Briefing National – November 6, 2017

  • Another mass shooting. A gunman clad in black shot and killed 26 people at a church near San Antonio on Sunday [San Antonio Express].
  • Must read! It’s been one year since Donald Trump pulled off the biggest upset in American politics since Truman beat Dewey. Here’s a delicious oral history of the 2016 election that’s well worth your time [Esquire].
  • Senate Republicans are expected to unveil their own version of tax reform this week [Politico].
  • Sen. Rand Paul was assaulted in his home over the weekend. Paul suffered five broken ribs and bruises to his lungs. It is unclear when he will return to Washington [Washington Post]. Paul’s absence could cause problems for Republicans trying to pass tax reform by using a procedural method that only requires a simple majority [Politico].
  • During his visit to Asia, President Donald Trump jabbed at Japanese officials, saying they should make more cars in the United States [Politico].
  • Democrats lead Republicans on the generic congressional ballot question by the largest margin in decades, but their chances of taking control of Congress in 2018 could be hampered by low turnout [Washington Post].
  • Here’s how Russians were able to hack Democratic emails during the 2016 election [Associated Press].
  • At least nine people connected with President Donald Trump‘s campaign had contact with Russians during the 2016 election [Washington Post].
  • A Russian billionaire investor bought significant stakes in Facebook and Twitter using hundreds of millions of dollars from the Kremlin [New York Times].
  • Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross did not end his investment in a shipping firm that has significant ties to a Russian oligarch sanctioned by the U.S. and Vladimir Putin‘s son-in-law [New York Times].
  • Former DNC interim chair Donna Brazile says she could find no evidence that the 2016 Democratic primary was rigged to favor Hillary Clinton over Bernie Sanders [ABC News].
  • A new poll shows President Donald Trump‘s job approval rating has fallen to the lowest point for any president at this point in their first term in the last 70 years [Washington Post].
  • Even if Democratic New Jersey Senator Robert Menendez is convicted in his bribery trial, Democrats might resist efforts to expel him from the Senate [Politico].

On this day in history:

  • 1528 – Shipwrecked Spanish conquistador Alvar Nunez Cabeza de Vaca becomes the first known European to set foot in the area that would become Texas.
  • 1860 – Abraham Lincoln is elected as the 16th President of the United States.
  • 1861 – Jefferson Davis is elected president of the Confederate States of America.
  • 1869 – Rutgers College defeats Princeton University 6-4 in the first official intercollegiate football game.