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.

Armed Services chair wants White House to coordinate effort against ‘malign foreign influence’

From The Hill

While the document does not specifically mention Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election, the provision appears to be a direct response to Moscow’s influence effort.

The proposal would direct President Trump to designate a member of the National Security Council to coordinate the interagency effort against malign foreign influence. Trump would also be required to submit to Congress a strategy for countering malign foreign influence within nine months of the bill’s enactment.

Why Mueller Has to Expose Trump’s Crooked Business Empire

From NY Mag

This weekend, the New York Times and the Washington Postpublished detailed investigations into the financial history Mueller is investigating. While carefully couching the findings within the bounds of the facts they were able to prove based on publicly available data, these reports made it perfectly clear that Trump’s business empire is not only dirty, but dirty in a way that leads directly into the national-security threat that produced Mueller’s investigation in the first place.

Report: Mike Pence to tell Venezuela to suspend presidential election

From Axios

Vice President Mike Pence will follow the European Union’s lead this afternoon and ask Venezuela to postpone its presidential election, scheduled for May 20, in the hopes that more time will allow for a freer and democratic voting process, reports Bloomberg.

Trump won’t attend opening of new US Embassy in Jerusalem

From The Hill

The White House announced Monday that President Trump will not be a part of a high-ranking delegation that will attend the opening of the U.S. Embassy in Jerusalem.

Deputy Secretary of State John Sullivan will lead the delegation to the May 14 ceremony, which also includes the president’s daughter and son-in-law, Ivanka Trump and Jared Kushner, who also serve as senior advisers to Trump.

McConnell urged Trump to speak out against Blankenship: report

From The Hill

President Trump‘s plea for West Virginia Republicans to reject the Senate candidacy of former mining CEO Don Blankenship came at the urging of Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.), The New York Times reports.

McConnell urged the president in a phone call to speak out against Blankenship, a Republican official familiar with the call told the Times.

Judge allows key testimony at Missouri Gov. Greitens’ trial

From AP

A woman involved in an extramarital affair with Missouri Gov. Eric Greitens will be allowed to testify at his felony invasion of privacy trial next week, a St. Louis judge ruled Monday.

Circuit Judge Rex Burlison rejected claims from Greitens’ attorneys that the woman’s testimony was tainted because of missteps by the prosecution’s investigator, William Tisaby. They’ve accused Tisaby of lying and withholding evidence.

The married Republican governor is accused of taking an unauthorized photo of the woman while she was partially nude during a sexual encounter in 2015, before he was elected.

Is Golf the Hidden Key to Understanding the Trump-Russia Connection?

From Mediaite

It is amazing that, with all of the billions of media words spent covering Donald Trump in the last three years, issues regarding his finances are still largely under-reported. Considering that Trump’s entire (fake) persona was created based on the perception of his wealth, this is tantamount to the media rarely bothering to mention Facebook in relation to Mark Zuckerberg, or the Super Bowl in connection to Tom Brady.

Trump’s GOP ‘warriors’ lead charge against Mueller

From Politico

They have demanded thousands of documents central to special counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation. They threaten to impeach Mueller’s boss, who in turn accuses them of “extortion.” One has even likened the Russia probe to a possible “coup d’etat.”

President Donald Trump calls them his “warriors”: a band of four House Republicans defending Trump with a relentless counterattack against the Justice Department’s Russia investigation that thrills the president even as it unsettles some House GOP colleagues who think they’re going too far.