Wednesday News: “Trump asked FBI official Andrew McCabe how he voted in 2016”; “The newest pro-Trump conspiracy theory”; “Let Virginia walk away from the Confederacy”

by Lowell

Here are a few national and Virginia news headlines, political and otherwise, for Wednesday, January 24.

• Trump asked FBI official Andrew McCabe how he voted in 2016 (“In an Oval Office meeting, McCabe — the acting FBI director at the time — told President Trump that he didn’t vote in the election, officials said. Trump also vented his anger over donations that McCabe’s wife, a Democrat, received for her failed 2015 Virginia state Senate bid. One official said the conversation is of interest to special counsel Robert S. Mueller III.”)
• Mueller wants a sit-down with Trump to discuss Flynn and Comey departures
• Ursula K. Le Guin, Acclaimed for Her Fantasy Fiction, Is Dead at 88 (RIP)
• Schumer rescinds offer to Trump on border wall (Good. Under NO CIRCUMSTANCES should Democrats agree to this f’ing wall.)
• Top Democrats warn of ‘ongoing attack’ by Russia amid push to publish classified memo (“Democratic lawmakers urged Facebook and Twitter to investigate what lawmakers said are Russian efforts to promote the release of a classified Republican memo criticizing the FBI probe of Russia’s meddling in the 2016 election.”)
• The Progressive Attacks on Senate Democrats Over the Shutdown Are Premature
• Mr. Trump’s Tariffs Will Not Bring Back Manufacturing Jobs (Also note: tariffs are a tax, which means that a Republican “president” just raised taxes, yet there are no howls of outrage from the anti-tax brigades. Hmmmm.)
• The newest pro-Trump conspiracy theory: A “secret society” in the FBI is undermining Trump (Completely. Batshit. Crazy.)
• Mueller Is Asking Questions. He Knows the Answers. (“Jeff Sessions and James Comey were both interviewed by the Special Counsel.”)
• Can Planet Earth Feed 10 Billion People? (Humanity should focus on stabilizing population instead.)
• Why Was Chelsea Manning at an Alt-Right Party? (“Her strange explanation isn’t cutting it with many liberal fans.” Not sure how many “liberal fans” she has – more like the far left – but ok.)
• Major evangelical leader says Trump gets a “mulligan” on Stormy Daniels affair (This shows the complete corruption and moral abdication of the religious right when it comes to Trump. Think about it for one second – would they have put up with Trump’s behavior for one second if it had been Bill Clinton? Barack Obama? Hillary Clinton? Any Democrat? Obviously not.)
• State Tax Workarounds Could Mean $154 Billion Lost to Treasury
• The growing conservative conspiracy theory about missing FBI texts, explained (“This rhetoric points to the real scandal here: Republicans are trying to impose a partisan, Trump-loyalist litmus test on America’s top law enforcement agency. Moreover, they’re working to derail a probe into the growing evidence that Russia meddled in an American election on a massive scale.”)
• Women are ready to rain down fire and fury on Trump (Good. And every man should join them!)
• Some officials are protecting the country from Trump. Sessions isn’t one of them.
• Exclusive: New signs Gates may be negotiating with Mueller’s team (“Former Trump campaign aide Rick Gates has quietly added a prominent white-collar attorney, Tom Green, to his defense team, signaling that Gates’ approach to his not-guilty plea could be changing behind the scenes.”)
• Trump asked the acting FBI director whom he voted for during Oval Office meeting 
• Why was Larry Nassar allowed to molest young gymnasts for so long? (“USA Gymnastics and Michigan State University enabled the doctor’s crimes.”)
• Biden: McConnell stopped Obama from calling out Russians
• GOP congressman says Obamacare made him sexually harass former aide (“There’s literally nothing Republicans won’t blame on the Affordable Care Act.” Beyond parody; these people are insane.)
• GOP feud with FBI ratchets up (Disgraceful.)
• Trump’s failing war on green power (“Wind and solar energy may have come too far for even a pro-fossil-fuel administration to stuff back into the barrel.”)
• Against odds, Tillerson hangs on — for now (“After months of rumors—and even an informal betting pool—about his departure, the secretary of state approaches the one-year mark in his job even after reportedly calling President Donald Trump a ‘moron.’”)
• Trump attacks CNN after man threatens to murder CNN employees for ‘fake news’ (“In one of more than 20 calls to CNN, Brandon Griesemer allegedly said, ‘Fake news. I’m coming to gun you all down.'”)
• Trump’s solar tariff backfires: It hits red states and U.S. taxpayers harder than China (“Southern states like Texas, Florida, Georgia, and South Carolina among the most impacted.”)
• Dems sour on shutdown tactics (“Senate Democrats say there’s no appetite in their caucus for forcing another government shutdown if Republicans refuse to agree to an immigration deal by a March 5 deadline.”)
• Opinion/Editorial: Va. House makes smart transformation (And let’s be clear; Republicans could have done this last year, the year before, or any year they were in control of the House – but they didn’t. So why now? Because Democrats gained 15 seats last year and demanded concessions like this.)
• MSNBC’s Reid gives perspective on modern-day race relations in Charlottesville speech
• Let Virginia walk away from the Confederacy (Sean Perryman: “Fairfax’s decision to walk away largely eclipsed Hanger’s remarks. It also underscored the option we have to stop participating in this whitewashing of history and honoring of individuals who no longer reflect our values. Like our lieutenant governor, we can walk away. We can abandon these symbols.”)
• A Medicaid signal? Or maybe not. (“The co-chairmen of the Senate Finance Committee, Senate Majority Leader Tommy Norment, R-James City County, and state Sen. Emmett Hanger, R-Mount Solon, along with House Appropriations chairman Chris Jones have all said expanding access to health care is a goal for the 2018 session, even if none is an enthusiast for Medicaid expansion a la Affordable Care Act.”)
• Schapiro: Fairfax, Stoney – a rivalry with repercussions (“In the span of several hours Monday, on opposite sides of Broad Street, a nascent rivalry unfolded between two, 30-something Democrats, both of whom make no secret of their interest in the governorship — perhaps in 2021.” Interesting; a possible Stoney vs. Fairfax vs. Herring vs. whoever else primary for governor in 2021?)
• Dominion and CEO Tom Farrell gave large charitable donations to center where key lawmaker works (Virginia is a state of legalized corruption – and Dominion Energy is a central player in that corruption.)
• At Northam’s urging, Democrats back off hardball Medicaid tactic and pass rural hospital bill (“State Sen. William Stanley, a Republican from Southwest Virginia, won a do-over vote after Northam urged Democrats, who had tried to link the hospital bill to the long-running fight to expand Medicaid, to work with him.”)
• Virginia Senate passes bill to allow guns in places of worship (Veto bait.)
• Prison guards find the toughest job is asking the General Assembly for help
• Virginia sheriff’s office accused of constitutional violations to cancel controversial ICE contract (“The announcement comes on the heels of a ThinkProgress investigation.”)
• In State of the City speech, Stoney makes case for meals tax increase for schools
• Vicious strain of the flu pummels Washington region
• Briefly colder through tomorrow, warming up again into the weekend; Sunday showers?