| | | | | President Donald Trump visits the Joint Interagency Task Force South at Naval Air Station Key West on Thursday with Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen, left. Credit: Mandel Ngan/AFP/Getty Images | | | How Trump Climbed His Way Onto the Forbes 400: What a reporter is saying about his conversations with "John Barron"
Bolton Already All Up in Russia: The new national security adviser meets with Russia's ambassador to the US
The Comey Memos, a Guide: Your SparkNotes to the ex-FBI chief's 15 pages of memos | | | What the White House Is Talking About:
President Donald Trump remains today at Mar-a-Lago, where he only has a closed-press round table with Republican National Committee supporters.
What the White House Press Corps Is Talking About:
Trump has spent most of the day at Trump International Golf Club, his 108th visit to one of his golf clubs since becoming President.
But First -- Tweets:
Of course, being alone early in the morning at Mar-a-Lago also means tweets, on a random and varied line of topics. A sampling, if you will: | | Credit: @realDonaldTrump/Twitter
Your Friday Trump Reading List:
Must include this doozy of a story about how Trump allegedly inflated his wealth to a reporter to make it onto the famed Forbes 400 list of the richest people in the country. Reporter Jonathan Greenberg details how Trump, likely posing as (fake) Trump Organization employee "John Barron," came up with numbers and details to claim a net worth much higher than what it was in reality. A wild tale.
Bolton Already All Up in Russia:
The White House released a sort of surprising readout Thursday of a meeting at the White House between new national security adviser John Bolton and Anatoly Antonov, Russia's ambassador to the United States. Bolton reportedly discussed with Antonov the poisoning of that former Russian double agent and his daughter in England. | | Rudy Giuliani is Like That Friend Who Keeps Inviting Himself Over:
Even though you don't want to hang. At least that's what it feels like since the President took office and Giuliani's name keeps circling back in Trumpworld. Now it appears he has joined Trump's personal legal team to help bring special counsel Robert Mueller's investigation to a conclusion, or, as Giuliani so eloquently put it Thursday to CNN's Pamela Brown, give it "a little push."
Pic of the Day:
The whole story of Sen, Tammy Duckworth bringing her newborn onto the Senate floor for a vote Thursday is amazing in itself (and still sort of sad that it has taken this long to be a thing), but the visual of her arriving with little Maile in her arms was a lovely kicker. My favorite part of this shot is the group of Senate pages to the right, leaning in to get a closer look. Good things sometimes happen in the Capitol, you guys. | | Credit: screenshot, C-SPAN2
Dress Like the Future Princess:
Yeah, it was basic, but you can't say the black halo "Jackie O" belted dress that we all have in our closet somewhere doesn't look good. Meghan Markle is just like us. She wore hers to a women's empowerment reception Thursday in London. If you don't already have it, you might want to consider buying it (here for $375) because it really does look great on all kinds of silhouettes and is a timeless LBD. | | Credit: Chris Jackson/WPA pool/Getty Images, shopbop.com
Rest in Peace, Barbara Bush:
What a wonderful woman, who lived in service and love for this country, and in deep commitment to her family. I was struck by this image today, a reminder of the loyalty and honor and privilege of being the first lady of the United States. I'll be thinking of Barbara Bush this weekend. | | What Washington Is Talking About:
Mike Pompeo found a Democrat -- Sen. Heidi Heitkamp -- to vote for his confirmation as secretary of state. There was Sen. Tammy Duckworth's adorable baby, and Sen. Chuck Schumer says he'll introduce legislation decriminalizing marijuana nationwide.
What America Is Talking About:
It's the 19th anniversary of the shooting at Columbine High School, and students from more than 2,500 schools across the country are walking out.
Poll of the Day:
Barbara Bush was the most popular first lady since the '90s. Gallup data on the average favorability of first ladies during their husbands' presidencies finds Bush had an 83% average favorable rating and 10% unfavorable rating. No other first lady comes close. | | Credit: Gallup
DNC Files Suit Against Russia, Trump Campaign and Trump Associates:
The Democratic National Committee has filed a lawsuit today against the Russian government, the Trump campaign and others, including former Trump campaign chair Paul Manafort and WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange, accusing them of a conspiracy to disrupt the 2016 presidential campaign.
