memeorandum: Leaked Documents Suggest Secretive Billionaire Trump Donors Are Milo's Patrons (Joseph Bernstein/BuzzFeed)

3:50 PM ET, July 13, 2017

Top Items:

Dana Bash / CNN:

First on CNN: Graham, Cassidy unveil details of alternative health care plan — STORY HIGHLIGHTS — (CNN)With the prospects for passing the current Senate Republican health care bill still in jeopardy, Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-South Carolina, and Sen. Bill Cassidy, R-Louisiana …

Discussion: Axios, ThinkProgress, Talking Points Memo, neo-neocon, Political Wire and IJR

Paige Winfield Cunningham / Washington Post:

The Health 202: Doctors make last-ditch effort to sink GOP health-care bill — THE PROGNOSIS — Senate Majority Leader Senator Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) attends a new conference following party policy lunch meeting. (REUTERS/Carlos Barria TPX) — It's looking increasingly …

Discussion: Vox, The Guardian, Daily Kos, IJR, Mother Jones and Daily Wire

Sarah Karlin-Smith / Politico:

Senate Republicans one vote away from Obamacare repeal failure — The Senate Republican effort to repeal Obamacare is on the cusp of defeat, with two Republican senators threatening to kill the measure before the Senate can even start debate. — GOP leaders released a modified draft …

Discussion: Axios, Vox, TheBlaze, Washington Post, Business Insider and Political Insider blog

Caitlin Owens / Axios:

Draft GOP health bill will include Cruz provision — A controversial idea championed by Sen. Ted Cruz will be included in today's draft of the GOP health care bill, according to three sources familiar with the bill. It's similar to the provision Cruz worked on with Sen. Mike Lee …

Discussion: IJR, NBC News, Talking Points Memo, Daily Kos and Business Insider

Haley Byrd / IJR:

Senate Republicans are Considering Alternative Scoring for Cruz Amendment Instead of Waiting for CBO — Republicans are considering using alternative scoring methods for a version of Sen. Ted Cruz's (R-Texas) Consumer Freedom Option in order to proceed with their health care push next week rather …

Discussion: Daily Kos

Amy Walter / The Cook Political Report:

Republican Senators Left Exposed in Health Care Ad Wars — By now, we know that Republicans in the Senate are having a tough time coming to agreement on a health care bill. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell took the drastic step this week of cancelling at least the first two weeks …

Discussion: Reuters and New York Times

Dylan Scott / Vox:

Leaked outline shows Senate bill will allow bare-bones health plans — It will also keep some — but not all — of the Affordable Care Act taxes on the rich. — The Senate Republicans' revised health care bill will keep Obamacare's taxes on high-income Americans in place and allow the sales …

Discussion: Washington Monthly

Sean Sullivan / Washington Post:
Revised Senate health-care bill still lacks the votes to pass

Discussion: Political Wire and New York Magazine

Philip Klein / Washington Examiner:
TEXT: Cruz amendment would allow insurers to escape these nine Obamacare regulations

Discussion: ACASignups.net and Daily Wire

Ezra Klein / Vox: The new Senate health bill is terrible for anyone who is sick, has been sick, or will be sick

Axios:
The new things in the Senate health bill

Discussion: Talking Points Memo, Vox and Washington Post

New York Times:
Senate G.O.P. Leaders Unveil Health Care Bill to Try Winning Over Skeptics

Discussion: Mother Jones, CNN, FiveThirtyEight, United States Senator …, The Daily Caller, CNBC and Politico

Jeffrey Young / HuffPost:
The New Senate Health Care Bill Is Still An Assault On The Safety Net

Discussion: Vox, Forbes, Refinery29, Business Insider and Lawyers, Guns & Money

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: Politico, Media Matters for America, ABC News, The Hill, Washington Post, Shakesville, Shareblue, CNBC, New York Magazine, Daily Kos, Mediaite, Politicus USA, Talking Points Memo, Mother Jones, Raw Story, Washington Free Beacon and Political Wire

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: Washington Post, Mother Jones, Politico, Mediaite, Associated Press, The Guardian, Reuters, Axios, Shareblue and The Root

Asawin Suebsaeng / The Daily Beast:

Team Trump Hunts for ‘Traitors’ While the President ‘Growls’ at the TV … Three days after the Donald Trump Jr. email revelations broke, the White House seems stuck in purgatory, with aides still deeply unsure about who leaked the damaging information, and the president still yelling at the TV.

