Day 362: Subpoenaed.
1/ Steve Bannon was subpoenaed to testify in front of a grand jury as part of special counsel Robert Mueller’s Russia probe. It’s the first time Mueller has used a grand jury subpoena to get information from someone in Trump’s inner circle. Mueller, however, may end up letting Bannon forgo the grand jury appearance if he allows investigators to question him at the special counsel’s offices in Washington. (New York Times)
2/ Bannon met with the House Intelligence Committee this morning behind closed doors. Lawmakers are sure to question Bannon on what he knew about the Trump Tower meeting, which he’s previously called “treasonous.” (The Hill)
- Hope Hicks is expected to meet with the House Intelligence Committee as early as Friday. The White House Communications Director will be one of the closest Trump confidants to be privately interviewed as part of the Russia probe. The committee plans to ask her about any contacts that may have occurred between Trump associates and the Russians. (CNN / NBC News)
3/ The government could shut down if lawmakers can’t agree on a spending bill by Friday. GOP leaders are looking to a short-term funding measure to keep certain government agencies open while talks continue, but Democrats are unlikely to support any deal that doesn’t include protections for young undocumented immigrants who were brought to this country as children. (Washington Post)
4/ Trump preemptively blamed democrats for a shutdown, tweeting “The Democrats want to shut down the Government over Amnesty for all and Border Security. The biggest loser will be our rapidly rebuilding Military, at a time we need it more than ever.” Democrats presented Trump with a bipartisan immigration bill last week, and said Trump and Republicans would be to blame for a government shutdown. Current federal funding expires on Saturday. (NBC News)
The Democrats want to shut down the Government over Amnesty for all and Border Security. The biggest loser will be our rapidly rebuilding Military, at a time we need it more than ever. We need a merit based system of immigration, and we need it now! No more dangerous Lottery.
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 16, 2018
5/ Senate Democrats have 50 votes in favor of restoring net neutrality. Only one more Republican vote is needed in order to reverse the FCC’s decision to deregulate the broadband industry. The attorneys general from 22 states have filed a lawsuit to block the net neutrality repeal. (Washington Post / New York Times)
6/ Sarah Huckabee Sanders claimed Trump can’t be racist because he was on “The Apprentice.” Sanders said claims that Trump is racist were “outrageous,” adding, “Frankly, if the critics of the president were who he said he was, why did NBC give him a show for a decade on TV?” (Bloomberg)
7/ The White House doctor said Trump is in “excellent” overall health and that he performed “well” on a cognitive exam. At 6’3”, 239 pounds, Trump is one pound away from being considered obese as defined by the Centers for Disease Control. (The Hill / Politico)
poll/ The number of uninsured Americans rose by 3.2 million in Trump’s first year in office. The uninsured rate increased 1.3 percentage points since the last quarter of 2016, leaving 12.2% of Americans without health insurance. (Gallup)
poll/ 42% of Republicans consider negative news stories that are accurate to be “fake news.” (Washington Post)
Notables.
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Democrats on the House Intelligence Committee want Devin Nunes to release the Fusion GPS transcript. Fusion also supports the release of the transcript. (Business Insider)
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U.S. counterintelligence officials warned Jared Kushner about Wendi Deng Murdoch, who could be using their friendship to further the interests of the Chinese government. (Wall Street Journal)
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Kim Jong-Un called Trump’s nuclear button tweet the “spasm of a lunatic.” (The Independent)
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Paul Manafort’s trial will likely to start in September at the earliest after a federal judge rejected Robert Mueller’s bid to kick off the trial in May. (Politico)
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Sixty-four trade groups, foreign governments, Republican candidates and more stayed at or held events at Trump properties during his first year in office. Before taking office, Trump said he would hand off control of his global business empire to his sons Donald Jr. and Eric. He didn’t, however, divest himself of assets that could cause a conflict of interest. (Reuters)
Watch Orrin Hatch remove a pair of glasses he’s not wearing:
WATCH: Sen. Orrin Hatch removes a pair of glasses he's not wearing pic.twitter.com/QXCCb4RHzn
— Jon Levine (@LevineJonathan) January 16, 2018