The day after former acting Attorney General Sally Yates’ blockbuster testimony and the same day the Senate announced plans to expand its investigation into Trump’s business dealings with Russia, Trump abruptly fired FBI Director James Comey.
Attorney General Jeff Sessions and his deputy recommended that Comey be fired because of the way he handled the investigation into Hillary Clinton’s emails. Both Sessions and President Trump had praised Comey for the way he handled the investigation. To make things even fishier, hours before Comey was fired, CNN got word that federal prosecutors have issued grand jury subpoenas to associates of former National Security Advisor Michael Flynn as part of an ongoing investigation into Russian meddling in the election. And if that’s not enough, Trump’s only scheduled meeting today is with Russian Foreign Minister Lavrov.
If it seems weird for the president to fire an FBI Director—who is currently investigating him—for something that happened a year ago, you’re right. The timing doesn’t add up and the suspicions have led to bipartisan calls for an independent investigation into Trump’s connections to Russia. Who’s missing from that bipartisan list? Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell. The only way to get the truth about Trump’s ties to Russia is to appoint a special prosecutor.
ACTION OF THE DAY
Demand a special prosecutor. Before Trump appoints a new FBI Director, a special prosecutor must be appointed to lead an independent investigation into Trump’s Russia. That is the only way to ensure we get to the bottom of Trump’s ties to Russia. Here’s how you can plug in:
- Call your member of Congress and demand they support a special prosecutor to investigation Trump’s Russia connections.
- Find a town hall near you at ResistanceNearMe.org and ask your representative in person whether he or she supports appointing a special prosecutor.
WHAT’S TRENDING
All the President’s Men. Following the announcement that the Trump administration would continue to depart with transparency and not release visitors logs, POLITICO has taken up the Herculean task of building an unauthorized guest tracker. The biggest revelation so far: the 1200 plus folks with access to Trump are overwhelmingly white, male, rich and Republican.
Surprises. As the Sen. Cruz-led, all-male Senate working group grapples with the next phase of trying to repeal Obamacare, a new poll shows that Americans still don’t like Trumpcare. Only 31 percent support the bill (less than those that support the ACA) and at least 39 percent think it will be worse than the Affordable Care Act.
Haiti. 55,000 Haitian immigrants currently living in the United States could face deportation. The Trump Administration has only a few weeks to decide whether to extend the Temporary Protected Status program to the 55,000 Haitians living in the U.S. Haiti, which is still recovering from a series of devastating natural disasters, is not prepared to take in these immigrants should the Trump Administration let the program expire.
Flimsy attacks. The Trump Administration seems to be a fan of them. Key to its assault on immigrants and refugees is the administration’s efforts to undermine so-called “sanctuary jurisdictions” and force state and local jurisdictions to be an arm of the federal government’s enforcement efforts. The Administration’s latest efforts to defund sanctuary cities is on hold for now but isn’t dead yet. Read this for more on Trump’s flimsy case against sanctuary jurisdictions.
UNDER THE RADAR
Deportation force. “Despite the fact that some of Trump’s immigration executive orders are on hold in the courts, the administration’s (check spelling in original) assault on immigrants is still affecting people across the country. Yesterday, California resident Gurmukh Singh was detained by ICE agents after a routine check-in with their office.
GOOD NEWS
Win for the environment. Yes, you read that right. Just a few hours ago, the Senate narrowly voted down a bill to repeal an Obama-era rule that established standards for methane emission waste from drilling on public lands. Three Republicans—Susan Collins, John McCain, and Lindsey Graham—joined with Democrats to vote down this resolution that would have harmed the environment and cost taxpayers $330 million per year. Read more here.