Happy Thursday! The long-awaited special counsel’s report is due out this morning. You can guess every major news outlet will be covering -- make sure to check back at sltrib.com for updates -- and it’ll be dominating the news cycle today. President Donald Trump’s team is ready to respond. But there’s one wild card: President Trump. The goal for Thursday is to use the bully pulpit of the White House to give the appearance of a president consumed by the demands of his office, and keep him off his phone. [Politico]
Topping the news: Democratic presidential candidate Elizabeth Warren visited Utah and spoke to a sold out venue with a line around the corner. Her speech tackled issues highly relevant to the state such as federal land management and the reinstatement of Bears Ear National Monument. [Trib][DNews]
-> As a member of the House Intelligence Committee, Rep. Chis Stewart will be amongst members of Congress allowed to see a less redacted version of special counsel Robert Mueller’s report. [DNews]
-> A new Democratic and Navajo majority on the San Juan County Commission voted to withdraw the county in support of the Trump administration defense of the reduced of Bears Ears National Monument. [Fox13][DNews]
Tweets of the day: From @StevenAtHome: “Really looking forward to seeing the redacted Mueller report on Thursday! It’s gonna be ▇▇▇▇▇!”
-> From @ewarren “Presidential candidates don’t always go to Utah because it isn't a battleground state. But I’ll be there this week because I’m running to be president of the entire United States. Join us and let’s do this together.”
Trib Talk: On this week’s episode Tribune reporter Bethany Rodgers and Heather Stringfellow, vice president of public policy for Planned Parenthood of Utah, join Benjamin Wood to discuss new state laws and federal rules limiting access to elective abortion procedures. [Trib]
In other news: The Utah Bar Association will investigate a complaint that seven attorneys are violating the organization’s rules by being polygamist. One expert has said the circumstances are not likely to lead to disbarment while another indicated that disbarment could be grounds for a legal challenge against the state’s bigamy law. [Trib]
-> State Rep. Karianne Lisonbee has reactivated her Facebook account after deleting it following a storm of messages that attacked her stance on LGBTQ issues. [Trib]
-> A new affordable housing apartment building, which will be available to those experiencing chronic homelessness, has been erected and named after Pamela Atkinson, a longtime advocate for Utah’s homeless. [Trib]
-> Records show that Utah County is growing at a faster rate than Salt Lake City as a result of the state’s metropolitan zones spreading out into areas with lower living costs and more room. [Trib]
-> Tribune columnist Robert Gehrke gives his perspective on why Utah has suddenly become a pit stop for Democratic presidential hopefuls. [Trib]
-> Pat Bagley offers his take on big oil lobbyists. [Trib]
-> Utah lawmakers take a tour of the newly opened Amazon facility in Salt Lake City, the internet giant will receive large tax incentives for jobs provided to the state through the new branch. [Fox13]
Nationally: Democratsare concerned Attorney General William Barr is bending the truth on special counsel Mueller’s report to favor President Donald Trump. [Politico]
-> A long awaited, lightly redacted version of the 400 page Mueller report will reportedly be sent to Congress on Thursday and will later posted to the Department of Justice website. [WaPost]
-> Internal sources reveal Trump’s lawyers have spoken to officials from the Justice Department about the contents of the Mueller report thus avoiding being blind-sighted once the report becomes public. [NYTimes]
-> In a display of transparency, a number of presidential hopefuls have released their tax returns - something the president himself has refused to do -- however the line of questioning this has lead to may not bode well for the Democratic presidential candidates. [WaPost]
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-- Thomas Burr and Christina Giardinelli
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