The Daily 202: The Supreme Court has a blockbuster season
| The Supreme Court has a blockbuster season | |||||||||
Seated from left, Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Justice Anthony M. Kennedy, Chief Justice of the United States John G. Roberts, Justice Clarence Thomas and Justice Stephen Breyer. Standing from left, Justice Elena Kagan, Justice Samuel Alito Jr., Justice Sonia Sotomayor and Justice Neil Gorsuch. (Matt McClain/The Washington Post)
THE BIG IDEA: Let’s set aside for a moment the potential coming attractions.
Whether, for instance, the Supreme Court might be called upon sooner rather than later to decide the fate of DACA and the “dreamers” brought here as undocumented children. Or — just to pull a hypothetical from thin air — whether a special counsel has the power to subpoena a president.
There are already a gracious plenty of blockbuster cases on the Supreme Court’s docket — as well as signs that the fractured court is having a difficult time coming to agreement on them. (There is also a fractured justice; Sonia Sotomayor had shoulder replacement this week after she broke it in a fall.) “The sweep of this term is simply breathtaking,” Elizabeth Wydra, president of the Constitutional Accountability Center said at an event last week. “It’s even hard to imagine, given how slowly the court has been working through its docket, simply the crush of momentous decisions that are going to come down in the month of June.”
A brief review of just a few:
It’s not surprising that such cases are taking time. But the court has also been slow in deciding less controversial matters.
“The court was already on a slow trajectory in previous terms and this term fits the pattern,” writes Adam Feldman, who keeps detailed trackof the court at his blog Empirical Scotus. “The court’s pace this term is also a product of diverse opinions among the justices and the difficulty in reaching consensus.” For the 14 months they were only eight, following the death of Justice Antonin Scalia in February 2016, the justices decided cases narrowly and tried hard to reach consensus. Now there are nine, with conservative Justice Neil M. Gorsuch in the midst of his first full term, and there have been more divided decisions. More than that, each justice seems to be more interested in speaking for his or her self, with a thick sheaf of concurring and dissenting opinions in more cases. Consider this lineup in Jesner v. Arab Bank, in which the court decided foreign corporations cannot be sued under a centuries-old law for their alleged complicity in human rights atrocities that occur overseas: The justices issued four opinions in the splintered decision. 
Supreme Court Justice Anthony Kennedy. (Manuel Balce Ceneta/AP)
Justice Anthony Kennedy and Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr. are most likely writing the decisions in the term’s biggest cases; their low productivity so far indicates they have other fish to fry. Kennedy has authored only the opinion in Jesner so far this term. Roberts has turned in only a minor decision in which there were no dissenters.
Of course, the real decision that everyone wants from Kennedy is whether he will be back for another term next October. If Trump can replace Kennedy, the court’s pivotal justice, he will affect the court for years. Administration sources say they are in the dark about Kennedy’s plans, and perhaps that is no surprise. The Supreme Court treasures secrecy. The Trump White House is full of leaks. If Kennedy decides to depart, the administration probably won’t learn until it happens.
|
WHILE YOU WERE SLEEPING:
 |
| Giuliani says Trump reimbursed Cohen for Stormy Daniels payment |
-- Rudy Giuliani, who recently joined Trump's legal team, dropped a bombshell on Sean Hannity's show last night: Trump reimbursed Michael Cohen for the $130,000 payment he made to adult-film star Stormy Daniels. Devlin Barrett, Robert Costa and Josh Dawsey report: “‘The president repaid it,’ Giuliani told [Hannity]. Trump ‘didn’t know about the specifics of it, as far as I know. But he did know the general arrangement, that Michael would take care of things like this, like I take care of things like this with my clients,’ Giuliani said. ‘I don’t burden them with every single thing that comes along. These are busy people.’ Later, Giuliani said in an interview with The Washington Post that when Cohen paid the settlement to [Daniels], he knew he would eventually get paid back by Trump, as he was for other expenses. Giuliani said it was his understanding that repayment from Trump came in a series of transactions after the election that he believes were completed in 2017 but could have included a reimbursement in 2018.”
-- Trump, in uncharacteristically formal language, claimed this morning Cohen was paid through a retainer, not the campaign:
 |
 |
 |
(Although Trump did misspell “role” in that last tweet.)
-- Giuliani’s disclosure cast doubt on Trump’s explicit denials he knew anything about the payment to Daniels, with whom he is alleged to have had an affair. From Devlin, Bob and Josh: “Giuliani said that even though Trump reimbursed Cohen, he does not know when the president learned of the nature of the payment Cohen had made to Daniels.Giuliani said the president didn’t learn many of the details about the settlement until the past two weeks, in the wake of an FBI raid on Cohen’s office and residence. ‘I don’t know if he distinguished it from other things Cohen might have done for him during the campaign,’ Giuliani said, adding, ‘He trusted Michael, and Michael trusted him.’ Last month, a reporter on Air Force One pressed Trump about the payment, asking him, ‘Did you know about the $130,000 payment to Stormy Daniels?’ Trump responded, ‘No.’”
