiretap." The GCHQ – the British equivalent of the National Security Agency – usually remains tight-lipped on allegations, neither confirming nor denying claims. Not this time. (Washington Post)
3/ Spicer says Trump "stands by" unproven allegation that Obama ordered wiretapping of Trump Tower, quoting a report from Fox News alleging that Obama used British intelligence to gain access to transcripts of conversations involving Trump. (Washington Post)
4/ Rex Tillerson rules out negotiation with North Korea to freeze its nuclear and missile programs and said that the Trump administration might be forced to take pre-emptive action “if they elevate the threat of their weapons program” to an unacceptable level. (New York Times)
Tillerson says diplomacy has failed as North Korea warns of nuclear war after 20 years of trying to persuade North Korea to abandon its nuclear program have failed. (Chicago Tribune)
5/ Scientists brace for a lost generation in American research after Trump's budget proposal calls for major cuts to funding for medical and science research. Private funding isn't enough to offset Trump's proposed budget cuts. (The Atlantic)
6/ The GOP health care bill advances despite opposition from three conservatives on the panel. The budget panel passed the American Health Care Act, which now heads to the House Rules Committee. The vote was 19-17. (ABC News)
7/ Secret Service laptop with Trump Tower floor plans and details on the Clinton email probe stolen from a Secret Service agent's vehicle in New York City. In addition to the laptop, the thief made off with official Secret Service lapel pins – in case you wondering… (ABC News)
8/ Trump affirms support for NATO but says member nations "must pay what they owe." Trump said some NATO countries owe “vast sums” in dues, which is “very unfair to the United States” — an allegation that appeared based on an incomplete understanding of how the alliance is funded. (Washington Post)
poll/ Americans break with Trump on immigration policy. 60% say the government's top priority should be a plan to legalize undocumented immigrants, and 9 in 10 support a bill to allow certain undocumented immigrants to become citizens. (CNN)
1/ Trump's budget slashes funds for the EPA and State Department. The budget would funnel an additional $54 billion into defense programs, beef up immigration enforcement, and significantly reduce the nondefense federal work force to further the “deconstruction of the administrative state,” in the words of Trump’s chief strategist, Stephen K. Bannon. Major elements of the plan have already been declared dead on arrival by the Republican leadership in Congress, and much of the fiscal fine print will be filled in by Capitol Hill lawmakers and their aides over the next month. (New York Times)
Trump federal budget 2018: Massive cuts to the arts, science and the poor. $54 billion bump in defense spending would be offset by stripping money from more than 18 other agencies. (Washington Post)
2/ Mulvaney justifies budget: We can't ask a coal miner to pay for the Corporation for Public Broadcasting. "Make no mistake about it, this is a hard-power budget, not a soft-power budget," Mulvanery says. (Politico)
3/ Federal judge in Hawaii freezes Trump’s new entry ban order hours before it would have temporarily barred the issuance of new visas to citizens of six Muslim-majority countries and suspended the admission of new refugees. (Washington Post)
2 federal judges ruled against Trump’s latest travel ban. A judge in Hawaii issued a nationwide order Wednesday evening blocking Trump’s travel ban. Meanwhile, a second judge in Maryland ruled against Trump overnight, with a separate order forbidding the core provision of the travel ban from going into effect. (New York Times)
Judges used Trump’s own words in ruling against his revised travel ban. Two federal judges halted the Trump's second attempt at his executive order, citing his campaign trail vows to seek a Muslim ban, which amounted to "significant and unrebutted evidence of religious animus driving the promulgation of the Executive Order and its related predecessor." (Politico)
4/ Trump says he will submit evidence of wiretapping to House committee "very soon." Trump added that he "will be, perhaps speaking about this next week" and predicted that "you’re going to find some very interesting items coming to the forefront over the next 2 weeks." (Fox News)
5/ Senate Intelligence Committee leaders say there is no indication that Trump Tower was under surveillance. The Republican chairman and top Democrat said in a joint statement they have seen no evidence to support Trump’s claim about Trump Tower being wiretapped. (Politico)
6/ Paul Ryan says health care bill is still on track, despite increasing GOP opposition. Don't worry, everything is going according to plan. (NPR)
Ryan: Health care plan must change to pass the House, marking a significant retreat from his earlier position that the carefully crafted legislation would fail if substantially altered. Rah roh. (Washington Post)
7/ Trump aides are privately blaming the health care bill’s problems on Paul Ryan. The Trump administration is trying to put some distance between them and Ryan, as the House’s Obamacare replacement bill gets criticized by conservative activists and Trump’s base of voters. (BuzzFeed News)
Trump acknowledges that the repeal bill wouldn't be great for his supporters. Trump signaled that the Republican bill is not in its final form, admitting that the current legislation does not favor the voters who elected him. (Talking Points Memo)
8/ John McCain acccused Rand Paul of "now working for Vladimir Putin" after the Kentucky senator objected to a bill advancing Montenegro’s push for NATO membership. (The Daily Beast)
9/ Tillerson promises new policy on North Korea after "20 years of a failed approach." China is expected to present a plan to cool North Korea tensions and suspend its ballistic missile tests and nuclear activities. The United States and South Korea would also halt their large-scale military exercises that annually antagonize Pyongyang. (CNN)
10/ Trump wants $4.1 billion for border wall. Republicans are showing increasing reluctance to build a wall on the U.S.-Mexico border, as Trump prepares to ask Congress to include billions for one of his signature campaign promises in his first budget proposal since taking office. (Politico)
11/ Moscow paid $45,000 for Flynn’s 2015 talk at RT's 10th anniversary party. RT is the Russian state-owned television network described by U.S. intelligence officials as “the Kremlin’s principal international propaganda outlet." (Yahoo News)
Flynn worked for several Russian companies and was paid more than $50,000 shortly before he became a formal adviser to the then-candidate. (Wall Street Journal)
Flynn collected nearly $68,000 in fees and expenses from Russia-related entities in 2015, a higher amount than was previously known. (Washington Post)
1/ The cost of failure on health care repeal? It may be the rest of Trump’s agenda. Tax cuts, infrastructure and other White House priorities hinge on scaling back Obamacare. (Washington Post)
2/ Nervous GOP Senators call for changes in health care bill They want to see lower insurance costs for poorer, older Americans and an increase in funding for states with many hard-to-insure people. Conservative House Republicans already believe the bill is too generous. (New York Times)
GOP Senators say house health bill won’t pass without fundamental changes as concerns mount that millions would be uninsured. (Wall Street Journal)
3/ Comey will testify on Russia investigation next week at a public House Intelligence Committee hearing. Separately, Comey will brief the two top senators on the Senate Judiciary Committee today. (Politico)
Kaine expects FBI to announce White House-Russia investigation. Kaine stressed that the investigation must look into whether the highest office in the land is connected to Russia. (The Hill)
Lindsey Graham on Trump wiretap claims: "If it's not true, just tell me." Graham said the FBI needs to stop stonewalling his request to clear up wiretapping claims Trump made against his predecessor and produce evidence that it happened. (Today)
4/ House Intelligence Chair says he doesn't believe Trump Tower was wiretapped. The top Democrat on the House committee, Adam Schiff, said he has seen "no evidence whatsoever" that supports Trump's claim that Obama tapped his phone at Trump Tower. (NPR)
5/ Spicer is "very confident" that wiretapping evidence will emerge, bolstering Trump’s unproven accusation about his predecessor. (New York Times)
6/ The FBI was investigating former Trump national security advisor Michael Flynn as recently as December. It remains unknown when the FBI first started investigating Flynn and whether the probe has since been closed. (BuzzFeed News)
7/ Trump will reexamine fuel efficiency standards set in place during the Obama administration, opening the door for the regulations to potentially be reduced in the coming years. Trump will not take steps to revoke a waiver that allows California and a dozen other states to enforce emissions standards beyond those of the EPA. If those regulations remain intact, automakers will still be compelled to produce more fuel efficient cars regardless of any changes at the federal level. (Washington Post)
Trump to shelve fuel mileage rules, inviting a fight with California. The state has made it clear that they will not waver from the ambitious mileage rules finalized by the Obama administration, which require passenger cars to average about 54 miles per gallon by 2025. Today’s passenger cars average 36 miles per gallon. (Los Angeles Times)
8/ Justice Department charges Russian spies and criminal hackers in Yahoo intrusion. The indictments mark the first criminal cyber charges ever brought against Russian government officials. (Washington Post)
9/ China to Trump: We don’t want a trade war — but if there is one, your companies would bear the brunt.. China’s trade and investment ties with the United States created up to 1 million American jobs last year. (Washington Post)
10/ House Republicans seek flexible, less costly approaches at U.S. border, while Democrats oppose adding wall funds to government spending bill. (Bloomberg)
poll/ Only 24% of voters support the GOP health care plan. The Affordable Care Act, meanwhile, continues to post some of the best numbers it has ever seen, with 47% of voters in favor of it to 39% who are opposed. (Public Policy Polling)
1/ Trump wrote off $100 million in business losses to reduce his federal taxes in 2005. Trump paid $38 million in federal income taxes on reported income of $150 million, an effective tax rate of 25%. By claiming losses from previous years, Trump was able to save tens of millions of dollars in taxes that he otherwise might have owed. (New York Times)
Trump and his wife Melania paid $5.3 million in regular federal income tax in 2005 – a rate of less than 4%. However, the Trumps paid an additional $31 million in the so-called “alternative minimum tax,” or AMT. Trump has previously called for the elimination of this tax. (The Daily Beast)
White House: Trump paid $38 million in taxes in 2005 on more than $150 million in income. The White House put the information out ahead of an anticipated MSNBC news report about the returns. Trump had promised during the presidential campaign to release his returns – which every presidential nominee in modern times has made into a precedent – after the conclusion of a routine audit, but the White House has not spelled out when exactly that would be. More recently, aides have suggested that since he won the election, he would not release his returns. (CNN)
2/ White House tries to salvage GOP health-care proposal as criticism mounts. The White House has launched an intensive effort to salvage support for the Republican plan to revise the Affordable Care Act, even as a growing number of lawmakers weighed in against the proposal. (Washington Post)
Trump’s backing a healthcare plan that breaks his promises. Trump was clear both as a candidate and as president: No one would be left behind under his health care plan. But the CBO found Trump would break his promise — by a mile. (NBC News)
Trump said it could take several years for health insurance prices to start to drop under the healthcare replacement plan he is promoting, creating a rocky transition period that could pose a risk for members of Congress up for re-election next year and Trump’s own bid for a second term in 2020. (Bloomberg)
Trump administration shifts away from "insurance for everybody," instead promising that the House GOP plan to repeal and replace Obamacare offers "more people the option to get healthcare." (Los Angeles Times)
3/ Rattled by CBO report, moderate Republicans turn against GOP bill. Republican leaders are struggling to unify conservative and moderate factions on health care. (CNN)
Conservatives’ reaction to CBO report casts doubt on GOP health plan’s viability. Lawmakers continue to push back on healthcare plan, saying the bill doesn’t repeal Obamacare, doesn’t unite Republicans, and doesn’t bring down the cost of premiums. (Washington Post)
Republican Rep. Peter Roskam: GOP healthcare bill "very much a work in progress." Roskam voted for the plan just days ago in his position as a member of the House Ways & Means Committee, but has been drawing substantial fire in his district for his stance on health insurance. (Crain's Chicago Business)
4/ The Trump administration slammed the CBO estimate that millions of people would become uninsured under the Republicans' plan to repeal and replace ObamaCare. The CBO found that 14 million people would lose their insurance coverage by next year under the bill, with the number rising to 24 million over a decade. Health and Human Services Secretary Tom Price said "it's just not believable" and "virtually impossible" for the CBO estimate to occur. (The Hill)
Paul Ryan: CBO report on ObamaCare repeal "exceeded my expectations." Ryan said the CBO's prediction that 14 million more Americans would be uninsured in 2018 was due to the bill's overturning of ObamaCare's individual mandate. C'mon guy. (Fox News)
Sanders responds to CBO score: "Thousands of Americans will die" if the legislation is passed and millions of people are thrown off health insurance. (The Hill)
White House analysis of Obamacare repeal sees even deeper insurance losses than CBO. The executive branch analysis forecast that 26 million people would lose coverage over the next decade, versus the 24 million CBO estimates. (Politico)
CBO: Defunding Planned Parenthood would lead to thousands more births. Analysts estimate that excluding the women’s health organization from the Medicaid program for one year would affect low-income areas and communities without many health care options, leaving 15% of those people “without services that help women avert pregnancy.” (Washington Post)
Ted Cruz calls rising premiums "most troubling aspect" of CBO health care report. “This is not the mandate that we were elected to fulfill,” Cruz said. (Dallas News)
5/ Secretary of State Rex Tillerson used an email alias to discuss climate change while he was CEO of Exxon Mobil. Tillerson used the account for "secure and expedited communications between select senior company officials and the former chairman for a broad range of business-related topics," after his primary account began receiving too many messages. (Bloomberg)
6/ Several states jointly sue to block Trump's revised travel ban. Washington, California, Maryland, Massachusetts, New York, and Oregon asked a judge to stop Trump's revised temporary ban on refugees and travelers from taking effect. (Reuters)
7/ DOJ asks for more time on inquiry into Trump wiretapping allegations after it failed to meet the House Intelligence Committee's deadline to turn over evidence. (ABC News)
8/ Trump gives CIA new authority to conduct drone strikes against suspected terrorists, changing the Obama administration’s policy of limiting the spy agency’s paramilitary role and reopening a turf war between the agency and the Pentagon. (Wall Street Journal)
9/ Breitbart turns up the heat on Paul Ryan, leaking audio of Ryan disavowing Trump. “I am not going to defend Donald Trump—not now, not in the future,” Ryan says in an October conference call intended for House Republican members. (Breitbart)
10/ Trump is set to sign a sweeping directive to dramatically shrink the role climate change plays in decisions across the government, ranging from appliance standards to pipeline approvals. Trump’s order also will compel a reconsideration of the government’s use of a metric known as the "social cost of carbon" that reflects the potential economic damage from climate change. (Bloomberg)
1/ 24 million would lose insurance under the G.O.P. health bill within a decade, the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office found. Democrats criticized Republicans for pushing the health care bill through two House committees last week before the Congressional Budget Office had weighed in, saying it was irresponsible to begin considering legislation without a firm grip on its potential costs and ramifications. (New York Times)
Republicans may soon get a preview of the political price of health reform. The CBO will issue a report likely showing that millions of people may lose coverage under Republican health care legislation. (CNN)
2/ Trump’s budget proposal is expected to create historic contraction in the federal workforce if enacted. The spending budget Trump is set to release this week will offer the clearest snapshot of his vision: a smaller government, less involved in regulating life in America, with private companies and states playing a much bigger role. (Washington Post)
3/ The House Intelligence panel wants wiretapping evidence today. Trump has not offered evidence to support his explosive wiretapping tweets, in which he compared the alleged wiretapping to the Watergate scandal. (NBC News)
4/ House investigators on a Trump-Russia "collision course" as the top Republican on the intelligence committee was also on Trump's transition team. The lead Democrat is a fierce Trump critic. (Politico)
5/ Kellyanne Conway: "I don't have any evidence" of Trump wiretapping claim. Conway said that previous comments she made linking WikiLeaks' release of nearly 8,000 documents that purportedly reveal secrets about the CIA's tools for breaking into targeted computers, cellphones and smart TVs to Trump's claims were about "surveillance generally” and not meant to be taken as specific proof that his allegation was true. (ABC News)
UPDATE:
Spicer: Trump didn't mean wiretapping when he tweeted about wiretapping. Last week, Spicer said Trump's tweet "speaks for itself" and declined to provide any further explanation. But today, Spicer was open to providing an interpretation for Trump's tweet, saying the President told Spicer he was referring to means of surveillance beyond wiretapping. (CNN)
Conway: Magic microwaves may have spied on Trump. There's really nothing else left to write… (The Daily Beast)
Conway defends Trump's wiretap claim by citing "microwaves that turn into cameras." The Trump administration continues to provide no evidence for the president’s claim that Obama ordered wiretapping of Trump Tower. (Huffington Post)
6/ Trump said no Americans would lose coverage under Obamacare repeal. Paul Ryan won’t make that promise. The GOP House speaker said it depends on how many choose not to buy insurance once the mandate is lifted; he ducked the question of how many would no longer be able to afford it. (Washington Post)
Ryan said he agrees with Trump that there will be a "bloodbath" in 2018 if Republicans don't follow through on their repeal promises. (Axios)
Another key Republican senator knocks the GOP Obamacare plan. Sen. Dean Heller panned House Speaker Paul Ryan's bill to repeal and replace Obamacare during a closed meeting with constituents, raising numerous objections to the House bill. (Politico)
7/ The big winner in Trump's decision to fire Preet Bharara might be Rupert Murdoch. The federal prosecutor was in the middle of a delicate case focusing on the conduct of Fox News executives. (New York Magazine)
Abrupt dismissals leave US attorneys scrambling. The quick exits aren't expected to have a major impact on ongoing prosecutions, but they gave U.S. attorneys little time to prepare deputies who will take over until successors are named. (Associated Press)
8/ Trump's budget director claims the Obama administration was "manipulating" jobs data. Mick Mulvaney said he has long thought the previous administration framed data to make the unemployment rate "look smaller than it actually was." (CNN)
9/ Trump expected to announce vehicle emissions rules review. Automakers have been pushing the Trump administration for months to reverse the Obama administration decision, which would raise the fleet average fuel efficiency to more than 50 miles per gallon by 2025 from 27.5 mpg in 2010. (Reuters)
1/ "Nobody will be worse off financially" under the GOP health care plan, according to Health and Human Services Secretary Tom Price. He says no one will be adversely affected by the new bill once it's enacted and that more people would be covered. I bet. (NBC News)
The White House pledges no one "worse off" in Obamacare replacement with sweeping promises that insurance premiums will fall and more people will have coverage under the replacement plan may be hard to keep as conservatives demand limits to government involvement in health care before they support the measure. (Bloomberg)
Trump budget chief: The President is focused on health care, not insurance coverage. Mick Mulvaney said critics of the new GOP health care bill should not be too “worried about getting people coverage.” Preliminary analyses from Brookings Institution and Standard and Poor’s estimate that six to 15 million people could lose coverage under the Republican proposal for repealing and replacing the Affordable Care Act known as Obamacare. (ABC News)
2/ Here's how much millionaires would save under GOP Obamacare repeal bill. People earning more than $1 million annually would save an estimated $165 billion in taxes over 10 years. (CNN Money)
3/ Major health insurer backs GOP's Obamacare repeal bill. Anthem endorsed major parts of the repeal bill, known as the American Health Care Act, and urged lawmakers to move the process forward “as quickly as possible.” (Politico)
4/ McCain to Trump: Retract wiretapping claim or prove it. The senator’s call for more information follows a request from two leading members of the Senate Judiciary Committee for “copies of any warrant applications and court orders — redacted as necessary… related to wiretaps of President Trump, the Trump Campaign, or Trump Tower.” (Washington Post)
5/ US attorney Bharara was fired after a standoff with Trump. Bharara was asked for his resignation along with every other US attorney. His sudden dismissal came as a surprise since the US attorney had been told after a meeting with Trump in November that he could stay on. "I did not resign. Moments ago I was fired," Bharara wrote in a tweet. (CNN)
I did not resign. Moments ago I was fired. Being the US Attorney in SDNY will forever be the greatest honor of my professional life.
New York federal prosecutor Preet Bharara says he was fired by Trump administration. Bharara had been asked to resign Friday, but confusion ensued because Trump in November had asked him to stay on. (Washington Post)
Bharara was one of 46 U.S. attorneys appointed by Obama that the Trump administration asked to resign. All presidents choose their own appointees for U.S. attorney positions and almost always ask those from their predecessors to leave. But the process under Trump was unusually abrupt, and it was yet another rocky encounter between the Trump administration and the nation’s law enforcement apparatus. (New York Times)
6/ Elizabeth Warren says Trump pushed out prosecutors to install "cronies." The senator attacked Trump over the firing of Preet Bharara, saying the Senate will see a "massive fight" over picks to replace US attorneys. (The Guardian)
Preet Bharara had authority over Trump Tower. @realDonaldTrump called him directly, breaching protocol. 24 hrs later he was asked to resign.
7/ Democrats may abandon the Russia inquiry if it is not "legitimate." The Republican-controlled panel may offer their best chance for scrutinizing links between people close to President Trump and Russian officials, but some House Intelligence Committee Democrats are warning that they may pull their support for the inquiry if it becomes mired in party-line politics. (New York Times)
8/ 134 foreign policy experts denounce Trump's revised travel ban as just as damaging to the United States’ interests and reputation as his original order that halted refugees and froze travelers from predominantly Muslim countries. (New York Times)
9/ Trump associate plays down Twitter contact with Guccifer 2.0 – the online persona who claims responsibility for hacking the Democratic National Committee. Roger Stone called it an innocuous "brief exchange" of a few direct messages that he says amount to nothing. (CNN)
1/ Trump abruptly orders remaining 46 U.S. attorneys to tender their resignations immediately, sweeping away the remaining vestiges of the Obama administration's prosecutors at the Justice Department. It is not unusual for a new president to replace United States attorneys appointed by a predecessor, especially when there has been a change in which party controls the White House. Other presidents, however, have done it gradually in order to minimize disruption. (New York Times)
Anger mounts over handling of US attorney firings. Many prosecutors had not been formally notified or even told before they were fired when the Justice Department announced the firings on Friday. (CNN)
Preet Bharara has yet to submit his resignation letter as Trump demands U.S. attorneys resign. Bharara met with Trump shortly after the election and was told that he would stay. Just this week, Attorney General Jeff Sessions assured him in a phone conversation that he’d remain atop the Southern District. (The Daily Beast)
2/ Revised Trump travel ban suffers first legal setback after a federal judge in Wisconsin barred enforcement of the policy to deny U.S. entry to the wife and child of a Syrian refugee already granted asylum in the United States. The temporary restraining order applies only to the family of the Syrian refugee. (Reuters)
3/ Scott Pruitt’s phones have been ringing off the hook since he questioned the link between human activity and climate change. Pruitt’s comments on the CNBC program “Squawk Box” — that “we need to continue the debate and continue the review and the analysis” over climate change — prompted an immediate pushback from many scientists and environment groups. (Washington Post)
4/ Flynn attended secret intelligence briefings while taking money to lobby for Turkey. Flynn was being paid more than half a million dollars to lobby on behalf of the Turkish government. (NBC News)
5/ White House official says Breitbart was source of Trump's wiretaps claim. A staffer placed the story, published on Breitbart, into Trump's daily reading pile. The Breitbart article was a reprinted version of radio host Mark Levin's on-air claim that Obama wiretapped Trump Tower. (Axios)
6/ Muhammad Ali Jr. questioned again at Washington airport. Ali Jr. was trying to get his boarding pass at Reagan National airport in Washington, D.C. when the computer "flagged" him. The ticket agent rejected his Illinois state-issued ID and put Ali Jr. on the phone with the Department of Homeland Security. Ali Jr. was asked over the phone to verify his date of birth and where he was born. He was not asked about his religion. (USA Today)
7/ Trump's plan for Medicaid could hurt the opioid abusers he promised to help. The current version of the Trump-backed Republican health care plan would end the Obamacare requirement that addiction services and mental health treatment be covered under Medicaid in the 31 states that expanded the health care program. The GOP plan would instead leave it up to states – and their budgets – to decide whether or not to cover drug treatment and mental health services under Medicaid. (CNN)
1/ Conservatives want to blow up Senate rules to kill Obamacare. A growing number of conservative lawmakers urged GOP leaders to push the limits of how much of the health law they can reshape under a powerful procedural maneuver known as budget reconciliation — and to overrule the Senate parliamentarian if she doesn't decide in their favor. (Politico)
Trump supporters have the most to lose with the repeal of Obamacare. The Republicans’ plan offers less help to older and lower-income Americans, especially in rural areas. The voters hit the hardest — eligible for at least $5,000 less in tax credits under the Republican plan — supported Trump by a margin of 59% to 36%. (New York Times)
2/ House GOP leaders defend health-care overhaul as they prepare to meet Trump. The leaders dismissed the suggestion from conservative members that the proposed phaseout of Obamacare's Medicaid expansion should be moved up by two years, from 2020 to 2018. (Washington Post)
3/ Jeff Sessions calls Guantanamo Bay a "very fine place" to send captured terrorists and recommended Trump do so in an interview with conservative radio host Hugh Hewitt. The attorney general added he was opposed to shuttering the controversial Cuban prison. (New York Daily News)
4/ Trump promised $1 trillion for infrastructure, but the real estimate is almost $4.6 trillion over the next eight years to bring the country’s crumbling infrastructure up to an acceptable standard. A report by civil engineers gives the nation's infrastructure a D-plus grade and sees little progress in the past four years. (Washington Post)
5/ The Office of Government Ethics says the Trump administration has an "incorrect" view of ethics laws. The OGE urged punishment after Kellyanne Conway endorsed Ivanka Trump's fashion line. The White House says the agency's rules don't apply to its workers. (NPR)
Ivanka Trump's brand saw an online surge in February. Sales of Ivanka Trump merchandise dropped 26 percent online in January compared to January 2016, but the trend reversed in February. According to Slice Intelligence, online sales of Ivanka Trump merchandise swelled 207 percent in February from the prior month. (CNBC)
6/ States ask court to stop Trump's new travel ban from ever taking effect. At least five states are banding together in a legal drive to block key elements of Trump’s second travel ban. Washington state is asking a federal judge in Seattle to rule that an existing injunction against Trump's earlier travel ban apply to parallel portions of his new directive. (Politico)
7/ John Huntsman reported to be named next U.S. ambassador to Russia. The former Republican governor served as ambassador to China under Obama. His appointment comes at a time when the complex relationship between the two countries has been particullary strained in light of recent developments surrounding the Trump administration. (New York Times)
8/ Is Trump being investigated? "No comment," the Justice Department says. By venting his ire against Obama in a series of tweets last week, Trump awkwardly raised the possibility himself, since any wiretapping could have been the direct result of an investigation targeting him. (New York Times)
Pelosi: Comey should publicly reject Trump wiretapping claims. “Maybe in a short period of time much more will be in the public domain,” she said. (Politico)
Schiff: I haven't seen any evidence Obama admin wiretapped Trump. After meeting with FBI Director James Comey, the California representative said he has not "seen any evidence" to back Trump's claims that he was wiretapped by the Obama administration during the campaign. (CNN)
9/ FBI investigation continues into "odd" computer link between Russian bank and Trump Organization. Questions about the possible connection were widely dismissed four months ago. But the FBI's investigation remains open and is in the hands of the FBI's counterintelligence team – the same one looking into Russia's suspected interference in the 2016 election. (CNN)
10/ Russian ambassador denied meeting with Trump or any campaign officials in October speech. But Jeff Sessions met with Kislyak last September in Sessions's DC office when he was still a US Senator and top Trump adviser. Sessions also interacted with Kislyak in Cleveland at a Heritage Foundation event held during the RNC in July. (CNN)
11/ ACLU files ethics complaint against Sessions over communications with Russian ambassador based on his testimony to a Senate committee that he had no communications with the Russian government. (Washington Post)
12/ A bill moving through Congress could give employers access to workers’ genetic test results. The bill, HR 1313, was approved by a House committee on Wednesday, with all 22 Republicans supporting it and all 17 Democrats opposed. Employers may provide insurance premium discounts to workers who take part in their companies’ voluntary wellness programs. Once enrolled, businesses are allowed to collect “information about the manifested disease or disorder of a family member” of participating employees. (STAT)
13/ The U.S. added 235,000 jobs in February and the unemployment rate dropped to 4.7%. Employers added jobs at an above-average pace for a second month. Trump has set a goal of adding 25 million jobs over 10 years, which would require job additions of 208,000 a month, or 2.5 million positions a year. (Bloomberg)
14/ U.S. is sending about 400 Marines to Syria to help local fighters wrest control of Raqqa, which ISIS considers its capital. (NPR)
1/ The House Ways and Means Committee gave an approval to a major part of the Republican plan to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act, rejecting a flurry of Democratic amendments. Republicans are a step closer to a full vote on the measure despite the growing opposition of senators, health care providers, and some conservatives. The White House is increasingly confident about the prospects for a health care overhaul to pass in the House. Trump anticipates the most trouble in the Senate, where moderate and conservative lawmakers are opposing the plan for different reasons. He said he was prepared to pressure holdout senators by holding the kind of stadium-style rallies he led during his presidential campaign. (New York Times)
2/ Trump goes into dealmaking mode, working behind the scenes on health bill and quietly courting wary conservatives in private meetings and keeping himself somewhat out of the picture as party leaders and his Cabinet officials defend the proposal to revise the Affordable Care Act. “If we need to bring in the big gun, we’ll bring in the big gun” – meaning Trump. (Washington Post)
3/ Trump to conservative leaders: If this health care plan fails, I'll blame Democrats. During an hour-long meeting with conservative groups against the House Republican plan to repeal and replace Obamacare, Trump chastised the groups for calling the House GOP proposal "Obamacare lite," warning the tea party activists, "you are helping the other side." (CNN)
4/ Spicer attacks "double standard" in response to WikiLeaks dump. Spicer cast aside the playbook of cut-and-dry condemnations of national security leaks and instead framed his response along political lines, arguing forcefully that there was a "double standard" when it comes to the level of outrage elicited by different leaks. (CNN)
5/ The White House says Trump isn’t the target of any investigation despite Trump's unsubstantiated claim that Obama ordered the wiretapping of Trump Tower. Either the president’s assertions that Obama wiretapped him are baseless, or he may have implicated himself in a government investigation of contacts between his presidential campaign and Russia. (New York Times)
6/ EPA chief Scott Pruitt says carbon dioxide is not a primary contributor to global warming. Pruitt's view is at odds with the opinion of NASA and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. (CNBC)
7/ Trump administration considers $6 billion cut to HUD budget. The move would drop Housing and Urban Development funding by about 14% as part of the plan to cut domestic spending and increase the defense budget. (Washington Post)
