memeorandum: Democrats Have A Slight Edge In The Georgia 6 Runoff (Harry Enten/FiveThirtyEight)

5:30 PM ET, June 12, 2017

Top Items:

Caitlin Owens / Axios:

Senate GOP won't release draft health care bill — Senate Republicans are on track to finish writing their draft health care bill this evening, but have no plans to publicly release the bill, according to two senior Senate GOP aides. — “We aren't stupid,” said one of the aides.

Discussion: Vox, ThinkProgress, Mother Jones, ABC News, Talking Points Memo, Business Insider, Death and Taxes, Common Dreams, The Week, Raw Story, New York Magazine, Daily Kos, Shareblue, Politicus USA, ACASignups.net, Political Wire and twitchy.com

Tom Jensen / Public Policy Polling:

Plurality Of Voters Think Trump Obstructed Justice — PPP's newest national poll finds a variety of bad news for Donald Trump in the wake of James Comey's testimony to Congress last week. 49% of voters say that they think Trump committed obstruction of justice, to just 41% who don't think he did.

Discussion: Political Wire

Sarah Kliff / Vox:

Obamacare is in real danger — The Affordable Care Act is in deep trouble — in Washington and large swaths of the country. — Senate Republicans began to coalesce around the framework of a plan to repeal and replace the law last week. Their plan would, like the bill the House passed in May …

Discussion: Bloomberg, neo-neocon, New York Magazine, Mother Jones and Viking Pundit

Ryan Cooper / The Week: Republicans are closer to killing ObamaCare than you think

John Harwood / CNBC:

Trump makes bizarre claims at press event as Cabinet members take turns praising him — Trump said that few presidents have passed more legislation than he has, though Congress has passed no major legislation since he has been president — Since taking office in January …

Discussion: Vox

Chris Cillizza / CNN:

Donald Trump just held the weirdest Cabinet meeting ever — (CNN)Leave it to Donald Trump to reinvent the Cabinet meeting. — The public portion of these gatherings of all of the president's top advisers are usually staid affairs. Photographers are let in to take pictures.

Discussion: Washington Post, Common Dreams, Business Insider, Jewish Telegraphic Agency, Political Wire, The Week, Fox News Insider, Mediaite and twitchy.com

CNN:

Cabinet members give Trump unusual tribute — Washington (CNN)The first meeting of President Donald Trump's full Cabinet evolved into an unusual tribute session Monday as heads of his executive branch agencies hailed the opening five months of Trump's administration while the President himself listened on closely.

Discussion: Talking Points Memo and Mediaite

Laura Jarrett / CNN:

9th Circuit deals Trump travel ban another defeat — (CNN)Another federal court has ruled against President Donald Trump's revised executive order limiting travel from six predominately Muslim countries. — The ruling from a three-judge panel of the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals …

Discussion: Bloomberg, Little Green Footballs, Political Wire, Mediaite, Daily Kos and KTLA

Julie Hirschfeld Davis / New York Times:
Trump Boasts of ‘Record-Setting’ Pace of Activity

Discussion: Hullabaloo

John Wagner / Washington Post:
Trump touts ‘amazing’ progress, basks in praise of his Cabinet

Discussion: Lawyers, Guns & Money

Louise Radnofsky / Wall Street Journal:

Secret Service Has No Audio or Transcripts of Any Tapes Made in Trump White House — The U.S. Secret Service has no audio copies or transcripts of any tapes recorded within President Donald Trump's White House, the agency said Monday.

Discussion: The Hill, The Atlantic, Axios, Talking Points Memo, Politico, Political Wire, Death and Taxes, Common Dreams, The Washington Journal, CNBC, Mediaite, Daily Kos, AOL, IJR and Washington Free Beacon

Brandon Carter / The Hill:
Secret Service: We don't have any Trump White House tapes

Discussion: RedState

Mollie Hemingway / The Federalist:
James Comey Has A Long History Of Questionable Obstruction Cases

Discussion: Politico, Daily Wire, American Thinker, Vox and Feeds

Max Greenwood / The Hill:

Gingrich: Congress ‘should abolish’ special counsel after Comey testimony — Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich (R-Ga.) slammed former FBI Director James Comey on Sunday, accusing him of manipulating the investigation into Russian election meddling and calling for Congress to dismiss the special counsel entirely.

Discussion: Talking Points Memo, ABC News, Mother Jones, Daily Wire, Politico, Mediaite, Business Insider, ThinkProgress, RealClearPolitics, RedState, Vox, Washington Post, John Hawkins' Right Wing News, Media Matters for America, Shareblue, TheBlaze and Liberty Unyielding

Manu Raju / CNN:

Source: Sessions' plans to testify surprised Senate intelligence panel members — (CNN)Attorney General Jeff Sessions' letter on Saturday offering to testify before the Senate intelligence committee on Tuesday caught members of the panel by surprise, and senators are concerned he's trying …

Discussion: The Hill, RedState, Axios, Talking Points Memo and Washington Free Beacon

Cody Derespina / Fox News:
Ivanka Trump surprised by ‘viciousness,’ ‘ferocity’ of father's critics

Discussion: Daily Mail and Mediaite

Nolan D. McCaskill / Politico:
Spicer: ‘Premature’ to discuss executive privilege ahead of Sessions testimony

Discussion: Axios and Associated Press

Colby Hall / Mediaite:
Ivanka Trump to Fox & Friends: Did Not Expect This ‘Level of Viciousness’ in Washington D.C.

