curt and frank

A curation of the top news that you need to know about as we navigate through the mess that is the Trump era.

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Trump warns senators against voting to extend 'Obamacare nightmare'

The remarks were a loud appeal to Senate Republicans to follow through their campaign-trail promise to repeal the Affordable Care Act.

According to Donald Trump, “Obamacare is death.”

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Exclusive: Trump ponders Rudy Giuliani for attorney general

Even before last week's blast at Sessions

God help us all.

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‘I Did Not Collude,’ Kushner Says in Prepared Remarks to Senators

Jared Kushner said he was unaware of the agenda of a June 2016 meeting at which Donald Trump Jr. expected to learn damaging information about Hillary Clinton.

In prepared remarks to congressional investigators released by Mr. Kushner’s representatives, Mr. Kushner said he arrived at the meeting late and had been so uninterested in the discussion that he emailed his assistant to ask for her help escaping.

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Scaramucci promises 'dramatic action' to stop WH leaks

"If the leaks don't stop, I’m going to pare down the staff because it's just not right," he said.

"I think it's not fair to the president, it's actually not fair to America or the people in the government. I'm not going to be able to stop the leaks in the intergovernmental agencies and all that other stuff, that's a different ball of wax. But something is going on in the White House that the president does not like and we're going to fix it," Scaramucci continued.

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Former spy chiefs tear into Trump

John Brennan and Jim Clapper trash Trump for his relations with Putin, attacks on intelligence community.

Please enjoy this amazing smackdown of Donald Trump.

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Can the President Be Indicted? A Long-Hidden Legal Memo Says Yes

A document from Kenneth Starr’s investigation into President Bill Clinton rejected the view that sitting presidents are immune from being indicted.

The 56-page memo, locked in the National Archives for nearly two decades and obtained by The New York Times under the Freedom of Information Act, amounts to the most thorough government-commissioned analysis rejecting a generally held view that presidents are immune from prosecution while in office.

Be afraid Donald, be very afraid.

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In tweet storm, Trump decries ‘illegal leaks’ and asserts ‘all agree’ he has complete power to pardon

The president said a Post report of Attorney General Jeff Sessions's discussions with the Russian ambassador was based on leaks that “must stop."

President Trump asserted Saturday morning that he has “complete power to pardon” in an apparent allusion to the ongoing probe into his campaign's contacts with Russian officials. And he lashed out at a new Washington Post report of previously undisclosed alleged contacts, calling the disclosures “illegal leaks” as he continues to try to shift the public focus to what he has said is a partisan attempt to undermine his presidency.

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In revised filing, Kushner reveals dozens of previously undisclosed assets

The revised filings show the vast and varied wealth of the president’s son-in-law and his wife.

Jared Kushner is the worst form filler in the history of the universe.

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Former Trump adviser Flynn consulting again, says brother

PROVIDENCE, R.I. (AP) — Embattled former National Security Adviser Michael Flynn has opened a new consulting firm called Resilient Patriot, LLC that is advising private equity fir

If you’re looking to collude with the Russian’s, Mike Flynn’s new consulting firm is the one for you!

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Scaramucci: Sarah Huckabee Sanders Will Be White House Press Secretary

In his first remarks as White House director of communications, Anthony Scaramucci announced that Sarah Huckabee Sanders will take over as...

The queen of the non-answer.

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Sean Spicer is out as White House press secretary, according to multiple media reports. Spicer resigned Friday morning, after President Trump appointed Anthony Scaramucci, a wealthy New York financier, as his communications director.

(via White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer Has Resigned : NPR)

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Trump especially upset after hearing Mueller would access tax returns: report

President Trump is troubled by the possibility that special counsel Robert Mueller's investigation into possible collusion between the Trump campaign and Russia could expand to include an examination of Trump's and his family's finances.

What it all comes down to is that Donald Trump is probably not worth that much money and he’s worried his “illusion” will come tumbling down.

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Can President Trump pardon himself?

Late Thursday, The Washington Post reported that President Donald Trump is seeking to understand his pardon power, a development that seems directly linked to the ongoing special counsel investigation into Russian meddling in the 2016 election and possible collusion between the Trump campaign and the foreign power.

Maybe? No? Yes?

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Trump team seeks to control, block Mueller’s Russia investigation

President’s legal team is looking to build a case against what they say is the special counsel’s conflicts of interest.

Some of President Trump’s lawyers are exploring ways to limit or undercut special counsel Robert S. Mueller III’s Russia investigation, building a case against what they allege are his conflicts of interest and discussing the president’s authority to grant pardons, according to people familiar with the effort.

Trump has asked his advisers about his power to pardon aides, family members and even himself in connection with the probe, according to one of those people. A second person said Trump’s lawyers have been discussing the president’s pardoning powers among themselves.

[micdotcom]

Trump’s six-month approval rating hits record low for any president in last 70 years, poll shows

As concern over collusion with Russian officials reaches a fever pitch, President Donald Trump scored the lowest approval rating for his first six months in office of any U.S. president in the last 70 years, according to an ABC News/Washington Post poll made public Sunday.

The poll shows that only 36% of Americans polled approve of the beginning of Trump’s tenure as president of the United States. On the other hand, 58% of Americans polled disapprove of Trump’s presidency so far — the highest disapproval rating of any president’s first six months in the last 70 years.

According to the Washington Post, that disapproval rating is even more troubling than it first seems: 48% of Americans polled said they “strongly” disapprove of Trump’s presidency so far. Read more. (7/16/2017 10:30 AM)

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Speaker Paul Ryan (R-Wis.) ripped the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office (CBO) on Thursday, arguing the estimate that 22 million more people would be left uninsured over the next decade by a plan to repeal and replace ObamaCare is a "bogus" number.

(via Ryan: CBO's healthcare estimate is 'bogus' | TheHill)

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Special Counsel Robert Mueller is looking into possible money laundering by President Trump's former campaign manager Paul Manafort as part of his investigation into Russia's interference in the 2016 election, The Wall Street Journal reported Thursday.

(via Special counsel looking into possible money laundering by Manafort: report | TheHill)