8/ Hawaii becomes the first state to sue Trump over new travel ban, saying in a lawsuit that it will disrupt families, harm Hawaii’s Muslim population, tourism and foreign students and is "antithetical to Hawaii's state identity and spirit." (USA Today)
9/ Trump begins to map out his $1 trillion infrastructure plan that would pressure states to streamline local permitting, favor renovation of existing roads and highways over new construction, and prioritize projects that can quickly begin construction. Trump expressed interest in high-speed rail and spectrum auction. (Wall Street Journal)
10/ Jeff Sessions likely met with the Russian Ambassador a third time. The attorney general initially denied any contact with the Russians, then later admitted to just two meetings. (Huffington Post)
11/ The White House is scrutinizing job candidates’ old social media posts for criticism of Trump. Officials are having trouble filling vacancies in their departments because of questions about the loyalty of the people they want to select. (Vox)
12/ Homeland chief: Illegal border crossings dip 40%, as measured by arrests and people halted from entering the country at the border. (USA Today)
1/ Trump met with Russian ambassador Sergey Kislyak during the campaign. The encounter with the Russian Ambassador resurfaced last week after revelations that at least five members of Trump’s campaign team - including Jeff Sessions - had contact with Kislyak before Trump took office. The meeting is at odds with a spokeswoman's claim that Trump had "zero" involvement with Russian officials during the campaign. (Bloomberg)
White House calls reported Trump meeting with Russian ambassador "absurd." As a candidate Trump met with the Russian ambassador to the United States at a campaign event, just before Trump delivered a speech that called for "an easing of tensions" with Russia. (ABC News)
2/ The rapport between Trump and Obama is unraveling. Trump is convinced that Obama is undermining his nascent administration, while Obama is furious over Trump's tweets accusing him of illegal wiretapping and questioning both the integrity of the office of the president and Obama himself. (Wall Street Journal)
3/ Aides address Trump's wiretapping claims: "That’s above my pay grade." Trump's team has been uncharacteristically muted when pressed about his explosive and unproven accusations that Obama wiretapped his phones in Trump Tower. (New York Times)
UPDATE:
Obama's reaction to wiretap claims stopped short of outright fury. Uncorroborated wiretapping accusations irked and exasperated Obama and his aides, who have responded with disbelief. (CNN)
4/ To fund the border wall, Trump weighs cuts to Coast Guard and airport security. The plan puts the administration in the unusual position of trading spending on security programs for other security priorities at the southern border, raising questions among Republican lawmakers and homeland-security experts. (Washington Post)
5/ FBI’s Comey says "you're stuck with me" for another six years and intends to finish his full 10-year term as director. Comey signaled he has no plans to resign despite once again being at the center of a political storm – this time over probes into Russian hacking of the 2016 election and his request that Justice Department officials reject Trump’s claims that his predecessor “tapped” his phones. (Bloomberg)
6/ The GOP health care plan is in critical condition. The plan is going to have to fight a three-front war to survive: 1) conservatives are calling this "Obamacare-Lite" or "Obamacare 2.0"; 2) moderates want to keep Medicaid expansion and Planned Parenthood funding; 3) and powerful/influential industry groups, like AARP and the American Hospital Association have voiced their opposition. (NBC News)
Ryan downplays conservative backlash against health-care plan. The most imminent and serious threat to the plan was the criticism from conservative lawmakers and powerful outside groups that argue that the draft is nothing more than “Obamacare Lite,” a disparaging reference to the former president’s signature 2010 domestic achievement. (Washington Post)
The American Medical Association opposes the Republican health plan. The doctors’ group is concerned that too many people would lose health coverage under the House bill. (New York Times)
Conservatives pick up "mixed messages" from the White House on health care plan, suggesting the White House isn’t completely sold on the bill advancing through committees. (Huffington Post)
GOP slams budget scorekeeper as Obamacare repeal bill moves forward. Republicans, anticipating that their plan will leave fewer Americans insured than Obamacare and potentially cost the federal government more, launched a preemptory strike against forthcoming predictions from Congress’s independent scorekeeper, the Congressional Budget Office. (Politico)
7/ Democrats are trying to delay House GOP health care bill*. Democrats are complaining that the hearings are taking place before the Congressional Budget Office has a chance to "score" the House legislation, a process that will provide answers on how much it will cost and how many people it will cover. Republicans are holding the line to block Democratic efforts to delay the bill to repeal Obamacare. (CNN)
8/ A federal criminal probe is being opened into WikiLeaks' publication of CIA documents. The FBI and CIA are coordinating an investigation into how the documents came into WikiLeaks' possession and whether they might have been leaked by an employee or contractor. The CIA is also trying to determine if there are other unpublished documents WikiLeaks may have. (CNN)
9/ Comey to testify in the House Intelligence Committee probe on Russia’s interference in the 2016 presidential campaign. The hearing will likely be the first in-depth public inquiry into allegations of connections between Trump’s presidential campaign and the Russian government, as well as Russia’s efforts to influence the U.S. election. (Bloomberg)
10/ North Korea may be Trump's greatest foreign policy challenge. The administration must come up with a plan to curb North Korea's missile and nuclear development program — and it must do so quickly following a round of provocative missile tests. (ABC News)
poll/ 56% of registered voters support appointing a special prosecutor to investigate alleged ties between Trump’s campaign staff and the Russian government. (Politico)
1/ House Republicans unveiled their plan to replace Obamacare. The plan scraps the mandate for most Americans to have health insurance in favor of a new system of tax credits to induce people to buy insurance on the open market. The bill would roll back the expansion of Medicaid that has provided coverage to more than 10 million people in 31 states, reducing federal payments for many new beneficiaries. The requirement for larger employers to offer coverage to their full-time employees would also be eliminated. (New York Times)
The American Health Care Act: the Republicans’ bill to replace Obamacare, explained. Two big questions — how many people it will cover and how much it will cost — are still unresolved: It will likely cover fewer people than the Affordable Care Act currently does. And the Congressional Budget Office has not yet scored the legislation, so its price tag is unknown. (Vox)
2/ Chaffetz: Low-income Americans will have to choose health care over iPhones. "Americans have choices, and they've got to make a choice. So rather than getting that new iPhone that they just love and want to go spend hundreds of dollars on that, maybe they should invest in their own health care. They've got to make those decisions themselves," Chaffetz said. (CNN)
3/ With income-based tax credits, the GOP is considering an approach to health care it has long been against. The GOP had intended to veer away from the ACA subsidies that help poor and middle-class people obtain insurance, insisting that the size of the tax credits should be based entirely on people’s ages and not their incomes. The latest draft proposed refundable tax credits that would hinge on earnings as well as age — providing bigger credits for older and poorer Americans. (Washington Post)
4/ The GOP Obamacare replacement will defund Planned Parenthood and restrict abortion coverage. The plan would keep poor women on Medicaid from getting health care at Planned Parenthood, and cut off affordable abortion coverage for many privately insured women. (Vox)
5/ WikiLeaks released the "entire hacking capacity of the CIA." The documents describe the agency's tools used to hack into smartphones and TVs, as well as to bypass encryption on programs like Signal and WhatsApp. The initial release, which WikiLeaks said was only the first part of the document collection, included 7,818 web pages with 943 attachments. (New York Times)
WikiLeaks says it has obtained trove of CIA hacking tools. WikiLeaks indicated that it planned to post nearly 9,000 files describing code developed in secret by the CIA to steal data from targets overseas and turn ordinary devices including cellphones, computers and even television sets into surveillance tools. (Washington Post)
6/ The UN says Trump's revised travel ban will worsen plight of refugees. Some of the Muslim-majority countries affected by the ban expressed their disappointment, insisting they had fully cooperated with US anti-terrorist efforts, saying refugees are not criminals. (The Guardian)
7/ China warns of an arms race after the U.S. deployed a missile defense system in South Korea. Beijing denounced the United States’ decision to use the Thaad technology and vowed to “take the necessary steps to safeguard our own security interests.” The U.S. deployed the defense system after North Korea launched four simultaneous missiles into the waters off the Japanese coast, which Pyongyang said was a drill for striking American bases in Japan. (New York Times)
8/ Carson: "There were other immigrants who came in the bottom of slave ships, who worked even longer, even harder, for less." Ben Carson appeared to liken slaves to immigrants who choose to come to the United States while addressing employees at the Department of Housing and Urban Development. (CNN)
1/ Trump signed a more limited executive order on immigration. The revised travel ban blocks entry to the US for citizens from six of the seven countries named in Trump’s original order. People from Iran, Somalia, Sudan, Yemen, Syria and Libya will face a 90-day suspension of visa processing. Iraq was removed from the list of countries affected. The order will keep in place a 120-day suspension of the refugee program, but it will no longer identify Syrian refugees as subject to an indefinite ban. The revisions are meant to help it withstand a court challenge. (The Guardian)
New executive order bans travelers from six Muslim-majority countries applying for visas. Trump is preparing to sign a new executive order that imposes a 90-day ban on entry for new visa seekers from six majority-Muslim nations. The nation’s refugee program will also be suspended for 120 days, and it will not accept more than 50,000 refugees in a year, down from the 110,000 cap set by Obama. (Washington Post)
2/ FBI Director Comey asked Justice officials to refute Trump’s unproven wiretapping claim. The former director of national intelligence under Obama flatly denied that any wiretap of Trump or his campaign was carried out. (Washington Post)
3/ White House spokeswoman: Trump doesn't believe Comey that Obama didn't wiretap. Asked by George Stephanopoulos if Trump was willing to accept the denial of his FBI director, White House spokeswoman Sarah Huckabee Sanders said he was not. (Politico)
Trump rejects Comey assertion that wiretapping claim is false. On “Good Morning America,” a spokeswoman, Sarah Huckabee Sanders, said President Trump continues to believe he was wiretapped by President Barack Obama. (New York Times)
4/ Chaffetz: I've seen no evidence Obama ordered wiretap of Trump. If Trump’s allegation is true, Chaffetz said, “the paper trail should be there” from whatever court authorized the wiretap. (Politico)
5/ Conway blames Trump's wiretap dust-up on "double standard." Criticism directed at the president is unfair, Conway said, especially from the media that she complained has regularly cited anonymous sources in reports that have proven damaging to the Trump administration. Those same media outlets have too quickly dismissed Trump’s wiretapping allegation, Conway said. (Politico)
6/ Russian hackers are targeting U.S. liberals in a new wave of attacks, scouring the organizations’ emails for embarrassing details and attempting to extract hush money. (Bloomberg)
7/ The Supreme Court won’t hear the Case on transgender rights after the Trump administration changed the federal government’s position on whether public schools had to allow transgender youths to use bathrooms that matched their gender identities. (New York Times)
8/ The Supreme Court ruled that confidential deliberations must be disclosed if there's evidence of racial bias by jurors. “The nation must continue to make strides to overcome race-based discrimination,” Justice Anthony M. Kennedy wrote for the majority. (New York Times)
9/ Russia's take on Trump: Glee gives way to frustration. Russian officials bemoan "witch hunt" and "hysteria" in Washington. (CNN)
poll/ Most back special prosecutor for Russia investigation. 65% of Americans would rather see a special prosecutor handle the investigation, while 32% think Congress is capable of handling it. (CNN)
1/ Trump wants congressional probe of claims that Obama had him wiretapped during last year's election, but won't comment further. Trump is "requesting that as part of their investigation into Russian activity, the congressional intelligence committees exercise their oversight authority to determine whether executive branch investigative powers were abused in 2016," Spicer said. (USA Today)
2/ Trump called “reports” about the wiretapping “very troubling” and said Congress should examine them as part of its inquiry into Russia’s meddling in the election. (New York Times)
3/ Senator: Intel panel to look at alleged wiretap. Trump's unsubstantiated allegations that his predecessor ordered wiretaps of Trump Tower will become part of the committee's investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election. (ABC News)
4/ Former Director of National Intelligence James Clapper denied any suggestion that Trump Tower communications were wiretapped before the election. Asked again whether there was a FISA Court order to monitor Trump Tower, Clapper said, "Not to my knowledge." (NBC News)
5/ Schumer: "The president is in trouble." The Senate minority leader said that Trump's Saturday morning allegations about Obama will be damaging to his presidency whether they are true or not and that "the president makes it worse with these tweets." (Politico)
6/ The Trump administration may be skirting its own ethics rules by hiring of three former lobbyists to work in the White House. The administration appears to be either ignoring or exempting top staffers from its own watered-down ethics rules. (ProPublica)
7/ Trump angry and frustrated at staff over Sessions fallout for stealing his thunder in the wake of his address to Congress. "Nobody has seen him that upset," one source said, adding the feeling was the communications team allowed the Sessions news, which the administration deemed a nonstory, to overtake the narrative. (CNN)
8/ Trump plans to sign updated travel ban early next week. Trump was scheduled to sign the order last week but pushed it back after his joint address to Congress received overwhelmingly positive reviews.
"We want the (executive order) to have its own 'moment,' " a senior administration official said. (CNN)
9/ Russia is the slow burn of the Trump administration, and it’s not going away. Not much is known about the controversy, but that there were contacts is not in dispute. The Session controversy shows the administration doesn't know what it doesn't know, leaving itself vulnerable to calls for more investigations. (Washington Post)
10/ Trump skips the Gridiron Dinner as his staffers get roasted. Trump declined his invitation as tensions between him and the press are as high as ever. Gridiron Club is an exclusive group of Washington's top political reporters. (NPR)
1/ Trump, citing no evidence, accuses Obama of "Nixon/Watergate" plot to wiretap Trump Tower in the run-up to the election. Trump offered no citations, but he may have been referring to commentary on Breitbart and conservative talk radio suggesting that Obama and his administration used “police state” tactics last fall to monitor the Trump team. (Washington Post)
Trump accuses Obama of tapping his phones at the Trump Tower a month before the election. Without offering any evidence, Trump fired off a series of tweets claiming that Obama “had my ‘wires tapped’” and likened the supposed tapping to “Watergate/Nixon” and “McCarthyism.” (New York Times)
Terrible! Just found out that Obama had my "wires tapped" in Trump Tower just before the victory. Nothing found. This is McCarthyism!
Obama denies Trump's unsubstantiated accusation that he wiretapped phones in Trump Tower."A cardinal rule of the Obama administration was that no White House official ever interfered with any independent investigation led by the Department of Justice," Obama spokesman Kevin Lewis said in a statement Saturday. "As part of that practice, neither President Obama nor any White House official ever ordered surveillance on any U.S. citizen. Any suggestion otherwise is simply false." (ABC News)
Untangling Trump and Russia: What we know – and what we don't. The last 48 hours have been dominated by a steady stream of new information about previously undisclosed conversations between Trump aides and Russian ambassador Sergey Kislyak, one of Moscow's foremost operators in the US. (CNN)
2/ Trump went "ballistic" on his senior staff over the latest news reports connecting Russia with the new administration and Jeff Sessions abrupt decision to recuse himself. Trump felt Sessions' recusal was unnecessary. (ABC News)
3/ The U.S. can’t effectively counter a nuclear threat from North Korea. Trump inherited a secret cyberwar against North Korean missiles designed to "manufacturing errors." The threats pose such a danger that Obama warned Trump that a nuclear threat would likely be his most urgent problem. (New York Times)
4/ Sessions will submit amended testimony and address Senators’ questions over his contacts with Russia's ambassador last year. The offer came after all nine Democratic senators on the Senate Judiciary Committee in a letter asked the committee chairman to bring Sessions back for a follow-up hearing to explain his past testimony and recent decision to recuse himself from any investigation involving the Trump campaign. (NBC News)
5/ A growing list of contacts between Trump associates and Russia is drawing increased scrutiny. Part of the problem underlying the disputed contact is Trump’s pugnacious style that leaves little room for nuance. At a news conference last month, he said that he had “nothing to do with Russia,” and that “to the best of my knowledge, no person that I deal with does.” But in fact, reporting by multiple news organizations turned up multiple contacts between Trump associates and Russians who serve in or are close to Putin. (New York Times)
6/ The Trump administration will temporarily suspend expedited applications for H-1B visas. The H-1B non-immigrant visa allows U.S. companies to employ graduate-level workers in several specialized fields, including information technology, medicine, engineering and mathematics. (Reuters)
7/ Keystone XL oil pipeline won't use US steel despite Trump's pledge. The executive order Trump signed to greenlight the project only applies to new pipelines or those under repair. Last week Trump said the Keystone and Dakota Access pipelines must use American steel "or we're not building one." (Fox News)
8/ Trump to roll back stringent federal regulations on vehicle pollution that contributes to global warming. The move marks a U-turn in the efforts to force the American auto industry to produce more electric cars. (New York Times)
1/ Moscow blames anti-Russian hysteria in the U.S. for Sessions’s plight, saying "fake news" and a "witch hunt" are intended to head off better relations. (Washington Post)
2/ Trump cries "total witch hunt" as questions about Russia pile up as to why so many people had so many meetings with Russians that they all forgot about. (NBC News)
3/ Trump’s blaming the Democrats for Cabinet delays that are normal — and his own fault. It is true that, at one time, Senate Democrats were dragging their heels on Trump’s Cabinet picks. Two of the main problems are that Trump's pick for Secretary of Labor withdrew last month and his pick to run the Department of Agriculture hasn't been sent to the Senate yet. (Washington Post)
4/ The White House looks to slash the budget of NOAA by 17%. The cuts to one of the government’s premier climate science agencies would reduce funding for research and satellite programs used for weather forecasts. The proposal would also eliminate funding for a variety of smaller programs, including external research, coastal management, estuary reserves and “coastal resilience,” which seeks to bolster the ability of coastal areas to withstand major storms and rising seas. (Washington Post)
5/ Photo contradicts Pelosi's statement about not meeting Russian ambassador Kislyak. The Democratic House leader sat with the Russian ambassador in 2010. (Politico)
6/ Sessions used campaign funds for RNC trip, where he met Russian ambassador for "official" reasons. Records show the attorney general used campaign account for travel expenses to Cleveland, where he met the Russian envoy and spoke about Trump’s campaign at the event. (Wall Street Journal)
7/ Lawyers say Sessions could face legal ordeal over testimony if a special counsel takes over Trump-Russia probe even if he didn't commit perjury. "It is, at best, very misleading testimony," said Richard Painter, formerly the top ethics lawyer in President George W. Bush's White House. "I don't go so far as to say that it's perjury, but there is a lesser charge of failing to provide accurate information to Congress." (Politico)
8/ Trump's advisers are urging him to purge the government of Obama appointees. Frustrated by the gush of leaks, the president's allies say it's time to take action and install people who are loyal to him, amid a cascade of damaging stories that have put his nascent administration in seemingly constant crisis-control mode. (Politico)
Trump's latest attempt to stop the damaging leaks coming from the White House has been leaked to the press. The White House has limited access to its classified computer systems in an effort to reduce leaks to the media. (The Hill)
9/ NC man accused of committing anti-gay attack: "You live in Trump country now." A man on a rented scooter harrassed two men riding bicycles together in Key West, striking the back tire of one of the cyclists knocking him to the ground. He accused them of voting for Clinton. He was then arrested on an extraditable warrant for aggravated battery with a deadly weapon with evidence of prejudice. (Fox 8)
10/ The GOP's bold prediction: Obamacare repeal will pass this month. Trump is reportedly on board, which suggests the House is poised to steamroll conservative opposition by daring their constituents to vote against an Obamacare repeal. (Politico)
UPDATE:
New details in of the GOP Obamacare replacement leak. The latest plan still includes a new tax credits for individuals based on age, which hardline conservatives have derided as "Obamacare lite." (Politico)
11/ A St. Louis man was arrested for making at least eight threats against Jewish community centers. The man allegedly made threatening calls to Jewish groups in his name or the name of his ex-lover. Federal prosecutors called it a “campaign to harass and intimidate.” (ABC News)
12/ Trump tried Twitter discipline this week. He decided it’s totally overrated. For precisely four days, eight hours and five minutes, Trump refrained from tweeting anything inflammatory. He finally succumbed Thursday night to the urge to vent his anger and reverted to form, tweeting Democrats “have lost their grip on reality,” he railed against a “witch hunt,” and insisted yet again that the “real story” is leaks. He was back on Friday morning, airing another grievance about another subject: accusing Democrats for not approving his full Cabinet. (Washington Post)
13/ Breitbart editor slams mainstream media in Pulitzer Hall, calling out mainstream media bias and inaccuracy while accepting no similar responsibility for the misleading and at times incendiary work. (Columbia Journalism Review)
14/ Rex Tillerson skips the State Department’s annual announcement on human rights, alarming advocates that the Trump administration places a low priority on advancing human rights. (Washington Post)
15/ Planned EPA cuts will hit black and Hispanic communities the hardest, which already suffer disproportionately from toxic pollution. (The Guardian)
1/ Jeff Sessions recused himself from the Russia inquiry and from any future investigation of Russian meddling in the 2016 presidential election. His conversations with the ambassador, Sergey Kislyak, came amid suspected Russian hacking directed at Clinton’s campaign. (New York Times)
Top Republicans call on Sessions to recuse himself from Russia investigation. Some Democrats have called on Sessions to resign and have demanded an independent investigation. The calls from two of the House’s most prominent Republicans follow revelations that Sessions met with the Russian ambassador during election season. Under oath in front of the Senate Judiciary Committee for his confirmation hearing in January, Sessions had said that he had not met with any Russian officials. (Washington Post)
Nancy Pelosi and Chuck Schumer say Sessions perjured himself and demand that he resign. “For the good of the country, Attorney General Jeff Sessions should resign,” Schumer said. Pelosi took the same position: “Sessions is not fit to serve as the top law enforcement officer of our country and must resign. There must be an independent, bipartisan, outside commission to investigate the Trump political, personal and financial connections to the Russians.” (New York Times)
Sessions met with Russians twice last year, but didn't disclose the encounters during his confirmation hearing when asked about possible contacts between members of Trump’s campaign and representatives of Moscow. (Washington Post)
Sessions: "I will recuse myself" if necessary. Sessions confirmed he met with the Russian Ambassador Sergey Kislyak before the presidential election in his capacity as a member of the Senate Armed Services Committee — not as a representative of the Trump campaign – and denied discussing the Trump campaign when he met with him. Kislyak is considered a top spy and is the same person who met with former national security adviser Michael Flynn. (NBC News)
Trump taps Putin critic for senior White House position as Trump administration draws fire for contacts with Russian officials. (Foreign Policy)
2/ Republicans continue to stick with Trump despite news that Sessions had met with the Russian ambassador, contradicting testimony he had given under oath. Republicans are resisting calls for a special prosecutor or select congressional committee to review the matter. (Washington Post)
3/ The top Democrat on the House Intelligence Committee accused FBI Director James Comey of withholding information on Russia probe. "In order for us to do our investigation in a thorough and credible way, we're going to need the FBI to fully cooperate… to fully tell us the length and breadth of any counterintelligence investigations they are conducting," Rep. Adam Schiff told reporters after emerging from a classified meeting with Comey. "At this point the director was not willing to do that." Schiff raised the prospect of subpoenaing the agency. (Politico)
4/ Kushner and Flynn met with Russian envoy in December to “establish a line of communication." The extent and frequency of their contacts remains unclear, and the disclosure of the meeting at Trump Tower adds to the emerging picture of how the relationship between Trump’s incoming team and Moscow was evolving to include some of the president-elect’s most trusted advisers. (New York Times)
Former Trump adviser Carter Page also met with Russian envoy. Sergey Kislyak and Page spoke on the sidelines of the GOP convention last July. (Politico)
5/ Pence used personal email for state business — and was hacked. As governor of Indiana, Pence communicated via his personal AOL account with top advisers on topics ranging from security gates at the governor’s residence to the state’s response to terror attacks across the globe. (USA Today)
New EPA head told Congress he never used personal email for government business. But it turns out he did. Senators are demanding a review of the personal email account of Scott Pruitt after he said during confirmation hearings that he never used that account for official business as Oklahoma state attorney general. The result of an Open Records Act lawsuit shows Pruitt using his personal email address to conduct official state business, something he was not honest with the Senate about this during his confirmation process. (Washington Post)
6/ Paul Ryan’s feeling confident about repeal-and-replace. McConnell not so much. Ryan and his top lieutenants are increasingly optimistic they will have the votes to pass their version of legislation to repeal the health-care law and replace some elements of it. In the Senate, McConnell can lose just two GOP senators and then use Vice President Pence to cast the tiebreaking vote to get the legislation to President Trump’s desk. (Washington Post)
Rand Paul protests outside room where House Republicans are hammering out an Obamacare replacement. Paul couldn't get a copy because the bill is still being drafted in private. Paul has described the passage of the ACA as an opaque and secret-laden process and that that Republican Party shouldn’t act the same way. (Washington Post)
7/ Trump’s team nixed ethics course for White House staff that would have provided training on leadership, ethics and management. The program could have better prepared officials for working within existing laws and executive orders, and provided guidance on how to navigate Senate confirmation for nominees and political appointees, how to deal with congressional and media scrutiny, and how to work with Congress and collaborate with agencies. Sounds boring. (Politico)
8/ The White House intentionally misled reporters ahead of Trump‘s congressional address in order to generate positive press coverage as part of a “misdirection play.” The White House indicated Trump would embrace a more moderate tone on immigration in his speech. He made no such remarks. CNN's Sara Murray called it a "bait-and-switch." (The Hill)
BACKGROUND:
Trump went on background with reporters as a “senior administration official" ahead of his address to Congress night. Trump has taken issue with the use of anonymous sources in stories about his administration, saying “They shouldn’t be allowed to use sources unless they use somebody’s name" on Friday. Four days later, he was one. (BuzzFeed News)
9/ The White House is fiercely divided over Trump’s campaign promise to “cancel” the Paris agreement. The 2015 accord binds nearly every country to curb global warming. Bannon is pushing for the U.S. to exit the deal, but Rex Tillerson and Ivanka Trump see a grave downside in pulling the rug out from under allies. (New York Times)
10/ Some of the EPA's longstanding and best-known programs are facing potential elimination. Details of an Office of Management and Budget proposal would cut the EPA's budget by 24% and reduce its staffing by 20%. (CNN)
11/ McMaster rolls back Flynn’s changes at NSC. McMaster did away with two deputy assistant spots. It's unclear if Steve Bannon will stay on the principals committee of the NSC. (Politico)
12/ Ben Carson confirmed to lead HUD despite no prior government experience and a staunchly conservative view of public assistance. (Washington Post)
1/ Sessions met with Russians twice last year, but didn't disclose the encounters during his confirmation hearing when asked about possible contacts between members of Trump’s campaign and representatives of Moscow. Sessions oversees the Justice Department and the FBI, which have been leading investigations into Russian meddling and any links to Trump’s associates. He has so far resisted calls to recuse himself. (Washington Post)
Obama administration officials scrambled to ensure intelligence of connections between the Trump campaign and Russia was preserved. They had two aims: to ensure that such meddling isn’t duplicated in future American or European elections, and to leave a clear trail of intelligence for government investigators. (New York Times)
Graham and McCain want answers on Sessions-Russia report. If the FBI determines that Trump's campaign illegally coordinated with Russia, Attorney General Jeff Sessions should recuse himself from making the decision whether to pursue prosecutions. Graham said a Trump appointee "cannot make this decision." (CNN)
Pelosi calls for Sessions's resignation, saying "Jeff Sessions lied under oath during his confirmation hearing before the Senate." (The Hill)
— House OversightDems (@OversightDems) March 2, 2017
2/ Trump defended his tumultuous presidency and asked Congress to put aside its “trivial fights” to help ordinary Americans in his first speech. Trump reiterated a host of familiar themes from his campaign and called for unity to address a litany of issues that he says are plaguing the country. "The time for small thinking is over," Trump said. "The time for trivial fights is behind us. We just need the courage to share the dreams that fill our hearts. The bravery to express the hopes that stir our souls. And the confidence to turn those hopes and those dreams into action." (New York Times)
UPDATE:
Sanders tells supporters after Trump's speech to "continue the fight" and publicly push back against the administration. "Keep showing up. Keep calling Congress and continue the fight. The Republicans are now on the defensive and we've got to continue to push them back," Sanders said. (The Hill)
Trump seeks to parlay post-speech boost into action on contentious agenda. Pence said the reception Trump received gave him “great confidence that the agenda that the president articulated last night is the right agenda for America, it’s resonating with the American people.” (Washington Post)
Trump’s softer tone masks hard road ahead with few details on how he’d turn them into reality. (Bloomberg)
Speech marks a shift in tone. Trump’s pitched his agenda to voters and Congress with language that was much more presidential and traditional in tone, even as he made no major policy changes. (Wall Street Journal)
The 5 main takeaways from Trump’s speech. (New York Times)
6 things we learned from Trump's address to Congress. (CNN)
Key moments from Trump's speech: Condeming the recent vandalism of Jewish cemeteries; celebrating his own accomplishments; announcing a “historic tax reform"; repeating the line “radical Islamic terrorism"; outlining what he said would be a “better healthcare system”; and referring to illegal immigration as “American carnage." (Politico)
Fact checking Trump’s first address to Congress. (New York Times)
The full text of Trump's speech to Congress. (CNN)
The Democratic response to Trump's address by Former Kentucky Gov. Steve Beshear, annotated by NPR journalists. (NPR)
3/ DeVos backpedals on remarks about historically black colleges due to a fierce backlash after she called historically black colleges and universities “real pioneers” of school choice. In a series of tweets, DeVos acknowledged that the schools were not created simply to give African-American students more choices, but because black students across the country were not allowed into segregated white schools. (New York Times)
Providing an alternative option to students denied the right to attend a quality school is the legacy of #HBCUs.
