Donald Trump's campaign has a minority outreach team, which when Trump is elected will seamlessly transition to a minority deportation force. The Hill newspaper did a story today about Hillary Clinton saying the word "sigh," so we'd like to thank The Hill for bestowing upon us the Hillary Cackle Story of this election cycle. And Loretta Lynch joked that she wishes she'd known how to lock a plane door so she could have prevented Bill Clinton from talking to her, the first time ever that Bill Clinton has been accused of unwanted advances. This is HUFFPOST HILL for Friday, July 1st, 2016:
THE MERE FACT SHE EVEN HAS TO SAY THIS - Ryan J. Reilly: "Attorney General Loretta Lynch will accept whatever decision career prosecutors make about whether to bring charges in connection with Hillary Clinton’s use of a private email server, a Justice Department official said Friday. The announcement was timed to head off a political firestorm that sprung up following the news that Lynch and former President Bill Clinton had an impromptu meeting at a Phoenix airport on Monday." [HuffPost]
@jbendery: Josh Earnest repeatedly declines to say if WH agrees w/ Lynch that it was a bad idea for her to meet with Bill Clinton.
CAUTION: HOT FIRE! Ryan Grim: "Back in April, Slate’s Michelle Goldberg offered the Hillary Clinton campaign some sage advice: 'Fire Bill Clinton.' The Clinton campaign declined to take her suggestion, but perhaps they should give it another look. Bill Clinton is one of the most talented politicians of the past century, but his infallible skills continue to fail him when put in the service of someone other than himself…. On its face, it was wrong to do, and Democrats would be savaging Republicans if the situation were reversed. It raises one of two possibilities: Either Bill Clinton is an idiot or he wants his wife to lose." [HuffPost]
In fairness, who among us hasn't waited on a tarmac for 30 minutes in order to board someone's private plane for idle chatter about grandchildren, golf and travel?
LOOKS LIKE NEWT IS A SERIOUS TRUMP VEET CONTENDER - Shane Goldmacher and Doug Palmer: "Former Speaker Newt Gingrich, under consideration as Donald Trump’s running mate, is dropping his decades-long support of free trade deals and picking up Trump’s strongly protectionist position. 'I basically agree with Trump’s speech on trade,' Gingrich said in an email to POLITICO on Friday." [Politico]
THE RNC IS GOING TO BE A DAMN DISASTER - Jeremy W. Peters and Ashley Parker: "With just more than two weeks until the Republican National Convention opens in Cleveland, Donald J. Trump’s preparations for what is usually a polished and highly choreographed affair are looking a lot like his campaign itself: chaotic, freewheeling and unpredictable. Much of the program remains in flux, including who will speak, how and when Mr. Trump will arrive, and what he will say when he does." [NYT]
#NEVERTRUMP AN EVEN BIGGER MESS THAN TRUMP'S CAMPAIGN - Kyle Cheney: "Anti-Trump activists plotting a coup at the national convention in Cleveland this month more likely face a drubbing of their own. Any attempt to block Trump would begin in the convention's rules committee, an 112-member panel of delegates where Trump’s enemies had hoped to make a stand against the presumptive nominee. Through dozens of interviews and a review of public statements, however, POLITICO has determined that at least 72 members of the panel intend to smooth Trump's path to the nomination — not hinder it." [Politico]
BERNIE SANDERS REFUSES TO GO AWAY - Daniel Strauss: "Bernie Sanders is still spoiling for a convention fight. It seemed like Democrats could finally claim unity when no member of the Democratic National Committee's 15-person convention drafting committee voted against the draft of the policy platform draft during a meeting in St. Louis this past weekend: 13 members of the panel voted for the draft, one abstained and one missed the vote. But since then, Sanders-aligned members have teed off on the draft for not going far enough in key areas." [Politico]
Laura Bassett reports that if Hillary Clinton wins in November, women will be basically running the entire western world.
