by Lowell
Here are a few national and Virginia news headlines, political and otherwise, for Friday, May 4.
- Trump Gambit Over Disclosing Porn-Star Payment Stuns Staff (“President Trump hatched with Rudy Giuliani the high-risk plan to disclose on live television that he had reimbursed his attorney for buying Stormy Daniel’s silence, leaving senior aides in the White House stunned.”)
- Trump Orders Pentagon to Consider Reducing U.S. Forces in South Korea
- U.S. Looks Beyond Iran Nuclear Deal Deadline to What Comes Next
- U.S.-China Trade Talks End With Key Differences Still Unresolved
- World stocks set for biggest weekly loss in a month, dollar climbs before U.S. payrolls
- Rudy Giuliani and the Desperate Campaign to Protect the President
- Giuliani’s FBI ‘Stormtroopers’ Smear Is the Key to Trump’s Authoritarian Mind-set
- A sour smell of panic in the White House as the law closes in (“There are several signs that the investigation of the president and the pushback against it have entered a new, more acrimonious phase.”)
- The Supreme Court Will Make Trump Talk to Mueller If It Has To
- White House struggles with fallout over $130,000 payment
- Rudy Giuliani goes from ‘America’s Mayor’ to Trump’s chump (Giuliani disgraced himself and ruined his reputation long ago.)
- Marco Rubio and Tom Price (briefly) join the resistance (“In telling the truth, the two momentarily confirm what Democrats have long been saying.”)
- Five ways Dems could fight Trump if they win the House (“Subpoenas…Investigations…Hearings…Impeachment…Agenda”)
- How a presidential president would stand up for the Justice Department (“Spoiler alert: It’s not the way Trump tweeted this week.”)
- Giuliani outs Trump: Did the president just admit to a campaign finance law violation?
- Campaign finance experts: Trump, Giuliani comments could backfire (“Trump’s admission that he repaid Michael Cohen $130,000 raises a host of questions about possible campaign finance violations.” Trump for Prison 2020…or earlier!)
- Feds monitored Trump lawyer Michael Cohen’s phones (“It is not clear how long the monitoring of phone calls has been authorized.”)
- Samantha Bee blasts journalists: “Calling Sanders a liar isn’t an insult — it’s her job description” (“After women in media rush to defend Sarah Huckabee Sanders, Bee decides ‘to remind people what feminism is about'”)
- Trump’s Russia strategy: Bash Mueller to beat impeachment
- Answered prayers: House chaplain gets job back after Ryan backs down (Lyin’ Ryan has been, is and always will be a really bad joke.)
- House chaplain rescinds resignation in a scathing letter to Paul Ryan
- Sarah Sanders waves the white flag on Stormy Daniels (“I’m not going to get into those details.”)
- Trump started tweeting about Stormy Daniels and it’s an unmitigated disaster
- Fox doesn’t know how to react to Giuliani’s Stormy Daniels bombshell (“On Hannity, Giuliani revealed that Trump reimbursed Michael Cohen for the hush money payment”)
- Sean Hannity attacks the media for covering his disastrous interview with Trump lawyer Rudy Giuliani (Hahahahaha.)
- Boy Scouts to drop ‘boy’ from name and conservatives are freaking out (“‘Old Scout oath ‘Be Prepared.’ New oath ‘Be Pretty,’ Mike Huckabee tweeted Thursday.”)
- A timeline of Trumpworld’s changing story on Stormy Daniels (“What the president and his associates said, from denials to reimbursements.”)
- Did Rudy Giuliani just get Trump in legal trouble? I asked 11 legal experts. (“The answer: probably.”)
- Americans Are Capable of Terrible Things (“Particularly if they are employed by the CIA.”)
- They Voted for Obama, Then Went for Trump. Can Democrats Win Them Back?
- A Pruitt Aide’s Attack on Zinke Angers the White House (“A press staffer at the Environmental Protection Agency attempted to distract from his boss’s troubles by planting stories that would reflect poorly on the secretary of the interior.” Beyond parody.)
- Influential outsiders have played a key role in Scott Pruitt’s foreign travel (Swamp creature to the max!)
- Kimmel lampoons ‘crazy eyes’ Giuliani’s major fail on Fox: ‘Next he’ll implicate Trump in Lincoln assassination’
- Warner fields ag questions about Russia, Trump
- Corey Stewart says GOP establishment wants to stop him from winning Senate nomination
- Corey Stewart accuses GOP leaders of favoring his rival in Republican primary for U.S. Senate (“The Virginia GOP denies the claim, quoting President Trump”)
- The coming battle for the Republican Senate Nomination in Virginia (“So here is the big projection: with a confidence of +/- 4% confidence – Freitas 50% (as high as 55%, as low as 36%), Jackson 27% (As high as 30% and as low as 22%), Stewart 23% (As high as 33% and as low as 19%).”)
- Pipeline opponents: ‘Northam is going to have to answer for what this looks like’ (Complete debacle by TMac and now Northam.)
- U.S. Department of Education approves Virginia’s plan of the Every Student Succeeds Act
- Study finds ‘stunning’ justice gap in Virginia civil cases (Totally unacceptable.)
- David Clarke emerging as likely House pick for SCC seat; Senate prefers John Watkins (Clarke isn’t ideal, but Watkins is completely unacceptable.)
- Editorial: Too few turned out on Election Day
- Richmond’s real estate market is on fire: Low inventory is causing multiple offers and homes selling above asking price in some areas
- Editorial: Tuesday’s elections signal change is in the air (“…a common theme runs through the results in Roanoke, Salem and Radford. In each community, voters made it clear they wanted to see more active local governments.”)
- Alexandria passes budget with no tax rate increase (“Dispute over meals tax breaks out in otherwise ‘tranquil’ budget year.”)
- Heat wave ends today. Cooler, damp weekend ahead.
