Charlie Kirk is the 24-year-old founder of Turning Point USA, a conservative nonprofit whose 130,000 members claim to be "culture warriors" in the fight "to save Western civilization" from liberals, writes Adam Rubenstein for The Weekly Standard.
Why it matters: With more than 650,000 Twitter followers and the sworn fealty of some of Washington's most prominent conservatives, Kirk is a provocative firebrand whose proclaimed goal of "owning the libs" all-too-perfectly captures the present state of Donald Trump's base. Kirk's messaging and networking in conservative circles has been so effective, in fact, that he claims TPUSA will have raised $15 million by the end of 2018.
"They asked my daughter Ivanka whether or not the media is the enemy of the people. She correctly said no. It is the FAKE NEWS, which is a large percentage of the media, that is the enemy of the people!"
Flashback... Trump in July: "Much of our news media is indeed the enemy of the people..."
Senate Republicans will not receive the more than 900,000 pages of documents requested on Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh until the end of October, the National Archives told Senate Judiciary Chairman Chuck Grassley (R-IA) on Thursday, the Washington Post reports.
Why it matters: Although around 300,000 files will be ready by August 20th, October is cutting it close to the midterm elections to review all of the documents, which could make it difficult for the Senate to confirm Kavanaugh before then. But at this point, Republicans are expected to hold on to the majority in the Senate, and Kavanaugh remains likely to get confirmed.
The Senate Intel Committee and Maria Butina's counsel have both agreed to release documents surrounding the alleged Russian agent to the Department of Justice, reports Politico.
The details: The committee interviewed Butina during their investigation into Russian influence on the 2016 election. The records and transcripts of those interviews will be part of the materials turned over to the federal government.
The White House announced Wednesday they have instructed the Treasury Department to implement sanctions against Turkey’s Minister of Justice and Minister of Interior for their roles in the arrest and detention of American pastor Andrew Brunson.
The backstory: Brunson was detained after the 2016 failed coup against Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan. He has been released from prison but remains under house arrest, facing terrorism and espionage charges, which he vehemently denies. His detention is a further point of contention with Erdoğan — with whom Trump had personally been friendly despite his increasingly authoritarian behavior.
The White House is considering bumping up tariffs on $200 billion in Chinese goods from 10% to 25%, reports the Wall Street Journal.
Why it matters: This latest threat comes as Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin and Chinese President Xi Jinping's economic adviser are reportedly restarting talks to reach a trade deal. On Monday, President Trump described the initial 10% as weak and had officials increase it to 25%. The Chinese government responded to the threats early Wednesday saying it would retaliate if the president decides to impose the hike.
President Obama released a list of 81 candidates he's endorsing ahead of the 2018 midterm election.
Why it matters: Obama is the left's answer to President Trump's continued presence in the primaries. Not only will Obama announce another round of endorsements before Nov. 6, but he also plans to campaign in several of these states throughout the fall.
President Trump called on Attorney General Jeff Sessions to put a stop to the Mueller investigation in a tweet Wednesday morning.
'This is a terrible situation and Attorney General Jeff Sessions should stop this Rigged Witch Hunt right now, before it continues to stain our country any further. Bob Mueller is totally conflicted, and his 17 Angry Democrats that are doing his dirty work are a disgrace to USA!"
Between the lines, from Axios' Jonathan Swan: This isn't a directive to Sessions, based on my last conversation with Rudy Giuliani. If Trump wanted to end the Mueller investigation, he could. He knows Congress would rise up against him.
Squint at the colorful, consequential news of the past 24 hours, and you see a preview of special counsel Robert Mueller's report(s) — plus a glimpse of the debates that will divide America through the fall, and heading into the presidential campaigns of 2020.
How it started: President Trumpset the tone for the day by tweeting at 7:58 a.m.: "Collusion is not a crime, but that doesn’t matter because there was No Collusion."