DELANEY DOWNER - After last month’s massacre in Orlando, Democrats in Congress pushed legislation aimed at stopping suspected terrorists from buying guns. Mass shootings by terrorists make up a small percentage of gun deaths in the U.S., however. The majority of gun deaths are actually suicide, which probably comes up less often in the gun debate because people don’t fear it. “The focus largely is on gun murders and mass shootings because those are things you can’t control,” Sen. Chris Murphy (D-Conn.) told “So That Happened,” the HuffPost Politics podcast. “It’s probably a real false sense of security that people have that they wouldn’t be a victim of suicide,” Murphy continued. “Most people are talking about the mass shootings, about the gun violence that happens in our cities, because they think that’s much more of a threat to them than being involved in a suicide.” [HuffPost]
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RINO SENATOR WARMING UP TO HILLARY - Never change, Susan Collins. Nick Visser: "Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine) is open to the possibility of supporting presumptive Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton, a woman she respects despite her 'very different philosophies' when it comes to politics." [HuffPost]
CLINTON PREPPING TO JUST TROUNCE TRUMP - Steven Shephard: "It’s no contest: Hillary Clinton has a dominating advantage over Donald Trump when it comes to field operations in the key battleground states. That’s according to The POLITICO Caucus — a panel of activists, operatives and strategists in 10 of those states. Each of the nearly 100 Democratic insiders across the map who responded to the survey said Clinton’s campaign had the stronger organization and ground game in their state. And, most troubling for Trump, Republicans were nearly unanimous in that conclusion as well: 92 percent of GOP insiders said Clinton was better positioned on the ground." [Politico]
Clinton raised $68 million in June.
IF YOU CAN'T BEAT RUBIO NOW, MAYBE YOU DON'T DESERVE A SENATE SEAT - Burgess Everett and Kevin Robillard: "In one dramatic day this month, the entire race — one of roughly a half-dozen on which control of the Senate rests — was turned on its head. First, GOP Sen. Marco Rubio dropped his retirement plans and announced plans to run for reelection. Within hours, the CBS affiliate in Miami aired a bombshell investigative story accusing the Democratic establishment's chosen candidate, 33-year-old Rep. Patrick Murphy, of rampant résumé inflation." [Politico]
NONE OF THESE PEOPLE LOOKS LIKE OBAMA AT ALL - Spoiler: Fred Armisen is not in this article. William Wan: "When Barack Obama takes his final steps out of the White House as president in January, among the saddest to see him go will be his impersonators, who make their living by imitating him….We talked to five of the country’s most interesting Obama impersonators. Here are their stories." [WashPost]
DON'T LAUGH BUT - The Trump campaign actually has a diversity outreach team. Best of luck with that! Darren Sands: "Donald Trump’s unofficial minority outreach operation will seek the blessing and the resources of the Republican National Committee during a meeting on Friday. Since its launch in April, the National Diversity Coalition for Trump (NDCT) has functioned on its own — paying for its own website and covering its own expenses." [BuzzFeed]
OBAMA LOSING PATIENCE ON ZIKA MONEY - Juliet Eilperin and Lena H. Sun: "President Obama met with his top public health advisers at the White House Friday and warned Americans that unless lawmakers approved funding soon to combat the Zika virus, some families in the United States would face 'tragedies that can last a lifetime.'" [WashPost]
TRUMP FINDS HIS BINDER FULL OF WOMEN - There are two women in it. Maggie Haberman: "Kellyanne Conway, a veteran pollster and strategist with deep working ties to Mr. Trump, will come on as a senior adviser to the campaign chairman, Paul Manafort, as well as a member of the expanding polling team led by the pollster Tony Fabrizio. to join his senior campaign team. Another addition to the higher ranks is Karen Giorno, who worked on Mr. Trump’s team in Florida during the Republican primary there. She will now be a senior political adviser." [NYT]
Meanwhile, a dude they just hired last week is already gone. So are two other women. Everything's fine, though.
