President Trump hosted Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein, FBI Director Chris Wray, Director of National Intelligence Dan Coats, and White House Chief of Staff John Kelly on Monday for a meeting about Special Counsel Robert Mueller's investigation of Russian collusion and the Trump campaign. Specifically, the group discussed the demand by Trump allies in the House for highly classified documents tied to Mueller's investigation and Trump's demands that the Justice Department investigate the president's unsubstantiated suggestion there was improper political spying on his campaign. Everybody walked away with something, but it isn't clear what exactly anyone got.
White House Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders said the group agreed that "Kelly will immediately set up a meeting with the FBI, DOJ, and DNI together with congressional leaders to review highly classified and other information they have requested," probably by the end of the week.
"It was not clear after Monday's meeting how much of that information will now be shared with lawmakers and in what form, or who it will be shared with and in what venue," The New York Times notes. The FBI and CIA had "strenuously resisted" the request by House Republicans to see the documents about a covert intelligence source who met with members of the Trump campaign, warning it could cost lives and burn allies. It is already significant that "the president effectively requested, and apparently received, a review of the investigation into his campaign," The Washington Post adds, though the Kelly-brokered meeting could either be "a concession from the Justice Department" or "a bureaucratic maneuver to buy time and shield actual documents."
Trump's personal lawyer "Rudy Giuliani made it clear today that he wants these documents for the Trump legal defense team," Rep. Adam Schiff (D-Calif.) said Monday. "That is not appropriate, and I have a concern about anyone from the White House being present for review of these sensitive documents," including Kelly. Peter Weber
Former Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty lost the Republican gubernatorial primary Tuesday night to underdog Jeff Johnson, the Hennepin County commissioner.
Pawlenty served two terms as governor, winning elections in 2002 and 2006, and after he left office he went to work as a lobbyist for banks. Pawlenty entered the race late and did not go to the state party convention in June, but he still raised a lot of money. With 94 percent of precincts reporting, Johnson had 53 percent of the vote to Pawlenty's 44 percent.
On Tuesday night, Johnson said he believes his win is "just further indication that the rules have changed, not just in Minnesota, not just in our party. People are expecting something different from candidates." He will face the winner of the Democratic primary, Rep. Tim Walz, in November. Catherine Garcia
"America is still reeling from the troubling reminders that Omarosa is still out there," Stephen Colbert said on Tuesday's Late Show. He compared Omarosa Manigualt Newman's brand-new book, Unhinged, to "day-old sushi," then turned to her most salacious claim, that she has heard President Trump say the N-word on Celebrity Apprentice outtakes. "If this shocking allegation is true, it would undeniably make some of his fans very happy," Colbert said. "Others would go, 'Eh, I don't like that he's a racist, but you know, taxes.'"
Trump is fighting back on Twitter, denying such a tape exists and calling Omarosa a "dog." "That is so weird that Trump uses 'dog' as an insult," Colbert said. "He should love dogs — you don't have to pay to watch them pee." Still, "that's it, the president categorically denies saying the N-word," he added, and White House Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders ... was more equivocal.
"Omarosa continued her Trumpapalooza world tour this afternoon," Colbert said, and he wasn't super sympathetic about her whistle-blowing: "Be careful, Omarosa, you wouldn't want to damage your relationship with the president — he might not hire you four more times." But she did actually drop a bombshell, claiming Trump had advance notice about the leaked Hillary Clinton campaign emails. "That is a massive revelation!" he said. "The emails that Russia hacked, that WikiLeaks leaked, Donald Trump somehow knew before they were actually released. Somewhere in Washington, Robert Mueller is yelling, 'Uh, spoiler alert! Come on!' But Omarosa didn't just accuse the president of being a traitor to his country — she also accused him of being a bad friend," tarring allies with mean nicknames behind their backs. Colbert cut deep: "Yes, he had derogatory names for everybody. Some of them are really cruel. I hear he called this one guy 'Donald Trump Jr.'" Watch below. Peter Weber
Ironworker Randy Bryce won Wisconsin's 1st congressional district Democratic primary on Tuesday night, beating Janesville School Board member Cathy Myers.
