The big story in the news this week has been the trial of Paul Manafort, Trump’s one-time campaign manager. Though Trump says Manafort barely worked with the campaign, Manafort was there for four months, nearly a third of the campaign. Manafort’s associate, Rick Gates, worked with the campaign much longer and through the transition. Rick Gates was testifying in Manafort’s case as I was writing this, and his testimony was pretty juicy. I’ll round that up in next week’s recap.

Here’s what happened in week 80…

Missed from Last Week:

1. I’m not sure how I missed this story from April, but Wisconsin officials admit that their strong voter ID laws gave Republicans a boost in the 2016 elections.
2. Trump criticized China for being a currency manipulator and then criticized the Fed for raising interest rates. The value of the dollar dropped shortly thereafter.

Russia:

1. Paul Manafort’s trial gets off to a fast start, with the jury picked and opening statements delivered all on the first day. Here are the highlights:

• • Accountants and vendors for Manafort testify about his lavish spending and faked invoices, though it’s not clear what those invoices mean.
  • Accountants testify about falsified profit and loss statements for Manafort’s company, that Manafort was broke in 2016, and that he was falsifying his worth and income on bank documents to obtain loans.
  • In addition to bank fraud, accountants testify about alleged tax fraud.
  • Vendors testify that Manafort paid them with wire transfers from an account in Cyprus, a method few, if any, of their other clients used.

2. Trump’s lawyers brief him on the latest developments in the Mueller investigation, which appears to include evidence of obstruction of justice along with testimony that contradicts Trump’s claims around Michael Flynn’s firing.
3. Hours later, Trump tells Jeff Sessions in a tweet to shut down the Mueller investigation. Notably, Trump is in the middle of an investigation where Mueller is looking at his tweets for evidence of obstruction.
4. White House staff say he was just stating his opinion, though staff has previously said we should take Trump’s tweets as his official word.
5. Trump’s story line has evolved from “there was no collusion” to “collusion is not a crime” to “fire Mueller.”
6. The Spanish police give the FBI recordings of their wiretaps on Alexander Torshin. Torshin was one of the Russians present at the meeting with Donald Trump Jr. in Trump Tower before the 2016 elections.
7. Trump tweets that the purpose of the Trump Tower meeting between Trump Jr., campaign staff, and Russian lawyers was to get information on an opponent. This is something they’ve been denying since news of the meeting came out.
8. Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen, who has previously denied Russian meddling in our elections, now says that democracy is “in the cross hairs.” She and several other officials say they’ll defend our elections from Russian threats.
9. We learn that the day after Trump interviewed Mueller for the FBI Director role to replace James Comey, Mueller took the job as special counsel in the Russia probe. The move took both Trump and Jeff Sessions by surprise.
10. A federal judge rules that Andrew Miller, a former aide to Roger Stone, must testify to Mueller’s grand jury.
11. Facebook has already detected political interference campaigns for the midterm elections, and has remove several accounts as a result. While they say the methods are similar to those used by Russia in 2016, they have not definitively linked those accounts to Russia.
12. The Senate Intelligence Committee unanimously approves releasing documents related to Russian agent Maria Butina.
13. Mueller refers three investigations related to Manafort to New York prosecutors. The cases all involve foreign lobbying from Manafort’s work with Ukraine, and include both Democrat and Republican lobbyists.
14. Russia has long tried to use Red Notices (kind of an international arrest warrant) against Russian dissidents. The U.S. typically ignores these notices because Russia is notorious for abusing dissidents, but under Trump, both the DOJ and DHS have been facilitating extraditions based on these notices.

Courts/Justice:

1. The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals rules that Trump’s executive order to punish sanctuary cities by withholding federal funds is unconstitutional. However, they also ruled that the original court went too far in issuing a nationwide block on the order.
2. The Justice Department concedes that Trump was lying when he told Congress that the majority of people convicted of terrorism or terrorist-related activities since 9/11 came from abroad. The DOJ says they have no records to support that.
3. The National Archives can’t deliver all the requested documents related to Brett Kavanaugh until October, but Republicans still think they’ll start confirmation hearings in September. Note that these are the same types of documents requested for Justice Kagan, who (like Kavanaugh) once worked in the White House.
4. Mitch McConnell tells Democrats to back off their document requests on Kavanaugh or he’ll let the confirmation slip until right before the elections, which would interfere with their re-election campaigns.

