General
El Paso suspect’s mother called police concerned about gun
Scott Glover and Majlie de Puy Kamp, CNN
The El Paso shooting suspect’s mother called the Allen, Texas, Police Department weeks before the shooting because she was concerned about her son owning an “AK” type firearm, lawyers for the family confirmed to CNN. The mother contacted police because she was worried about her son owning the weapon given his age, maturity level and lack of experience handling such a firearm, attorneys Chris Ayres and R. Jack Ayres said
To Slow Global Warming, U.N. Warns Agriculture Must Change
Rebecca Hersher and Allison Aubrey, NPR News
Humans must drastically alter food production in order to prevent the most catastrophic effects of global warming, according to a new report from the United Nations panel on climate change. The panel of scientists looked at the climate change effects of agriculture, forestry and other land use, such as harvesting peat and managing grasslands and wetlands.
Billionaire owner of SoulCycle, Miami Dolphins faces backlash over Trump fundraiser
Michelle Ye Hee Lee, The Washington Post
News of an upcoming fundraiser for President Trump at the swanky Hamptons home of billionaire Stephen Ross drew swift backlash Wednesday from prominent customers of Ross’s luxury fitness brands and a player for the Miami Dolphins, the National Football League franchise Ross owns. Some high-profile LGBTQ activists and celebrities took to social media to call for a boycott of Equinox Fitness clubs and SoulCycle over the fundraiser, which was organized to support Trump’s reelection and comes with a price tag as high as $250,000 for an audience with the president.
China Signals It Will Continue to Weaken Its Currency as Trade War Rages
Alexandra Stevenson, The New York Times
China signaled on Thursday that it might continue to weaken its currency, a move that threatens to again escalate the trade war with the United States. China’s central bank on Thursday set the midpoint of the renminbi’s daily trading range above 7 to the American dollar for the first time in more than a decade.
A Secret US Government List Targeting Journalists And Activists Is Under More Expansive Investigation
Adolfo Flores, BuzzFeed News
The US government’s creation of a database that resulted in reporters, attorneys, and advocates being questioned at the border is under a more expansive investigation than previously reported. An investigation into whether immigration officials had violated policies when they created the list was announced by Customs and Border Protection in March.
White House & Administration
Mayor Whaley ‘confused’ by Trump’s tweet of how she described his visit to Dayton
Thomas Gnau, Dayton Daily News
President Donald Trump left Dayton saying Mayor Nan Whaley and Sen. Sherrod Brown “misrepresented” what happened when Trump visited with shooting survivors and first responders Wednesday at Miami Valley Hospital. Trump tweeted at about 3:50 p.m.: “Just left Dayton, Ohio, where I met with the Victims & families, Law Enforcement, Medical Staff & First Responders.”
Report Cites Trump Policy Decisions in Signs of Islamic State Comeback
Michael R. Gordon, The Wall Street Journal
Islamic State militants are strengthening their capability to carry out insurgent attacks in Iraq and Syria, according to a new report to Congress by the Pentagon’s Office of Inspector General that in part links Trump administration policy decisions to signs of a resurgence. The extremist group’s determination to make a comeback and the difficulties encountered by U.S.- backed Iraqi and Syrian forces in holding ground in remote areas have provided a fresh opening for the militants, the report states.
U.S. Moves to Ban Huawei From Government Contracts
Steve Lohr, The New York Times
The Trump administration on Wednesday took a tactical step in its trade confrontation with China, by releasing a rule that restricts government agencies from doing business with Huawei, the giant Chinese maker of telecommunications equipment and smartphones. The prohibition was mandated by Congress as part of a broader defense bill signed into law year.
White House drafting executive order to tackle Silicon Valley’s alleged anti-conservative bias
Margaret Harding McGill and Daniel Lippman, Politico
The White House is circulating drafts of a proposed executive order that would address allegations of anti-conservative bias by social media companies, according to a White House official and two other people familiar with the matter — a month after President Donald Trump pledged to explore “all regulatory and legislative solutions” on the issue. None of the three would describe the contents of the order, which one person cautioned has already taken many different forms and remains in flux.
White House rebuffed attempts by DHS to make combating domestic terrorism a higher priority
Jake Tapper, CNN
White House officials rebuffed efforts by their colleagues at the Department of Homeland Security for more than a year to make combating domestic terror threats, such as those from white supremacists, a greater priority as specifically spelled out in the National Counterterrorism Strategy, current and former senior administration officials as well as other sources close to the Trump administration tell CNN. “Homeland Security officials battled the White House for more than a year to get them to focus more on domestic terrorism,” one senior source close to the Trump administration tells CNN.
