News from the note…
A round up of the day’s news that might be of interest to you.
Consider this an OPEN THREAD, folks. Chat about any of the stories listed, share links to stories that caught your eye today, and generally have a good time discussing whatever you want.
Kushner’s security clearance restored, met with Mueller team a second time
From CNN
President Donald Trump’s son-in-law and senior adviser, Jared Kushner, had his White House security clearance restored Wednesday, a person familiar with the matter said, after months of uncertainty stemming in part from his role in the ongoing investigation by special counsel Robert Mueller.
Kushner met with Mueller’s investigators a second time in April and answered questions for seven hours, according to his attorney, Abbe Lowell. He had previously sat for an interview last November that was largely focused on former national security adviser Michael Flynn, who soon after pleaded guilty to charges of making false statements to the FBI.
Trump urges anti-abortion advocates to rally in November
From The Hill
President Trump on Tuesday encouraged anti-abortion advocates to turn out to the polls in November to help get more of his priorities through Congress, like a ban on abortion after 20 weeks of pregnancy.
“If we work hard between now and November, every one of these states can be flipped to a senator who shares our values and votes our agenda,” Trump said at an annual gala held by the Susan B. Anthony (SBA) List, an anti-abortion group based in Washington.
Trump lawyer ‘paid by Ukraine’ to arrange White House talks
From BBC News
Donald Trump’s personal lawyer, Michael Cohen, received a secret payment of at least $400,000 (£300,000) to fix talks between the Ukrainian president and President Trump, according to sources in Kiev close to those involved.
The payment was arranged by intermediaries acting for Ukraine’s leader, Petro Poroshenko, the sources said, though Mr Cohen was not registered as a representative of Ukraine as required by US law.
Poll: Majority of Americans don’t know Mueller probe has uncovered crimes
From The Hill
More than half of Americans are not aware that special counsel Robert Mueller’s probe into Russian interference in the 2016 election has uncovered crimes, according to a new survey from Navigator Research.
The poll found that 59 percent of those surveyed believe Mueller has not discovered any crimes, while 41 percent believe that he has.
Minneapolis diners throw water at conservative Tomi Lahren
From AP
Conservative commentator Tomi Lahren says she is disheartened and embarrassed but not broken after a patron threw water on her at a Minneapolis restaurant.
Schumer: GOP lawmakers tell me Nunes is ‘off the deep end’
From The Hill
Senate Minority Leader Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.) said on Tuesday that Republican lawmakers have privately told him that House Intelligence Chairman Devin Nunes (R-Calif.) is “off the deep end.”
Schumer condemned Nunes and the White House in a speech on the Senate floor, saying the “White House has put extraordinary, unusual and inappropriate pressure on the Department of Justice and the investigation into Russian meddling in the 2016 election.”
Carter Page: I ‘never found anything unusual’ in conversations with FBI source
From CNN
Former Trump campaign aide Carter Page on Tuesday discussed his encounters with an FBI confidential source during the 2016 campaign, saying he “never found anything unusual.”
Page said on CNN’s “Anderson Cooper 360” that he first met the individual while attending an academic conference at Cambridge University in July 2016, a week after his visit to Russia.
“I never found anything unusual, whatsoever,” Page told Cooper about their conversations.
Page said he and the source stayed in contact for more than a year, including meeting up back in the United States.
Giuliani reverses: Trump should interview with Mueller
From The Hill
President Trump’s attorney Rudy Giuliani in a reversal on Wednesday said that he now believes that Trump should interview with special counsel Robert Mueller.
“I guess I’d rather do the interview. It gets it over with it, it makes my client happy,” Giuliani told The Washington Post. “The safe course you hear every lawyer say is ‘don’t do the interview,’ and that’s easy to say in the abstract. That’s much harder when you have a client who is the president of the United States and wants to be interviewed.”
