Rep. Bradley Byrne (R-AL), who launched his U.S. Senate campaign in February, told The Hill he’s spoken to GOP sources close to Roy Moore who said the controversial former Alabama judge will announce his candidacy for the Senate in the coming days.
Amash Rips Barr for Misrepresenting Mueller Findings
Rep. Justin Amash (R-MI) tore into Attorney General William Barr in a 25-tweet thread for his handling of special counsel Robert Mueller’s report on the Russia investigation.
Said Amash: “Barr has deliberately misrepresented key aspects of Mueller’s report and decisions in the investigation, which has helped further the president’s false narrative about the investigation.”
Washington Post: “Amash’s tweets came just hours before he was scheduled to hold his first town hall meeting in his Michigan district since declaring on May 18 that Trump had ‘engaged in impeachable conduct’ and becoming a pariah among his GOP colleagues.”
Trump Insists Aircraft Carrier Design Is Flawed
“President Trump told U.S. troops stationed in Japan he plans to order traditional steam powered catapults aboard American warships instead of newer electromagnetic systems that he said may not work as well during wartime,” Bloomberg reports
Said Trump: “We’re spending all that money on electric and nobody knows what it’s going to be like in bad conditions. So I think I’m going to put an order — when we build a new aircraft carrier, we’re going to use steam.”
Mulvaney Tightens Grip on Labor Chief
Bloomberg Law: “Upon arriving at the West Wing in January, Mulvaney instituted a formalized system for settling regulatory policy and timeline disputes between White House assistants and Acosta’s top aides, said people with direct knowledge of the process. Conflicts are elevated to Mulvaney for a final decision.”
“Acosta and his staff have been losing these decisions so often that they’ve stopped bothering to appeal.”
Hunter Admits Taking Photo with Dead Enemy
Rep. Duncan Hunter (R-CA) “has acknowledged taking a photo with a dead combatant during his time as a Marine as he defended a Navy SEAL charged with multiple war crimes, including killing a teenage fighter,” the AP reports.
American Consumers Expect to Bear Cost of China Tariffs
A new Monmouth poll finds that 62% of Americans feel that U.S. consumers will bear the brunt of paying for new tariffs on Chinese goods, while just 23% say that Chinese producers will bear more of these costs.
Likewise, 62% believe it is very likely that American companies which sell goods or use materials made in China will simply pass those costs onto domestic consumers.
Trump Moves Ahead to Commandeer July 4th Festivities
ABC News: “While details of the president’s event have yet to be finalized, the White House is facing pushback over the security, logistical and financial strains a presidential event would add on a day where additional security protocols already are in place for the hundreds of thousands expected to flock to the Mall to picnic and watch fireworks.”
“In addition to a presidential address, the administration has ordered that the location of the fireworks display be moved. A source familiar with planning said there have also been talks about adding additional military elements to the regular Fourth of July parade, while the president’s orders for a separate, grand military parade remain on perpetual delay.”
Upstart TV Network Catches Trump’s Eye
Daily Beast: “For the past two years, it has prolifically churned out glowing coverage of the Trump administration and its achievements. OAN’s top executives have beseeched the president on Twitter to forget about Fox and to signal-boost them instead.”
“Fox News is still the president’s favorite media behemoth. But OAN’s team has been catching his eye. This year, Trump has tuned in more often than ever to OAN, two sources close to him say. There’s been a conspicuous uptick in his public promotion of OAN’s segments, including on his personal Twitter account. And, it appears, he’s even pitching the network to those roaming the halls at Mar-a-Lago.”
Quote of the Day
“It may be a Hatch Act violation. It may not be. Either way, I honestly don’t care anymore.”
— HUD regional administrator Lynne Patton, quoted by the HuffPost, after sending a political tweet from her government account.
Missouri’s Last Abortion Clinic Expects to Be Shutdown
“The last remaining abortion clinic in Missouri says it expects to be shut down this week, effectively ending legal abortion in the state,” CBS News reports.