Discussion: Telegraph, The Guardian, NBC News, Washington Post, Weekly Standard, Daily Kos, New York Times, IJR and NPR

Rusty Surette / KBTX-TV:

Rep. Flores says President Trump's children should be removed from White House — A Republican U.S. Representative from the Brazos Valley believes the President's children should be removed from the White House. — Rep. Bill Flores, District 17, made the remarks on Wednesday …

Discussion: Vox, The Daily Caller and Raw Story

Brian Beutler / New Republic:
What Did Republicans Know About the Russia Scandal? America Deserves an Answer.

Discussion: Raw Story, Salon, Hullabaloo and Washington Post

Shane Harris / Wall Street Journal:
Russian Officials Overheard Discussing Trump Associates Before Campaign Began

Discussion: Foreign Policy, Washington Post, Raw Story, Suburban Guerrilla …, Mediaite, CNBC, Business Insider, Daily Kos and Washington Monthly

Peter Baker / New York Times:
Conspiracy or Coincidence? A Timeline Open to Interpretation

Discussion: Los Angeles Times, Washington Post, BillMoyers.com, JustOneMinute, Politico, The Colorado Independent, Just Security, AOL and Vox

Eli Lake / Bloomberg:
Trump Needs to Come Clean. Democrats Need to Be Careful.

Discussion: New York Times, Vox, American Prospect, Mediaite, Raw Story, The Daily Caller and Mother Jones

Kurt Schlichter / Townhall.com: This Time We Liberals Have Totally Got Trump. Wash. Rinse. Repeat.

CNN:
Pence had no meetings with Russia during campaign, spokesman says

Discussion: RedState, Washington Post and Politicus USA

Mark Katkov / NPR:

Justice Department Releases Sessions' Disclosure Form, A Day Late — Updated 11 a.m. — A day late, the Justice Department complied this morning with a federal court order and released part of a security clearance form dealing with Attorney General Jeff Sessions' contacts with foreign governments.

Discussion: National Security, Talking Points Memo, Shakesville, IJR, Raw Story, No More Mister Nice Blog and Outside the Beltway

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 …

Erick Erickson / The Resurgent:
Were Democrats Working With Russia Against Trump? That Russian Lawyer Has Ties to Democrat Oppo Researchers

Discussion: Patterico's Pontifications

Aaron Rupar / ThinkProgress:
Ordered by court to disclose his Russia contacts, Sessions releases blank sheet of paper

Discussion: The Mahablog, Talking Points Memo, Raw Story, Business Insider, Daily Kos, Just Security and Mother Jones

Brooke Singman / Fox News:
Obama administration let Russian lawyer who met Trump Jr. into US after visa block

Discussion: Politico, Talking Points Memo, The Daily Beast, Mediaite, Raw Story and TheBlaze

Tyler Durden / zerohedge.com/fullrss2.xml:
Why Did Loretta Lynch Grant Trump Jr's Russian Lawyer A Special Visa To Enter America?

Discussion: The Rush Limbaugh Show and IJR

American Oversight:
Updated: DOJ Releases Redacted Page of Sessions's SF-86 to American Oversight

Discussion: Shareblue, The Atlantic and Daily Kos

Joseph Bernstein / BuzzFeed:

Leaked Documents Suggest Secretive Billionaire Trump Donors Are Milo's Patrons — Photo illustration by BuzzFeed News; Getty Images — Secretive hedge fund billionaire Robert Mercer and his family launched themselves into the top rank of American power through a series …

more at Mediagazer »

Shannon Vavra / Axios:

Susan Collins, Rand Paul to vote no on revised health bill — Republican Senators Susan Collins and Rand Paul will both be voting no on the revised Senate health bill. This comes after Mitch McConnell unveiled his new health care bill Thursday, which would let insurers sell skimpy policies …

Discussion: Political Wire, Hit & Run and Jamie Dupree - AJC

Russell Berman / The Atlantic:
What's Inside Mitch McConnell's Latest Health-Care Proposal

Discussion: RedState, The Hill and NBC News

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 …

Discussion: Jewish Telegraphic Agency and New York Magazine

U.S. Department of Justice:

National Health Care Fraud Takedown Results in Charges Against Over 412 Individuals Responsible for $1.3 Billion in Fraud Losses — Largest Health Care Fraud Enforcement Action in Department of Justice History — Attorney General Jeff Sessions and Department of Health and Human Services …

Discussion: RedState, Washington Post, Axios, Washington Free Beacon and STAT

CBO's Publications:

An Analysis of the President's 2018 Budget — Under the President's proposals, budget deficits from 2018 through 2027 would total nearly one-third less than those in CBO's baseline projections, ranging between 2.6 percent and 3.3 percent of GDP, down from 3.6 percent in 2017.

Discussion: Vox, New York Times, National Review, Washington Post and TheStreet