BY PRIYANKA ARIBINDI, BRIAN BEUTLER
& CROOKED MEDIA

Wednesday, May 30, 2018

—Rudy Booliani explains Yankees fans' reaction to his presence

DAZED AND RECUSED

President Trump is hectoring his own attorney general again, complaining this morning that he "wish[es]" he had picked someone other than Jeff Sessions to run the Justice Department. Cool boss!

Trump's latest outburst came in response to a New York Times story about his efforts to bully Sessions into rescinding his recusal from the Russia investigation. The Times story confirms what has been apparent for months: Sessions is one of Special Counsel Robert Mueller's key witnesses, and his efforts to determine whether Trump obstructed the Russia investigation extends well beyond his motives for firing FBI Director James Comey.

That's bad news for Trump because his well-documented desire to install a loyalist to oversee the investigation is very corrupt. No less a GOP partisan Rep. Trey "Benghazi" Gowdy (R-SC) has spent the week refuting Trump’s attacks on the investigation and saying it was conducted properly. As president, Trump's only concern should be that the supervisor of such an investigation is an ethical person. Trying to replace the supervisor of an investigation that even Gowdy says is well-grounded with a loyalist tells us everything we need to know about Trump’s motives.

Axios portrayed Sessions' decision to endure the taunts rather than resign as a testament to his "honor" and "Boy Scout"-like sensibilities. Counterpoint: You’ve got to be fucking kidding me. Boy Scouts don't lie to the Senate. Bipartisan majorities don't find honorable people too racist for federal judgeships. The Scouts should have a badge for being less shitty than Jeff Sessions. Sessions is still around because Trump seems to genuinely fear the consequences of firing him. That sure as hell doesn’t mean that Session deserves the job, and there are a lot of people who argue he should be fired. But when it comes to protecting the Russia investigation, the alternative would be worse. Hey Scouts, use that silver lining to make a cool knot!

ROSEAMBIEN

Hours after ABC canceled her show, Roseanne Barr returned to Twitter to insist she’s “not a racist, just an idiot who made a bad joke,” tweet several more racist things, and blame her predicament on the sleep medication Ambien. The well-rested makers of Ambien clapped back: "Racism is not a known side effect of any Sanofi medication." Barr’s biggest fan, Donald Trump, responded by complaining that ABC hurt his feelings, too.

From Brian: The Roseanne debacle is a reminder to gatekeepers in media, politics, and entertainment that plucking Trump supporters from the fringes to burnish credibility with his base is a dangerous tactic that keeps backfiring.

Read →

President Trump pressured Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein to cite the Russia investigation in the memo that Trump used as the basis for firing FBI Director James Comey, according to the New York Times. Rosenstein reportedly relayed Trump’s demand to acting FBI Director Andrew McCabe, who documented it contemporaneously, and provided his notes to Special Counsel Robert Mueller.

A New York grand jury has indicted Harvey Weinstein on charges of rape and criminal sexual act.

On Tuesday, the White House announced that the U.S. will move forward with its plan to impose 25 percent tariffs on $50 billion worth of imported Chinese goods less than one week after Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said the trade war was on hold.

A prominent Russian journalist whom Ukrainian authorities said was shot and killed in Kiev yesterday, showed up alive and well at a press conference this morning where he revealed he staged his death in order to thwart a Russian assassination plot against him… The well-known journalist is a vocal critic of the Kremlin.

Kim Kardashian West visited the White House today to meet with Jared Kushner and President Trump to discuss prison reform. She reportedly planned to ask Trump to consider pardoning a first-time drug offender who was sentenced to life in prison without parole. We are all prisoners to government by celebrity.

After 20 days without a public appearance, Melania Trump tweeted that she is “working hard” at the White House, and attacked the media for speculating about her health and whereabouts following her kidney surgery earlier this month. (Doesn’t sound like her.)

Republicans are increasingly confident that they can keep Sen. John McCain's (R-AZ) seat after a deadline passed today that will allow Arizona’s governor to appoint a successor if McCain vacates the seat before the end of the year, rather than resulting in a special election. According to Republican sources, McCain also has no plans to retire, amid concerns about his health.

Rapper Pusha T accused Drake of hiding a secret child in a new diss track—the latest development in their ongoing feud. For more on the ins and outs of this ongoing saga, the Keep It crew has you covered.

"ABC...knew [Roseanne] was racist before. They made jokes about her Twitter at the ABC upfronts, so it was basically like they were enjoying the fact that they had this incendiary character who was a little bit like Trump, who was a Trump voter, someone who was telling it like it is, and the ‘is’ was racism."

—Ira Madison III

On Keep It: Ira, Kara, and Louis discuss Roseanne’s cancellation, the Drake/ Pusha T/ Kanye West/ Kim Kardashian/ RHYMEFEST feud, Arrested Development’s derailed press tour, and more. Plus, Bryan Fuller (creator of Hannibal, Pushing Daisies, Dead Like Me) joins the crew to talk about ‘Solo: A Star Wars Story’ and queerbaiting.

Listen →

Virginia’s state Senate has joined the House of Delegates in voting to expand Medicaid, which will allow the state to insure upwards of 400,000 low-income individuals. Virginia Democrats spent six years trying to convince their Republican counterparts to adopt the expansion, authorized and financed by the federal government under the Affordable Care Act. Republicans resisted, leaving hundreds of thousands of Virginians without health insurance until Democrats swept off-year elections in the state this past fall. Elections matter.

Meanwhile, efforts to get Medicaid expansion approved are also underway in Idaho and Utah. If successful, more than 500,000 uninsured people will gain coverage.

Disgraced Missouri Governor Eric Greitens announced his resignation yesterday, months after he was first credibly accused of sexually assaulting a woman he had an affair with. But there’s a catch: According to the St. Louis prosecutor’s office, his resignation was part of an agreement to dismiss an unrelated felony computer-tampering charge against him. So he won’t face any legal consequences for any of his actions.

Democrat Beto O’Rourke trails Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) by 11 points in the Texas Senate race, according to a new Quinnipiac poll, with Cruz carrying nearly every demographic, save for black voters, who support O’Rourke 70-15. Last month the difference between the two candidates was three points. However, 50 percent of voters also responded they “don’t know enough" about O'Rourke. Yet.

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