Russian officials believed “they had the ability to influence” Trump and his top advisors

Developments on Day 131 of the Trump Administration:

Russia Sought Influence Over Trump With “Derogatory” Information

Russian Government officials discussed leverage over Donald Trump in the 2016 campaign with “derogatory” information about the candidate Donald Trump and some of his top aides, according to “two former intelligence officials and a Congressional source”.

US intelligence services intercepted the communications. One source said the information was financial in nature with the Russians believing “they had the ability to influence the [Trump] administration”.

The sources, who had access to US intelligence agencies’ descriptions of the communications, cautioned that the Russian claims “could have been exaggerated or even made up” as part of a disinformation campaign. One said, “The Russians could be overstating their belief to influence.”

None of the sources said which specific Trump aides were discussed. However, other US intercepts revealed Russian officials bragging about cultivating relationships, including with Michael Flynn, later the National Security Advisor.

Flynn was dismissed after 24 days in the post, amid controversy over his late December phone conversations with Russian Ambassador Sergei Kislyak, including about US sanctions on Moscow.

Last week, US officials disclosed that Trump’s son-in-law and senior advisor Jared Kushner and Flynn met Kislyak at the start of December to propose a channel to Moscow through the Russian Embassy.

Trump’s former campaign manager Paul Manafort has financial links with pro-Russian Ukrainian interests, but denied that he received any illicit finances. He has offered to testify before Congressional committees and said he will turn over subpoenaed documents.

US intelligence services have been investigating possible Trump-Russia links since July 2016. These include claims in a dossier gathered by Christopher Steele, a former UK intelligence officer.

A White House spokesman said of the latest revelations:

This is yet another round of false and unverified claims made by anonymous sources to smear the President. The reality is, a review of the President’s income from the last ten years showed he had virtually no financial ties at all. There appears to be no limit to which the President’s political opponents will go to perpetuate this false narrative, including illegally leaking classified material. All this does is play into the hands of our adversaries and put our country at risk.

White House Communications Director Leaves — But Was He Pushed Out?

White House communications director Michael Dubke resigns, days after the White House announced the creation of a “war room” amid the expanding Trump-Russia investigation.

White House counselor Kellyanne Conway said simply, “He has expressed his desire to leave the White House,” and Dubke sent a note to colleagues that the reasons for his departure were “personal”:

But it has been my great honor to serve President Trump and his admin. It has also been my distinct pleasure to work side by side, day by day, with the staff of the communications and press depts. This White House is filled with some of the finest and hardest working men and women in the American government.

However, reports have circulated for days that Donald Trump was preparing to shake up his communications staff amid his anger and frustration. Trump has said in recent interviews that he is ready to scrap the daily White House press briefing, possibly replacing it with a personal message to the press about every two weeks.

Dubke tendered his resignation on May 18. He had only taken up his post in mid-February.

Trump’s Mysterious Late-Night “Covfefe” Tweet

Donald Trump takes over Twitter with the mysterious message:

Trump posted the tweet just after midnight, Washington time. It is unclear why the misspelling of “coverage” was not corrected, why the tweet was not completed, and why it has not been deleted after almost four hours.

Amidst a myriad of responses, the best may have come from the staff of the Merriam-Webster dictionary:

[UPDATE: Trump has now deleted the original tweet and posted:

]

TOP PHOTO: Donald Trump with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and Russian Ambassador Sergei Kislyak, May 10, 2017

Essential Reading: Dismantling Internet Privacy

Kimberly Kindy writes for The Washington Post:

Congressional Republicans knew their plan was potentially explosive. They wanted to kill landmark privacy regulations that would soon ban Internet providers, such as Comcast and AT&T, from storing and selling customers’ browsing histories without their express consent.

So after weeks of closed-door debates on Capitol Hill over who would take up the issue first — the House or the Senate — Republican members settled on a secret strategy, according to Hill staff and lobbyists involved in the battle. While the nation was distracted by the House’s pending vote to repeal Obamacare, Senate Republicans would schedule a vote to wipe out the new privacy protections.

On March 23, the measure passed on a straight party-line vote, 50 to 48. Five days later, a majority of House Republicans voted in favor of it, sending it to the White House, where President Trump signed the bill in early April without ceremony or public comment.