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

4:20 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

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, Washington Post, Business Insider, TheBlaze and Political Insider blog

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, Axios, Shareblue, The Root and Reuters

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, Business Insider, Talking Points Memo and Daily Kos

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 and Business Insider

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: Politico, New York Magazine and Political Wire

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

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 …, Outside the Beltway, The Daily Caller, CNBC and Politico

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

Discussion: ACASignups.net and Daily Wire

Axios:
The new things in the Senate health bill

Discussion: Talking Points Memo, HuffPost and Vox

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

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

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

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

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

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

Asawin Suebsaeng / The Daily Beast:
Team Trump Hunts for ‘Traitors’ While the President ‘Growls’ at the TV

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

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

Discussion: Raw Story, Salon and Hullabaloo

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

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

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

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 — This will not get nearly as much coverage as Donald Trump, Jr. meeting with Natalia Veselnitskaya, but it does raise the issue of whether Democrats and Russians were as collaborative …

Discussion: Patterico's Pontifications

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

Discussion: RedState, CNN, Washington Post, The Mahablog, Raw Story, Business Insider, Daily Kos, Talking Points Memo, 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, The Daily Beast, Talking Points Memo, 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 »

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

Shannon Vavra / Axios:
Susan Collins, Rand Paul to vote no on revised health bill

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, Red Alert Politics and Washington Post

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, Daily Kos, The Guardian, IJR, Mother Jones, Daily Wire and Lawyers, Guns & Money

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, Washington Free Beacon, STAT and Axios

Rachael Bade / Politico:

Ryan moves to ‘modernize’ dress code of Speaker's lobby — Speaker Paul Ryan has asked a top House chamber official to “modernize” the Speaker's Lobby dress code after being pummeled in the media for a long-held rule that women must cover their shoulders in a hallway outside the House floor.

Discussion: ABC News and Daily Wire

Aidan Geary / CBC News:

Jimmy Carter OK after collapsing from dehydration in Winnipeg — Former U.S. president and wife Rosalynn were helping construct a Habitat for Humanity home — Former U.S. president Jimmy Carter received medical attention for dehydration while in Winnipeg on Thursday, where he is helping build a Habitat for Humanity home.

Discussion: Politico, Washington Post, The Hill, RedState, The Daily Caller, The Gateway Pundit and fox13now.com

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, Washington Post, National Review and TheStreet