4/ New Trump order drops Iraq from travel ban list. The decision follows pressure from the Pentagon and State Department, which had urged the White House to reconsider Iraq's inclusion given its key role in fighting the Islamic State group. (Associated Press)
UPDATE:
Trump called on the Department of Homeland Security to "create an office to serve American victims" of crimes committed by immigrants. The Victims of Immigration Crime Engagement (VOICE) would provide "a voice to those who have been ignored by our media, and silenced by special interests." He made no explanation as to why the targets of crime perpetrated by immigrants should receive the support of a new federal government agency that apparently excludes the victims of crime committed by U.S. citizens. (CNBC)
Trump delays signing new travel ban order. The delay was due to a busy news cycle, and Trump wanted the new executive order to get its own "moment." Signing the executive order today, as originally planned, would have undercut the favorable coverage of Trump's speech. (CNN)
Trump seesaws on legal status for undocumented immigrants. (New York Times)
5/ Republican governors divided on Obamacare replacement. States that expanded Medicaid coverage fear they''ll be left holding the bag if the federal government doesn't provide enough money to pay for the entitlement they expanded under the Affordable Care Act. (Washington Post)
UPDATE:
Fundamental disagreements remain between Republican leaders and the party’s most conservative members around the plan to replace the Affordable Care Act, particularly over the details of a proposed tax credit. (New York Times)
House Republicans announce only Republicans are allowed to see the new health care plan. Paul Ryan had previous boasted that they were "not hatching some bill in a backroom and plopping it on the American people’s front door." Oh well… (New York Magazine)
6/ Police chiefs object to Trump's efforts to involve them in immigrant deportations. A letter from more than 60 law enforcement heads asks to soften push to include police in round-ups, saying it makes their communities less safe. (The Guardian)
7/ Generals may launch new ISIS raids without Trump’s approval. The White House is considering delegating more authority to the Pentagon to greenlight anti-terrorist operations after Trump took heat for a raid in Yemen that killed a SEAL. (The Daily Beast)
8/ Pelosi to Democrats: Treat Trump voters like a friend whose boyfriend is a jerk Pelosi is confident a good portion of Trump's voters will eventually turn on him – and Democrats just have to wait it out. (CNN)
9/ The State of Trump's State Department. Anxiety and listless days as a foreign-policy bureaucracy confronts the possibility of radical change. (The Atlantic)
10/ “You People” are doing an amazing job, Trump told HBCU presidents during meeting. Trump repeated the complimentary refrain three times. A White House adviser called the characterization of the meeting false, and said it was “ridiculous spin." (BuzzFeed News)
11/ White House: Conway acted "without nefarious motive" in Ivanka Trump plug. A letter from the White House to the Office of Government Ethics says a White House lawyer met with Conway to review federal rules prohibiting endorsements by government employees. The letter makes no mention of plans for disciplinary action. (CNN Money)
12/ Rubio asked to leave Tampa office over disruption from weekly protests. The owner of the building notified Rubio on February 1st that they will not be renewing the lease because the rallies have become too disruptive to the other tenants. (Tampa Bay Times)
13/ Sen. Lindsey Graham says he wants all presidential candidates to be required by law to release their tax returns, starting in 2020. The proposal would include Donald Trump if the president seeks reelection. (Politico)
14/ Senate approves Trump's nominee, Ryan Zinke, for the Department of the Interior. The Republican congressman promised to review Obama-era actions limiting oil and gas drilling in Alaska and said he rejected President Donald Trump's past comment that climate change is a "hoax." (CNN)
poll/ Trump’s speech was a hit with viewers in two early polls. A CBS News/YouGov poll found 76% of viewers approved of the speech and 82% found it “presidential.” A CNN/ORC poll found 70% felt more optimistic. (Politico)
1/ Betsy DeVos press release celebrates Jim Crow education system as a pioneer of “school choice”, saying the legal segregation of historically black colleges and universities gave black students "more options." Trump met with the leaders of a number of HBCUs yesterday. DeVos commemorated the meeting in a press release today. (Slate)
DeVos slammed for calling black colleges "pioneers" of school choice. DeVos' statement painting African Americans' efforts to create higher education options for themselves in a segregated society as a "choice" earned her criticism from Democratic members of Congress and others. (Talking Points Memo)
2/ House leaders are split on whether a Russian inquiry is needed. The top Republican and Democrat on the Intelligence Committee gave sharply conflicting views of their investigation into Russian efforts to influence the election, raising questions about whether they will be able to work together. Republican Devin Nunes said that there was no evidence anyone from the Trump campaign had communicated with the government in Moscow. Democrat Adam Schiff said that it was too early to rule out the ties, because the panel had not yet been provided with any evidence collected by intelligence and law enforcement agencies. (New York Times)
UPDATE:
FBI once planned to pay former British spy who authored controversial Trump dossier to continue his work. While Trump has derided the dossier as “fake news” compiled by his political opponents, the FBI’s arrangement with the spy shows that bureau investigators considered him credible and found his line of inquiry to be worthy of pursuit. (Washington Post)
GOP intelligence chairman David Nunes: “There’s no evidence of anything” regarding Russia-Trump campaign contacts. Nunes said the House Intelligence Committee won't subpoena Trump's tax returns and decries “McCarthyism” and “witch hunts” based on reports that Americans may have connections to the Russian regime. (Salon)
George W. Bush said ‘‘we all need answers’’ on the extent of contact between Trump’s team and the Russian government. He didn’t rule out the idea that a special prosecutor could be necessary to lead an investigation. (Boston Globe)
3/ Trump goes to Congress to make a sale. Trump is under pressure to show that his White House can be effective in delivering on the sweeping changes he has promised by working with allies on Capitol Hill. Trump's aides are promising an "optimistic" speech designed to rally Americans toward a hopeful future. Trump will address Congress shortly after 9 p.m EST tonight. (CNN)
A guide for Trump's first speech to Congress. Instead of reflecting on the state of the U.S., like a State of the Union address, the first joint session speech is typically used to outline a new president’s goals for his administration. Trump will do exactly that — and try to downplay the chaos that has plagued his first 40 days in office. (Politico)
Trump prepares to address a divided audience: The Republican Congress. On health care, tax reform and federal spending, GOP lawmakers hold differences of opinion within their own party that are obstructing passage of ambitious Republican policies, and so far Trump has shown little desire to openly referee those disputes. (Washington Post)
4/ Sessions vows to get tough on crime, saying a recent spike in violence in some cities is “driving this sense that we’re in danger.” He's pledged to commit more federal energy to fighting crime even though crime rates remain far below their 1970s and 1980s levels. Trump is expected to emphasize that the rise in violence in some cities was not “a one-time blip” but rather “the beginning of a trend" during his address to a joint session of Congress tonight. (New York Times)
Sessions tells the Justice Department to ease up on police probes into alleged civil rights abuses by local police departments. The attorney general says it's undermined police and led to an increase in violent crime in some cities. (Wall Street Journal)
Sessions pushes tougher line on marijuana even though a growing number of states are moving to legalize or decriminalize pot. "Most of you probably know I don’t think America is going to be a better place when more people of all ages and particularly young people start smoking pot," Sessions said. (Politico)
5/ Trump envisions a compromise bill allowing many immigrants to stay in US where those who aren't serious or violent criminals could stay in the US legally, hold a job and pay taxes, without having to worry about being deported. A path to citizenship for those in the country illegally would not be part of Trump's vision for this deal, with the possible exception of "Dreamers" – those brought into the US illegally as children. (CNN)
6/ Trump gave himself an A grade for his presidency, but only a C for communicating. how. great. he. has. been. in a "Fox and Friends" interview today. He also blamed Obama for organizing opposition against him, called the House Democratic leader Nancy Pelosi “incompetent,” and criticized his own press secretary for how he has handled leaks. He has called “Fox and Friends” one of his favorite shows. (New York Times)
Trump gave himself a "C or C+" grade for communicating with the public: Needs improvement. He offered high marks for his accomplishments, but he gave himself a “C” for messaging, conceding that he has not been able to properly explain what he's done. (Washington Post)
7/ Trump says Obama is helping organize protests against his presidency. Trump has been dismissing the protests against his presidency and demonstrations at congressional town hall meetings across the country as concocted by his political enemies. "I think that President Obama is behind it because his people certainly are behind it," Trump said. "In terms of him being behind things, that's politics. It will probably continue.” (Washington Post)
8/ Trump begins E.P.A. rollback with executive order on clean water rules. The order, which will have almost no immediate legal effect and could take longer than a single presidential term to dismantle, directs E.P.A. chief Scott Pruitt to rewrite the 2015 rule known as the Waters of the United States. The rule gives the federal government broad authority to limit pollution in major bodies of water as well as in streams and wetlands that drain into them.
Trump is also expected to sign a similar order instructing Pruitt to begin the process of withdrawing and revising Obama’s 2015 climate-change regulation, aimed at curbing emissions of planet-warming greenhouse gases from coal-fired power plants. In his former job as attorney general of Oklahoma, Pruitt led or took part in 14 lawsuits intended to block the E.P.A.’s major regulations, including the clean water and climate rules that he is now charged with dismantling. (New York Times)
Trump to direct rollback of Obama-era water rule. Trump will instruct the E.P.A. and Army Corps of Engineers to “review and reconsider” a 2015 rule known as the Waters of the United States rule. The move that could ultimately make it easier for agricultural and development interests to drain wetlands and small streams. (Washington Post)
9/ Sen. Lindsey Graham: Trump budget is "dead on arrival." Trump's proposing $54 billion in cuts to fund an equivalent boost in defense spending, but lacks key details stoking bipartisan concern. (The Hill)
E.P.A. braces for a possibly “devastating" 25% budget cut. There is widespread concern within the E.P.A. that the changes will dramatically alter the function of an agency that was created under Republican President Richard Nixon in 1970, and will weaken the agency to the point where it can only do its most basic functions. (CNN)
Trump proposes cutting the State Department budget by 37%. The plan would cut aid given by U.S. Agency for International Development. (Wall Street Journal)
The Pentagon budget next year sounds huge at first, but… it comes with a significant cut in foreign aid, including programs that military officials say contribute to global stability and are seen as important in helping avoid future conflicts. (New York Times)
Trump says “revved up economy" will pay for budget proposals. The extra $54 billion dollars he has proposed spending on the U.S. military will be offset by a stronger economy as well as cuts in other areas, he said. (Reuters)
10/ Trump urges insurers to work together to "save Americans from Obamacare.” Trump met with major health insurers in the midst of political divisions over how to dismantle and replace Obama's signature health-care law and intensifying public pressure to preserve the policy. He criticized the Affordable Care Act for creating minimal health coverage requirements that restricted the types of plans insurers could sell. (Washington Post)
Schumer predicts health-care law "will not be repealed.” Schumer pointed to widespread disagreement among Republicans about how to go about undoing key parts of the law, as well as intense pressure from constituents urging them not to rush ahead with their effort. (Washington Post)
11/ Trump’s silence on deadly Olathe shooting is disquieting. Nearly a week has passed since two India-born engineers were singled out and shot at an Olathe bar, presumably because they were immigrants, darker in skin tone and possibly viewed by the shooter as unwanted foreigners. (Kansas City Star)
UPDATE:
White House condemns Kansas attack, calling it "racially motivated." The comments are the most direct the White House has made on the incident. (CNN)
12/ New NSC chief pushed Trump to moderate his language on terrorism, urging him to stop using the phrase "radical Islamic terrorism.” The phrase, however, will be in Trump's speech to a joint session of Congress tonight — even though McMaster reviewed drafts and his staff pressed the president's speechwriter not to use it. (Politico)
13/ Trump signed off on checking White House staffers’ phones to make certain they weren't communicating with reporters by text message or through encrypted apps. The decision sent a signal across the administration that Trump is furious at leaks from inside the White House. (CNN)
14/ Trump appears to blame generals for SEAL's death in Yemen raid. Trump highlighted that the controversial raid in Yemen that left one Navy SEAL dead had been a success, and in the works before he took office. He said “they lost” the SEAL — apparently in reference to the generals who planned the mission. (The Hill)
poll/ Trump is delivering on his campaign promises. 56% of registered voters say that Trump is staying true to his 2016 campaign message. 65% say Trump has accomplished what was expected of him — or more. Overall, half of voters approve of the job Trump is doing as president, while 45% disapprove. (Politico)
1/ Trump to propose 10% spike in defense spending, massive cuts to other agencies. The federal budget proposal dramatically increases defense-related spending by $54 billion while cutting virtually all other federal agencies by the same amount. (Washington Post)
The White House sets its budget guidance: calls for $54 billion increase in defense spending. The proposal represents a 10% bump in defense spending and national security-related efforts. (Politico)
Trump's proposed budget: major defense spending increases and big cuts to the E.P.A. Congress ultimately determines how the federal government’s money is spent. Mnuchin said Trump’s first budget won’t touch entitlement programs such as Social Security or Medicare. It will instead focus on ways to produce long-term economic growth by slashing taxes. (Bloomberg)
Trump's promised economic stimulus won't happen this year. If it happens at all, the soonest the economy will begin to feel the impact of a Trump stimulus is in federal fiscal year 2018, which begins October 1st. (Forbes)
Trump to demand a budget with tens of billions of dollars in reductions to the E.P.A. and State Department while social safety net programs, aside from Social Security and Medicare, will get hit hard. The move comes a day before delivering a high-stakes address to a joint session of Congress. (New York Times)
2/ Sean Spicer personally arranged CIA and GOP intelligence push-back in attempts to discredit a New York Times article about alleged contacts between members of Trump’s campaign team and Russian intelligence operatives.
On February 15th, Spicer called CIA Director Mike Pompeo and Senate Select Intelligence Committee Chair Richard Burr, and connected them with reporters from The Washington Post and The Wall Street Journal. Pompeo and Burr told the journalists that the New York Times story wasn't true but provided no details.
The Washington Post reported on the push back Friday with the article, "Trump administration sought to enlist intelligence officials, key lawmakers to counter Russia stories." (Axios)
3/ Bush breaks with Trump, calling the media "indispensable to democracy." Recalling his own presidency, when he was often the target of withering media critique, Bush said he devoted significant time to extolling the virtues of a free and independent press around the world. Trump has called the press “the enemy of the American people.” (Politico)
4/ GOP’s new plan to repeal Obamacare: Dare fellow Republicans to block the effort. Republican leaders are betting that the only way for Congress to repeal the Affordable Care Act is to set a bill in motion and gamble that wavering rank-and-file Republicans don't have the guts to block it. Republican lawmakers have expressed concerns about forging ahead with a repeal plan that could leave millions with no coverage — especially after enduring raucous town hall events during last week’s recess. (Wall Street Journal)
UPDATE:
After meeting with Trump, governors say he's crafting his own Obamacare plan. Congressional Republicans are looking to move forward with committee markups on legislation in the House within a few weeks. A separate plan from the White House could throw a curveball into the process and shift the debate. At the same time, congressional Republicans themselves are still grappling with a range of issues, with Medicaid expansion among the most prominent. (The Hill)
A divided White House still offers little guidance on replacing Obamacare. Lawmakers, state leaders, and policy experts say the administration is largely delegating the development of an ACA substitute to Capitol Hill. Trump appears more interested in brokering specific questions, such as how to negotiate drug prices, than in steering the plan’s drafting. (Washington Post)
Trump: "Nobody knew health care could be so complicated" he noted with some exasperation about the complexity of the nation's health laws, which he's vowed to reform as part of a bid to scrap Obamacare. (CNN)
Freedom Caucus chair would vote against draft Obamacare repeal bill. The North Carolina Republican finds refundable tax credits in the bill unacceptable and said plenty of other lawmakers in the Freedom Caucus share his concerns. (CNN)
5/ Trump navy secretary nominee withdraws citing concerns about privacy and separating his business interests. Philip Bilden announced his decision only days after White House said he was 100% committed to the role. (The Guardian)
6/ The U.S. hopes of hosting the World Cup in 2026 will be damaged if Trump’s travel restrictions come into full force. The United States is a clear favorite to be awarded the 2026 tournament, either on its own or as part of a joint North American bid with Mexico and Canada. Immigration policy is among the areas considered during the evaluation of a World Cup bid, and is was suggested that it would “not help” if Trump succeeded in placing harsher restrictions on travel. (New York Times)
7/ U.S. detains and nearly deports French Holocaust historian. Henry Rousso, one of France’s most preeminent scholars and public intellectuals, attempted to enter the U.S. to attend an academic symposium. He was detained for more than 10 hours — for no clear reason. (Washington Post)
8/ Trump's Justice Department is ending the government's opposition to a controversial voter ID law in Texas. For the last six years, the Justice Department has sided with the citizens and civil rights groups fighting Texas' voter ID law, which a federal judge at one point found to be intentionally discriminatory against black and Latino voters. (Talking Points Memo)
9/ U.S. State Department tweets, then deletes congratulations to the Iranian people and Asghar Farhadi for his Oscar win. Farhadi directed "The Salesman," which won an Oscar for best foreign-language film, criticized Trump's travel ban as "inhumane." (Reuters)
10/ Russia looks to exploit White House "turbulence" as it's becoming increasingly convinced that Trump will not fundamentally change relations with Russia. The Kremlin is instead seeking to bolster its global influence by exploiting what it considers weakness in Washington. Russia has continued to test the United States on the military front, with fighter jets flying close to an American warship in the Black Sea this month and a Russian naval vessel steaming conspicuously in the Atlantic off the coast of Delaware. (New York Times)
11/ This is how Planned Parenthood is fighting to survive in the era of Trump. A leaked draft of a bill shows Congress is getting ready to defund the women’s health clinic and abortion provider. The organization’s president says that “no one really knows what will make a difference anymore, but that’s why we have to do everything we can." (BuzzFeed News)
12/ Rep. Darrell Issa backtracked on his call for a special prosecutor to look into Russian involvement in the 2016 Presidential election. “I think it’s very important to realize there’s been no allegation by any part of this administration or by anyone who’s been to the hearings about any crimes," Issa said. “So one of the challenges we have is a special prosecutor exists when you have an individual under suspicion. Currently we don’t have that.” Wat? (CBS News)
13/ Sen. Tom Udall floated a plan to confirm both Gorsuch and Garland to the Supreme Court together. The plan would put both Obama and Trump's picks on SCOTUS at the same time. His proposal is for Trump to meet privately with Supreme Court justices who are interested in retirement. If one of those justices decided they would be willing to retire, and if Trump promises to nominate Garland, President Barack Obama's unconfirmed former SCOTUS pick, in their place, then the retiring justice would submit a letter of resignation contingent on that promise.
Then, both Garland and Gorsuch would be voted on simultaneously. (CNN)
14/ House Democrats forced the GOP to take recorded vote on Trump tax returns. The effort failed on a party line vote, 229-185, with two Republicans voting "present." The move was the latest in a series of Democratic efforts to push Congress to request Trump’s tax returns, and Democrats demanded a roll call vote to force Republicans to go on the record. (The Hill)
1/ Sean Spicer targets own staff in leak crackdown. After becoming aware that information had leaked out of a planning meeting, Spicer reconvened his staff and told them to dump their phones on a table for a “phone check," to prove they had nothing to hide. Spicer also warned the group of more problems if news of the phone checks and the meeting about leaks was leaked to the media. (Politico)
2/ White House: Too early to say whether a special prosecutor should look into apparent election meddling by Russia. The assessment comes as a growing number of Democrats are calling for Jeff Sessions, who was a key figure in Trump’s campaign, to step aside as the FBI and the Justice Department probe what happened. (Washington Post)
3/ Chris Christie tells GOP lawmakers to hold town halls: "You asked for the job. Go do it." Christie said that the Trump administration needs to be more mindful of their “perception” and urged GOP lawmakers not to shy away from holding town hall events, though they might be confronted by protesters. (Washington Post)
Rubio on skipping town halls: Activists will "heckle and scream at me." Rubio won’t participate in town hall meetings because he says political activists will crash them to create a media spectacle. (Politico)
4/ Trump’s upcoming budget won’t touch entitlement programs such as Social Security or Medicare. The administration thinks tax cuts and regulatory relief will lead to a sharp increase in economic growth of 3% or higher. (Bloomberg)
5/ The New York Times will run its first-ever advertising during the Academy Awards tonight with a spot that appears to target the Trump administration titled "The Truth Is Hard." Trump has already lashed out at the new ad campaign on Twitter, hours before the spot runs. (The Hill)
For first time the failing @nytimes will take an ad (a bad one) to help save its failing reputation. Try reporting accurately & fairly!
6/ Trump will be the first president in 36 years to skip the White House Correspondents Dinner. The last president to not attend the dinner was Ronald Reagan in 1981. But he had a pretty good reason — he was recovering from being shot in an assassination attempt. (NPR)
7/ France's Hollande fires back at Trump over comments that "Paris is no longer Paris" after attacks by Islamist militants. French President said Trump should show support for U.S. allies. (Reuters)
8/ Churches across the US are fighting back against Trump's mandate to ramp up deportations with new sanctuary practices of their own: They've created a modern-day underground railroad to ferry undocumented immigrants from house to house or into Canada using private homes in their congregations as shelter. (BuzzFeed News)
poll/ Trump's job approval rating stands at just 44% — a record low for a newly inaugurated commander-in-chief — and half of Americans say that his early challenges suggest unique and systemic problems with his administration. (NBC News)
1/ A Department of Homeland Security report casts doubt on the need for Trump's travel ban. The report concludes that citizenship is an “unreliable” threat indicator and that people from the banned countries have rarely been implicated in U.S.-based terrorism. (Washington Post)
Trump rejects the Homeland Security intelligence report that contradicts the White House’s assertion that immigrants from seven Muslim-majority countries pose a particular risk of being terrorists and should be blocked from entering the U.S. (Wall Street Journal)
2/ A California Congressman calls for a special prosecutor to lead an investigation into the alleged ties between Trump and Putin. Rep. Darrell Issa said on HBO's "Real Time" that Attorney General Jeff Sessions should not handle the problem because he was both on the Trump campaign and was appointed by Trump as the nation's top law enforcement officer. (San Diego Tribune)
Top Republican says special prosecutor should investigate Russian meddling in Trump’s election. Issa became one of the few Republican representatives to state publicly the need for an independent investigation into Russia's reported election meddling. This comes as Democrats have increasingly pushed for an investigation into President Trump's associates' ties to Russia. (Washington Post)
3/ Trump’s newly appointed national security adviser breaks with the administration on his views of Islam. McMaster told his staff that Muslims who commit terrorist acts are perverting their religion, rejecting a key ideological view of Trump's senior advisers, and signaling a potentially more moderate approach to the Islamic world. (New York Times)
National security adviser: Term "radical Islamic terrorism" isn't helpful for US goals.. McMaster said jihadist terrorists aren't true to their religion and spoke in starkly different terms about Russia, saying the talk about Moscow being a friend of Washington is over. (CNN)
4/ Recently confirmed EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt used a private email for state business. The revelation is in direct conflict with the former Oklahoma Attorney General's written and oral testimony before the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee. Pruitt told lawmakers he had never used private email for state business in his confirmation process. (Fox 25 - KOKH)
Scott Pruitt vows to slash climate and water pollution regulations at CPAC. Head of the EPA told the conservative audience they would be "justified" in believing the environmental regulator should be completely disbanded. (The Guardian)
5/ Trump turns the power of the White House against the news media, escalating his attacks on journalists as “the enemy of the people” and berating members of his own F.B.I. as “leakers” who he said were putting the nation at risk. (New York Times)
Fox's Shepard Smith: CNN is not "fake news." The Fox News anchor defended CNN after several news organizations were barred from Sean Spicer’s question-and-answer session at the White House. (The Hill)
"For the record, 'fake news' refers to stories that are created, often by entities pretending to be news organizations, solely to draw clicks and views and are based on nothing of substance," Smith said during his program.
Jake Tapper: White House excluding the press is "un-American". (CNN)
Trump’s blistering speech at CPAC follows Bannon’s blueprint. The chief strategist laid out a hard-edged new definition of conservatism animated by attacks on “the administrative state,” globalism and the “corporatist media." (New York Times)
Trump has found himself subsumed and increasingly infuriated by the leaks and criticisms he has long prided himself on vanquishing. Now, goaded by Bannon, Trump has turned on the news media with escalating rhetoric, labeling major outlets as “the enemy of the American people." It is a sharp break from previous presidents — and from his own comfortable three-decade tango with the tabloids. (New York Times)
Pro-Trump megadonor is part owner of Breitbart News empire, the far-right media outlet that heralded Trump’s rise and was once led by his top White House strategist. The news comes as Breitbart has enjoyed a higher profile within the White House press corps. (Washington Post)
Trump is skipping the White House Correspondents Association dinner. The annual, celebrity-studded WHCA dinner has long been criticized as a display of too-cozy relations between the media and people they are supposed to cover fairly and critically. (BuzzFeed News)
6/ Muhammad Ali’s son reportedly detained at airport and asked twice about his religion because of his “Arabic-sounding” name. When Ali Jr. could not produce a photograph to show himself with his father (!?), who died last year, immigration officials separated Ali Jr. from his mother, and then detained him for approximately two hours. (Washington Post)
7/ Trump orders agencies to reduce regulations. The latest executive actionis aimed at reducing red tape and directs each federal agency to set up a task force to identify costly regulations that could be scaled back. (NPR)
8/ Trump administration makes its first move to build the border wall. U.S. Customs and Border Protection issued a preliminary request for proposals “for the design and build of several prototype wall structures in the vicinity of the United States border with Mexico.” (Bloomberg)
poll/ Most Americans continue to oppose U.S. border wall and doubt Mexico would pay for it. 62% of Americans oppose building a wall along the entire U.S. border with Mexico. 70% think the U.S. will ultimately pay for the wall, compared with just 16% who think Mexico would pay for it. (Pew Research)
poll/ Majority of Americans believe that Congress should investigate whether Trump's presidential campaign had contact with the Russian government in 2016. 53% of the American public wants Congress to look into the alleged communications, while 25% disagree and 21% say they don't have an opinion. (NBC News)
1/ The New York Times, CNN and Politico were prohibited from attending a White House briefing by Trump’s press secretary. Spicer allowed reporters from only a handpicked group of news organizations: Breitbart News, the One America News Network and The Washington Times, all with conservative leanings. Journalists from ABC, CBS, The Wall Street Journal, Bloomberg, and Fox News also attended. “Nothing like this has ever happened at the White House in our long history of covering multiple administrations of different parties,” Dean Baquet, the executive editor of The Times, said in a statement. “We strongly protest the exclusion of The New York Times and the other news organizations. Free media access to a transparent government is obviously of crucial national interest.” (New York Times)
White House blocks news organizations from press briefing. The New York Times, the Los Angeles Times, Politico and BuzzFeed were excluded from the meeting, which is known as a gaggle and is less formal than the televised Q-and-A session in the White House briefing room. The gaggle was held by White House press secretary Sean Spicer. Asked whether CNN and The New York Times were blocked because the administration was unhappy with their reporting, Spicer responded: "Because we had it as pool, and then we expanded it, and we added some folks to come cover it. It was my decision to expand the pool." (CNN)
In December, Spicer said barring media access is what a "dictatorship" does. Today, he barred media access. (Washington Post)
2/ Trump administration sought to enlist intelligence officials and key lawmakers to counter news stories about ties to Russia. Acting at the behest of the White House, officials made calls to news organizations in an attempt to challenge stories about alleged contact between members of Trump’s campaign team and Russian intelligence operatives. The calls were orchestrated by the White House after unsuccessful attempts by the administration to get senior FBI officials to speak with news organizations and dispute the accuracy of stories on the alleged contacts with Russia. (Washington Post)
Reader's guide to an opaque Washington Post story on the Russian thing. The Post appears to be signaling that to whom it granted anonymity is the real story. (Jay Rosen, Twitter Moment)
White House confirms conversation with FBI about Trump and Russia. Reince Priebus, FBI director James Comey, and deputy director Andrew McCabe had a conversation which appears to violate justice department rules. (The Guardian)
3/ Trump to CPAC: "Now you finally have a president, finally." In a wide-ranging speech at the Conservative Political Action Conference, Trump blasted the media for its coverage of his administration and promised that the Republican Party would “be the party of the American worker.” Trump said that in a matter of days, he would have “brand new action” to keep the country safe, a reference to a second attempt at an executive order to restrict travel into the country from several majority-Muslim nations. At one point the crowd started chanting “lock her up” after Trump derided Hillary Clinton for describing some of Trump's supporters as “deplorables.” (Washington Post)
Trump intensified his slashing attack on the news media at CPAC, reiterating his charge that “fake news” outlets are “the enemy of the people.” The opening portion of Trump's free-range, campaign-style speech centered on a declaration of war on the press — a new foil to replace vanquished political opponents like Hillary Clinton. (New York Times)
4/ Republican lawmakers expect that their Obamacare replacement will result in fewer Americans covered by health insurance. The new plan would do away with the Affordable Care Act’s requirement that all Americans have health coverage or pay a fine, and replace it with rules that let people choose not to buy insurance, instead paying higher premiums or penalties if they need it later. The result would be fewer people covered. (Bloomberg)
UPDATE:
Leaked GOP Obamacare replacement would dismantle Obamacare subsidies and scrap its Medicaid expansion. The legislation would take down the foundation of Obamacare, including the unpopular individual mandate, subsidies based on people’s income, and all of the law’s taxes. It would significantly roll back Medicaid spending and give states money to create high-risk pools for some people with pre-existing conditions. Some elements would be effective right away; others not until 2020. (Politico)
GOP Rep. Mo Brooks says town hall protests may prevent Obamacare repeal. "I don't know if we're going to be able to repeal Obamacare now because these folks who support Obamacare are very active," Brooks said. (CNN)
Pence: "America’s Obamacare nightmare is about to end." In a 21-minute speech, Pence ticked through issues on which the administration has acted or plans to act soon, including cutting taxes, rolling back regulations, ending illegal immigration, expanding the military and restoring what he termed the “culture of life.” (Washington Post)
5/ DHS report disputes threat from banned nations. Analysts at the Homeland Security Department's intelligence arm found insufficient evidence that citizens of seven Muslim-majority countries included in President Donald Trump's travel ban pose a terror threat to the United States. (Associated Press)
6/ Trump turned to manufacturing executives to help him develop measures to bring jobs back to the United States, giving powerful business leaders a potentially influential hand in shaping his still-evolving economic policies. Trump has yet to outline specific proposals for overhauling the tax and regulatory systems, rebuilding the nation’s infrastructure or reshaping the work force, all of which would be essential to accomplishing his ambitious employment goals. (New York Times)
U.S. factory CEOs to Trump: Jobs exist; skills don’t. They urged the White House to support vocational training for the high-tech skills that today’s manufacturers increasingly require — a topic Trump has seldom addressed. (Washington Post)
7/ Justice Department will use private prisons again, reversing an Obama-era directive to stop using the facilities, which officials had then deemed less safe and less effective than those run by the government. (Washington Post)
8/ Trump administration signals a possible crackdown on states over legalized recreational-use marijuana. Sean Spicer told reporters that the administration had no plans to continue the permissive approach of the Obama administration and that it viewed recreational marijuana use as a flagrant violation of federal law. (Los Angeles Times)
Roger Stone: Marijuana crackdown would be "huge mistake". Trump's longtime ally tweeted the president that a crackdown on legal marijuana in the states will cost thousands of jobs and bankrupt local governments. #StatesRights, yo. (The Hill)
9/ Caitlyn Jenner to Trump: "Call Me" — your transgender restroom letter is a "disaster". In a video the transgender icon harshly called out Trump for withdrawing the federal government's legal guidance on allowing transgender youths to use the restrooms of their choice in schools. (NBC News)
10/ State Department writes anti-leak memo, which promptly leaks. It's the latest sign that the relationship between the Trump administration's appointees and the State Department's professional workforce is still very much a work in progress. (Washington Post)
UPDATE:
Trump denounces FBI over leaks and demands an investigation. Trump assailed the FBI as a dangerously porous agency, charging that leaks of classified information from within its ranks were putting the country at risk. (New York Times)
Trump hits the FBI over "national security" leaks, saying the agency is "totally unable" to keep information from the news media. (Wall Street Journal)
11/ Mexican officials tell US: We don't agree. John Kelly and Rex Tillerson were in Mexico to try to smooth the relationship and address some of the differences that have emerged between the United States and its neighbor. Mexico ain't having it. (CNN)
12/ He yelled "get out of my country," and then shot 2 men from India, killing one. A 51-year-old man faces first-degree murder charges after shooting three men in an Olathe, Kansas bar Wednesday night. He reportedly told two local Garmin engineers from India to “get out of my country.” Authorities would not classify the shooting as a hate crime, but federal law enforcement officials are investigating with local police to determine if it was “bias motivated.” (Washington Post)
13/ At the request of Kushner and Ivanka, language critical of a global climate deal was struck from an executive order that Trump plans to sign soon. The issue is aimed at rolling back Obama climate agenda. (Wall Street Journal)
14/ Under fire, GOP congressman calls for Trump tax returns, but stopped short of saying Congress should subpoena those returns. (CNN)
15/ Santa Cruz and federal agents in war of words over whether a gang sweep was really a secret immigration raid. The police chief accused Homeland Security officials of lying about the scope of the raids conducted jointly between his department and federal agents this month aimed at apprehending MS-13 gang members. (Los Angeles Times)
16/ Republican lawmakers introduce bills to curb protesting in at least 18 states in what civil liberties experts are calling “an attack on protest rights throughout the states.” None of the proposed legislation has yet been passed into law, and several bills have already been shelved in committee. Critics doubt whether many of the laws would pass Constitutional muster. (Washington Post)
poll/ Support for Obamacare hits an all-time high. 54% of Americans approve of the Affordable Care Act, while 43% disapprove. That's up from an even split (48%-47%) in a Pew survey from December. (CNN)
Weekend Reads
Trump, Putin, and the new Cold War. What lay behind Russia’s interference in the 2016 election—and what lies ahead? (The New Yorker)
I was a Muslim in Trump's White House. When Obama left, I stayed on at the National Security Council in order to serve my country. I lasted eight days. (The Atlantic)
The only groups that have majority approval of Trump? Republicans and whites without college degrees. Most Americans don’t think that President Trump is doing a good job. (Washington Post)
Here’s what non-fake news looks like. Genuine news, and not fake news or hyped news or corrupt news, puts reality first; it does not subordinate honest reporting to ideological consistency or political advocacy. It does not curry favor with advertisers, or with the publisher’s business interests, or even with the tastes of the audience. (Columbia Journalism Review)
1/ The FBI rejected a White House request to publicly knock down media reports about communications between Trump's associates and Russians during the 2016 presidential campaign. Comey rejected the request for the FBI to comment on the stories, because the alleged communications between Trump associates and Russians known to US intelligence are the subject of an ongoing investigation. The White House did issue its own denial, with Priebus calling The New York Times story "complete garbage." (CNN)
Paul Manafort faced blackmail attempt while he was Trump’s campaign chairman last summer. Stolen text messages from his daughter's phone appear to be threats to expose relations between Russia-friendly forces, Trump, and Manafort. Manafort confirmed the authenticity of the texts and added that, before the texts were sent to his daughter, he had received similar texts to his own phone number from the same address. (Politico)
House Republicans plan to derail a Democratic resolution that would force disclosure of Trump's potential ties with Russia and any possible business conflicts of interest. Democrats have blasted Trump for failing to make a clean break from his real estate empire, accusing him of being vulnerable to conflicts of interest. They also are suspicious of his campaign’s relationship with Russia. U.S. intelligence agencies have concluded that top Russian officials orchestrated interference into the 2016 presidential election on Trump’s behalf. (Politico)
2/ Trump touts recent immigration raids, calling them a "military operation". The effort to ramp up deportations are aimed at ridding the U.S. of “really bad dudes.” Under the administration's guidelines, any immigrant who is convicted, charged or suspected of a crime is considered a priority for removal. (Washington Post)
Homeland Security Secretary John Kelly promised there will not be any military force used in immigration enforcement. The statement contradicts what President Trump had said hours before when he referenced Kelly’s and Secretary of State Tillerson’s trip to Mexico. (CBS News)
Spicer: Trump didn’t mean "military operation" literally. Spicer added that “the president was clearly describing the manner in which this is being done.” (The Hill)
3/ Tillerson and Homeland Security Secretary John Kelly head to Mexico amid deep strains in bilateral ties in what is expected to be the first in a series of high-level meetings focusing on drug trafficking, trade and immigration. Twin threats hang over the frayed relationship between the two nations: Trump’s new orders to round up and deport immigrants who are in the United States illegally, and a separate effort to take a hard look at all American aid to Mexico, possibly using it to pay for a border wall instead. (New York Times)
Mexico’s foreign minister drew a sharp line against “unilateral” U.S. immigration policies before the top-level Trump administration team could cool tensions that threaten to derail trade and other agreements. (Washington Post)
4/ Trump wants to make sure U.S. nuclear arsenal at "top of the pack", saying the United States has fallen behind in its weapons capacity. Trump said in the interview he would like to see a world with no nuclear weapons but expressed concern that the United States has "fallen behind on nuclear weapon capacity." (Reuters)
5/ Trump has largely benched the State Department from its long-standing role as the preeminent voice of U.S. foreign policy, curtailing public engagement and official travel and relegating Secretary of State Rex Tillerson to a mostly offstage role. Tillerson has also been notably absent from White House meetings with foreign leaders. (Washington Post)
Tillerson looking for ways to raise his public profile. The secretary of state's lack of visibility has worried diplomats who fear it suggests Tillerson may lack sway with Trump. (Politico)
6/ Trump has assigned the Department of Homeland Security, working with the Justice Department, to help build the legal case for its temporary travel ban. Some administration intelligence officials see the White House request as the politicization of intelligence. One of the ways the White House hopes to make its case is by using a more expansive definition of terrorist activity than has been used by other government agencies in the past. (CNN)
White House punts new travel order to next week. No explanation was given for the delay, and it remains unclear how the White House will tweak the travel ban to avoid future legal pitfalls. (The Hill)
These are customs agents forcibly checking the ID of every passenger deplaning from Delta flight 1583 tonight at JFK. A domestic flight. pic.twitter.com/fHMgyzCjo5
7/ Repeal of Obamacare face obstacles in House, not just the Senate. Conservative Republicans are pushing for a fast repeal with only a bare-bones replacement plan, but moderates are interested in coming up with a clear and robust plan. It's becoming increasingly likely that a consensus in the House may be just as hard to reach. (New York Times)
John Boehner: a full repeal and replace of Obamacare is “not going to happen.” He said changes to former President Barack Obama’s signature legislative achievement would likely be relatively modest. (Politico)
ObamaCare will be replaced with something that actually works—bringing freedom and individual responsibility back to American health care.