Healthcare:

1. A Koch-backed study from the Mercatus Center found that while Bernie Sander’s Medicare for All plan would cost the federal government an additional $32 trillion over 10 years, it would also save the U.S. overall $2 trillion in healthcare costs over the same period.
2. The Trump administration continues to kill the ACA with death by a thousand cuts. They issue rules reinstating short-term skimpy insurance policies that don’t cover all the conditions required by the ACA, that can cap how much they pay each year, and that can deny consumers with pre-existing conditions. This is expected to push premiums up for other policy holders.

International:

1. U.S. officials have been quietly talking to the Taliban since November to find ways to bring the 17-year war in Afghanistan to a peaceful end.
2. Spy satellites show increased activity at the factory in North Korea where they produced their first ICBMs (intercontinental ballistic missiles). The country also continues developing nuclear fuel.
3. Mike Pompeo warned Russia not to help North Korea get around the UN sanctions that even Russia voted for.
4. North Korean Foreign Minister Ri Yong says North Korea is still committed to the summit agreement from June, but he also criticizes the White House for maintaining sanctions.
5. The Treasury Department sanctions two Turkish officials over a U.S. pastor who has been detained there since October 2016. The pastor is accused of being a spy and trying to overthrow the government.

Family Separation:

1. After a lawyer tweets about it, there are rumors that a child died in ICE custody. It was later corrected to say the child died after being released, but there is still no verification of this.
2. A U.S. health official testifies that Trump’s administration was warned ahead of time about the harmful and long-term effects on children’s wellbeing caused by separating families at the border. The administration knew the effects. The official’s exact words:
   “Separation of children from their parents entails significant harm to children…. there’s no question that separation of children from parents entails significant potential for traumatic psychological injury to the child,”
3. In an interview, Ivanka calls the family separation at the border a low point in the White House, and says that she is vehemently against it.
4. The Trump administration tries to put the responsibility for finding and reuniting immigrant families on the ACLU and other organizations helping immigrant families. A federal judge isn’t letting them abdicate responsibility though, saying that the government bears the full responsibility to fix this.
5. The same judge calls the administration’s reunification plan disappointing.
6. The judge will also order the administration to appoint a single person to oversee the entire reunification process. He reminds us that every parent who isn’t found means a permanently orphaned child who is 100% the responsibility of Trump’s administration.
7. A judge finds that the Shiloh Treatment Center in Texas violated the laws around detention of minors and orders the transfer of all but the most troubled immigrant children to other facilities. Allegedly, the center was giving children psychotropic drugs.

Travel Ban/Immigration/Discrimination:

1. At a time when Trump has ended Temporary Protected Status for 5,300 Nicaraguans here in the U.S., the UN asks nations to take in the thousands of refugees fleeing Nicaragua after five months of government crackdowns on people protesting changes to their social security system. So tens of thousands are fleeing Nicaragua while Trump is working to deport people who live in the U.S. back to Nicaragua.
2. A federal judge upholds his order to fully restore DACA. He had set a deadline for the administration to argue against his previous ruling, but their arguments apparently don’t satisfy the judge. Again.
3. Jeff Sessions announces a new Religious Liberty Task Force to enforce his 2017 order to interpret religious liberty very broadly when enforcing federal law. For example, that memo states that the IRS can’t threaten an organization’s tax-exempt status even if they actively lobby for a political candidate, a violation of the Johnson Amendment. I wonder how well this will hold up the first time they’re forced to defend a mosque?
4. In the announcement, Sessions says that this is needed in order to fight the growing dangers of secularism (which, by the way, is also protected under freedom of religion).
5. After his speech, Sessions turns the floor over to Catholic Archbishop Joseph Kurtz. Kurtz is known for advocating against same-sex marriage and anti-discrimination laws for the LGBTQ community.
6. Trump is thinking about drastically reducing the number of refugees allowed into the U.S. down to 25,000. This would be the smallest number we’ve admitted since the refugee program started in 1980.

