monitoring Trump and relevant contemporary events

The Washington Post contacted all 26 members of the 2016 Senate Armed Services Committee to see whether any lawmakers besides Sessions met with Kislyak in 2016. Of the 20 lawmakers who responded, every senator, including Chairman John McCain (R-Ariz.), said they did not meet with the Russian ambassador last year. The other lawmakers on the panel did not respond as of Wednesday evening.

The demoshit party is now widely perceived as a rogue political entity and a criminal enterprise.

In Nathaniel Grigsby’s world, therefore, the Democratic Party was an entity he associated with the traitorous secession and rebellion of the Confederate states, with the start of a civil war (in which he took part), with the loss of his son and other friends, and with the death of a man who was not just a U.S. president but also a dear childhood friend and relative.

White House eyes plan to cut EPA staff by one-fifth, eliminating key programs

On Wednesday afternoon, Post Opinions digital editor James Downie moderated an email discussion on this topic between Post Opinions media blogger Erik Wemple and New York University journalism professor Jay Rosen.

Jay Rosen: It’s easier for power to act upon the press than it is for the press to get its act together and respond to the designs of power. There are many reasons for this. The press corps is a “herd of independent minds.” Its members think of themselves as highly competitive with one another. The institutions and leaders that might be expected to coordinate any push back — like the White House Correspondents' Association — are weak and not designed to prevail in a power struggle. So I am pessimistic that we will see any collective response, even when the case for it is strong.

For me the strongest case is refusing to cooperate when White House “officials” want to brief the press as a group (which means influence the story) without allowing their names to be used. I see no good reason for allowing this. Do you? When reporters go along with it they are advertising how meek and pliable they are. Here I would introduce a distinction that Talking Points Memo’s Josh Marshall employed a few days ago. “The rules of anonymous sourcing,” he wrote, “need to take into account when the sources are not those who need protection from those with power but rather those with power who want protection from their claims being scrutinized.” Bingo.

Journalists on the White House beat should not be collaborating with people in power who want protection from their claims being scrutinized. Let’s start with boycotting those situations and see what happens.

China has launched a Donald Trump-style attack on foreign media, branding claims that a leading human rights lawyer was tortured by government agents “fake news”.

House Speaker Paul Ryan (R-WI) said in a statement on Wednesday that Srinivas Kuchibhotla, the Indian man killed in a Kansas shooting currently under investigation as a hate crime, was "senselessly murdered."

Trump address Twitter numbers appear to be boosted by 'bots'

Jay Rosen: It’s easier for power to act upon the press than it is for the press to get its act together and respond to the designs of power...The institutions and leaders that might be expected to coordinate any push back — like the White House Correspondents' Association — are weak and not designed to prevail in a power struggle. So I am pessimistic that we will see any collective response, even when the case for it is strong.

In an NPR interview the morning after Mr. Trump’s latest attempt to pivot to something resembling presidential, national security advisor Seb Gorka declined to affirm that Islam is a religion, saying the administration didn’t want to get involved in “theological debates.”

Gorka, of course, has a long history of fringe right-wing views on this and other matters. Max Boot—no liberal himself—once described Gorka as an “anti-Muslim extremist.” Other foreign policy specialists have described him as an Islamophobe. Gorka was a member of the Order of Vitéz, a Nazi-linked Hungarian group, and proudly displayed medals from the group at Trump’s inauguration.

Most relevant, though, despite disavowals of animus toward Islam, Gorka has described it more in terms of a totalitarian ideology than a complex, diverse, global religion. That assessment echoes a common view among right-wing nationalists, including administration figures like former National Security Advisor Michael Flynn and senior political advisor Steve Bannon.

Obamas land $65M joint book deal; largest payment ever for presidential memoir

Former President Barack Obama has inked a $65 million deal for his memoir, a joint agreement that also will include a book written by former first lady Michelle Obama.

Why are Republicans treating their Obamacare repeal plan like classified information, but for Republicans only?Nothing screams confidence in one’s ideas like hiding those ideas in a basement and sharing them only with fellow travelers, but that’s how House GOP leaders intend to begin the rollout of their Affordable Care Act repeal bill.

Yesterday, House Speaker Paul Ryan boasted that his party would follow a deliberate, transparent process to repeal and replace Obamacare. “This is how the legislative process is supposed to be designed,” he told the Today show. “We’re not hatching some bill in a backroom and plopping it on the American people’s front door.” Today, House Republicans made it known that they will release their plan tomorrow and that it will only be made available to House Republicans.