8/ Protests break out after an off-duty LAPD officer fired his gun in a scuffle with teens. No one was shot. The officer detained a 13-year-old boy after he allegedly threatened to shoot him. The officer has been placed on administrative leave while the Force Investigation Division conducts an investigation to "determine whether the use of deadly force complied with LAPD's policies and procedures." (CNN)
9/ New research suggests that private school vouchers may harm students who receive them. Voucher advocates often cite poor test scores in public schools to justify creating private school vouchers in the first place. The new evidence on vouchers does not seem to have deterred the Trump administration, which has proposed a new $20 billion voucher program. Secretary DeVos’s enthusiasm for vouchers, which have been the primary focus of her philanthropic spending and advocacy, appears to be undiminished. (New York Times)
10/ McCain made a secret trip to Syria to meet with U.S. troops and Kurdish fighters amid their longstanding battle to defeat ISIS. The trip comes as Trump administration continues to re-evaluate the U.S. plan to defeat ISIS. On the campaign trail, Trump frequently criticized Obama's policy to defeat the group, which controls territory in both Syria and neighboring Iraq. ISIS has lost significant territory in the last two years. (ABC News)
Iraqi forces storm Mosul airport in a push to recapture the city from Islamic State. The advance into the airport will allow Iraqi troops to launch operations into the fortified western suburbs, where several thousand of Isis’s most seasoned fighters have prepared defences. (The Guardian)
11/ Trump's plan to hire 15,000 border patrol and ICE agents won't be easy. The time to recruit and hire Border Agents, administer medical exams and drug screening, polygraph tests, fitness tests, and training could take a year or more to bring a new agent on board. Customs and Border Protection has also had a problem retaining Border Patrol agents: the agency is down some 1,600 agents from the 21,000 it's authorized for. (NPR)
Arizona Senate votes to seize assets of those who plan, participate in protests that turn violent. The bill expands the state’s racketeering laws to include rioting and redefines it to include actions that result in damage to the property of others. (Arizona Capitol Times)
Trump campaigned as the populist protector of federal programs for the working class, yet he has surrounded himself with traditional small-government conservatives bent on cutting back or eliminating many of the programs he has championed. Many of his aides and cabinet members have expressed views that are fundamentally opposed to those he campaigned on. (New York Times)
12/ Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin says he won't designate China a currency manipulator… yet. Mnuchin wants to use a regular review of foreign-exchange markets to determine if the U.S.’s largest trading partner is cheating. The decision contradicts a pledge by then-candidate Trump to direct his Treasury secretary to name China a manipulator on the first day of his administration. (Bloomberg)
13/ Ivanka and Kushner publicly silent as White House rolls back transgender protections. The couple is seen as a moderating force on social issues, but transgender allies want them to take a stand as the new administration rolls back Obama-era policies on school bathrooms. (Politico)
14/ Air Force stumped by Trump’s claim of $1 billion in savings on jet. Trump has boasted that he’s personally intervened to cut costs of two military aircraft – the F-35, the fighter jet built by Lockheed Martin Corp., and Boeing’s Air Force One, but the Air Force can’t account for this alleged $1 billion in savings. (Bloomberg)
15/ Chaffetz is investigating a months-old tweet from his state's Bryce Canyon National Park instead of Trump. The House Oversight Committee Chairman's probe comes amid criticism that Chaffetz is not aggressively investigating the Trump administration for potential conflicts of interest or collusion with Russia. Chaffetz recently launched a probe into Trump’s handling of classified intelligence information while on an open patio at his private Mar-a-Lago resort. (The Hill)
Welcome to the family Bears Ears (& Gold Butte) NM! A hopeful slot in our front desk maps has long been held for you pic.twitter.com/r1vCLO7Uts
16/ Donald Trump returns to CPAC six years after he was loudly booed there. Trump will take the main stage with some new allies at the conservative confab. In 2011, Trump told the conservative political action conference that prominent libertarian Ron Paul “can not get elected”. He was loudly booed for taking a shot at one of their heroes. (The Guardian)
Bannon: Trump administration is in unending battle for the "deconstruction of the administrative state" — meaning a system of taxes, regulations and trade pacts that the president and his advisers believe stymie economic growth and infringe upon one’s sovereignty. (Washington Post)
1/ Trump’s immigration crackdown will likely bring a flood of lawsuits. The Department of Homeland Security is pushing ahead with what the ACLU calls a “hyper-aggressive mass deportation policy.” The administration wants to unshackle Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents who have been “handcuffed” by policies that determined who “could and couldn’t be adjudicated.” (Bloomberg)
Mexico calls Trump's plan to deport non-Mexicans to Mexico both "hostile" and "unacceptable". U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson and Homeland Security Secretary John Kelly are due to meet and "walk through" the implementation of Trump's immigration orders with Mexico today. Sean Spicer said he expected it to be a "great discussion." (Reuters)
Trudeau says Canada will continue to accept asylum seekers crossing illegally from the U.S., but will ensure security measures are taken to keep Canadians safe. If caught by police, asylum seekers are taken in for questioning. They are then transferred to the CBSA for fingerprinting and further questions. If people are deemed a threat or flight risk, they are detained. If not, they can file refugee claims and live in Canada while they wait for a decision. (Newsweek)
A "Refugees Welcome” banner was unfurled atop the pedestal of the Statue of Liberty. The stunt happened the same day the Homeland Security Department announced expanded immigration enforcement policies. (NBC New York)
2/ The Trump administration plans to roll back protections for transgender students, reversing federal guidance that required the nation’s public schools to allow children to use the bathrooms and locker rooms that matched their gender identities. (Washington Post)
UPDATE:
Trump rescinds rules on bathrooms for transgender students, overruling his own education secretary and placing his administration firmly in the middle of the culture wars that many Republicans have tried to leave behind. Under Obama, nondiscrimination laws required schools to allow transgender students to use that corresponded with their gender identity. (New York Times)
Trump pits Sessions and DeVos against each over draft order to rescind protections for transgender students in public schools. DeVos initially resisted signing off on the order, telling Trump that she was uncomfortable with it. Sessions, who strongly opposes expanding gay, lesbian and transgender rights, fought DeVos on the issue and pressed her to relent because he could not go forward without her consent. The order must come from the Justice and Education Departments. Trump sided with Sessions, while DeVos, faced with the choice of resigning or defying the president, has agreed to go along. (New York Times)
Trump deportation threats could constrict the already-tight job market. One study suggests that removing all of the undocumented immigrants would cost the economy as much as $5 trillion over 10 years. (Bloomberg)
3/ GOP senator wants Flynn to testify on Russia ties before the Senate Intelligence Committee, which is investigating ties between the Trump campaign and Russia. (Politico)
4/ John Podesta: "Forces within the FBI" may have cost Clinton election. Podesta did not offer any specific evidence to advance the argument, but the Clinton campaign has long pointed to Comey’s letter – 11 days before the election – as a turning-point in the election which may have caused their electoral college defeat. (Politico)
5/ Thousands of emails show that the E.P.A. chief worked to battle environmental regulation as attorney general of Oklahoma. Scott Pruitt, now head of the Environmental Protection Agency, closely coordinated with major oil and gas producers, electric utilities, and political groups to roll back environmental regulations. (New York Times)
6/ Trump said his team has "enormous work to do" to assemble a federal budget that will bring down deficits and deliver on priorities such as a military buildup, public infrastructure investments, expansion of immigration enforcement, and tax cuts. Trump said he would release a health plan in early to mid-March, ahead of tackling his promised tax overhaul. (Bloomberg)
Congressional Republicans don't expect Trump to offer his own health or tax plans. Instead, they anticipate he will simply align himself with theirs. (CNBC)
Trump officials weigh fate of birth-control mandate. The requirement that insurance companies cover contraception at no cost is believed to be on the chopping block now that Tom Price has taken over the Department of Health and Human Services. (The Hill)
7/ Maryland school asks teachers to take down pro-diversity posters because they’re “anti-Trump” and perceived as “political” after one staff member complained. The posters depicted Latina, Muslim, and black women were designed by Shepard Fairey, the artist who created the “Hope” posters from Obama's 2008 campaign. The women are rendered in patriotic colors, with messages like “We the people are greater than fear.” The teachers put up the posters as a “show of diversity.” (Huffington Post)
8/ Trump aide calls Guantanamo Bay an "incredibly important intelligence asset”. The Obama administration and human rights groups spent eight years attempting to close the facility, calling it a stain on America's reputation around the world. (ABC News)
9/ The Anti-Defamation League received a bomb threat to its New York headquarters, making it the latest in a series of threats targeting U.S. Jewish organizations. (The Atlantic)
10/ How Trump’s campaign staffers tried to keep him off Twitter. The trick? Ensure that his personal media consumption includes a steady stream of praise. And when no such praise was to be found, staff would turn to friendly outlets to drum some up. (Politico)
Kellyanne Conway sidelined from TV after making statements that were at odds with the administration's official stance. Sources said the administration is enjoying a reprieve from the controversy created by her appearances. (CNN)
11/ The White House recently deleted all of the data on its open data portal, which serves as the public clearinghouse for data on everything from federal budgets to climate change initiatives. Most of this data should still be available through an archived version of the portal. (The Hill)
poll/ Support for Obamacare is rising. Voters are now split evenly on the Affordable Care Act: 45% of registered voters approve of the law, and 45% disapprove. Before Trump took office, the poll showed only 41% of voters approved vs 52% who disapproved. (Politico)
poll/ Majority of Americans worried about war. Nearly two-thirds of Americans are worried that the U.S. will become engaged in a major war in the next four years; 62% think that U.S. should take into account the interests of its NATO allies, even if it means making compromises with them. (NBC News)
poll/ Americans overwhelmingly oppose sanctuary cities, believing that cities that arrest undocumented immigrants for crimes should turn them over to federal authorities. Hundreds of cities across the nation are refusing to do so. The top 10 sanctuary cities in the U.S. receive $2.27 billion in federal funding for programs ranging from public health services to early childhood education. Trump's executive order directs Homeland Security Secretary John Kelly to find ways to starve these cities of federal funding. (The Hill)
1/ Homeland Security unveils a sweeping plan to deport undocumented immigrants. The memos instruct all agents, including Customs and Border Protection (CBP) and Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) to identify, capture, and quickly deport every undocumented immigrant they encounter. The vast majority of the nation's 11 million undocumented immigrants are at risk of deportation. (USA Today)
UPDATE:
The Trump administration seeks to prevent "panic" over the new immigration enforcement policies, saying the goal is not "mass deportations". Federal officials cautioned that many of the changes detailed in a pair of memos from Homeland Security Secretary John F. Kelly will take time to implement because of costs and logistical challenges and that border patrol agents and immigration officers will use their expanded powers with care and discretion. (Washington Post)
Mexican officials riled by Trump’s new deportation memos. The release of the documents come on the eve of Tillerson and Kelly’s trip south of the border. The timing of the guidelines' release threaten to severely hinder what could have been a diplomatic make-up session. (Politico)
Trump keeps DACA but chips away at barriers to deportation. The newly released memos from the Department of Homeland Security leave intact two specific executive orders from Obama that granted protection from prosecution for so-called Dreamers, young immigrants who were brought to the US as children, and a second one that included parents of US citizens and legal residents. (CNN)
New Trump deportation rules make it easier to deport people immediately. Under the Obama administration, expedited removal was used only within 100 miles of the border for people who had been in the country no more than 14 days. Now it will include those who have been in the country for up to two years, and located anywhere in the nation. (New York Times)
2/ Trump: Anti-Semitism "has to stop”. Trump denounced anti-Semitism after coming under pressure to address an uptick in incidents targeting Jewish institutions across the U.S. Trump has insisted he has spoken out against anti-Semitism “whenever I get a chance,” even though he has refused to confront the issue directly on multiple occasions. (The Hill)
UPDATE:
Anne Frank Center criticizes Trump's denouncement of anti-Semitism a "pathetic asterisk of condescension". Trump refused to address a series of bomb threats against Jewish community centers when asked about the threats by a Jewish journalist last week. Trump cut the journalist off and said “I hate even the question.” The White House's statement on Holocaust Remembrance Day also left out any mention of Jews. (Talking Points Memo)
11 more bomb threats target Jewish Community Centers. JCCs in 27 states and one Canadian province have received nearly 70 bomb threats this year. The FBI and Justice Department "investigating possible civil rights violations”. (CNN)
Up to 200 headstones damaged at Jewish cemetery. The incident comes on the same day several Jewish community centers around the country received bomb threats. The regional director of the Anti-Defamation League said she didn’t know if the headstones had been damaged as an act of hatred but questioned motives that would lead to the act. (St. Louis Post-Dispatch)
A brief history of Donald Trump addressing questions about racism and anti-Semitism. Since the beginning of his campaign, Trump has been repeatedly asked for his thoughts on racial or religious harassment. Many observers have felt his responses left something to be desired. (Washington Post)
3/ Trump has insisted that he had no contact with Russia during the campaign. Russia says otherwise. Russian officials have at least twice acknowledged contact with Trump aides before the election. That contact would have taken place during the period when it’s believed that the Russian government was trying to disrupt the election. (New York Times)
UPDATE:
Donald Trump’s streak of falsehoods now stands at 33 days. There hasn't been a single day of Trump's presidency in which he has said nothing false or misleading. The total count stands at 132. (Washington Post)
Chuck Schumer: Jeff Sessions must recuse himself from the Flynn investigation. The gravity of Flynn’s contact with the Russians and the reports that he may have lied to the FBI cannot be overstated or ignored. Revelations about that contact may be only the tip of the iceberg. There’s an overwhelming view in our intelligence community that Russia tried to influence our election. (Washington Post)
4/ Bannon told Germany that the EU is flawed a week before Pence pledged America's "steadfast and enduring" commitment to the European Union. The encounter unsettled people in the German government, in part because some officials had been holding out hope that Bannon might temper his views once in government and offer a more nuanced message on Europe in private. (Reuters)
5/ The Trump White House is already cooking the books. The Trump transition team ordered the Council of Economic Advisers to predict sustained economic growth of 3 to 3.5%. The staffers were then directed to backfill all the other numbers in their models to produce these growth rates. (Washington Post)
6/ Trump energizes the anti-vaccine movement in Texas. Trump’s embrace of discredited theories linking vaccines to autism has energized the anti-vaccine movement. Once fringe, the movement is becoming more popular, raising doubts about basic childhood health care among politically and geographically diverse groups. Public health experts warn that this growing movement is threatening one of the most successful medical innovations of modern times. (Washington Post)
7/ Trump’s nominees gripe that the White House isn’t protecting them. Candidates for top jobs in Trump’s administration are getting spooked after Andrew Puzder’s torpedoed nomination, and they fear the White House isn't doing enough to protect them from grueling confirmations, according to several sources involved in the process. (Politico)
8/ How Trump spent his first month in office, by the numbers. Golf: 25 hours. Tweeting: 13 hours. Intelligence briefings: 6 hours. (Washington Post)
9/ Breitbart’s Milo Yiannopoulos resigns following outrage over his past comments about pedophilia. As recently as last week, Breitbart editor Alexander Marlow called Yiannopoulos “the No. 1 free speech warrior of his generation in America at the moment” in an interview. But Yiannopoulous’s views on pedophilia apparently went too far even for Breitbart. (Washington Post)
1/ Pence met with open skepticism in Brussels. "Too much has happened over the past months in your country, and in the EU,” Donald Tusk said, European Council President. “For us to pretend that everything is as it used to be.” Pence came to the European Union to reassure them that Trump actually supports the 28-nation bloc and that the US will continue its commitment despite the partial disintegration Trump has hailed. Pence was insistent that support for the alliance was a bedrock of US policy. But he demanded that other member nations scale up their defense spending to meet NATO's requirements, a longstanding request of US presidents that Trump has amplified. (CNN)
Tusk asked Pence whether the Trump administration was committed to three things: 1) maintaining an international order based on rules and laws, 2) whether Trump was committed to NATO, and 3) whether Europe could count “as always in the past, on the United States’ wholehearted and unequivocal, let me repeat, unequivocal support for the idea of a united Europe.” Pence said “yes” to all three. (New York Times)
2/ Trump names Army Lt. Gen. H.R. McMaster as national security adviser, replacing the ousted Michael Flynn. Kellogg, who has been serving in an acting capacity as national security adviser, will be the chief of staff on the National Security Council. Trump shared the news with reporters as he prepared to leave his Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida. (Washington Post)
3/ US Defense Secretary, James Mattis told reporters, "We're not in Iraq to seize anybody's oil.” His comments are a departure from Trump who said, "We should have kept the oil. Maybe we'll have another chance.” (CNN)
4/ Revised travel ban targets same seven countries listed in Trump's original executive order and exempts travelers who already have a visa to travel to the U.S. The new draft also no longer directs authorities to single out — and reject — Syrian refugees when processing new visa applications. (Washington Post)
5 things to watch for in a new travel ban. Here are the main issues to look for in the new executive order. (CNN)
5/ Russia compiles psychological dossier on Trump for Putin. Its preliminary conclusions is that Trump is a risk-taker who can be naïve. (NBC News)
6/ Trump to roll back Obama’s climate and water pollution rules through executive action. While both directives will take time to implement, they will send an unmistakable signal that the new administration is determined to promote fossil-fuel production and economic activity even when those activities collide with some environmental safeguards. (Washington Post)
7/ Statisticians worry about alternative economic facts and doctored data from the government if the economy turns sour. Trump has yet to nominate anyone to the Council of Economic Advisers, established in 1946 to provide presidents with objective economic analysis and advice. The fears about data manipulation arise from the nontraditional approach the Trump administration has taken to interpreting economic data. Trump has has repeatedly cast the “real” unemployment rate as far above the official rate, using figures that incorporate all those of working age who aren’t employed. (Bloomberg)
UPDATE:
Trump is basing his budget projections on the assumption that the U.S. economy will grow almost twice as fast as independent institutions like the Congressional Budget Office and the Federal Reserve expect. The Trump team is apparently projecting growth at between 3 and 3.5 percent for a decade. This wouldn’t be unprecedented: the U.S. economy grew at a 3.4 percent rate during the Reagan years, 3.7 percent under Bill Clinton. (New York Times)
8/ Republican health proposal would redirect money from poor to rich. The Republican plan would substantially cut funding for states in providing free insurance to low-income adults through Medicaid. And would change how tax credits are distributed by giving all Americans not covered through work the same flat credit by age, regardless of income. The draft proposal largely contains provisions that could be passed through a special budget process that requires only 50 Senate votes, and fulfills President Trump’s promise that the repeal and replacement of the law would take place “simultaneously.” (New York Times)
9/ More than 100 protesters across the country were fired after joining the “Day Without Immigrants” demonstration. The protests were aimed at showcasing the impact immigrants have on the U.S. economy. (NBC News)
10/ Trump's Navy secretary nominee on the verge of withdrawing. Philip Bilden, a former Army Reserve military officer with little naval experience, has drawn resistance to his lack of familiarity with Navy issues and has encountered difficulty separating himself from his financial interests. The White House has publicly denied that Bilden is reconsidering his nomination. (CBS News)
11/ White House confirms adviser reassigned after disagreeing with Trump. Craig Deare was removed from his role as a senior adviser at the National Security Council's Western Hemisphere. Deare knocked the Trump administration's handling of Latin American policies during a speech and criticized the overall White House dysfunction. (CNN)
12/ Pence "disappointed" Flynn misled him about the nature of his conversations with Russia. In his resignation letter, Flynn said he "inadvertently" gave "incomplete information" about multiple calls with the Russian ambassador. He previously said he did not speak with Russian officials about the pending sanctions. (ABC News)
13/ Milo Yiannopoulos lost his keynote slot at the Conservative Political Action Conference after tapes surfaced of him advocating for sexual relationships between “younger boys and older men.” The right wing provocateur says he "deeply regret[s]" the way his comments were interpreted. (Politico)
UPDATE:
Milo Yiannopoulos book deal cancelled after outrage over child abuse comments. Simon & Schuster pulls forthcoming autobiography, which it had reportedly paid a $250,000 advance. His fellow Breitbart employees have reportedly threatened to quit if he is not fired. (The Guardian)
CNN's Tapper blasts CPAC for Milo Yiannopoulos invite. (The Hill)
Preying on children is the definition of evil. Justifying it in any way is sick and disturbing.
14/ Trump’s former aide concedes there was no voter fraud in New Hampshire in a rare message contradiction. Trump has insisted that he was cheated out of a win in New Hampshire because thousands of Democrats came from Massachusetts and illegally cast votes for Clinton. (Huffington Post)
15/ Trump escalates his attack on Sweden’s migration policies, doubling down on his suggestion that refugees in the Scandinavian country were behind a rise in crime and terrorism. The Swedish officials say they have not seen any evidence for the claim that migration has driven an uptick in crime. (New York Times)
16/ Trump's aides don't want to admit the President is golfing. Trump has visited his two golf courses near his Mar-a-Lago estate six times in his first month in office. Aides would not confirm that Trump has played golf each time, but through a series of social media posts and interviews with the professional golfers who joined him, it is clear the President golfed during most of these visits. (CNN)
17/ "Not My President": Thousands of demonstrators turned out across the US to challenge Trump on Presidents Day and call attention to Trump’s crackdown on immigration, his party’s response to climate change and the environment. Organizers said they chose to rally on the holiday as a way to honor past presidents by exercising their constitutional right to assemble and peacefully protest. (Washington Post)
1/ "Last night in Sweden"? Trump’s remark baffles a nation. During a campaign-style rally on Saturday in Florida, Trump issued a sharp if discursive attack on refugee policies in Europe, ticking off a list of places that have been hit by terrorists. Nothing particularly nefarious happened in Sweden on Friday — or Saturday, for that matter — and Swedes were left baffled. (New York Times)
UPDATE:
Trump clarifies remarks on Sweden: I got it from Fox News story. Trump confirmed speculation that a Fox News story about immigration and crime rates that aired on Tucker Carlson's show was the origin of his statement. (The Hill)
My statement as to what's happening in Sweden was in reference to a story that was broadcast on @FoxNews concerning immigrants & Sweden.
Trump cites non-existent terror attack, possibly confusing it with Sehwan in Pakistan. The source of Trump’s remark is unclear, but it came after Fox News aired an interview with film-maker Ami Horowitz, whose latest documentary examines whether high crime rates in areas of Sweden is linked to its previous open-door policy on people fleeing war and persecution. (The Guardian)
Twitter mocks Trump for citing non-existent incident "Last Night In Sweden". Twitter was quick to skewer him for the gaffe while speculating pointedly about what he might have meant. (Talking Points Memo)
Literally the biggest incident of Sweden last night was a horse called Biscuit being rescued from a well. https://t.co/CAYsHhpt6z
Trump hands the mic to a supporter at Florida rally. In what appeared to be an improvised moment, Trump invited one of his supporters to join him on stage during a rally in Melbourne, Florida, on Saturday night. (CNN)
Trump made 13 dubious claims during his rally in Florida. The president’s fishy statements included an attack on the “dishonest media” and an attempt to take credit for economic growth that preceded his administration. (Washington Post)
2/ Memos signed by DHS secretary describe sweeping new guidelines for deporting illegal immigrants. The new guidelines empower federal authorities to more aggressively detain and deport illegal immigrants inside the United States and at the border. A White House official said the memos were drafts and that they are under review by the White House Counsel’s Office, which is seeking some changes. The memos do not include measures to activate National Guard troops. (Washington Post)
DHS memos describe aggressive new immigration and border enforcement policies. The border security guidance expands the use of "expedited removal" proceedings for unauthorized immigrants. The enforcement memo leaves deferred action for childhood arrivals intact. (CNN)
3/ "That’s how dictators get started": McCain criticizes Trump for calling the media "the enemy" during “Meet the Press” interview. Trump lashed out against the news media several times over the past week, at one point declaring it “the enemy of the American People!” (Washington Post)
4/ Defense Secretary Mattis disagrees with Trump, says he does not see media as the enemy. Mattis, asked directly about Trump’s criticism of the media, said he has had “some rather contentious times with the press” but considers the institution “a constituency that we deal with.” The defense secretary added: “I don’t have any issues with the press myself.” (Washington Post)
UPDATE:
Fox News anchor Chris Wallace warns viewers: Trump crossed the line in latest attack on media. Trump's contentious relationship with the press has again been in the spotlight after the president repeatedly attacked the media as “fake news”. All presidents fight with the media, but Trump had taken it a step further in making them out to be “the enemy,” Wallace said. (Washington Post)
Fox News host Chris Wallace to Priebus: "You don't get to tell" the press what to do. Priebus argued that the media has not covered Trump's actions as closely as it has covered his notable failures, calling "unsourced" stories about turmoil inside Trump's administration "total garbage." On Saturday, Priebus said Trump should be taken "seriously" in his claim that the news media is "the enemy of the American People." (Talking Points Memo)
Trump attacks "dishonest media" while making false claims at Florida rally. Insisted that the White House is running "so smoothly" despite reports of chaos and infighting. (The Guardian)
5/ Trump’s personal lawyer advanced a back-channel plan for the conflict between Ukraine and Russia. The sealed proposal was hand-delivered to Trump's office and outlines a way to lift sanctions against Russia. (New York Times)
UPDATE:
Trump ally admits he has a "back-channel" tie to WikiLeaks. Roger Stone said he had communications with WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange over the release of thousands of emails stolen from the Hillary Clinton campaign. (CBS Miami)
6/ Priebus denies any involvement between Trump’s 2016 campaign and Russian officials. Priebus said he’s spoken with high-level intelligence officials in Washington who have told him that no such involvement occurred. (Politico)
UPDATE:
Senators want Russia-related materials preserved. The Senate Intelligence Committee is asking more than a dozen agencies, organizations and individuals to preserve communications related to the panel's investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 election. The move comes amid inquiries into whether Trump's campaign officials were in contact with Russian officials and other Russians known to US intelligence during the 2016 race. (CNN)
7/ Foreign policy experts find scant reassurance in Trump's plans. At the Munich Security Conference, diplomats, generals, policy experts, and security officials were deeply disturbed by Trump’s difficulty finding a pliant national security adviser to replace Michael Flynn, and by Trump’s long and rambling news conference on Thursday, which was followed Saturday with a campaign-style rally where he suggested, wrongly, that something terrible had happened in Sweden. Pence, who carried a direct message of reassurance from Trump, could not manage to comfort many of the experts. (New York Times)
UPDATE:
Trump meets with four candidates for National Security Adviser. Trump's first choice to succeed Flynn turned down the job. The White House has had trouble filling some senior positions in part because so many experienced Republicans criticized Trump during the campaign, and he has vetoed choices over that. (New York Times)
8/ London mayor says Trump should be denied state visit because of his “cruel” policies on immigration. British legislators are expected to debate a proposal to downgrade Trump' planned state visit. (PBS)
1/ Pence: US will hold Russia accountable and stands with NATO. Trump has repeatedly called NATO “obsolete,” but U.S. officials appear to be concentrating more on pushing allies to meet NATO defense spending commitments rather than focusing on Trump’s desire for a new relationship with the Kremlin, a major fear in Europe. Many European allies see Russia as a security threat following its 2014 annexation of Ukraine’s Crimean Peninsula. (Washington Post)
2/ The F.B.I. is pursuing at least three separate probes relating to alleged Russian hacking of the U.S. presidential elections. The FBI's Pittsburgh office is trying to identify the people behind breaches of the Democratic National Committee's computer system. The bureau’s San Francisco office is trying to identify the people who posted John Podesta’s stolen emails. And, agents based in Washington are pursuing leads from informants, foreign communications intercepts, and financial transactions by Russian individuals and companies who are believed to have links to Trump associates. (Reuters)
FBI Director James B. Comey met with the Senate Intelligence Committee behind closed doors on Friday, amid an uproar over alleged contacts between members of President Trump’s campaign and Russian officials. (The Hill)
3/ The White House abruptly dismissed a senior National Security Council aide after his harsh criticism of Trump at a private, off-the-record think tank gathering. The aide laced into Trump, his chief strategist Steve Bannon, as well as Jared Kushner and Ivanka Trump. (Politico)
4/ Trump down to three candidates to replace Flynn after former CIA Director David Petraeus pulled his name from consideration for National Security Adviser. Still on the short list for the position are acting national security adviser Keith Kellogg, former United Nations ambassador John Bolton, and Army strategist Lt. Gen. H.R. McMaster. (The Hill)
5/ Trump weighs new travel ban that won’t stop green card holders or travelers already on planes from entering the U.S. The Homeland Security chief says there will be a "short phase-in period” to avoid people being stopped in transit. (Reuters)
Legal analysts said a new executive order that maintains bans would not likely allay the concerns of federal judges who put the original order on hold. Even if Trump made clear his order did not apply to green-card holders, or limited it so that it affected only those applying for visas, a three-judge panel with the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit said that would not necessarily convince them to lift their freeze. (Washington Post)
6/ Trump yells at CIA Director Mike Pompeo for not pushing back hard enough against reports that the intelligence community was withholding information from him. The White House denied the report. The president “did not yell at the CIA director,” a White House spokesperson said. (CBS News)
7/ DeVos criticizes teachers after visiting D.C. school — and they are not having it. After visiting D.C.’s Jefferson Middle School Academy, DeVos said teachers at Jefferson seemed to be in “receive mode. They’re waiting to be told what they have to do, and that’s not going to bring success to an individual child.” The school responded to DeVos on Twitter, saying “We’re about to take her to school.” (Washington Post)
8/ Popular domestic programs could face budget cuts. Trump’s budget office has drafted a hit list of programs that could be eliminated or have their domestic spending trimmed. The Corporation for Public Broadcasting, the Legal Services Corporation, AmeriCorps, and the National Endowments for the Arts and the Humanities are on that list. Most of the programs cost under $500 million annually, a pittance for a government that is projected to spend about $4 trillion this year. (New York Times)
9/ Ben Carson “baffled” and “speechless” at the firing of one of his Housing and Urban Development staffers. One of Carson’s closest aides was fired from the agency after writings critical of Trump from October resurfaced. Carson had no knowledge his staffer was going to be escorted out of the building until after it happened. (BuzzFeed News)
10/ Leaked Trump tape: "You are the special people”. While meeting potential Cabinet nominees in November, Trump invited partygoers at his New Jersey golf club to stop by to join him on staff interviews. “We’re doing a lot of interviews tomorrow — generals, dictators, we have everything,” Trump told the crowd. “You may wanna come around. It’ll be fun. We’re really working tomorrow. We have meetings every 15, 20 minutes with different people that will form our government.” (Politico)
[Editor's Note: This story was removed because it is speculative.]
