Get ready, folks. The 2018 election meddling by Russia has officially begun.
5 Things to Read Today
⚖️ New York Times: Mueller Examining Trump’s Tweets in Wide-Ranging Obstruction Inquiry
“For years, President Trump has used Twitter as his go-to public relations weapon, mounting a barrage of attacks on celebrities and then political rivals even after advisers warned he could be creating legal problems for himself.”
🇷🇺 AP: Emails: Lawyer who met Trump Jr. tied to Russian officials
“The Moscow lawyer said to have promised Donald Trump’s presidential campaign dirt on his Democratic opponent worked more closely with senior Russian government officials than she previously let on, according to documents reviewed by The Associated Press.”
🇷🇺 Daily Beast: Russian Hackers’ New Target: a Vulnerable Democratic Senator
“The Russian intelligence agency behind the 2016 election cyberattacks targeted Sen. Claire McCaskill as she began her 2018 re-election campaign in earnest, a Daily Beast forensic analysis reveals. That makes the Missouri Democrat the first identified target of the Kremlin’s 2018 election interference.”
⚖️ Washington Post: This may be the biggest shoe to drop from the Trump-Michael Cohen tape
“Longtime Trump Organization CFO Allen Weisselberg has been subpoenaed, the Wall Street Journal reports. That should come as little surprise; he was invoked twice in Michael Cohen’s taped conversation with President Trump about buying the rights to former Playboy model Karen McDougal’s story.”
🗳️ NBC News: Scott Walker, other GOP candidates in key Midwest states trail Democratic rivals
“New polls in three key Midwestern states show Republican Senate and gubernatorial candidates trailing their Democratic counterparts in hypothetical matchups — particularly GOP Gov. Scott Walker in Wisconsin, where only a third of voters say he deserves to be re-elected and where he trails his leading Democratic challenger by more than 10 points.”
Notes & Thoughts 