Giuliani’s comments could raise further concerns about possible campaign finance violations: “On Wednesday night, Giuliani argued that the payment to Daniels could not have violated campaign finance laws because no campaign money was involved. Still, if the purpose of the payment was to help Trump's candidacy, it could be considered a campaign contribution. Such a large expenditure by Cohen would have been far more than what he is able to donate to a candidate under federal rules. As a candidate, Trump could give unlimited sums to his campaign, but any such donations or expenditures are required to be disclosed.”
The former New York City mayor insisted Trump preapproved his admission: “The disclosure by Giuliani was viewed by some White House advisers as a misstep. ‘Everyone in Trump world will see this as a total unforced error and further affirmation that hiring Rudy wasn’t the best idea,’ said one presidential adviser, who requested anonymity to speak candidly about the internal dynamics. However, Giuliani told The Post that he and Trump discussed the fact that he planned to disclose that Trump reimbursed Cohen. ‘Oh, yeah, yeah,’ he said. ‘Sure, sure. He was well aware that at some point when I saw the opportunity, I was going to get this over with.’”
- Read Rudy’s full interview with The Post.
-- Daniels's attorney addressed the news over Twitter:
 |
 |
 |
| Iowa passes 'fetal heartbeat' abortion ban, most restrictive in country |
GET SMART FAST:
- Iowa's legislature has passed one of the most restrictive abortion measures in the country in hopes the issue will go to the Supreme Court. The bill would restrict abortions at the point where a fetal heartbeat is detected, or as early as six weeks into a pregnancy, and requires women seeking an abortion to first have an ultrasound. Gov. Kim Reynolds (R) hasn't said whether she'll sign the bill but has called abortion “equivalent to murder.” (Kristine Phillips)
- The first death was reported from the outbreak tied to E. coli-contaminated romaine lettuce. The infections have now struck 121 people in 25 states. (Joel Achenbach)
- The crash of a Puerto Rico Air National Guard plane in Savannah, Ga., killed nine people aboard. The plane crashed shortly after the takeoff of its final flight. It was on its way to Davis-Monthan Air Force Base in Arizona to be decommissioned. (Avi Selk and Keith McMillan)
- The two African American men arrested at a Philadelphia Starbucks have settled with the city for $1 and a promise to launch a youth entrepreneurship program. Rashon Nelson and Donte Robertson settled for the “symbolic sum” in exchange for the $200,000 city program to “make something positive” out of the controversial incident. (Rachel Siegel)
- The United States returned Iraqi artifacts smuggled into the country by Hobby Lobby. Iraq reclaimed the thousands of antiquities roughly 10 months after Hobby Lobby settled a $3 million civil suit for the smuggling. (Politico)
- Basque separatist group ETA has disbanded after decades of violence. What began as a left-wing student group under General Franco in protest of the central Spanish government is estimated to have claimed 800 victims. (New York Times)
- The Boy Scouts of America dropped the word “boy” from its flagship program as it prepares to welcome girls to its ranks. The program will be known as Scouts BSA beginning in February 2019. (Rachel Siegel)
- Three black girls selected as finalists for NASA’s high school competition were targeted with racial harassment from online trolls. Mikayla Sharrieff, India Skinner and Bria Snell developed a method to purify lead-contaminated water in school drinking fountains. But users on 4chan, invoking racial epithets, claimed the girls were only receiving public votes because of their race. (Perry Stein)
 |
| Who are the lawyers defending Trump? |
THERE'S A BEAR IN THE WOODS:
-- White House attorney Ty Cobb is leaving Trump's legal team as that effort is apparently headed into more contentious territory regarding its relationship with Robert Mueller, report Robert Costa, Carol D. Leonnig and Josh Dawsey. Cobb “repeatedly urged cooperation” with Mueller's team and he “assured the president such a strategy could shorten the investigation.” He will be out by the end of the month and is being replaced by Emmet T. Flood, who represented Bill Clinton during impeachment proceedings. “Flood will soon work alongside a remade group of personal lawyers — including another hire expected in the coming weeks — as they devise a new strategy to deal with Mueller’s team, according to White House advisers ... 'This signals a new phase,' said one senior Trump adviser who was granted anonymity to describe private conversations. 'We are looking at all the options now. Nothing’s off the table. ... But the gloves may be coming off.'”
Cobb had advocated the president sit down with Mueller, granting him an interview into his probe of Russian interference in the 2016 elections and any links between Trump officials and the Kremlin. But, but, but: “Trump, who often considers himself his own best counselor on politics and law, has increasingly complained in recent weeks that he needed to consider all options for fighting Mueller and not simply agree to an interview, according to people familiar with his views.”