10/ The first casualties of Trump's trade wars are Texas cattle ranchers. By threatening a trade war with Mexico within days of inauguration, the president helped trigger a slide in cattle futures. Mexico is a major export market. By sinking the Trans-Pacific Partnership, the new administration cut off long-sought access to the Japanese market. Now banks have raised the conditions for collateral for loans for ranchers. (Dallas News)
11/ CNN host Don Lemon abruptly ended his segment after a commentator continued to call a story they were discussing "fake news" while defending Trump. Lemon was moderating a discussion on the cost of Trump's visits to Mar-a-Lago in Florida when Paris Dennard, a political analyst and commentator, called it "fake news." Dennard insisted that "this is a fake news story," after which Lemon ended the segment altogether. (The Hill)
11/ Reince Priebus advised Americans to take Trump’s attacks on the media “seriously,” following the president’s denunciations of the press as the “enemy.” The chief of staff continued to hammer the press for its coverage, saying “the American people suffer” because of it. (CBS News)
poll/ Americans want Democrats to work with Trump. The inaugural Harvard-Harris poll found that 73% of voters want to see Democrats work with the president, while 27% said Democrats should resist Trump’s every move. (The Hill)
1/ Trump weighs mobilizing National Guard for immigration roundups. A draft memo proposes to mobilize 100,000 National Guard troops to round up unauthorized immigrants, including millions living nowhere near the Mexico border. The 11-page document calls for the unprecedented militarization of immigration enforcement as far north as Portland, Oregon, and as far east as New Orleans, Louisiana. (Associated Press)
UPDATE:
US doesn't plan to use National Guard to arrest immigrants. The White House and Department of Homeland Security both said they are not planning to use the National Guard to apprehend and arrest undocumented immigrants, despite a "preliminary draft memo" that indicated doing so was a possibility. (ABC News)
Homeland Security on AP’s National Guard: "Absolutely Incorrect". The memo the AP cited was an early, pre-decisional draft, that DHS Secretary John Kelly never approved, and that the department as a whole never seriously considered. (The Daily Beast)
Migrants choose arrest in Canada over staying in the U.S. People who work with immigrants in Canada say these border-jumpers would rather be arrested in Canada than live in fear of how U.S. officials might handle their cases. (NPR)
2/ Senate on track to confirm Scott Pruitt as EPA administrator despite calls from Democrats to delay until he turns over thousands of requested emails from his time as attorney general as part of a public records lawsuit. Democrats boycotted a committee vote on Pruitt's nomination last month in an effort to delay his confirmation. Republican leaders have shown no signs they intend to wait for the documents to be released before voting to confirm him. (ABC News)
UPDATE:
Senate confirms climate-change skeptic Scott Pruitt to lead EPA, an agency he sued as Oklahoma attorney general. Pruitt’s confirmation marked a serious defeat for environmental advocacy groups. Pruitt has sued the EPA more than a dozen times during the Obama administration, challenging the agency’s authority to regulate toxic mercury pollution, smog, carbon emissions from power plants and the quality of wetlands and other waters. In Oklahoma, he dismantled a specialized environmental protection unit that had existed under his Democratic predecessor and established a “federalism unit” to combat what he called “unwarranted regulation and systematic overreach” by Washington. Pruitt cleared the Senate by a vote of 52-46. (Washington Post)
3/ Trump – under fire – returns to his scorched-earth politics that served him during the campaign. He'll continue his campaign-style reboot with a rally in Florida, reuniting with the devoted supporters who view Trump as a political crusader dedicated to the obliteration of Washington's elites. (CNN)
4/ More Democrats call on Sessions to withdraw from Russia probe. A letter sent to Sessions by 55 lawmakers asks him to withdraw based on his ties to Trump’s campaign and key figures who have been alleged to have ties to Russia. (Washington Post)
5/ House G.O.P. leaders outline their plan to replace Obamacare. Their plan leans heavily on tax credits to finance individual insurance purchases and sharply reducing federal payments to the 31 states that have expanded Medicaid eligibility. They did not say how the legislation would be paid for, essentially laying out the benefits without the more controversial costs. (New York Times)
6/ Republican strategist Ana Navarro hits Kushner for complaining about CNN: "Oh, baby boy, I'm so sorry”. Kushner complained to an executive of Time Warner, CNN's parent company, about unfair coverage of the Trump administration on CNN. (The Hill)
7/ Chaffetz seeks charge of ex-Clinton aide in email inquiry. The chairman of the House Oversight Committee, who has refused Democratic requests to investigate possible conflicts of interest involving Trump, is seeking criminal charges against a Bryan Pagliano, the former State Department employee who helped set up Hillary Clinton’s private email server. Chaffetz sent a letter to Attorney General Jeff Sessions asking him to convene a grand jury or charge Pagliano. (Washington Post)
8/ Tillerson aides layoff staff at the State Department. While Rex Tillerson is on his first overseas trip as Secretary of State, staffers were told that their services were no longer needed at the Deputy Secretary of State for Management and Resources and the Counselor offices. (CBS News)
9/ Trump has a four-person short list for his national security adviser after retired Harward turned down the job. Trump gave no indication on how soon a decision could be made, but he is expected to move quickly even as questions grow over contacts with Russia by the former security adviser, Michael Flynn. (Washington Post)
10/ Trump hires Mike Dubke as White House communications director. The Crossroads Media founder will relieve pressure on Sean Spicer, who has been both the press secretary and communications director since Trump took office, which have traditionally been separate positions. (Washington Post)
11/ Ryan struggles to sell tax reform plan to fellow Republicans. Ryan has framed his proposal as a compromise between a tariff, which the president wants, and conservative orthodoxy against border taxes. He has suggested it's in keeping with Trump’s “America first” mantra, since it would reward American manufacturers that make products here and sell it abroad. But the idea is sharply dividing Republicans — even within the White House. (Politico)
12/ Trump promises new immigration order as DOJ holds off appeals court. Trump said his administration will issue "a new and very comprehensive order to protect our people" next week. The Justice Department wrote at length in a 47-page about the "seriously flawed" Ninth Circuit ruling from last week, but neverthless said: "(r)ather than continuing this litigation, the President intends in the near future to rescind the order and replace it with a new, substantially revised executive order to eliminate what the panel erroneously thought were constitutional concerns.” (CNN)
13/ Trump call the news media "the enemy of the American people" in his escalating war against journalists. Trump has regularly referred to the media as the “opposition party," and has blamed news organizations for stymieing his presidential agenda. But the language he deployed typically used by presidents to refer to hostile foreign governments or terrorist organizations. (New York Times)
The FAKE NEWS media (failing @nytimes, @NBCNews, @ABC, @CBS, @CNN) is not my enemy, it is the enemy of the American People!
Trump wants you to take this bizarre survey on media bias. The “Mainstream Media Accountability Survey,” which was emailed to people who had previously signed up for campaign updates is designed to record his supporters’ anger at news organizations. (BuzzFeed News)
1/ Donald Trump delivered a series of raw and personal attacks on the media in a news conference for the ages. It was a return to what worked for him during the course of the 2016 campaign: A circuslike atmosphere in which he used the media — and his supporters' distrust of the media — as a sort of tackling dummy to re-center the narrative on ground more favorable to him. Trump didn't just run down the media — although he did a lot of that — but he also mocked various outlets, reviewed shows on cable TV that he likes (and doesn't), told reporters to sit down and be quiet, and critiqued the quality of the questions he was being asked. There was a rawness to his attacks, a personal invective that seemed well beyond the typically antagonistic relationship that exists between the media and the president they cover. This was not a piece of political strategy. This came right from Trump's gut. (Washington Post)
Fact-checking Trump's press conference. Here’s the rundown of the event. (PoltiFact)
The transcript from Trump’s combative, grievance-filled press conference, along with analysis and annotations. (Washington Post)
The most memorable lines from Trump's news conference. His back-and-forth with reporters touched on everything from his critique of the media, his Electoral College margin of victory, the workings of his administration, former national security adviser Michael Flynn's resignation and more. (CNN)
The 8 craziest moments of Trump’s impromptu press conference. In short, it was a doozy. Here's the 8 most jaw-dropping moments. (Talking Points Memo)
2/ Trump laments, "I inherited a mess," as he names new labor pick. Trump’s first choice for labor secretary is R. Alexander Acosta, a Florida law school dean and former assistant attorney general for civil rights. Acosta is the first Hispanic to be tapped for Trump’s cabinet. (New York Times)
3/ Spies keep sensitive intelligence from Trump, underscoring deep mistrust. U.S. intelligence officials have withheld sensitive intelligence from Trump because they are concerned it could be leaked or compromised. (Wall Street Journal)
Office of Director of National Intelligence: We don't withhold intel from Trump. "Any suggestion that the U.S. Intelligence Community is withholding information and not providing the best possible intelligence to the President and his national security team is not true,” an ODNI statement said. (Politico)
4/ House Oversight Chairman Jason Chaffetz asks the Department of Justice to investigate the leaks surrounding Michael Flynn. The steady stream of "potentially classified" intelligence community leaks that have thrown the Trump administration into turmoil. (Politico)
UPDATE:
In FBI interview last month Flynn denied discussing sanctions with Russian ambassador. The Jan. 24 interview potentially puts Flynn in legal jeopardy, as lying to the FBI is a felony, but any decision to prosecute would ultimately lie with the Justice Department. (Washington Post)
Harward says no to national security adviser role. A friend of Harward's said he was reluctant to take the job because the White House seems so chaotic. Harward called the offer a "s*** sandwich," the friend said. (CNN)
U.S. allies intercepted a series of communications between Trump advisers and Russian officials before the inauguration. Sources said the interceptions include at least one contact between former National Security Adviser Michael Flynn and a Russian official based in the U.S. (Newsweek)
5/ White House plans to have a Trump ally review intelligence agencies. Trump’s plan to assign a New York billionaire to lead a broad review of American intelligence agencies has members of the intelligence community fearing it could curtail their independence and reduce the flow of information that contradicts the president’s worldview. (New York Times)
Trump’s professed love for leaks has quickly faded. As a candidate, Trump embraced the hackers who had leaked Clinton’s emails to the press, declaring “I love WikiLeaks!” Trump has changed his mind. (New York Times)
6/ The Kremlin ordered state media to cut way back on their fawning coverage of Trump, reflecting a growing concern among senior Russian officials that the new U.S. administration will be less friendly than first thought. In January, Trump received more mentions in the media than Putin, relegating the Russian leader to the No. 2 spot for the first time since he returned to the Kremlin in 2012 after four years as premier. (Bloomberg)
GOP senators unnerved by Trump-Russia relationship. While Republicans aren’t yet willing to endorse a special investigative committee, GOP senators have indicated that could change. Democrats are treading carefully in hopes that Republicans make their concerns public and support a thorough and public investigation of contacts between Trump and Russia. (The Hill)
7/ Businesses across U.S. close, students skip school on "Day Without Immigrants” to underscore how much migrants form the lifeblood of the country's economy and social structure. Immigrants in Washington, D.C., Philadelphia, Austin, Texas, and other major U.S. cities plan to stay home from work and school as part of a strike. Demonstrators also planned a march to the White House. (USA Today)
8/ ICE detains woman seeking domestic abuse protection at Texas courthouse. A hearing in El Paso County in Texas went from ordinary to “unprecedented” last week when half a dozen Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents showed up at a courthouse where an undocumented woman was seeking a protective order against the boyfriend she accused of abusing her. She left under arrest. (Washington Post)
UPDATE:
The White House has found ways to end protection for "Dreamers” while shielding Trump from blowback. Trump's aides have examined at least two options for repealing DACA that would not directly involve Trump: a lawsuit brought by states, and new legal guidance that details who is a priority for deportation. Trump has repeatedly promised to end the program on “day one” of his presidency and called the protections “unconstitutional executive amnesty.” (Los Angeles Times)
9/ Leaked emails show Justice Clarence Thomas’s wife pushing travel ban. In an email sent to a conservative listserv, Ginni Thomas asked for advice on how to organize in favor of Trump’s travel ban. But by doing so, she may have inadvertently made it harder for the executive order to survive the Supreme Court. (The Daily Beast)
10/ Trump signs law rolling back disclosure rule for energy and mining companies. The bill cancels out a Securities and Exchange Commission regulation that would have required oil and gas and mining companies to disclose in detail the payments they make to foreign governments in a bid to boost transparency in resource-rich countries. (Washington Post)
11/ The Endangered Species Act may be heading for the threatened list. A Senate hearing to “modernize the Endangered Species Act” unfolded just as supporters of the law had feared, with round after round of criticism from Republican lawmakers who said the federal effort to keep species from going extinct encroaches on states’ rights, is unfair to landowners and stymies efforts by mining companies to extract resources and create jobs. (Washington Post)
12/ The EPA posted a mirror of its site before Trump can cut the real one. The mirror is an archive of the site the way it appeared the day before Trump took office. (Vice)
UPDATE:
EPA workers try to block Trump’s contentious nominee to run the agency in show of defiance. Employees of the EPA have been calling their senators, urging them to vote against the confirmation of Scott Pruitt. Many of the scientists, environmental lawyers and policy experts who work in EPA offices say the calls are a last resort. Pruitt has made a career out of fighting the agency. Trump has vowed to “get rid of” it. (New York Times)
Oklahoma judge orders EPA nominee Scott Pruitt to turn over emails to watchdog group. The Center for Media and Democracy charges Pruitt violated the Oklahoma Open Records Act for declining to make public official documents the group has requested since 2015. (CNBC)
13/ More than 200 Republicans in Congress are skipping February town halls with constituents. After outpourings of rage at some early town halls, many Republicans are opting for more controlled Facebook Live or “tele-town halls,” where questions can be screened by press secretaries and followups are limited. (Vice News)
14/ Christie says Trump made him order the meatloaf when they dined together at the White House. Trump pointed out the menu and told people to get whatever they want. Then he said he and Christie were going to have the meatloaf. (Boston Globe)
1/ Trump campaign aides had repeated contact with Russian intelligence during the 2016 campaign according to four current and former American officials. Phone records and intercepted calls show that the communications happened around the same time evidence was discovered that Russia was trying to disrupt the presidential election by hacking into the Democratic National Committee. U.S. intelligence agencies sought to learn whether the Trump campaign was colluding with the Russians on the hacking or other efforts to influence the election. They have seen no evidence of such cooperation, so far. (New York Times)
UPDATE:
It’s bigger than Flynn. New Russia revelations widen Trump’s credibility gap. Trump’s long-term fixation on and admiration for Vladimir Putin as well as Flynn’s departure has lent new gravity and intensity to long-simmering questions about Trump and Russia. (Washington Post)
Trump aides were in constant touch with senior Russian officials during campaign. The communications stood out to investigators due to the frequency and the level of the Trump advisers involved. Investigators have not reached a judgment on the intent of those conversations. (CNN)
2/ Andrew Puzder withdraws from consideration as labor secretary. The Hardee’s/Carl’s Jr. CEO came under intense fire from Democrats and liberal groups who accused him of mistreating his workers, opposing the minimum wage and supporting automation in the workplace. The attacks on his policy views were compounded by intense scrutiny of his personal life, including allegations that he abused his ex-wife in the 1980s. (New York Times)
McConnell to White House: Andrew Puzder lacks the votes to win confirmation. At least seven Republican senators said they planned to withhold support for Puzder, saying that they wanted to see how the political novice fares at his confirmation hearing. (Washington Post)
3/ Senators from both parties pledge to deepen probe of Russia and the 2016 election. Mitch McConnell said an investigation is “highly likely,” and the top two members of the Senate Intelligence Committee announced that the committee’s ongoing probe must include an examination of any contacts between Trump campaign officials and the Russian government. (Washington Post)
Senator Lindsey Graham: Any Trump ally working inappropriately with Russia "needs to pay a price”. If the reports are true about communication between Trump's aides and Russia during the campaign, Graham said Congress needs a joint select committee to examine Trump’s business ties to Russia. Trump called recent news stories reporting that his aides had contact with Russian intelligence officials during the 2016 elections “fake news” Wednesday morning and said the “Russian connection non-sense” was an attempt to “cover-up the many mistakes made in Hillary Clinton’s losing campaign.” (Politico)
4/ Jeff Sessions resists pressure to remove himself from his role in investigating Trump’s aides and their relationship with Russia. Democrats and outside groups say Sessions lacks the independence to oversee criminal investigations that might lead back to the White House. Sessions and Flynn were both early, influential advisers in Trump’s presidential campaign. (New York Times)
5/ Flynn's departure erupts into a full-blown crisis for the Trump White House. The circumstances leading up to Flynn’s departure have quickly become a major crisis for the fledgling administration, forcing the White House on the defensive and precipitating the first significant breach in relations between Trump and an increasingly restive Republican Congress. (Washington Post)
Mike Pence told about Flynn warning two weeks after Trump. The White House kept Pence in the dark for weeks about the warning it had gotten about national security adviser Michael Flynn from the Justice Department. (NBC News)
Trump lashed out at the nation’s intelligence agencies again, accusing them on Twitter of illegally leaking information to the news media. The flurry on tweets come as new disclosures about his dealings with Russia during and after the presidential campaign surfaced. (New York Times)
This Russian connection non-sense is merely an attempt to cover-up the many mistakes made in Hillary Clinton's losing campaign.
6/ House panel votes against requesting Trump's tax returns. Democratic lawmakers on Tuesday argued that requesting Trump's tax returns is important to get more information about Trump's potential conflicts of interest. (The Hill)
By a vote of 23-15, Republicans just voted to not request President Trump's tax returns from the Treasury Department.
7/ Republican congressman reveals bill to abolish the EPA. The freshman congressman from Florida has finally released a summary of the agency-killing bill. It tops out at just more than 40 words. This news item is 37 words. (CNBC)
UPDATE:
Trump aims to sign executive orders cutting into the EPA's climate work shortly after his nominee to lead the agency is confirmed by the Senate. Trump has vowed to roll back Obama-era EPA actions, including major climate change regulations like the Clean Power Plan and a water jurisdiction rule opposed by many conservatives. (The Hill)
This is the entire bill to terminate the EPA (Congress.gov)
8/ A DREAMer was arrested during a raid and now a federal magistrate judge has ordered officials to defend the arrest of an undocumented immigrant who has protection from deportation. Attorneys filed a lawsuit accusing federal authorities of unlawfully arresting a Mexican immigrant in Seattle despite him having protection from deportation under the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program. (BuzzFeed News)
9/ Trump to welcome Netanyahu for talks that could shape the contours of future Middle East policy. Palestinians fear the U.S. will abandon its two-state solution for the Israel-Palestinian conflict. Palestine living peacefully alongside Israel has been the bedrock U.S. position for decades. Negotiations broke down in 2014. Under a two-state solution, Israel would end its military occupation of Palestinian areas and allow the Palestinians to form their own self-governing state. (Reuters)
UPDATE:
Trump said that the U.S. would no longer insist on a Palestinian state as part of a peace accord between Israel and the Palestinians, backing away from a policy that has underpinned America’s role in Middle East peacemaking since the Clinton administration. The comments are a striking departure from two decades of diplomatic orthodoxy. The Palestinians are highly unlikely to accept anything short of a sovereign state. (New York Times)
10/ Trump skirts tough questions again. In a joint appearance with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Trump only called on reporters from conservative news outlets, or at least outlets likely to be favorable to him. This is now the third bilateral appearance in which Trump appeared to skirt questions about controversial issues by not taking questions from the traditional stable of the press corps. (CNN)
11/ Doubts grow that GOP can repeal Obamacare. Republicans are sniping over how much of the law to scrap, what to replace it with and when. At this moment, it's far from a sure thing any plan could get through Congress. (Politico)
12/ Defense Secretary Jim Mattis issued an ultimatum to NATO allies, warning that if they do not boost their defense spending to goals set by the alliance, the United States may alter its relationship with them. It marks an escalation in Washington’s long-running frustration that many NATO countries do not spend at least 2 percent of their gross domestic product as they have pledged. (Washington Post)
13/ Trump will not fill out an NCAA tournament bracket. Fun sponge. (Washington Post)
poll/ Trump trails generic Democrat in 2020. In a new POLITICO/Morning Consult poll. roughly a quarter of voters think Trump is the worst president in the last century. 43% percent of voters are ready to vote for a nameless Democrat in 2020. Just over a third say they'll vote for Trump in 2020. In a hypothetical matchup, he beats Sen. Elizabeth Warren 42% to 36%. (Politico)
survey/ Americans are seriously stressed out about the future of the country. No shit. 66% of Americans reported stress about the future of the country, 57% about the current political climate and 49% about the election outcome. The survey was conducted by Harris Poll. (Washington Post)
1/ Russia has secretly deployed a new cruise missile despite violation of the arms control treaty that helped seal the end of the Cold War. The move presents a major challenge for President Trump, who has vowed to improve relations with Putin and to pursue future arms accords. (New York Times)
2/ Trump knew Flynn misled officials on Russia calls for "weeks" the White House says. The comment contrasts the impression Trump gave aboard Air Force One that he was not familiar with a report that revealed Flynn had not told the truth about the calls. White House counsel Don McGahn told Trump in a January briefing that Flynn had discussed U.S. sanctions with Russia. (Washington Post)
Related:
The timeline of Michael Flynn’s resignation looks bad for the Trump White House. Was the White House concerned that Flynn had apparently lied to them — or at least done something he shouldn't have and failed to disclose it? Would it ever have taken corrective action if the situation hadn't been made public? (Washington Post)
The F.B.I. interviewed Flynn in the first days of the Trump administration about his conversations with the Russian ambassador. If he was not entirely honest with the F.B.I., it could expose Flynn, who resigned his post, to a felony charge. (New York Times)
Flynn sets record with only 24 days as national security adviser. The average tenure is about 2.6 years. (Washington Post)
3/ A member of the Senate Intelligence Committee calls for an exhaustive investigation into Trump-Russia connections following Flynn's resignation. "The national security adviser of all the people that work with and for the President has to be absolutely trustworthy and truthful and apparently he wasn't and he paid the price for that…" (CNN)
Related:
McConnell: Flynn investigation "highly likely" in Senate committee. The Senate's second-ranking Republican and other GOP senators have called for an investigation into the episode, building on a string of investigations underway on Russian interference in the US elections. (CNN)
House Republicans rejected calls for an independent investigation into Flynn’s communications with Russia, laying bare the party’s reticence to challenge Trump in the early weeks of his presidency. The chair of the intelligence committee said he was less concerned with investigating Flynn’s conduct than with the question of who was behind the leaks that quickly spiraled into the former official’s dramatic resignation. (The Guardian)
Democrats demand that Flynn’s resignation spur broader Russia investigation. In a joint statement, the ranking Democrat on the House Judiciary Committee and the ranking Democrat on the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, said, “We in Congress need to know who authorized his actions, permitted them and continued to let him have access to our most sensitive national security information despite knowing these risks. We need to know who else within the White House is a current and ongoing risk to our national security.” (New York Times)
FBI needs to explain why Flynn's call were recorded with the Russian ambassador and later leaked information to the press. Intelligence officials had recorded Flynn’s conversations with the Russian ambassador before Trump took office. Those recordings appeared to contradict Flynn’s own claims that he had not discussed easing U.S. sanctions on Russia. (Washington Post)
4/ Ethics office: Conway committed "clear violation" with Ivanka plug and recommends that the White House investigate Trump's senior adviser. Conway offered what she described as a “free commercial” for Ivanka Trump’s clothing line after Nordstrom pulled her items from its racks, drawing a Twitter rebuke from Trump. (Politico)
Related:
Scarborough rips Conway as an "out of the loop” liar after Flynn resignation. Conway’s assertion that Flynn enjoyed “the full confidence of the president” just hours before he offered his resignation is proof that Conway is acting recklessly. (Politico)
Matt Lauer: “Kellyanne, that makes no sense” (Vox)
Conway claims she doesn’t know who retweeted a white nationalist from her twitter account. Seriously, WTF? (BuzzFeed)
5/ Russian lawmakers defend Trump’s ex-national security adviser. Russia's foreign affairs committees are calling Flynn's resignation a dark campaign of Russophobia and "thoughtcrime”. (Washington Post)
Related:
The Kremlin is starting to worry about Trump. Vladimir Putin's entourage cheered the outcome of the U.S. election. Now that Trump is in power, political elites in Moscow have stopped cheering. They recognize that Russia’s position has become abruptly and agonizingly complex. (Foreign Policy)
6/ How leaks and investigative journalists led to Flynn's resignation. Journalists at The Washington Post, The New York Times and other outlets spoke with government officials who provided vital information about Flynn's contacts with Russia. (CNN)
Related:
Trump: The "real story" of Flynn resignation is illegal leaks. Democrat Hillary Clinton. In October, he told the crowd at a campaign rally "I love WikiLeaks" as the group continued to release hacked emails from Clinton's top aides. (The Hill)
The real story here is why are there so many illegal leaks coming out of Washington? Will these leaks be happening as I deal on N.Korea etc?
