House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy told Republican colleagues last year, in remarks caught on a recording and obtained by The Washington Post: "There's two people I think Putin pays: [Dana] Rohrabacher and Trump."
Rohrabacher, a California Republican, is perhaps Putin's most outspoken defender on Capitol Hill.
What happened next: Some lawmakers laughed, McCarthy added "Swear to God," and House Speaker Paul Ryan cut the conversation short and told the people in the room, "No leaks, alright? This is how we know we're a real family here."
McCarthy responds: McCarthy told an MSNBC producer Wednesday he had been making "a bad attempt at a joke."
Trump's Mar-a-Lago Club is vulnerable to hackers, ProPublica and Gizmodo report. What they found, by driving around in a motor boat and pointing an antenna at the club: three poorly encrypted Wi-Fi networks, which they said they could have hacked in five minutes (but didn't).
What it means: Hackers could take over devices like smart phones because of these gaps in security and listen in on — and record — conversations on the property.
Why it matters: POTUS frequents Mar-a-Lago and so do foreign leaders (Trump has hosted Chinese President Xi Jinping and Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe), and he has held sensitive meetings on the property.
Sean Spicer told reporters Wednesday Trump is interviewing four candidates to replace the vacant FBI Director role today: Joe Lieberman, Frank Keating, Richard McFeely, and acting FBI Director Andrew McCabe.
In the House Republicans' conference meeting on Capitol Hill this morning, the mood among members was subdued and somewhat anxious. One source described members as "shellshocked."
Paul Ryan sought to project steadiness amid an avalanche of Russia-related news — all of it bad — from the White House. The Speaker told his colleagues, according to a source in the room:
"We should take our oversight responsibilities seriously regardless of who is in power. ... That means before leaping to judgment we get all the facts. OGR [the Oversight Committee] has requested documents. And we'll see where the facts lead."
During a gaggle with reporters on board Air Force One, Sean Spicer repeatedly stated that "the president has been very clear" that the New York Times story on the Comey memo "is not an accurate representation of that meeting." He added that Trump has full confidence in his version of events.
Other takeaways:
Replacing Comey: Joe Lieberman, Andrew McCabe, Richard McFeely, and Frank Keating will all be interviewed for FBI director.
Does Trump want a transcript from his Oval Office meeting with top Russian officials, as Putin proposed? "I don't have any updates on that," said Spicer, adding that he was not aware that the Russians may have recorded the conversation.
Trump's call with Netanyahu: It was "purely logistical" in preparation for Trump's visit to Israel.
These are the questions Congressmen and women would like to ask former FBI Director James Comey when he comes to Capitol Hill, as articulated by Adam Schiff this morning at a presser:
"First of all, what was the conversation" with Trump? That's likely to be backed up with the memos Comey has allegedly kept on his interactions with Trump, which Senators are requesting to see.
"If you were worried about this did you report it to anyone at Justice? Why didn't you inform Congress about this?" If not, lawmakers will want to know why he waited until after he was fired?
A veteran Republican on Capitol Hill emails about the cascading crises coming from Trump's White House.
"I can't think of a similar situation of political self-destruction," the source says. "I honestly don't think there's much in the Russia-connection narrative of substance, but Trump and co. have made it into a story that could very well bring him down politically... I always thought Trump could prove to be the destruction of the Republicans."
Why this matters: The quote above crystallizes a prevailing sentiment among seasoned establishment Republicans in Washington. They're watching a President they've never trusted threaten a political party he's never cared about.
The Trump administration has chosen to retain a key portion of the Iran nuclear deal, renewing waivers that allow foreign companies to do business in Iran, per BuzzFeed News.
The context: Though Trump has often been critical of the Obama-era deal, this decision means that one of its major provisions will remain intact just before Iran heads to the polls on Friday for its presidential election. It'll strengthen moderate President Hassan Rouhani, who has made the deal a highlight of his platform, as he faces down a challenge from conservative cleric Ebrahim Raisi.
Not scot-free: The White House is still set to take some action against Iran, as the Treasury Department will sanction some Iranians for ballistic missile development and the State Department will issue a report condemning Iran's human rights practices.