-- Steve Bannon told the New York Times Cobb was fired after repeatedly and incorrectly predicting the imminent demise of the Russia investigation. “Cobb’s radical theory of the case, to waive executive privilege from the very beginning, was not simply wrong. It was reckless,” Bannon said. “Unfortunately, you cannot undo the serious damage he has caused the president and the presidency.” Cobb responded, “I don’t pay attention to Steve Bannon. I’ve seen all his documents.”
Emmet Flood in 2015. (Marissa Rauch/Williams & Connolly/AP)
-- Rosalind Helderman has the download on Flood, 61, who is a “thorough, straight-arrow attorney who bears a deep skepticism of overreach by the government and its prosecutor,” according to people who know him. "'He feels strongly that this whole investigation is essentially an attempt to undermine an election,' said a Flood confidant, one of a number of his colleagues who spoke on the condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the Russia investigation. 'He doesn’t like the idea of an independent counsel.'”
Flood also has impeccable legal cred and a long resume: a Yale graduate and former high school teacher and philosophy professor, he clerked for Supreme Court Justice Scalia, Roz writes. He has spent most of his legal career at Washington's Williams & Connolly, where he not only represented Clinton but Vice President Cheney in the Valerie Plame matter. He left the firm for two years in 2007 to help George W. Bush respond to the controversy following the firing of seven U.S. attorneys.
More nuggets:
- “In the Bush White House, Flood convened a daily 10:30 a.m. meeting in his office to provide updates on ongoing congressional requests for documents and interviews, said Tony Fratto, who served in the communications office at the time.” “He’s a rules follower, and he’s unflappable,” Fratto said. “I’ve never seen him angry or excited. He’s a very steady hand. Maybe that will be a calming influence in this White House.”
- He considered joining Trump's legal team about a year ago, but clashed with former Trump attorney Marc Kasowitz and declined the job.
- Ummmm: Flood advises his clients to stay quiet about investigations, which caused a conflict with former Virginia Gov. Bob McDonnell during his trial on corruption charges. He quit that task partly for that reason. “Emmet has little patience for clients who misinterpret legal jeopardy for public relations jeopardy,” said a lawyer who has worked closely with Flood.
 |
-- Trump went after the Justice Department, which has been battling with conservative House Republicans over access to sensitive documents in the Russia case, going so far as to draft impeachment articles against Rod Rosenstein. The New York Times’s Nicholas Fandos and Adam Goldman report: “In a Twitter post, Mr. Trump called the legal system ‘rigged’ and amplified the lawmakers’ complaints that the deputy attorney general, Rod J. Rosenstein, was not moving fast enough to turn over the documents they want. The president stepped in just as Mr. Rosenstein appeared to mollify three key committee chairmen who were also demanding internal documents. … A former federal law enforcement official familiar with the department’s views said that Mr. Rosenstein and top F.B.I. officials have come to suspect that some lawmakers were using their oversight authority to gain intelligence about that investigation so that it could be shared with the White House.”
-- What are the GOP congressmen trying to see? A document known as a “scope memo.” Devlin Barrett and Robert Costa explain: “[T]he scope memo from Rosenstein [spells] out which areas of investigation he has authorized Mueller to pursue. … A heavily redacted version of the scope memo has emerged in the pretrial hearings of former Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort, but [Reps. Mark Meadows (R-N.C.) and Jim Jordan (R-Ohio)], two of the president’s fiercest defenders, want to see the rest of it. Within the Justice Department, which has provided other sensitive documents to lawmakers in recent weeks, the demand to see the scope memo is viewed as a request that cannot be fulfilled, according to people familiar with the discussions, because that memo would reveal highly sensitive details of an ongoing investigation — information that could compromise Mueller’s work. Some department lawyers have also argued that sharing that memo would be an unprecedented violation of the Justice Department’s independence … ”
Paul Manafort, former campaign manager for Donald Trump. (Al Drago/Bloomberg News)
-- Meanwhile, Ukraine has halted several investigations into Manafort in a move that won't help Mueller's probe. Mueller is examining the decade-long work of Manafort, Trump's former campaign chairman, in Ukraine for a pro-Russian political party. From the New York Times's Andrew E. Kramer: “But in Ukraine, where officials are wary of offending President Trump, four meandering cases that involve Mr. Manafort ... have been effectively frozen by Ukraine’s chief prosecutor. The cases are just too sensitive for a government deeply reliant on United States financial and military aid, and keenly aware of Mr. Trump’s distaste for the investigation by the special counsel ... some lawmakers say.”
