It turns out that federal investigators and the news media have it all wrong — it was China that hacked Hillary Clinton’s email, not Russia, according to President Donald Trump. Utah Gov. Gary Herbert joins call for Inland Port board to open its doors to the public. And no Republican politicians are returning campaign donations from a company newly indicted in a massive fraud.
Happy Wednesday. President Trump cited no evidence in his tweeted blockbuster claim that China is the real culprit in the hacking of Clinton emails. But it’s pretty clear that the allegation came from a story in the conservative “Daily Caller,” which based its China-hacking scoop on “two sources briefed on the matter.” [WaPost]
Topping the news: Pressure is mounting for Utah’s Inland Port Authority board to reverse course and open its closed-door committee meetings to the public. The latest voice calling for them to be open is Gov. Gary Herbert, the former boss of Inland Port board Chairman Derek Miller. [Trib]
-> Former Rep. Jason Chaffetz has a book coming out, an exploration of the so-called “The Deep State." The ex-Utah congressman, now a contributor for Fox News, says the permanent bureaucracy is faceless, afraid of the light and revolted by the disruption brought by Trump. [Trib]
-> Newly leveled indictments in an alleged $511 million fraud against polygamist-owned Washakie haven’t prompted any Utah Republicans to return thousands in campaign donations from the company or Kingston family. That includes more than $50,000 contributed to Utah Attorney General Sean Reyes. [Trib]
-> Top interior officials toured Ogden on Tuesday with Gov. Herbert and Rep. Rob Bishop as the agency looks at relocating the Bureau of Land Management headquarters from Washington, D.C., to the West, where most of the land it oversees is located. [Trib] [DNews].
Tweets of the day: From @yoyoha: “Hey @realDonaldTrump, if you think Google is bad wait until you see the history books.”
-> From @PatBagley: “Crime-wise, you are statistically safer in a community of immigrants than you would be among Trump’s cabinet officials.”
Happy Birthday: Todd Thorpe, former Utah GOP Chairman Thomas Wright, Adam Piner and lawyer Melissa Wiley. And Happy Tribbiversary to Cathy Reese Newton, who’s been here 30 years — quite a feat in this era of media turmoil.
In other news: Shannon Havlicak Grondel, a woman who allegedly claimed falsely to be a reporter for BuzzFeed in order to question congressional candidate Ben McAdams in a July news conference, was accused of being connected to Rep. Mia Love’s campaign. [Trib] [KUER]
-> Jason Perry, director of the Hinckley Institute of Politics, says McAdams and Love both “need someone from the other side of the aisle to vote for them to win.” [ABC4]
-> The Utah Supreme Court will hear an appeal filed by Brigham Young University lawyers to determine when the BYU Police Department should be subject to Utah’s open-records laws. [Trib]
-> Prosecutors say members of the polygamous Kingston Group were tipped off to a 2016 federal raid on homes and businesses, allowing them to destroy evidence. [Trib] [Fox13] [StandEx]
-> An algae-related neurotoxin was found in the Jordan River, and health officials are urging visitors to keep themselves, their pets and their children out of the water until further notice. [Trib] [DNews]
-> Pat Bagley wonders what LDS Church members might call themselves now that the church is moving away from the nickname “Mormon.” [Trib]
Nationally: President Donald Trump is pushing for regulatory action against tech giants Google, Facebook and Twitter after claiming the websites bury conservative news and control what citizens can see online. [WSJ] [NYTimes] [WaPost]
-> A fierce Florida faceoff is coming in that state’s governor’s election in November. Last night Trump acolyte Ron DeSantis won the Republican nomination, and he now goes up against liberal champion Andrew Gillum, who, if elected, would be Florida’s first black governor. [TribviaAP][NYTimes] [WaPost]
-> Sen. John McCain made one final dig at Vladimir Putin and Donald Trump by choosing Russian dissident Vladimir Kara-Murza as one of his pallbearers, among other dignitaries. [Politico]
-> The Pentagon plans to continue large military exercises on the Korean Peninsula despite ceasing these actions during the month of June. This could mean that diplomatic negotiations between the United States and North Korea are beginning to fall apart. [NYTimes] [WSJ]
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— Dan Harrie, Connor Richards and Cara MacDonald
Twitter.com/danattrib, Twitter.com/crichards1995 and Twitter.com/carammacdonald
Follow @sltribpolitics