President Trump offered some advice to the graduates of the Coast Guard Academy during his commencement speech Wednesday:
"Over the course of your life... you'll find that things aren't always fair. But you have to put your head down and fight, fight, fight. Never ever ever give up. Things will work out just fine. Look at the way I've been treated lately, especially by the media. No politician in history, and I say this with great surety, has been treated worse or more unfairly. You can't let them get you down. You can't let the critics and the naysayers get in the way of your dreams [applause]. I guess that's why we won? Adversity makes you stronger. Don't give in, don't back down, and never stop doing what you know is right. Nothing worth doing ever came easy. And the more righteous your fight, the more opposition you will face."
At 11:17pm Tuesday, while his colleagues were in full-blown crisis management mode, the White House's social media director Dan Scavino used his personal Twitter account to lash out at Ohio Gov. John Kasich.
Why this matters: Scavino would never send a tweet like this without President Trump's either implicit encouragement or direct orders. It shows how Trump and his loyal aides still view themselves as scrappy counter-punchers and won't leave any insult alone. (Kasich has been the most prominent of Trump's Republican critics. He refused to endorse Trump and is currently enjoying an 'I-told-you-so' tour.)
Non-criminal arrests by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) have more than doubled under Trump, rising to 10,800 between January 22 and April 29 this year compared 4,200 over a similar period last year. Why that's happening, per ICE:
ICE will no longer exempt any class of individuals from removal proceedings if they are found to be in the country illegally.
ICE added that its "agents and officers have been given clear direction to focus on threats to public safety and national security."
More than 41,000 people in total were arrested on immigration charges in those 100 days, a nearly 40% increase from last year.
Violence broke out during a protest outside of the Turkish embassy in D.C. following Trump's meeting with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan. 9 people were injured and 2 were arrested.
The majority of Americans told the EPA not to roll back regulations that, if cut, could return the country to a more polluted era. Their responses come after Trump's March executive order calling to repeal, replace and modify unnecessary regulations. (WaPo)
Sally Yates' interview with Anderson Cooper, in which she said the "timing and the motivation" behind Comey's firing raises "serious questions."
Federal investigators issued a subpoena for records relating to Paul Manafort, per NBC. The subpoena allegedly pertains to Manafort not paying taxes on a $3.5 million Hamptons home that he bought after leaving the Trump campaign.
New Orleans removed a statue of Confederate General Beauregard, the third of four Confederate-era monuments that officials plan to take down.
The Senate Sergeant at Arms has approved the end-to-end encrypted messaging app Signal for official use by Senate staff members, per ZDNet. That change was approved in March, but just revealed via a letter last week from Sen. Ron Wyden to the Sergeant at Arms.
Flashback: Encrypted messaging apps have become popular amongst government employees as hacks and leaks proliferate — Confide exploded amongst White House staff earlier this year — but raise potential hazards for official record keeping.
But don't worry: Senate staffers are exempt from the record keeping rules that affect others in the presidential orbit, only having to archive records deemed "historically valuable."
Sen. Thom Tillis (R-NC) collapsed during a bike race today in Washington, D.C., according the multiple media reports. He was subsequently given CPR and taken to the hospital in an ambulance. The AP reported that he was revived and breathing when he was taken away.
In a video posted to Twitter, Tillis said he overheated 2.5 miles into the race, but was fine and will soon be back on Capitol Hill.
Vladimir Putin said he would be willing to give Congress the records from President Trump's Oval Office meeting last week with Russian Foreign Secretary Sergey Lavrov and Ambassador Sergey Kislyak, if the White House approves, according to multiple media reports.
Putin dismissed the notion that Trump shared sensitive intelligence with Russia as "stupid" and "dangerous" while speaking at a joint news conference with the Italian prime minister Wednesday, adding that there is "no other explanation" for the reports other than "political schizophrenia."
NBC's Peter Alexander tweeted that President Trump spoke with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu following the news that Trump shared Israeli intelligence with top Russian officials last week.
Why it matters: The revelation that Trump shared Israel's intelligence could be damaging to the U.S./Israel relationship, as it leaves the door open for Russia to share the intel with its close ally Iran — one of Israel's biggest adversaries. Israeli intelligence officials told BuzzFeed yesterday that the disclosure to the Russians was their "worst fears confirmed."
Republicans close to the White House fear that yesterday's revelations could take President Trump into a legal or constitutional realm where his staff and supporters can't save him.
"A whole new door has opened," said a well-known Republican operative who has worked hard to help the Trump White House.
"A week ago, we were talking about the agenda grinding to a halt," the Republican said. "Now, the train is going down the hill backwards."
