| | | | A week of devastating body blows for Trump | | Consider President Donald Trump's past few days.
Tuesday, his former campaign chairman Paul Manafort is convicted in a Virginia court of eight felony counts of financial crimes, a case that grew out of special counsel Robert Mueller's investigation into Russia's meddling in the 2016 election.
POW!
Mere minutes later, in New York, Michael Cohen, Trump's longtime personal attorney, cuts a plea agreement in which he pleads guilty to eight charges including two that deal directly with payments made to women alleging they had affairs with Trump and they were paid off to keep quiet. Cohen says Trump "directed" and "coordinated" the payoffs, which would make the President of the United States an unindicted co-conspirator in an effort to end-run campaign finance law.
BOOM!
By Thursday, Trump learns that David Pecker, a longtime friend who owns the National Enquirer's parent company, has been granted immunity by the Southern District of New York. Pecker's company paid one of Trump's accusers -- former Playboy model Karen McDougal -- $150,000 in exchange for exclusive rights to her story. The publication never ran it (or intended to run it) -- a practice known as "catch and kill" in the tabloid world. Later that day, The Associated Press reports that Pecker kept all of his "catch and kill" deals in a safe and the safe included several deals related to Trump.
KERPLUNK!
Then on Friday comes word that Allen Weisselberg, the longtime chief financial officer of the Trump Organization, has also been granted immunity to speak freely with the SDNY prosecutors about the Cohen investigation. While Trump's lawyers insisted they were unconcerned, if Weisselberg's immunity grant were extended to allow him to talk about anything he knows about Trump's finances, that could be the biggest news of the week.
THWACK!
And, don't forget, the week begins with Trump expressing unease with the news that broke over the weekend that White House Counsel Don McGahn had spent more than 30 hours in interviews with the special counsel's office.
ZAP!
The Point: Trump is no closer to being indicted today than he was at the start of the week. (The Justice Department has said a sitting president can't be indicted.) But the combined damage done by Manafort, Cohen, Pecker and Weisselberg put Trump's political fate -- read: impeachment -- on far shakier ground.
-- Chris
Below, the week that was, in Trump headlines.
Monday: Tuesday: Wednesday: Thursday: Friday: | | "We are at war right now – it's a cyberwar and unfortunately the commander in chief of the cyberwar is asleep at the switch because he benefits and has benefited from the cyberwar."
--DNC Chair Tom Perez attacking President Trump and Republicans for a lack of response on cybersecurity after fears that an unauthorized "simulated phishing test" was an attempted hack of the party's voter database earlier this week | | | MCCAIN DISCONTINUING TREATMENT | | The family of Arizona's Sen. John McCain announced today that the former Republican presidential candidate will discontinue treatment for brain cancer, which he was diagnosed with last year.
The family's statement: "Last summer, Senator John McCain shared with Americans the news our family already knew: he had been diagnosed with an aggressive glioblastoma, and the prognosis was serious. In the year since, John has surpassed expectations for his survival. But the progress of disease and the inexorable advance of age render their verdict. With his usual strength of will, he has now chosen to discontinue medical treatment."
Several lawmakers quickly responded to the news via Twitter:
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell: "Very sad to hear this morning's update from the family of our dear friend @SenJohnMcCain. We are so fortunate to call him our friend and colleague. John, Cindy, and the entire McCain family are in our prayers at this incredibly difficult hour."
House Speaker Paul Ryan: "John McCain personifies service to our country. The whole House is keeping John and his family in our prayers during this time."
Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer quote tweeted McCain's daughter Meghan's statement and said: "My thoughts and prayers are with Senator McCain and his family."
CNN's Lauren Fox compiled a list of politician reactions here. | | | Nicki Minaj has a new album. While it's getting mixed reviews, "Majesty" is quite the track. There's a lot going on. | | | Today's topic: They don't make 'em like Sen. John McCain anymore. | | | It's been a very busy week at the White House and on Capitol Hill, but campaigning never stops. Here's a look at some of the moves made by potential 2020 Democratic presidential candidates this week: | | LYFTING VOTERS TO THE POLLS | | It's all about turnout. And turnout can't happen unless people are able to get to the polls. To help people in underserved communities be able to access their right to vote this fall during the midterm elections, ride-sharing app Lyft is teaming up with a number of non-profits to offer free and reduced-price rides on Election Day, Nov. 6.
Free rides will be provided by Lyft in conjunction with Voto Latino, the Urban League and the National Federation of the Blind to those in underserved communities across the country to increase turnout.
In addition, Lyft will provide 50% off promo codes to riders in partnership with Vote.org, Nonprofit Vote, TurboVote and others.
And Lyft's assistance doesn't stop there. Riders can find their polling locations through the Lyft app and the company plans to remind people about voter registration deadlines, give drivers voter registration handouts and offer in-office voter registration to its employees. Lyft will provide online voter information through partner organizations When We All Vote and National Voter Registration Day and will encourage people to participate in early voting.
| | A number of leading tech companies, including Facebook and Twitter, are meeting today to discuss the threat of interference on their platforms during the midterm elections.
Why? This comes in the wake of revelations about Russian interference in the 2016 US election and news about recent hacks of campaigns and political organizations. Earlier this week, Facebook announced it had taken down 652 pages, accounts and groups it had identified as part of coordinated disinformation campaigns that had ties to foreign countries, including Iran and Russia.
What's next? Executives from Facebook and Twitter are expected to testify next month before the Senate Intelligence Committee about the precautions their companies are taking to protect elections from misinformation.
Read more from CNNMoney's article by Laurie Segall and Chris Isidore. | | | From Brenna: "Like former Trump attorney Michael Cohen, I'm ready to slam a door on this week. If you missed anything that happened and you also like GIFs, have I got a story for you! As always, keep your friends up on the news by sharing The Point with them!" | | | | | | |
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