Ukrainian's anti-corruption prosector froze the probes a month after the Trump administration finalized plans to sell that country antitank weapons. And no one is hiding the long-term goal here: “Volodymyr Ariev, a member of Parliament who is an ally of President Petro O. Poroshenko, readily acknowledged that the intention in Kiev was to put investigations into Mr. Manafort’s activities 'in the long-term box,'" Andrew reports. “'In every possible way, we will avoid irritating the top American officials,' Mr. Ariev said in an interview. 'We shouldn’t spoil relations with the administration.'”
-- Former Trump campaign aide Michael Caputo, who was interviewed by Mueller’s team yesterday, said the special counsel is “focused on Russia collusion.” He added, “They know more about the Trump campaign than anyone who ever worked there.” From CNN’s Manu Raju: “He spoke with Senate intelligence investigators on Tuesday for their Russia probe and outlined the differences between Congress' inquiries and the special counsel's. ‘The Senate and the House are net fishing,’ Caputo said. ‘The special counsel is spearfishing. They know what they are aiming at and are deadly accurate.’”
-- Cambridge Analytica has decided to shut down and declare bankruptcy. Tony Romm and Craig Timberg report: “The firm said it had lost clients because of revelations in March that it had improperly obtained the personal information of millions of Facebook users. ‘It is no longer viable to continue operating the business,’ Cambridge Analytica said in a statement. Cambridge Analytica defended its use of Facebook, saying it was ‘vilified for activities that are not only legal, but also widely accepted as a standard component of online advertising in both the political and commercial arenas.’” Facebook vowed to continue probing Cambridge Analytica’s misuse of personal data despite the firm’s closure.
 |
| Trump and Bornstein: From allies to enemies |
ALL THE PRESIDENT'S MEN AND WOMEN:
-- The White House is struggling to address the controversy surrounding Trump's longtime physician Harold Bornstein. From Ashley Parker and Lenny Bernstein: “Some White House officials weighed pushing back on Bornstein by painting him as loony, one White House official said. But aides abandoned that argument since the doctor had served as Trump’s personal physician for over three decades, the official said. Bornstein himself — already a colorful figure with graying shoulder-length locks — has further deepened the mystery by behaving erratically. He seems to have willingly spoken with some reporters while shutting down others — including one he ordered to ‘go back and report on how your toilet bowl works.’”
-- Trump’s surprisingly low-key response to reports his chief of staff, John Kelly, called him an “idiot” demonstrates how distant the two men have become, write the New York Times’s Julie Hirschfeld Davis and Maggie Haberman: “Many current and former officials said Mr. Trump’s response was less a vote of confidence in his top adviser than a sign of indifference — a reflection of the kind of cold truce that exists between two powerful and mercurial men who have grown tired and irritated with each other, but are in no immediate rush to part ways. The president has come to believe that Mr. Kelly is hiding things from him, in the view of people who work in the White House and insist on anonymity to describe private conversations. He has complained that Mr. Kelly has not been forthcoming about the pasts of some staff members, who either opposed him during the 2016 presidential primaries or had connections to the Bush family.”
-- A D.C. consultant and former lobbyist for foreign governments arranged EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt’s planned trip to Australia last year. Brady Dennis and Juliet Eilperin report: “Matthew C. Freedman, chief executive of the firm Global Impact Inc., worked with one of Pruitt’s top aides and another longtime ally of the administrator, lobbyist Richard Smotkin, to set up meetings in Australia. The trip was scheduled to take place in late August and early September, but Pruitt canceled the travel shortly before his departure so he could survey Hurricane Harvey damage in Texas. Freedman has previously worked for controversial foreign leaders such as former Philippine president Ferdinand Marcos and the Nigerian government. He is not currently registered as a lobbyist but serves as treasurer for the American Australian Council that promotes economic ties between the two countries.”
-- Freedman was previously removed from Trump’s transition team after using his business email for official government work. From the New York Times’s Lisa Friedman, Eric Lipton and Kenneth P. Vogel: “Mr. Freedman worked on Mr. Trump’s transition team in late 2016 on national security-related issues. He was removed after conducting government business using an email address associated with his consulting firm, Global Impact Inc., which fed the impression that he was using his position with the transition team to drum up business, according to an adviser to the transition.”
-- Steven Hart, the lobbyist tied to Pruitt’s controversial condo rental, emailed the agency last year to promote a client. ABC News’s Stephanie Ebbs reports: “A spokesman for Hart previously said that he did not lobby the EPA in 2017 or 2018, but a new email obtained by ABC News shows that Hart contacted a senior EPA official to recommend nominees for one of the boards that advises the EPA on scientific questions. In the email to EPA chief of staff Ryan Jackson, he wrote ‘I want to highlight these candidates for the Science Advisory Board, who were nominated by our client, Dennis Treacy, the President of the Smithfield Foundation.’ The names of the nominees are redacted from the email but the EPA told the New York Times they were not appointed to the board.”
