First Read: “By the way, notice who hasn’t been in the news lately — Omarosa. We’ve gotta guess that the Brennan-security-clearance story really did change the subject.”
Trump Denies He Considered Revoking Obama Clearance
President Trump denied a report that he had considered restricting former President Obama’s access to intelligence briefings, calling that an extraordinary step that he “never discussed or thought of,” the Washington Post reports.
”The New Yorker reported Monday that then-national security adviser H.R. McMaster had talked Trump out of the idea, which some White House officials were pushing last year in the wake of Trump’s assertion, without evidence, that Obama had ordered wiretapping of Trump Tower during the 2016 election campaign.”
Voting for Kavanaugh Could Hurt Collins In 2020
A new Public Policy Polling survey in Maine finds that if Sen. Susan Collins (R-ME) votes for Brett Kavanaugh’s nomination to the Supreme Court, 47% of Maine voters said they would be less likely to vote for her when she runs for re-election, while 31% said they would be more likely to support her.
Key findings: 49% of Maine voters think Collins should vote against Kavanaugh and 56% don’t think she should vote on the nomination until there’s been a full review of Kavanaugh’s documents.
Once Safe GOP Seats Threatened by Blue Wave
“Republicans who represented some of the safest congressional seats in their party for years are suddenly under intense pressure in 2018, with Democratic challengers threatening to overwhelm them in suburban districts where President Trump has struggled,” Politico reports.
“One of those districts belongs to Rep. Steve Chabot, an 11-term Republican who has gone years without a serious challenge in the southwestern corner of Ohio. He has been outraised — and, some Republicans say, outworked — by Democrat Aftab Pureval, the 35-year-old clerk of courts in Cincinnati’s Hamilton County, who argues that the congressman has lost touch with a diversifying, suburbanizing district changing beneath his feet.”
Other GOP seats mentioned: Reps. Dana Rohrabacher (R-CA), Leonard Lance (R-NJ) and John Culberson (R-TX).
Microsoft Discovers New Russian Hacking Effort
Washington Post: “A group affiliated with the Russian government created phony versions of six websites — including some related to public policy and to the U.S. Senate — with the apparent goal of hacking into the computers of people who were tricked into visiting, according to Microsoft, which said Monday night that it discovered and disabled the fake sites.”
“The effort by the notorious APT28 hacking group, which has been publicly linked to a Russian intelligence agency and actively interfered in the 2016 presidential election, underscores the aggressive role Russian operatives are playing ahead of the midterm congressional elections in the United States.”
More Gridlock Ahead
Charlie Cook: “Anything short of a Democratic gain of 60 or more seats means that it would a real challenge for House Democrats to get much out of the chamber (a 60-plus seat gain for Democrats is possible, but very unlikely given current congressional-district boundaries and natural-population patterns).”
“The reality is that no party is going to exceed 53 or 54 seats, making for a tough legislative sled given the rules and practices of the Senate.”
U.S. Moves Towards New Round of Tariffs on China
“The Trump administration is moving closer this week to levying tariffs on nearly half of Chinese imports despite broad opposition from U.S. business and the start of a fresh round of talks between the U.S. and China to settle the trade dispute,” the Wall Street Journal reports.
“The twin administration initiatives—pursuing tariffs on $200 billion of Chinese goods while relaunching talks to scrap tariffs—underscore a split within the U.S. administration, with negotiators in the U.S. Treasury Department offering a carrot, while the office of the U.S. trade representative threatens with a stick, both with the approval of President Trump.”
Axios: “For West Wing policy advisers, China has become a rare unifying issue, while deep rifts remain on other trade issues, especially the wisdom of Trump’s plan to impose massive tariffs on car imports.”
15 Senators Skip Votes Despite McConnell Warning
“More than a dozen senators missed Monday night votes, despite a lecture last week from leadership about skipping work during the rare August session,” The Hill reports.
“Fifteen senators — five Democrats and 10 Republicans — did not show up for two votes in the Senate.”
Trump Claims He Could ‘Run’ Russia Investigation
President Trump told Reuters that he could “run” the special counsel’s Russia investigation if he wanted to.
Said Trump: “I can go in, and I could do whatever — I could run it if I want. But I decided to stay out. I’m totally allowed to be involved if I wanted to be. So far, I haven’t chosen to be involved. I’ll stay out.”
