WTF Just Happened Today

Wednesday, June 12, 2019

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1/ Trump asserted executive privilege over subpoenaed documents about the administration's decision to add a citizenship question to the 2020 Census. The move, on the advice of the Justice Department, was meant to undercut a vote later in the day by the House Oversight Committee to hold Attorney General William Barr and Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross in contempt for refusing to turn over the materials. Hours later the committee voted 24-15 to advance the contempt measures against Barr and Ross. The full House will need to hold a floor vote in order to to file a lawsuit to enforce the committee's subpoenas. (Washington Post / NBC News / Politico / New York Times / Axios / Associated Press / Wall Street Journal)

2/ Trump Jr. said he's "not at all worried" about perjury charges over suspicions he previously lied to Congress. "There was nothing to change," Trump Jr. said following his closed-door meeting with the Senate Intelligence Committee today. In February, Michael Cohen testified that he briefed Trump Jr. and Ivanka Trump about negotiations regarding the Trump Tower Moscow project. Cohen also told Congress that he believed he heard Trump Jr. talking with his father about the Trump Tower meeting between him, Jared Kushner and Paul Manafort, and a Russian lawyer promising damaging information on Hillary Clinton. (CNN / Washington Post / Politico / Talking Points Memo)

• Michael Flynn's new attorney is one of the earliest and fiercest critics of the Justice Department and the FBI's investigation into a potential conspiracy between Trump's campaign and Russia. Sidney Powell, a former Justice Department attorney, claimed that Flynn was spied on as part of a "set-up" by the FBI and that his case should be "dismissed." Flynn pleaded guilty last year to lying to the FBI and agreed to cooperate with Mueller's investigation. (The Hill / Politico / CNN)

• The House Intelligence Committee chairman threatened to subpoena FBI Director Christopher Wray for information related to the counterintelligence investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 election. Adam Schiff said he has been unable to get information on the status or findings of the counterintelligence probe. (