"During the 2016 presidential campaign, Russia launched an all-out assault on our democracy, and it found a willing and active partner in Donald Trump's campaign," DNC chair Tom Perez said in a statement. "This constituted an act of unprecedented treachery: the campaign of a nominee for President of the United States in league with a hostile foreign power to bolster its own chance to win the presidency."
Tea Party:
So I never heard back from Sarah Palin's camp about my story Thursday on how she's become an Instagram influencer, but the "skinny tea" brand Palin hawked did respond. Carly Halvin, social media manager for Teami, wrote in an email, "Sarah Palin has been a customer of our brand since 2016. Her and her family all use and love Teami Blends. We are very lucky that she chose to share her Teami experience with her audience." Halvin, however, did not respond to a follow-up question to see if Palin was paid for her post.
Federal Trade Commission spokesman Mitchell Katz told me in an email the agency does "not comment on individual influencers, companies, or posts unless we bring an enforcement action involving them."
Some of Rare Pics From the Library of Congress on Display in L.A.:
The exhibit "Not an Ostrich: And Other Images from America's Library" opens Saturday at the Annenberg Space for Photography in Los Angeles. I spoke to curator Anne Wilkes Tucker this week about what it was like looking for photos ("Fun," she said. "I got paid to look at pictures.") and the impressions she came away with. Before the march in Charlottesville, Virginia, she selected a photo of a 300-strong Ku Klux Klan meeting in the 1920s held two miles outside Washington, and going through the archives, she noticed "how cyclical things are." "We don't seem to solve" problems, she said, "we just seem to massage them and they come back." One of my fav pics is the one below of Abraham Lincoln. He definitely had a head of hair. | | Credit: via Library of Congress
The Comey Memos, a Guide:
If "A Higher Loyalty" is James Comey's major label studio album debut -- 293 pages, hardcover, available for $17.99 on Amazon Prime, and backed by a mega-book tour -- his memos released Thursday are a surprise seven-track fire mixtape -- 15 pages, available for free online (the book equivalent of streaming), and just the hits.
The memos were released because of a request by the Republican chairs of the House Judiciary, Intelligence and Oversight and Government Reform committees last week. They are broken into seven conversations the former FBI director had with Trump. You can read them for yourself here.
The memos are consistent with what Comey said about his conversations with Trump when he testified before the Senate Intelligence Committee in June 2017 and what he wrote about them in his book. Comey describes his interactions with Trump in great detail and reveals a number of new things, including that Trump had concerns about national security adviser Michael Flynn before Flynn's ouster and that Trump wanted to jail reporters. | | Credit: Hunter Schwarz
I broke the memos down and wrote some SparkNotes for you. Hope this helps:
Memo No. 1: A meeting with Trump in Trump Tower - January 6, 2017
- Pages 1-2
- Partially redacted
- Comey tells Trump (referred to at times as "PE" or "president-elect") about unproven allegations in the now infamous Steele dossier, including that "the Russians allegedly had tapes involving him and prostitutes at the Presidential Suite at the Ritz Carlton in Moscow from about 2013."
- NOTE: Trump was in Moscow in 2013 for the Miss Universe pageant.
- Comey said, "I said I wasn't saying this was true, only that I wanted him to know both that it had been reported and that the reports were in many hands."
- Trump denied that there were prostitutes and said he didn't need to "go there," which Comey said he interpreted to mean he didn't need to pay for sex.
- NOTE: Former Playboy Playmate Karen McDougal told CNN last month that during her alleged affair with Trump, he once tried to pay her after sex.
Memo No. 2: A dinner at the White House with Trump lasting an hour and 20 minutes - January 28, 2017
- Pages 3-6
- Partially redacted
- Trump dominated the conversation, per Comey's description, speaking "an overwhelming majority of the time" with "almost no periods of silence ... except once or twice when the President paused as the servers entered."
- Trump talked about Comey's future and his job multiple times.
- Trump said he needed loyalty multiple times.
- Trump showed a firm understanding of the FBI's actions during the campaign, breaking down events into Comey One, Comey Two and Comey Three developments
- Trump brought up the "golden showers thing," called it "fake news," and "said it bothered him if his wife thought there was even a one percent chance it was true in any respect."
- Trump claimed the prostitute allegations couldn't be true because he didn't spend the night in Moscow.
- NOTE: The claim he didn't spend the night in Moscow during the 2013 Miss Universe pageant contradicts social media posts from the time. Trump tweeted on November 9, 2013, he was in Moscow for the pageant and tweeted two days later he had a great weekend with Agalarov Aras, the real estate oligarch and father of pop star Emin, who performed at the pageant.
