Gary Ott, Trumpcare and President Trump. Your Thursday morning political briefing from UtahPolicy.com

Local News Highlights: Daily Briefing

Morning must reads for Thursday, July 20, 2017

Good Thursday morning from Salt Lake City. Today is the 201st day of the year. There are 164 days remaining in 2017.

Who are Utah's most conservative and liberal legislators? Gary Ott's aides tried to fake emails to make it look like they came from him. Donald Trump bashes Attorney General Jeff Sessions and threatens special counsel Robert Mueller.

The clock:

• 5 days until ballots for the August primary are mailed to voters (7/25/2017)
• 26 days until the 2017 Utah primary election (8/15/2017)
• 110 days until the 2017 election (11/7/2017)
• 186 days until the opening day of the 2018 Utah Legislature (1/22/2018)
• 231 days until the final day of the 2018 Utah Legislature (3/8/2018)
• 474 days until the 2018 midterm elections (11/6/2018)
• 1,202 days until the 2020 presidential election (11/3/2020)

Today's political TL; DR -

• An analysis of voting during the 2017 session says Sen. Jim Dabakis and Rep. Angela Romero are the most liberal members of the Utah Legislature, while Sen. Wayne Harper and Rep. Dan McCay are the most conservative [Utah Policy].
   
• Rep. Mia Love's fundraising machine keeps humming along. The two-term Republican pulled in more than $430,000 last quarter. However, she also spent more than $400,000 in the last quarter, mostly due to fundraising costs [Utah Policy].
   
• President Donald Trump is reportedly putting pressure on Sen. Mike Lee over his opposition to the GOP health care bill [Utah Policy].
   
• Shocking! Top aides in the office of troubled Salt Lake County Recorder Gary Ott took steps to make it look like he was the author of emails, not them, about the office according to documents obtained through an open records request. Julie Dole and Karmen Sanone have been accused of covering up Ott's condition so that they can keep their high-paying jobs in the recorder's office [Tribune, Deseret News].
   
• Jon Huntsman's confirmation path to becoming ambassador to Russia could be a bruising one as he'll likely face tough questions over the Trump administration's attitude toward that country [Deseret News].
   
• Gov. Gary Herbert highlights the newly completed 50-year plan to manage Utah's water resources [Deseret News, Tribune].
   
• A Utah Transit Authority study says if Utah's economy would get a boost if the government did more to promote transit and other transportation alternatives like biking and walking [Tribune].
   
• South Jordan mayoral candidate Rich Cunningham floats a city-owned bus line that would be outside of the Utah Transit Authority [Tribune].
   
• LaVarr Webb remembers the days when the grassroots of the Utah Republican Party was much more mainstream than it is today [Utah Policy].

National headlines:

• President Donald Trump gives a long interview to the New York Times in which he:
  • Slams Attorney General Jeff Sessions, saying he would not have given him the job if he knew Sessions would recuse himself in the Russia investigation.
     
  • Threatened special counsel Robert Mueller who is investigating Russia's involvement in the 2016 election saying he would take action against Mueller if he started probing his family finances.
     
  • Alleged FBI Director James Comey was trying to gain leverage over him through a dossier containing salacious allegations against Trump that came from a former British spy.
     
• Arizona Sen. John McCain has been diagnosed with a brain tumor following surgery to remove a blood clot from above his eye. The lawmaker has glioblastoma, a particularly aggressive form of brain cancer. It's the same type of cancer that killed Ted Kennedy and Beau Biden [Arizona Republic].
   
• President Donald Trump is growing more frustrated with the Senate's inability to pass a measure to repeal and replace Obamacare. He's even threatening consequences at the ballot box for some reluctant lawmakers [Washington Post].
   
• Get yer popcorn! Donald Trump Jr. and former Trump campaign manager Paul Manafort will testify in front of the Senate Judiciary Committee next week [Politico]. Jared Kushner will speak to the Senate Intelligence Committee on Monday, but that meeting will be behind closed doors [Washington Post].
   
• National security and foreign policy advisers are becoming increasingly worried about President Donald Trump's overtures to Russia [Associated Press].
   
• Here's a fascinating look at how the Obama administration attempted to push back against Russian election interference, going so far as to "war game" a possible Russian cyber attack on election day [Time].
   
• Republicans who are working on tax reform say it will be nearly impossible to get the corporate tax rate below 25% if the reform is going to be revenue neutral [Axios].
   
• Boring but important #1. Records show Paul Manafort owed pro-Russia interests as much as $17 million before he joined the Trump campaign in 2016 [New York Times].
   
• Boring but important #2. Deutsche Bank is being investigated by the feds because of millions of dollars in loans made to Donald Trump's businesses [New York Times].

On this day in history:

• 1861 - The Congress of the Confederate States began holding sessions in Richmond, Va.
   
• 1881 - Sioux Indian leader Sitting Bull surrendered to federal troops.
   
• 1944 - Adolf Hitler was only slightly wounded when a bomb planted by would-be assassins exploded at the German leader's Rastenburg headquarters.
   
• 1969 - Astronaut Neil Armstrong became the first man to walk on the moon.
   
• 1976 - America's Viking 1 robot spacecraft landed on Mars.