BECAUSE BALON GREYJOY IS NO LONGER AVAILABLE - Here's a bunch of people the Washington Post thinks may be willing to stink of Donald Trump for the rest of their lives. Kevin Uhrmacher, Denise Lu and Aaron Blake: "These 35 people represent our best estimation of the pool of candidates to complete the Republican ticket. Given Trump’s unpredictability, it’s not a stretch to think there are others under consideration who are not included here." Rick Scott. Rick Scott! [WashPost]
THIS ONE LACKS A CATCHY HASHTAG - From the people who brought you the pointless Benghazi investigations, here's another waste of time and money to insult your intelligence. Mike DeBonis: "Meanwhile, another special House panel that has become enveloped in similar political warfare quietly continues its work. This panel — called the Select Investigative Panel on Infant Lives — established last year to probe allegations made in undercover videos produced by antiabortion activists is halfway through its year-long mandate to investigate and report on links between abortion providers and medical researchers." [WashPost]
GROSS - Lee Fang: "For high-rolling special interests looking to make an impression at the presidential conventions next month, one option is to pay a lot of money to a media outlet. Lobbyists for the oil industry, for instance, are picking up the tab for leading Beltway publications to host energy policy discussions at the convention, including the Atlantic and Politico. And for the right price, some political media outlets are even offering special interviews with editorial staffers and promotional coverage at the convention." [The Intercept]
SEEMS TRUMP IS BAD AT THIS CHARITY THING - Tebow! Tebow! Juliet Spies-Gans: "Donald Trump appears to have spent thousands of dollars in charity funds to purchase sports memorabilia at a 2012 Susan G. Komen breast cancer fundraiser, potentially violating IRS law and providing yet another example of the faint stench of immorality that often lingers around Trump’s charitable endeavors. The items in question were a jersey and a helmet, the latter signed by the then-popular NFL quarterback Tim Tebow. And while Trump himself raised the proverbial auction paddle and placed the $12,000 winning bid, research by The Washington Post indicates it was the Donald J. Trump Foundation — not The Donald himself — that foot the bill." [HuffPost]
AMERICA AT RISK OF SUDDEN FINGER SHORTAGE - Trump could lose a lot of his voters because of this. Christopher Ingraham: "If history is any guide, thousands of Americans are going to be flooding the nation's emergency rooms this Fourth of July weekend suffering from self-inflicted fireworks injuries." [WashPost]
OBAMA BUILDING MONUMENT TO HIMSELF - It's going to be a real challenge making the building practical while still maintaining the crescent moon shape Obama insists upon. And the minarets are a bit much. Kriston Capps: "President Barack Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama have selected a New York architecture firm, Tod Williams Billie Tsien Architects, to design the Barack Obama Presidential Center, the president’s planned library. The Obama Foundation announced the news on Thursday, ending months of speculation over which firms would grab the Obamas’ attention." [CityLab]
AT LEAST SOMEONE IS PAYING ATTENTION TO US - Cora Currier: "Secret FBI rules allow agents to obtain journalists’ phone records with approval from two internal officials — far less oversight than under normal judicial procedures." [The Intercept]
Sarah Palin said it's "funny to see the splodey heads keep sploding.
BECAUSE YOU'VE READ THIS FAR - This piece is such a righteous admonishment of fireworks photos. Please, people. Think.
COURT RULES AGAINST MEAN JERKS - "A day before it was due to come into effect, a federal judge has blocked a Mississippi law permitting those with religious objections to deny wedding services to same-sex couples and impose dress and bathroom restrictions on transgender people." [Reuters]
DIG THIS SUPERCUT OF HILLARY SPORTSING - Joe Blevins: "In a new ad parody for the political satire site Cafe called “Hillarii Sports,” filmmaker (and A.V. Club contributor) Dominick Nero imagines a Nintendo-style video game based around Clinton and her real-life athletic adventures, including graceless attempts at bowling, soccer, and even dominoes." [The A.V. Club]
COMFORT FOOD
- Humans are pretty terrible, but we did send a cool space probe to Jupiter.
- A whale army is gathering to invade San Francisco.
- Google just made it easier to delete embarrassing stuff from your search history.
TWITTERAMA
@blakegriffin32: the fact that nobody has legally changed their name to "sources" and taken credit for every breaking sports story is insane.
@ironghazi: MILLENNIAL: [Recently graduated college] I cant afford to live on my own
BABY BOOMER: [Recently said the N-word] Your generation is garbage
@meganamram: I thought I saw The Hamburglar on the street but it was just some other hamburglar
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