A Divisive Voice Once Again Has Trump’s Ear
Maggie Haberman, The New York Times
As President Trump doubles down on a re-election approach of stoking fear of immigrants, he is once again elevating a voice of validation — and many say racism — that he discovered during his last presidential campaign. That voice is Katie Hopkins, a far-right British commentator who has made denunciations of migrants and Muslims — and defenses of Mr. Trump — a staple of her public discourse.
The Trump Appointee Who’s Putting White Supremacists in Jail
Harry Jaffe, The Washington Post
On June 28, in the main courtroom of Charlottesville’s federal courthouse, U.S. Attorney Thomas T. Cullen rose to his feet. It had been nearly two years since white supremacists brawled with counterprotesters at a violence-filled rally nearby; now, standing still and stoic, the tall, lean Cullen addressed the court regarding the sentencing of James Fields Jr.
Senate
Mayors push Senate to return to Washington for gun bill vote
Matthew Daly and Lisa Mascaro, The Associated Press
More than 200 mayors, including two anguished by mass shootings in Texas and Ohio, are urging the Senate to return to the Capitol to act on gun safety legislation amid criticism that Congress is failing to respond to back-to-back shootings that left 31 people dead. In a letter Thursday to Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell and the Democratic leader, Chuck Schumer, the mayors wrote, “Our nation can no longer wait for our federal government to take the actions necessary to prevent people who should not have access to firearms from being able to purchase them.”
Harry Reid to Dems: Kill the Filibuster to Tackle the Climate Crisis
Sam Stein, The Daily Beast
As the Democratic Party debates what to prioritize should it take power following the 2020 elections, former Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) offered his fellow members a stern directive and an ambitious proposal. Tackle climate change legislation first, Reid said.
House
Democrats Are Resurfacing a Gun Control Bill That Contains an Anti-Immigrant Amendment
Aida Chávez, The Intercept
This weekend, there were back-to-back mass shootings in El Paso, Texas, and Dayton, Ohio. The accused shooter in El Paso, who appears to have published an anti-immigrant manifesto on 8chan declaring the attack a response to a “Hispanic invasion,” killed at least 22 people and injured dozens more at a Walmart in what seems to be the worst anti-Latino attack in the country’s history.
Cummings says he’d like to invite Trump to Baltimore but can’t reach him
Lindsey McPherson, Roll Call
Maryland Rep. Elijah E. Cummings said Wednesday that he’d like President Donald Trump, who recently attacked him and his hometown of Baltimore, to visit his district, but he’s been unable to reach Trump to personally invite him. “Ah God, I want him to come,” the Democratic congressman said at a Wednesday luncheon at the National Press Club, as he addressed Trump’s recent tweetstorm disparaging Baltimore.
Ayanna Pressley Is the Squad’s Free Agent
Joanna Weiss, Politico
It was only a week after the presidential tweet that made The Squad famous—telling the four freshman representatives, all women of color, to “go back” to the places “from which they came”—and Massachusetts Rep. Ayanna Pressley had broken from the group in an actual vote. The matter in question was a resolution opposing a Palestinian-led movement to boycott Israel.
2020
Biden, Booker attack Trump with scathing words — and different messages
Cleve R. Wootson Jr. and Matt Viser, The Washington Post
Joe Biden and Cory Booker took on President Trump, racial division and white supremacy in a pair of unusually impassioned speeches Wednesday, though their contrasting approaches reflected differences among Democrats on the path forward as the nation reels from the weekend’s mass shootings. Biden largely focused on Trump, suggesting that the president’s removal was the crucial step in restoring the country.
Elizabeth Warren and Beto O’Rourke: Trump is a white supremacist
Mike Allen and Rebecca Falconer, Axios
Elizabeth Warren and Beto O’Rourke both called President Trump a “white supremacist,” an extraordinary charge at an extraordinary moment in American politics. Why it matters … This is a big shift from calling the president a white nationalist.
Steve Bullock: Trump reelection ‘more likely with each passing minute’
Rishika Dugyala, Politico
As Montana Gov. Steve Bullock stood on the debate stage last week and listened to his 2020 rivals bicker and criticize one another, visions of a second term for President Donald Trump kept flashing through his mind. “I saw his reelection becoming more likely with each passing minute,” Bullock said Wednesday at the National Press Club.
