There’s something emerging in the right-wing media, especially something from prominent voices in the right-wing media who talk regularly to talk to President Trump and his entourage. That is a new line of defense – public, if not legal – in the Russia probe which is basically this: “if Trump colluded with Russia, it wouldn’t be a crime. In fact, it might be awesome.” Read More

We’re getting the toplines out of the CBO score of the Senate Trumpcare bill. They’re bad. A slightly lower number of people losing their coverage over a ten year time horizon (22 million over 10 years). But the carnage comes dramatically faster. 15 million lose their coverage next year.

(We are just reviewing the details now. So this quick read may be subject to some revision. But this seems to be the gist.)

What on earth is Trump talking about demanding Obama apologize to him for ‘colluding’ with Russia?

You really don’t have to go any further than this email from a New York real estate player, who’s crossed paths with Trump, and wrote in more than a year ago to explain the predatory attack strategies Donald learned from his dad Fred way back in the day. Read More

Our team is going to be going all out this week to bring you every latest detail on the fight over Trumpcare and Obamacare repeal in the Senate. What’s happening. What it means. What to watch for. But I wanted to to start the week by just giving you my own sense of where things stand, based on years of watching and thinking about high-profile legislative battles. Read More

Trump is reportedly pumped to meet with Vladimir Putin next month in Germany. A few advisors are spooked.

Willard Sterne Randall is a biographer of Benjamin and William Franklin, of Benedict Arnold, Thomas Jefferson, George Washington, Alexander Hamilton, and Ethan Allen, and he has co-authored collections of biographies and e-books with his wife, the biographer and award-winning poet, Nancy Nahra. His newest book is called UNSHACKLING AMERICA: How the War of 1812 Truly Ended the American Revolution.

Willard will be in The Hive on Wednesday, June 28th at 1 PM EST for a chat on colonial American history, where he can discuss the continuing the impact the Founding Fathers have in today’s political sphere. Submit your questions at any time or join us on Wednesday! If you’d like to participate but don’t have TPM Prime, sign up here.

Monday is the first official day of our new TPM Investigations Desk. So our editors don’t kill me, I want to be clear that no one should expect a flood of exclusives on day or two or three or even in week one. We’re building a new part of the editorial team, a new editorial process within our organization. It will be an incremental build. One new reporter starts Monday. I expect a second member of the Investigations Desk to start in July. And with luck we’ll be able to add a third next month as well, though it may take until August for that.

The Investigations Desk is part of a broad recommitment to TPM’s tradition of muckraking and investigative digging. It’s by means only about the Russia investigation. But in the nature of things that will be a big focus for some time to come. With that in mind, I was spending some time today trying to articulate as concisely as I was able just what we’re looking for, just what we’re trying to find out. Read More

Back on June 19th, almost a week ago, I announced that we were 514 membership sign-ups short of our June goal of hitting the milestone of 22,000 total subscribers. I was highly uncertain we’d be able to get there by June 30th. But we’ve actually made pretty startling progress. We’re now 307 sign-ups short of our goal. So still possible, albeit a stretch. So now I’m even more focused on making sure we hit this milestone. If you’ve been thinking about becoming a member, please take a moment and make today the day. Every new member who joins puts TPM on a firmer footing, makes us more able to do what we do every day and up our game. It’s important. On the fence? Waiting for the right moment? Just take the plunge. You will be glad you did. Click here.

The big news this afternoon is that Sen. Heller of Nevada says he opposes the Senate’s current health care repeal bill “in this form.” It is important to understand what this means. It is not opposition to the bill. It’s a bid to negotiate. And beyond that, all but certainly it is an effort to extract some minor concessions that will be the justification for voting for the bill and making it law. Read More

Sen. Dean Heller (R-NV) grabs one of the two available “No” votes on the Senate GOP’s Obamacare repeal bill.