Saturday News: Sessions/Kislyak; Bye Bye “Spicey” – “The Lying Will Now Be Smoother and More Telegenic”; VA Gov Debate Today

by Lowell

Here are a few national and Virginia news headlines, political and otherwise, for Saturday, July 22.

• Sessions, Russian official discussed matters related to Trump campaign, intercepts show (“The accounts, intercepted by U.S. spy agencies, from Russian Ambassador Sergey Kislyak to his superiors contradict public assertions by the attorney general. A former official said that the reports indicate Sessions and Kislyak had ‘substantive’ discussions on Trump’s views on Russia-related issues and prospects for U.S.-Russia relations in a Trump administration.”)
• The attorney general just got in more trouble — and now he’s put Trump in a box, too (“President Trump has repeatedly suggested that the Russia investigation is a ‘hoax’ and a ‘witch hunt,’ so getting rid of Sessions would also lend credence to the idea that there was something untoward about Sessions’s meetings with Kislyak.”)
• Intelligence intercepts indicate Sessions lied about why he didn’t disclose Russia contacts (“He said it was about his role as a senator. New evidence suggests it wasn’t.”)
• The ‘Spicey’ show comes to an end as White House press secretary resigns
• Jeff Sessions has no plans to resign amid reports of campaign conversations with Russia: source
• Inside the 24 hours that broke Sean Spicer (“Trump’s beleaguered press secretary had been in better spirits recently. Then Scaramucci had an Oval Office meeting.”)
• Yes, Trump Could Pardon Himself. Then All Hell Would Break Loose (“It’s never been tried. Here’s how it could blow up his presidency, or blow up the system.”)
• NRA Spokesperson Doesn’t Seem Happy About White House’s Scaramucci Hire
• Scaramucci once called climate change denial ‘disheartening.’ Then he took a job with Trump
• Anthony Scaramucci called climate science ‘irrefutable’ before he worked for Trump (“The new White House communications director has offered mixed messages on science.”)
• The Lying Will Now Be Smoother and More Telegenic
• Trump’s options on Russia probe: Discredit, pardon, fire (“When it comes to responding to the Russia probe Trump and his advisers do not have many options. And the ones they have carry big political risks.” How about fully cooperate??? I know, what a concept!)
• The Memo: Spicer shock leaves WH staff bracing for more change (The one who really needs to resign is Trump.)
• Parliamentarian deals setback to GOP repeal bill (“Major portions of the Republican bill to repeal and replace ObamaCare will require 60 votes, according to the Senate parliamentarian, meaning they are unlikely to survive on the floor.”)
• Khizr Khan: Attacks on American Muslims are un-American. Under Trump, they’re on the rise.
• No, Trump can’t pardon himself. The Constitution tells us so. (“And so does hundreds of years of legal tradition.”)
• Schiff, Warner launch preemptive strike on Trump pardons
• The video the new White House Communications Director doesn’t want you to see (“He was not always a big Trump fan.”)
• When Will President Trump Fire Robert Mueller? (“The White House is threatening the special counsel and trying to dig up dirt on him, and the prospect that the president will try to fire him now seems very real.”)
• Polish Parliament Votes to Let Ruling Party Control Courts (“The measure, which the president is expected to sign, would curtail the country’s last bastion of independence, allowing the governing party to handpick Supreme Court justices.” This is thanks in part to Trump…)
• It’s 6 months into Trump’s presidency. He’s already asking about pardons for his aides.
• The lights are going down on the Sean Spicer show. Here’s the mess he leaves behind. (“As much as any other member of the president’s team, Spicer is responsible for the dissolution of political norms that Trump’s administration has effected as it tries to delegitimize its critics in order to maintain power.”)
• Krugman: A Time of Sabotage (“Can anything be done to protect Americans from this temper tantrum? In some cases, I believe, state governments can insulate their citizens from malfeasance at H.H.S. But the most important thing, surely, is to place the blame where it belongs. No, Mr. Trump, Obamacare isn’t failing; you are.”)
• Trump is reportedly considering fulfilling a months-long right-wing media fantasy to fire Robert Mueller (“The president’s right-wing media allies have waged a months-long campaign against Mueller and his team, calling for Mueller to be fired or his investigation ‘to be shut down,’ and citing supposed ‘conflicts of interest’ among members of Mueller’s investigative team and even of Mueller himself.”)
• Welcome to the New Trumpism (“The president’s ‘America First’ agenda is in tatters. But now he’s damaging the country in different, perhaps even more permanent ways.” Forget “perhaps,” try “definitely.”)
• Boycott Sean Spicer (“The just-resigned White House press secretary should be toxic to all respectable organizations.”)
• Senate Parliamentarian May Have Dealt the Last, No-Kidding-Final, Blow To Trumpcare (“The failure of the GOP health-care overhaul is a testament to his skills.”)
• The Triumph of Obama’s Long Game
• The Mothers Being Deported by Trump
• What Did Trump and Putin Tell Each Other? (“Mr. Trump has so undermined trust that Americans can’t assume his dealings with Mr. Putin were in their interest​.”)
• Trump’s Virginia Golf Outings Leave Paddlers High, Dry and Angry
• Schapiro: Like father, kind of like son (“Cullen is the son of Richard Cullen, head of Virginia’s ‘shadow government:’ McGuireWoods, the Richmond law-and-lobbying behemoth. Richard Cullen is Vice President Mike Pence’s private lawyer in special prosecutor Robert Mueller’s inquiry into Russia’s intervention in behalf of Trump against Hillary Clinton, Kaine’s running mate.” Ick.)
• Environmental report on pipeline favorable for developers (Total bulls***.)
• EDITORIAL: Is ‘ruthless’ a recipe for victory in Virginia? (“…belligerence, threats and insults go against the Virginia grain and probably will not produce a positive result.”)
• WATCH LIVE: Judy Woodruff to host first Virginia governor’s debate
• Kanter: Virginians deserve a governor who understands the good economics of a minimum wage raise
• Virginia’s jobless rate falls to 3.7 percent in June – its lowest point since April 2008
• Cullen’s son among two that Warner, Kaine recommend for top U.S. prosecutor in Roanoke (“Virginia’s Democratic U.S. senators are recommending to President Donald Trump two candidates for the top federal prosecutor’s job in Roanoke, one of whom is the son of Vice President Mike Pence’s lawyer.”)
• With election in sight, lawmakers rake in donations (“Ah, June. Summer comes and what’s more natural than for a Virginia legislator’s thoughts, especially in an odd-numbered year, to turn to … money. “)
• Hits and misses: Farming and forestry’s importance to Virginia
• Revamped Board of Corrections ‘Needed and necessary; Too many people are dying, inmates, and without answers’
• Editorial: Summer silliness in the governor’s race (“…what Gillespie — a Republican — didn’t say was that the bill in question was the transportation plan pushed by the last Republican governor, Bob McDonnell. By attacking Northam for supporting that, Gillespie was essentially attacking the signature accomplishment of a Republican governor — a Republican whose campaign Gillespie happened to chair.”)
• Loudoun County says no to regional Metro sales tax (“Our responsibility is to our constituents, it’s not to fix Metro for the entire region” Wow, that is stupid, selfish, short-sighted, you name it.)
• Potomac Nationals owner expresses interest in moving to Fredericksburg region
• More than 130 people shot in Richmond this year as violent crime continues to climb, primarily around public housing
• Multiple rounds of strong to severe storms this weekend, plus heat and humidity