memeorandum: Phil Donahue: Trump era ‘darkest political moment’ in history (Brooke Seipel/The Hill)

5:35 PM ET, July 16, 2017

Top Items:

U.S. Secret Service rejects suggestion it vetted Trump son's meeting — 4 MIN READ — WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. Secret Service on Sunday denied a suggestion from President Donald Trump's personal lawyer that it had vetted a meeting between the president's son and Russian nationals during the 2016 campaign.

Discussion: Mediaite, Talking Points Memo, Shareblue and Business Insider

Esme Cribb / Talking Points Memo:

Trump Lawyer Blames Secret Service For Not Preemptively Stopping Jr.'s Meeting — Jay Sekulow, a member of President Donald Trump's legal team, on Sunday aired a new defense for Donald Trump Jr.'s meeting with a Russian lawyer who promised him damaging information on Hillary Clinton …

Discussion: IJR, Hullabaloo, ThinkProgress and Shareblue

Josh Israel / ThinkProgress:

Did Donald Trump's lawyer accidentally make a huge confession about the meeting with the Russian lawyer? — Jay Sekulow suggested the Secret Service vetted the meeting, but Donald Trump Jr. was not being protected at that time. — Jay Sekulow, one of President Donald Trump's attorneys …

Discussion: IJR

Alicia Cohn / The Hill:

Trump lawyer: Secret Service wouldn't have let Trump Jr. take ‘nefarious’ meeting — President Trump's outside attorney Jay Sekulow said Sunday that the meeting between the president's son and a Russian lawyer during the presidential campaign would not have happened if the Secret Service considered it “nefarious.”

Discussion: The Gateway Pundit

Kevin Dolak / ABC News:
Trump campaign paid Donald Trump Jr.'s lawyer weeks before Russian meeting was revealed

Discussion: Business Insider, Axios, Mediaite and Politico

Julia Manchester / The Hill:
Secret Service responds to Trump lawyer: Russian lawyer meeting not screened

Discussion: Raw Story

Washington Post: Trump campaign paid firm of lawyer representing Trump Jr. before emails were made public

Philip Rucker / Washington Post:
Trump defends his son — drawing a contrast with Clinton — and says media are ‘distorting democracy’

Discussion: Fox News, The Daily Gazette, CBS News, The Gateway Pundit, Conservative News Today, John Hawkins' Right Wing News and Deadline

Jordyn Phelps / ABC News:
Russian lawyer obtained Hill hearing seat from former Florida Trump campaign chair's husband

Discussion: Associated Press and Politico

Marshall Cohen / CNN:
Trump re-election campaign paid $50,000 to law firm now representing Donald Trump Jr.

Discussion: RedState

Gary Langer / ABC News:

6 months in, a record low for Trump, with troubles from Russia to health care (POLL) — Americans give President Donald Trump the lowest six-month approval rating of any president in polls dating back 70 years, punctuated by questions about his competence on the world stage, his effectiveness …

Discussion: Shareblue, Common Dreams, NBC News, IJR, Mediaite, RedState, twitchy.com, Joe.My.God., Talking Points Memo, Balloon Juice and The Guardian

Philip Bump / Washington Post:

By a 2-to-1 margin, Americans prefer Obamacare to Republican replacements — Republicans racing to pass a bill that would overhaul the Affordable Care Act (better known as Obamacare) certainly understand that their efforts aren't polling well. In survey after survey, a majority of respondents view …

Discussion: Washington Monthly, Politico and The Guardian

Washington Post:

Poll finds Trump standing weakened since springtime … President Trump's standing with the American people has deteriorated since the spring, buffeted by perceptions of a decline in U.S. leadership abroad, a stalled presidential agenda at home and an unpopular Republican health-care bill …

Discussion: TalkLeft, New York Times, New York Magazine, Outside the Beltway and Axios

Mark Murray / NBC News:

Trump's Approval Stands at 50 Percent in the Counties That Fueled His Win — WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump's job approval rating in the American counties that fueled his 2016 victory stands at 50 percent, according to a new NBC News/Wall Street Journal poll of these “Trump counties.”

Discussion: Political Wire

Noam N. Levey / Los Angeles Times:
Obamacare repeal bills could put coverage out of reach for millions of sick Americans

Discussion: RedState

Washington Post:
Trump approval declines since spring

Discussion: Business Insider, The Last Refuge and The Gateway Pundit

Saisha Talwar / ABC News:

8 to 10 Republican senators concerned about GOP bill: Collins — Republican Sen. Susan Collins Maine says the Senate health care bill would “jeopardize the very existence of our rural hospitals and our nursing homes.” — Collins, R-Maine, told ABC News Chief White House Correspondent Jonathan Karl on …

Discussion: Politico

Michelle Cottle / The Atlantic:
Mitch McConnell's Heavy Health-Care Lift

Discussion: Axios, ThinkProgress and Politico

Robert Pear / New York Times:
McCain's Surgery Will Delay Senate Votes on Health Care Bill

Discussion: CNN, Business Insider and Common Dreams

New York Times: Governors Give Chilly Reception to Health Bill Push

Reed Abelson / New York Times:
In Clash Over Health Bill, a Growing Fear of ‘Junk Insurance’

Discussion: The Daily Caller and Power Line

Seung Min Kim / Politico:
McConnell: Senate to ‘defer’ on Obamacare repeal vote

Discussion: Outside the Beltway, Washington Free Beacon, Washington Post, The Hill and Political Wire

Philip Rucker / Washington Post:

White House unveils ‘Made in America’ week, though many Trump products are made overseas — PISCATAWAY TOWNSHIP, N.J. — President Trump, whose company outsources the manufacturing of many of its products to overseas factories, is unveiling “Made in America” week at the White House to promote products made in the United States.

Discussion: Raw Story and Conservative News Today

John Podhoretz / New York Post:
Hillary's White House would be no different from Trump's

Discussion: John Hawkins' Right Wing News

Michael C. Bender / Wall Street Journal:
White House Plans Messaging Campaign to Refocus Attention on Trump's Agenda

Discussion: Political Wire

Julia Manchester / The Hill:

Caitlyn Jenner weighs run for Senate — Olympic gold medalist and transgender activist Caitlyn Jenner is the latest celebrity to reveal she has considered lanching a run for Senate, telling radio host John Catsimatidis she is in the process of determining her future in activism and politics.

Discussion: USA Today, The Daily Caller, IJR, RedState and Joe.My.God.

Julia Manchester / The Hill:
Carville: It would be ‘very, very difficult’ for Dems to retake Senate in 2018

Discussion: Washington Examiner, The Daily Caller and Washington Free Beacon

Alexa Corse / Wall Street Journal:

South Carolina May Prove a Microcosm of U.S. Election Hacking Efforts — There were nearly 150,000 attempts to penetrate the voter-registration system on Election Day 2016, State Election Commission says — To understand the scale of the hacking attempts against election systems …

Brooke Seipel / The Hill:

Phil Donahue: Trump era ‘darkest political moment’ in history — Former talk-show host Phil Donahue on Saturday reflected on President Trump's administration, calling it “the darkest political moment in American history.” — “This is the darkest political moment in American history,” Donahue said on MSNBC's “AM Joy” Saturday.

Discussion: MichelleMalkin.com and IJR

David Wooding / The Sun:

TRUMP COWER Donald Trump begs Theresa May to fix a ‘warm welcome’ for his state visit - and says he won't set a date for it until he knows he's going to get ‘a better reception’ — US President warns he will not visit until he can guarantee a good reception and pleas with Theresa May to help influence public

Discussion: CNBC, Business Insider and The Daily Caller