WTF Just Happened Today

Friday, July 26, 2019

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1/ The House Judiciary Committee said it would petition a federal judge to unseal Robert Mueller's secret grand jury evidence. Chairman Jerry Nadler argued that it's essential that Congress "have access to all the relevant facts" – including witness testimony – in order to fully investigate potential abuses of power by Trump and his inner circle before deciding whether to recommend articles of impeachment. The petition does not seek the public release of the grand jury evidence. The committee will also continue its investigation during the House's six-week summer recess and is working to obtain testimony from former White House counsel Don McGahn. Nadler said he is going to court today and again next week to file a lawsuit to force McGahn to testify. (New York Times / Politico / Washington Post)

• House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said the House will make a decision regarding impeachment in a "timely fashion," denying that she is trying to "run out the clock" on the issue. Pelosi's comment came shortly before Nadler said the House Judiciary Committee had already "in effect" been conducting an impeachment inquiry. (NBC News)

2/ Russia targeted the election systems in all 50 states in 2016, the Senate Intelligence Committee's new report on election interference concluded. Officials believe that Russians probably "scanned" systems in every state for "election-related web pages, voter ID information, election system software, and election service companies." The investigation found that Russia's interference began as early as 2014 and continued into at least 2017, but there was no evidence that votes were changed or that any voting machines were compromised. (New York Times / Washington Post)

• ???? Day 917: The Senate Intelligence Committee found that "the Russian government directed extensive activity, beginning in at least 2014 and carrying into at least 2017, against U.S. election infrastructure at the state and local level," according to the committee's report on Russian interference. The report recommends that Congress provide additional funding for states to secure elections once the $380 million appropriated in 2018 is spent. (NPR / Bloomberg / Axios / The Hill)

3/ Active duty military personnel are stationed within feet of migrant adults and children inside Border Patrol facilities. The proximity could lead to violations of the 140-year-old federal law that prohibits ac...

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