There's been a rush to view 2017's House special elections as a barometer for the health of the Trump presidency, leading to an extreme national focus on the four contested races around the country — one of which became the most expensive House race in history. (A fifth special election in California's heavily liberal 34th congressional district in Los Angeles was fought between two Democrats.) Republicans went four for four in these traditionally GOP districts, but at much closer margins than 2016's congressional races, allowing both parties to spin the results as a success.
The Senate Judiciary committee has asked former AG Loretta Lynch to disclose conversations she has had with two people who were implicated in the "dubious" intel that then-FBI Director James Comey relied on before announcing the Clinton investigation was over. The Judiciary Committee is now probing into both Trump and Obama administrations.
The details:
The potentially fake report, which could be linked to Russia, alleged that then-DNC Chair Debbie Wasserman Schultz claimed in an email that Lynch told a Clinton staffer the FBI wouldn't probe too far into Clinton.
The Judiciary committee now wants to hear about Lynch's conversations with Wasserman Schultz and that staffer.
They also asked the staffer, Amanda Renteria, to disclose conversations she had with the FBI and Lynch about the investigation.
And they want Lynch to disclose any conversations she had with Clinton's campaign and the DNC about the investigation.
Lawmakers have asked Defense Secretary Jim Mattis to investigate the alleged torture of prisoners in Yemen, per the AP.
The AP issued a report Thursday that the U.S. is interrogating detainees in Yemen (which the U.S. acknowledges) as part of the search for militants in al-Qaeda, but that the U.S. is interrogating them after they've been tortured by the United Arab Emirates. That would put the U.S. in violation of the International Convention Against Torture.
The intrigue of this news is that several defense officials told the AP the U.S. has already looked into the allegations of torture and was "satisfied" there wasn't any, as the AP put it. These lawmakers want a further look.
Two times as many Americans believe former FBI Director James Comey's version of events surrounding his firing than President Trump's, according to a new NBC News/Wall Street Journal poll.
By the numbers: 45% of Americans believe Comey while 22% believe Trump. The partisan breakdown is just as stark as you'd expect with Democrats preferring Comey's version of events by a 76-2 margin and Republicans siding with Trump 50-10. Independents preferred Comey's story 47-17.
A head scratcher: 8% of Americans say that they believe both — so different that they prompted the hiring of Bob Mueller as special counsel for the Russia investigation — versions of events.
Speaking of Russia: The poll also found that Americans believe that Russia interfered in the 2016 election by a 53-36 margin — with the results predictably skewed along the same partisan lines as the Comey/Trump question.
Sean Spicer told reporters at an off-camera White House briefing Friday that Trump is "very supportive" of the Senate health bill, and has been in contact with Mitch McConnell about where the bill will go next. Spicer also addressed questions regarding Trump's position on Medicaid cuts, and stated the president is "committed" to ensuring that those currently on Medicaid don't lose coverage. Other highlights:
Next week, John Podesta — Hillary Clinton's campaign manager whose emails were leaked on Wikileaks last year — will talk to the House Intelligence Committee in a closed session, as the committee continues its investigation into Russian election interference, according to NBC News.
Remember: 10 years worth of Podesta's emails were released on Wikileaks late last year. The hack was allegedly traced back to Russia.
In August last year, then-President Barack Obama received a highly classified CIA report with evidence of Russian President Vladimir Putin's direct involvement in the cyber attacks that were meant to interfere with the U.S. presidential election — to hurt Hilary Clinton and help Donald Trump, the Washington Post reported.
Why it matters: The Obama administration's debate over what to do highlighted the challenge in dealing with such a politically charged issue, which was central to the election and has remained central to the Trump presidency.
President Trump is growing increasingly irritated with his team for their handling of the Russia investigation, and he's taken many of his frustrations out on his White House counsel, Don McGahn, a loyal Trump defender and early campaign supporter.
Politco reports that Trump laid into McGahn during an Oval Office meeting Monday for failing to do more to dispel the investigation. Meanwhile, the Russia case has been passed onto Trump's personal lawyer, Marc Kasowitz, leaving McGahn to work on more routine WH duties.
Between the lines: Trump's willingness to turn McGahn reveals how eager he is to scapegoat someone for his legal dilemma, and underscores an issue that has plagued the WH for months: "No top aide is immune from the president's anger or being called out in front of colleagues, even long-time loyalists like McGahn" writes Politico.
President Trump's firing of FBI Director James Comey is rightly seen as a terrific legal blunder: He undercut an investigation that might have shown he never colluded with the Russians, and spawned one that could result in obstruction of justice charges.
Why it matters: Regardless of the legal outcome, it'll go down as one of the dumbest political mistakes in the modern era. One of the president's outside advisers calls it the gravest political mistake since Richard Nixon decided not to apologize to the American people for Watergate, and instead proceeded with the cover-up.