Discussion: theGrio

Liam Stack / New York Times:

Delta Air Lines and Bank of America Won't Back Trump-Like ‘Julius Caesar’ — New York's Public Theater lost support from two high-profile corporate donors, Delta Air Lines and Bank of America, on Sunday amid intense criticism of its production of Shakespeare's “Julius Caesar,” …

Alan Henry / Broadway World:
Delta Sponsored 2012 Guthrie Theater Season Which Featured Obama Inspired Julius Caesar

Discussion: ThinkProgress, Washington Post, Mediaite, Mashable, Longreads, arts.gov and Arkansas Blog, Arkansas Times

Piers Morgan / Daily Mail: Hate-filled liberals seem to think Trump is such a joke that anything goes. …

Congressman Mike Quigley:

Quigley Introduces the COVFEFE Act — Legislation Expands Presidential Records Act Preservation to Include Social Media — WASHINGTON — Today, U.S. Representative Mike Quigley (IL-05), co-founder and co-chair of the Congressional Transparency Caucus, introduced the Communications …

Discussion: Vox, The Verge, Nextgov, AOL, Death and Taxes, Business Insider and The Daily Caller

Joe Uchill / The Hill:
COVFEFE Act would make social media a presidential record

Discussion: Engadget, IJR and Washington Free Beacon

Fredreka Schouten / USA Today:

Exclusive: In latest job, Jim DeMint wants to give Tea Party ‘ a new mission’ — WASHINGTON - Former South Carolina senator Jim DeMint, ousted last month as head of the Heritage Foundation think tank, is joining a fast-growing, conservative movement that is pushing states to seek …

Discussion: Political Wire, Daily Wire, The Daily Caller, Lawyers, Guns & Money and Washington Free Beacon

Jonathan Swan / Axios: Jim DeMint takes new path to disrupt Washington

Aaron C. Davis / Washington Post:

D.C. and Maryland to sue President Trump, alleging breach of constitutional oath — Attorneys general for the District of Columbia and the state of Maryland say they will sue President Trump on Monday, alleging that he has violated anti-corruption clauses in the Constitution by accepting millions …

Adam Liptak / New York Times:

Trump Loses Travel Ban Ruling in Appeals Court — WASHINGTON — A second federal appeals court on Monday ruled against President Trump's revised travel ban. The decision, from the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, in San Francisco, was the latest in a string …

Discussion: Washington Post, Outside the Beltway and Fast Company

Josh Gerstein / Politico:
Ninth Circuit upholds block on Trump's travel ban

Discussion: Associated Press and Axios

Harry Enten / FiveThirtyEight:

Democrats Have A Slight Edge In The Georgia 6 Runoff — Democrat Jon Ossoff fell just short in his bid to capture the seat representing Georgia's 6th Congressional District in a first-round knockout. Polls show a tight race, but it looks like he might have better luck in next week's decisive Round 2.

Discussion: TheBlaze

Stuart Rothenberg / Inside Elections:
Almost a Must-Win for Democrats in Georgia 6

Discussion: Washington Monthly, No More Mister Nice Blog and New York Times

Marc Fisher / Washington Post:

When a liberal power lawyer represents the Trump family, things can get ugly — Four decades ago, soon after a president of the United States interfered in an investigation of his actions, a young lawyer named Jamie Gorelick was assigned her first big case.

Discussion: The Week, Althouse, Power Line and Political Wire

Manuel Roig-Franzia / Washington Post:

'This ain't right!': Bill Cosby's attorney calls assault claim a lie — NORRISTOWN, Pa. — He blamed it on lies. He blamed it on greed. He blamed it on the media. — For two hours on Monday, Bill Cosby's attorney — flipping between stage-whispered intimacy and earsplitting verbal explosions …

Discussion: Althouse

Jeannette Reyes / 6abc.com:
Defense rests, Bill Cosby does not testify at sex assault trial

Discussion: The Daily Caller

Associated Press:

Gorsuch has unanimous first opinion for Supreme Court — A measure of melodic phrasing. A rigorous reading of the law at issue. A nod to the proper role of the courts. — Justice Neil Gorsuch's first Supreme Court opinion Monday stayed true to what Gorsuch promised in his nomination hearing …

Discussion: Washington Post and Politico

Kelefa Sanneh / New Yorker:

The Persistence of Prog Rock — Critics think that the genre was an embarrassing dead end. So why do fans and musicians still love it? — In April, 1971, Rolling Stone reviewed the début album by a band with a name better suited to a law firm: Emerson, Lake & Palmer.

Discussion: Power Line

Timothy L. O'Brien / Bloomberg:

My Lawyers Got Trump to Admit 30 Lies Under Oath — Trump sued me, then had to acknowledge 30 times during a deposition that he had lied over the years about a wide range of issues. — Donald Trump closed out last week by rumbling back into his battle against James Comey, who was FBI director until POTUS fired him.

Discussion: RedState, Shakesville, Techdirt, The Guardian, Hit & Run, Lawfare and Washington Free Beacon

Mike Allen / Axios:

Trump “on an island, all alone” — The spotlight has been on President Trump's legal jeopardy. But inside the small circle of top Republicans who advise this White House, there's increasing concern that future political problems are stacking up. — One of the oldest (and most trusted) …

Discussion: Raw Story