With Anthony Brooks
Another twist in the Stormy Daniels’ payment saga. Mueller’s questions for Trump. Cambridge Analytica to file for bankruptcy. The roundtable digs in.
Guests:
Kimberly Atkins, Washington bureau chief and columnist for the Boston Herald and attorney. (@KimberlyEAtkins)
Aaron Blake, senior political reporter for The Washington Post. (@AaronBlake)
Jack Beatty, On Point news analyst.
From The Reading List:
The Washington Post: “Analysis: What’s the next shoe to drop in the Stormy Daniels case? Rudy Giuliani drops some hints.” — “President Trump and Michael Cohen have been forced into admissions about the Stormy Daniels situation that they clearly didn’t want to make. First, Cohen denied the affair between Trump and Daniels but conspicuously didn’t address the payment. Then he admitted to the payment but conspicuously didn’t address Trump’s involvement. Then Trump said Cohen was acting as his attorney but conspicuously didn’t address whether he had reimbursed Cohen via a slush fund. Now it turns out that there was something of a slush fund, in the form of Cohen’s retainer.”
The New York Times: “Mueller Has Dozens of Inquiries for Trump in Broad Quest on Russia Ties and Obstruction” — “The open-ended queries appear to be an attempt to penetrate the president’s thinking, to get at the motivation behind some of his most combative Twitter posts and to examine his relationships with his family and his closest advisers. They deal chiefly with the president’s high-profile firings of the F.B.I. director and his first national security adviser, his treatment of Attorney General Jeff Sessions and a 2016 Trump Tower meeting between campaign officials and Russians offering dirt on Hillary Clinton.”
WIRED: “Cambridge Analytica Shuts Down All Offices Amid Ongoing Facebook Crisis” — “The decision to close the company’s doors internationally was announced to employees during a global town hall meeting, held in the firm’s New York City offices Wednesday. The company’s reportedly recently appointed CEO Julian Wheatland told staffers the company had evaluated all options and no longer saw a way forward. One source says that New York employees were told to pack up and leave immediately, with few details about how they’ll be compensated going forward. The feeling in the room was ‘just shock,’ says the source. ‘There was indication the company was in trouble and change would be coming, but we didn’t see this as the resolution.'”
This week – new revelations about hush money paid by President Trump’s lawyer to a porn star; another White House explanation about why Trump fired former FBI director James Comey. And more presidential tweets at odds with the facts. Also, there were Mueller’s questions; North Korea’s offer to give up its nukes, and more signs of a growing generational split in the Democratic Party.
This hour, On Point – our news round table dives in.
– Anthony Brooks
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