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“If they are patriotically minded, they start making their contributions — which are right, from their point of view — to the fight against those who say bad things about Russia.”
— Russian President Vladimir Putin, shifting away from his previous blanket denials of Russian involvement in cyberattacks last year to help the presidential campaign of Donald Trump, denied any state role on Thursday but said that “patriotically minded” private Russian hackers could have been involved, the New York Times reports.
“But really, all this focus on Trump’s tweets and the stories about his boorishness abroad should please the White House no end. The more the narrative focuses on Trump’s toughness and bluster with our allies, the less anyone focuses on what’s really been exposed in these opening months of his presidency. … Trump is weak, and our rivals have figured it out. They’re walking all over the American president in a way we haven’t seen since at least the days of disco and Space Invaders. … None of this seems to permeate the family circle of Trump’s White House, where, as ever, mythology crowds out any notion of policy or reality.”
$8.1 million
Former President Obama and former first lady Michelle purchased the home in Washington, DC that they have been renting, the Chicago Sun-Times has learned, closing on the $8.1 million purchase on Wednesday.
“They paid me.”
— Hillary Clinton, in an interview by Recode, on why she spoke at Goldman Sachs.
7
“The House Intelligence Committee issued seven subpoenas in a sign that its investigation into alleged Russian meddling in the 2016 election is ramping up in scope and intensity,” the Wall Street Journal reports.
61% to 33%
A new Monmouth University poll finds that President Trump may not be well-served by his primary spokespeople, but he is probably his own worst mouthpiece. “More Americans say that Donald Trump, press secretary Sean Spicer, and counselor Kellyanne Conway tend to hurt rather than help the administration’s cause when they step in front of the media. Reviews are mixed for deputy press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders. Vice President Mike Pence is the only official tested in the poll who has a net positive impact when he speaks on behalf of the administration.” Key finding: 61% of Americans say Trump does more to hurt his own cause when he speaks on behalf of the administration. Just 33% say he does more to help his administration when he speaks publicly.