McConnell’s campaign locked out by Twitter for posting critic’s profanity-laced video
Ben Tobin and Phillip M. Bailey, Louisville Courier Journal
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell’s campaign has been thrown in Twitter jail. After sharing a video of a profanity-laced protest outside of the Kentucky Republican’s home in Louisville, the campaign Twitter account, Team Mitch, has been locked out.
States
Texas governor says ‘no red flags’ in El Paso suspect’s past
Morgan Lee and Paul J. Weber, The Associated Press
Gov. Greg Abbott said Wednesday he’s not aware of any “red flags” in the suspected El Paso gunman’s past and made no mention of taking major gun-control measures in Texas, where three mass shootings since 2017 have killed more than 50 people. Abbott, a Republican, said racism needs to be confronted and a crackdown initiated on internet sites used by violent extremists after the weekend attack that left 22 people dead in the mostly Latino border city.
Florida governor orders criminal investigation of Jeffrey Epstein’s 2008 plea deal
Alex Johnson, NBC News
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis ordered a state criminal investigation on Tuesday into the plea agreement that allowed Jeffrey Epstein to skirt federal prosecution for soliciting prostitution from underage girls in 2007. The arrangement, under which Epstein was allowed to serve most of his 13-month state sentence on work release without fear of federal charges, has already cost Alex Acosta his job as U.S. labor secretary.
Advocacy
NRA Donor Files Suit Over CEO’s Expenses
Mark Maremont, The Wall Street Journal
A donor to the National Rifle Association filed a lawsuit against the gun-rights group, seeking class-action status, and claiming the group’s funding solicitations were “intentionally and materially false” because the NRA spent donated funds on executive perks, large legal fees, and other expenses unrelated to the group’s core mission. In the suit, filed in U.S. District Court in Nashville, Tenn., plaintiff David Dell’Aquila is seeking damages on behalf of all donors since Jan. 1, 2015, to the NRA and its related charity, the NRA Foundation.
U.S. Soccer hires lobbyists to argue women’s national team isn’t underpaid
Theodoric Meyer, Politico
The U.S. Soccer Federation has hired two Washington lobbying firms to push back against claims that it pays the women’s national team less than half of what it pays the men’s team. The women’s team was celebrated as feminist icons for winning the World Cup last month, even as it battled U.S. Soccer over what the players say is unfair pay.
Jim Mattis rejoining General Dynamics board of directors
Jacqueline Feldscher, Politico
Former Defense Secretary Jim Mattis is rejoining the General Dynamics board of directors, the contractor announced Wednesday, the latest in the retired Marine general’s moves to re-enter the world he left when he became the head of the Pentagon more than two years ago. The board voted to approve Mattis, who resigned as defense secretary in December, to join the board effective immediately.
Opinions, Editorials and Perspectives
Rep. Castro Targets His Constituents
Steve Scalise, The Wall Street Journal
Rep. Joaquin Castro on Monday tweeted a list of his San Antonio constituents who’ve contributed the maximum legal amount to President Trump’s re-election campaign. The list, composed entirely of private citizens, described their occupations or employers.
This Week Has Already Produced Three Bad Signs for Trump’s Reelection
Joshua Green, Bloomberg
President Trump touches down in El Paso, Texas, today amid a national furor over racist gun massacres, a plummeting stock market, and growing signs that his trade war with China will fail to produce the historic deal he promised during his 2016 presidential campaign. Each of these three developments hurts his standing with a key voter group he’s counting on to win a second term.
No, Mr. President. Hate is not a mental illness.
Pete Earley, The Washington Post
“Mental illness and hatred pull the trigger, not the gun,” President Trump announced when he condemned shootings in El Paso and Dayton, Ohio, which together left at least 31 people dead and dozens wounded. Mr. President, what you said about hatred rings true.
Research Reports and Polling
Texting For Political Campaigns Report: A comprehensive look at a new channel
Tech for Campaigns
For decades, campaigns have shuffled eager volunteers towards rows of phones to make calls to potential voters — to raise awareness, make their case, and turn people out to vote. Now, though, amid a mountain of robocalls, telephone pickup rates are in the gutter and campaigns are scrambling to replace this channel.
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