Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) withdrew President Trump’s nomination of Ryan Bounds to serve on the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals just moments before his candidacy was set for a confirmation vote on Thursday due to racially insensitive past writings.
Why it matters: The move is a major win for Democrats and a blow to the GOP's ongoing transformation of the federal bench with young, conservative judges at a near-unprecedented pace.
New York Governor Andrew Cuomo confirmed on Wednesday that the New York State Department of Tax and Finance is investigating the Donald J. Trump Foundation for possible violation of state law.
The big picture: New York's tax department joins the State Attorney General's office in investigating the foundation. Cuomo said he told the Attorney General's office that he "will grant criminal jurisdiction...if they request it." The foundation is in possible violation of transferring assets "or making certain misrepresentations to the state with respect to tax liability and tax assignment," NY Daily News reports citing an official.
Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen, speaking at the Aspen Security Forum Thursday, said that while she hasn't "seen any evidence" that Russia targeted the U.S. election "to favor a particular political party," she agrees with the intelligence community's assessment "full stop."
Why it matters: The administration has vacillated on the the extent to which Russia interfered in the 2016 presidential election. The issue came to a head on Monday when President Trump refused to confront Russian President Vladimir Putin about Moscow's involvement during their joint press conference. The administration has since sought to clarify their position.
President Trump has nominated Donald Palmer, a former elections official from Virginia, to the U.S. Election Assistance Commission, the independent commission tasked with helping states update and improve their elections' security.
Why it matters: The commission is unable to take policy action, such as updating technical guidelines for voting systems’ security, unless it has three commissioners — a problem Palmer would solve if confirmed.
At a House Intelligence Committee hearing on Thursday, Rep. Adam Schiff (D-Calif.) and Rep. Eric Swalwell (D-Calif.) motioned to subpoena the American interpreter who sat in the room with President Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin during their one-on-one meeting in Helsinki, but were voted down by committee Republicans, reports ABC News.
President Trump told CBS News' Jeff Glor that he dreams about running against Joe Biden in 2020, claiming that the former vice president "never got more than 1%" during his two election bids and that President Obama "took him out of the garbage heap."
Why it matters: Biden has been floated as a Democratic contender for the 2020 party nomination, and will reportedly make a decision on whether he'll run by January. The former VP has not hesitated to directly criticize Trump, in one instance going as far as to say he would "beat the hell out of him" if they were in high school together.
Saying Trump committed treason in Helsinki goes too far for some leading Democrats, who are worried about sending the wrong message during an election year, AP's Laurie Kellman writes.
Why it matters: "If Democrats align behind the term, it raises the question of what they plan to do about it. The party ... doesn't have an answer."
We told you yesterdaywhy elected Republicans go so silent so quickly when they disagree so strongly with President Trump: They fear it's political suicide to speak up. Now we have an exclusive, new Axios/SurveyMonkey poll that shows why those fears are real.
Data: SurveyMonkey online poll conducted July 16-17, 2018 among a total sample of 2,100 adults living in the United States. Margin of error of ±3 percentage points; Poll methodology; Chart: Lazaro Gamio/Axios
Be smart: This poll foreshadows the coming national drama. Every piece of data, and virtually every public action of elected Republican officials, shows Trump will have overwhelming and probably unbreakable party support, regardless of what Robert Mueller finds with his Russia probe.
President Trump endorsed Brian Kemp, Georgia's Secretary of State, on Wednesday for Georgia's primary election as a Republican candidate for governor, saying he's "tough on crime, strong on the border and illegal immigration."
President Trump, in an interview with CBS News’ Jeff Glor, said that he told Russian President Vladimir Putin Monday that he was “very strong” on the fact that “we can't have meddling” in our elections, despite failing to confront him on the issue during their joint press conference.
I let him know we can't have this, we're not going to have it, and that's the way it's going to be.
— President Trump
Why it matters: There's no way to verify Trump's account of what he said, since he met with Putin in private. But here's what Trump said in public about Russian election interference: "I have great confidence in my intelligence people but I will tell you that President Putin was extremely strong and powerful in his denial today."
President Trump's proposed military parade will cost around $12 million — just $2 million less than what the now-cancelled military exercises with South Korea would have cost, which Trump has described as "tremendously expensive," CNN reports.
The details: The parade, scheduled for November 10, will "focus on celebrating veterans and involve US troops in period uniforms as well as US military aircraft but no heavy vehicles like tanks in order to prevent damage to infrastructure," according to CNN. Officials note that the cost is a planning number and is subject to change.
All 55 eligible states and territories have now requested election security funds from Congress as of Monday, according to the U.S. Election Assistance Commission.
Yes, but: The $380 million Congress allocated is not enough to upgrade the electronic voting machines that don't provide a way to double check that election results are accurate. Few states have shared plans for upgrading security measures ahead of the midterms.
At Wednesday's press briefing, White House Press Secretary Sarah Sanders said that President Trump responded "no" to taking questions in a press conference earlier that day — not to the question of whether he believes Russia is still targeting U.S. elections.
Why it matters: When asked whether Trump does believe that Russia is an ongoing threat to the U.S.'s election security, Sanders said, "[h]e does believe they would target U.S. elections again" adding, "certainly, we believe that the threat still exists." When pressed on why Trump has seemingly reversed his position on this issue twice this week, Sanders said that she was "interpreting" the president not "reversing" his position.
Rep. Jim Jordan was interviewed Monday by the law firm investigating sex abuse allegations that a wrestling team doctor at Ohio State University allegedly committed, some of which is said to have happened while Rep. Jordan was a coach, per the AP.
What he said: His spokesperson Ian Fury told the AP Rep. Jordan reiterated his public statement, which is that he was not aware of the abuse when he was a coach, despite allegations from wrestlers that he knew. Fury told the AP, "you know, the story stays the same because the truth doesn't change." Rep. Jordan has said victims deserve to see justice if abuse had occurred.
Federal prosecutors said in a new court filing that Maria Butina, the Russian national indicted by a federal grand jury Tuesday for her role in a covert political influence operation, is a serious flight risk and should be held in jail until her trial.
The big picture: New details in the case against the 29-year-old Butina reveal a tangled web of deception and meticulous coordination with Russian officials — including the FSB intelligence agency and Russian oligarchs — that dates back to at least 2013.
A majority of Trump voters said that they were at least somewhat worried about MS-13 targeting them or their families and 85% believe that the violent gang is a serious threat to the United States, according to a new HuffPost/YouGov survey.
Why it matters: Trump has repeatedly used the gang to validate his administration's "zero-tolerance" policy at the southern border and the need for a wall. While the gang's actions are indeed vicious, its members prey almost exclusively on immigrant communities in small, specific areas of the U.S.
In yesterday’s press conference with President Trump in Helsinki, President Putin expressed concern for the plight of Syrian refugees, suggesting that Russia aimed “to overcome humanitarian crisis and help [them] to go back to their homes.” That rings hollow.
Yes, almost every elected Republican we talk to privately thinks President Trump’s warm embrace of Vladimir Putin was unexplainable, unacceptable and un-American. Yes, they wish they could say this publicly. No, they won’t — not now, and probably never.
The cold, hard reason: They see no upside in speaking out — and fear political suicide if they do, numerous Republican officials tell us.
