Get Ready For Executive Time! Wonkagenda For Mon., Aug. 6, 2018

Trump's gonna be watching A LOT of tv, Don Jr. is dead to rights, and here comes more trade war! Your morning news brief!

Dominic Gwinn

Aug 6, 2018

440

Morning Wonketariat! Here's some of the things wemaybe talking about today.

Over the weekend Trump admitted that DJTJ conspired with Russians to subvert the 2016 election (NO COLLUSION!) during that Trump Tower meeting, but stated that it's "totally legal" (it isn't), and this stuff happens "all the time" (it doesn't). On Sunday, Trump's awful attorney Jay Sekulow told George Stephanopoulos that he misspoke last year when he denied the meeting (he didn't), there aren't any laws barring campaign staffers from meeting with foreign agents (there are), and that nobody has "pointed" to any laws that might have been broken (they have).

As we enter into Week #2 Here's a breakdown of the arguments Paul Manafort's defense team is trying to make. They're not good arguments; he's totally screwed.

Trump staffers and lawyers have largely given up on trying to keep him busy enough to avoid a(nother) Twitter meltdown. They now intend to just let him publicly shitpost, and privately kvetch with whomever is closest to him about Trump-Russia.

From the relative safety of his private golf course in New Jersey, Trump spent the weekend shitposting on Twitter. He blamed reporters for starting wars, which was (sort of) defended by John Bolton, and blamed California's wildfires on environmental laws, suggesting that cutting down more trees would stop all the fires. (This is not a new position for Republicans.)

Democrats' new line of attack on Trump's Supreme Court pick, Brett Kavanaugh, is to focus on whether he ignored the sexual harassment of colleagues by disgraced former Judge Alex Kozinski while serving as a clerk for Kozinski.

Two of the biggest US steel manufacturers have been lobbying Trump officials/administration friends not to issue waivers for smaller steel manufacturers. This way they can corner the beleaguered market caught in Trump's trade war, and make oodles of Ameros.

A new hotline intended to field complaints for the VA is just one of many set up to create the illusion that Trump has done something to help veterans. Note: This story will break your heart.

A bunch of hippies at the annual Netroots Nation conference screamed about embracing socialism, courted voters for 2020, and bitched about Trump before singing kumbaya and passing around avocado toast.

On Friday a US District Court Judge ruled invalidated an FEC rule that allowed anonymous donations to 501(c)4 nonprofit groups. That means that so-called dark money groups could be forced to start releasing the names of anyone who dumps more than $200 into shady political groups.

A year after Charlottesville, Trump has doubled down on his racism and hate speech after finding that he solidifies his base and sees little repudiation from Republicans too chickenshit to grow a spine.

Trump held anothercampaign style rallyin Ohio , where he made thinly veiled racist comments about LeBron James and Maxine Waters (again), bragged about 2016 (again), and bragged about being rich and "more elite" (again).

Fearing another embarrassing special election defeat tomorrow, Republicans are all out in the Ohio 12th and bringing in Trump, Pence, John Kasich and an avalanche of cash to make it rain on Republican candidate Troy Balderson.

Axios's Jonathan Swan was eavesdropping (again) when he heard the GOP griping about Trump's desire to crown princes in the primaries, and they're worried Trump will endorse Kansas's voter-fucking Secretary of State, Kris Kobach, for governor.

Republican reps Dave Brat and Scott Perry, two of the most obnoxious Tea Party crazies in the House Freedom caucus, are in danger of being voted out of office as their constituents see them both as "mean spirited" and "too conservative." HA!

Tabitha Isner, the Democrat challenging Republican Martha Roby in Alabama's 2nd, says Russians attempted to hack her campaign website last month, and that Congress isn't doing doodly squat to help candidates.

In the aftermath of the #MeToo movement, some local legislators are hoping to find redemption at the ballot box, and honestly believe that voters will care more about supporting/stopping Trump & Co. than they will about games of grab ass.

GOOD NEWS, EVERYONE! For the first time, many House committees and subcommittees are expected to be chaired by women if Democrats take control, due to the Democrats' longstanding seniority system.

Mitch McConnell just announced he's running for reelection in 2020. Grab your popcorn and lawn chairs!

Virginia's Republican Senate nominee Corey Stewart SAYS he isn't a "white supremacist," so there you go.

After Chicago police reported 63 people shot this weekend, Trump's attorney Rudy Giuliani took it upon himself to make Chicago great, or whatever, by tweeting an endorsement of former police chief "Jerry"[sic] (Garry) McCarthy for mayor.

Redneck garbage in Mississippi keep shooting a sign that marks the spot where Emmett Till was murdered in 1955.

New data shows that the rent is still too damn high for poor people in major cities, while simultaneously falling for rich people.

Kim Jong Un and Donald Trump aren't friends anymore after the DPRK's mouthpieces accused the US of "acting opposite," and criticized the glacial pace of relaxing sanctions on North Korea. While appearing on a Sunday show, NSC advisor John Bolton jabbered some nonsense about the administration's hope the DPRK will "denuke."

Six people have been arrested as part of an apparent assassination attempt of Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro, but that's where the hard facts end and the speculation begins.

Saudi Arabia expelled the Canadian ambassador after the ambassador, Dennis Horak, criticized the government's crackdown on dissidents and women's rights activists.

Newly released emails show that Georgia election officials knew their election systems were vulnerable in 2016, but did nothing. Now cybersecurity officials are warning that Georgia's security is so helplessly pathetic that it's entirely possible someone take full control and "write stuff, change stuff, take stuff off."

The DNC has partnered up with DefCon, the world's largest hacker conference, to issue cash prizes for kids between ages 8 and 16 who hack replica websites used by secretaries of state to publish election data instead of just asking them to program the VCR, or show grandma how to access HER EMAILS.

Current and former national security officials are starting to creep out from the shadows to warn about Russian fuckery with the US electrical grid, just like they did during the invasion of Ukraine in 2014.

Trump rewatches his rallies and the 2016 debates like an aging Midwestern used car salesman trying to relive his high school glory days, believing that they're "evidence of his brilliance."

Some right wing crank called into C-SPAN (as usual) and threatened to shoot CNN's Don Lemon and Brian Stelter for calling Trump voters "racists." On his show, Stelter said he's not sure where someone would get the idea that he called Trump voters racist, but did note that Hannity implied just such a thing on Friday.

Some deeply disturbed D-List actor jumped atop the QAnon trash pile and is accusing other people in Hollywood of being pedophiles after hearing someone more famous say something at a party.

Social justice lizard warriors finally managed to poison Apple with their gender-neutral gay frog water and get Alex Jones banned from iTunes.

Sacha Baron Cohen got ex-con Joe Arpaio to say he "might have to say yes" if Donald Trump offered him a blow job. No surprise there.

John Oliver 'splainered prosecutors, and how they have an unchecked power to decide the fate of people involved with, or accused of, crimes. [ Video ]

Michelle Wolf introduced a car powered by an inexhaustible fuel source: untested rape kits. [ Video ]

And here's your morning Nice Time! A duiker calf!