“In a statement to be released later Tuesday, Planned Parenthood said Missouri’s health department is ‘refusing to renew’ its annual license to provide abortion in the state. If the license is not renewed by May 31, Missouri would become the first state without a functioning abortion clinic since 1973 when Roe v. Wade was decided.”
Trump Tries to Recreate 2016 Conditions
Stuart Stevens, chief strategist for Mitt Romney’s presidential campaign in 2012, tweeted that President Trump won in 2016 for two reasons: African American turnout decreased for first time in 20 years and the third party vote increased.
Said Stevens: “That’s how he won with 46.1% vs Romney’s 47.2%. Seems logical he will try to recreate the same environment.”
Anti-Vaxxer Movement Infects Republicans In States
Politico: “Among some of these officials, that libertarian demand for medical freedom has displaced the traditional GOP view that it’s a civic responsibility to immunize your kids to prevent the spread of disease. As more politicians take an anti-mandate stand, some end up adopting bogus theories about the supposed harms of vaccination — threatening to roll back one of public health’s great achievements.”
“In Kentucky, Gov. Matt Bevin said vaccine mandates were un-American. In Oregon, the state party used vaccine mandates to bash Democrats as violating parental rights. And in the California Senate, all 10 Republicans last Wednesday opposed a measure aimed at stopping bogus medical exemptions from vaccination.”
Vandals Attacked Holocaust Art Installation in Vienna
Agence France-Presse: “President Alexander Van der Bellen said he was ‘deeply worried’ over the assaults. The attack overnight Sunday was the third since the show by Italian-German photographer Luigi Toscano was installed in early May.”
“Faces were cut out of around 80 portraits… Over the past two weeks, others have been daubed with swastikas or slashed with knives.”
Justices Sidestep Major Abortion Cases
“The Supreme Court sidestepped major abortion cases, letting stand a lower-court ruling that Indiana cannot ban abortions for the purpose of sex, race or disability selection but allowing the state to regulate the disposal of fetal remains,” the Wall Street Journal reports.
“The court’s unsigned opinion appeared the product of a delicate compromise, and it stressed the justices weren’t ready—for now—to consider whether either law violates the Constitution.”
Washington Post: “The court said a part of the law dealing with disposal of the ‘remains’ of an abortion could go into effect. But it did not take up a part of the law stricken by lower courts that prohibited abortions because tests revealed an abnormality. The court indicated it would wait for other courts to weigh in before taking up that issue.”
Hutchinson Defends Arkansas Stricter Abortion Law
Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson (R) told CNBC that his state adopted a stricter abortion law this year that reflects the values that people in the state “feel dearly about.”
He added: “These are issues of life that we shouldn’t just measure by economic impact and how Hollywood is going to respond to it.”
A Summer of Nonstop Propaganda
Eugene Robinson: “President George W. Bush once said that to get a message across, you had to repeat it over and over, ‘to kind of catapult the propaganda.’ President Trump must have been paying attention.”
“I predict this will be a summer of nonstop, shameless propaganda from Trump and his minions. It will be clumsy, ridiculous and pathetic — but don’t ignore it. Call it out. Laugh at it. Recognize it for what it is: a sign not of strength but of fear.”
Book Claims Mueller Drew Up Obstruction Indictment
“A new book from Fire and Fury author Michael Wolff says special counsel Robert Mueller drew up a three-count obstruction of justice indictment against Donald Trump before deciding to shelve it – an explosive claim which a spokesman for Mueller flatly denied,” the Guardian reports.
“The stunning revelation is contained in Siege: Trump Under Fire, which will be published a week from now, on June 4.”
In an author’s note, Wolff states that his findings on the Mueller investigation are “based on internal documents given to me by sources close to the Office of the Special Counsel.”
Mattis Has Book Coming This Summer
Former Secretary of Defense Jim Mattis has a book coming out this summer, but he warns that it will not be a “tell-all” about President Trump, the AP reports.
Call Sign Chaos: Learning to Lead will be published July 16.
