The billionaire most vilified by the right and the billionaire most vilified by the left have joined forces to end what they call “forever war.” Yes, George Soros and Charles Koch are creating a think tank to work on coming up with diplomatic solutions instead of using bombs and threats. That they’re working together on this underscores just how important they think it is, and it’s something most of us can get behind. And if they can come together, maybe the rest of us from opposite ends of the spectrum can start to do the same. Maybe?

Here’s what else happened in politics for the week ending July 7…

Missing From Last Week:

1. Illinois becomes the 11^th state to decriminalize marijuana, and will vacate around 800,000 previous convictions.

Russia:

1. A new study underscores the success of the Russian disinformation campaign in the 2016 presidential campaigns. The study found a direct correlation between Trump’s popularity and the social media activity of Russian trolls and bots. For every 25,000 retweets, Trump’s popularity moved up 1%. The Russian activity didn’t have much of an effect on Clinton’s popularity.

• • For comparison, Trump won by 0.7% in Wisconsin and Pennsylvania, and by 0.3% in Michigan.
  • Reminder: Correlation doesn’t equal causation; but given that the election hinged on 75,000 votes across three states, there’s a strong likelihood that there was an effect on our elections.

2. One of Trump’s campaign consultants is taking a page from the Russian disinformation playbook and now runs several fake websites spoofing Democratic presidential campaigns. He also runs a Republican political consulting firm. Seriously folks. Learn how to discern real websites from fake ones. Your country is depending on you.

Legal Fallout:

1. The House Ways and Means Committee sues the Treasury and IRS for Trump’s tax returns. The lawsuit alleges that Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin and IRS Commissioner Charles Rettig “have mounted an extraordinary attack on the authority of Congress to obtain information needed to conduct oversight of Treasury, the IRS, and the tax laws on behalf of the American people who participate in the Nation’s voluntary tax system.”
2. The House Ethics Committee opens an investigation into Representative Matt Gaetz (R-Florida) essentially for witness tampering. Gaetz threatened Michael Cohen the night before Cohen’s testimony to the House Oversight Committee, saying he was going to release embarrassing personal information about Cohen.
3. Officials arrest child molester and trafficker Jeff Epstein, charging him with new sex trafficking charges.

• • You might remember that Acting Labor Secretary Alex Acosta gave Epstein a sweet plea deal for similar charges in Florida where Epstein basically ended up pleading out to far lesser counts of soliciting prostitution. Epstein was actually trafficking and molesting underage girls.
  • As part of that deal, Epstein also could pretty much come and go from prison as he pleased during his short sentence.
  • Acosta is now Trump’s nominee to be Labor Secretary.
  • This could have far-reaching implications given the number of high-power, wealth men who hung around with Epstein.

Healthcare:

1. A federal judge temporarily blocks Ohio’s fetal heartbeat law, which bans abortions after six weeks of pregnancy.

• • The term “fetal heartbeat” is a misnomer, because at six weeks a fetus doesn’t have a formed heart.
  • What is detectable at six weeks is a flurry of electrical impulses in the area where the heart will eventually form.
  • These impulses aren’t audible, even with a stethoscope.

2. The AMA sues the state of North Dakota over their Compelled Reversal Mandate law. The law forces doctors to tell their patients that a medication-induced abortion is reversible if they don’t finish their course of pills. This is false and unscientific, and it forces doctors to breach their Hippocratic oath.

International:

1. Iran says they now have more low-enriched uranium than the limit allowed by the JCPOA (the Iran deal). Up until Trump withdrew the U.S. from the deal, and even for a while after, Iran followed the conditions of the deal.

• • Europe has been trying to work around the U.S. sanctions, and now Iran says they’ll restart working toward weapons-grade uranium if Europe doesn’t offer them a deal.

