Spicer Is Out

Enter Scaramucci [NPR Politics]( --------------------------------------------------------------- Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images --------------------------------------------------------------- Enter Scaramucci After another storm-tossed week of headline after headline on [health care]( and the [Russia imbroglio]( President Trump tried to right the ship. On Friday he brought in [New York financier Anthony Scaramucci]( to serve as the administration’s new communications director -- and press secretary Sean Spicer resigned. Scaramucci appeared in the briefing room to introduce himself to reporters in his new role and announced that Sarah Huckabee Sanders, who had been serving as Spicer’s deputy, would be the new press secretary. Scaramucci’s arrival is significant for a few reasons: It not only proved curtains for Spicer, but raises questions for chief of staff Reince Priebus, a close Spicer ally. Trump showed that he will do his own thing over the reported objections of people who are technically his senior staff. And Scaramucci also represented a return to TV for the White House briefing, which has been off camera for weeks. The former hedge fund manager took pains to call on all the network correspondents, he flattered Trump’s football spiral and his putting, and he made clear that he’s apologized about a widely circulated 2015 TV appearance in which he [criticized then-candidate Trump](. Scaramucci’s debut allowed the White House to land on its paws Friday after the implosion of the Republican effort to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act and after another series of thunderclap reports in The New York Times and The Washington Post. - Phil Ewing, NPR National Security Editor --------------------------------------------------------------- Here’s What We Know about the Trump-Russia-Comey-Kushner-Trump Jr. imbroglio, as of Saturday morning. This internal memorandum about what NPR correspondents are reporting about this ongoing story and the coverage of other news sources has been adapted for our newsletter readers. Please send your feedback and questions to [nprpolitics@npr.org.](mailto:nprpolitics@npr.org?subject=Politics Newsletter) --------------------------------------------------------------- Crosstown Traffic The White House and Democrats are [working the refs](. Administration aides [told The New York Times]( they’re compiling political ammunition for use against Justice Department special counsel Robert Mueller and his team of investigators and attorneys. Aides also [told The Washington Post]( that President Trump has asked his legal team about his powers under the Constitution to offer pardons -- including, possibly to himself. When asked about the president’s ability to pardon himself, Washington ethics lawyer Mark Foster didn’t mince words when speaking with [NPR’s Tamara Keith](. “Man, oh man, that is something that could really blow this country apart,” he said. Goal: Show, if necessary, that the special counsel and his team are not so special. Take them down a peg. And make clear to supporters and Republican allies that the White House intends to consider every weapon at its disposal in defending itself, whether it actually winds up using them or not. Democrats wasted little time responding. The vice chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee, Mark Warner, D-Va., issued a statement at 10:14 p.m. on Thursday, after The Washington Post report about pardons. His House compatriot, California Rep. Adam Schiff, followed up on Friday morning with this: “I have every confidence that Mueller will not respond to the president and his team's less-than-subtle effort to constrain his probe, and it will be up to Congress to ensure that he has the necessary resources and independence to carry out his investigation." Goal: Be Mueller’s voice. The special counsel’s office has told NPR’s Carrie Johnson that Mueller’s team is not going to speak publicly very often, if it ever does, as it goes about its work. But Democrats want to give Mueller space to pursue his inquiries, and not let the White House shape the public’s impressions of him unchallenged. Meanwhile… MUELLER ASKS WHITE HOUSE TO PRESERVE DOCUMENTS Justice Department special counsel Robert Mueller has asked the Trump administration to preserve all of its documents related to the Trump Jr. meeting, [reports CNN’s Dana Bash](. This seems like standard practice, but there have been some informal indications earlier in this imbroglio that not all pertinent material may still exist. Sen. Kamala Harris, D-Calif., asked former FBI Director James Comey whether he could discuss what she described as destruction of evidence by Trump aides in the case. Comey said he could not answer without getting into classified information. Also on the subject of evidence and discovery in this matter, Trump is changing up his legal team, [as CNN reports](. Marc Kasowitz will “recede.” John Dowd and Jay Sekulow will … advance? … plus Ty Cobb starts his job on July 31. Communications specialist Mark Corallo is out. DON’T WAIT FOR THE TRANSLATION Trump raised a lot of eyebrows when the White House acknowledged he’d had a second encounter with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Germany recently-- without an American interpreter. For one veteran interpreter who worked for seven U.S. presidents, that brought back memories of President Nixon, [writes our Scott Neuman](. --------------------------------------------------------------- Health Care Vote Next Week? Republican senators still seem set on a plan to vote on a health care bill next week. “Well, it's pretty obvious we've had difficulty in getting 50 votes to proceed,” Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, of Kentucky, said on Wednesday. “But what I want to disabuse any of you of is the notion that we will not have that vote next week.” NPR’s Susan Davis has been following the saga, and [she reports]( that no one seems to know how a bill would pass, especially after news of John McCain’s illness this week. “The concern I hear the most from Republicans on Capitol Hill is that if health care collapses -- if they cannot deliver on what has been their signature campaign promise, the infighting and the bad blood that it will generate will make it almost impossible for Republicans to move forward on their other legislative priorities,” Davis told NPR’s David Greene on Friday. --------------------------------------------------------------- Protecting Trump’s Third Home Could Cost Taxpayers Millions President Trump’s business and personal ties continue to raise ethical questions and keep NPR’s Peter Overby very busy. This week, Overby reported that Trump’s third home in Bedminster, N.J., will be designated a priority for the Secret Service, which isn’t cheap. “With the official designation as a presidential residence, Congress appropriated up to $41 million to cover security costs incurred between the Jan. 20 inauguration and Oct. 1, which starts a new fiscal year,” [Overby reports](. “Trump's residences in Florida and New York already get such funding.” In addition, Overby reported on Trump’s re-election campaign [paying $50,000 to Donald Trump Jr.’s lawyer]( as well as [$30,000 to a Fox Business News political commentator](. --------------------------------------------------------------- In Case You Missed It… ['Spicey Out!' 9 Highlights From Sean Spicer's Combative Tenure]( [In Putin's Russia, An 'Adhocracy' Marked By Ambiguity And Plausible Deniability]( [U.S. Sanctions Against Russia Never Go Away — They Just Evolve]( [The Capital City Contemplates The Possibility Of A Washington Without John McCain]( [FACT CHECK: Trump's Confusing Remarks To Senate Republicans On Health Care]( [Talk Of Voter Fraud Dominates First Meeting Of Election Integrity Commission]( ['White House Arrest?' Legal Experts Disagree About Prosecuting A President]( You received this message because you're subscribed to our Politics emails. | [Unsubscribe]( | [Privacy Policy]( | NPR 1111 N. CAPITOL ST. NE WASHINGTON DC 20002 [NPR]