Friday News: “Trump Directed His Attorney Michael Cohen To Lie To Congress About The Moscow Tower Project”; “Trump insults troops” by Canceling Afghanistan CODEL; “McConnell blocks bill to reopen most of government”

by Lowell

Here are a few national and Virginia news headlines, political and otherwise, for Friday, January 18.

• Theresa May’s Government Lives on—and So Does the Brexit Chaos
  
• Trump strikes back at Pelosi as shutdown fight hits new low (Another serious violation of American norms by Trump.)
• What Trump Just Wrecked by Canceling Pelosi’s Trip to Afghanistan
• President Trump Directed His Attorney Michael Cohen To Lie To Congress About The Moscow Tower Project (“Trump received 10 personal updates from Michael Cohen and encouraged a planned meeting with Vladimir Putin.”)
• What we learned from the BuzzFeed News report that Trump told Cohen to lie to Congress (“If confirmed, the report would offer the clearest evidence yet of obstruction of justice.”)
• Trump, Putin, and D.C.’s Unbelievable New Normal (“Regardless of whether Trump ends up making a speech on Capitol Hill on January 29th, the state of the union is not strong, and everyone knows it.”)
• Graham criticizes Trump canceling Pelosi trip as ‘inappropriate’
• This Wasn’t a Playground Stunt. It’s Dangerous. (“What a petty little person.”)
• Trump startled by cozy Barr-Mueller relationship
• The circular firing squad: Mueller targets turn on each other
• McConnell blocks bill to reopen most of government (Note: McConnell COULD HAVE reopened the government, but he’s refusing. It’s on him and Trump.)
• Trump Vows to Reinvent Missile Defenses, but Offers Incremental Plans
• I Was Wondering When We’d Get Trump’s Cash-in-a-Bag Episode (“Michael Cohen was kind enough to supply it.”)
• It’s a Banner Day for Presidential* Inhumanity (“Featuring Trumpian activity on Puerto Rico and family separations.”)
• Trump’s Star Wars Fantasy (“The president is proposing the most ambitious and costly missile defense system since the Reagan era. It won’t make us any safer.”)
• The Real Governments of Blue America (“In some states, politicians are actually trying to do their jobs.” Yep, they’re called “Democrats”)
• The Women’s March Is Under Fire. Will Demonstrators Show Up? (“A leader’s ties to Louis Farrakhan have alienated marchers and prompted calls for change.”)
• The latest front in Russian infiltration: America’s right-wing homeschooling movement (“Since its founding in 1983, the Virginia-based HSLDA has become America’s most prominent homeschooling organization. The group, which advocates on behalf of homeschooling families, has a right-wing religious bent.”)
• Don’t Give Up on the Women’s March (“…if you were going to march, draw up a big profane sign saying how angry you are — at misogyny, at racism, at capitalism, at anti-Semitism, at Tamika Mallory — and call on the women marching alongside you to talk to you, even argue with you, about it. It’s the way to move forward.”)
• Sunday show coverage of climate change in 2018 was a disaster (“Less than 6 percent of episodes on the major Sunday shows discussed global warming, and some of them included climate deniers” I haven’t watched one of these Sunday shows in many years, and don’t plan to start anytime soon. They are a disgrace.)
• Democrats will push to retake vote on funding government after chaos on the floor
• Vice President Says Outrage Over Wife Karen Pence’s Discriminatory School Is ‘Offensive’ (“Mike Pence’s wife took a job teaching art at a school that bans LGBTQ families and individuals, HuffPost first reported Tuesday.”)
• Brian Ball: Time to seize Virginia’s energy opportunity (“The offshore wind industry offers significant economic potential for Virginia and for the entire the east coast. The federal Department of Energy estimates the industry could employ up to 40,000 people by 2030.”)
• Kaine to force Senate to hold rare Saturday session amid shutdown
• One month after controversial adult-content purge, far-right pages are thriving on Tumblr (“White nationalist propaganda is still extremely easy to find.”)
• “It is inappropriate”: Elaine Luria condemns President Trump for canceling trip to Afghanistan
• Virginia Democrat Rep. Luria, who was to join Pelosi on canceled Afghanistan trip, said Trump insults troops (“The 20-year Navy veteran and only freshman on the trip said presidential interference was ‘inappropriate.'”)
• Republicans Kill Virginia Senate Democrats’ Bills to Protect Reproductive Healthcare on Party-Line Vote
• Editorial: Lower barriers to voter access in Virginia
• Virginia State Corporation Commission “Still Has Some Teeth Left”; Issues “Stunning Rebuke” to Dominion Energy
• Bill to ban death penalty for severely mentally ill clears GOP-controlled Va. Senate (“The measure, which died in a state Senate committee last year, now heads to the House.”)
• Virginia GOP has stopped abortion law change for years. Democrats hope 2020 will be different. (“With an eye on this year’s elections, when all 140 legislators are up for re-election, Attorney General Mark Herring, Gov. Ralph Northam and Lt. Gov. Justin Fairfax — all pro-abortion rights Democrats — made references to a different General Assembly makeup in 2020 at the press conference.”)
• Coal ash removal bill supported by Northam clears first committee in General Assembly
• Virginia Senate Committee Rejects Will of the People, Votes Down Gun Violence Prevention Bills
• Va. Republicans reject Trump-endorsed ‘red flag’ law (Plus most of the other gun control bills filed this year)
• Virginia Delegates Jennifer Boysko, Jennifer Carroll Foy Introduce Parental Leave Legislation
• SCC allows Dominion to improve security, but denies much of grid plan as too costly, too soon
• Former state board member was accused of ‘working for the opposition’ after raising concerns about pipeline construction damage (“Based on what I observed along about 30 miles of MVP construction, it continues to be unclear to me why the DEQ has not instructed MVP to stop work in accordance with its authority.”)
• Lawmakers clash over prison-made furniture at Capitol. ‘Do like you the desk in your office? … Well you should bring one from home’
• Bill meant to level the playing field for pipeline takings passes Senate
• Lawmakers asked insurers and doctors to find a solution on balance billing. They didn’t, and neither have lawmakers.
• Perryman: While the feds take first step, Virginia continues to crawl
• Virginia Needs to Join the Rest of the Nation and End Felony Disenfranchisement
• Senate passes bill that would loosen switchblades law for knife manufacturers
• Senate committee backs in-state tuition bill for DACA recipients
• Senate committees hear several mental health bills, with varying outcomes
• Editorial: Lawyers, guns and money: The Lee County guns-in-school issue isn’t really about guns
• Parisa Tafti for Commonwealth’s Attorney, Nicole Merlene for State Senate Call Sun Gazette Story “Fiction,” “Couldn’t Be Further From the Truth”
• Metro is losing $400,000 a day during shutdown, agency says
• VCU report: City won’t recoup investment on Redskins training camp deal until at least 2023
• Virginia GOP leaders, concerned about teen vaping, want to raise minimum age to purchase tobacco from 18 to 21
• Record $120 million gift to U-Va. going to hot subject in academia: Data science
• Former Fairfax High student charged with child pornography in connection with trove of photos of area girls
• Richmond named one of the best cities in the country for vegetarians
• Fairly bright today as we await the weekend storm and a frigid blast that follows (“Enjoy a serene Friday. Arctic chill arrives Sunday night, and there’s a bunch of rain in the middle.”)