Something fishy is going on between President Trump’s inner circle and the Russian government. The Trump team has denied contacts with Russian officials at least 20 times. But it seems like every day new reports roll in detailing regular meetings between a growing list of senior Trump campaign officials—Jared Kushner and Jeff Sessions are the latest additions—and senior Russian officials. Why do these meetings and cover-ups matter so much? Because, among other reasons, the Trump campaign benefited from Russian interference and hacking in the 2016 presidential election and evidence of these meetings shows the Trump camp may have known about Russia’s meddling all along.
Yesterday, after lying about his contacts with Russian Ambassador Kislyak during his confirmation hearing, Attorney General Sessions recused himself from all further investigations of the Trump campaign and Russia. Recusing himself is literally the least Sessions could do and it’s not enough. We need a truly independent special counsel and an independent 9/11-style commission to get to the bottom of the Trump-Russia connections. Watch this video and contact your member of Congress to demand an independent commission:
WHAT’S TRENDING
EMAILS. Turns out Vice President Mike Pence used a private email server—an AOL server at that—to conduct state business while he was governor of Indiana. He was also hacked last summer. But for ~some reason~ Congressional Republicans don’t seem to care about this email server.
Basement bill. Yesterday, members of both parties went on a hunt for a draft Republican bill to replace the Affordable Care Act. Late last night the draft bill was leaked. The news? This version is still bad. With deep cuts to Medicaid and much lower tax credits than the ACA, the leaked basement bill would still cause millions of people to lose their coverage. This would increase costs for those enrolled in the ACA by more than $1,300. See the full analysis here.
Back to school. Trump is making the first school visit of his administration today. He’s going to a private religious school, which is sending a clear message to the 90 percent of American students who attend public schools. Trump’s education plan is to send tax dollars to private schools through a voucher program. The problem is, this voucher program would provide about $1,800 per low-income student but the average private school tuition is $11,000 a year. That means families would still be stuck with a hefty bill. What’s more, Trump’s plan would ignore the real challenges facing rural and suburban areas or 85 percent of the more than 13,000 school districts according to a new analysis.
UNDER THE RADAR
#FreeDany. Daniela Vargas, the DACA recipient who was detained shortly after speaking at a rally is set to be deported without a hearing. Vargas has been living in the U.S. since she was 7-years-old. Trump has claimed time and time again that he is keeping “dangerous people” out of our country. But the truth is, it is people like Dany who are being impacted by his extreme policies. Sign this petition to #FreeDany.
TRANSITION TRACKER
Rick Perry. The former governor of Texas is waltzing (or cha-chaing) into his new job as Secretary of the Department of Energy today. Perry’s qualifications include forgetting that the Department of Energy exists; being a big friend to the oil, gas, and nuclear waste industries; and denying climate change. Perry at the helm of the Department of Energy puts science and scientists at risk.
ACTION OF THE DAY
Resistance Near Me. Still angry about Trump’s joint address? Outraged about Sessions and Russia? We hear you. Channel your frustration by finding a #Resist action near you! Check out our new tool ResistanceNearMe.org to find public events, rallies, town halls, and protest in your state as well as the info you need to contact your member of Congress.
Show you’re part of the resistance. Help support important tools like ResistanceNearMe with a donation to CAP Action. For every $20 you donate, we’ll send you a Resist car magnet.
GOOD NEWS
No lies. On his 41st day as President, Trump went a full 24 hours without making a single false claim (publicly at least). He was probably still riding high of the 51 lies he told in his 61-minute joint address the night before…