Sessions' Legal 'Warrior,' Trump Asked Witnesses About Mueller Interviews, And Bernie Opposes Lipinski's Reelection

March 8th, 2018 Top Stories --------------------------------------------------------------- [‘Victory Or Death’: The Conservative Legal ‘Warrior’ Defending Jeff Sessions]( The Gist: Ultra-conservative super-attorney Chuck Cooper likes to talk about his ability to maintain amicable relationships in even the most polarizing circumstances. Cooper has been one of Jeff Sessions’ most important allies, with him at every step of his tumultuous tenure. He prepared Sessions for his brutal confirmation hearing and, during the transition, the two even contemplated Cooper joining Sessions at the Department as his solicitor general, the only government job for which Cooper would consider leaving his highly successful private practice. By that June, Sessions retained Cooper as his private attorney for the various Russia probes, and Cooper was at Sessions’ side when special counsel Robert Mueller’s team interviewed the attorney general in January. [NYT: Trump Asked McGahn, Priebus About Interviews With Mueller]( The Gist: President Donald Trump reportedly asked at least two key witnesses about their interviews with special counsel Robert Mueller, the New York Times reported Wednesday. [Bernie Sanders Endorses Rep. Dan Lipinski’s Dem Primary Opponent]( The Gist: Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) endorsed Marie Newman in her bid to unseat Rep. Dan Lipinski (D-IL) Thursday morning, making him the latest big-name liberal to oppose the conservative Lipinski’s reelection. From The Reporter's Notebook --------------------------------------------------------------- [TPM's Tierney Sneed has been covering the trial]( for the lawsuits challenging Kansas' voter registration proof-of-citizenship requirement. Last week, she [reported]( on the "expert" witnesses Kansas Secretary of State was expecting to call. On Tuesday, Judge Julie Robinson ruled on motions from the challenging seeking to narrow or throw out that expert witness testimony. For Kobach witness Hans von Spakovsky, she is maintaining the limits on scope that she imposed at an earlier stage in the trial. Steven Camarota, another witness for Kobach, is allowed to testify, but Robinson is taking it under "advisement," meaning she can opt to exclude some or all of it after. Agree Or Disagree? --------------------------------------------------------------- Josh Marshall: "Presidents don’t need back-channels to conduct discussions with foreign governments, though they sometimes use them in situations that require delicacy and deniability. What precisely was this backchannel for that it couldn’t wait 10 days? The answer seems pretty straightforwardly that someone was either in an extreme rush or that the backchannel was to transact business that had to remain secret from the US government. Given the urgency it seems that it needed to be hidden not just from the outgoing Obama administration (for which there might be some rationale) but from the entire apparatus of the US government which would report to President Trump and for which he would establish policy in just days? That seems [highly suspicious]( given what else was happening in 2016 and would continue into 2017 and beyond. Say What?! --------------------------------------------------------------- "There are historic things that have taken place in the first year, sounds like a very functioning place of business to me." - White House Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders on Wednesday [describing]( the Trump administration as “a very functioning place of business” when reporters asked about the administration's numerous resignations. BUZZING: Today in the Hive --------------------------------------------------------------- From a TPM Prime member: "These type of observations could be made by hundreds of employees across multiple agencies...these people, Carson, Zinke, Pruitt, are in the position to cripple these agencies, not enhance their performance and value...people hate working in these poisonous environments." Related: [HUD Employee Calls Out Ben Carson: We Have ‘Operated In Fear’ Of Retribution]( Have something to add? Become a [Prime]( member and join the discussion [here](. What We're Reading --------------------------------------------------------------- International Women's Day By The Numbers ([The Los Angeles Times]( A Glimpse Into The Bureaucratic Hell Of Denying Health Insurance Claims ([Splinter]( [unsubscribe from this list]( | [update subscription preferences]( | [view email in browser](