This week, Special Counsel Robert Mueller spoke publicly for the first time since his investigation into allegations of collusion and obstruction began two years ago.
In a carefully worded statement, Mueller reiterated what his report said—Russia had interfered in the 2016 election, President @realDonaldTrump had definitely not been exonerated, and a DOJ opinion had prevented him from considering an indictment.
Although this came as a yuge surprise to Trump—who reportedly never read Mueller's report—he responded in the calm and measured way that we've all come to expect from him.
Just kidding—he went totally fucking bonkers, and, in the process, admitted for the first time that Russia helped get him elected.
Then he quickly backtracked on that admission, as extremely stable geniuses are wont to do.
Morning lineup:
Meet the Press: Acting White House Chief of Staff Mick Mulvaney; Former Rep. Beto O'Rourke (D-TX); Former FBI Deputy Director Andrew McCabe; Roundtable: TBA.
Face The Nation: Sen. Mark Warner (D-VA); Sen. John Kennedy (R-LA); Sen. Joe Manchin (D-WV); British Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt; Roundtable: Jan Crawford (CBS News), Jamal Simmons (The Hill), Susan Page (USA Today) & Ramesh Ponnuru (National Review).
This Week: Rep. Adam Schiff (D-CA); Rep. Jim Jordan (R-OH); Sen. Michael Bennet (D-CO); Virginia Beach Police Chief Jim Cervera; Iranian Foreign Minister Javad Zarif; Roundtable: Lanhee Chen (Hoover Institution), Democratic Strategist Jen Psaki, "Independent" Strategist Matthew Dowd & Rachael Bade (Washington Post).
Fox News Sunday: Acting White House Chief of Staff Mick Mulvaney; Rep. Doug Collins (R-GA); Roundtable: Republican Strategist Karl Rove, Former Rep. Jason Chaffetz (R-UT), Former Rep. Donna Edwards (D-MD) & Juan Williams (Fox News).
State of the Union: Acting Secretary of Homeland Security Kevin McAleenan; Rep. James Clyburn (D-SC); Rep. Seth Moulton (D-MA); Roundtable: Former Tampa Mayor Andrew Gillum, Former Rep. Mia Love (R-UT), Former Rep. Diane Black (R-TN) & Clinton White House Press Secretary Joe Lockhart.
Late night shows:
The Late Show with Stephen Colbert
Monday: Actress/Comedian Wanda Sykes; Actress Vanessa Bayer.
Tuesday: Actress Emma Thompson; Actor Adam Scott.
Wednesday: TV Host James Corden; Actress Zoë Kravitz; Singer Lewis Capaldi.
Thursday: Actress Mindy Kaling; Actor Seth Green.
Friday: Actress Elisabeth Moss; Actor Matt Bomer.
The Daily Show with Trevor Noah
Monday: Rep. Eric Swalwell (D-CA); Tuesday: Author Amber Scorah; Wednesday: Actor Randall Park; Thursday: TV Host James Corden.
Elsewhere...
Fox News defended Laura Ingraham against (the latest) allegations that she's racist.
Fox News on Friday afternoon issued a statement defending primetime star Laura Ingraham after she championed notorious white supremacist Paul Nehlen as a "prominent voice" on the right who had been "censored by social media," omitting his virulent anti-Semitism and racism.
"It is obscene to suggest that Laura Ingraham was defending Paul Nehlen's despicable actions especially when some of the names on the graphic were pulled from an Associated Press report on best known political extremists banned from Facebook," the network said in a statement to The Daily Beast. "Anyone who watches Laura's show knows that she is a fierce protector of freedom of speech and the intent of the segment was to highlight the growing trend of unilateral censorship in America."
During a discussion with far-right commentator Candace Owens—who once suggested Hitler's nationalism would have been 'OK' if he didn't go global—the Fox News primetime star complained that the left is trying to "silence conservative voices ahead of the 2020 election," pointing to criticism of doctored videos of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi appearing drunk. This prompted Ingraham to air a graphic showing numerous right-wing figures who have been recently suspended or banned from social-media platforms.
The image, featuring Nehlen—along with other fringe extremists such as Milo Yiannopoulos, Laura Loomer, and Alex Jones—led Ingraham to observe that the banned individuals are simply "the people who believe in border enforcement, people who believe in national sovereignty."
Meanwhile...
Steve Bannon's plan to run a "gladiator school for cultural warriors" in Italy hit a roadblock amid allegations of fraud.
The Italian government has delivered a potentially fatal blow to Steve Bannon’s plans to transform a medieval monastery near Rome into a training academy for the far-right.
Italy's cultural heritage ministry announced on Friday (May 31) that it would revoke a lease granted to Bannon after reports of fraud in the competitive tender process. The former Breitbart chief and aide to US president Donald Trump was reportedly paying €100,000 ($110,000) per year to rent the 13th Century Carthusian monastery, but now will have to search for another spot.
The Italian state allowed the conservative Catholic organization Dignitatis Humanae Institute (DHI) to use the building early last year. Bannon happens to be a trustee of the institute, and planned to convert the space into a "gladiator school for cultural warriors," where students would learn philosophy, theology, history, and economics, and receive political training from the former Trump aide himself.
But earlier this month, Italian newspaper Repubblica reported that a letter used to guarantee the lease was forged. The letter had the signature of an employee of Danish bank Jyske, but the bank said that employee hadn't worked there for years, and called the letter fraudulent.
Womp womp.
– Trix