The GOP is worried about losing the House in the midterms. They find they cannot run on the economy because Trump is too central to the election, and many GOP candidates are applying Trump-style tactics of division and personal attacks to gin up their base voters. One study suggests that those base voters think it is “fake news” that Democrats could take the House, which could lower their turnout.
Mattis is on the outs with Trump. Part of the problem is Mattis slow-walking or even walking back certain Trump policies like the transgender ban or joint exercises with South Korea. Trump is also resentful of Mattis being perceived as an adult in the room. Many of the sources for this New York Times article spoke out anonymously because they see it increasingly likely that Trump will ask Mattis to step down after the midterms.
Kavanaugh’s accuser came forward on Sunday in an exclusive by the Washington Post. Feinstein released a report of the accusation last week without the woman’s name revealed.
Trump levied another $200 billion in tariffs on China, escalating the trade war. Every time this happened before, the Chinese reciprocated with tariffs of the same amount but they do no export enough goods to America to cover $200 billion. China “has said it would add tariffs on $60 billion in American goods, which would account for nearly everything it buys from the United States. It is still considering its options after that.”
In Russia News:
Monday night Trump ordered the Justice Department to release redacted, classified documents:
–“portions of the secret court order to monitor former campaign adviser Carter Page, along with all interviews conducted as officials applied for that authority”
–“unredacted text messages of several former high-level Justice Department and FBI officials, including former FBI director James B. Comey and deputy director Andrew McCabe.”
–“text messages written by FBI officials Peter Strzok and Lisa Page”
–“interviews with Justice Department official Bruce G. Ohr, who worked in the deputy attorney general’s office and had conversations with the author of a dossier alleging ties between the Trump campaign and Russian officials.”
“I believe it raises the resignation issue more forcefully than anything the president has done so far,” said John McLaughlin, a former acting director of the CIA.
The DOJ and FBI are reviewing the requested documents to prepare redactions. They will submit them to the Office of the Director of National Intelligence who will then hand it over to the White House.
Trump vaguely walked back his order by the end of the week. Apparently, among other things, allies like Great Britain objected to their sources and methods being reveled.
Multiple news outlets are reporting that Michael Cohen “has been interviewed repeatedly in the past month by prosecutors in the special counsel investigation into whether the Trump campaign conspired with Russian operatives.”
The New York Times reports that in the weeks after Comey’s firing, Rosenstein talked seriously about him or others wearing a wire when meeting with Trump, and recruiting Sessions and Kelly to pursue the 25th Amendment.
—
Trump’s Job Approval: 40.6%
Justin, I love your weekly synopsis. I find watching politics in the news on a daily basis is so depressing & frustrating, that I limit myself to 1/2 hour of
ABC nightly news. I count on your “Organizing Principals “ to keep me totally updated. Thanks!
Nice to hear. I’m glad that people are using them. I’ll keep it up for as long as Trump is in office.