As I mentioned yesterday, the biggest impact of the Helsinki Summit is a lot of the serious people, the big wigs, starting to think, “yeah, Putin must have something over Trump. Something just does not add up about any of this.” Even President Trump’s intel chief Dan Coats seemed to be feeling the ground moving under his feet yesterday. Read More
Confused about the ridiculously open and apparent Russian influence scheme allegedly targeting the NRA and conservative Republicans? We sort it out for you in this handy chart.
As I mentioned on Tuesday, I was very skeptical that President Trump’s stunning performance at Monday’s press conference would lead to any great shift on Capitol Hill or among core Trump voters. I remain skeptical. In fact, we’ve seen evidence from the Hill tending to validate that skepticism. Some Sens and Reps are blaming Trump critics for the last four days. Many more are accepting at face value the President’s would/wouldn’t nonsense or simply saying there’s nothing they can do. Read More
Matt Shuham asked Fox News how Tucker Carlson and Donald Trump ended up talking about the “aggressive” and warlike people of Montenegro. Tucker called him back.
One of the ways the Trump administration has been chipping away at Obamacare is by approving state plans to attach work requirements to Medicaid. Now, one set of work requirement is going into effect: Arkansas is requiring Medicaid recipients to submit proof online that they work or searched for a job at least 80 hours per month. But Arkansas has the second-worst rate of home internet in the country; thousands of people missed the deadline and could lose their health care.
Get the full story, and catch up on other assaults on Obamacare, in Alice Ollstein’s Weekly Primer on health care (Prime access) →
Mariia Butina will be held in jail until her trial, a judge ordered a short time ago. Tierney Sneed reports from the courthouse. Keep checking back as she adds new details that emerged in court.
Prosecutors reveal more about Mariia Butina’s clandestine influence operation targeting the NRA, and yes, sexual favors were allegedly involved.