| | | | | President Trump boards Air Force One at Andrews Air Force Base Tuesday to travel to Kansas City, Missouri. Credit: Brendan Smialowski/AFP/Getty Images | | | Trump Moves to Punish Critics: His threat to pull security clearance privileges is being called unprecedented and dangerous
Our Daily Melania: FLOTUS heading to Tennessee to spread the word of Be Best
The Sean Spicer Book Tour is Going About How You'd Imagine: "The Briefing" is getting panned, and POTUS hasn't tweeted on it yet | | | What the White House is Talking About:
President Trump today is in Kansas City, Missouri, to give remarks at the Veterans of Foreign Wars convention. He'll also attend two fundraising events.
What the White House Press Corps is Talking About:
Concerns over the White House plan to potentially strip former intelligence officials of their security clearances.
Trump Moves to Punish Critics:
Experts are calling the decision to possibly take away security clearance privileges from former intelligence officials unprecedented -- some are even saying it could be dangerous. Basically, Trump would be using his authority as president to punish his political opponents. The list of former officials under consideration includes former CIA Director John Brennan, former Director of National Intelligence James Clapper, former FBI Director James Comey, former national security adviser Susan Rice, former deputy FBI Director Andrew McCabe and former National Security Agency Director Michael Hayden. Um, but Comey and McCabe already have had their clearances revoked.
"They've politicized, and in some cases, monetized their public service," is how Sarah Sanders justified the reason for the move. "Making baseless accusations of an improper relationship with Russia is inappropriate." I have a probably unpopular opinion about this, in that I think maybe the monetizing thing is a valid concern. Not that a lifetime in career of public service isn't a good reason to make a lucrative living in the private sector, but salary increases at defense contracting firms and lobbying shops are notoriously commensurate with access and insider knowledge, something someone with a high-level security clearance definitely has. So, my question to you: is that ok? Is it the thing itself? Or what the thing represents?
Ryan's Take is ... Casual:
Today in his weekly press conference, House Speaker Paul Ryan said this about Trump's threat: "I think he's trolling people honestly." Seems sort of a low-key and not extremely intellectual assessment of the president of the United States using his position to strike back at his critics, but whatevs.
Our Daily Melania:
Forgive the brevity of my section today, but I am shortly off to the White House -> Joint Base Andrews -> Nashville, Tennessee -> with Melania Trump to cover her visit to a children's hospital there. She's meeting with hospital administrators about Neonatal Abstinence Syndrome (NAS), one of the avenues of the opioid crisis she has paid particular attention to since becoming FLOTUS. This will also be her first official domestic trip to spread the word about Be Best, the initiative she announced in May just before she went into the hospital for her kidney procedure. Now that she's feeling better, her spokeswoman tells me to expect more trips like this as she pushes Be Best(ing?) across the country. Read about today here, and/or follow along on my Twitter feed later. | | Book News:
Congrats to my colleague, former FBI Supervisory Special Agent and all-around nice guy (and Corgi dad) Josh Campbell, who has signed a book deal with Algonquin Books to write "Crossfire Hurricane: Inside the War on the FBI." The book is scheduled for release in the fall of 2019 and should be a juicy read; Campbell was special assistant to James Comey for several years, right up until Comey was fired by Trump.
Spicer Book Review is Spicy:
Don't know if it's revenge or what, but ABC's Jon Karl reviewed former White House press secretary Sean Spicer's new book, "The Briefing," in today's Wall Street Journal and it's apparently pretty fire. In a tweet today, Karl also called Spicer's recounting of his time in the White House as "a real unicorn of a book." I'm anti-firewall, so I actually haven't read the review, but the Twitter machine is telling me it's harsh and maybe worth your time. | | Credit: @wsj/Twitter
Here are a handful of those inaccuracies: | | | Credit: @abbydphillip/Twitter | | What Washington is Talking About:
Dems are calling out President Trump's move to strip the security clearances of those who have been critical of him while Speaker Ryan said it's just "trolling," the House Oversight Committee is holding a hearing on election cybersecurity, and Paul Manafort's trial has been delayed by a judge who also granted immunity to five witnesses.
What America is Talking About:
Ryan Lochte has been suspended over a photo he posted on Insta, Goldfish and Ritz crackers are among the products being recalled after the Food Safety and Inspection Service warned about possible salmonella contamination, and a man was arrested at a New Hampshire gym for exercising naked.
Poll of the Day:
Republican members of Congress used to post on Facebook more than Democratic ones in 2015 and 2016, but after the election, that changed, per a Pew study. The study found 30% of Facebook posts by Dems in 2017 were about opposition to President Trump or the Republican Party. | | Credit: Pew
North Korea Dismantles Launch Site:
Satellite images show one North Korean satellite launch station is being dismantled. Analysts told our Zach Cohen it's a first step toward Kim Jong Un keeping up his commitments made to the US, but not enough. "Dismantling test infrastructure, especially for space launch vehicles, does not change this calculation," said Adam Mount, a director at the Federation of American Scientists. "It's also troubling that North Korea has apparently been allowed to dodge verification" at other sites.
There Are More Tapes:
The Karen McDougal one was just the first. Federal prosecutors have a dozen audio recordings seized during the raids on Trump attorney Michael Cohen's home, office, and hotel, according to court documents.
When Avenatti Met Cohen:
Stormy Daniels' lawyer Michael Avenatti bumped into Cohen at Manhattan restaurant Scalinatella last week and pitched him on resolving their differences and working together on Trump, according to a source. Cohen was allegedly taken aback and told Avenatti to speak with his lawyers. Avenatti told CNN the story is a "complete fabrication."
The Sean Spicer Book Tour is Going About How You'd Imagine a Sean Spicer Book Tour Going:
"The Briefing" is being panned, and not just by Jonathan Karl. The Washington Post called it "a bumbling effort at gaslighting Americans into doubting what they have seen with their own eyes." NPR said it "leaves out important context and doubles down on some of the lies he became famous for as press secretary." Spicer is documenting his book tour with photos with the pundits and journalists he's meeting with on Insta. My personal fav post so far is his boomerang where he points to a poster of himself. He hashtagged it #boomerangbinge. Spicer has yet to get a Twitter shoutout for "The Briefing" from POTUS, and the book is not currently in the top 100 of Amazon's book chart. | | Credit: @seanmspicer/Instagram
Street Art Sighting:
The portrait of Sen. Kamala Harris (D-Calif.) by Las Vegas artist Trent Beverly has popped up around Capitol Hill in the past few days. Beverly told me he's never done any political work before being asked to create the portrait for the Do It Kamala PAC. "I like what she stands for," he said. The earrings Harris is wearing in the portrait are a lotus and peace symbol, representing "universal unity and peace." | | Credit: Ansley Schoen/Parker Erickson
If you spot political street art, tweet me @hunterschwarz, tag me on Instagram @hunterschwarz, or email me at coverlinehunter@cnn.com with your sighting so I can feature it in COVER/LINE.
P.S.:
Fueled by the viral "In My Feelings" challenge, Drake's song of the same name has smashed the record for most US streams in a week, with 116.2 million. The previous record was held by another song connected to a meme: Baauer's "Harlem Shake." | | | | | | |
