Monday, July 30

á      U.S. diplomats and commanders have made overtures to parties including the Taliban to engage in peace talks in Afghanistan. https://www.nbcnews.com/news/world/impatient-trump-drives-u-s-push-peace-talks-afghanistan-n895636

á      President Donald TrumpÕs Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh was one of three Republican-appointed judges who, in 2012, voted unanimously to set aside an order by the National Labor Relations Board that would have required the Trump Plaza Hotel and Casino in Atlantic City, New Jersey, to bargain with the United Auto Workers. https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2018-07-30/kavanaugh-sided-with-trump-casino-in-2012-to-thwart-union-drive

Tuesday, July 31

á      The Trump administration is considering bypassing Congress to give an additional $100 billion tax break to the richest Americans by decreasing the capital gains tax. NYT: https://www.nytimes.com/2018/07/30/us/politics/trump-tax-cuts-rich.html

á      Facebook executives announced they have identified a campaign to influence the U.S. 2018 midterm elections carried out by dozens of fake Facebook accounts directed at divisive issues in the United States. The social media organization spent the week briefing lawmakers on Capitol Hill. https://www.nytimes.com/2018/07/31/us/politics/facebook-political-campaign-midterms.html?hp&action=click&pgtype=Homepage&clickSource=story-heading&module=first-column-region&region=top-news&WT.nav=top-news

á      White House Chief of Staff John Kelly said he has agreed to TrumpÕs request to stay on in his job through the 2020 election. https://www.wsj.com/articles/john-kelly-has-told-white-house-staff-trump-asked-him-to-stay-in-post-through-2020-1533053182

á      Trump suspended duty-free status for clothing imports from Rwanda over that countryÕs decision to increase tariffs on imports of used clothing and shoes. https://af.reuters.com/article/topNews/idAFKBN1KL254-OZATP

á      Judge Robert Lasnik of U.S. federal district court granted a temporary nationwide injunction against Cody Wilson posting blueprints for 3-D plastic guns on the internet. The next hearing is Aug. 10. https://www.nytimes.com/2018/07/31/us/politics/3d-guns-trump.html

Wednesday, Aug. 1

á      The Washington Post fact checker reported that Trump has made 4,228 false or misleading claims to date. During his first year in office, Trump made 2,140 false or misleading claims; in the past six months, he has nearly doubled that number. https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/fact-checker/wp/2018/08/01/president-trump-has-made-4229-false-or-misleading-claims-in-558-days/?utm_term=.6d1ecdecaf04&wpisrc=nl_politics&wpmm=1

á      Trump attacked the Russian election influence probe, calling on Attorney General Jeff Session to end it. The president wrote, ÒAttorney General Jeff Sessions should stop this Rigged Witch Hunt right now, before it continues to stain our country any further. Bob Mueller is totally conflicted, and his 17 Angry Democrats that are doing his dirty work are a disgrace to USA!Ó https://www.nytimes.com/2018/07/26/us/politics/trump-tweets-mueller-obstruction.html

á      The Treasury Department announced it is imposing sanctions on TurkeyÕs Minister of Justice Abdulhamit Gul and Minister of Interior Suleyman Soylu over the continued detention of American pastor Andrew Brunson. https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/treasury-department-imposes-sanctions-on-two-turkish-officials-over-detention-of-american-pastor/2018/08/01/f7705876-95b2-11e8-a679-b09212fb69c2_story.html?utm_term=.20252b822043

á      The Trump administration issued new rules to encourage more people to buy inexpensive health insurance plans originally designed for short-term use and banned by the Affordable Care Act. https://www.washingtonpost.com/national/health-science/trump-administration-widens-availability-of-skimpy-short-term-health-plans/2018/07/31/a5cf2bc2-94d2-11e8-810c-5fa705927d54_story.html?utm_term=.61a1867caddc&wpisrc=al_news__alert-hse--alert-national&wpmk=1

Thursday, Aug. 2

á      The Trump Administration proposed new rules that would significantly reduce the mileage requirements for cars, increasing pollution, and setting up a fight with states that have imposed higher mileage standards and stronger anti-pollutions rules, especially California. https://www.nytimes.com/2018/08/02/climate/trump-auto-emissions-california.html?emc=edit_ca_20180803&nl=california-today&nlid=2958587920180803&te=1

á      The U.S.-led coalition fighting the Islamic State for the past four years is closing in on the last pocket of more than 1,000 militants in eastern Syria and is expecting the battle to be a tough one. https://foreignpolicy.com/2018/08/01/u-s-led-coalition-set-to-launch-final-fight-against-isis-in-syria/?platform=hootsuite

Friday, Aug. 3

á      The Labor Department reported that unemployment for the lowest-skilled workers, those without a high school diploma fell to its lowest point in July, 5.1 percent, the lowest since the U.S. government began keeping unemployment statistics in 1992. https://www.nytimes.com/2018/08/03/business/economy/july-jobs-report-2018.html?hp&action=click&pgtype=Homepage&clickSource=story-heading&module=first-column-region&region=top-news&WT.nav=top-news

á      Cynthia Laporta, tax accountant for TrumpÕs former campaign manager, Paul Manafort, , testified in his fraud trial that she had agreed to alter tax and bank documents to help Manafort with his financial troubles in late 2015 and 2016, even though she believed key financial records were false. https://www.nytimes.com/2018/08/03/us/politics/paul-manafort-fraud-trial.html?emc=edit_nn_20180805&nl=morning-briefing&nlid=8162136620180805&te=1

á      Judge John Bates ruled that the Trump administration had failed to justify its termination of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program, and that the program must be restored. http://thehill.com/homenews/administration/400332-federal-judge-says-trump-must-fully-restore-daca?userid=280231

á      China announced Friday it will hit about $60 billion worth of U.S. exports with new tariffs of between 5 and 25 percent targeting more than 5,200 individual types of U.S. exports to China. https://www.politico.com/story/2018/08/03/china-will-retaliate-with-tariffs-760862?nname=playbook-pm&nid=0000015a-dd3e-d536-a37b-dd7fd8af0000&nrid=00000158-890d-dfd4-ad7b-c96fadf30001&nlid=964328

á      U.S. District Court Judge Dana Sabrow ruled that the government has the Òsole burden and responsibilityÓ to locate hundreds of deported and released migrant parents separated from their children at the border. https://www.politico.com/story/2018/08/03/judge-trump-administration-locate-parents-separated-children-723070?nname=playbook&nid=0000014f-1646-d88f-a1cf-5f46b7bd0000&nrid=00000158-890d-dfd4-ad7b-c96fadf30001&nlid=630318

á      Maine Secretary of State Matthew Dunlap, one of 11 members of a commission formed by Trump to investigate supposed voter fraud, issued a scathing rebuke of the disbanded panel on Friday, saying that after examining over 8,000 documents, he concluded the panel had been set up to try to validate TrumpÕs baseless claims about fraudulent votes in the 2016 election. https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/politics/wp/2018/08/03/the-most-bizarre-thing-ive-ever-been-a-part-of-trump-panel-found-no-voter-fraud-ex-member-says/?utm_term=.7d28f36fab95&wpisrc=nl_most&wpmm=1

Saturday, Aug. 4

á      No news to report.

Sunday, Aug. 5

á      President Trump said the now infamous meeting at Trump Tower between his top campaign officials and Russians offering information on Hilary Clinton Òwas a meeting to get information on an opponent, totally legal and done all the time in politics,Ó contradicting an earlier statement Trump dictated on behalf of his son. https://www.cnn.com/2018/08/05/politics/trump-tweet-trump-tower-meeting/index.html