Climate/EPA:

1. In another attempt to undermine Obama’s climate change regulations, the administration freezes federal fuel efficiency standards for automobiles. The proposal also rolls back California’s long-standing waiver, which is more than the automobile industry wants. Expect lawsuits from environmentalists, consumer groups, states, and automakers, all of whom oppose this proposal.
2. Members of regulated industries have warned Trump to slow down his deregulation, saying that narrow regulations are better than no regulation. But Trump isn’t taking that advice, which has resulted in several lawsuits and business uncertainty around regulations.
3. We’re having a global heat wave, with the Arctic Circle reaching 90 degrees, and fires hitting the Arctic Circle in parts of Sweden, Norway, Finland, and Russia.
4. 2017 was either the second or third hottest year on record (depending on the data set you use), and it was the hottest non-El Niño year on record. 2017’s La Niña didn’t regulate the temperature as much is normal for a La Niña year.
5. Warmer oceans caused the sea level to rise for the sixth straight year (it’s risen for 22 of the last 24 years). Warmer oceans also caused sea ice at both poles to hit record lows.
6. The Trump administration rescinds an Obama regulation barring the use of certain pesticides linked to the problem of declining bee populations.
7. Conservationists sue the Trump administration over the pro-hunting international council established by Ryan Zinke last fall (I don’t know how I missed that one!). By law, the council, named the International Wildlife Conservation Council, must be made up of a balanced mix of advisors, but most members are pro-hunting industry reps or recreational hunters. The week the council was created, Trump reversed the ban on importing hunting trophies ( a decision that was reversed and then reversed again).
8. Levi Strauss & Co. commits to reducing greenhouse gas emissions by 90% in all their facilities and by 40% throughout their supply chain.
9. Trump tweets baseless claims against California governor Jerry Brown and bad environmental laws, blaming the wildfires on California. He doesn’t seem to understand water policies nor the effects of climate change and drought.

Budget/Economy:

1. The Trump administration is considering another tax reduction, this time for people who get a lot of income from capital gains on investments. They’re looking into whether it would require congressional approval.
2. Trump said earlier this year that he would work on major cuts for the middle class, but the wealthy would benefit most from a cut to capital gains taxes (the top 5% of households owns about 67% of stocks and mutual funds). We’re also looking at record deficits in the coming years, and this would make those worse.
3. Even though we added fewer jobs than expected last month (157,000), the unemployment rate still edged down to 3.9%.
4. Wage gains reach their highest level since before the great recession, rising 2.7% over a year ago. The cost of living rose 2.9% over the same period.
5. The minimum wage for retail workers is rising, but pay for more experienced retail workers is not.
6. Companies continue to buy back stocks with their tax breaks instead of investing in their employees.
7. American auto makers are speeding up their plans to invest in R&D and factories in China due to the trade wars. This could give China the edge in the future when it comes to new automotive technologies.
8. A recent UBS Wealth Management poll gives some interesting insight into tariffs:

• • 71% of business owners want more tariffs. Even though most think there could be negative effects on the economy, many think it would be good for their business. Most business owners focus on U.S. markets, so they likely think tariffs on foreign goods would be a boon for them.
  • Just over half of high net worth investors support more tariffs on China, while less than half support tariffs on other countries.
  • Americans in general see tariffs as harmful to the economy.

9. Taxes and tax withholding payments are about $1.75 trillion so far this year, only down about 1% from last year but also below the predicted tax revenue.
10. The Treasury says they’ll borrow $955 billion this fiscal year, a big increase from last year’s $519 billion. This is the highest amount of borrowing in six years, and is largely because of the expected decrease in tax revenue from last year’s GOP tax reform.
11. The Treasury will increase the amount of bond auctions to help fund the government. The budget deficit is growing rapidly, and the Economic Outlook Group doesn’t see an end to trillion-dollar deficits.
12. The government isn’t alone in their borrowing; corporations have also taken on record debt because of the low cost of borrowing
13. Under Trump, governmental watchdog agencies have drastically reduced enforcement of penalties imposed on corporations caught violating rules and regulations. The only agency to increase fines in 2017 was the Office of Foreign Assets Control.”
14. China and the U.S. no longer seem to be negotiating an end to the trade war and both countries are threatening new tariffs.
15. Two of the biggest steel manufacturers in America, Nucor and United States Steel, have blocked requests from 100s of American companies to exempt them from Trump’s steel tariffs and let them buy foreign steel.
16. DHS takes away $750 million in funding for Coast Guard ice breakers for the Arctic and directs it to Trump’s border wall instead. Meanwhile, Russia is investing heavily in ice breakers for the Arctic, which is rich in national resources. Russia is also expanding its military there.
17. The Senate increases the 2019 military budget by $82 billion, the second largest increase in modern history. The largest was the increase during the buildup to the Iraq war.

