Trump’s Russia Cover-Up By the Numbers – 101 contacts with Russia-linked operatives

The dangers of ‘the power invested in me’

Trump has met Putin five times, but what was said is a mystery even to his own staff

Unusually secretive way Trump has handled these meetings has left his own administration guessing what happened and piqued the interest of investigators.

5 reasons why there’s still no end to the shutdown Nathan Gonzales, Roll Call. A more measured take than most.

Senate Passes Back Pay Bill for Furloughed Feds, Trump Says He Will Sign It GovExec

Think Trump can’t use emergency powers to build the border wall? Here’s why he could McClatchy

Trump’s ‘National Emergency’ Gambit May Be The Easiest End To The Shutdown HuffPo

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Prosecutors Examining Ukrainians Who Flocked to Trump Inaugural NYT. Sigh.

Why Trump’s Unusual Leadership Style Isn’t Working in the White House NYT

Guarded warehouse near airport and mysterious cargos from Baghdad; what is the US embassy in Helsinki up to? Helsinki Times

What can the FBI do if the security threat is the President himself?

The more important question is not how or why the case was opened, but whether it was ever closed, writes one former FBI agent.

 

Poynter: “In mid-March, a European Commission high level group published its final report on misinformation, drawing upon the input of experts from around the world who gathered over several weeks to help the European Union figure out what to do about misinformation. The report created by the high-level group — announced in November to help the EU craft policies to address growing concern about misinformation in Europe — contains an inclusive, collaborative approach to addressing misinformation around the world (Disclosure: Poynter attended the meetings as one of the experts). The report, while imperfect, explicitly recommends not regulating against misinformation — but the EU is only one of many governing bodies that have sought to stem the flow of online misinformation over the past few months. Spanning from Brazil to South Korea, these efforts raise questions about infringing free speech guarantees and are frequently victims of uncertainty. The muddying of the definition of fake news, the relative reach of which is still being studied, hinders governments’ ability to accomplish anything effective. In the spirit of this confusion, explained in detail in a recent Council of Europe report, Poynter has created a guide for existing attempts to legislate against what can broadly be referred to as online misinformation. While not every law contained here relates to misinformation specifically, they’ve all often been wrapped into that broader discussion. We have attempted to label different interventions as clearly as possible. Since these efforts seem to be announced weekly, this article will be updated on an ongoing basis. If you catch an error or know of an update in one of our summaries, emaildfunke@poynter.org or use the Google Form at the bottom of this article and we’ll update as soon as possible…”

The Moscow Project – “…an initiative of the Center for American Progress Action Fund dedicated to analyzing the facts behind Trump’s collusion with Russia and communicating the findings to the public…” Last Updated January 9, 2018
On January 6, 2017, the U.S. intelligence community issued a report that showed there were two campaigns to elect Donald Trump: one run by Trump and one run by the Russian government. Trump and many of his senior advisors and close associates have repeatedly denied any connections between the two campaigns, despite the fact that they were working towards the same goal, at the same time, and utilizing the same tactics. Yet over the past year, we’ve learned about a series of meetings and contacts between individuals linked to the Russian government and Trump’s campaign and transition team. In total, we have learned of 101 contacts between Trump’s team and Russia linked operatives, including at least 28 meetings. And we know that at least 28 high-ranking campaign officials and Trump advisors were aware of contacts with Russia-linked operatives during the campaign and transition. None of these contacts were ever reported to the proper authorities. Instead, the Trump team tried to cover up every single one of them. Why were there so many meetings? What was discussed in them? More importantly, why did Trump and his camp lie about them, including to federal law enforcement? What are they hiding? The American people deserve answers. [This] is a comprehensive chronological list of the contacts that have been discovered to date and the lies Trump’s campaign, transition, and White House told to hide them…”

Progressive Groups Blast Centrist Tilt Of House Democrats’ Campaign Arm HuffPo

Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez Takes the Democrats Back to the Future: An Interview with the Historian Rick Perlstein The New Yorker. “[S]uddenly, she has the power to actually act in a way that the Party hasn’t—a party that, almost forty years later, is still traumatized by the success of Ronald Reagan. It’s a profoundly generational phenomenon, and, clearly, it’s scary.” So, the key drivers for electoral politics are psychology and generational change. Good to know. That’s why we study history.

Wall Street should love the economic theory Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez backs — and that should worry the rest of us Business Insider