Saturday News: Kushner Wanted Secret Channel to Kremlin?; “Clinton launches new campaign against Trump”

by Lowell

Here are a few national and Virginia news headlines, political and otherwise, for Saturday, May 27. Also, just a reminder that Hillary Clinton should by all rights be president right now, and if she was things would be a million times better in this country.

• Russian ambassador told Moscow that Kushner wanted secret channel with Kremlin (Kushner for Prison?)
• Report: Jared Kushner Asked Kislyak for Use of Russian Communications Facilities (“The idea of using Russian facilities to skirt Russian surveillance in the U.S. would either be a serious attempt to hide something or the actions of a young amateur.”)
• When violence against the press becomes acceptable, where does it end?
• Trump Is All Elbows in a Europe That Is Eager to Jab Back
• Senate Intelligence Committee requests all Trump campaign documents dating to June 2015 (“The Senate Intelligence Committee has asked President Trump’s political organization to gather and produce all documents, emails and phone records going back to his campaign’s launch, according to two people briefed on the request. The letter arrived at Trump’s campaign committee last week and represents the first time Trump’s official campaign structure has been drawn into the Senate investigation.”)
• Zbigniew Brzezinski, National Security Adviser to Jimmy Carter, Dies at 89 (“His death, at Inova Fairfax Hospital in Falls Church, was announced on Friday by his daughter, Mika Brzezinski, a co-host of the MSNBC program ‘Morning Joe.'”)
• Don’t be so surprised about the body slam. Trump planted those seeds long ago. (“Trump’s rhetoric has normalized hatred of journalists and, by implication, encouraged the sort of behavior we’ve witnessed.”)
• Three Republican EPA administrators: Trump is putting us on a dangerous path (“His climate-related budget cuts reflect willful ignorance of an enormous threat.” Also an enormous economic opportunity with clean energy that Trump is proposing to ceded to other countries, like China. This is criminally stupid.)
• The U.S. has a homegrown terrorist problem — and it’s coming from the right (“President Trump denounces ‘barbaric attacks’ overseas. What about those in the U.S.?”)
• Gianforte’s behavior was inexcusable. The House should not tolerate it. (“If he is convicted, he should resign — or be expelled.”)
• Trump’s views on climate are ‘evolving,’ aide says, amid pressure from Europeans (They need to do a 180.)
• Do We Really Want Mike Pence to Be President? (“The only certainty of a Pence presidency is a Christian conservative bias for judges who will make Americans long for the relatively sane Justice Gorsuch. Do I think Mike Pence is less likely to start a nuclear war than Donald Trump or to throw a reporter in jail over a Twitter beef about his daughter’s shoe line? Absolutely. There is that upside.” That might be the only possible upside, as Pence is horrendously bad.)
• Trump Pushing Big White House Changes as Russia Crisis Grows (It needs to start by Trump himself stepping down.)
• America Needs Anthony Kennedy to Stay Put (“How Justice Anthony Kennedy’s retirement decision became a battle over the judiciary and the Trump presidency.”)
• Why Greg Gianforte’s Apology Was So Worthless (This guy needs to be: a) in jail; b) certainly not seated in the U.S. House of Representatives.)
• John Boehner: Donald Trump so far has been a “complete disaster”
• Clinton launches new campaign against Trump (“Speaking before her alma mater, the former Democratic nominee warns that the president is tearing apart the nation.” And endangering our democracy.)
• Trump Muddles Through His Big Trip (“Neither a triumph nor a disaster, the president’s first foreign sally was mostly a wash.” That’s very generous.)
• Dem: Kushner ‘should be prosecuted for lying’ on security form
• The Most Money Lines From Hillary Clinton’s Surprisingly Good Wellesley Commencement Speech
• Tim Kaine’s son charged with misdemeanor after Trump rally incident
• The populist ethical issue hurting Virginia Democrats (“But — funny thing — the state-regulated power utility Dominion Energy gave more than $7.4 million to Virginia legislators over the past decade, including $770,000 in 2016-2017 alone , according to the nonprofit, nonpartisan Virginia Public Access Project. Coincidentally, Dominion has racked up an astonishing string of legislative triumphs over those years, amping up its profit margins along the way.”)
• Perriello confident undecided voters will win him Democratic spot in Va. governor race
• Virginia Candidate Wants Confederate Monuments Renamed
• ‘400 years is long enough’: Virginia’s ‘first contact’ Indian tribes demand federal recognition (“The six tribes were stripped of their land and language, then erased from state records by racist officials. After House approval of recognition, all eyes are on the Senate.”)
• Va. House Democratic leader says environmental regulators ‘seemingly backtracked’ on pipeline review
• Rep. Bobby Scott to hold health care forum Tuesday night
• UPDATE: Police searching for man who shot, critically injured state trooper in Richmond’s Mosby Court
• Prosecutor: Virginia State Police unable to get critical evidence in Jamycheal Mitchell death investigation
• Showers and maybe some storms today, plus a few more raindrops through Memorial Day