Trump Watch: Day 185 Wrap-Up
Good evening, Trump watchers. Here’s your latest Trump-related news for Monday, July 24, 2017:
— Trump’s son-in-law and close White House adviser Jared Kushner had a private hearing with the Senate Intelligence Committee today regarding his meetings with Russian officials during the 2016 Presidential election. Kushner said, “All of my actions were proper and occurred in the normal course of events of a very unique campaign. I did not collude with Russians, nor do I know of anyone in the campaign who did.” Kushner claimed he did not know the reason for the meeting with the Russian government lawyer in June of 2016, and said he only attended the meeting because Donald Jr. asked him to do so. Kushner also met with Russian ambassador Sergei Kislyak in November, along with former short-term national security adviser Michael Flynn. It’s important to note that Kushner’s testimony today was not under oath, but lying to Congress is still considered a crime. Next up, Kushner is expected to speak to the House Intelligence Committee on Tuesday. Meanwhile, Donald Jr. and Paul Manafort have not yet reached an agreement with congressional investigators about when they will have a meeting.
— CNN pointed out that Kushner’s admission to meeting with Russian officials actually negates the story we’ve been told from the Trump campaign for months. According to CNN, “Trump, Vice President Mike Pence, White House counselor Kellyanne Conway, White House spokeswoman Sarah Huckabee Sanders, former White House press secretary Sean Spicer, Trump spokeswoman Hope Hicks and former Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort have all previously denied that there were any contacts or ties between the Trump campaign and Russian government officials or Russians trying to meddle in the election.” Kushner’s confirmation that he did, in fact, have meetings with Russian officials (as well as confirmation from Donald Jr. and Attorney General Jeff Sesssions) goes against what Trump has been saying. Interesting.
— Today Trump strongly urged Republican Senators to move forward with debate about the Republican-designed healthcare bill. Trump said to them, “Any senator who votes against starting debate is telling America that you are fine with the Obamacare nightmare, which is what it is.” The Republican bill currently does not have enough support to pass a vote in the Senate and would leave an additional 20+ million Americans without healthcare according to the Congressional Budget Office. This story provides a great overview of the outcomes of each of the Republicans’ healthcare bills that they’ve come up with so far…and they don’t look good.
— A federal judge ruled today that Trump’s elections commission can request voter information from U.S. states. This was a setback for watchdog groups such as the Electronic Privacy Information Center (who brought the lawsuit against Trump’s commission), who contend that releasing voter information could infringe on voters’ privacy rights. Trump seems to be hell-bent on proving that some sort of massive voter fraud took place in the November election since he lost the popular vote to Hillary Clinton.
— Over the weekend, Trump intensified his criticism of his Attorney General, Jeff Sessions. The Associated Press reported that he privately mused “about whether he should fire his longtime ally.” Additionally, this morning he referred to Sessions as “beleaguered” in a tweet, which read in full: “So why aren’t the Committees and investigators, and of course our beleaguered A.G., looking into Crooked Hillarys crimes & Russia relations?” It remains to be seen whether Trump will fire Sessions or not. Stay tuned.
— Speaking of Sessions, Senator Dianne Feinstein, the top Democrat on the Senate Judiciary Committee, sent a letter to the Committee Chairman, Chuck Grassley, demanding that Sessions be asked to testify before the Senate Judiciary Committee. Feinstein’s request comes after a Washington Post report that suggested Sessions discussed policy issues with Russia’s ambassador during the 2016 presidential election when he was working with the Trump campaign. In her letter to Grassley, Feinstein wrote, “If this is true, it would be directly contrary to the testimony that Attorney General Sessions gave — under oath — before the Judiciary Committee during his confirmation hearings. This is a serious matter, and the Judiciary Committee must hear directly from the Attorney General.”
That’s all for tonight! Stay tuned for the next update on Wednesday evening.
