memeorandum: Manafort Talks With Senate Investigators About June 2016 Meeting With Russians (New York Times)

12:45 PM ET, July 25, 2017

Top Items:

Trump leaves Sessions twisting in the wind while berating him publicly — President Trump and his advisers are privately discussing the possibility of replacing Attorney General Jeff Sessions, and some confidants are floating prospects who could take his place were he to resign or be fired, according to people familiar with the talks.

Erick Erickson / The Resurgent:

Cabinet Level Revolt Over Trump's Treatment of Jeff Sessions. “A Clusterf**k” One Secretary Calls It. — “If he can get treated that way, what about the rest of us?” one of the President's Cabinet secretaries asked me with both shock and anger in his voice.

Discussion: Washington Monthly

Lesley Clark / McClatchy Washington Bureau:

Trump messes with Sessions, and Senate Republicans are not pleased — President Donald Trump is getting a bitter Washington lesson when he messes with Jeff Sessions - you don't pick a fight with one of the Senate's guys. — It's a lesson that could cost him politically in a Senate …

Discussion: Washington Post, Politico, Power Line, NPR, Washington Free Beacon, TheBlaze, Washington Monthly, Mediaite, Washington Times, The Week, Daily Wire, IJR, Common Dreams, RedState and AOL

Mike Allen / Axios:

Trump in phone call: “What would happen if I fired Sessions?” — President Trump, in one of his hallmark rituals, recently called a longtime political associate and asked out of the blue: “What would happen if I fired Sessions?” — Trump has been openly undermining Attorney General Jeff Sessions …

Discussion: RedState, Washington Post, Talking Points Memo, Outside the Beltway, The Daily Caller, Washington Times, Business Insider, Raw Story, Politico and Newsweek

Betsy Klein / CNN:

Trump slams Sessions, rips DOJ in Twitter outburst — STORY HIGHLIGHTS — Washington (CNN)President Donald Trump lashed out at his attorney general and Justice Department in an extraordinary outburst on Twitter Tuesday morning, continuing his public shaming of Jeff Sessions while appearing …

Veronica Stracqualursi / ABC News:

The Note: Trump has sights set on belittling Sessions — WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW TODAY — Is Jeff Sessions in danger of losing his job? The president is continuing his public attacks against Sessions, tweeting this morning: “Attorney General Jeff Sessions has taken a VERY weak position …

Discussion: HuffPost, Politico, Washington Post, Political Wire, National Review and National Journal

Adam Shaw / Breitbart:

Trump's Attack on Sessions over Clinton Prosecution Highlights His Own ‘Weak’ Stance — President Trump's decision Tuesday to attack Attorney General Jeff Sessions over Sessions' “position” on Hillary Clinton's various scandals only serves to highlight Trump's own hypocrisy on the issue …

Discussion: Power Line, Washington Post, Fox News Insider, The Daily Caller, Talking Points Memo, IJR, Washington Free Beacon, Daily Wire, The Week, twitchy.com and Mediaite

Associated Press:
AP sources: Trump speaks to advisers about firing Sessions

Discussion: Lawfare, The American Conservative, New York Magazine and IJR

Chris Cillizza / CNN:
Donald Trump's public bullying of Jeff Sessions is embarrassing

Discussion: Bloomberg, ABC News and ThinkProgress

Tara Palmeri / Politico:

Scaramucci plans to oust White House press aide, offers ‘amnesty’ to others — Newly appointed White House communications director Anthony Scaramucci said on Tuesday that he plans to dismiss assistant press secretary Michael Short. — It would be Scaramucci's first step toward shaking …

Discussion: Washington Post, Talking Points Memo, Axios, Political Wire, Washington Times, The Week, IJR, AOL and Washington Free Beacon, more at Mediagazer »

Washington Post:
New communications director moves toward possible staff purge at White House

Discussion: Talking Points Memo, Politico, IJR, The Week, Washington Free Beacon, Political Wire and Booman Tribune, more at Mediagazer »

William D. Cohan / New York Times: This Is Not the Mooch I Know — It's been a rough start …

Sharon Begley / STAT:

Psychiatry group tells members they can defy ‘Goldwater rule’ and comment on Trump's mental health — leading psychiatry group has told its members they should not feel bound by a longstanding rule against commenting publicly on the mental state of public figures — even the president.

Discussion: The Atlantic, Talking Points Memo, The Verge and Althouse

Burgess Everett / Politico:

Obamacare repeal vote still too close to call — Senate Republicans are barreling toward a dramatic and highly unusual vote on Obamacare Tuesday without knowing whether they'll have the votes to start dismantling the health care law. — At stake is not just the seven-year-old campaign pledge …

Discussion: Talking Points Memo, Vox, The Hill, Mother Jones, Political Wire and Scared Monkeys

Caitlin Owens / Axios:
The Senate's evolving health care plan

Discussion: Vox, NBC News, Talking Points Memo, New York Magazine and Politico

Jonathan Chait / New York Magazine:
Trumpcare Is the Worst-Designed Social Policy in History

Discussion: The Atlantic

Dylan Scott / Vox:
Senate Republicans don't know what's in their health bill or what it would do. They're voting anyway.

Discussion: Salon, Hullabaloo and New York Magazine

Sam Baker / Axios:
No one knows what the Senate's going to do. But it will do it today.

