memeorandum: Republicans Stare Down Failure On Health Care With No Real Plan B (Matt Fuller/HuffPost)

9:40 AM ET, July 13, 2017

Top Items:

Shane Harris / WSJ:

Russian Officials Overheard Discussing Trump Associates Before Campaign Began — U.S. intelligence starting in the spring of 2015 detected conversations in which Russian government officials discussed meetings with Trump associates — WASHINGTON—U.S. intelligence agencies starting …

Discussion: Washington Post, Suburban Guerrilla …, Mediaite, Raw Story, CNBC, Business Insider, Daily Kos, Washington Monthly and Wall Street Journal

Reuters:

Highlights of Reuters interview with Trump — 7 MIN READ — WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Here are highlights of the Reuters Oval Office interview with U.S. President Donald Trump on Wednesday. — ON WHETHER HE WAS AWARE HIS SON DONALD TRUMP JR. WAS MEETING WITH A RUSSIAN LAWYER — “No. That I didn't know.

Discussion: The Hill, Politico, CNBC, Daily Kos and Mother Jones

Steve Holland / Reuters:

Exclusive: Trump says he was unaware of son's meeting with Russian lawyer — 2 MIN READ — WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. President Donald Trump said on Wednesday he was unaware of his son Donald Trump Jr.'s meeting last year with a Russian lawyer at the heart of a White House controversy …

Discussion: CNN, New York Magazine, Washington Post, Politicus USA, ABC News, Mediaite, Raw Story, Washington Free Beacon, Talking Points Memo, NPR, Political Wire, New York Times, IJR, The Atlantic and Politico

Katie Zavadski / The Daily Beast:

Was Donald Trump Jr.'s Russian Connect in U.S. Illegally? … Natalia Veselnitskaya, the Russian lawyer who met Donald Trump Jr. in New York last summer, said she was denied a U.S. visa in 2015. — She then asked federal prosecutors for permission to enter the U.S. to work on behalf of a client in a Manhattan.

Discussion: Raw Story, RedState, The Gateway Pundit and TheBlaze

Veronica Stracqualursi / ABC News:

The Note: Dark cloud hangs over Trump's visit to City of Lights — WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW TODAY — Bonjour! President Trump is in Paris today and Friday at the invitation of his French counterpart, Emmanuel Macron, for the Bastille Day celebrations and to hold a one-on-one meeting.

Discussion: Mediaite, NBC News, Washington Free Beacon, Washington Post, Associated Press, CNBC, Politico, Axios and Talking Points Memo

The Hill:

Exclusive: DOJ let Russian lawyer into US before she met with Trump team — The Russian lawyer who penetrated Donald Trump — 's inner circle was initially cleared into the United States by the Justice Department under “extraordinary circumstances” before she embarked on a lobbying campaign …

Discussion: Breitbart, Scared Monkeys, Al Jazeera English, The Rush Limbaugh Show, MichelleMalkin.com, Wired, Politico, AOL, The Guardian, NBC News, The Gateway Pundit and The Atlantic

Peter Baker / New York Times:

Conspiracy or Coincidence? A Timeline Open to Interpretation — WASHINGTON — At 6:14 p.m. on June 7, 2016, Donald Trump Jr. clicked the send button on an email to confirm a meeting with a woman described as a “Russian government attorney” who would give him “information that would incriminate Hillary and her dealings with Russia.”

Discussion: Politico, Just Security, Washington Post, The Guardian and Business Insider

Josh Dawsey / Politico:

Trump's lawyers try to control unruly White House — Donald Trump's legal team is trying to instill discipline on a West Wing not known for its discipline. — The lawyers, people familiar with the internal discussions say, are reminding White House aides and the president that the stakes …

Discussion: Raw Story

Jonathan Swan / Axios:

Scoop: Trump lawyers want wall between Kushner, president — President Trump's outside legal team wants to wall off Jared Kushner from discussing the Russia investigation with his father-in-law, according to sources with direct knowledge of the discussions.

Discussion: The Daily Beast, Weekly Standard, Daily Kos, IJR, New York Magazine, Politicus USA, New York Times, Business Insider, Talking Points Memo, Mediaite, The Daily Caller, Outside the Beltway, Above the Law, Vox and National Review

Josh Dawsey / Politico:
Trump crafting plan to slash legal immigration

Discussion: Breitbart, New York Magazine and ImmigrationProf Blog

Josh Rogin / Washington Post:
Inside the link between the Russian lawyer who met Donald Trump Jr. and the Trump dossier

Discussion: Vox, Mother Jones, The Daily Caller, New York Times, JustOneMinute, Jewish Telegraphic Agency, Slate, Des Moines Register, Mashable and Media Matters for America

CBN.com:
President Trump to CBN's Pat Robertson: Putin Would Have Been Happier With Clinton

Discussion: Talking Points Memo, CNN, Axios, France 24, Washington Post, Politico, Mediaite, CNBC, Business Insider, Washington Free Beacon, Raw Story, AOL, IJR, The Hill, TheBlaze, The Daily Caller and ThinkProgress

Olivia Beavers / The Hill:
Dem senator calls for Kushner to resign from White House

Discussion: CANNONFIRE, Politico and Agence France-Presse

Billy House / Bloomberg:
Democrats Ask DOJ About Settlement Involving Trump-Linked Lawyer

Discussion: Political Wire

Adam Pribila / IJR:
Roger Stone Alleges That He Knows Who Is Behind the White House Leaks

Discussion: sandiegouniontribune.com and RedState

Esme Cribb / Talking Points Memo:
GOP Senator: Intel Committee Knew In April That Kushner Met Russian Lawyer

Discussion: Politico

Andrew Egger / Weekly Standard:
Pence Spokesman Tries to Avoid Russia Questions

Discussion: Raw Story, CNN, ABC News and Mediaite, more at Mediagazer »

Committee on the Judiciary:
JUDICIARY DEMS DEMAND ANSWERS ON DOJ SETTLEMENT OF FRAUD CASE HANDLED BY RUSSIAN LAWYER WHO MET WITH TRUMP JR.