”Legal experts disagree on the exact process, but there is some agreement that Trump has power over the inquiry, including the ability to bring about special counsel Robert Mueller’s ouster.”
Dean Says Trump Has a ‘Real Problem’
Former Nixon White House counsel John Dean told CNN that President Trump “has got a real problem” after the latest revelations regarding White House counsel Don McGahn’s interviews with special counsel investigators.
Said Dean: “I think that’s a lot of testimony, that’s a lot of visiting, and that’s just the bottom of what they know. It could well have been much more than that. It appears to have been ongoing. So, I think Trump has got a real problem here. And I’m not sure how he’s going to handle it.”
Trump Says He’s Worried About a ‘Perjury Trap’
President Trump told Reuters he was worried that any statements under oath he provides to special counsel Robert Mueller could be used to bring perjury charges against him as part of the probe into Russia’s electoral interference.
“The president expressed fears that investigators could compare his statements with that of others who have testified in the probe, such as former FBI Director James Comey, and that any discrepancies could be used against him.”
Said Trump: “Even if I am telling the truth, that makes me a liar. That’s no good.”
Also interesting: “Trump also declined to say whether he might strip Mueller of his security clearance.”
McGahn Doesn’t Think He Implicated Trump
White House counsel Donald McGahn’s attorney, Bill Burck, told President Trump’s lawyers this weekend that McGahn did not assert that Trump engaged in any wrongdoing when he spoke to Mueller’s investigators in three lengthy interviews since last November, the Washington Post reports.
Said Burck: “He did not incriminate him.”
“Burck has assured Trump’s lawyers that McGahn did not witness Trump engaged in any crime and would have resigned from his White House post if he had.”
GOP Candidate Jokes Russians Will Help Him Win
Scott Wager (R), who is running to unseat Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Wolf (D) joked that the Russian government will help him win in November, in audio obtained by HuffPost.
Said Wager: “By the way, the Russians are going to help me with Tom Wolf. If I have to use Paul Manafort, I will.”
Trump Lashes Out at the Fed
President Trump took another swipe at the Federal Reserve in an interview with Reuters, expressing concern that the central bank is raising interest rates after years of holding borrowing costs near zero.
Said Trump: “I’m not thrilled with his raising of interest rates, no. I’m not thrilled. I should be given some help by the Fed.”
GOP Lawmaker Admits He’s Trailing
Rep. George Holding (R-NC), who has won each of his three terms with more than 56% of the vote, told supporters that he is trailing challenger Linda Coleman (D), McClatchy reports.
In a fundraising email, Holding announced internal poll numbers that he says show him down three points.
Said campaign manager Carter Wrenn: “We want people to understand where we are. We don’t want people to take this election for granted. George has always won by a pretty comfortable margin. This is a completely different election.”
Mulvaney Trying to Protect Home State from Tariffs
President Trump’s budget director, Mick Mulvaney, “is trying to use his influence to help a South Carolina business that could be badly wounded by the White House’s trade policies,” McClatchy reports.
“Mulvaney, a former South Carolina Republican congressman, has been making personal pleas to administration officials to protect the viability of Element Electronics, a television assembly plant in his old district that has said it will halt operations because of tariffs.”
Clinton Steps Back Into the Fundraising Fray
“Hillary Clinton is stepping back into the limelight ahead of the November midterm elections, helping to raise money for the Democratic National Committee in a series of fundraisers,” NBC News reports.
“The 2016 Democratic presidential nominee will headline three events — in San Francisco, Chicago and New York — for the DNC this fall to boost the party’s chances to seize control of the U.S. House and Senate.”
Trump Didn’t Know How Long McGahn Spent with Mueller
“White House counsel Don McGahn’s 30 hours of conversations with special counsel Robert Mueller’s team has unnerved President Trump, who didn’t know the full extent of McGahn’s discussions,” CNN reports.
“Trump was spending another weekend at his New Jersey golf club when The New York Times first reported McGahn’s cooperation with Mueller’s office… The President was unsettled by the notion that he didn’t know everything McGahn said to the special counsel during their interviews, the sources said. And while he had approved the cooperation, Trump did not know the conversations stretched for 30 hours or that his legal team didn’t conduct a full debriefing with McGahn after the fact.”
