Pelosi condemns Facebook over 'false information' after doctored video – as it happened

• House Speaker Nancy Pelosi challenged Facebook for not taking down the video of her that had been edited to make her appear drunk or ill. “I think they have proven — by not taking down something they know is false — that they were willing enablers of the Russian interference in our election.”
• Louisiana became the latest state to pass a near-total ban on abortions. Pro-life Democratic governor John Bel Edwards issued a statement saying he planned to sign the bill into law.
• The Department of Justice and special counsel’s office issued a joint statement that there was “no conflict” between Robert Mueller and attorney general William Barr’s statements about the office’s investigation findings.

President Trump sparred with the late senator John McCain in life, and continued his attacks even after the Arizona Republican died from brain cancer in 2018.

The Wall Street Journal is reporting that the president is taking this spat to a whole other level:

In a May 15 email to U.S. Navy and Air Force officials, a U.S. Indo-Pacific Command official outlined plans for the president’s arrival that he said had resulted from conversations between the White House Military Office and the Seventh Fleet of the U.S. Navy. In addition to instructions for the proper landing areas for helicopters and preparation for the USS Wasp—where the president was scheduled to speak—the official issued a third directive: “USS John McCain needs to be out of sight.”

“Please confirm #3 will be satisfied,” the official wrote.

When a Navy commander expressed surprise about the directive for the USS John McCain, the U.S. Indo-Pacific Command official replied: “First I heard of it as well.” He said he would work with the White House Military Office to obtain more information about the order.

Acting Defense Secretary Pat Shanahan was aware of the concern about the presence of the USS John McCain in Japan and approved measures to ensure it didn’t interfere with the president’s visit, a U.S. official said.

House rules committee chairman Jim McGovern jumps on the impeachment wagon:

Here’s a statement from Louisiana governor John Bel Edwards - a Democrat - about his intention to sign the abortion bill that just passed in his state:

A Department of Justice spokeswoman issued a joint statement with a spokesman for the special counsel’s office regarding Mueller’s press conference today:

Louisiana became the latest state today to pass an abortion bill that will ban the procedure at the first sign of cardiac activity.

“This extreme abortion ban is part of a concerted, nationwide effort to criminalize abortion,” Alanah Odoms Hebert, ACLU of Louisiana executive director said in a statement. “After years of attacks on abortion access, Louisiana politicians have now sunk to a new low with an extreme ban that would outlaw abortion before many women know they are pregnant. Senate Bill 184 is a plainly unconstitutional reminder of just how far Louisiana politicians are willing to go to interfere in these deeply personal medical decisions and force women to continue pregnancies against their will. We’re committed to making sure this brazen attack on the constitutional right to abortion access never takes effect.”

Read the deep dive into the issue from Jamiles Lartey here:

‘Tis the season for commencement addresses, and Hillary Clinton was at Hunter College this afternoon:

“What we’ve seen from the administration is the complete refusal to condemn a foreign power who attacked our democracy or to even take the most basic steps to protect our voting systems for the future, despite the fact that all the professionals who study this say, ‘More attacks are coming,’” Clinton said.

At her California event today, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi took a swipe at Facebook over the video of her that was edited to make it look as if she were drunk or ill - the video that Facebook refused to delete.

Pelosi then took it one step further, according to KQED, calling the social media giant “willing enablers of the Russian interference” in the 2016 election.

“We have said all along, poor Facebook, they were unwittingly exploited by the Russians. I think wittingly, because right now they are putting up something that they know is false. I think it’s wrong,” she said. “I can take it ... But [Facebook is] lying to the public.”

Pelosi added, “I think they have proven — by not taking down something they know is false — that they were willing enablers of the Russian interference in our election.”

Hello, Vivian Ho taking over for Lauren Gambino. Wow, did something happen today?

Today was a big day – historic, even, according to some D.C.-pundits. Here’s a wrap of what’s happened so far.

• Special counsel Robert Mueller broke his two-year silence with a press conference this morning during which he stressed the findings in his report: That Russia meddled in the US presidential election to benefit Donald Trump, that investigators did not find sufficient evidence of conspiracy between the Trump campaign and Russia and – the key line - “if we had had confidence that the president clearly did not commit a crime, we would have said so.”
• In his remarks, Mueller explained that his decision not to charge Trump with obstruction of justice was based on longstanding justice department policy, rather than a lack of evidence.
• Mueller’s comments led to more calls for impeachment from Democratic lawmakers and 2020 hopefuls.
• House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and House Judiciary chairman Jerry Nadler vowed to continue investigating Trump but remained unmoved on impeachment.
• Mueller said he preferred not to testify before Congress and it remains unclear if House Democrats will escalate their calls for him to appear on Capitol Hill.
  

Earlier today presidential candidate and former congressman Beto O’Rourke unveiled a sweeping new immigration proposal. Immigration has been a central plank of his campaign and one of the issues that really animates the borderland Democrat.

Here’s a look at what’s in the plan:

Bernie Sanders is asking his supporters to bring his revolution home to protest former Wisconsin governor Scott Walker, who will host a fundraiser there on Thursday.

Infrastructure Week has become something of a running joke in Washington D.C. – an perennially ill-fated effort to tackle a bipartisan policy objective that is doomed from the start and repeatedly edged off the agenda by the scandal du jour.

But but but ... last week it appeared Infrastructure Week had finally arrived at long last only to be clipped short when Trump walked out of a meeting with Nancy Pelosi and Chuck Schumer on the matter of rebuilding America’s aging roads and crumbling bridges.

All hope is not lost, however, Pelosi said today.

Long live Infrastructure Week.

At her California event, Pelosi said that only 35 members – maybe 38 members – of her 235-person caucus publicly supported impeachment.

The number is climbing, literally, as she speaks.

Speaking at an event in California, Pelosi continues to temper calls for impeachment.

She said nothing is “off the table” but that they want an “ironclad” and “compelling” case before opening a process like impeachment.

“We want to do what is right and what gets results,” she said.

Pelosi called Mueller’s comments today a “valuable contribution” to Congress’s ongoing investigations into Trump and his administration.

“If he saw any evidence that the president was innocent, he would have let us know,” she said, hammering the point that neither Mueller or the report exonerated Trump.

She also noted that only a small minority of her caucus supports impeachment. The press, she said, likes to focus on the fraction of Democrats who have publicly called for impeachment but insisted that the vast majority remained wary.

Kirsten Gillibrand is the latest 2020 candidate to call on Congress to launch impeachment hearings:

“From the beginning, I have called for a proper process in order to secure key testimony and information related to the Mueller investigation, so that Congress - as a co-equal branch of government - can fulfill its responsibility to deliver the truth to the American people. But the White House has repeatedly stonewalled Congress’ ability to take basic fact-finding steps and make an informed decision,” the New York senator said. “Combined with the fact that Robert Mueller clearly expects Congress to exercise its constitutional authority and take steps that he could not, it’s time for Republicans and Democrats to begin impeachment hearings and follow the facts wherever they may lead.”

Joe Biden stopped short of endorsing impeachment in a statement that said the process may be “unavoidable”.

Bernie Sanders takes a step closer to calling for impeachment after Mueller’s comments today.

“Given the reality that we have a president who believes he is above the law, Congress must continue its investigations,” he said on Twitter. “If the House Judiciary Committee deems it necessary, I will support their decision to open an impeachment inquiry.”