Today At Utah Policy

Who are the most conservative and liberal members of the Utah Legislature?
By Bob Bernick, Contributing Editor
Close watchers of the 104-member Utah Legislature probably have pretty good guesses on which members are recognized liberals, which are hard core conservatives....

Mia Love's fundraising juggernaut rolling along
By Bryan Schott, Managing Editor
 Rep. Mia Love is off to a blazing start in her fundraising for next year's election, pulling in more than $432,000 in the just completed filing period....

The good old days of a mainstream Republican Party
By LaVarr Webb, Publisher
An old friend of mine, businessman and retired Brigadier General Larry Lunt, recently came across a very interesting old document -- the 1986 state convention newsletter of the Utah Republican Party....

Trump reportedly putting pressure on Lee over health care
By Bryan Schott, Managing Editor
Sen. Mike Lee helped kill the latest Senate health care bill on Monday night when he announced he would not vote for the measure. On Tuesday, President Donald Trump and his associates reportedly stepped up pressure on Lee to reverse course....

Policy News

Get to know the new Utah Transportation Coalition co-chairs
The Utah Transportation Coalition is happy to announce that Sophia DiCaro, Chief Compliance Officer at The Cynosure Group and Wade Sherman, Vice President and Lead Counsel for the Digital Marketing Division at Adobe, will serve as the organization's 2017-2018 co-chairs....

Utah one of top five most fiscally healthy states in the nation
Utah State Treasurer David C. Damschen announced that Utah has been ranked one of the top five most fiscally healthy states in the nation by the George Mason University Mercatus Center. ...

Sen. Lee supports Amb. Huntsman nomination
Sen. Mike Lee (R-UT) released the following statement regarding Ambassador Jon Huntsman Jr.'s nomination as US Ambassador to Russia:...

Utah Foundation wins top awards at GRA national meeting
Utah Foundation staff won the Most Distinguished Research Award for its 2016 Utah Priorities Project from the Governmental Research Association at its annual meeting in Salt Lake City....

Hatch introduces legislation to combat cybercrime
Following a worldwide cyberattack that affected more than 300,000 computers, Senator Orrin Hatch (R-UT)-the Chairman of the Senate Republican High-Tech Task Force-introduced bipartisan, bicameral legislation to thwart future cyberattacks against U.S. computer networks.&...

Local Headlines

Salt Lake Tribune

Op-ed: Mistrust of government drives millennials to question Utah's death penalty

Editorial: Ending the death penalty would save money and save souls

Entertainment, not shopping, is what's attracting people and businesses to downtown Salt Lake City

Gehrke: Those who care for Gary Ott need to help him step away from recorder's office and the public spotlight

South Jordan mayoral candidate brings back proposal for city-owned bus line

UTA study: Want to boost Utah economy, health? Invest in biking, walking

Newly finished 50-year water plan marks a new era, Utah governor says

Trump warns GOP senators - like Utah's Lee - who opposed GOP health care bill

With Chaffetz out of office, Democrat Kathie Allen's donations have slowed

Gary Ott emails: 'I am not sure how to respond so this looks as if it is coming from Gary's computer'

Deseret News

Linda & Richard Eyre: Strong families equal strong economy and strong society

Op-ed: The biggest lie in Utah's public lands debate

Jon Huntsman Jr. could face tough confirmation questions about Trump, Russia

Hatch, Lee and Obama all tweet thoughts and prayers for John McCain after brain tumor diagnosis

Records: Ott's staff discussed ways to make emails 'look as if' they came from him

Our Schools Now has to hold second round of public hearings over 'technical issue'

Governor hails 'new beginning' in Utah's water management

Other

John Curtis, branded as moderate, touts traditional conservative ideas (Daily Herald)

Editorial: Ogden mayor took city government into his own hands (Standard-Examiner)

Attempt to change land status of Ogden Nature Center, Fairgrounds rouses ire (Standard-Examiner)

Clearfield isn't the only city hoping to lure Stadler train manufacturing plant (Standard-Examiner)

National Headlines

Why Can't Republicans Get Anything Done? (National Review)

Fmr. U.N. Amb. Power Emerges As Central Figure In Obama Unmasking Investigation (Free Beacon)

Cruz amendment would drive down premiums, HHS says (Politico)

Source: Senate leaders to offer $200 billion to win over moderates (The Hill)

Trump plays hardball on ObamaCare repeal (The Hill)

To fix health care, look to state governors (CNN)

Sen. John McCain Diagnosed With Brain Cancer (NBC News)

Grief, support pours in after McCain brain cancer diagnosis (CNN)

Supreme Court allows Trump refugee ban but backs broader exemptions for relatives (Washington Post)

How Steve Bannon pulled one of the greatest upsets in American politics (PBS Newshour)

Trade talks fizzle as China rebuffs key Trump team demand (Washington Post)

Wise Words

Truth

"Anyone who doesn't take truth seriously in small matters cannot be trusted in large ones either." Albert Einstein
 

Lighter Side

See Through

"On the way to Paris the president had some off-the-record conversations with reporters on Air Force One, and then he decided he wanted some of what he said to be ON the record. So Trump told reporters last night that the wall - you know that wall Mexico's going to pay for, very nice of them to do? - he wants the wall to be see-through. For real!" Jimmy Kimmel