by Lowell
Here are a few national and Virginia news headlines, political and otherwise, for Friday, April 20.
- Here are the 8 most shocking revelations from the release of the Comey memos
- Comey: Trump says Putin bragged about Russia having the ‘most beautiful hookers in the world’
- McConnell aims to reshape courts in case Senate flips (“The Kentucky Republican is prioritizing confirmation of conservative judges in what may be his final months as majority leader.” Ugh.)
- Trump firing Mueller would ‘create a constitutional crisis,’ Sen. Warner says
- Trump is smashingly successful — at sowing utter confusion
- Amid turmoil over Russia probe, Trump hires Giuliani, two other attorneys
- Comey memos say Trump expressed concerns about Flynn’s judgment
- How Congress can take back control of America’s wars (“Tim Kaine and Bob Corker have a wise bipartisan plan.”)
- Marco Rubio flip flops on NASA nominee out of ‘deference to the president’ (“And yet Rubio routinely opposed confirmation of Obama’s nominees.” Rubio is so horrible.)
- Trump’s next NASA administrator is a Republican congressman with no background in science (“Jim Bridenstine’s confirmation has been controversial — even among members of his own party.” Absolutely appalling.)
- Rosenstein Tells Trump He’s Not a Target in Mueller, Cohen Probes
- 6 Takeaways From the Comey Memos (“Trump’s Preoccupation With the Dossier…Trump’s Focus on McCabe, Then a Relative Unknown…Hunting Leakers”)
- Scott Pruitt’s Ethics Inquiries Widen, and G.O.P. Support Shows Cracks (Pruitt never should have been confirmed, of course, but regardless he should have been gone a long time ago from his job.)
- Michael Cohen Says He’s “Never” Been to Prague. He Told Me a Different Story. (“An alleged meeting in the city between Trump’s lawyer and Russian officials is an ongoing mystery.”)
- GOP farm bill: Yeah, we know it sounds boring. Activists say it’s a massive assault on public health (“New Republican bill undermines nutrition and introduces toxic chemicals into food, water, and the environment” Also bad stuff if you care about animal welfare.)
- Rudy Giuliani Isn’t the Big Trump Legal Story (“The former New York mayor is the splashy hire, but the addition of two other attorneys to the president’s team may say more about where the Mueller probe is going.”)
- Will Andrew McCabe Be Prosecuted? (“Former Justice Department attorneys said a criminal referral for the former FBI deputy director and frequent target of President Trump was expected, given the contents of a recent Inspector General’s report.”)
- Nobody Likes Trump Except White Evangelicals (“Perhaps Trump’s most avid fans are living in their own bubble of white Evangelical culture, while disdain for the mogul is so common elsewhere that it’s the prevailing (if hardly unanimous) sentiment.”)
- First-time judge appointed by Trump issues his very first opinion. It’s a doozy. (“Judge James Ho has been a federal judge for only a few months. Until Wednesday, he had never handed down a judicial opinion in his life. But the Trump appointee’s very first opinion, a dissent calling for a sweeping assault on campaign contribution limits, is a doozy.”)
- NRA flak complains about Planned Parenthood public funding, doesn’t understand how non-profits work (“Dana Loesch forgets that NRA conventions are subsidized.”)
- Sean Hannity Will Remain Trump’s Shadow Chief of Staff
- Roger Stone steps up attacks on Barbara Bush: ‘She is descending into hell right now’ (Note that the vile Stone is a close Trump ally.)
- D.C. lawmaker who said Jews control the weather visits Holocaust Museum but leaves early (This dude is completely f’ed up, as is at least one member of his entourage to compare the Warsaw Ghetto to a “gated community.” Top comment on the Post article: “Somehow this is even more disturbing than reading about actual racists. The level of ignorance displayed here is staggering.”)
- Warner & Kaine: Escalating Trump Trade War Would Hurt Virginia Soybean Production, Jeopardize Jobs
- GOP Senate candidates Freitas, Stewart fued in debate at Liberty University (“GOP U.S. Senate candidate Nick Freitas in a debate on Thursday called out rival Corey Stewart’s campaign for making ethnic jokes about his name. Stewart responded that if a little name-calling got under Freitas’ skin, he would be thrashed by Democratic Sen. Tim Kaine should he be the GOP nominee in the general election.” This is a much better recap of the debate, by the way, than the Post article. Nice job by Patrick Wilson.)
- Bruce Cruser: Mental health outlook brightens in Virginia
- Republicans seeking to unseat Kaine embrace Trump at Liberty University debate (“The three contenders lined up with the president, but two exchanged sharp personal attacks.” Yeah, Corey and Nick really went after each other. This report is very thin, by the way; nothing for instance about their batshit-crazy comments on Robert Mueller, Russian interference in our elections, etc.)
- Republicans in purple districts are leaving Congress in droves. So why does Barbara Comstock want to stay?
- Barbara Burns “Comstock” Can’t Defend Her Horrible Record in Congress (Hahahaha – more popcorn, please!)
- Roanoke County police charge 2 women in trees blocking the Mountain Valley Pipeline
- Roanoke County Pipeline Protesters Facing Arrest
- Ahead of gun-violence march on Virginia Capitol, GOP leader says he wants to ‘get things done’ on school safety (Hahahaha, yeah right! Republicans just completed a General Assembly session in which they killed every single gun violence prevention bill. Vote. Them. Out.)
- Editorial: Virginia makes plans to grow medical marijuana
- It’s time to end Virginia’s prohibition on happy hour promotions
- Virginia reserve fund a problem if not boosted by budget, consultant warns
- With the Virginia Beach mayor leaving, city councilman says he wants the job (“A day after Mayor Will Sessoms announced his plans to resign April 30, Councilman Bobby Dyer said he wants to lead Virginia Beach. Dyer said his campaign will focus on creating an environment that offers a level playing field to all businesses and inclusion for all people…Other names also have surfaced as potential candidates, including Del. Glenn Davis, a Republican, Councilman Ben Davenport, Development Authority member Linwood Branch and Richard ‘R.K.’ Kowalewitch. Davenport and Branch declined to comment.”)
- New Capitol Square monument honors Virginia’s native tribes
- Richmond’s training camp debacle should make other cities re-think outlays on similar facilities
- Meet the candidates: Threat assessment, funding among topics in Radford School Board race
- Richmond Public Schools inadvertently lowered some students’ GPAs over the past three years
- Capitals-Blue Jackets series tied: Ovechkin, Holtby and Oshie power Washington to a huge road win
- Some windy chill left today, but temperatures slowly warm and breezes wane this weekend
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