7/ Bannon's Breitbart takes shot at Priebus: As Flynn resigns, Priebus' future is in doubt as Trump allies circulate list of alternate chief of staff candidates. (Breitbart)
8/ House conservatives fret GOP is blowing Obamacare repeal. Hard-liners are plotting a major push to repeal the law immediately without simultaneously approving an alternative. Trump has sent conflicting signals, initially saying he wanted Congress to act immediately but then cautioning the process could take all year. (Politico)
9/ US allies in Europe have no idea “what the fuck is going on” with the Trump Administration.“It’s a wake up call to European leaders that counting on America isn’t currently a smart policy,” one European intelligence official said after the sudden resignation of the US national security advisor. (BuzzFeed News)
10/ Secret Service director to step down, giving Trump chance to select his own security chief. The head of the Secret Service is leaving his post, a little more than two years after arriving in one of Washington's toughest jobs. (Washington Post)
1/ Michael Flynn resigns as National Security Adviser after it was revealed that he had misled Pence and other top White House officials about his conversations with the Russian ambassador to the United States. Flynn served in the job for less than a month. (New York Times)
UPDATE:
Flynn on thin ice but still in at the White House after turbulent few days. Despite a turbulent 72 hours caused by the national security adviser's inability to deny that he spoke about sanctions against Russia with the Russian ambassador before Trump took office, Flynn has no plans to resign and no expectations that he will be fired. (CNN)
Flynn apologizes after admitting he may have discussed sanctions with Russia. The apology was directed most notably to Pence, who had emphatically denied to CBS News last month that Flynn had discussed "anything having to do with the United States' decision to expel diplomats or impose censure against Russia." (USA Today)
The Justice Department had warned White House that Flynn could be vulnerable to Russian blackmail. Current and former officials said that although they believed that Pence was misled about the contents of Flynn’s communications with the Russian ambassador, they couldn’t rule out that Flynn was acting with the knowledge of others in the transition. (Washington Post)
Trump declines to say whether he has full confidence in Flynn, deferring to a statement to come. (NPR)
Related:
Trump remains silent as Flynn falls under growing pressure. Neither Trump nor his advisers have publicly defended Flynn or stated unequivocally that he has the president’s confidence. Privately, some administration officials said that Flynn’s position has weakened and support for him has eroded largely because of a belief that he was disingenuous about Russia and therefore could not be fully trusted going forward. (Washington Post)
Flynn's dealings with Russia aside, there are even deeper ties that connect the current administration to the Kremlin. Some Pentagon officials say they have "assumed that the Kremlin has ears" inside the White House ever since Trump's inauguration. (Washington Post)
2/ At Mar-a-Lago, Trump tackles crisis diplomacy at close range. Wealthy members looked on from their tables, and with a keyboard player crooning in the background, Trump and Abe's evening meal quickly morphed into a strategy session, the decision-making on full view to fellow diners. (CNN)
Related:
Trump turns Mar-a-Lago Club terrace into open-air situation room. Trump and Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe could have discussed classified documents within earshot of waiters and club patrons. Those cellphones-turned-flashlights might also have been a problem: If one of them had been hacked by a foreign power, the phone’s camera could have provided a view of what the documents said. (Washington Post)
Trump responds to North Korean missile launch with uncharacteristic restraint. Trump read a statement of just 23 words that pledged American support for Tokyo without even mentioning North Korea. The muted comment stood in sharp contrast to his response after Iran tested a ballistic missile, when he directed his national security adviser to publicly warn Tehran that he was “officially putting Iran on notice” and followed up with sanctions. (New York Times)
3/ Steven Mnuchin wins slim vote for Treasury secretary. The Senate’s 53-47 vote split along party lines and was one of the slimmest ever for a Treasury pick. By March 17, Mnuchin needs to persuade Congress to increase the nation’s debt limit. If he can’t, he would have to start using a series of so-called extraordinary measures to extend the deadline for several weeks to avoid a U.S. default on its debt. (Los Angeles Times)
4/ Trudeau and Trump try to bridge some gaps while avoiding others. Trump has called for a halt to the admission of refugees, while Trudeau has held out Canada as a haven for refugees, particularly people who have fled the war in Syria. (New York Times)
5/ Trump reviews top White House staff after tumultuous start. Trump, frustrated over his administration’s rocky start, is complaining to friends and allies about some of his most senior aides — leading to questions about whether he is mulling an early staff shakeup. (Politico)
Related:
Turmoil at the National Security Council. Staff members are struggling to make policy to fit Trump’s tweets. (New York Times)
G.O.P. lawmakers like what they see in Trump – they just have to squint. Trump has made clear that he is going to continue promulgating conspiracy theories, flinging personal insults and saying things that are plainly untrue. And the Republican-controlled House and Senate seem to have made a collective decision: They will accommodate — not confront — his conduct as long as he signs their long-stalled conservative proposals on taxes, regulations and health care into law. (New York Times)
6/ Courts still proceeding with lawsuits — and a new injunction — against Trump’s travel ban. While the Justice Department lawyers attempted to confine the court battle to the federal appeals court hearing the challenge out of Washington, two district court judges on Monday sided with challengers to the president’s executive order. (BuzzFeed News)
7/ Federal immigration officials arrested more than 600 people across at least 11 states last week, detaining 40 people in the New York City area, law enforcement officials said. It's unclear whether the actions by Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents were part of continuing operations to round up illegal immigrants with criminal convictions or a ramping-up of deportations by the Trump administration. (New York Times)
8/ California governor asks Trump for storm disaster declaration, as the state grapples with a massive dam spillway glitch in the Sierra foothills. A disaster declaration frees up federal funds to help pay for damage. Presidents usually respond positively to such requests. Trump called California “out of control” last week without explaining exactly what he meant. Trump also threatened to block federal funds if California goes ahead with plans to become a sanctuary state for immigrants. (Huffington Post)
Related:
Evacuations ordered below Oroville Dam after a hole is found in its emergency spillway. The erosion could undermine the concrete top of the spillway, allowing torrents of water to wash downhill into the Feather River and flood Oroville and other towns in Yuba, Sutter and Butte counties. (Los Angeles Times)
9/ Trump undertakes most ambitious regulatory rollback since Reagan. The new administration is targeting dozens of Obama-era policies, using both legislative and executive tactics. The fallout is already rippling across the federal bureaucracy and throughout the U.S. economy, affecting how dentists dispose of mercury fillings, how schools meet the needs of poor and disabled students, and whether companies reject mineral purchases that fuel one of the world’s bloodiest conflicts. (Washington Post)
10/ America’s biggest foreign creditors dump Treasuries in warning to Trump. Few overseas investors want to step into the $13.9 trillion U.S. Treasury market right now. Whether it’s the prospect of bigger deficits and more inflation under Trump or higher interest rates from the Federal Reserve, the world’s safest debt market seems less of a sure thing. And then there is Trump’s penchant for saber rattling, which has made staying home that much easier. (Bloomberg)
11/ Trump ran a campaign based on intelligence security. That’s not how he’s governing. The president discussed a national security incident in a public room, with phone flashlights lighting the way. Why is this important? Mobile phones have flashlights — and cameras, microphones and Internet connectivity. Phones — especially phones with their flashes turned on for improved visibility — are portable television satellite trucks and, if compromised, can be used to get a great deal of information about what’s happening nearby, unless precautions are taken. (Washington Post)
1/ North Korea challenges Trump by firing a ballistic missile into the Sea of Japan. The missile launch came as Trump hosts Japan’s prime minister, Shinzo Abe, on an official visit. The missile was a medium- or intermediate-range system and “did not pose a threat to North America.” South Korea condemned the missile launching, saying that it violated a series of United Nations Security Council resolutions that bar North Korea from developing or testing ballistic missile and nuclear weapons technologies. (New York Times)
Trump: "America stands behind Japan" after North Korea missile test. (Politico)
Few good options in Trump arsenal to counter defiant North Korea. Possible responses include additional sanctions to beefed-up missile defense. (Reuters)
2/ Senior White House policy adviser Stephen Miller doubled down on President Trump’s unsubstantiated claims of widespread voter fraud, including the president’s reported claim that thousands of voters were bused into New Hampshire to illegally cast ballots in the presidential election. (ABC News)
Related:
Miller says White House will fight for travel ban. The White House is pursuing several options to reinstate Trump’s travel ban, fighting back against “judicial usurpation of power.” He said legal options to restore the ban — “the very apex of presidential authority” — include an emergency hearing with the full 9th Circuit. (Washington Post)
Miller is a “true believer” behind core Trump policies. Miller has been at the epicenter of some of the administration’s most provocative moves, from pushing hard for the construction of a wall along the border with Mexico to threatening decades-long trade deals at the heart of Republican economic orthodoxy, to rolling out Trump’s travel ban. (New York Times)
3/ New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie criticized Trump's national security adviser Michael Flynn, saying he needs to clear up questions about whether he discussed sanctions in his pre-inauguration conversations with the Russian ambassador to the United States. (CNN)
Related:
Pelosi: Flynn should be suspended and for his intelligence clearance to be revoked until U.S. officials fully review his contacts with Russia’s ambassador. (The Hill)
Does the White House stand by Michael Flynn? No comment. “That’s a question for the president.” (Washington Post)
4/ Trump friend says Priebus is "in way over his head". One of Trump’s longtime friends publicly argued that Trump should replace his White House chief of staff after talking privately with the president. (Washington Post)
5/ The spy revolt against Trump begins. Fears that the White House is too friendly to Moscow is causing close allies to curtail some of their espionage relationships with Washington. The development has grave implications for international security, especially for counterterrorism. (Observer)
6/ Sanders rips Trump, jokes about “fake news”. In an 11-minute interview, Sanders weighed in on Trump's travel ban, his clashing with the media, and the controversy surrounding National Security Advisor Michael Flynn. (CNN)
Bernie Sanders calls Trump a "pathological liar"; Al Franken says "a few” Republicans think Trump is mentally ill. (Washington Post)
7/ Betsy DeVos' Department of Education flunks spelling test, misspells W.E.B. Du Bois' name, then misspells its apology. Both tweets have since been deleted. (Politico)
8/ Defections by Sears, Kmart cap week of controversy for Trump brands. The moves may be a rare sign of companies taking calculated risks in making business decisions that might invite criticism from Trump's Twitter account. (Reuters)
9/ A US-born NASA scientist was detained at the border until he unlocked his phone. Reentry into the country should not have raised any flags. Not only is he a natural-born US citizen, but he’s also enrolled in Global Entry — a program through CBP that allows individuals who have undergone background checks to have expedited entry into the country. He hasn’t visited the countries listed in the immigration ban and he has worked at JPL — a major center at a US federal agency — for 10 years. (The Verge)
Related:
Pre-clearance bill would give U.S. border guards power to question, search, and detain Canadian citizens on Canadian soil. The bill could erode the standing of Canadian permanent residents by threatening their automatic right to enter Canada. (CBC)
What is pre-clearance? Pre-clearance allows Canadian visitors to the U.S. to clear U.S. Customs and Immigration while still in Canada at a Canadian port of departure.
poll/ Trump's job approval rating hits a new low: 40% of Americans approve of the job that the president is doing, while 55% disapprove. (Gallup)
1/ Reports of raids have immigrants bracing for enforcement surge. Officials at the Immigration and Customs Enforcement, or ICE, said the immigration roundups did not represent an increased tempo. ICE described it as a routine “targeted enforcement action” in which roughly 160 people were arrested in six counties around Los Angeles. Of those, 150 had criminal histories. The agency has about 100 fugitive teams constantly working to bring in those wanted on a variety of immigration offenses. These teams have been just as active as they were during the Obama administration. (New York Times)
2/ The Trump administration is turning on Mike Flynn while the CIA freezes out Flynn’s aide. The agency denied a security clearance for a key aide to the National Security Adviser, effectively ending his tenure on the National Security Council and escalating tensions between Flynn and the intelligence community. (Politico)
Related:
Flynn holds call with Pence amid calls for probes of contacts with Russian ambassador. Flynn had urged Moscow to show restraint in its response to punitive sanctions being imposed on Russia by the Obama administration, signaling that the Trump administration would revisit the issue when it took office. (Washington Post)
Michael Flynn's debacle. Trump’s national security adviser’s potentially false statements about his pre-inauguration contacts with Russian officials are a major scandal. (The Atlantic)
3/ GOP bill would gut EPA. A House Republican is sponsoring legislation to do away with large portions of the Environmental Protection Agency, including environmental justice and greenhouse gas programs. The Wasteful EPA Programs Elimination Act would save $7.5 billion annually and would leave the EPA with a budget of less than $1 billion. Major EPA climate change programs would be eliminated under the measure. (The Hill)
4/ Trump: Refugees are flooding the U.S. and creating a “dangerous” situation after the judge blocked his travel ban. The percentage of refugees arriving from the so-called seven banned countries — Iran, Iraq, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Syria and Yemen — has risen considerably since the directive was suspended. However, the weekly total of refugees arriving from the targeted countries has risen by only about 100. All are stringently vetted. Trump made the post at the start of a day of golf with Prime Minister Shinzo Abe of Japan at his resort in Jupiter, Florida. (New York Times)
Our legal system is broken! "77% of refugees allowed into U.S. since travel reprieve hail from seven suspect countries." (WT) SO DANGEROUS!
5/ The Justice Department is taking a step back from efforts to protect transgender people under existing law. The department withdrew a request to limit an injunction halting enforcement of existing civil rights laws that provide protections for transgender people. The moves suggests that the federal government’s position on the pending legal questions surrounding transgender people’s rights could be changing soon. (BuzzFeed News)
6/ Hundreds of protests against Planned Parenthood and counterprotests in support of the nonprofit are taking place across the country today. A national coalition opposed to abortion rights seeks to end any public funding for Planned Parenthood. Supporters of Planned Parenthood are rallying today to show solidarity for the nonprofit organization, which provides a variety of health services including cancer screenings, HIV testing and treatment for sexually transmitted infections as well as family planning, birth control and abortion. (ABC News)
7/ Al Franken to Maher: GOP senators privately express "great concern" about Trump’s temperament. Franken isn't the first Democrat to say Republicans senators are privately fretting. Sen. Sherrod Brown said his GOP colleagues privately worry about Trump's “incompetence” and “ethics.” (Washington Post)
Related:
Trump to Dems: "Pocahontas is now the face of your party” – his insult of choice for Elizabeth Warren. Trump said the only reason Warren claimed Native American heritage was "because she has high cheekbones.” Trump was referencing questions over Warren's ancestry from her 2012 Senate race. (CNN)
8/ Trump: Border wall price "will come WAY DOWN" when I negotiate. Trump responded to reports that the cost of his proposed border wall is much higher than expected, insisting that it will be much cheaper after he gets involved in negotiations. (The Hill)
I am reading that the great border WALL will cost more than the government originally thought, but I have not gotten involved in the.....
9/ "We're going to see more" sanctuary cities cave in face of Trump's funding threats. Several towns, cities and counties around the nation are caving to President Trump's threat to pull funding, and abandoning their "sanctuary" pledges to shield illegal immigrants from federal authorities. The changes come on the heels of Trump’s executive order giving the Department of Justice and Department of Homeland Security the power to cut federal funding to communities that are deemed sanctuaries for illegal immigrants. Trump also has authorized the DHS to publish a weekly list of sanctuary communities. (Fox News)
Related:
"A sense of dread" for civil servants shaken by the Trump transition. Across the vast federal bureaucracy anxiety, frustration, fear and resistance has spread among many of the two million nonpolitical civil servants who say they work for the public, not a particular president. (New York Times)
10/ Utah’s Rep. Jason Chaffetz faces the “Resistance" in his home state. The backlash was not just about policy—it was fueled by anger that the congressman was shirking his duty as chairman of the House Oversight Committee by refusing to investigate Trump. In their view, his was not just a failure of government, but of character. Despite Utah’s status as one of the most conservative states in the country, Trump has never been very popular there. He carried the state’s electoral votes last year with just 45 percent of the vote. (The Atlantic)
Related:
Chaffetz said the protestors were Democrats and paid to demonstrate and disrupt his town hall because they don't like Trump and are upset about the results of the 2016 election. (Talking Points Memo)
11/ State G.O.P. leaders move swiftly as party bickers in Congress. While Republicans in Washington appear flummoxed by the complexities of one-party rule, rising party leaders in the states seem far more at ease and assertive. Republicans have top-to-bottom control in 25 states now, holding both the governorship and the entire legislature, and Republican lawmakers are acting with lightning speed to enact longstanding conservative priorities. (New York Times)
12/ Army veterans return to Standing Rock to form a human shield against police. A growing group of military veterans are willing to put their bodies between Native American activists and the police trying to remove them. (The Guardian)
1/ White House now says it may take travel ban to the Supreme Court. Minutes after one White House official said Trump would not appeal the 9th Circuit ruling upholding a temporary stay of the travel ban, Reince Priebus said the White House is now "reviewing all of our options in the court system," including possibly going to the Supreme Court. (Washington Post)
Related:
Earlier: When asked if Trump was considering signing a new executive order on immigration: "Nothing's off the table.” Trump also has the option of going back to the drawing board and coming up with a new way to impose "extreme vetting" restrictions he says are necessary. But it seems certain he will not take the route since to do so would involve not only admitting the bitter taste of a high stakes legal defeat but repudiating the combative win-at-all-costs attitude that animates his character. (CNN)
2/ US investigators corroborate some aspects of the Russia dossier compiled by a former British intelligence agent. None of the newly learned information relates to the salacious allegations in the dossier. The intercepts do confirm that some of the conversations described in the dossier took place between the same individuals on the same days and from the same locations as detailed in the dossier. (CNN)
3/ Russia considers returning Snowden to U.S. to "curry favor" with Trump. Trump has called the NSA leaker a "spy" and a "traitor" who deserves to be executed. Russia considers turning over Snowden to be a "gift" to Trump. (ABC News)
4/ National security adviser Flynn discussed sanctions with Russian ambassador, despite denials. Flynn’s communications with Russian Ambassador Sergey Kislyak were interpreted by some senior U.S. officials as an inappropriate and potentially illegal signal to the Kremlin that it could expect a reprieve from sanctions that were being imposed by the Obama administration in late December to punish Russia for its alleged interference in the 2016 election. (Washington Post)
Related:
Did Mike Pence get burned by Michael Flynn? Either the national security adviser misled the vice president, or the vice president knowingly misled the American people. (Washington Post)
5/ Trump tells President Xi Jinping U.S. will honor the "One China" Policy, reversing his earlier expressions of doubt about the longtime diplomatic understanding and removing a major source of tension between the United States and China since shortly after he was elected. Trump had to publicly commit to upholding the 44-year-old policy for President Xi to take his call. The concession was clearly designed to put an end to an extended chill in the relationship between China and the United States. (New York Times)
Related:
The US's One-China policy explained: It has been the policy of the United States to recognize Taiwan as part of China. The one-China policy is the delicate balance between respecting China's claim to the territory and maintaining close ties to Taiwan. (ABC News)
Trump's retreat over Taiwan and China's currency may be tactical. Trump has threatened to label China a currency manipulator and to slap tariffs of as much as 45% on Chinese goods. If he follows through with that, the result could be a trade war that damages both economies. But, talking with China, rather than trading threats, could help Trump come away with some kind of deal on issues like import tariffs and currencies that he could tout as a victory. (CNN)
6/ Jared Kushner proves to be a shadow diplomat on U.S.-Mexico talks. Kushner’s back-channel communications with Mexico reveals he’s operating like a shadow secretary of state, operating outside the boundaries of the State Department or National Security Council. (Washington Post)
7/ Tom Price confirmed as the new secretary of Health and Human Services. He was approved by a party-line vote of 52-47. Democrats were concerned that the conservative congressman wants to pare down government health programs. They were also troubled by lingering ethics questions over Price's investments. (NPR)
Related:
12.2 million people have signed up for Obamacare this year, even with the uncertainty created by Trump's vow to repeal and replace it. Enrollment is about 4 percent lower than last year, the sizable number of sign-ups illustrates the risk Republicans face as they begin moving to dismantle the Affordable Care Act and put in its place a yet-to-be-defined conservative approach. (Bloomberg)
8/ Kellyanne Conway apologized to Donald Trump after Ivanka clothing line comments. Conway, in a Fox News interview, urged viewers Thursday to "go buy Ivanka's stuff.” The top White House adviser tweeted that she had the full support of Trump. (CNN)
POTUS supports me, and millions of Americans support him & his agenda. https://t.co/FTaPXTymGV
9/ Trump border wall to cost $21.6 billion and take 3.5 years to build, based on a U.S. Department of Homeland Security internal report. The report’s estimated price-tag is much higher than a $12-billion figure cited by Trump in his campaign. (Reuters)
10/ Treasury nominee vows no tax cut for rich. But the math says the opposite. Mnuchin said any rate reductions at the top would be offset by the closing of fat loopholes, his guarantee appears impossible to fulfill either under the tax overhaul that the House Republicans are pushing or similar, sketchier proposals that Mr. Trump has offered. (New York Times)
11/ Trump vexed by challenges, scale of government. The president’s allies say he has been surprised that government can’t be run like his business. Nearly two dozen people who’ve spent time with Trump in the three weeks since his inauguration said that his mood has careened between surprise and anger as he’s faced the predictable realities of governing, from congressional delays over his cabinet nominations and legal fights holding up his aggressive initiatives to staff in-fighting and leaks. (Politico)
12/ Republicans push bill to split up "nutty 9th Circuit”. They argue that the 9th is too big, too liberal and too slow resolving cases. If they succeed, only California, Oregon, Hawaii and two island districts would remain in the 9th's judicial fiefdom. Nevada, Washington, Idaho, Montana, Arizona, and Alaska would be part of the brand new 12th Circuit. (Fox News)
13/ A blueprint for resistance to Trump has emerged. Here’s what it looks like: faith in the system, pressure Republicans to exercise oversight, use all the procedural tools in the Senate, leverage civil society, keep Trump distracted. (Washington Post)
14/ FBI terrorism taskforce investigating Standing Rock activists. FBI representatives have contacted several "water protectors," raising alarm that an indigenous-led movement is being construed as domestic terrorism. (The Guardian)
poll/ Americans believe the world sees the U.S. more unfavorably (57%) than favorably (42%) – the worst in a decade. (Gallup)
poll/ Americans evenly divided on impeaching Trump. Support for impeaching Trump has crept up from 35% 2 weeks ago, to 40% last week, to its 46% standing this week. (Public Policy Polling)
1/ The 9th Circuit Court refused to reinstate travel ban, delivering the latest and most stinging judicial rebuke to Trump's effort to tighten the standards for entry into the United States and make good on a campaign promise. The ruling was focused on the narrow question of whether the travel ban should be blocked while courts consider its lawfulness. The decision is likely to be appealed to the Supreme Court. (New York Times)
Related:
Federal appeals court maintains suspension of Trump’s immigration order. (Washington Post)
SEE YOU IN COURT, THE SECURITY OF OUR NATION IS AT STAKE!
2/ Conway may have broken key ethics rule by touting Ivanka Trump’s products. Federal employees are banned from using their public office to endorse products. “I’m going to give it a free commercial here,” Conway said. “Go buy it today.” (Washington Post)
Related:
Trump’s defense of Ivanka reflects approach that could hurt the economy. The prospect of a costly Trump tantrum could give factory bosses reason to think twice before setting up shop in the United States. In the short run, perhaps Trump’s threats can slow a painful decline. But in the longer run, defending the status quo may do more harm than good. (New York Times)
My daughter Ivanka has been treated so unfairly by @Nordstrom. She is a great person -- always pushing me to do the right thing! Terrible!
Trump’s Oval Office tweets force CEOs to choose fight or flight. The president crossed a new line with Nordstrom attack. Apple, Google, Amazon, Microsoft, Starbucks, and others have emerged as vocal critics of Trump’s immigration executive order. (Bloomberg)
3/ Spicer misspoke on attack, meant Orlando, not Atlanta. Three times in one week, Spicer alluded to a terror attack in Atlanta by someone from overseas. Spicer eventually admitted he misspoke. Oops. (CNN)
Related:
Spicer claims he "clearly meant Orlando" after citing mystery Atlanta terrorist attack three time. Trump and his aides have been using the attacks in Orlando, San Bernardino and Boston as talking points during media circuits to defend the ban. (Washington Post)
4/ Sessions sworn in as attorney general while Trump signed three executive actions aimed at bolstering law enforcement. Sessions pledged to attack a crime problem that he described as "a dangerous permanent trend that has places the health and safety of the American people at risk." Although murder jumped by 11% in 2015, the biggest one-year increase in more than 40 years, the overall rate remains the lowest in decades. (USA Today)
Related:
ACLU vows to sue Sessions if he violates Constitution as Attorney General. The ACLU made the first successful lawsuit against the Trump administration in late January when it filed a complaint on behalf of two men who were detained at an airport as a result of Trump’s controversial executive order. (The Hill)
5/ Trump attacks McCain for questioning success of deadly Yemen raid. McCain initially referred to the raid as “a failure” but later dialed back his criticism, saying that some objectives were fulfilled in the mission but that he would “not describe any operation that results in the loss of American life as a success.” (Washington Post)
Sen. McCain should not be talking about the success or failure of a mission to the media. Only emboldens the enemy! He's been losing so....
6/ Republican Senator admits GOP health-care plan has to remain secret because it will be unpopular. Senator Mike Lee insists that Republicans repeal Obamacare first, before they decide on an alternative. And his reason is straightforward: If people saw the Republican alternative, they might not like it! (New York Magazine)
7/ Gun rights advocates prepare push for more guns in schools. Attempts to allow more guns in K-12 schools were defeated in 15 states last year but second amendment campaigners are only encouraged by Trump’s election. (The Guardian)
8/ Trump lashes out at Blumenthal for relaying Gorsuch’s “disheartening” comments. The president resurfaces Senator Blumenthal's military record to minimize fallout from Gorsuch's Supreme Court's statements. (Politico)
Related:
We're careening "toward a constitutional crisis” Sen. Richard Blumenthal warned moments after Trump attacked him for sharing Supreme Court nominee Neil Gorsuch's concerns with the president's attacks on judges. (The Hill)
Trump questions credibility of senator who disclosed comments by Judge Gorsuch. (Washington Post)
Texas Democrats angered by Trump’s remark on destroying senator’s career. Republicans, who control both chambers of the State Legislature, described Mr. Trump’s comment as a joke. Democrats, however, said they were shocked that the president of the United States would speak so flippantly about destroying a lawmaker’s career. (New York Times)
UPDATE: Story is dated 2016. 8/ Feds try to forcefully search Wall Street Journal reporter's phone. A Wall Street Journal reporter was detained by federal agents at the Los Angeles airport who demanded to confiscate her two cell phones – and was surprised to find that border agents have the authority to do that. (CNN)
9/ In call with Putin, Trump denounced Obama-era nuclear arms treaty that caps U.S. and Russian deployment of nuclear warheads. When Putin raised the possibility of extending the 2010 treaty, Trump paused to ask his aides in an aside what the treaty was. The phone call with Putin has added to concerns that Trump is not adequately prepared for discussions with foreign leaders. (Reuters)
10/ Whatever happened to the Trump-Russia story? The biggest election-related scandal since Watergate occurred last year, and it has largely disappeared from the political-media landscape of Washington. (Mother Jones)
11/ Is the anti-Trump “Resistance" the New Tea Party? The parallels are striking: a massive grassroots movement, many of its members new to activism, that feeds primarily off fear and reaction. (The Atlantic)
12/ Burst your bubble: five conservative articles to read as protests stymie Trump. Rightwing commentators try to explain to the left how best to agitate, while others reveal the hidden costs of America’s "war on terror.” (The Guardian)
charts/ Trump’s approval rating in context. Just how bad is Donald Trump’s approval rating, historically speaking? (Borderline)
1/ Jeff Sessions confirmed as Attorney General, capping a bitter and racially charged nomination battle. Sessions survived a near-party-line vote, 52 to 47, in the latest sign of the extreme partisanship at play as Trump strains to install his cabinet. No Republicans broke ranks in their support. (New York Times)
Why Jeff Sessions is so uniquely dangerous. Sessions will not prioritize citizens who have had their lives ruined by racial disparities in policing, or by the persistent use of excessive force by officers who are shielded from accountability. He won't be an attorney general who will side with those consigned by petty judges to cycles of poverty and crime, or those circulating in and out of a new generation of debtors' prisons. (Esquire)
2/ Republicans vote to rebuke Elizabeth Warren for impugning Sessions's character. In an extraordinarily rare move, Mitch McConnell interrupted Warren’s speech in a near-empty chamber, as debate on Jeff Sessions’s nomination, saying she had breached Senate rules by reading past statements against Sessions. (Washington Post)
Silencing Elizabeth Warren backfires on Senate GOP. Warren went straight from the Senate floor to a call-in appearance on Rachel Maddow's MSNBC show. Adding fuel to the backlash, supporters noted the apparent hypocrisy that Warren's male colleagues were able to read from the letter uninterrupted. (CNN)
"Nevertheless, she persisted" becomes new battle cry after McConnell silences Elizabeth Warren. If the Republican senators had intended to minimize Warren's message, the decision backfired — severely. (Washington Post)
Jeff Merkley reads Coretta Scott King's letter about Jeff Sessions on Senate floor. Uninterrupted. (The Oregonian)
3/ Appeals Court panel appears skeptical of Trump’s travel ban. The appeals court judges seemed taken aback by the assertiveness of the administration’s position, which in places came close to saying the court was without power to make judgments about Trump’s actions. (New York Times)
Related:
Trump decries "disgraceful" opposition as appeals court weighs immigration order. Trump also repeated claims that politics plays a role in the challenges to the travel ban and questions about his authority to implement it. (Washington Post)
Gorsuch calls Trump's tweets about the judiciary "demoralizing" and "disheartening" to the independence of the courts. Gorsuch took exception to Trump calling a federal judge in Seattle a "so-called judge" after blocking the President's travel ban. (CNN)
Homeland Security chief admits travel ban was rushed. People caught up in the confusion after the ban was imposed were denied access to lawyers, held in detention for hours without food, and in some instances coerced into signing away their entry visas. (New York Times)
4/ House Republicans voted to eliminate the only federal agency that makes sure voting machines can’t be hacked. In a little-noticed 6-3 vote, the House Administration Committee voted along party lines to eliminate the Election Assistance Commission, which helps states run elections and is the only federal agency charged with making sure voting machines can’t be hacked. (The Nation)
5/ Trump invites sheriff to "destroy" Texas state lawmaker who opposes asset forfeiture, a practice by which law enforcement can seize the cash and property of individuals suspected of committing a crime without a guilty verdict. Proponents of the practice argue that allows law enforcement to effectively combat terrorism and the drug trade, while opponents, including some conservatives, argue that it allows police to seize assets without due process. (Politico)
6/ Leaks suggest Trump’s own team is alarmed by his conduct: an impulsive, sometimes petty chief executive more concerned with the adulation of the nation than the details of his own policies ― and quick to assign blame when things do not go his way. (Huffington Post)
7/ Yemen withdraws permission for U.S. antiterror ground missions after the raid, in which just about everything went wrong, killed several civilians, including children. It was an early test of Trump’s national security decision-making. The White House continues to insist that the attack was a “success.” (New York Times)
8/ US military to rent space in Trump Tower. Military support for a president, including the military staff assigned to keeping the "nuclear football" nearby, requires close proximity to the commander in chief, which is why the Pentagon needs to rent a more expensive space closer to the penthouse where Trump resides when he's in New York. The floors available to rent cost about $1.5 million a year. (CNN)
9/ Trump faults media while lying about murder rate. Trump has suggested that the national news media suppresses bad news about violence. He has implied that this is for ideological reasons. (CNN)
Related:
Trump says his critics "pull out the racist card” when they characterize him or his policies as anti-Muslim or anti-black. Trump also defended himself against criticism that he makes comments without factual evidence to support them, such as his unsubstantiated claim that millions of undocumented immigrants voted illegally. (Washington Post)
Conway clashes with CNN's Jake Tapper on air. Tapper pressed Conway sharply on Trump’s false claim that the U.S. murder rate is “the highest it's been in 45 to 47 years.” Conway then tried to shift the conversation to the criticism she has received from media reports, while asserting that she’s “the most open press person in the White House. (Politico)
10/ Democrats to plot anti-Trump strategy in Congress and at the polls. Democrats are thinking about how to capture the fast-growing wave of resistance to the Trump administration, as seen at congressional town halls, congressional offices, and airports since Trump was sworn. Trump is polling poorly across the country but stronger in swing seats. (Washington Post)
11/ White House weighs terrorist designation for Muslim Brotherhood, targeting the oldest and perhaps most influential Islamist group in the Middle East. Officially designating the Brotherhood as a terrorist organization would roil American relations in the Middle East. (New York Times)
12/ Spicer: Nordstrom dropping Ivanka Trump's line is "direct attack on Trump". Spicer told reporters during his daily press briefing that the decision – which Nordstrom said was a result of poor sales, not politics – was because of the clothing company's displeasure with Trump's executive orders and his policies. (Talking Points Memo)
Related:
Nordstrom’s shares up nearly 5 percent after clash with Trump. (Vox)
My daughter Ivanka has been treated so unfairly by @Nordstrom. She is a great person -- always pushing me to do the right thing! Terrible!
T.J. Maxx backs away from Ivanka Trump as President assails Nordstrom. T.J. Maxx and Marshalls stores sent a note to employees telling them to throw away signs for Ivanka Trump products. (New York Times)
13/ Republicans push carbon tax at White House. A carbon tax, long favored by economists as the most straightforward way to address climate change, could gain traction as part of a broad tax overhaul. (Bloomberg)
1/ 9th Circuit Court of Appeals to hear challenge to Trump's ban today. The issue in front of the court at the moment is whether the ban will remain suspended for now. The hour-long hearing, conducted by telephone among three West coast judges at 6 p.m. ET, will determine the immediate fate of the nationwide temporary restraining order against Trump's travel ban. The three-judge panel is expected to rule this week. (CNN)
Trump: I’ll take “common sense” travel ban to the Supreme Court, if necessary. (Washington Post)
Justice Department urges appeals court to reinstate Trump’s travel ban, saying immediate action was needed to ensure the nation’s safety. (New York Times)
"If something happens": Trump points his finger in case of a terrorist attack. President Trump appears to be laying the groundwork to preemptively shift blame for any future terrorist attack on U.S. soil from his administration to the federal judiciary, as well as to the media. (Washington Post)
Trump’s loose talk about Muslims gets weaponized in court against travel ban. The states of Washington and Minnesota, which sued to block Trump’s order, are citing the president’s inflammatory rhetoric as evidence that the government’s claims — that it’s not a ban and not aimed at Muslims — are shams. (Washington Post)
Because the ban was lifted by a judge, many very bad and dangerous people may be pouring into our country. A terrible decision
Trump’s real fear: The Courts. Over the past few days, he’s added an entire branch of the federal government to his enemies list. (New York Times)
2/ Betsy DeVos is confirmed as education secretary thanks to an unprecedented tie-breaking vote. The Senate voted 50-50 on Trump's controversial pick to head the Department of Education, forcing VP Pence to cast a historic vote to break the tie. (BuzzFeed News)
UPDATE:
The senators who opposed DeVos represent 36 million more people than her supporters do. The 50 senators who opposed DeVos represent 179,381,386 people, while the 50 senators who supported her represent only 143,064,962 individuals. (Think Progress)
Related:
Franken: DeVos "fundamentally incompetent” to lead Education Dept. "During her hearing, Ms. DeVos proved beyond a shadow of a doubt not only that her ideology is fundamentally incompatible with the mission of the Department of Education, but that she is fundamentally incompetent to be its leader," Franken said Monday from the Senate floor. (The Hill)
Live: Senate Vote on Betsy DeVos. She needs a majority of votes to be confirmed, though Vice President Mike Pence can vote if there is a tie. Here’s a full list of Senate confirmation votes. (New York Times)
3/ WH official: We'll say "fake news" until media realizes attitude of attacking the President is wrong. Trump and his staff have repeatedly used the term "fake news" to discredit reporting on the administration, often offering no evidence to back up their disputes with those outlets' stories. (CNN)
Related:
Trump claims media doesn’t cover terrorist attacks; archives say otherwise. Trump did not say why the media might not report on terrorist attacks but gave no examples of stories that went uncovered. (NBC News)
InfoWars is behind President Trump’s idea that the media is covering up terrorist attacks. Conservatives have long accused the media of obscuring the details and motivations of radical Islamic terrorists in an effort to downplay the role of religion. (Washington Post)
Librarians take up arms against fake news. Librarians have always helped people sort fact from fiction, reliable sources from deceptive ones. (Seattle Times)
Trump White House coaxes media into re-running terrorists’ greatest hits. (Washington Post)
4/ FBI axes FOIA requests by email, so dust off your fax machine. Starting next month, the FBI will no longer accept Freedom of Information Act requests by email. In lieu of its popular email service, the FBI suggests sending a fax or snail mail, a procedural change that has more to do with obstructing the law than a dearth of resources. (TechCrunch)
5/ Hundreds of current, former EPA employees urge Senate to reject Trump’s nominee for the agency. The controversial nomination advanced out of a Senate committee last week after Republicans used their majority to suspend committee rules and approve Pruitt despite the absence of all Democrats, who boycotted the nomination vote partly because of his anti-regulatory bent. He could be approved by the full Senate as early as this week. (Washington Post)
6/ Trump’s White House tries to rehab its Hill outreach. The administration has been on a hiring spree to smooth congressional relations but some of the interactions are still rocky. (Politico)
7/ Melania Trump reveals plan to leverage presidency to ink "multi-million dollar" endorsement deals. The admission came in a defamation lawsuit the First Lady filed against the Daily Mail. (Think Progress)
8/ Europe must defend itself against a dangerous president. The United States president is becoming a danger to the world. It is time for Germany and Europe to prepare their political and economic defenses. (Der Spiegel)
9/ BuzzFeed vs. Trump. BuzzFeed News pushes further than its competitors, but can it handle the consequences? (Recode)
10/ Trump administration to approve final permit for Dakota Access pipeline. The deputy secretary of the Army will grant the final permit needed for completion of the Dakota Access Pipeline, clearing the final bureaucratic hurdle standing in the way of the massive infrastructure project. (Washington Post)
11/ White House ramping up search for communications director after Spicer's rocky start. Trump is disappointed in Spicer's performance during the first two weeks of the administration.
