The Morning Briefing: We'll Always Have Montenegro and Much, Much More

Good Thursday morning.

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

The president receives his intelligence briefing
President Trump meets with the secretary of Defense
The president has lunch with the secretary of State
President Trump hosts the Pledge to America’s Workers event

Media more hysterical than ever

The media cycle is so intense, so unhinged that I can barely keep up with the myriad of Trump attack-narratives spinning out of the various “news” rooms and Twitter feeds. I do my best.

The resistance media is very invested in this absurd, baseless RUSSIA-collusion fable so this “story” continues to dominate the headlines. The latest scandal is that Trump still won’t admit that RUSSIA tried to interfere in the 2016 presidential election, which is an important admission for the media because they want to delegitimize Trump’s election. Do you notice how often the media point out in their pieces or on television that the intelligence agencies agree the RUSSIAN inteference didn’t impact the election outcome? They almost never mention this or if they do, it’s in paragraph 47.

Trump told CBS yesterday that he agrees Putin is responsible for election meddling but that won’t stop the media from continuing to ask the same question over and over again hoping the president will inartfully answer so they can have another news cycle or two for a freakout. CBS News laments that Trump declined to call Putin a liar during their interview. Now what kind of diplomatic relationship are we supposed to have with RUSSIA to cooperate on areas of mutual interest if Trump calls Putin a liar? Did the media ever second-guess or undermine Obama like this? No they did not.

To add insult to media injury, Trump told CBS he was pleased with his performance at the news conference following his private meeting with Putin. “I think I did great at the news conference,” Trump said during an interview with Jeff Glor on Wednesday. “I think it was a strong news conference.”

FBI Director Wray spoke at the Aspen Security Forum yesterday and said that the RUSSIANS are trying to sow discord in the United States. You know who is helping the RUSSIANS achieve their objective? The media, the grandstanding Democrats and the cultural elite.

More importantly, Director Wray named China as “the broadest, most significant” threat to the U.S. with active espionage efforts in all 50 states. By all means, let’s alienate RUSSIA more and push them into the arms of China.

“I think China, from a counterintelligence perspective, in many ways represents the broadest, most challenging, most significant threat we face as a country,” Wray answered.

“And I say that because for them it is a whole of state effort. It is economic espionage, as well as traditional espionage, it is non traditional collectors, as well as traditional intelligence operatives, it’s human sources, as well as cyber means.

“We have economic espionage investigations in every state, all 50 states, that trace back to China. It covers everything from corn seeds in Iowa to wind turbines in Massachusetts and everything in between. So the volume of it, the pervasiveness of it, the significance of it, is something I think this country cannot underestimate.”

There are growing demands for Trump to release his tax returns after disastrous summit with Putin

Trump touches off new Russia controversy – and prompts new clarification

Trump was briefed about Putin’s meddling role 2 weeks before taking office: report

Funny Pop star mocks Trump with new lyrics

‘I don’t know what the fuss is all about’: Trump commends his performance at the widely-panned summit with Putin

Rand Paul Waterboards Former CIA Director For Calling Trump Treasonous

Treasonous RUSSIA collusion investigation roundup

Special counsel still investigating Roger Stone

Papadopoulos’ Wife Says She’s Not a Russian Spy

Reminder: Prosecutor Said ‘Trump’s Son Should be Concerned’ About Wiretaps of Butina’s Alleged Handler

Mueller lists pic of putting green, Yankees’ tickets as possible Manafort trial evidence

Will the U.S. turn over former Ambassador McFaul to RUSSIA?

RUSSIAN President Putin wants to question former U.S. Ambassador to RUSSIA Mike McFaul and the administration is considering it.

“There was some conversation about it, but there wasn’t a commitment made on behalf of the United States,” White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders said. “And the president will work with his team, and we’ll let you know if there’s an announcement on that front.”

Putin broached the subject regarding the RUSSIANS recently indicted by witch hunter Robert Muller.

“We would expect that the Americans would reciprocate,” Putin said when asked about the 12 Russian officials who were indicted by Special Counsel Robert Mueller.

” …and that they would question officials, including the officers of law enforcement and intelligence service of the United States, whom we believe are — who have something to do with illegal actions on the territory of Russia, and we have to — to request the presence of our law enforcement.”

McFaul appeared on The Rachel Maddow Comedy Hour yesterday to respond to the RUSSIANS’ request.

“Vladimir Putin has been after me for a long time even when I was ambassador,” McFaul said on Wednesday. “He’s done some outrageous things around the world, but even to our diplomats and even to me personally.”

“You can’t establish this precedent,” McFaul said. “You just have to push back on crazy stuff like that.”

Nunes fights back

Rep. Devin Nunes (R-CA) is fighting back against the resistance media and the Democrats’ effort to unseat him. Nunes, chairman of the House Intelligence Committee (HPSCI), has been collecting piles of cash money for his reelection. Take note, weak, cowardly Republicans: fighting against the crazy left has its rewards.

While Janz has emerged as one of the Democratic Party’s top online House candidate fundraisers, Nunes has managed to parlay his high-profile effort to delegitimize the Russia election probe into a fundraising juggernaut with conservatives across the United States. Nunes has banked more money than any other Republican House incumbent in California. This week, he reported raising about $7.4 million this election cycle, with $6.1 million in cash on hand. Nunes is also preparing to travel throughout the country raising money for other House Republicans.

Anthony Ratekin, Nunes’ chief of staff, wrote in an email that “we will be in every region of the country prior to the election and have more requests than days left in the year.”

If you pay attention to the RUSSIA-collusion soap opera, you know that Nunes has been dragged all over the headlines, in cocktail-soaked newsrooms, and smeared by crazed progressives on resistance media outlets. Nunes is running a campaign ad fighting back against the Fresno Bee, the local “news” paper in his district. The “news” paper seems to have a real bee in their bonnet about Nunes, but of course that’s not possible because the media are just unbiased chroniclers of noteworthy events, right? Here’s Nunes’ commercial slamming the Bee for its crazy reporting.

Nunes appeared on Hannity last night and pointed out the curious timing surrounding the events of the RUSSIA investigation.

“You might give them the benefit of the doubt, but why does this always happen?” Nunes, R-CA, asked. “Every time something happens on one side where we find out a new revelation about what appears to be real problems in the FBI and DOJ with this investigation, all of a sudden, they drop an indictment.” Indeed.

Historical picture of the day: