| | | | Donald Trump Jr.'s Russia story just keeps changing | | Donald Trump Jr. is disobeying the first rule of crisis communications: when faced with a really bad story, get it all out as soon as possible.
Rip the Band-Aid off. Lance the boil. Sure, it will hurt at the start. But then the pain will recede. Faced with a glut of information, people usually process it and move on. Our collective short attention span helps.
The eldest son of the President of the United States has done the exact opposite since the weekend -- when the New York Times first reported that he had met with a Russian lawyer named Natalia Veselnitskaya at Trump Tower.
First, Don Jr. said the meeting was primarily about adoptions. He made no mention of the 2016 election.
Then, the Times reported that the meeting had been called because the Russian lawyer was allegedly carrying information considered harmful to Hillary Clinton's campaign. In a statement, Don Jr. said he didn't initially know the name of the woman with whom he was meeting -- but when they did meet, she said she "had information that individuals connected to Russia were funding the Democratic National Committee and supporting Ms. Clinton."
Two days later, Don Jr. released the email exchange he had with Rob Goldstone, a publicist for Emin Agalarov, a Russian musician with whom Trump Jr.'s father had grown friendly when the Miss Universe contest was held in Russia in 2013.
It included this line from Goldstone (italics mine): "This is obviously very high level and sensitive information but is part of Russia and its government's support for Mr. Trump."
Now comes the news that it wasn't just Veselnitskaya, Trump Jr., campaign chairman Paul Manafort, Trump's son-in-law Jared Kushner and Goldstone in the room. As CNN reported Friday afternoon, there were at least eight people in that meeting.
In addition to the five we previously knew about, a Russian-American lobbyist named Rinat Akhmetshin was there (the Associated Press first reported his attendance). There were at least two other people in the room as well -- a translator and a representative of the Agalarov family. (In his emails with Trump Jr., Goldstone says he will be in New York to make the introductions but wouldn't actually sit in on the meeting.)
The story just keeps changing. And changing. And changing.
That doesn't mean Don Jr. did anything illegal. What it does mean is that believing his version of events at any one time is getting harder and harder to do. | | | It wouldn't be Bastille Day without... Daft Punk? That's right, here are some screen grabs of President Donald Trump and French President Emmanuel Macron watching the French army band performing some Daft Punk at the Bastille Day Parade. If these pics aren't enough for your amusement, POLITICO tweeted the full video. | |  | | Photo credit: Saba Hamedy | | Organizers behind the Women's March returned to the streets of DC Friday, this time with a new mission: to protest the National Rifle Association.
The event comes after heightened tension between activists and the NRA. Last month, the NRA released a controversial, one-minute recruitment video, which Women's March organizers believe provokes fear and violence. Women's March co-president Tamika Mallory responded with an open letter claiming the ad is a "direct endorsement of violence" against protesters. The NRA then put out another video, this time also attacking Mallory directly.
Saba went to Fairfax, Virginia this morning, where hundreds braved 90-degree weather to march 18 miles from NRA headquarters to the Department of Justice.
"We haven't taken a position that people shouldn't have guns, we don't want to prohibit folks from exercising their Second Amendment rights," Mallory told Saba. "But the NRA ad puts our First Amendment right in jeopardy, it puts the lives of people who are exercising their right to protest in the middle of danger. We are looking for a change in NRA's behavior and its policies and practices."
For more coverage, see Saba's article here. | | | Former Presidents Bill Clinton and George W. Bush spoke together Thursday afternoon at a public event at the Bush Center. But the best thing to come out of that conversation? This photo tweeted by Angel Ureña, Clinton's press secretary. | | | Even though it's unbearably hot in DC... WINTER IS OFFICIALLY HERE. "Game of Thrones" returns to HBO on Sunday. In honor of the epic show's return, check out the season six soundtrack. | | The Washington Post's Ishaan Tharoor published a fun, timely analysis: "The inescapable politics of 'Game of Thrones.'"
Trump, it can be argued, is also an archetypical member of the Lannister family: weaned on great wealth and driven by the single-minded goal of boosting his family name. Or you could say that his apocalyptic view of the world is similar to the zeal of the cult of the Red God. For Trump, who sees "a mess" in every issue and chaos lurking behind every corner, the night is truly "dark and full of terrors" -- and, incidentally, he seeks to expunge America's enemies with fire.
This image also makes an appearance in the story:
BTW, if you're in DC and don't mind lines, you can sit on the throne yourself at the "Game of Thrones" themed pop-up bar in Shaw. Saba did. | | From CNN's Ryan Struyk
The White House says their blueprint balances the budget by 2027. The Congressional Budget Office says Trump's budget math overestimated economic growth to the tune of $3.4 trillion.
For more, check out the full story here. | |  | | Photo credit: Screengrab/YouTube | | | Jon Stewart on Thursday crashed Jimmy Kimmel's Interview with "Bar Mitzvah Kid," and it was great. We miss ya on our small screens, Jon. | | | TGIF! Have a great weekend, and remember to tell your friends -- and your enemies -- to subscribe. | | | Get the Nightcap, a comprehensive summary of the most important political news, delivered to your inbox daily. | | | | | |
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