Elections:

1. Even though U.S. intelligence agencies are raising red flags about election interference from Russia, Senate Republicans filibuster a Democratic proposal to help states upgrade their voting systems.
2. After receiving documents produced by Trump’s voter fraud commission (per a court order), commission member Matthew Dunlap says there was no fraud found. Dunlap had to go through the court system to get the docs because Kris Kobach wouldn’t share them with Democrats on the commission. Dunlap says that after reviewing around 8,000 documents, the purpose of the commission actually seemed to be to validate Trump’s claims of voter fraud after the election. He also says this was one of the most bizarre things he’s ever been a part of.
3. In a small hit against Citizens United, a federal judge invalidates an FEC regulation that allows donors to certain non-profits to remain anonymous. This regulation has contributed to a massive increase in so-called dark-money contributions to PACs.
4. Trump tweets support for a Republican candidate for Congress who is no longer on the ballot.

Miscellaneous:

1. Downloading the schematics for 3D printable guns is legal. And then it isn’t. After speaking with NRA leaders, Trump says these guns don’t make sense.
2. After the Koch network says it won’t support North Dakota Senate candidate Kevin Cramer over his Democratic opponent Heidi Heitkamp, Trump calls the Kochs a joke in Republican circles. Even though they prop up pretty much all the Republican circles.
3. Jim Acosta once again gets harassed by Trump supporters at a rally in Tampa, FL, during a live shot. Sarah Huckabee Sanders says Trump doesn’t support violence against anyone… forgetting almost every previous rally.
4. In her press briefing, Sarah Huckabee Sanders refuses to say whether she thinks the press is really the enemy of the people.
5. The conspiracy group QAnon shows up en force at the Tampa rally. QAnon might seem fringe and somewhat harmless, but they’ve moved from the web to real life, sometimes showing up at places that the anonymous “Q” has mentioned in his baseless conspiracy theories.
6. The TSA is thinking about getting rid of security screenings at over 150 small to medium airports around the U.S.
7. Trump Jr. says the Democratic platform is similar to the Nazi Party platform and that history classes are biased against conservatives. Actual source documents from the time show that Hitler hijacked the National Socialist German Workers Party in its infancy and then based their platform on racism and the idea of Aryan superiority. The Democratic platform is closer to the Social Democratic platform, as you can see here and here.
8. In a lawsuit the NRA is fighting with the state of New York, the NRA claims it’s running out of money because insurers and lenders won’t work with them. They say they might not be able to exist much longer.
9. Meanwhile, proponents of common-sense gun reform rally and march on Saturday in the March on the NRA.
10. Franklin Haney, who donated $1 million to Trump’s inaugural fund, had agreed to pay Michael Cohen $10 million if he could get help Haney get governmental approval on a $5 billion loan for a nuclear power plant in Alabama. The loan is still pending, but the agreement is off. Obviously.
11. After Facebook, YouTube, and Spotify removed some Alex Jones content from their sites, Apple removed almost the entire Alex Jones and InfoWars library from iTunes. Facebook, Spotify, and YouTube have all now removed most of their Alex Jones content or suspended the accounts due to violations of their rules about hate speech.
12. Antifa and the far right clash in Portland during a Patriot Prayer “Freedom March” in support of Joey Gibson, who is their founder and is running for U.S. Senate. I’m still not clear if the march had any purpose other than to promote Gibson’s run for Senate.
13. After the Parkland shootings, Florida passed a red-flag gun law, which means that courts can remove guns from people who are deemed a threat to themselves or others. So far, Florida has ordered over 450 people to surrender their weapons.
14. After LeBron James opens a public school that will serve around 240 at-risk students and their parents, Trump criticizes James’ intellect on Twitter. And then Melania’s office praises James. Trump’s tweet was triggered when James said that Trump uses sports to divide us. On top of opening this school, James will also cover local college tuition for its graduates.
15. Pope Francis breaks with tradition and calls for the entire world to abolish the death penalty.
16. Hope Hicks is back in the picture, seen boarding Air Force One near the Trump Bedminster resort where Trump was staying.
17. During an on-air call with C-SPAN, a Trump supporter threatens to shoot journalists Don Lemon and Brian Stelter.

Polls:

1. There’s a 77 percentage-point gap between Democratic and Republican approval of Trump, the most polarized gap since Eisenhower.