Yesterday might have been the worst day in Donald Trump’s presidency so far. Salt Lake County GOP comms director blames multiple sex partners as reason for high LGBTQ suicide rates. Trump not expected to visit Utah in fall campaign efforts.
Happy Wednesday. In the span of 20 minutes, President Donald Trump’s former campaign manager and his personal lawyer became felons. It might have been the most impactful day of his presidency so far, and it’s unclear what it may portend going forward. Trump responded by calling Paul Manafort, the former head of his campaign, a good person but steered clear of talking about his longtime “fixer” Michael Cohen, who implicated Trump while pleading guilty. [WaPost]
Topping the news: In a meeting with The Tribune’s editorial board, Salt Lake County Republican Party communication director Dave Robinson said high rates of suicide in the LGBTQ community could be caused by them experiencing self-hatred due to having “grundles” of sex partners, a sentiment Equality Utah described as “deeply irresponsible.” [Trib]
-> Despite a closely contested race between Republican Rep. Mia Love and Democratic Salt Lake County Mayor Ben McAdams, President Donald Trump plans to skip Utah as he travels across America to help GOP candidates campaign to keep control of the House and Senate. [Trib]
-> A University of Utah graduate student was reassigned after passing out a syllabus stating that students with concealed carry weapons would be restricted to standing in a “3x3 taped square” in the back of the classroom. [Trib]
Tweets of the day: From @realDonaldTrump: “If anyone is looking for a good lawyer, I would strongly suggest that you don’t retain the services of Michael Cohen!”
From @Bobosphere: “Witch Cohen: guilty; Witch Manafort: guilty; Witch Gates: guilty; Witch Flynn: guilty; Witch Papadopoulus: guilty”
-> From @DavidCornDC: “Today would be a good day for @realdonaldtrump to release his tax returns.”
-> From @maggieNYT: “If someone wrote the last hour as a chapter in a piece of Trump fan fiction, it would seem too over the top.”
In other news: Utah leaders including Rep. Chris Stewart, Lt. Gov. Spencer Cox and Attorney General Sean Reyes held back tears as they celebrated the president signing a law ordering the creation of a three-digit national suicide hotline. [Trib] [DNews]
-> The state received $4.1 million in grant money to improve election systems and equipment and increase cybersecurity. [APviaTrib]
-> Salt Lake City Mayor Jackie Biskupski unveiled two initiatives aimed at creating more affordable housing options in the state for low-income residents. [Trib]
-> A new campaign launched Tuesday, aimed at encouraging voters to agree to raising gas prices by 10 cents per gallon in order to increase funding for Utah schools. [Fox13]
-> In a recent study conducted by a libertarian think tank, Utah was ranked the 22nd freest state in the country. Despite its strict laws regarding alcohol and gambling, Utah has more relaxed regulations in terms of guns, transportation and education. [Trib]
-> Referencing Mormon pioneers, Utah House Democrats wrote letters urging Trump to continue resettling refugees in the U.S. following his declaration that a 45,000-person admissions ceiling will be implemented in 2019, a historic low for immigration admissions. [DNews]
-> Pat Bagley reacts to Utah being named one of the most sexist places in the U.S. [Trib]
-> Robert Gehrke claims that despite David Cross’ joke about Mormon temple garments being lazy and possibly mean-spirited, church members should get used to such jabs from comedians. [Trib]
Nationally: Michael D. Cohen, President Trump’s former personal lawyer, pleaded guilty to breaking campaign finance laws by arranging payments to two women during the 2016 campaign “in coordination with and at the discretion of a candidate for federal office” with “the sole purpose of influencing the election.” [NYTimes] [WaPost] [Politico] [CNN]
-> Trump’s former campaign chairman Paul Manafort was convicted on five counts of tax fraud, two counts of bank fraud and one count of failure to disclose a foreign bank account, but the jury was unable to reach a verdict on 10 other counts. [NYTimes] [WaPost] [Politico]
-> California Rep. Duncan Hunter and his wife were indicted by a federal grand jury and charged with using more than $250,000 in campaign funds to pay for personal expenses. Hunter was one of Trump’s earliest congressional supporters. [NYTimes] [LATimes] [CNN]
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— Thomas Burr, Connor Richards and Cara MacDonald
Twitter.com/thomaswburr, Twitter.com/crichards1995 and Twitter.com/carammacdonald