The Morning Briefing: Pompeo Heads to Hill for Interrogation and Much, Much More

Good Wednesday morning.

Here is what’s on the president’s agenda today:

The president meets with the speaker of the House of Representatives and the Senate majority leader
President Trump has lunch with the secretary of State and the secretary of Homeland Security
The president meets with the president of the European Commission
President Trump participates in an expanded bilateral meeting with the president of the European Commission
The president meets with Members of Congress

Pompeo to testify on the Hill today

Secretary of State Mike Pompeo is scheduled to testify before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee today at 3pm to answer questions about RUSSIA, North Korea, U.S. trade policies and whatever else the camera-friendly senators want to ask for the nightly cable show harpies.

Pompeo is scheduled to testify at 3 p.m. before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, an eagerly awaited appearance for lawmakers hungry to know more about Trump’s two-hour private meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin last week in Helsinki.

There are also questions about the status of diplomatic talks with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un and what the administration’s next moves are after pulling out of the Iran nuclear deal in May.

Senators want Pompeo to explain Trump’s persistent criticism of European allies, something they fear has eroded trust within NATO.

Trade is another topic weighing on lawmakers, especially Republican senators from states with big farming economies hurt by Trump’s tariffs.

With Flake and Corker on the committee along with numerous unhinged Democrats, I expect this to be a real circus. The hearing will be on C-SPAN so tune in.

Trump-Cohen tape released

Media outlets have obtained a tape of President Trump, before he won the election, and his lawyer, the sleazy Michael Cohen. Why was a conversation between an attorney and his client tapped by the attorney? Very shifty.

The September 2016 recording between Trump and Cohen includes a short conversation between Cohen and then-candidate Trump talking about a plan, allegedly devised by Cohen, to try to purchase the rights to former Playboy model Karen McDougal’s story from American Media Inc., which owns the National Enquirer, since the media company had already bought the rights to her story.

Sources tell ABC News Cohen proposed paying about $150,000 to AMI.

Oh, is this illegal? Remember the tape was originally promoted as showing Trump and Cohen scheming to pay off some lady the president probably had an affair with. That’s also not illegal, by the way.

The media frantically tried to figure out a way to interpret the tape in the worst possible light:

However, Cohen’s attorney Lanny Davis told CNN Tuesday evening that it’s their opinion that Trump is heard suggesting the cash payment.

Davis does acknowledge that Trump used the word “check” toward the end of the tape.

Twelve audio tapes were seized by the feds so get ready for a “lather-rinse-repeat” treatment with the recordings. How is this related to RUSSIA-collusion?

This is what fake news looks like

Yesterday, Attorney General in Name Only (AGINO) Jeff Sessions spoke at a Turning Point USA event. Turning Point is a center-right, campus-based organization. When AGINO Sessions was speaking, the crowd started to chant “lock her up, lock her up.” Sessions repeated the phrase after hearing it and chuckled, saying he hadn’t heard that since the campaign. The media reported this occurrence as Sessions chanting “lock her up.”

The managing editor of @NBCNews and @MSNBC tweeted this lie 6 hours ago and has let it sit, without correction, ever since. Hey @KatyTurNBC, what was it you were saying the other day about who should be called a journalist? https://t.co/mCwVQkHkAJ

— Derek Hunter (@derekahunter) July 24, 2018

Now if you are one of the many people who just read headlines on Twitter or on a news website, you are going to think Sessions was chanting “lock her up” even though he wasn’t. Politico has a piece titled “Attorney General Sessions joins ‘lock her up!’ chant in front of high school students.”

Here’s the video and you can decide:

Historical picture of the day:

Sen. Edward Kennedy is escorted by troopers as he leaves court in Edgartown, Mass., July 25, 1969, after pleading guilty to a charge of leaving the scene of an accident which killed aide Mary Jo Kopechne; he was given a two-month sentence, suspended on probation. In the latest tragedy to befall the Kennedy family, Michael Kennedy, the 39-year-old son of the late Sen. Robert F. Kennedy, was killed Dec. 31, 1997, in a New Year’s Eve skiing accident on Aspen Mountain. (AP Photo/File)

Your daily WTFs:

Man who broke into dealership pooped on floor, stole car: police

Clare Bronfman, Seagram’s heiress, among 6 arrested in NXIVM case

I’m screaming on the inside 100 tapeworm eggs found inside brain of 8-year-old with severe headaches, seizures: report

Other morsels:

DANGER: Senate plots to avert government shutdown with massive spending bundle

Trump makes campaign-style pitch to veterans in Kansas City

Trump-backed candidate wins Republican primary for Georgia governor

Rand Paul’s mention of McCain draws boos at conservative event

‘What do we think about Mick?’: Trump narrows down chief search

Teacher busted over sex with student is principal’s wife: cops

The first signs are emerging that the progressive campaign to abolish ICE is working