2. Protests continue in Hong Kong against the Chinese extradition bill, which has since been suspended. Things get more heated this week as protestors ransack and occupy Hong Kong’s Legislative Council chambers, and police end up using tear gas.
3. Days after Trump paid a “surprise” visit to North Korea to meet briefly with Kim Jong-Un, North Korea accuses Trump of lying. While he’s pushing the public narrative that the two countries have an open dialog, North Korea claims he’s also “hell-bent” on hostile acts.
4. Brexit party leader Nigel Farage says it’s more important to Brexit from the EU, deal or no deal, than it is to keep the United Kingdom together.

• • Both of Farage’s kids are German citizens and he’s applied for German citizenship himself. If successful, he’ll still be a citizen of the EU. Filing this one under “Hypocrite.”
  • Meanwhile, about 40% of the citizens of the UK are so worried about the aftermath of Brexit that they’re stockpiling food and supplies. Businesses warn of shortages coming up within the next few weeks.
  • The Scottish government pushes for a second referendum on separating from the UK and remaining part of the EU.

5. When asked about his relationships with dictators, Trump tells reporters, “I get along with everybody. Except you people, actually… I get along with President Putin. I get along with Mohammad from Saudi Arabia. President Erdogan, he’s tough but I get along with him.”
6. Someone leaks cables from UK’s ambassador to the United States, which reveal that the ambassador has called Trump incompetent, inept, and insecure. He also says conflicts within the White House are like “knife fights.” The White House says they will no longer deal with this ambassador.
7. We’re not the only country that treats refugees with callousness. European counties have been deporting refugees back to Libyan detention camps, placing them in the middle of a war zone. This week, an airstrike kills 53 migrants being held in Tripoli.

Legislation/Congress:

1. While the Senate is blocking nearly every piece of legislation put in front of them, here’s a taste of what the House has passed, all while pursuing investigations into Russia, obstruction, and corruption (yes, lawmakers and walk and chew gum at the same time):

• • HR1, For the People Act: One of the most sweeping election reform bills to ensure voting rights and give power back to the people.
  • HR5, Equality Act: A bill to protect the rights of our LGBTQ brothers and sisters in the areas of employment, housing, education, loans, and the jury system, among others.
  • HR6, American Dream and Promise Act: A bill to protect DACA recipients and those with Temporary Protected Status, and to provide them with a pathway to citizenship.
  • HR7, Paycheck Fairness Act: Equal pay for equal work. Note that this doesn’t say that if my husband makes X, I should make X. It says if my colleague who does the same job as me with the same experience and productivity makes X, then I should also make X.
  • HR8, Gun Violence Protection Act: Closes loopholes that allow gun sales without background checks. In other words, mandates universal background checks.
  • HR9, Climate Action Now Act: Requires the president to provide an annual plan for how the U.S. will meet its promises under the Paris Agreement.
  • HR 1644, Save the Internet Act: A bill to restore the FCC’s net neutrality rules, keeping the internet free and open, and preventing internet service providers from price-gouging customers or throttling bandwidth.
  • HR 1585, Violence Against Women Act: This is just a re-authorization of an existing act that improved criminal justice and community responses for victims of domestic violence, dating violence, sexual assault, and stalking. Why does this even need to be reauthorized? Why isn’t it permanent? And why won’t Republicans reauthorize it?
  • 10 bills to lower healthcare and drug prices.

2. In fact, the House has passed 180 bills, most of which are dead in the Senate. These include a number of bills to help veterans, to mitigate the effects of climate change, to protect women’s rights, and more.
3. House Democrats fold in a fight with Senate Republicans over emergency funding for the humanitarian crisis (caused by us) at the border. Republicans refused to approve additional requirements for how CBP treats detainees, along with these requirements for refugees:

• • Basic medical care
  • Basic nutrition, water, and hygiene
  • Translators at ICE, CBP, and Citizenship and Immigration Services

4. Michigan Representative Justin Amash leaves the Republican Party after resigning from the House Freedom Caucus over lack of motivation to impeach Trump. Amash is one of the more conservatives members of Congress, and is a founding members of the Freedom Caucus. He might run for president as a Libertarian.