-- An HHS official who shared on social media an image saying "our forefathers would have hung" Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton for treason has returned to work. CNN’s Andrew Kaczynski reports: “Ximena Barreto is a far-right political pundit who joined the Trump administration as deputy director of communications at HHS in December. She was placed on leave by the department in April after the liberal watchdog Media Matters reported that Barreto called Islam ‘a cult’ and pushed the Pizzagate conspiracy theory … An HHS official [said] that Barreto would not be returning to the public affairs department and would instead serve in a different role working on unspecified projects. The official would not elaborate any further on Barreto's new role.”
 |
| North Korea is holding three U.S. citizens |
NEW WORLD ORDER:
-- North Korea has released the three Americans held in its labor camps, according to the Financial Times’s Song Jung-a. “The three Korean-American detainees — Kim Dong-cheol, Kim Sang-deok and Kim Hak-seong — were released from the labour correction centre in early April and are getting health treatment and ideological education at a hotel near Pyongyang, according to Choi Sung-ryong, the country’s most vocal campaigner for South Korean abductees held in North Korea. ‘We heard it through our sources in North Korea late last month. We believe that Mr Trump can take them back on the day of the US-North Korea summit or he can send an envoy to take them back to the US before the summit,’ said Mr Choi.” National security adviser John Bolton said Sunday, “If North Korea releases the detained Americans before the North-US summit, it will be an opportunity to demonstrate their authenticity.”
Trump teased the release in a tweet last night:
 |
-- As Trump has softened his approach on North Korea, he has simultaneously appointed foreign-policy hawks to top diplomatic positions. David Nakamura and John Hudson report: “As the top commander of the U.S. military forces in the Pacific, Adm. Harry B. Harris Jr. has been such an outspoken China hawk that he was reportedly subject to a gag order by the Obama administration and targeted with a smear campaign by Chinese state media. Now, Harris is set to become a key player in the Trump administration’s attempts to craft a diplomatic deal with an even more hostile and threatening East Asia power: North Korea. Harris is expected to be nominated to fill the long-vacant ambassadorship to South Korea, one of new Secretary of State Mike Pompeo’s first decisions last week.”
-- The Trump administration transferred a Guantanamo Bay inmate to the custody of Saudi Arabia. From Missy Ryan: “The transfer of Ahmed al-Darbi to Saudi custody marks the first time the Trump administration has authorized the departure of an inmate from the facility at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, which President Trump has promised to keep open and said could even house new detainees. The move is unlikely to mark a shift in administration policy regarding prisoner transfers, which Trump has suggested threaten U.S. security. Darbi pleaded guilty in 2014 to war crimes in relation to what military prosecutors characterized as plots to attack international ships in the Middle East.”
Charlie Rose attends a 2014 conference Sun Valley, Idaho. (Scott Olson/Getty Images)
THE #METOO MOVEMENT:
-- A Post investigation found that Charlie Rose’s sexual misconduct was far more widespread than previously reported and three managers at CBS were warned about his behavior. Amy Brittain and Irin Carmon report: “An additional 27 women — 14 CBS News employees and 13 who worked with him elsewhere — said Rose sexually harassed them. Concerns about Rose’s behavior were flagged to managers at the network as early as 1986 and as recently as April 2017, when Rose was co-anchor of ‘CBS This Morning,’ according to multiple people with firsthand knowledge of the conversations. Rose’s response to the new allegations was delivered in a one-sentence email: ‘Your story is unfair and inaccurate.’ … The Post’s investigation is based on interviews over a five-month period with 107 current and former CBS News employees as well as two dozen others who worked with Rose at other television programs.” The oldest of the fresh allegations dates back to 1976, when a former research assistant said Rose exposed himself to her and groped her.
-- "Redskins cheerleaders describe a trip to Costa Rica that crossed the line," by the New York Times's Juliet Macur: "For the photo shoot, at the adults-only Occidental Grand Papagayo resort on Culebra Bay, some of the cheerleaders said they were required to be topless, though the photographs used for the calendar would not show nudity. Others wore nothing but body paint. Given the resort’s secluded setting, such revealing poses would not have been a concern for the women — except that the Redskins had invited spectators. A contingent of sponsors and FedExField suite holders — all men — were granted up-close access to the photo shoots."
Later that night, Juliet reports, some of the cheerleaders were told that the all-male sponsors had picked them to be "personal escorts" for an outing to a nightclub. “'They weren’t putting a gun to our heads, but it was mandatory for us to go,' one of the cheerleaders said. 'We weren’t asked, we were told. Other girls were devastated because we knew exactly what [the director] was doing.'" Their participation did not involve sex, the cheerleaders said, but they felt as if the arrangement amounted to "pimping us out."
