LETTER

It’s Monday, the beginning of the business week. Over the weekend, multiple staff shake ups and revelations from the Trump administration dominated the headlines, notably:
- Press Secretary Sean Spicer resigned from the administration following his disagreement with the White House hiring of Anthony Scaramucci as communications director,
- The Washington Post reported on intercepted intelligence cables of conversations between Attorney General Jeff Sessions and Russian Ambassador Sergey Kislyak on then-candidate Trump’s policies during the 2016 campaign, and
- The White House possibly withdrew its opposition to a bipartisan bill strengthening sanctions against Russia for interfering in the 2016 election.
In other top news, San Antonio police came across a probable human-trafficking case when they discovered nine dead along with dozens of other dehydrated migrants in a parked truck outside of a Wal-Mart and a suicide bombing in Kabul, Afghanistan killed at least 24.
As always, good luck on the week ahead and thanks for reading the newsletter.
Cheers,
The Wonks Team
Politics and Public Policy
- The New York Times analyzes presidential immunity and the legal grounds for indicting a sitting U.S. president based on the research of then Special Counsel Kenneth Starr and his legal team during the Whitewater investigation into President Bill Clinton in the 1990s.
- Peter Beinart of The Atlantic evaluates the arguments of left-wing reporters Glenn Greenwald and Max Blumenthal against the Russia investigation, comparing their disbelief in Russian interference with conservatives’ denial of climate change.
Business, Science, and Health
- Bloomberg News writes about the ongoing efforts to clean up the waste produced by the Fukushima nuclear meltdown from 2011, along with underwater photos taken by aquatic robots used in the cleanup.
- The San Francisco Chronicle writes about the impact of the upcoming total solar eclipse on the power grid in California, particularly how it will affect the state’s solar panels when the moon covers the sun on August 21st.
Sports and Culture
- ESPN chronicles the offseason dysfunction of the Cleveland Cavaliers, including the team’s GM vacancy for the bulk of free agency, failed trades for Paul George and Jimmy Butler, and emerging discontent from franchise point guard Kyrie Irving.
- Sopan Deb of The New York Times reflects on recent portrayals of South-Asian American identity and gender in movies and TV shows such as “The Big Sick,” “Master of None,” and “The Mindy Project.”