Discussion: New York Times, Philly.com, Mother Jones, The Daily Caller, Washington Post and AOL

Matt Fuller / HuffPost:

Republicans Stare Down Failure On Health Care With No Real Plan B — Another map won't help if you don't know where you're headed. — WASHINGTON Senate Republicans are still moving ahead with a vote on their health care bill next week, but barring some sudden changes of hearts …

Discussion: Balloon Juice, Media Matters for America and Business Insider

Sam Baker / Axios:

Here comes the brand new Senate health bill — One important thing to keep in mind as Senate Republicans unveil their revised health-care bill today: This is not necessarily the final bill. The parliamentarian could still change it. Negotiations with individual senators could still change it.

Discussion: Politico

Rachana Pradhan / Politico:
Senate moderates sidelined in new Obamacare repeal bill

Discussion: Political Insider blog, Alaska Dispatch News and Political Wire

Jonathan Chait / New York Magazine:
Republicans Still Can't Design a Workable Health-Care Plan

Discussion: Washington Post, New York Times, HuffPost, Mother Jones, Politico and ThinkProgress

Benjamin Weiser / New York Times:

Sheldon Silver's Conviction Is Overturned — A federal appeals court on Thursday overturned the 2015 corruption conviction of Sheldon Silver, the once-powerful New York State Assembly speaker who obtained nearly $4 million in illicit payments in return for taking official actions that benefited others …

Lia Eustachewich / New York Post: Sheldon Silver's corruption conviction is overturned

Maura Dolan / Los Angeles Times:

‘He is a monkey’: Federal appeals court appears doubtful that a monkey who took a selfie can sue — An Indonesian macaque named Naruto allegedly grabbed a photographer's camera and snapped a self-portrait in 2011. (Wikimedia) — A federal appeals court appeared highly skeptical Wednesday …

Discussion: Above the Law

Julia Carrie Wong / The Guardian:
Monkey selfie photographer says he's broke: 'I'm thinking of dog walking'

Discussion: Althouse

James Doubek / NPR:

Justice Department Defies Court Deadline To Release Sessions' Contacts With Russians — In defiance of a court order, the Justice Department is refusing to release part of a security form dealing with Attorney General Jeff Sessions' contacts with the Russian government.

Discussion: Outside the Beltway

Mick Mulvaney / Wall Street Journal:

Introducing MAGAnomics — The Trump agenda for achieving 3% economic growth. — If the Trump administration has one overarching goal, it's to Make America Great Again. But what does this mean? It means we are promoting MAGAnomics—and that means sustained 3% economic growth.

Zack Whittaker / ZDNet:

Millions of Verizon customer records exposed in security lapse — Customer records for at least 14 million subscribers, including phone numbers and account PINs, were exposed. — An Israeli technology company has exposed millions of Verizon customer records, ZDNet has learned.

Discussion: RT, BuzzFeed, ThinkProgress, Engadget, Gothamist and The Verge, more at Techmeme »

Selena Larson / CNNMoney:
Verizon data of 6 million users leaked online

Discussion: Refinery29

Rebecca Kheel / The Hill:

House panel advances amendment blocking Pentagon funding for gender transition — The Rules Committee has voted in favor of sending an amendment to the House floor that would prohibit Pentagon funding from being used for medical care related to gender transition.

Discussion: RedState

Nahal Toosi / Politico:

Trump intervenes to grant rejected Afghan girls entry to U.S. for robotics contest — At the urging of President Donald Trump, U.S. officials have reversed course and decided to allow into the United States a group of Afghan girls hoping to participate in an international robotics competition next week …

Discussion: ABC News, The Verge, Raw Story, AOL, Mashable and Daily Wire

Congressman Luis Gutierrez:

GUTIÉRREZ WARNS THOSE WITH DACA OR TPS TO PREPARE FOR THE WORST — After CHC Meeting with DHS Sec. Kelly, Gutiérrez Says Millions of Documented Immigrants Could be Made Deportable This Year — Issues: — Washington, DC - On Wednesday, Rep. Luis V. Gutiérrez (D-IL) …

Discussion: ThinkProgress, Dallas Morning News and Associated Press

Maria Sacchetti / Washington Post:
DHS's Kelly tells Hispanic caucus DACA might not survive court challenge

Discussion: Lawyers, Guns & Money

Congressman Brad Sherman:

Congressman Sherman Introduces Article of Impeachment: Obstruction of Justice — Washington, D.C. - Today, Congressman Brad Sherman (D-CA), joined by Congressman Al Green (D-TX), introduced an Article of Impeachment (H. Res. 438) against President Donald J. Trump for High Crimes and Misdemeanors.