When The Atlantic’s Rosie Gray asked chief strategist Steve Bannon why White House press briefings are regularly being held off-camera, he responded in a text, without following up: “Sean got fatter.” [The Atlantic]
Spicey did, in fact, get in front of the cameras today for a briefing, albeit with the look of a traumatized captive reading a script from a hidden cellar underneath an abandoned barn. Spicer revealed that he has not, in fact, asked the president whether he accepts the intelligence community’s conclusion that Russia attempted to meddle in the 2016 election, an astounding claim. “I have not sat down and asked him about the specific reaction,” he said. “I’d be glad to touch base with him and get back to you.” [Politico]
EPA administrator Scott Pruitt continues to methodically dismantle federal environmental oversight: he is getting rid of 38 people on the Board of Scientific Counselors and canceling all subcommittee meetings for late summer and fall. [Science Magazine]
Republicans reportedly haven’t seen the Senate health care bill either, although Majority Leader Mitch McConnell says it will be made public on Thursday. [The Hill, Twitter]
The Trump administration is considering a travel ban on North Korea following Otto Warmbier’s death. [Associated Press]
Georgia House candidate Karen Handel got into a tense exchange with, ironically, the Guardian reporter who was beaten up by Greg Gianforte. “The lack of civility in society as a whole, some of it, I believe, is very much fueled by social media and frankly, it’s fueled by the fact that journalism is not journalism any more,” she said. “So you point the fingers at the journalism, then?” reporter Ben Jacobs asked. “No, don’t put words in my mouth, Ben. I had a very broad sentence. See, this is exactly what happens and why things are really broken. You don’t listen and you put words in people’s mouth.” When Jacobs responded that he was simply trying to clarify, Handel said “No, you really weren’t.” Seems like a nice lady! [The Guardian]
Here’s what you need to know about the closely-watched, historically expensive 6th District race as results come in tonight. [New York Times]
Obama Attorney General Eric Holder is reportedly considering running for president in 2020. [Yahoo]
Here are some tweets the president was allowed to publish:
