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Day 635: Totally denied.


Tuesday, October 16, 2018

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1/ A federal judge dismissed Stormy Daniels' libel lawsuit against Trump, saying Trump's tweet that she had lied about being threatened to keep quiet about their alleged relationship was "rhetorical hyperbole" and is protected by the First Amendment. Daniels was ordered to pay Trump's legal fees for the case. (Washington Post / Politico)

2/ Trump celebrated the dismissal of Stormy Daniels' defamation suit by calling her "Horseface" and threatening to "go after" herand "her 3rd rate lawyer." Daniels' attorney, Michael Avenatti, responded by calling Trump a "disgusting misogynist" and a "liar" who has dishonored his family and country. (New York Times / Washington Post / ABC News / The Hill)

3/ Trump called Elizabeth Warren a "phony" and a "fraud" while referring to her as "Pocahontas (the bad version)" a day after she publicly released the results of a DNA test intended to prove her Native American ancestry. The DNA test concluded that there was "strong evidence" that Warren had a Native American in her family tree dating back six to 10 generations, making her between 1/64th and 1/1,024 Native American. The Cherokee Nation, meanwhile, criticized Warren's use of a DNA test as "inappropriate." (The Guardian / Politico / Washington Post / HuffPost / The Hill)

4/ Mike Pompeo: Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman will support a "thorough, transparent, and timely investigation" into the disappearance of Jamal Khashoggi. Trump, meanwhile, tweeted that Bin Salman "totally denied any knowledge of what took place in their Turkish Consulate." Trump has vowed "severe punishment" if the Saudis killed Khashoggi. He's also speculated that "rogue killers" may be responsible. Trump sent Pompeo to Saudi Arabia as the kingdom was preparing to acknowledge that Khashoggi died at the consulate as a result of an interrogation that went wrong. (Politico / Reuters / New York Times)

  • The Trump administration needs Saudi Arabia's help to implement new sanctions against Iran on Nov. 4. The Saudis could see a significant increase in oil revenues as Congress considers economic or military sanctions against the kingdom for its role in Khashoggi's death. Sanctioning the Saudis would undercut the Iran policy and send the price of gasoline and heating oil significantly higher. (New York Times)

5/ The body of Jamal Khashoggi was cut into pieces after he was killed two weeks ago at the Saudi consulate in Istanbul, according to a Turkish official. Saudi Arabia has insisted that Khashoggi left the building alive, but police searching the Saudi Consulate found evidence that Khashoggi was killed there. An autopsy specialist carrying a bone saw was among 15 Saudi operatives who flew in and out of Istanbul the day Khashoggi disappeared. (CNN / New York Times / Associated Press)

6/ Jared Kushner is "deeply involved" in the White House response to Khashoggi's disappearance and has been working closely with Mike Pompeo and national security adviser John Bolton. Kushner also has a close relationship with Prince bin Salman and has been lobbying Saudi Arabia to participate in the Khashoggi investigation. (Yahoo News)

7/ Jim Mattis: Trump told me he supports me "100 percent." Trump called to give Mattis the assurance after he mentioned during an interview on "60 Minutes" that his Secretary of Defense might be leaving. (NBC News / Associated Press)

8/ The White House is replacing the Interior Department's inspector general, according to an internal Housing and Urban Development email regarding the staffing change. There are currently two inspector general investigations into Secretary Ryan Zinke. The Interior Department IG's office, however, said it "has received no official communication about any leadership changes." Acting inspectors general do not need Senate confirmation. (NBC News)

9/ Trump's reelection campaign has raised at least $106 million. Between the RNC, Trump's campaign committee, and joint fundraising committees, they've raised more than $337 million with at least $88 million of it in cash. (Washington Post)

10/ The Trump campaign has more than doubled its election-related spending over the last three months. The campaign spent $7.7 million between July and the end of September – up from the $3.6 million it spent during the previous three months. The Trump campaign and the RNC have raised more than $18 million in the last quarter alone. (New York Times)

11/ A coalition of free-press advocates are suing Trump, seeking an order directing the president not to use his office to exact reprisals against the press – the kind of behavior those courts have found unlawful. (Politico)

poll/ Ted Cruz leads his Democratic challenger, Rep. Beto O'Rourke, 52% to 45% among likely voters. 9% of likely Texas voters say there's a chance they could change their mind before Election Day. (CNN)

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Visit www.whatthefuckjusthappenedtoday.com for more news and headlines, brought to you by Matt Kiser. The WTFJHT Podcast is narrated and produced by Joe Amditis.


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 October 17, 2018  4m