memeorandum: Thom Tillis puts hold on nomination over H-2B visas (Stephen Dinan/Washington Times)

5:00 PM ET, July 11, 2017

Top Items:

Russian Dirt on Clinton? ‘I Love It,’ Donald Trump Jr. Said — The June 3, 2016, email sent to Donald Trump Jr. could hardly have been more explicit: One of his father's former Russian business partners had been contacted by a senior Russian government official and was offering to provide …

The Daily Beast:

Trump Aides Freaking Out Over Don Jr.'s Russia Email: The ‘Sum Of All Fears’ … President Donald Trump's son, his former campaign chairman, and his son-in-law were all told that the opposition research they were soliciting on campaign rival Hillary Clinton was coming from the Russian government …

Discussion: Vox, Washington Post, Raw Story, The Guardian, The Daily Caller and Business Insider

New York Times:

Russian Government Sought to Aid Trump's Candidacy, According to Email — WASHINGTON — Before arranging a meeting with a Kremlin-connected Russian lawyer he believed would offer him compromising information about Hillary Clinton, Donald Trump Jr. was informed in an email that the material …

NBC News:

Russian Lawyer Who Met With Trump Jr.: I Didn't Have Clinton Info They Wanted — MOSCOW — The Russian lawyer who met with Donald Trump Jr. during the presidential campaign denied in an exclusive interview with NBC News that she had any connection to the Kremlin and insists she met …

Darren Samuelsohn / Politico:

Trump Jr. delivers ‘smoking gun’ to Mueller — Donald Trump Jr. may have just given Robert Mueller “smoking gun” evidence signaling his father's presidential campaign colluded with the Russian government to win the 2016 election, according to veteran prosecutors and white-collar defense attorneys experienced in Washington scandals.

Discussion: Talking Points Memo and Political Wire

Ezra Klein / Vox:

We are past the point of innocent explanations on Trump and Russia — Imagine if the Clintons had done what the Trumps did on Russia. — Imagine the names were different. — Imagine Chelsea Clinton had taken Bill Clinton and campaign chair John Podesta to a meeting set …

Discussion: Politico, Axios, Washington Post, The Guardian, The Daily Caller, Daily Wire, New York Magazine, Daily Kos, Washington Free Beacon and Business Insider

John Hinderaker / Power Line:

Trump Jr. Releases Emails; They Support His Account — Earlier this morning, Donald Trump, Jr. released the email threads relating to his meeting with Russian lawyer Natalia Veselnitskaya in June 2016. The emails support his account of the meeting. Here they are, with the earlier ones first.

Jonah Goldberg / National Review:

Trust Nothing, Defend Nothing — I don't write or even tweet about the Russia investigation much. I think the most I've written is that I think it probably won't pan out and if it does, it'll be Paul Manafort or Roger Stone or some other expendable type who'll end up getting to know the underside of a bus.

Discussion: Patterico's Pontifications

Shane Savitsky / Axios:

Whatever Trump Jr. did, it's not treason — The issue: — Donald Trump Jr.'s meeting last year with a Kremlin-linked lawyer — and the release of the emails leading up to that meeting — have led some in Washington to start uttering the word “treason,” chief among them Sen. Tim Kaine.

Discussion: Vox, Daily Wire and The Week

Rick Hasen / electionlawblog.org:

Donald Trump Jr. Emails Paint Serious Case of Campaign Finance Violations — Just to recap where we are: — It is illegal for a person to solicit a contribution to a campaign from a foreign individual or entity. To solicit: … (This is from another FEC regulation, incorporated by reference into the foreign contribution ban.)

Discussion: Media Matters for America, New York Times, Vox, Washington Post, Mediaite, The Week, Business Insider, New York Magazine, The Atlantic, Mother Jones, Talking Points Memo, CNBC, Raw Story, Mashable, Jamie Dupree - AJC, IJR, Daily Kos and FOX6Now.com

Fox News:

Donald Trump Jr. releases ‘entire email chain’ regarding Russian meeting — Donald Trump Jr. on Tuesday released what he said was the “entire email chain” of his conversations setting up a disputed meeting with a Russian attorney, showing what appeared to be an offer to provide information that would …

Jonathan Swan / Axios:

Inside the White House scramble on the Trump Jr. emails — The general view of the Donald Trump Jr. email bombshell, according to sources within and close to the White House: no crime, all perception. They know it was politically awful, but have decided there was no real crime.

