Trump Adviser That Lied To FBI Told Contact That Top Campaign Officials OK'd Potential Putin Meeting, And Other Trump News From Tuesday
Tuesday, October 31st. Day 285.
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Trump Adviser That Lied To FBI Told Kremlin-Linked Contact That Campaign Officials OK'd Putin Meeting
Bloomberg reports that former Trump adviser George Papadopoulos who pleaded guilty to lying to the FBI about his contacts with individuals connected to the Kremlin told Russian contacts that top Trump campaign officials had OK'd a meeting between Putin representatives and the campaign. The email, not released in yesterday's files, contradict assertions from Trump officials that the campaign rebuffed Papadopoulos' attempts at setting up a meeting.
Trump Responds To First Indictments Of Russia-Probe
Indictments brought against former Trump campaign staffers and associates Monday frustrated President Trump. According to reports from The Washington Post and CNN, Trump paid attention to coverage all morning, watching with a small group of advisers in his living quarters. Trump was "seething" over concerns that the investigation is expanding to include his family business, and that coverage of the indictments connected him to misdeeds of staffers that appear to be distanced from Trump himself.
The Daily Beast reports that Trump took a call, Monday, from former adviser Steve Bannon, who told him to hire a new legal team with authority over his current one, who Bannon says is "asleep at the wheel." Trump was reportedly receptive to the suggestion of pursuing a more aggressive legal strategy to combat Mueller's investigation.
On Twitter Tuesday morning, Trump distanced himself from Manafort and Papadopoulos:
Trump attempted to deflect attention with another tweet towards Democratic power broker Tony Podesta's resignation from his firm after reports that special investigator Mueller is looking into work he did for a Ukrainian nonprofit on behalf of Paul Manafort.
Trump's Chief Of Staff Goes On Fox News To Shift Focus
Chief of Staff John Kelly went on Fox News Monday night to seemingly deflect attention from the Russia probe scandals. Kelly made controversial statements about the civil war in response to the recent conflict surrounding Confederate monuments, saying "Robert E. Lee was an honorable man. He was a man who gave up his country to fight for his state… the lack of an ability to compromise led to the Civil War." This characterization obscures the other major cause of the Civil War, which was a disagreement over slavery.
Trump And Pence Release Smiling Portraits
On Tuesday, The White House finally released portraits of President Trump and Mike Pence. Both are grinning, which is a departure from imagery during the campaign that attempted to portray the pair as tough, "like Churchill."
Trump Pushes Aggressive Schedule On Tax Reform
The White House is pushing an aggressive agenda on their tax bill, which Trump says he wants to pass the House by Christmas at a meeting with industry leaders. Trump says that the signing ceremony will "be the biggest tax even in the history of our country."
Today, Trump tweeted that people should be focusing on The White House's tax reform efforts rather than the Russia investigation.