Travel Ban/Immigration/Discrimination:

1. A federal judge orders CBP to allow medical personnel into detention centers holding immigrant minors to ensure the children are in a safe and sanitary environment.
2. CBP has not been having a great couple of weeks. Last week, a group of immigration lawyers reported on squalid and unhygienic conditions in an immigrant detention facility. This week they try to repair their image by cleaning things up and inviting some journalists for a visit, but they don’t let them talk to the kids.
3. But then, a disastrous report containing the findings of the DHS inspector general‘s investigation into detention centers is publicized.

• • The report talks about standing-room-only quarters, no access to showers (they were given wet wipes instead), and no hot meals (just bologna sandwiches). Some children were given hot meals once inspectors arrived.
  • The report also warned DHS two months ago that conditions at a specific facility in El Paso had gotten so bad that agents there were gearing up for possible riots. There were four showers available for 756 detainees, more than half of whom were being held outdoors. Inside was five times past capacity, people couldn’t lay down to sleep, and temperatures were above 80 degrees.
  • DHS Secretary Kevin McAleenan disputes his own inspector general’s report.

4. And then, ProPublica releases messages from a Border Patrol Facebook page that are extremely racist and misogynistic.

• • Former and current agents joke about immigrant deaths and photoshop a picture to show Trump forcing Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez to give him head.
  • There are 9,600 members on the page, and these are the guys who are taking care of vulnerable women and children. Yay.
  • It’s easy to see why the CBP has trouble hiring and retaining female agents.

5. And then, we find out that CBP has known about this page for years and has dealt with complaints on the posts before.
6. And then (yes, there’s more), it leaks that Border Patrol agents tried to humiliate a male Honduran migrant by making walk past detainees holding a sign that said “I like men.”
7. Members of Congress visit detention centers, including the above-mentioned AOC (who said women in detention told her that border patrol officers told them to drink water out of the toilet). Understandably, the congressional members questioned whether they were actually safe visiting the centers. Democratic presidential candidates have also visited facilities.
8. The Trump administration gives in on adding a citizenship question to the 2020 Census.

• • But then, the DOJ announces that they’re looking into ways to add it, per Trump’s request. Trump floats the idea of delaying the Census (he can’t), or adding the question through an executive order.
  • This leads the judge in the case to call an emergency meeting with lawyers from both sides of the case. For an uncomfortable read, here’s the laughable transcript of the DOJ lawyers trying to explain the change of plan to the judge, though they don’t have a new plan.
  • And now, the DOJ is trying to replace the current lawyers in the case. So either the current lawyers objected to the new tactics or they’ve just lost credibility because of the chaos from the White House.
  • DOJ lawyers are now scrambling to come up with a legal justification for adding the citizenship question. Attorney General William Barr believes there’s a way. Which tells me he is ignoring a boatload of evidence about the reasons behind the question.

9. Trump plans to end the practice of having court interpreters for immigrants and asylum seekers at their initial hearings. What could go wrong?
10. The Trump administration prepares to launch a panel focused on “natural law and natural rights.” The panel will advise Secretary of State Mike Pompeo on human rights. This is an issue because “natural law and natural rights” typically means anti-LGBTQ rights.
11. A federal judge blocks Trump’s attempt to deny asylum seekers timely bonding hearings and detain them longer. If Trump had been allowed to go forward with this plan, it would’ve meant indefinite detention. Which is crazy when you think of how overcrowded the detention centers already are.
12. DHS fines some undocumented immigrants nearly $500,000 for failing to leave the U.S. ICE says that under the law they can find people $500 per day for each day they are in violation of an order to leave, and immigration lawyers say they’ve never seen that clause used like this.
13. Trump again threatens major ICE raids and deportations after July 4^th, saying he’ll deport all undocumented immigrants because “that’s what we do.”
14. A pregnant Alabama woman got in a fight with another woman that resulted in the other woman shooting her in the stomach, causing her to lose the pregnancy. A grand jury refuses to indict the shooter (it seems they thought it was self defense), but they did indict the pregnant woman for putting herself in a position where her fetus could be harmed. So she was arrested. After a boatload of backlash over it, the DA decides not to prosecute and releases here. Talk about personhood laws run amok.
15. After the American women’s soccer team wins the World Cup, the fans break into echoing chants of “Equal pay! Equal pay!”

