Here’s all the shit we couldn’t cover today:
- The Intercept published a full transcript of the “very friendly” April phone between Donald Trump and his strongman crush Rodrigo Duterte, in which he congratulated Duterte for doing an “unbelievable job on the drug problem” in the Philippines. Duterte, who has overseen thousands of extrajudicial killings of alleged drug dealers/users over the past year, was recently invited to the White House. Trump also bragged to Duterte that the U.S. has two nuclear submarines in Korean waters. [The Intercept, New York Times, Reuters]
- Former FBI director Comey’s handling of the Clinton email investigation last summer was based on a Russian document that may have been fake. [Washington Post]
- Intelligence collected last summer found that senior Russian officials had discussed how to influence members of the Trump campaign, specifically Paul Manafort and Michael Flynn. [New York Times]
- Ben Carson called poverty a “state of mind” in an interview. “You take somebody that has the right mindset, you can take everything from them and put them on the street, and I guarantee in a little while they’ll be right back up there,” he said. This is categorically false, although it’s certainly true that Ben Carson is an expert in very confused states of mind. [Washington Post]
- Sean Spicer, an astonishingly tragic figure plucked straight from the fossilized brain of William Shakespeare, did not get invited to meet the Pope. [CNN]
- Democrats are coalescing behind a $15 minimum wage. [Politico]
- Montana’s special election is tomorrow. [Politico]
- OF COURSE Paul Ryan is a Stifler fan. [Twitter]
Here are some tweets the president was allowed to publish:
This has been Barf Bag.