House Speaker Paul Ryan (R) has represented the district since 1998, and Democrats are hoping that this is their year to flip the seat blue. Bryce will take on Bryan Steil, the winner of the Republican primary, in November. Steil is a lawyer and former Ryan staffer who comes from a prominent Janesville Republican family, the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reports.
Ryan announced in April that he would not be seeking re-election, and four other Republicans ran against Steil in the primary, including Paul Nehlen, known for making racist and anti-Semitic statements. Catherine Garcia
"You are one of the few people who I would say has managed to out-Trump Trump," Trevor Noah told Omarosa Manigault Newman on Tuesday's Daily Show. She laughed. Noah asked why she wrote her White House tell-all, Unhinged, and why she stayed in the White House despite believing President Trump to be a lying racist. "I thought that he could actually rise to the occasion of being presidential, and boy was I wrong," Manigault Newman said.
Noah asked about the recordings. Manigault Newman said she secretly recorded her colleagues to "blow the whistle on a lot of the corruption going on in the White House," and she knew nobody would believe her without tapes. Noah agreed, telling her he wouldn't have believed her. "I've also noticed that you are not releasing all the recordings at once — like, you're releasing all the singles, and we're waiting for the album," Noah said. "Is there a strategy behind this?" She said not really. "I'm not trolling them," she said. "I just want them to know that everything you see in Unhinged that's quoted can be verified, is documented and corroborated."
Noah asked Manigault Newman if she was scared for her safety. "Trevor, I would say this," she said: "If you see me in a fight with a bear, pray for the bear." Finally, Noah asked her, as someone who has known Trump for 15 years, what would she suggest for anyone going up against Trump? "There's one way to shut Donald Trump down," she said, "and that is to just don't give him the oxygen — and the oxygen comes from the clicks, like 'likes,' the shock, the discussion. ... If you ignore him, then you starve him of the thing that he loves the most, and that is controversy and attention."
Before the interview, Noah told his audience why he thinks maybe Omarosa is a better Trump than Trump himself. Watch below. Peter Weber
Rep. Keith Ellison won the Democratic primary for Minnesota attorney general on Tuesday night.
Just a few days ago, the son of the six-term congressman's former girlfriend posted a message on Facebook saying he saw video of Ellison dragging his mother, Karen Monahan, by her feet, while he yelled and cursed at her. On Sunday, Ellison said his relationship with Monahan ended in 2016, and he still cares "deeply for her well-being. This video does not exist because I never behaved in this way, and any characterization otherwise is false."
The Democratic National Committee told NPR it is reviewing the allegations against Ellison, the DNC's deputy chairman. Catherine Garcia
Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker (R) easily defeated his opponent Robert Meyer in the Republican primary on Tuesday night.
With 59.2 percent of precincts reporting, Walker has 93.1 percent of the vote, with Meyer coming in a very distant second with 6.9 percent. Walker is seeking a third term in office, and will face off in November's general election against the winner of the Democratic primary, Tony Evers.
Evers is the state's schools chief, and ran against seven other Democrats in the primary. Walker has been vocal about Democrats being able to win in November if Republicans don't prepare to fight, and he plans on starting a tour of the state on Wednesday. Catherine Garcia
Christine Hallquist, a former electric company executive, defeated three other candidates to win Vermont's Democratic primary in the race for governor.
With her victory on Tuesday night, Hallquist becomes the first transgender candidate to win a major political party's nomination for governor. In November, she will face Republican Gov. Phil Scott, who also won his party's primary on Tuesday.
Hallquist, 62, considers herself a progressive, and in an interview with CBS News earlier in the day she said that "Vermonters are going to elect me for what I'm going to do for Vermont. Vermont has always been a leader in civil rights. We have some of the best transgender protection laws in the country. It's a state that's really welcomed me with open arms." Catherine Garcia