- Trump suggested Comey investigate the matter "to prove it was a lie."
- Comey responded he "wouldn't want to create a narrative that we were investigating" the President because he worried how it would be perceived.
- Trump said Michael Flynn "has serious judgement issues" and said Flynn knew about a call from a world leader (name redacted) after the inauguration.
- NOTE: The Wall Street Journal reports the leader was Putin.
- Trump first said that then-chief of staff Reince Priebus didn't know about the private dinner, then later he contradicted himself and said Priebus did know about it.
Memo No. 3: A conversation with Trump in the Oval Office with Priebus in the room - February 8, 2017
- Pages 7-9
- Partially redacted
- Before going into the Oval Office, Comey spoke with Priebus, who asked him if their conversation was "private" before trying to find out if the FBI had a Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, or FISA, order on Flynn. Comey said such a question had to be asked and answered "through establish(ed) channels."
- In the Oval Office, Trump "brought up the 'Golden Showers thing' and said it really bothered him if his wife had any doubt about it."
- Trump said Putin told him "we have some of the most beautiful hookers in the world."
- NOTE: Hold up, why were they talking about hookers? And when? That much is unclear. We do know, however, that Trump received a call from Putin 11 days earlier, according to a White House readout of the call. Per the White House, the call lasted an hour, Putin congratulated Trump on winning the 2016 election, and they talked about ISIS and Syria.
- Trump asked Comey what he thought about his response to Bill O'Reilly during his 2017 Super Bowl interview when O'Reilly said Putin was a killer and Trump responded, "You think our country's so innocent?" Comey said it was a "fine" except "we aren't the kind of killers that Putin is" and noticed Trump paused and "clearly noticed I had directly criticized him."
Memo No. 4: A conversation in the Oval Office with Trump following a homeland threat briefing - February 14, 2017
- Pages 10-11
- After a briefing that included about a dozen other people, Trump told Comey he wanted to speak with him alone.
- After everyone left the Oval Office, Trump said he wanted to "talk about Mike Flynn" and said, "I hope you can see your way clear to letting this go, to letting Flynn go. He is a good guy."
- Trump expressed frustration with leaks and said he wanted to jail reporters, which Comey said was "tricky, for legal reasons."
- NOTE: Yeah, jailing reporters in America is tricky because we have this thing called the First Amendment that protects freedom of speech.
- Trump said if reporters "spend a couple days in jail, make a new friend, and they are ready to talk."
Memo No. 5: A brief phone call with Trump - March 1, 2017
- Page 12
- Trump called to see how Comey was doing.
- Trump asked Comey to "come by to say hello" when he was at the White House.
Memo No. 6: An about 10-minute phone call with Trump - March 30, 2017
- Pages 13-14
- Trump said "the cloud of this Russia business" was making it difficult for him to run the country.
- Trump denied being involved with hookers in Russia and said, according to Comey, "Can you image me, hookers? I have a beautiful wife, and it has been very painful." He said others who traveled with him to the pageant could vouch for him.
- Trump asked what he could do to "lift the cloud."
- Trump said he "hoped" Comey "could find a way to get out that he wasn't being investigated."
Memo No. 7: An about four-minute phone call with Trump - April 11, 2017
- Page 15
- Partially redacted
- Trump said he was following up to see if Comey did what he asked last time about "getting out that he personally is not under investigation."
- Trump said, "Because I have been very loyal to you, very loyal, we had that thing, you know," and Comey said he didn't ask Trump what he meant by "that thing."
- Trump said Comey was doing a good job.
Comey was fired 28 days later, on May 9, 2017.
Billboards Honor Barbara Bush:
Louisiana-based Lamar Advertising made this tribute to the former first lady on more than 600 of its digital billboards this week. | | Credit: @LamarOOH/Twitter
Street Art Sighting:
It's Putin with a Muppet-like Trump puppet, by street artist Combo CK in the Wynwood Walls & Art District in Miami last month. | | Credit: @combo_ck/Instagram
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.:
Ariana Grande is out with the lead single from her first studio album since last year's attack at her Manchester, England, concert. "No Tears Left To Cry" is a bop, its video is so dope, and it's the only thing I've been listening to all day.
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Hope you have a tremendous weekend. Get some rest, have some fun, and we'll see you back again Monday. Schwarz out. | | | | | | |