"Stephanie Jojokian, the longtime director and choreographer for the Redskins’ cheerleaders, disputed much of the women’s description of the Costa Rica trip. She vehemently denied that the night at the club was mandatory and said that the cheerleaders who went were not chosen by sponsors."
-- Summer Zervos, the former "Apprentice" contestant who is suing Trump for defamation in New York, is seeking records to prove her case. Subpoenas have been "issued both to Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, which owns archives of the reality show, and to the Beverly Hills Hotel, where Ms. Zervos says he groped her in 2007," according to The New York Times.Zervos's lawyer "asked M.G.M. to turn over all documents, video or audio that feature Ms. Zervos or Mr. Trump talking about Ms. Zervos. The subpoena also seeks any recording in which Mr. Trump speaks of women 'in any sexual or inappropriate manner.' The hotel subpoena seeks records of any stay by Mr. Trump from 2005 through 2009 as well as documents related to his longtime bodyguard, Keith Schiller; his longtime assistant, Rhona Graff; or Ms. Zervos."
-- Alexandra Canosa, a former employee of Harvey Weinstein, has accused the producer of repeatedly raping her over four years, which could open Weinstein up to criminal charges. The New York Times’s Matthew Haag and James C. McKinley Jr. report: “In [a lawsuit filed Tuesday,] [Canosa], a producer on the Netflix show ‘Marco Polo,’ said that Mr. Weinstein repeatedly sexually assaulted and raped her between 2010 and 2014, often in hotel rooms in New York and Los Angeles. She said he continued to threaten her to stay silent until September, a few weeks before The New York Times and The New Yorker published stories about years of sexual misconduct and assault allegations against Mr. Weinstein.
“Three of the incidents took place at the TriBeCa Grand Hotel in Manhattan in 2010 and 2012, making them of interest to prosecutors in the Manhattan district attorney’s office who have been investigating other sexual assault allegations against Mr. Weinstein. Some of the complaints against Mr. Weinstein reported to New York authorities happened too long ago to be prosecuted, law enforcement officials have said, but the incidents mentioned in Ms. Canosa’s lawsuit might qualify as more serious sex crimes that have no statutes of limitation, because she contends he physically forced her to comply with his demands. … The latest legal front against Mr. Weinstein came on the same day that the New York attorney general’s office announced that it would appoint a special deputy to lead an investigation into [Manhattan district attorney Cyrus R. Vance Jr.’s] handling of a 2015 sexual assault allegation against Mr. Weinstein that was not prosecuted.”
 |
| Macron thanks Australia prime minister's 'delicious' wife |
-- French President Emmanuel Macron came under Twitter fire for referring to Lucy Turnbull, who is married to Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull, as “delicious.” From James McAuley in Paris: “For more than a few, Macron’s comment in Australia carried undertones of Gallic machismo, a verbal manifestation of the physical jockeying on display during his visit to the Trump White House last week. … But the reality is much less interesting. Macron — who is proficient in English but occasionally struggles to find his words — was probably the victim of what the French call a ‘faux ami,’ which refers to a word that looks and sounds similar in French and English (or another language) but differs significantly in meaning. Yes, the term ‘délicieuse’ can and often does mean ‘delicious,’ and it can carry a sexual connotation. But it can also have a more mundane meaning, especially in this context. It can mean ‘lovely,’ ‘delightful’ or ‘charming’ when used to describe a person. It doesn’t have to connote something physical … ”
House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi. (Win McNamee/Getty Images)
THE MIDTERMS:
-- Nancy Pelosi is facing growing calls from Democratic congressional candidates to step aside for a new generation of House leadership. David Weigel and Paul Kane report: “Democrats across the country are locked in an awkward dance in which candidates sensing a chance to win GOP-held seats are increasingly distancing themselves from the party’s longtime liberal leader from San Francisco — at the same time that the 78-year-old congresswoman is boldly holding on to power. So far, 10 Democratic candidates have said they would oppose Pelosi’s return to the speakership, while at least another 10 have conspicuously declined to express support for her … The dynamic sets the stage for a potential showdown — should Democrats win the majority — between Pelosi allies, who would relish the historic moment of returning a woman to one of the most influential positions in the country, and her critics, many of whom would have won office by promising a change in leadership.”
-- House Republicans are wondering whether they should be considering a bigger leadership shakeup in the wake of Paul Ryan's announcement that he'd retire and leave the speakership this year, Mike DeBonis reports. Ryan's endorsement of House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) was meant to quash the worry surrounding GOP prospects in the midterm campaign but it hasn't, writes Mike.
