memeorandum: Arron Banks ‘met Russian officials multiple times before Brexit vote’ (The Guardian)

8:30 PM ET, June 9, 2018

Top Items:

Trump at G-7 floats end to all tariffs, threatens major penalties for countries that don't agree — QUEBEC CITY - President Trump told foreign leaders at the Group of Seven summit that they must dramatically reduce trade barriers with the United States or they would risk losing access …

Discussion: Mother Jones, Washington Monthly, Reuters, The Gateway Pundit, No More Mister Nice Blog, Splinter and BuzzFeed

Ashish Kumar Sen / Atlantic Council:

Director of National Intelligence Dan Coats: Russia is Attempting to Influence US Midterms, Divide Transatlantic Alliance — Russia is attempting to influence the midterm elections in the United States in November as well as divide the transatlantic alliance, US Director …

Discussion: Political Wire

Michael D. Shear / New York Times:

Trump Says U.S. Will No Longer Be 'Piggy Bank That Everybody's Robbing' — LA MALBAIE, Quebec — President Trump said on Saturday that he had brought up with America's closest allies the dramatic prospect of completely eliminating tariffs on goods and services, even as he threatened to end …

Discussion: ThinkProgress, Raw Story, New York Magazine, Mother Jones, Politico and Washington Post

Jonathan Swan / Axios:

Why Trump lit the fire — The biggest key to understanding Trump's dogmatism on trade is that even as he switched political parties and changed his views on issue after issue, his one consistent stance over 40 years is that other countries are “ripping off the United States” in trade deals, as he put it in 1987.

Jennifer Hansler / CNN:

Trump again calls for readmitting Russia to G7, blames Obama for Crimea's annexation — (CNN)President Donald Trump on Saturday doubled down on his call for Russia to be readmitted into the G7 and blamed his predecessor for Russia's aggression in Crimea. — “I think it would be an asset …

Discussion: RedState, AOL, mccain.senate.gov and Washington Press

Karen DeYoung / Washington Post:
In Trump, some fear the end of the world order

Discussion: Raw Story

The Guardian:

Arron Banks ‘met Russian officials multiple times before Brexit vote’ — Arron Banks, the millionaire businessman who bankrolled Nigel Farage's campaign to quit the EU, had multiple meetings with Russian embassy officials in the run-up to the Brexit referendum, documents seen by the Observer suggest.

The Times & The Sunday Times:

Exclusive: Emails reveal Russian links of millionaire Brexit backer Arron Banks — Arron Banks, the millionaire businessman who helped fund Brexit, had three meetings with the Russian ambassador to Britain — raising explosive questions about attempts by Moscow to influence the referendum result.

Nick Miroff / Washington Post:

A family was separated at the border, and this distraught father took his own life — A Honduran father separated from his wife and child suffered a breakdown at a Texas jail and killed himself in a padded cell last month, according to Border Patrol agents and an incident report filed by sheriff's deputies.

Discussion: Shareblue Media, New York Magazine, ThinkProgress, Hullabaloo, Mother Jones, Reuters and One America News Network

Avery Anapol / The Hill: Honduran man in US custody kills himself after being separated from wife and child at border: report

Eliza Collins / USA Today:

German Chancellor Merkel's stare down photo sums up Trump's time at G-7 — WASHINGTON — If a picture is worth 1,000 words, Angela Merkel has some thoughts. — The German chancellor uploaded a photograph on Instagram of her and French President Emmanuel Macron seeming to stare down President Trump.

John Paul Tasker / CBC News:
Trump demands Canada dismantle supply management or risk trading relationship

Discussion: BuzzFeed and The Daily Caller

Jonathan Allen / NBC News:
Trump hits the world stage, Day 1: Come late, leave early, offend host, alienate allies

Discussion: NBC News, IJR, BBC, HuffPost, RedState, Sputnik International and Sean Hannity

John Paul Tasker / CBC News:
Trump arrives late and leaves early as G7 leaders talk gender, oceans and climate

Discussion: Daily Kos and Washington Press

Associated Press: Trump delivers warning on trade as he leaves G-7 summit

David M. Herszenhorn / Politico:
Trump's surprise G-7 pitch: ‘We should at least consider no tariffs’

Discussion: Breitbart, Politico, The Mahablog and AOL

Dick Thornburgh / Washington Post:

We Republicans must all speak out to protect the Mueller investigation — Dick Thornburgh was U.S. attorney general from 1988 to 1991. — As a lifelong Republican, I am proud that my party has consistently revered the rule of law as a central tenet of our country's values.

Discussion: Washington Press

Caroline Orr / Shareblue Media:

Reagan's attorney general comes out swinging in defense of Mueller — Dick Thornburgh, attorney general under presidents Ronald Reagan and George H.W. Bush, called out his fellow Republicans for attacking special counsel Mueller and undermining the rule of law.

Philip Bump / Washington Post:
Mueller's ‘witch hunt’ snags another witch

Discussion: Outside the Beltway and New York Times

Washington Post:

Why can't we hate men? — Suzanna Danuta Walters, a professor of sociology and director of the Women's, Gender, and Sexuality Studies Program at Northeastern University, is the editor of the gender studies journal Signs. — It's not that Eric Schneiderman (the now-former …

Kirsten Powers / USA Today:

Americans are depressed and suicidal because something is wrong with our culture — On average, there are 123 suicides per day in the United States. If you or someone you know needs help, call the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 1-800-273-TALK. — Don't pathologize the despair …

Discussion: neo-neocon

David Nakamura / Washington Post:

Trump says he'll size up Kim Jong Un ‘within the first minute’ of Singapore summit — SINGAPORE — President Trump predicted Saturday that he will know almost immediately when meeting Kim Jong Un whether the North Korean dictator is serious about negotiating a nuclear deal …

Victoria Kim / Los Angeles Times: Singapore preps for Trump-Kim summit with fresh paint and arrests

Anna Fifield / Washington Post:
For Kim Jong Un, meeting Trump is about cementing power at home

Discussion: Mother Jones

Gi-Wook Shin / Axios:
A denuclearization deal will not end the North Korea problem

Discussion: One America News Network, Breitbart, ABC News, Yonhap News Agency and Politico

Kathryn Watson / CBS News:
Trump calls summit a “one-time shot” for Kim Jong Un, warns ally nations on trade

Discussion: CBS Chicago, Talking Points Memo and The Week

Coral Davenport / New York Times:

In the Trump Administration, Science Is Unwelcome. So Is Advice. — As the president prepares for nuclear talks, he lacks a close adviser with nuclear expertise. It's one example of a marginalization of science in shaping federal policy. — WASHINGTON — As President Trump prepares …

Discussion: Axios

Sean Rossman / USA Today:

USA TODAY foreign affairs reporter Oren Dorell killed in hit-and-run — Oren Dorell, a former construction contractor who became a globe-trotting foreign affairs reporter for USA TODAY, died Friday evening in Washington D.C. He was 53. — Dorell was hit by a suspected impaired driver while riding his motorcycle.

Lauretta Brown / Townhall:

Bill Clinton Defends Franken: It Was a ‘Difficult Case’ and the SNL Women Defended Him — PBS's Judy Woodruff asked former president Bill Clinton Thursday whether he thought it was a “good thing” that norms have changed when it comes to sexual harassment. Woodruff's example …