WHITE HOUSE DEVELOPMENTS
Jackson withdraws
President Trump’s pick to lead Veterans Affairs, Ronny Jackson, withdrew Thursday in the wake of late-surfacing allegations about overprescribing drugs and poor leadership while serving as a top White House doctor, saying the “false allegations” against him have become a distraction.
Trump selected Jackson, a rear admiral in the Navy, to head the VA last month after abruptly firing former Obama administration official David Shulkin following an ethics scandal and mounting rebellion within the agency. But Jackson, a surprise choice who has worked as a White House physician since 2006, faced immediate questions from Republican and Democratic lawmakers as well as veterans groups about whether he had the experience to manage the massive department of 360,000 employees serving 9 million veterans.
Russia probe
President Trump insisted Thursday that he “won’t be involved” in the special counsel investigation into Russian election meddling, even as he warned he could change his mind.
Trump, who has reshaped his legal team while considering whether to be interviewed by special counsel Robert Mueller, called the investigation “a disgrace” and excoriated federal agents for executing search warrants on his longtime personal lawyer, Michael Cohen, and his ex-campaign chairman, Paul Manafort.
Protecting Mueller
Bipartisan legislation to protect special counsel Robert Mueller now lies in the hands of Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell after the GOP-led Senate Judiciary Committee voted Thursday to advance it.
McConnell, R-Ky., has said the bill is unnecessary and he won’t let it reach the Senate floor. But the chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee added to the pressure on McConnell by voting for the measure and saying McConnell should change his mind.
“While my constitutional concerns remain, I believe this bill should be considered by the full Senate,” said Sen. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa.
Republicans have split on the issue amid President Trump’s repeated criticism of Mueller’s Russia investigation. That break was apparent Thursday as four Republicans joined
Democrats in the 14-7 vote to pass the legislation from committee.
Praise for CNN
President Trump has found something to like about CNN — Anderson Cooper.
For an hour, at least. The president has been a relentless media critic during his time in office, particularly toward CNN. But he said in an interview with “Fox & Friends” on Thursday that he watched Cooper host a town hall meeting with former FBI director James Comey the night before.
“Anderson Cooper was surprisingly tough and he did a good job,” Trump said.
Giuliani meeting
Rudolph Giuliani, the new head of President Trump’s legal team, met with the special counsel’s office Tuesday as he tries to expedite the end of the far-flung inquiry into possible collusion between the 2016 Trump campaign and Russian officials, three people familiar with the meeting said.
Giuliani declined to confirm whether a meeting took place, but the three people briefed on the sit-down — the first since the former New York City mayor joined the legal team last week — described it as a productive effort to reopen negotiations over a possible interview that special counsel Mueller is seeking with the president.
Rapper’s support
President Trump praised Kanye West on Thursday for having “good taste” for supporting the president. Trump said that he always got along with him, and that West has noticed the low unemployment rate for black Americans.