Wikileaks Repeatedly Traded Messages With Trump Jr. Before And After Election, And Other Trump News From Monday
Monday, November 13th. Day 298.
Wikileaks Repeatedly Traded Messages With Donald Trump Jr., Asked Him To Push Assange As Ambassador
The Atlantic reports that Wikileaks repeatedly communicated with Donald Trump Jr. before and after the 2016 presidential election. The Twitter DMs, which were turned over to congressional investigators, showed Wikileaks asking for Trump Jr. to promote content, turn over his father's tax returns, push for Julian Assange to be appointed the Australian ambassador to the US and contest the election if Trump lost.
Many of the messages to Trump Jr. went without a response, but he did respond a few times. He also raised the messages to Steve Bannon, Kellyanne Conway, Brad Parscale, and Jared Kushner. Once after receiving a message from Wikileaks, he promoted content that they asked he highlight.
Trump Judicial Nominee Failed To Disclose That His Wife Is Top White House Lawyer
A Trump judicial nominee, Brett J. Talley, who is awaiting a Senate vote for his nomination to be a federal district judge in Alabama, failed to identify his wife as a potential conflict of interest on a Senate questionnaire. His wife, Ann Donaldson, is the chief of staff for White House counsel Donald F. McGahn. federal district judges are often the first people to encounter judicial challenges against White House policies.
Trump Taps Alex Azar For HHS Secretary
On Monday, President Trump announced that Alex Azar will be his nominee to replace Tom Price, who resigned following his private jet scandal, as the head of the Dept. of Health and Human Services. Azar served as the HHS' general counsel under George W. Bush and has worked in the pharmaceutical industry.
Trump Meets With Putin, Dismisses Election Interference
Over the weekend, President Trump attended the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation meetings, where he met with Russian President Vladimir Putin. Trump tweeted that the two had "good discussions" and that "having a good relationship with Russia is a good thing."
After the meeting, Trump told reporters aboard Air Force One that the investigation into whether or not his campaign worked with Russia during the election was an "artificial Democratic hit job" and that he believed Putin when he said he didn't interfere in the US election. Sunday, Trump "clarified" his comments, saying that he believed that Putin believed that Russia didn't interfere in the US election.
Trump Visits Philippines For ASEAN Summit
President Trump is in the Philippines for the Association of Southeast Asian Nations Summit. As is tradition, leaders came together for the ASEAN handshake, where they cross arms across themselves to shake hands with leaders to their left and right. Trump appeared to struggle with the shake.
On Monday, Trump met with the Philippines' leader Rodrigo Duterte, who is currently waging a "war on drugs" that has resulted in the extra-judicial killings of thousands. Some call it a genocide.
Ahead of the meeting, Trump failed to mention human rights, instead, talking about the weather. The White House claims that the leaders briefly discussed human rights, but Duterte says the subject did not come up. The night before, Duterte dedicated a song to Trump in a performance with a local pop star.
Trump Prods North Korea On Twitter
Despite being abroad, President Trump has continued to cause controversy on Twitter. On Saturday, Trump responded to a statement from North Korea calling him a "dotard" and a "destroyer" by sarcastically saying he'd never call Kim Jong-Un "short and fat."