Climate:

1. Anchorage, Alaska, sets an all-time heat record this week, reaching 90 degrees Fahrenheit. That’s five degrees hotter than ever previously recorded there. Other cities across Alaska set their own heat records as well.

Budget/Economy:

1. As a means to push oil prices back up, OPEC agrees to continue production cuts for 9 more months. They state the following reasons: trade tensions, central bank policies, increased U.S. production, and “geopolitical issues.”
2. Because of a long-lasting subsidy dispute between Boeing and Airbus, Trump adds more EU products to the list of items to be subject to new tariffs.
3. 77% of publicly traded companies issue warning ahead of their earnings announcements, saying they won’t make their expected numbers. But it doesn’t seem to hurt their stock prices; U.S. stock markets hit new highs this week.
4. Morgan Stanley analysts warn of a coming recession, but we’ve been hearing this for more than a year now, so take it with whatever grain of salt you’re comfortable with.
5. Global manufacturing numbers for June are in. They were weaker; in fact they were at their weakest since October 2012. New orders contracted sharply.

• • This could partly be from the impact of all the newly imposed tariffs, and this could reverse if there’s really a truce.

6. May’s job numbers were low enough to give economists a little scare (72,000), but June’s numbers bounced back up to 224,000.
7. People of color are finally starting to reap the benefits of a tight job market, and the unemployment gap between white people and people of color is beginning to shrink.
8. An analysis of last year’s tax returns finds that around 2/3 of Americans paid less in taxes and 6% paid more (I was one of those lucky ones).

• • Refunds for people making between $100,000 and $250,000 dropped, but rose for people making between $250,000 and $500,000 (which could be from the change in withholding rules).
  • Even though the IRS was more lenient in handing out penalties for underpayment, the penalties they did impose were higher.
  • Note that these numbers don’t include taxpayers who filed for an extension, who tend to be higher-income with more complicated returns.
  • The tax rate dropped for all income brackets, and no income bracket below $500,000 in income reached a 20% rate. And even the average of the highest earners didn’t reach 30%.
  • The number of people using the standard deduction instead of itemizing jumped by 70%.
  • The AMT was essentially removed for households with incomes under $1 million.

Elections:

1. After Kamala Harris talked about being bussed to desegregated schools, Donald Trump Jr. shared a tweet questioning whether Harris was black enough to talk about the issues facing black Americans. This fits in with the latest right-wing attack on Harris that she isn’t really black because her father is Jamaican and her mother is Indian. Sorry hon, that lady is black.

Miscellaneous:

1. Trump decides he wants to insert himself into the annual 4th of July celebration on the National Mall in DC. The last time a sitting president spoke on the National Mall on July 4^th was nearly 70 years ago, when Truman marked the 175^th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence.

• • So Trump hosts a 4^th of July ceremony, a Salute to America, where he gives a speech with military tanks and a military flyover. It looks like it could get rained out, and many are concerned that Trump will make the 4^th all about himself, but after a rain delay, he mostly sticks to the teleprompter and doesn’t go too far off the rails.
  • The National Park Service is forced to divert $2.5 million in park fees to help fund Trump’s display.
  • The White House reserves VIP tickets to Trump’s 4^th of July event for major Republican donors and political appointees.

2. The White House hires Breitbart’s White House correspondent to the office of Domestic Policy Council.
3. California has it’s largest earthquake in years, which is followed up the next day by another quake 11 times stronger than the first one. The earthquakes are centered in Ridgecrest, a town near the China Lake Naval Weapons Center, which is no longer mission capable and is evacuated because of the quakes. There have been thousands of aftershocks, and the quakes left a huge fissure in the Mojave desert. The governor declares a state of emergency.

Tweet of the Week:

This tweet captures the citizenship question chaos:

“The DOJ gave up on this yesterday, but then President Crazy Train issued a tweet that required a federal judge to call the DOJ to the carpet to demand an explanation, and they don’t have one.”

I wish I knew who it was, because that crazy train takes another turn this week.