"Interviews with dozens of Republican lawmakers over the past few weeks reveal a race that is more unsettled than the top leaders are publicly acknowledging, one that could remain fluid and distract lawmakers from a tough midterm election battle ... The biggest mystery surrounds the roughly three dozen hard-line conservatives who helped tank McCarthy’s last run for speaker, in 2015. They are poised to again use their leverage to install a sympathetic leader, or at least one willing to meet their demands." Another wildcard is Trump himself, who is friendly with McCarthy.
-- A candidate in West Virginia’s GOP Senate primary is running an ad showing a photo-shopped image of his opponent shaking hands with Hillary Clinton. Yahoo News’s Jon Ward reports: “A recent ad from [Evan] Jenkins’s campaign showed one of his Republican opponents, Attorney General Patrick Morrisey, genially greeting Clinton, the 2016 Democratic nominee for president. The image is a fake. But we only know that for sure because Jenkins spokesman Andy Sere told FactCheck.org that the Jenkins campaign had taken ‘creative license’ with the ad. … Jenkins’s ad is a step toward what the Atlantic magazine recently said could be ‘the collapse of reality,’ as techniques for altering images become more realistic and harder to detect and spread from still photographs to video.”
-- Republicans are increasingly worried the tension between departing Sen. Bob Corker (R-Tenn.) and Rep. Marsha Blackburn (R-Tenn.), who is running to replace him, could cost them a Senate seat. From Politico’s Burgess Everett and Rachael Bade: “The retiring senator’s remarks have boosted former Democratic Gov. Phil Bredesen and agitated Blackburn’s supporters, who want Corker to help heal the state party, not inflame its divisions. Corker’s lukewarm support for Blackburn is more than an annoyance: The center-right coalition he represents is critical to Blackburn’s prospects in the race. But Chamber of Commerce-type Republicans are generally fond of Bredesen and his past stint as the state’s governor, seeing him as a pragmatic get-things-done kind of pol, as opposed to a hard-edged conservative ideologue in Blackburn.”
-- Opposition to Trump has powered a surge in small-donor donations to Democrats. The New York Times’s Rachel Shorey and Jasmine C. Lee report: “[It] is similar to the energy that drove the Tea Party uprising against [Obama] in 2010. ‘A good share of Democratic small donor enthusiasm is a response to Trump,’ said Sheila Krumholz, executive director at the Center for Responsive Politics, a nonpartisan organization that tracks political donations. ‘Another aspect is the enthusiasm around this crop of candidates, especially since they’re younger, bringing in younger donors.’"
-- The Koch-backed group Americans for Prosperity is going door-to-door to sell the GOP tax bill ahead of the midterms. From Bloomberg’s John McCormick: “It won’t be easy. Tax policy is notoriously complicated. And if the responses to [door-knocking] efforts on a recent Saturday are any indication, people are skeptical. ‘I don’t think my check has changed,’ says Linda Meredith, a 52-year-old bartender who was among those visited. Meredith says she supported the tax changes. Then she adds: ‘They’re going to benefit the rich.’”
SOCIAL MEDIA SPEED READ:
Twitter melted down over Giuliani's admission that Trump repaid Cohen. From a House Democrat:
 |
From a New York Times reporter:
 |
From an MSNBC host:
 |
From the former director of the Office of Government Ethics:
 |
From a former U.S. attorney who was fired by Trump:
 |
From The Post's White House bureau chief:
 |
From a CBS News reporter:
 |
Giuliani made the admission on Sean Hannity's Fox News show. From a former speechwriter to Condoleezza Rice:
 |
And there were a couple jokes along the way. From a HuffPost reporter:
 |
From a former Democratic congressman:
 |
The "Daily Show" tied together the day's two biggest pieces of news:
 |
Trump quoted one of his former lawyers:
 |
Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) took issue with an article outlining how he has dialed back his recent criticism of the GOP tax bill:
 |
From a Post reporter:
 |
From a former chief of staff to Joe Biden:
 |
Jon Tester needs your help:
 |
A HuffPost reporter looked at the statement a Redskins suite holder gave about the Costa Rican trip with the team's cheerleaders:
 |
And Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke gave an exclusive tour to journalists and a lucky group of students:
 |
GOOD READS:
-- Politico, “Trump's fixers revolt,” by Annie Karni: “The president’s preference for people who look like they came from ‘central casting’ has become a well-known part of how Trump makes personnel decisions. … But behind the scenes, there’s another set of characters who populate Trump’s world: loyal fixers who lie for Trump, and clean up his messes in the shadows, where their looks count less than their loyalty. … But in recent weeks, there has been tension in the natural order of Trump’s world, because his not-made-for-prime-time ‘fixers’ have been basking in the national spotlight where they don’t belong. And they’re doing something else very out of character for the aides picked solely for their loyalty and willingness to bend the rules: They’re falling out of line.”
