Today’s Agenda: Trump Wouldn’t Necessarily Say No To Foreign Dirt On Opponents

By Kate Riga, John Light and Caitlin MacNeal

June 13, 2019 8:34 a.m.

Happy Thursday, June 13. President Donald Trump was extremely candid in an interview with ABC News, saying that he sees no problem in getting information on his opponents from foreign governments, and that he probably wouldn’t tell the FBI if he were offered such info. Here’s more on that statement and the other stories we’re watching.

Three Things We’re Watching Today

Trump said point blank that he’d take opposition research from a foreign government

President Donald Trump told ABC’s George Stephanopoulos that he sees nothing wrong with taking “oppo research” from a foreign government, and that he wouldn’t necessarily feel compelled to tell the FBI about it. Even his staunchest allies are having trouble spinning this one. We’ll continue to track the fallout.

DNC announces debate participants

This afternoon or early this evening, the Democratic National Committee will announce which candidates running in the presidential primary have qualified for the first debate. The first debate will take place over two nights and feature up to 20 candidates total. We’ll be watching to see who makes the cut today.

Plea hearing for Rep. Hunter’s wife

The judge overseeing GOP Rep. Duncan Hunter’s campaign finance fraud case scheduled a plea change hearing today for Hunter’s wife, who had previously pleaded not guilty along with her husband. There’s a chance that Margaret Hunter pleads guilty and begins cooperating with the government, so we’ll be keeping an eye on that today.

Today’s Rundown

9:00 a.m. ET House gavels in.

9:30 a.m. ET Senate gavels in.

10:45 a.m. ET Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi holds a press conference.

12:30 p.m. ET Trump has a working lunch with governors on workforce freedom and mobility, including potential comments to the press.

Yesterday’s Most-Read Story

Trump Snaps When Asked If He’s Meeting Putin Alone: ‘You People Are So Untrusting’ — Cristina Cabrera

Reading List

What North Carolina’s Unfair Political Maps Have To Do With Hurricanes —
La’Meshia Whittington-Kaminski, Talking Points Memo

The Man Who Was Upset: Making sense of Donald Trump’s petulant reign — David Roth, The New Republic

Right-wing publications launder an anti-journalist smear campaign — Jared Holt, Columbia Journalism Review

Experts: Spy used AI-generated face to connect with targets — Raphael Satter, AP

These Haunting Pictures Show How Chernobyl Has Aged Over The Years —
Gabriel H. Sanchez, Buzzfeed

Kate Riga (@Kate_Riga24) Kate Riga is a news writer for Talking Points Memo based in New York City. Before joining TPM, Kate was the political reporter for The Southampton Press. She is a graduate of Georgetown University and a native of Philadelphia.

John Light (@LightTweeting) John is TPM's editor for Prime & Special Projects. His work has also appeared at The Atlantic, Reuters, Mother Jones, Salon, Slate, UN Dispatch, Vox, Worth, City & State and Al Jazeera, and has been broadcast on Public Radio International. Before joining TPM, John was a producer for Bill Moyers and WNYC, and worked as a news writer for Grist. He grew up in New Jersey, studied history and film at Oberlin College, and got his master‘s degree in journalism from Columbia University.

Caitlin MacNeal (@caitlinmacneal) Caitlin MacNeal is an assistant editor based in Washington, D.C. Before joining TPM, Caitlin interned and wrote for the Huffington Post, the Sunlight Foundation and Slate. She is a graduate of Georgetown University.

Have a tip? Send it Here!