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.
Trump planning one-on-one meeting with Putin without aides present: report
From The Hill
President Trump is planning on meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin alone later this month, a source told CNN.
More aides are expected to join the two world leaders later in the meeting, which is expected to cover election interference, Syria and nuclear weapons.
CNN noted that without other aides present, that part of the meeting will be without an official record — making it difficult to conclude whether they reached any agreements.
The two leaders will meet in Helsinki on July 16. The meeting will be the first formal summit between Trump and Putin.
Migrant parents given option of deportation without their kids
From Axios
The almost 2,000 migrant parents who have been separated from their children are being given an ultimatum from the Trump administration: Reunite with your kids and be deported as a family, or be deported without them, according to an immigration form obtained by NBC News’ Julia Ainsley and Jacob Soboroff.
Yes, but: This form is only given to parents who have received removal orders, and does not prevent them from applying for asylum, a Department of Homeland Security official told Axios.
As it stands, if parents are being held in detention — whether or not they’ve applied for asylum — they cannot be reunited with their children except for deportation. If a parent has applied for asylum, and has been granted release until their hearing, they are then able to work toward being reunited with their children.
Poll: 58 percent disapprove of Trump’s handling of immigration
From Politico
More than half of American voters surveyed by Quinnipiac University for a recent poll said they disapprove of the way President Donald Trump has handled immigration.
Just 39 percent of those polled said they approve of Trump’s handling of immigration, while 58 percent said they disapprove. But 50 percent of respondents said they believe the motive behind the president’s immigration policies is “a sincere interest in controlling our borders.”
Similarly, 47 percent of those polled said they do not believe the president is racist, compared with 49 percent who said he is. Forty-four percent of respondents said the motive for his immigration policies is “racist beliefs.”
House panel subpoenas FBI agent Strzok for second round of questioning
From CNN
The House Judiciary Committee subpoenaed embattled FBI agent Peter Strzok Tuesday for a second round of questioning early next week, but this time it will be public.
Strzok, formerly the No. 2 counterintelligence official at the FBI, has been lambasted by Republicans lawmakers for the mountain of text messages he exchanged with former FBI lawyer Lisa Page disparaging then-candidate Donald Trump during the time the pair worked on the investigations into Hillary Clinton’s private email server and potential collusion between Russia and the Trump campaign.
Strzok was interviewed last week for 11 hours, in both unclassified and classified settings, after House Judiciary Chairman Bob Goodlatte initially slapped him with a subpoena to testify last month, although the two sides ultimately agreed to a voluntary interview and the subpoena was withdrawn.
Congressman denied entry to California detention facility for children under age 14
From The Sacramento Bee
The cry of a child could be heard just inside the nondescript, brown detention facility in Pleasant Hill, California, a San Francisco suburb, and Rep. Jeff Denham wanted to see for himself what was inside.
He knocked on the door and waited about five minutes, alternatively silent, knocking some more and asking the security guard if employees inside were aware he was out there. The guard eventually told him the employees inside had been instructed to not answer the door, not to even speak to him.
He’d been trying for more than a week to tour the facility. Monday, he stood frustrated outside the building strung with Christmas lights. Uneven hopscotch and tic-tack-toe boards were drawn in chalk in the parking lot, and a church and Christian elementary school sat right next to it. Notices that the building was surrounded by security cameras were posted on multiple walls outside.
Russian charged with Trump’s ex-campaign chief is key figure
From AP
During the special counsel’s Russia investigation, Konstantin Kilimnik has been described as a fixer, translator or office manager to President Donald Trump’s ex-campaign chairman Paul Manafort.
But Kilimnik, an elusive figure now indicted alongside Manafort on witness tampering charges, was far more involved in formulating pro-Russia political strategy with Manafort than previously known, according to internal memos and other business records obtained by the AP.
The records include a rare 2006 photograph of Kilimnik, a Ukrainian native, in an office setting with Manafort and other key players in Manafort’s consulting firm at the time. Some of the documents were later independently obtained by U.S. government investigators.
Powerful GOP Rep. Jim Jordan accused of turning blind eye to sexual abuse as Ohio State wrestling coach
From NBC
Jim Jordan, who has made a name for himself in Congress by grilling investigators probing alleged collusion by the Trump campaign with the Russians, is among the witnesses expected to be questioned by the law firm that Ohio State hired to conduct the probe into Strauss’ misconduct, officials involved with the investigation said.
In the video that DiSabato made about the allegations against Strauss, which DiSabato sent to Ohio State in June, Hellickson, the former head wrestling coach, said he told school administrators about Strauss and also warned the doctor to steer clear of his wrestlers.
“I said, ‘You make the guys nervous when you shower with them,’” Hellickson said in the video. “His response was, ‘Coach, you shower with your guys all the time.’ And I said, ‘Not for an hour, Doc.’”
DiSabato and his former teammates said Jordan and Hellickson were close, and if the head coach had qualms about Strauss he would have shared them with his No. 2.
Sen. Menendez reacts to prank call of him to Trump
From CNN
Sen. Bob Menendez said he hopes the White House will “dramatically change their protocol” after a prank call from a comedian impersonating the senator got through to President Donald Trump, who called the prankster back from Air Force One.
Podcast host John Melendez, better known as “Stuttering John,” pretended to be the Democratic senator from New Jersey last week by calling the White House and asking to speak to the President. Shortly after, the President returned his call.
In an interview with CNN’s Erica Hill on “Newsroom” Tuesday morning, Menendez responded to questions about the prank call with concerns about White House security.“Well it’s concerning to me that the most powerful man in the world, the President of the United States, could have a shock-jock comedian get through to him and speak to him on Air Force one,” Menendez said. “The reality is while it may have been a joke to him, the subject matter they are talking about is very serious, the dividing of children from their parents, the Supreme Court nominee who will make a generational difference in the court, against the interests of affordable health care, against the interest of reproductive rights.”
Dem fires back at White House: Don’t talk to me until you reunite separated families
From The Hill
Rep. Mark Pocan (D-Wis.) on Tuesday hit back at the White House after a tweet from its official account criticized him on immigration.
“Are you supporting human smuggling? You must not know that [Immigration and Customs Enforcement] serves as the leading U.S. law enforcement agency responsible for the fight against it,” the White House tweeted at Pocan earlier Tuesday.
The Wisconsin Democrat tweeted back, telling the White House not to talk to him until they have reunited the families separated under Trump administration immigration policy.