Discussion: Daily Kos, Hullabaloo, Talking Points Memo, Vox, Common Dreams, Political Wire, Jezebel and Politico

Wall Street Journal: Can Republicans Govern? — Some Senators want to talk forever about health care.

Robert Costa / Washington Post:

Boehner predicts Republicans will ‘never’ repeal and replace Obamacare — Former House speaker John A. Boehner, who has mostly avoided public commentary since leaving Congress two years ago, told a business gathering last week that Republicans are “not going to repeal and replace Obamacare” …

Discussion: ABC News, Axios, IJR, The Resurgent, Politico, The Daily Caller, Talking Points Memo, Business Insider, Political Insider blog, NTK Network, AOL and The Week

Madeline Conway / Politico:

Senate panel subpoenas Manafort as campaign aides provide Russia information — A Senate committee said Tuesday it sent Paul Manafort a subpoena compelling his testimony in its Russia probe, even as he and Jared Kushner were providing information to other congressional investigators …

Discussion: ABC News, Talking Points Memo, Axios, Political Wire, The Root and The Week

New York Times:

Manafort Talks With Senate Investigators About June 2016 Meeting With Russians — WASHINGTON — President Trump's former campaign chairman, Paul Manafort, met with Senate Intelligence Committee investigators on Tuesday to discuss the June 2016 meeting between a Russian lawyer …

Katie Bo Williams / The Hill:
Pressure on Trump grows as Kushner is questioned

Discussion: Politico and Axios

Jenna Johnson / Washington Post:

After Trump's partisan speech, Boy Scouts of America reiterates that it is ‘wholly non-partisan’ — Following President Trump's campaign-style speech at the National Scout Jamboree in West Virginia on Monday evening, the Boy Scouts of America released a statement that did not comment …

Discussion: Shareblue, Raw Story, IJR and The Week

Mallory Shelbourne / The Hill:
Boos for Obama as Trump speaks at Boy Scout jamboree

Discussion: Raw Story, Politico, New York Magazine, CNN, Shareblue, vice, Business Insider, The Root, Mashable and The Week

Washington Post:
Trump's Boy Scouts speech broke with 80 years of presidential tradition

Discussion: BBC, Vox, HuffPost, RedState, ThinkProgress, Jezebel, Daily Kos, IJR and The Week

Rebecca Savransky / The Hill:

Scaramucci says it's ‘probably’ correct Trump wants Sessions gone — White House communications director Anthony Scaramucci on Tuesday said it is “probably” correct that President Trump wants Attorney General Jeff Sessions — gone. — But Scaramucci said he didn't want to speak for the president.

Discussion: Daily Wire, AOL and The Week

Axios:
Scaramucci: Trump “probably” wants Sessions gone

Discussion: Political Wire and Washington Free Beacon

Newsday:

President Trump coming to LI to discuss MS-13, Rep. King says — President Donald Trump arrives tp speak at the 2017 National Scout Jamboree in Glen Jean, W.Va., Monday, July 24, 2017. — President Donald Trump will visit Suffolk County on Friday to discuss the violent and often deadly MS-13 street gang …

Discussion: New York Magazine

David Brooks / New York Times:

How Cool Works in America Today — If you grew up in the 20th century, there's a decent chance you wanted to be like Miles Davis, Billie Holiday, Humphrey Bogart, Albert Camus, Audrey Hepburn, James Dean or Jimi Hendrix. In their own ways, these people defined cool.

Discussion: Mediaite

Wall Street Journal:

More U.S. Cars Are Being Made in Mexico — Donald Trump may have targeted offshore production, but it has grown this year, fueled by sales of popular SUVs and pickups — The “Made in Mexico” label has become more plentiful on American car lots this year, even as auto makers pressured …

Discussion: The Daily Caller

Courtney Vinopal / Washingtonian:

Joshua Green: In Trump's World, “You're Never Really Dead if You Just Stick Around and Endure It” — The Bloomberg Businessweek correspondent has written a fascinating account of Steve Bannon's role in Trump's campaign. — When journalist Joshua Green attended a screening of a documentary …

NBC Universal:

MSNBC MOST WATCHED OF ALL CABLE NETWORKS IN WEEKDAY PRIME FOR 1ST TIME IN NETWORK HISTORY — MSNBC Was Also #1 from 7pm to Midnight in Total Viewers for All of Cable for the Week — For the first time in the network's 21-year history, MSNBC finished the week as the most-watched cable …

Discussion: Daily Wire, Mediaite and The Last Tradition, more at Mediagazer »

Ken Meyer / Mediaite:

Kat Timpf Goes Off on Twitter After Having Water Dumped on Her: ‘Infantile Bullsh*t’ — Fox News Specialist co-host Kat Timpf released a lengthy tweetstorm on Monday where she alleged that someone dumped a bottle of water on her just ahead of a speaking engagement in Brooklyn Monday evening.

Discussion: TVNewser, The Resurgent, twitchy.com, RedState and AOL

Peter Baker / New York Times:

Trump White House Tests a Nation's Capacity for Outrage — GLEN JEAN, W.Va. — Remember that time President George W. Bush told his attorney general to investigate Al Gore for his “crimes”? Or President Barack Obama called for a Justice Department prosecution of John McCain?