Spicer has served as both White House press secretary and communications director for the new administration. Those roles are typically filled by two staffers. (CNN)
1/ Trump will not be allowed to address Parliament on UK state visit. Members of Parliament will not permit Trump to address Westminster Hall because of his racist and sexist attitudes. (The Independent)
2/ After 2 weeks of stumbles, Trump and staff rethink tactics. The backlash against a series of executive orders has Trump and his top staff reconsidering their improvisational approach to governing. Trump, who was not fully briefed on the executive order he signed giving his chief strategist a seat on the National Security Council, has demanded that he be looped in earlier. (New York Times)
"We are moving big and we are moving fast," Bannon said, when asked about the upheaval of the first two weeks. "We didn’t come here to do small things."
But one thing has become apparent to both his allies and his opponents: When it comes to governing, speed does not always guarantee success.
Related:
The big lesson of Trump's first 2 weeks: resistance works. Protests, phone calls, and mobilization are making a difference. (Vox)
3/ 97 companies file opposition to Trump’s immigration order. Apple, Facebook, Microsoft, Twitter and other tech companies filed an amicus brief voicing opposition to Trump’s executive order on immigration on the grounds that it is discriminatory and has a negative impact on business. (TechCrunch)
Related:
Opposition to Trump travel ban grows as key court decision looms. Ten former high-ranking diplomatic and national security officials, nearly 100 Silicon Valley tech companies, more than 280 law professors, and a host of civil liberties and other organizations have formally lent their support to the legal bid to block President Trump’s immigration order. (Washington Post)
Amicus Brief U.S. Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit (PDF)
4/ Trump says "negative polls are fake news." Trump turned to Twitter early Monday and began challenging polls that showed his travel order was not popular. (New York Times)
Related:
Trump is encouraging his 24 million Twitter followers to ignore accurate polls. A CNN/ORC's poll found Trump had a 44% approval and 53% disapproval of his job performance. 53% of Americans oppose the travel ban, 47% in favor. (CNN)
Any negative polls are fake news, just like the CNN, ABC, NBC polls in the election. Sorry, people want border security and extreme vetting.
5/ The massacre that wasn’t, and a turning point for fake news. The Bowling Green episode made such a splash because it played directly into concerns that the Trump administration would use untrue assertions to rally support for its agenda while denigrating as "dishonest" all the valid reporting pointing out the falsehoods. (New York Times)
Related:
Not the first time Kellyanne Conway referred to the "Bowling Green Massacre." Conway used the same wording in a conversation with Cosmopolitan.com on Jan. 29. (Cosmopolitan)
Democrats confront lefty fake news. As opposition to President Trump consumes social media, Democrats are facing their own troubles with conspiracy theories and sketchy stories going viral. "It exists on the left and that’s a problem because it misinforms people." (BuzzFeed New)
6/ Trump is now speculating that the media is covering up terrorist attacks. Trump went off his prepared remarks to make a truly stunning claim: The media was intentionally covering up reports of terrorist attacks and complicit in making terrorists successful. It’s part of a recent pattern of suggesting that others are standing in the way of his terrorism-fighting efforts, which includes disparaging a federal judge who halted his immigration executive order. (Washington Post)
7/ Kremlin says it wants apology from Fox News over Putin comments. Fox News host Bill O'Reilly described Putin as "a killer" in the interview with Trump as he tried to press the U.S. president to explain more fully why he respected his Russian counterpart. (Reuters)
Related:
Trump’s continued defense of Putin confounds Republicans. Congressional Republicans have broken with Trump over dozens of controversial statements he has made during his campaign, his transition and now his presidency. But few issues appear to have confounded lawmakers as much as his consistent defense of Putin. Trump’s coziness is at odds with years of Republican foreign policy orthodoxy calling for a more aggressive stance toward Putin’s regime. (Washington Post)
8/ Senate Democrats plan to debate all night in hopes of stopping DeVos. The 24-hour marathon of speeches is expected to conclude at noon on Tuesday, when the Senate is expected to vote on DeVos' confirmation. That vote is likely to be a 50-50 tie, with Vice President Mike Pence then taking a rare tiebreaker vote to ensure that DeVos is confirmed. The debate is not a filibuster. (Politico)
9/ Trump speaks of "strong support" for NATO in call with leaders. Trump pressed the North Atlantic Treaty Organization’s general secretary on how to encourage member nations to pay more for their defense while expressing "strong support" from the U.S. for the alliance (Bloomberg)
10/ Bracing for Trump's revenge. Some conservatives unequivocally opposed his election. Now he’s the president, with all the levers of government at his disposal. (The Atlantic)
Related:
Does Trump actually want to succeed? How to run a White House that works, why the world is so scared right now—and how the new president could stop screwing up: Stop blowing up the U.S. relationship with Mexico, don’t expect them to pay for the wall, don’t act as "Israel’s lawyer," don’t be an isolationist, support NATO and do a much better job of working with the other power centers of Washington—Congress and the Cabinet—before unveiling disruptive new policies like the temporary refugee ban. (Politico)
1/ Appeals court rejects request to immediately restore travel ban. A federal appeals court early Sunday rejected a request by the Justice Department to immediately restore President Trump’s immigration order. The ruling meant that refugees and travelers from seven predominantly Muslim nations would, for now, continue to be able to enter the country. (NY Times)
tl;dr
A judge in a lower federal court had put a temporary stop to the travel ban. Because the appeals court declined to intervene immediately, affected travelers can enter until at least until Monday. The appeals court set a schedule asking challengers to the ban to file a response by roughly 3 a.m. Eastern on Monday, and the Justice Department — representing the Trump administration — to reply to that by 6 p.m.
Trump administration had said it was improper for a lower court to engage in "second-guessing" of President Trump’s controversial immigration order and asked the appeals court to dissolve the judge’s order that stopped its implementation. (Washington Post)
Related:
Pence defends Trump’s criticism of judge who blocked travel ban. "The judge’s actions in this case," Mr. Pence added, "making decisions about American foreign policy and national security, it’s just very frustrating to the president, to our whole administration, to millions of Americans who want to see judges that will uphold the law and recognize the authority the president of the United States has under the Constitution to manage who comes into this country." (NY Times)
What happens if Trump decides to ignore a judge’s ruling. If Trump were to ever go down this road, the ultimate arbiter would be the other branch of government. He said Trump could be held in contempt of court, and it would then be up to the House of Representatives. the Trump administration has given no indication that they'll actually ignore this particular court order. (Washington Post)
2/ Trump tells O'Reilly he "respects" Putin in Super Bowl interview. In a preview, Trump reveals his plans for dealing with Putin. O'Reilly asked Trump whether he "respects" the former KGB agent: "I do respect him, but I respect a lot of people," Trump said, "That doesn't mean I'm going to get along with him." (Fox News)
Related:
Pelosi calls for probe of possible Russian blackmail of Trump. House and Senate panels are also investigating Russian interference in the 2016 election, including possible contacts between the Kremlin and Trump's campaign. (Politico)
3/ McConnell rebukes Trump's attack on the federal judge who temporarily halted his travel ban. The Senate Republican leader also distanced himself from the president on Russia, voter fraud and the travel ban. (Politico)
Related:
McConnell: No federal money for voter fraud prob. While McConnell says there is voter fraud, he doesn’t believe it’s as widespread as Trump claims or requires federal intervention. He says that cleaning up voter rolls is best left to the states. (The Hill)
4/ Sanders on Trump: "This guy is a fraud" and is working with Wall Street as he looks to roll back some banking regulations. Sanders criticized Trump for appointing "all of these billionaires" to his Cabinet, and singled out his major financial adviser, who comes from Goldman Sachs. (Politico)
Related:
From "drain the swamp" to Government Sachs. Although Trump campaigned as an economic populist, his brand of populism was simply old-school Reaganomics—giveaways to the rich and pro-corporate deregulation—rebranded with a nationalist and protectionist twist. After the election, Trump stocked his Cabinet with Wall Street billionaires and mega-millionaires—Wilbur Ross, Steve Mnuchin, Cohn—who had benefitted personally from the lax regulatory regime that was in place before 2010. (The New Yorker)
5/ "We’ll do better": Trump’s White House tries to gain a sense of order amid missteps. The big thinker remains chief White House strategist Stephen K. Bannon, who has used chaos as a tool for implementing transformative policy but who aides said is now trying to adapt to working within Priebus’s structure. (Washington Post)
6/ White House pulls back from bid to reopen C.I.A. "Black Site" prisons, where the C.I.A. once tortured terrorism suspects. The White House circulated among National Security Council staff members a revised version of the draft order on detainees that deleted language contemplating a revival of the C.I.A. prisons. (NY Times)
7/ New FCC chair blocked 9 companies from providing affordable Internet to the poor. The program, known as Lifeline, provides registered households with a $9.25-a-month credit, which can then be used to buy home Internet service. As many as 13 million Americans may be eligible for Lifeline that do not have broadband service at home, the FCC has found. (Chicago Tribune)
8/ Trump’s F.D.A. pick could undo decades of drug safeguards. (NY Times)
9/ Trump posted a false news report to his Facebook page and got thousands of shares.The report claimed that Kuwait had also issued a visa ban on several Muslim-majority countries after President Trump’s immigration order. They didn’t. (BuzzFeed News)
Related:
Trump’s lies are not the problem. It’s the millions who swallow them who really matter. As the alt-right continues to set the agenda in global politics at a frightening pace, has the world reverted to a 20th-century era of totalitarianism? (The Guardian)
10/ Trump is right: Silicon Valley is using H-1B visas to pay low wages to immigrants. This drafted executive order could actually mean higher wages for both foreign workers and Americans working in Silicon Valley. (Huffington Post)
11/ "The Senate is coming apart." The Senate is barely functioning. And the future looks even bleaker. Things have gotten so bad in the chamber lately that Chuck Schumer even voted against Mitch McConnell's wife. (Politico)
1/ Homeland Security suspends travel ban, and will resume standard inspections of travelers as it did prior to the signing of the travel ban. The White House announced the Justice Department would file an emergency motion to stop the halt, but it had yet to do so as of Saturday afternoon. Washington state Attorney General Bob Ferguson said he was prepared to take his case all the way to the Supreme Court if necessary. (CNN)
tl;dr:
On Friday night, a federal judge in Seattle temporarily halted the enforcement of President Trump's executive order on immigration. By Saturday, federal officials had announced they would be complying with the ruling, and airlines said they would resume boarding travelers covered under the ban. (NPR)
U.S. authorities end enforcement of travel ban after judge puts Trump executive order on hold. The State Department had “provisionally revoked” 60,000 visas since the Jan. 27 order. It has started re-accepting those visas from people in the countries affected. (LA Times)
Trump lashes out at federal judge over ruling on travel ban.(Seattle Times)
The opinion of this so-called judge, which essentially takes law-enforcement away from our country, is ridiculous and will be overturned!
Trump called the decision “big trouble” and said it would be overturned. (BuzzFeed News)
2/ USDA abruptly purges animal welfare information from its website about the treatment of animals at thousands of research laboratories, zoos, dog breeding operations and other facilities. The removed documents are now accessible only via Freedom of Information Act Requests. Those can take years to be approved. (Washington Post)
3/ Trust records show Trump is still closely tied to his empire. Trump’s situation is unprecedented because it involves a wealthy president acting to avoid an appearance of conflict of interest. (NY Times)
Related:
Newly released documents show that Trump himself is the sole beneficiary of the trust and that it is legally controlled by his oldest son and a longtime employee. (Washington Post)
Early signs suggest Trump’s actions are taking a toll on the Trump brand. Nordstrom and Neiman Marcus dropped Ivanka Trump’s jewelry line. (NY Times)
4/ Trump's pick for Army Secretary drops out. Vincent Viola concluded that he would not be able to successfully navigate the confirmation process citing his inability to get around strict Defense Department rules concerning his family businesses. (Military Times)
5/ Pence says Supreme Court nominee Neil Gorsuch will be seated on the high court "one way or the other." Trump urged the Senate's Republican leader to scrap longstanding rules and "go nuclear" if Democrats block Gorsuch. (Associated Press)
6/ Tech companies fight Trump immigration order in court. Amazon and Expedia stepped up their opposition to the order with filings that were part of a lawsuit in federal court against the Trump administration, arguing that the order will hurt their businesses. (NY Times)
Related:
The ACLU filed a class action lawsuit that uses Trump’s tweets against him – pointing out specific instances where the president has described the action as a "ban" on Muslims. Plaintiffs argue that a de facto Muslim ban is unconstitutional—the First Amendment specifically prohibits "establishment of religion," including the government favoring one religion over another. (Ars Technica)
7/ BuzzFeed sued over unverified Trump dossier. McClatchy says XBT Holdings, a tech firm with Russian ties named in the document, is suing BuzzFeed, editor in chief Ben Smith and former British spy Christopher Steele over the January 10 publication of what the suit calls “libelous, unverified and untrue allegations.” (The Hill)
8/ New Yorkers hold mock vigil at Bowling Green for 'massacre' victims as Kellyanne Conway ripped for bogus claim. The group decided to take to the streets to poke fun at presidential adviser Kellyanne Conway’s false claim that Iraqi refugees committed an atrocity that never happened called the “Bowling Green massacre.” (NY Daily News)
Related:
Conway says she misspoke on Iraqi terrorists, calls some critics "haters." Conway admits she made a mistake in talking about a Kentucky massacre that never took place. But that’s not all she has to say about it. (Fox News)
1/ Federal judge in Seattle halts Trump’s immigration order. The temporary restraining order is granted on a nationwide basis. (Seattle Times)
Related:
Government reveals over 100,000 visas revoked due to travel ban. (Washington Post)
U.S. segregating Muslims as part of travel ban. Lawsuits being filed contend that the Department of Homeland Security is subjecting refugees, immigrants and travelers from seven Muslim-majority countries to flagrant religious and racial discrimination. They also claim that customs officials refuse to provide information in a timely fashion on the numbers and identities of detainees being held, and are aggressively blocking detainees’ access to legal advice. (Newsweek)
2/ Kellyanne Conway cites non-existent "massacre" defending ban. There's no such thing as the Bowling Green massacre. (CNN)
Kellyanne Conway cites "Bowling Green massacre" that never happened to defend travel ban. Kellyanne Conway has taken “alternative facts” to a new level. During a Thursday interview with MSNBC’s Chris Matthews, the counselor to the president defended President Trump’s travel ban related to seven majority-Muslim countries. At one point, Conway made a reference to two Iraqi refugees whom she described as the masterminds behind “the Bowling Green massacre.” (Washington Post)
Conway admits "Bowling Green massacre” error. "Honest mistakes abound,” she wrote on Twitter. (NY Times)
Facebook users are marking themselves “Safe” from Kellyanne Conway's made-up terror attack. The fabricated attack—which she told Hardball’s Chris Matthews was carried out by two Iraqi refugees—“didn’t get covered,” implying the press were complicit in covering up a massacre that never took place. (Gizmodo)
3/ Trump will order a sweeping review of the Dodd-Frank Act rules enacted in response to the 2008 financial crisis. Trump also will halt regulations that requires advisers on retirement accounts to work in the best interests of their clients. (Bloomberg)
Related:
Trump has mounted an all-out assault on financial regulation, announcing an array of steps to tear down safeguards enacted to prevent a repeat of the 2008 financial crisis and turning to the Wall Street titans he had demonized during his campaign for advice. The actions constitute a broad effort to loosen regulations on banks and other major financial companies. (NY Times)
4/ Ivanka Trump and Jared Kushner worked to sink LGBT executive order. The couple favored putting out a clear statement from the president, promising to uphold the 2014 Obama executive order and stopping the momentum for the turnaround in its tracks. Members of the religious right with ties to the Trump administration say they have been led to believe that some changes will still be coming. (Politico)
5/ The jobless rate ticked up to 4.8 percent. Employers added 227,000 to payrolls, but pay gains were scant despite increases in minimum-wage laws. Trump said that this latest report showed there was a "great spirit in the country right now.” (NY Times)
Related:
Trump said unemployment rate wasn’t real. if the president wants to set a different measure of the job market for his administration to focus on and improve, it would be best if he could let us know what it is now, so that we can really assess whether things get better or worse during his presidency. (NY Times)
Opinion: Trump is preparing to gut Wall Street oversight. This gives Democrats a huge opportunity. It presents a new and very specific way for them to press the case against Trump for more transparency around his own holdings and the unprecedented welter of conflicts-of-interest — and possibilities for corruption — they may be creating. (Washington Post)
6/ Hill Republicans revolt over Trump's plans to build border wall. A growing number of congressional Republicans are objecting to the cost and viability of a proposal that was a rallying cry for the billionaire businessman during his insurgent campaign. (CNN)
7/ Senate advances DeVos's nomination, setting her up for final vote. Senators voted 52-48 to advance DeVos’s nomination. No Democrats voted yes. Pence is expected to have to break a 50-50 tie, the first time a vice president will cast the deciding vote on a Cabinet nomination. (The Hill)
Related:
How DeVos became Trump’s least popular cabinet pick. Nine out of 10 students in this country attend public school. So DeVos' rhetoric about replacing "failed" public schools with charter schools and voucher programs may have rubbed many people — even Trump supporters — the wrong way. (NPR)
8/ Trump missing top lieutenants across federal government. The work at some agencies has slowed because of the lack of deputies. Trump has so far failed to nominate deputies and other top officials to run the day-to-day operations at most federal agencies, creating a vacuum across the government that has businesses, lobbyists and lawmakers in limbo as they wait to see how Trump’s agenda will be carried out. (Politico)
9/ The Trump administration is showing white nationalists it won’t fight them at all. The Trump administration is reportedly planning to rebrand a government effort to combat violent extremism into one that focuses only on terrorists acting in the name of Islam and take advantage of yet another opportunity to ratify white nationalism and white supremacy. (Washington Post)
10/ More companies back away from Donald Trump under pressure from customers. Uber CEO Travis Kalanick quit Trump’s 15-member council of business leaders yesterday. Nordstrom announced last night that it will stop selling Ivanka Trump’s name-branded line of clothing and shoes. (Washington Post)
11/ Trump’s Mar-a-Lago getaway could cost taxpayers more than $3 million. Trump regularly hassled Obama for his travel. Now Trump is about to get a taste of his own medicine. (Politico)
Related:
Eric Trump's trip to Uruguay cost taxpayers $97,830 in hotel bills. (Washington Post)
12/
Holy shit.
The Germans seem to be not be thrilled with Donald Trump...
1/ Trump badgered, bragged and abruptly ended phone call with Australian leader. Trump blasted Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull over a refugee agreement and boasted about the magnitude of his electoral college win. Trump called it "this was the worst call by far.” (Washington Post)
Related:
Trump had heated exchange with Australian PM, talked 'tough hombres' with Mexican leader. The disagreement came as the two leaders discussed a deal, reached under the Obama administration, for the US to accept refugees from Australia who are living on islands in detention centers off the mainland due to strict government policies. (CNN)
2/ Trump tells Israel to hold off on building new settlements, saying new settlements "may not help" achieve Middle East peace. (NY Times)
Related:
The statement marks a more nuanced position in what has been Trump's consistently pro-Israel stance. (Washington Post)
3/ Tehran shrugs off pressures from "inexperienced" U.S. president. Trump and Iran traded sharp statements Thursday, with Trump amplifying warnings over Tehran’s missile tests. (Washington Post)
UPDATE:
U.S. expected to impose fresh sanctions on Iranian entities, following Tehran's recent ballistic missile test. Trump said earlier on Thursday that "nothing is off the table" in dealing with Iran following the missile launch. (Reuters)
Spicer falsely accuses Iran of attacking U.S. Navy vessel, calling it an act of war. National Security Adviser Michael Flynn said he was “officially putting Iran on notice” following the country’s ballistic missile test and an attack on a Saudi naval vessel – Iran did not attack a U.S. Navy vessel. (The Intercept)
4/ House rolls back rule restricting gun sales to severely mentally ill. Republicans are using the Congressional Review Act to roll back all manner of regulations. Rep. Kevin Brady said the Social Security Administration "overstepped its mission." The vote was 235-180. (CNN)
5/ Scott Pruitt, Trump’s EPA pick, is approved by Senate committee. Senate Republicans pressed forward with the confirmation of Trump’s controversial nominee, suspending the Environment and Public Works Committee’s rules to approve the cabinet pick despite a Democratic boycott. The 11-0 vote sends the nomination to the full Senate, where Mr. Pruitt is most likely to be approved next week. (NY Times)
6/ Democrats plot protest for Trump’s speech to Congress. Democrats are planning to make Trump’s first speech to Congress as uncomfortable as possible by inviting guests they say will suffer under new White House policies. Trump will likely face a crowd including ethnic minorities, LGBT people, undocumented immigrants, the disabled and others when he addresses a joint session on Feb. 28. (The Hill)
7/ Trump vows to “totally destroy” law restricting political speech by tax-exempt churches, a potentially huge victory for the religious right and a gesture to his political base. Repealing the law would require approval by Congress. (NY Times)
Related:
Trump at national prayer breakfast: "Pray for Arnold… for those ratings". Trump veered off script at the start of the National Prayer Breakfast Thursday when he asked a room full of lawmakers, foreign dignitaries and religious leaders to pray for Arnold Schwarzenegger so that ratings of his show – NBC's "The Apprentice" – would go up. (CNN)
Schwarzenegger to Trump: "Why Don’t We Switch Jobs?” (NY Times)
Leaked draft of Trump's religious freedom order reveals sweeping plans to legalize discrimination. If signed, the order would create wholesale exemptions for people and organizations who claim religious objections to same-sex marriage, premarital sex, abortion, and trans identity. (The Nation)
8/ An anti-Trump resistance movement is growing within the government. The bureaucracy is fighting back. While dissent among federal workers isn’t unique to the Trump era, the scope of the resistance is unprecedented. (Vanity Fair)
Related:
Distrust in Trump’s White House spurs leaks, confusion. “Trying to nail down who the leakers are is like trying to count the cockroaches under the couch.” (Politico)
9/ Still no executive order on voter fraud, as Trump moves on. A full week has passed since President Donald Trump said he would sign an executive order opening a Justice Department investigation into his unsubstantiated claim that millions of people voted illegally in November. The Oval Office signing was abruptly canceled and never rescheduled. The White House hasn't talked about it since. (CNN)
10/ The G.O.P. campaign to repeal Obamacare hits a wall. Republicans are struggling to come up with a replacement and a key senator has declared that the effort is more a repair job than a demolition. (NY Times)
11/ Shouting match over Russia erupts at House hearing over Russian interference in the presidential election. Th fight exposed bitter frustration amongst Democrats that Republicans have kept the issue locked in a single committee. (The Hill)
News of Lesser Importance:
Gallup Poll: About half of Americans say Trump moving too fast. When Gallup asked the same question in early 2009, 63% said Obama's pace was about right, with 22% saying it was too fast. (Gallup)
Jon Stewart on Donald Trump: if we survive, he’ll have accidentally proven America’s greatness. "No one action will be adequate. All actions will be necessary," Stewart said. (Vox)
Is Steve Bannon the second most powerful man in the world? (Time)
America’s leading authoritarian intellectual is working for Trump. (New York Magazine)
Obama’s White House worked for months on a plan to seize Raqqa. Trump’s team took a quick look and decided not to pull the trigger. (Washington Post)
Why Congress just killed a rule restricting coal companies from dumping waste in streams. (Vox)
Ivanka Trump promised to resign from the family business, but hasn't filed paperwork (ProPublica)
1/ Trump Picks Neil Gorsuch, A Scalia Clone, For The Supreme Court. Ideologically, Gorsuch would almost certainly represent a reliably conservative vote and voice. Gorsuch would be the most conservative justice save for the silent stalwart Justice Clarence Thomas and would sit somewhere just to the right of the ideological space occupied by Scalia. (FiveThirtyEight)
UPDATE: What Gorsuch means for the Supreme Court. 13 top legal scholars weigh in. (Politico)
Related:
Where Gorsuch would fit on the Supreme Court. Should he be confirmed, the court will return to a familiar dynamic, with Justice Anthony M. Kennedy holding the decisive vote in many closely divided cases. (NY Times)
Who Is Neil Gorsuch? Like Justice Antonin Scalia, Gorsuch has cultivated a reputation as a memorable and clear author of legal opinions. (NPR)
Why Liberals should back Gorsuch. One basic criterion should be paramount: Is the nominee someone who will stand up for the rule of law and say no to a president or Congress that strays beyond the Constitution and laws? (NY Times)
Why Democrats should oppose Gorsuch. The presumption should be that Gorsuch does not deserve confirmation, because the process that led to his nomination was illegitimate. (NY Times)
2/ Trump to McConnell: Go nuclear if necessary. But McConnell, a well-known institutionalist, has been noncommittal about whether he would invoke the so-called “nuclear option” to force Gorsuch through the upper chamber. (The Hill)
Related:
Make Republicans nuke the filibuster to confirm Gorsuch. Once Mitch McConnell blockaded Barack Obama’s last Supreme Court nomination, and then Donald Trump carried the Electoral College, the chance that Republicans would fill the vacancy rose to 100 percent. McConnell already indicated that he does not respect Democrats’ right to filibuster, and that he would eliminate the filibuster for Supreme Court nominations if one is used. It is McConnell, his extraordinary blockade tactic, who has functionally changed the rules of the game. He should be forced to do it in name. (New York Magazine)
3/ Rex Tillerson is confirmed as Secretary of State amid record opposition. The votes against Mr. Tillerson’s confirmation were the most in Senate history (NY Times)
4/ Sessions approved by Senate committee. The Senate Judiciary Committee approved Sessions 11-9 along party lines. His nomination now goes to the floor, where he is widely expected to be confirmed given the GOP's 52-seat majority. (The Hill)
5/ Republicans suspend committee rules, advance Mnuchin, Price nominations after confronting a boycott from Democrats. Senate Committee rules normally require at least one Democratic senator present to have a vote. But when Democrats refused to show, the committee's chairman suspended those rules. (CNN)
6/ Two Republican senators says they aren't committed to voting for Betsy DeVos on Senate floor. Democrats say they have 48 votes against DeVos on the floor but need 51 — and they have been looking for Republican votes against her. (Washington Post)
UPDATES:
Two GOP senators to vote no on Betsy DeVos. The first two Republicans to break with Trump on his Cabinet picks. (The Hill)
DeVos nomination stands at 50-50. It could come down to Vice President Mike Pence, in what would be a history-making confirmation vote. (Politico)
7/ Resistance from within: Federal workers push back against Trump. Less than two weeks into Trump’s administration, federal workers are in regular consultation with recently departed Obama-era political appointees about what they can do to push back against the new president’s initiatives. (Washington Post)
Related:
State Dept. dissent cable on Trump's ban goes viral at U.S. embassies, attracting around 1,000 signatures – far more than any dissent cable in recent years. The letter, which harshly took apart the executive order, said the visa ban would “alienate allies” and “hurt America economically.” (NY Times)
Trump transition email shows initial effort to oust all inspectors general. (Washington Post)
8/ White House ices out CNN. Trump administration refuses to put officials on air on the network the president called "fake news." (Politico)
Related:
Fatigued by the news? Experts suggest how to adjust your media diet. Or, just read WTF Just Happened, Today? instead. (NY Times)
Covering Trump the Reuters way. In a message to staff, Reuters Editor-in-Chief Steve Adler wrote about covering President Trump the Reuters way. (Reuters)
9/ Bannon thinks there will be war with China in the next few years. Comments on his radio show are re-surfacing as the "special counsellor" assumes unprecedented power in the White House. (The Independent)
UPDATES:
Trump administration "officially putting Iran on notice." National security adviser, Michael Flynn, issued a statement in reaction to an Iranian missile test and an attack on a Saudi warship by Iranian-backed Houthi rebels in Yemen. “It’s either an empty threat or a clear statement of intent to go to war with Iran." (The Guardian)
Trump to focus counter-extremism program solely on Islam. (Reuters)
Trump to Mexico: Take care of "bad hombres" or US might. Trump threatened in a phone call with his Mexican counterpart to send U.S. troops to stop "bad hombres down there" unless the Mexican military does more to control them itself. (Associated Press)
News of Lesser Importance:
Bannon explained his worldview well before it became official U.S. policy: countries should protect their citizens and their essence by reducing immigration, legal and illegal, and pulling back from multinational agreements. (Washington Post)
President Trump campaigned as a Washington outsider. But his first Supreme Court nominee has deep roots in the city and the establishment Trump criticized. (NY Times)
How Democrats missed a chance to reshape the Supreme Court for a generation. If it weren't for 77,744 voters in Michigan, Wisconsin, and Pennsylvania, the Supreme Court would have had, for the first time in nearly 50 years, a majority of Democratic-appointed justices. (Vox)
Trump has a message for poor immigrants: Get Out. The ban targeting seven Muslim-majority countries was just the beginning. (The Atlantic)
Tweets to Shake Your Head At:
The est. security cost for Melania living 200mi away from Trump is double the annual budget for the National Endowment for the Arts.