Kelsey Tamborrino / Politico:
Buzzword emerges as Trump Jr. Russia scandal deepens: Treason

Discussion: BuzzFeed, RedState and NPR

Jonathan Swan / Axios:
The White House knows the Trump Jr. story is bad news

Discussion: Daily Kos

Ezra Klein / Vox:
GOP senator on Russia emails: “I don't think this is relevant to the Trump administration”

Discussion: Weekly Standard, Washington Post and The Atlantic

Josh Marshall / Talking Points Memo:
Look At The Timeline

Discussion: The Smoking Gun

Mike Allen / Axios:
3 days, 3 Don Jr. shocks to West Wing

Discussion: Washington Post, New York Times, The Guardian, CNN, Vox, The Atlantic, TheBlaze, ThinkProgress, ABC News, Politico, New York Magazine, The Daily Caller and IJR

Carly Sitrin / Vox:
Vox poll: before the Trump Jr. emails, Republicans thought the Russia question was a distraction

Discussion: Politico, Talking Points Memo, The Atlantic, Business Insider and The Guardian

Aaron Blake / Washington Post:
Donald Trump Jr.'s full emails about meeting a ‘Russian government attorney,’ annotated

Discussion: Washington Monthly, Vox, Talking Points Memo, ThinkProgress, Business Insider, The Gateway Pundit and Reuters

Ed Rogers / Washington Post:
The media's mass hysteria over ‘collusion’ is out of control

Discussion: Talking Points Memo, ThinkProgress, CNN and Associated Press

Joel B. Pollak / Breitbart:
Donald Trump Jr. Releases ‘Russia Email’ Chain

Discussion: Vox, ThinkProgress, Washington Post, The Atlantic, John Hawkins' Right Wing News, The Root, Washington Times and Daily Wire

Rolf Mowatt-Larssen / Just Security:
The Media Is Not Asking the Right Questions on Trump Jr. Emails and Meeting with the “Russian Government Lawyer”

Discussion: Lawfare and Political Wire

Rebecca Savransky / The Hill:
Clinton running mate: Russian probe moving into ‘potentially treason’

Discussion: Politico and Refinery29

Weekly Standard:
The Trump Administration Has Forfeited the Right to be Trusted on Russia

Discussion: The Daily Caller and Associated Press

Matthew Yglesias / Vox:
Donald Trump's fishy behavior on Russia is bigger than possible email collusion

Discussion: Politico

Kaili Joy Gray / Shareblue: Panicked White House dismisses Don Jr. meeting: “He's not even a member of the administration”

David Brooks / New York Times:

How We Are Ruining America — Over the past generation, members of the college-educated class have become amazingly good at making sure their children retain their privileged status. They have also become devastatingly good at making sure the children of other classes have limited chances to join their ranks.

Discussion: RedState, MichelleMalkin.com, Washington Post, NewsCut, Fusion, Vox, twitchy.com, alicublog, Daily Wire, The American Conservative, Lawyers, Guns & Money and Mediaite

Politico:

Senate GOP ‘very pessimistic’ on Obamacare repeal — A push by Ted Cruz and Mike Lee to pull the bill to the right is dividing the caucus and complicating Republicans' already-beleaguered effort. — Tensions are rising between Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell's leadership team …

Discussion: Talking Points Memo, ACASignups.net and Daily Kos

Austin Wright / Politico:
Graham drafting alternative heath care plan

Discussion: Talking Points Memo

Edward-Isaac Dovere / Politico: Is Trump a Conservative? Mike Lee Says Yes

Mark Leibovich / New York Times:

This Town Melts Down — A veteran political reporter takes stock of how Washington has — and hasn't — changed in the time of Trump. — Sean Spicer, the White House press secretary, was running late and “tied up in the Oval,” an assistant explained. It was late on a Thursday afternoon in June …

Discussion: The Gateway Pundit, New York Magazine and AOL

Eryn Dion / Northwest Florida Daily News:

Amazing human chain formed to rescue drowning family in PCB — “I honestly thought I was going to lose my family that day,” Roberta Ursrey said. “It was like, 'Oh God, this is how I'm going.' ” — PANAMA CITY BEACH — It was supposed to just be a quick trip to the beach …

Discussion: The Guardian

Katie Mettler / Washington Post:
A riptide swept away a Florida family. Then beachgoers formed a human chain.

Discussion: USA Today, IJR, Alabama Today and CBS Miami

David Nather / Axios:

What's next if the Senate health bill fails — We know — the Republican health care effort has been declared dead many times, so this is not a prediction. There's still a lot of motion, and we could see a revised Senate bill on Thursday and a vote next week.

Discussion: Politico, CNN, cms.gov, The Rush Limbaugh Show, Outside the Beltway, McClatchy Washington Bureau and Shakesville

Caitlin Owens / Axios:
What we know about the Senate health care bill

Discussion: Talking Points Memo and Vox

Terry Jones / Investor's Business Daily:

Mystery Solved: Now We Know Why Comey Did Nothing About Hillary — Russia Scandal: No wonder former FBI Director James Comey refused to press charges last summer against Hillary Clinton for her egregious security breaches: It turns out, he may have been guilty of the same thing.

Discussion: The Hill, Washington Post, Power Line, Conservative News Today and Fox News Insider

Colby Hall / Mediaite:
Fox & Friends Addresses False Comey Memo Report: ‘We Were Mistaken’

Discussion: Daily Kos and The Week

CNN:

An avalanche of hate: How a Montana mom became the target of a neo-Nazi troll storm — Whitefish, Montana (CNN)Once the calls began, they did not stop. Swiping to decline a call just led to the phone ringing again. Blocked number after blocked number filled up the voice mail.

Discussion: Mediaite