-- New York Times, “The Battle for Kanye West Is Happening in Real Time,” by Jon Caramanica: “These are behaviors, statements and sentiments that potentially pose the largest existential threat ever to the Kanye West empire. And so what’s played out over the past two weeks is a kind of psychological tug of war, with Mr. West reinforcing his most unsettling positions while, all around him, what amounts to a collective global rescue effort for his mind and soul (and, in truth, his legacy) is playing out in real time.”
HOT ON THE LEFT
“A newspaper ran a photo of grieving Parkland teens — right above a giant gun-show ad,” from Alex Horton: “The eight young girls wore white for Alyssa Alhadeff’s 15th birthday, and like others, they probably brought small gifts to leave at her grave. Their faces — anguished, contemplative, defiant — were captured in a photograph by the Sun-Sentinel newspaper for a report about the headstone dedication for Alhadeff, one of 17 people killed by a gunman in the Parkland, Fla., school massacre on Feb. 14. The photo ran on Wednesday’s front page, a few inches above a bright yellow advertisement and coupon for an upcoming gun show in Fort Lauderdale — including an image of a Glock semiautomatic handgun. The placement of the two images, as well as another report on the front page about the life sentence of the Fort Lauderdale airport gunman who killed five people in 2017, sparked condemnation on social media and drew a sharp rebuke from the father of another Parkland victim.”
|
HOT ON THE RIGHT
“Teenager’s Prom Dress Stirs Furor in U.S. — but Not in China,” from the New York Times: “When Keziah Daum wore a Chinese-style dress to her high school prom in Utah, it set off an uproar — but not because of its tight fit or thigh-high slit. … Some Twitter users who described themselves as Asian-American seized on Ms. Daum’s dress — a form-fitting red cheongsam (also known as a qipao) with black and gold ornamental designs — as an example of cultural appropriation, a sign of disrespect and exploitation. Other Asian-Americans said the criticism was silly. … When the furor reached Asia, though, many seemed to be scratching their heads. Far from being critical of Ms. Daum, who is not Chinese, many people in mainland China, Hong Kong and Taiwan proclaimed her choice of the traditional high-necked dress as a victory for Chinese culture. … If anything, the uproar surrounding Ms. Daum’s dress prompted many Chinese to reflect on examples of cultural appropriation in their own country.”
|
DAYBOOK:
Trump will attend the National Day of Prayer in the Rose Garden.
QUOTE OF THE DAY:
One former Trump adviser summed up his emphasis on looks and his simultaneous reliance on “fixers:” “Central casting for ‘front porch’ jobs, trolls for the real work.” (Politico’s Annie Karni)
|
NEWS YOU CAN USE IF YOU LIVE IN D.C.:
-- Today’s heat could set a D.C. record. The Capital Weather Gang forecasts: “Much like Wednesday, it’s warm and sunny from the get-go. The biggest difference today is the step-up in humidity. Highs range from the upper 80s to low 90s. Washington’s record high for May 3 is 91 in 1965, and we should come close to that. Dew point values in the 50s to near 60 are slightly humid but still quite tolerable.”
-- The Nationals beat the Pirates 9-3. (Jorge Castillo)
-- A Virginia state senator is suing the U.S. Forest Service over access to a road where several pipeline protesters are camped out. Gregory S. Schneider reports: “State Sen. Chap Petersen (D-Fairfax), who is a lawyer, filed the suit at the federal courthouse in Roanoke after being prohibited from using the road to reach the protesters last week. His action opens another legal front in the fight over the right to protest the Mountain Valley Pipeline, a 303-mile project that starts in West Virginia and crosses through Virginia’s southwest mountains.”
-- The teen who was fatally stabbed near the NoMa-Gallaudet Metro station was identified as Tyshon Perry of Northeast. He attended KIPP D.C. College Preparatory high school and was 16 years old. (Peter Hermann)
VIDEOS OF THE DAY:
Stephen Colbert uncovered other doctors' notes Trump dictated:
 |
| Trump Threatens To 'Get Involved' In Mueller's Investigation |
Police released body-cam footage from the moment officers entered the hotel room of the Las Vegas shooter:
 |
| See police enter the room of the Las Vegas shooter |
Melania Trump's parents appeared at a federal building that processes citizenship applications:
 |
| Melania Trump's parents head into federal building with immigration lawyer |
The Post fact-checked claims former director of national intelligence James Clapper lied to Congress about his contact with a CNN host:
 |
| Fact Checker | Clapper-Tappergate is all smoke and no fire |
A lion in South Africa was shot to death after it attacked its caretaker:
 |
| WATCH: Game reserve owner hospitalised after being mauled by a lion |
And on a lighter note, the children of Post employees answered questions about what they think their parents' jobs are:
 |
| Short Takes: Take your child to work day |
Comments
Post a Comment