1/ Hill staffers secretly worked on Trump's immigration order. Several House Judiciary Committee aides helped craft the controversial directive without telling Republican leaders. The news of their involvement helps unlock the mystery of whether the White House consulted Capitol Hill about the executive order, and confirms that the small group of staffers were among the only people on the Hill who knew of the looming controversial policy. (Politico)
UPDATE: San Francisco sues Trump over executive orders it claims are unconstitutional. (LA Times)
Draft executive order points to more immigration restrictions, focusing on protecting U.S. jobs. The Trump administration is considering a plan to weed out would-be immigrants who are likely to require public assistance, as well as to deport — when possible — immigrants already living in the United States who depend on taxpayer help. (Washington Post)
Trump's travel ban polarizes America. A Jan. 30-31 Reuters/Ipsos opinion poll found that 49 percent of American adults said they either "strongly" or "somewhat" agreed with Trump's order, while 41 percent "strongly" or "somewhat" disagreed and another 10 percent said they don't know. (Reuters)
Related:
Under fire, Trump weighs new changes to refugee ban. The Department of Homeland Security may issue "implementation guidance" that would allow for softening, and even policy changes, to the travel restrictions on migrants. The White House insists that any further guidance wouldn't constitute a walk-back. (Axios)
White House aides who wrote Trump's travel ban see it as just the start. (LA Times)
Paul Ryan urges Republicans to back travel ban despite anger over its rollout. (The Guardian)
2/ Obama’s protections for L.G.B.T. workers will remain. The White House said Trump would leave in place a 2014 order that created new protections for gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender people, pledging to protect the community from violence and oppression. It uses stronger language than any Republican president has before in favor of equal legal protections for gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender people. (NY Times)
3/ DeVos questionnaire appears to include passages from uncited sources. In written responses to questions from senators, DeVos used several sentences and phrases from other sources without attribution. (Washington Post)
4/ Democrats boycott confirmation hearings for Price and Mnuchin, forcing Republicans to reschedule both votes. (Washington Post)
UPDATE: Dems delay Sessions vote. Democrats have fiercely criticized Trump's executive order and Yates's firing, and said that any vote for Sessions is a vote to let Trump stifle dissent in his Justice Department. (The Hill)
Related:
Senate Democrats renewed an assault on Donald Trump’s pick for attorney general, Republican Senator Jeff Sessions, questioning his independence after the president fired the acting attorney general for refusing to enforce his executive order on immigration. (Bloomberg)
5/ Trump bringing Supreme Court favorites to Washington. Trump is announcing his choice at 8 p.m. EST tonight. (CNN)
Related:
People think Trump is treating his Supreme Court nomination like a reality show. Because he is. (BuzzFeed News)
Democrats shouldn’t go scorched-earth on Trump’s Supreme Court nominee. (Washington Post)
6/ Deutsche Bank AG agreed to pay $425 million to New York's banking regulator over a "mirror trading" scheme that helped Russian investors launder $10 billion between 2011 and 2015 through its branches in Moscow, London and New York. Clients would buy stocks in the Moscow branch in rubles and then related parties would sell the same stocks in Deutsche's New York and London branches. (Reuters / New York Times / The Guardian / CNN Money)
News of Lesser Importance:
How to build an autocracy. The preconditions are present in the U.S. today. Here’s the playbook Donald Trump could use to set the country down a path toward illiberalism. (The Atlantic)
Trump ignored all of Obama’s advice and now he’s in a world of trouble. There's no need for Obama to hold his tongue anymore. (New Republic)
The tale of a Trump falsehood: How his voter fraud claim spread like a virus. The blow by blow on Trump's claim that 3 to 5 million undocumented immigrants illegally voted in the election. (Washington Post)
The incompetence displayed by Trump's immigration orders will be terrifying in a crisis. All presidents eventually face a crisis that is not of their own creation. And it will be in the interest of Donald Trump to respond in a calm, well-informed, and effective manner. (Vox)
Can Jared and Ivanka ourun Trump's Scandals? Less than a fortnight into his new post, Kushner appears unable to control his father-in-law—and is “furious” that his efforts are being undermined. (Vanity Fair)
Fox News' Sean Hannity: The media 'doesn't understand' Donald Trump. By highlighting pundits and polls that dismissed Trump’s chances of winning the Presidency, Hannity argues, the “mainstream media” effectively delegitimized itself. (Politico)
“When you have The New York Times, a host on CNN, a guest on MSNBC, all calling the President of the United States a liar, if that is their coverage, they will never get their credibility back,” Hannity said. “They don’t understand Donald Trump, they don’t understand the phenomenon, they don’t understand what happened in this election, the level of elitism is breathtaking to me.”
Related:
Kellyanne Conway ramps up Trump’s war on the media. (Fortune)
President Bannon’s hugely destructive first week in office. The puppet master is leading the Trump administration down a road of carnage. (Foreign Policy)
1/ Acting Attorney General declares Justice Department won’t defend Trump’s immigration order. The Senate Judiciary Committee is scheduled to vote Tuesday on Trump’s pick for attorney general, Jeff Sessions, whose views align much more closely with the president’s. (Washington Post)
UPDATE:
Trump fires acting attorney general, after she defiantly refused to defend his immigration executive order. (NY Times)
White House said the attorney general had “betrayed the Department of Justice by refusing to enforce a legal order designed to protect the citizens of the United States.” (Washington Post)
2/ Bannon seizes security role usually held for generals. The move puts Bannon on the same level as the national security adviser. (NY Times)
UPDATE:
Bannon is making sure there's no White House paper trail. The Trump administration’s chief strategist has already taken control of both policy and process on national security. (Foreign Policy)
How Bannon Took Charge Of The Trump Administration (BuzzFeed News)
3/ Obama rejects comparison between Trump’s immigration policy and his own, saying he fundamentally disagrees with the notion of discriminating against individuals because of their faith or religion, and encourages protests. (Washington Post)
4/ Democrats prepare bill to overturn Trump immigration order. The bill would declare the order “null and void” and bar federal agencies from using any funds to enforce it. The measure faces long odds given that Republicans control Congress and the White House. (Politico)
Related: Senate Dems will filibuster Trump’s Supreme Court nominee. It will be only the second time in modern history that the Senate has mounted a filibuster against a nominee. (Politico)
5/ US Diplomats consider filing "dissent" over immigration ban. Dozens of Foreign Service officers and other career diplomats stationed around the world are so concerned that they are contemplating taking the rare step of sending a formal objection to senior State Department officials in Washington. (ABC News)
Related: The State Department’s Dissent Channel is a mechanism for employees to confidentially express policy disagreement, created in 1971 as a response to concerns within the Department over the government’s handling of the Vietnam War. (Lawfare)
6/ Trump’s hard-line actions have an intellectual godfather: Jeff Sessions. The senator lobbied for a “shock and awe” period of executive action that would rattle Congress, impress Trump’s base and catch his critics unaware. Trump opted for a slightly slower pace, because he wanted to maximize news coverage by spreading out his directives over several weeks. (Washington Post)
Related:How Trump's rush to enact an immigration ban unleashed global chaos. The confusion that erupted is the story of a White House that rushed to enact with little regard for basic governing. The secretary of homeland security was on a White House conference call getting his first full briefing on policy as Trump signed the sweeping executive order to shut the borders. (NY Times)
Related:From order to disorder: How Trump’s immigration directive exposed GOP rifts. (Washington Post)
7/ Kellyanne Conway defends Trump's criticism of GOP Senators John McCain and Lindsey Graham, saying Republicans need to back his leadership. Conway also asserted that Trump had accomplished an impressive amount in the short time since he took office, calling his achievements "breathtaking." (ABC News)
Related: McCain, Graham broke the GOP silence on Capitol Hill, issuing a scathing condemnation of Trump's ban on travel to the U.S. from seven Muslim-majority countries.
(CNN)
8/ Trump signs executive order requiring that for every one new regulation, two must be revoked. (Politico)
9/ Tracking congress in the age of Trump. How often every member of the House and the Senate votes with or against the president. (FiveThirtyEight)
1/ Trump’s first defeat. The immigration order creates an international mess and a political embarrassment. The hastily crafted order was temporarily and partially blocked by a U.S. District Court Judge. (Politico)
UPDATE: Trump doubles down on his executive order barring refugees and some legal immigrants from entering the United States, even as one of his top aides walked back one major element of the order, signaling a growing sense of confusion and fissures within the 10-day-old administration. (Politico)
Bannon's longtime suspicion of successful immigrants is the key to this weekend's chaos. (Vox)
2/ Despite growing dissent, Trump gives no sign of backing down from travel ban even as lawmakers from both parties spoke out against the action and federal judges ruled against parts of it. Judicial rulings in several cities across the country overnight immediately blocked enforcement of the ban to various degrees, but the Department of Homeland Security issued a statement early Sunday indicating it would continue to implement President Trump’s action. (Washington Post)
UPDATE: 271 Republicans in Congress have taken no position on Trump's refugee ban. (Vox)
3/ A clarifying moment in American history. There should be nothing surprising about what the Donald Trump has done in his first week, but he had underestimated the resilience of Americans and their institutions. (The Atlantic)
4/ Donald Trump, the refugee ban, and the triumph of cruelty. The reasons for Trump’s ban on refugees could not be more feeble, and could not be more petty. It serves no actual security purpose. You have a better chance of getting killed by a train, or by your own clothes catching on fire, than by an immigrant terrorist attack. The odds of a refugee killing you in a terrorist strike are about 1 in 3.6 billion. That's about four hundred times less likely than being hit by lightning twice. If you look back at significant terrorist attacks in the US like San Bernardino or the Pulse nightclub shooting or 9/11, exactly none of them would have been prevented by this policy. (Vox)
5/ Trump puts Bannon on security council, dropping joint chiefs. The reshuffling of the National Security Council downgrades the military chiefs and gives a regular seat to his chief strategist Steve Bannon. The director of national intelligence and the joint chiefs will attend when discussions pertain to their areas. (BBC)
Trump chief-of-staff Reince Priebus will also have a seat in the meetings. (The Guardian)
UPDATE: McCain blasts Bannon placement on National Security Council,calling the move "radical" because it minimizes the role of the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. (Politico)
6/ Trump signs two more executive actions. The first bans administration officials who leave government from lobbying those federal agencies for five years, fulfilling a campaign pledge. The second is a memorandum giving military leaders 30 days to construct and present a "comprehensive plan to defeat ISIS," stating that "there can be no accommodation or negotiation" with the group. (The Hill)
7/ Trump's state department purge sparks worries of 'know-nothing approach' to foreign policy. The sudden dismissal of several senior officials has left a gaping hole at the heart of US diplomacy: "The machinery is still there, but no one’s in the cockpit." (The Guardian)
8/ Trump continued his longstanding assault on media outlets. This time labeling the NY Times as "fake news," and said that it and the Washington Post's coverage of Trump has been "so false and angry." It is unclear as to what prompted Trump's criticism. (Politico)
9/ The White House statement on International Holocaust Remembrance Day didn't mention Jews or anti-Semitism because "others were killed too." (CNN)
From Earlier:
Trump's First Week: Misfires, Crossed Wires and a Satisfied Smile. No president in modern times, if ever, has started with such a flurry of initiatives on so many fronts in such short order. (NY Times)
The malevolence of President Trump’s Executive Order on visas and refugees is mitigated chiefly – and perhaps only – by the astonishing incompetence of its drafting and construction. (Lawfare)
1/ Trump’s order blocks immigrants at airports, stoking fear around the globe. The executive order suspended entry of all refugees to the United States for 120 days, barred Syrian refugees indefinitely, and blocked entry into the United States for 90 days for citizens of seven predominantly Muslim countries: Iran, Iraq, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Syria and Yemen. The Department of Homeland Security said that the executive order also barred green card holders from those countries from re-entering the United States. White House officials said that green card holders from the seven affected countries who are outside the United States would need a case-by-case waiver to return to the United States. (NY Times)
UPDATE: A federal judge in Brooklyn came to the aid of scores of refugees who were trapped at airports across the United States.
The judge’s ruling blocked part of the president’s actions, preventing the government from deporting some arrivals who found themselves ensnared by the presidential order. But it stopped short of letting them into the country or issuing a broader ruling on the constitutionality of Trump’s actions.
Meanwhile…
A religious test for entering our country is not reflective of America's fundamental values. I reject it. pic.twitter.com/DdsYj2XoLS
2/ A federal judge issued a stay against Donald Trump's "Muslim Ban". The ruling – a stunning defeat for Trump at the end of his first week in office – protects from deportation refugees or visa holders who were detained at American airports since the signing of so-called "Muslim ban." It also protects those in transit when the emergency ruling was filed. (Mother Jones)
3/ Trudeau says Canada will take refugees banned by U.S. He also intends to talk to Trump about the success of Canada’s refugee policy. (PBS)
To those fleeing persecution, terror & war, Canadians will welcome you, regardless of your faith. Diversity is our strength #WelcomeToCanada
4/ Inside the confusion of the Trump executive order and travel ban. Administration officials weren't immediately sure which countries' citizens would be barred from entering the United States. The Department of Homeland Security was left making a legal analysis on the order after Trump signed it. A Border Patrol agent, confronted with arriving refugees, referred questions only to the President himself, according to court filings. (CNN)
5/ Facing intense criticism, some Republicans are speaking out against Trump’s refugee ban. Paul Ryan and Mitch McConnell aren’t among them. (Washington Post)
6/ The silence from Silicon Valley had been deafening. After weeks of deafening silence and quiet acquiescence, top tech leaders finally began to react strongly to policies of the new administration, spurred by a capricious immigration ban on some Muslim countries ordered by Trump. (Recode)
Will tech leaders come out strongly and publicly against Trump's Muslim ban? I'm taking names. First part of that expression to follow.
7/ ‘Up Is Down’: Trump's unreality show echoes his business past. Trump’s falsehoods have long been viewed as a reflexive extension of his vanity, or as his method of compensating for deep-seated insecurities. But throughout his business career, Trump’s most noteworthy deceptions often did double duty, serving not just his ego but also important strategic goals. Mr. Trump’s habitually inflated claims about his wealth, for example, fed his self-proclaimed image of a business genius even as they attracted lucrative licensing deals built around the Trump brand. (NY Times)
8/ How hyper-targeted pyschometric data helped Trump win election. Granular personality data might have been the key to the candidate's unexpected victory where online quizzes were correlated with public Facebook Likes. (The Outline)
1/ Trump executive order suspends admission of all refugees for 120 days while a new system is put in place to tighten vetting for those from predominantly Muslim countries and give preference to religious minorities. Trump said that the goal is to screen out “radical Islamic terrorists” and that priority for admission would be given to Christians. (Washington Post)
2/ The extreme vetting plan to establishes a religious test for refugees from Muslim nations. The order also stops the admission of refugees from Syria indefinitely, and bars entry into the United States for 90 days from seven predominantly Muslim countries linked to concerns about terrorism. Those countries are Iraq, Syria, Iran, Sudan, Libya, Somalia and Yemen. (NY Times)
3/ The order will block 500,000 legal U.S. residents from returning to American from trips abroad. The president has also used language that will affect those who are in the U.S. already on visas and green cards. (ProPublica)
4/ Trump's immigration ban excludes countries with business ties. His proposed list doesn’t include Muslim-majority countries where his Trump Organization has done business or pursued potential deals. Properties include golf courses in the United Arab Emirates and two luxury towers operating in Turkey. (Bloomberg)
5/ Trump's immigration ban is illegal. More than 50 years ago, Congress outlawed such discrimination against immigrants based on national origin. (NY Times)
6/ Following Trump’s executive order green card, visa holders already blocked by airports. Within hours of the executive order limiting immigration from Muslim countries, green card and visa holders were already being blocked from getting on flights to the U.S. The Department of Homeland Security issued a directive at 4:30 p.m. ordering the Customs and Border Protection to enforce the executive order. People who were still in the air as of 10:30 p.m. likely face being blocked at the airport when their planes land, he said. (NY Daily News)
7/ A little-noticed move by Trump could make it easier to deport immigrants. The move stripped federal privacy protections from many immigrants, raising fears among advocacy groups that information people willingly submitted to the federal government during the Obama administration could now be used to help deport them. (Washington Post)
8/ Governing without a script. Trumps seems to be running his administration much like he ran his company and campaign, eager to weigh in on every issue and willing to make last-minute calls. (Wall Stree Journal)
9/ Trump blows up the U.S.-Mexico relationship. In one of his first instances of Twitter diplomacy as President, Trump wrote, “If Mexico is unwilling to pay for the badly needed wall, then it would be better to cancel the upcoming meeting.” Not surprisingly, Peña Nieto cancelled. (The New Yorker)
10/ The theater of access. Trump’s relationship with the media may be obsessive, but it’s also deeply transactional — the media has always been a tool in his pursuit of fame and power. (NY Times)
11/ The Bannon coup. White House and Hill GOP leaders are astonished by the unambiguous, far-reaching power of Steve Bannon and policy guru Stephen Miller over, well, just about everything.(Axios)
12/ Trump’s first seven days in office were historic, chaotic, astonishing and unsettling. With a flurry of provocative executive orders, surreal events, unapologetic falsehoods and did-he-really-say-that tweets, Trump continued to obliterate political norms, serving notice that the gaze of history won’t change who he is. He made so much news and did so many unorthodox things that it was hard to keep track of everything that was changing in Washington. The question, though, is what did all that sound and fury signify? (Politico)
13/ Republican lawmakers fret about how to repeal Obamacare. Republican lawmakers aired sharp concerns about their party’s quick push to repeal the Affordable Care Act inside a closed-door meeting Thursday, according to a recording of the session obtained by The Washington Post. (Washington Post)
14/ Pence vows "full evaluation of voting rolls" over claims of fraud. In a private meeting with congressional Republicans this week, the Trump administration would pursue a wide-ranging probe of voting rolls in the United States to examine whether millions of people voted illegally in the 2016 election as President Trump has charged. (Washington Post)
15/ Can a president who disregards the truth uphold his oath of office? His job demands a basic level of respect for the concepts of law and meaning. (Washington Post)
16/ Trump backers like his first draft of a New America. Trump voters interviewed said they cared little if the president spouted off on Twitter because he was issuing the kind of executive actions many had long craved — freezing federal grant money for environmental research, banning foreign aid for groups that give abortion counseling and cutting off immigration from several Muslim-majority nations. (NY Times)
1/ Steve Bannon says media should "keep its mouth shut." Trump’s chief strategist, laced into the American press during an interview, arguing that news organizations had been “humiliated” by an election outcome few anticipated, and repeatedly describing the media as “the opposition party” of the current administration. (NY Times)
2/ One of the greatest threats Trump poses is that he corrupts and corrodes the absoluteness of truth, facts and science. It is no coincidence that the rise of Trump is concurrent with the rise of “fake news.” It is no coincidence that his rise comes during an age of severely damaged faith in institutions. Our president is a pathological liar. Say it. Write it. Never become inured to it. And dispense with the terms of art to describe it. A lie by any other name portends the same. (NY Times)
3/ Fake news is about to get even scarier than you ever dreamed. What we saw in the 2016 election is nothing compared to what we need to prepare for in 2020. If there’s one thing we learned from this election cycle, it is that there are a number of reasons that people create fake-news stories. And, it has become clear that most new consumers don’t want to know if what they are reading is real or fake; they just want to know that it helps support their worldview. (Vanity Fair)
4/ The State Department's entire senior management team resigned. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson’s job running the State Department just got considerably more difficult. The entire senior level of management officials resigned as part of an ongoing mass exodus of senior Foreign Service officers who don’t want to stick around for the Trump era. (Washington Post)
5/ The Trump administration’s day one moves were copied from Mitt Romney's would-be playbook. Literally. (Buzzfeed)
6/ Trump pressured Park Service to find proof for his claims about inauguration crowd. (Washington Post)
7/ (The cost of) Trump's wall keeps getting higher and higher. Republican Congressional leaders signaled plans to move forward with Trump's planned border wall, estimated to cost between $12 billion and $15 billion. That's well below many outside estimates of the construction cost (let alone maintenance), but is significantly higher than what Trump himself has said in the past. (Axios)
8/ Americans think Trump will be worst president since Nixon. Voters are so dim on Trump that they think, in the first week of his administration, that he will prove to be a worse President than everyone who's held the office since Richard Nixon. (Public Policy Polling)
tl;dr The full (tweetstorm) that ends with this whopper:
And finally by a 42/39 spread Trump voters think he should be allowed to have a private email server: https://t.co/0kvoEMK527
1/ Trump's voter fraud example? A troubled tale about Bernhard Langer meant to illustrate rampant, unchecked voter fraud. (NY Times)
tl;dr Langer was standing in line at a polling place on Election Day. Ahead of and behind Langer were voters who "did not look as if they should be allowed to vote." Langer left feeling frustrated. Here's the problem: Langer, who lives in Boca Raton, Fla., is a German citizen with permanent residence status in the United States who is, by law, barred from voting.
2/ Declining trust in government is denting democracy. America, which has long defined itself as a standard-bearer of democracy for the world, has become a “flawed democracy” according to the taxonomy used in the annual Democracy Index from the Economist Intelligence Unit. Although its score did not fall by much – from 8.05 in 2015 to 7.98 in 2016 – it was enough for it to slip just below the 8.00 threshold for a “full democracy”. (The Economist)
3/ Trump's impulses now carry the force of the presidency. Impetuous and instinctive, convinced of broad, but hidden plots to undermine him, eager to fight and prone to what an aide called “alternative facts,” Trump has shown in just days in office that he is like few if any occupants of the White House before him. (NY Times)
4/ Those flashy executive actions could run aground. The White House failed to consult with many of the agencies and lawmakers who will be critical for their success. (Politico)
5/ Oh, and Donald Trump is building his wall on the Mexico border as undocumented crossing reaches a 40-year low. In taking his first step towards building a US-Mexico border wall, Trump begins an attack on a vanishing issue. (Quartz)
6/ Tweetstorm by Maggie Haberman of the NY Times. (Twitter)
A few final thoughts on the weekend/first few days. Trump had less than 4 hours sleep on Saturday, when he woke up and, at about 7 am., 1/
1/ Trump believes millions voted illegally – but provides no proof. The claim has long been debunked. (CNN)
2/ Trump orders the construction of a Mexican border wall. It's the first in a series of actions to curtail immigration and bolster national security. It includes slashing the number of refugees who can resettle in the United States and blocks Syrians and others from “terror prone” nations from entering temporarily. (NY Times)
3/ Federal works told to stop talking to Congress and the press. The freeze has startled aides on the Hill and people at those agencies, who worry that it could abruptly upend current operations and stifle work and discussions that routinely take place between branches of government. (Huffington Post)
4/ Trump has imposed a freeze on grants and contracts by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. (ProPublica) Trump also banned employees from giving social media updates and speaking with reporters. (The Hill)
5/ USDA scientists have been put on lockdown. “Starting immediately and until further notice” the department’s main research division “will not release any public-facing documents,” according to an internal memo. UPDATE: The order was rescinded by the department on Tuesday. (Buzzfeed)
6/ USDA disavows gag-order emailed to scientific research unit. An internal email sent to staff at its Agricultural Research Service unit this week calling for a suspension of “public-facing documents,” including news releases and photos, was flawed and that new guidance has been sent out to replace it. (Reuters)
7/ A National Park deleted tweets on climate change after Trump silenced federal scientists. The tweets were posted by a former employee and officials decided to delete them because the account had been “compromised,” a National Parks official said. (Buzzfeed)
8/ GOP Rep.: 'Better to get your news directly from the president." The chairman of the House Science, Space and Technology Committee said that Donald Trump was a more credible news source than the entire press corps. (Talking Points Memo)
Spicer: The media "disposition should be" Trump is correct "unless we can prove otherwise”
"…at some point, the disposition should be he is going to do it unless we can prove otherwise. He has shown through every step of the way that he's going to win. And so it just seems to me it's just odd that if those are the odds, if you are looking at his track record, the track record is a proven track record of success and winning. And yet, the media's default is on every scenario, whether it's hasn't nominees getting through or winning a primary or him accomplishing something, it's immediately negative and a failure." (Media Matters)
9/ Trump’s disregard for the truth threatens his ability to govern. In the first five days of his presidency, Trump has put the enormous power of the nation’s highest office behind spurious — and easily disproved — claims. (Washington Post)
10/ Trump dogged by insecurity over popular vote, media coverage. He might hold the most powerful office in the world, but he's dogged by insecurity over his loss of the popular vote in the election and a persistent frustration that the legitimacy of his presidency is being challenged by Democrats and the media, aides and associates say. (Associated Press)
11/ For Trump, everything is a rating. Trump spent his first weekend in office at war with math. He said that his inauguration crowd — which photographs showed was dwarfed by Barack Obama’s estimated 1.8 million in 2009 — “looked like a million, a million and a half.” His staff members backed up that claim with what his adviser Kellyanne Conway memorably termed “alternative facts.” (NY Times)
12/ Trump 101: What he reads and watches.
With an allergy to computers and phones, he works the papers. With a black Sharpie in hand, he marks up the Times or other printed stories. When he wants action or response, he scrawls the staffers' names on that paper and either hands the clip to them in person, or has a staffer create a PDF of it — with handwritten commentary — and email it to them. An amazed senior adviser recently pulled out his phone to show us a string of the emailed PDFs, all demanding response. It was like something from the early 90s. Even when he gets worked up enough to tweet, Trump told us in our interview he will often simply dictate it, and let his staff hit "send" on Twitter. (Axios)
13/ "We the People" demand Trump release his tax returns. One of the features on the White House website that didn’t vanish when President Trump took the oath of office on Friday is the “We the People” page, which allows ordinary Americans to petition their government to address an issue of importance to them. The Obama White House, which created the feature, responded to petitions that received at least 100,000 signatures within 30 days. (NY Times)
1/ The first days inside Trump’s White House: Fury, tumult and a reboot. President Trump had just returned to the White House on Saturday from his final inauguration event, a tranquil interfaith prayer service, when the flashes of anger began to build. (Washington Post)
2/ Spicer: 'Negative' Trump coverage is ‘demoralizing’ The White House press secretary pushed back at what he said was negative coverage of the Trump White House, describing the media narrative as “demoralizing. It’s not just about a crowd size. There’s this constant theme to undercut the enormous support he has," Spicer said of Trump. (The Hill)
3/ No White House leaks like this… until now. The Trump White House not only leaks like crazy. It casually leaks the most intimate and humiliating details about the President - hurt feelings, ego injury, childlike behavior, self-destructive rages over tweets, media failure to credit his own grandiosity. We have simply never seen this level of leaking, with this little respect for the President's dignity or reputation, this early. (Talking Points Memo)
4/ Without evidence, Trump tells lawmakers 3 million to 5 million illegal ballots cost him the popular vote. Days after being sworn in, President Trump insisted to congressional leaders invited to a reception at the White House that he would have won the popular vote had it not been for millions of illegal votes, according to people familiar with the meeting. Trump has repeatedly claimed, without evidence, that widespread voter fraud caused him to lose the popular vote to Hillary Clinton, even while he clinched the presidency with an electoral college victory. (Washington Post)
5/ Why Trump's staff is lying. One of the most striking features of the early Trump administration has been its political uses of lying. The big weekend story was the obviously false claim that Trump pulled in the largest inauguration crowds in American history. This raises the question of why a leader might find it advantageous to promote such lies from his subordinates. (Bloomberg)
6/ The Right is building a new media "upside down" to tell Trump's story. Armed with its own set of facts, the right has created a parallel media universe that’s risen all the way with Trump to the White House. (Buzzfeed)
7/ Trump pays a fence mending visit to the CIA after weeks of mocking U.S. intelligence officials. Trump told staffers that he's now with them, "a thousand percent.” (NPR)
8/ An official said the visit “made relations with the intelligence community worse” and described the visit as “uncomfortable.” (CBS News)
9/ Trump names his Inauguration Day a ‘National Day of Patriotic Devotion’. (Washington Post)
1/ The Trump Administration started with a big lie over a small thing. It wasn't about an affair with an intern or in an attempt to wage war. The Trump administration kicked off with a whopper about the media's role in maliciously minimizing the crowd size for Trump’s inauguration in a dastardly attempt to make him look bad. (The Daily Best)
2/ Crowd scientists say Women's March in Washington was three times the size of the audience at Trump's inauguration (NY Times), and may have been the largest demonstration in US history. Marches held in more than 500 US cities were attended by at least 3.3 million people. (Vox)
3/ Kellyanne Conway said on NBC’s “Meet the Press” that the White House had put forth “alternative facts” to ones reported by the news media about the size of Mr. Trump’s inauguration crowd. (NY Times)
KELLYANNE CONWAY: Don't be so overly dramatic about it, Chuck. What– You're saying it's a falsehood. And they're giving Sean Spicer, our press secretary, gave alternative facts to that. But the point remains–
CHUCK TODD: Wait a minute– Alternative facts?
KELLYANNE CONWAY: –that there’s–
CHUCK TODD: Alternative facts? Four of the five facts he uttered, the one thing he got right–
KELLYANNE CONWAY: –hey, Chuck, why– Hey Chuck–
CHUCK TODD: –was Zeke Miller. Four of the five facts he uttered were just not true. Look, alternative facts are not facts. They're falsehoods.
4/ Alternative facts are a needless lie by the Trump Administration.
If the president and his aides will tell easily disproven falsehoods about crowd sizes and speeches, what else will they be willing to dissemble about? (The Atlantic)
5/ The traditional way of reporting on a president is dead. And Trump’s press secretary killed it. The presidency is not a reality show, but President Trump on his first full day in office made clear that he’s still obsessed with being what he once proudly called “a ratings machine.” (Washington Post)
6/ The costs of Trump-branded reality: America's credibility. When Trump swore the presidential oath, he assumed responsibility not only for the levers of government but also for one of the United States’ most valuable assets, battered though it may be: its credibility. (NY Times)
7/ Meanwhile, Trump's top aides are troubled by his rocky first weekend in office, unfolded much the way things often did during his campaign: with angry Twitter messages, a familiar obsession with slights and a series of meandering and at times untrue statements, all eventually giving way to attempts at damage control. (NY Times)
8/ WikiLeaks calls out Trump for refusing to release tax returns. (Politico)
9/ Trump is violating the Constitution by allowing his hotels and other business operations to accept payments from foreign governments, a team of prominent constitutional scholars, Supreme Court litigators and former White House ethics lawyers say. (NY Times)
1/ Photos comparing Trump's inauguration crowd to the Women's March (CNN)
2/ White House press secretary Sean Spicer attacked media for accurately reporting inauguration crowds. "This was the largest audience to ever witness an inauguration, period," Spicer said, contradicting all available data. Aerial photos have indicated that former president Barack Obama's first inauguration attracted a much larger crowd. Nielsen ratings show that Obama also had a bigger television audience. Spicer, at times almost yelling while reading a prepared statement, took no questions. (CNN)
3/ Trump used his first full day in office on Saturday to unleash a remarkably bitter attack on the news media, falsely accusing journalists of both inventing a rift between him and intelligence agencies and deliberately understating the size of his inauguration crowd. (NY Times)
4/ Trump says he has "running war" with media, criticizes the "dishonest media," gets facts wrong, in CIA speech. (CNN)
5/ At CIA headquarters, Trump denies feud, lashed out at critics, boasted of his magazine covers, and exaggerated the size of the crowd at his inauguration. (Politico)
6/ Trump’s real war isn’t with the media. It’s with facts. He needs to delegitimize the media because he needs to delegitimize facts. (Vox)
1/ Donald Trump has named only 29 of his 660 executive department appointments, the Partnership for Public Service said. (NY Times)
2/ Trump boasted his inauguration would have an "unbelievable, perhaps record-setting turnout." But aerial shots of the National Mall from Obama’s 2009 inauguration and today show that isn’t likely. (Vox)
3/ All references to climate change have been deleted from the White House website. The only mention of climate on Trump’s new website is under his “America First Energy Plan” page, in which he vows to destroy Obama’s Climate Action Plan, which is a government-wide plan to reduce carbon emissions and address climate change. (Motherboard)
4/ New poll shows Obamacare is more popular than Donald Trump. Fox News finds that 50% of voters feel favorably about the Affordable Care Act compared to Donald Trump, whom 42% view favorably. President Obama received an approval rating of 60%. (Vox)
5/ There's no record Trump has resigned from his companies. To transfer control of his companies, the president has to submit filings in Florida, Delaware and New York. We spoke to officials in each of those states. (ProPublica)