Trump Escalates Feud With Sessions After Week Of Blockbuster Headlines

McCain chooses to discontinue medical treatment, drawing the end closer in a life that’s “been quite a ride” [NPR Politics]( --------------------------------------------------------------- [President Trump goaded Attorney General Jeff Sessions on Friday, asking, if he's so committed to avoiding political interference, why doesn't he investigate Democrats and Trump's other enemies?]( Evan Vucci/AP The Big Picture: Will Trump Hit Back 10 Times Harder? It was a week dominated by two blockbuster, back-to-back legal blows for President Trump. His [former lawyer and fixer Michael Cohen]( and his [former campaign chairman Paul Manafort]( both became felons, as the effects of the Mueller investigation were felt closer to the White House and the president. Trump has a reputation for overwhelming and disproportionate responses when attacked. In fact, he takes pride in it. Trump is once again going after, not only the Mueller investigation, [but his own attorney general]( who said this week, [“the actions of the Department of Justice will not be improperly influenced by political considerations”]( — as long as he is in the job. If past is prologue, Trump is going to hit back. The only question is when. — Domenico Montanaro, NPR's lead political editor --------------------------------------------------------------- [President Trump departs the White House on Tuesday in Washington, D.C., headed to a rally in Florida.]( William Thomas Cain/Getty Images ICYMI: Top Stories McCain halts medical treatment: Arizona Sen. [John McCain will no longer receive medical treatment]( his family announced Friday. The 81-year-old Republican has been battling an aggressive form of brain cancer for more than a year, and has been absent from Washington, D.C., since December. In his recent memoir, The Restless Wave, [McCain reflected on his decades of service]( “It's been quite a ride. ... I made a small place for myself in the story of America and the history of my times." Dems and their base divided on impeachment: While the Democratic base appears more and more animated by the idea of impeaching President Trump, [the bulk of Democratic lawmakers have shied away from the idea](. NPR’s Scott Detrow reports the overwhelming consensus among Democratic lawmakers is that a “slow-moving, deliberative process” may be most effective. But some activists have begun pushing Democrats to speak up in support of impeaching Trump. (For a primer on impeachment, [here’s the latest Ron’s Office Hours video]( Fact-checking Trump’s campaign finance claims: In an interview this week, President Trump appeared to claim that hush money payments to two women who claim they had affairs with him could not be violations of campaign finance laws because the money didn’t come from his campaign. [But as NPR’s Peter Overby writes, that isn’t the case](. Both the payment from a friendly tabloid publisher to one woman (corporations can’t contribute directly to campaigns) and a payment to Stormy Daniels (exceeding the individual contribution limit) run afoul of the law. Expect an autumn of outrage: As the 2018 midterms draw closer, [both parties are on the attack, NPR’s Ron Elving writes](. Democrats are running on the message that corruption is rampant in the Republican Party, while the GOP is set to highlight immigration as a top issue. President Trump, meanwhile, is ramping up his campaign schedule with his own set of priorities. [NPR reporters and editors dissected a recent Trump campaign speech]( to explain how Trump is framing his 2018 message. Kavanaugh talks Roe with Collins: Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh met with GOP Sen. Susan Collins this week. As NPR’s Scott Detrow reports, Collins said after the meeting that [Kavanaugh told her he views Roe v. Wade as “settled law.”]( The Maine Republican is seen as a crucial vote on Kavanaugh’s confirmation, and while she said she wouldn’t make a final decision until after next month’s confirmation hearings, Judge Kavanaugh’s assurance likely goes a long way in securing Collins’ vote. Waging the election security battle: This week saw several high-profile instances of companies and organizations taking action against foreign interference in U.S. elections. [Microsoft announced it had shut down six fraudulent websites]( mimicking conservative think tanks and the U.S. Senate that were linked to the GRU, Russia’s military intelligence agency. [Facebook shut down hundreds of accounts, pages and groups that originated in Iran as part of a massive disinformation campaign](. And the Democratic National Committee reported a suspected cyberattack to the FBI — [but that turned out to just be a security test by friendly volunteers in Michigan](. — Brandon Carter, NPR Politics social media producer --------------------------------------------------------------- [President Trump departs the White House on Tuesday in Washington, D.C., headed to a rally in Florida.]( Yana Paskova/Getty Images The Russia Imbroglio: "Where's The Collusion?" "Where is the collusion?" [President Trump asked this week](. "You know, they're still looking for collusion. Where is the collusion? Find some collusion." Trump posed those questions to the audience at his campaign rally in West Virginia on Tuesday — the same day [his former campaign chairman, Paul Manafort]( and [his former longtime lawyer and fixer, Michael Cohen]( wound up guilty in their respective federal cases. So the president tried to direct attention away from them — especially Cohen, who incriminated Trump as part of his guilty plea — and onto what was once the hottest thread in the Russia imbroglio. That may say a lot about the pieces of this puzzle that aren't yet assembled or even visible to the public. Based on these comments, how anxious could Trump be that investigators might discover evidence that his campaign had conspired with the Russians who attacked the 2016 presidential election? "Collusion," [as discussed in past]( is now in the eye of the beholder. It is a thing Republicans do not believe has taken place and which Democrats do. Trump evidently is so unconcerned about either its merits or the politics that he would rather put the spotlight onto it than the fate of two of his closest former aides. There have been indications before that people in a position to know what there is to know about "collusion" felt comfortable enough to go public with declarations that there was nothing there. House intelligence committee chairman Devin Nunes, R-Calif., [staked his reputation on it](. And Senate intelligence committee chairman Richard Burr, R-N.C., offered a reminder on Tuesday that one of the central planks in the collusion narrative has been debunked. [Read the full imbroglio update on NPR.org](. Briefly: - Trump escalates feud against Jeff Sessions [with new sarcastic tweets]( - [Maria Butina lawyers push for her release]( slam sex "smears" by feds - David Pecker of National Enquirer publisher [said to have immunity in Cohen case]( - Sessions rebukes Trump, [vows Justice Department won't be swayed by politics]( - [New details reveal tension, disputes within jury]( in Paul Manafort trial - [Republicans stick with Trump]( despite major legal trouble for ex-top aides - [6 takeaways]( from Manafort's and Cohen's big day - [Trump's former attorney and fixer pleads guilty]( to 8 federal counts - [Jury finds Paul Manafort guilty]( in federal tax and bank fraud trial - [Catch up on the previous imbroglio update here]( — Philip Ewing, NPR's national security editor --------------------------------------------------------------- [Facebook]( [Twitter]( [Instagram]( You received this message because you're subscribed to our Politics emails. | [Unsubscribe]( | [Privacy Policy]( | NPR 1111 N. 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