We Resist: Day 617

One of the difficulties in resisting the Trump administration, the Republican Congressional majority, and Republican state legislatures (plus the occasional non-Republican who obliges us to resist their nonsense, too, like we don't have enough to worry about) is keeping on top of the sheer number of horrors, indignities, and normalization of the aggressively abnormal that they unleash every single day.

So here is a daily thread for all of us to share all the things that are going on, thus crowdsourcing a daily compendium of the onslaught of conservative erosion of our rights and our very democracy.

Stay engaged. Stay vigilant. Resist.

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Earlier today by Fannie: Gilead of Republicans Stand by Their Man, Kavanaugh. And by me: Kavanaugh Is Republicans' Revenge on Uppity Women.

The news is just wall-to-wall Kavanaugh today, but there are a few other important items that deserve our attention today. Although I'm not including any Kavanaugh news here, please feel welcome to share items related to his confirmation in comments.

Griffin Connolly at Roll Call: Rosenstein Called to Testify in Private House Hearing, Meadows Says.

Republican leadership has struck a deal with Rep. Mark Meadows and other House conservatives to call Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein before Congress to testify behind closed doors about his alleged proposal that the Justice Department secretly record [Donald] Trump and invoke the 25th Amendment to oust him from the Oval Office.

"Leadership has agreed to call Rod Rosenstein before Congress, for a closed door hearing with our panel investigating, so he can explain his alleged comments on 'wiring' POTUS," Meadows, the chairman of the hardline conservative House Freedom Caucus, tweeted Friday.

Republicans will want to probe Rosenstein on "other inconsistent statements" as well, Meadows indicated in his tweet.

If Rosenstein fails to appear before the joint Judiciary and Oversight panel, Judiciary Chairman Bob Goodlatte of Virginia will subpoena him, Meadows wrote.

...Goodlatte issued a subpoena Thursday ordering the DOJ to hand over memorandums drafted by former FBI Deputy Director Andrew McCabe about the meetings in which Rosenstein allegedly made the comments about bugging Trump.

Juliet Eilperin, Brady Dennis, and Chris Mooney at the Washington Post: Trump Administration Sees a 7-Degree Rise in Global Temperatures by 2100. "Last month, deep in a 500-page environmental impact statement, the Trump administration made a startling assumption: On its current course, the planet will warm a disastrous 7 degrees by the end of this century. ...But the administration did not offer this dire forecast as part of an argument to combat climate change. Just the opposite: The analysis assumes the planet's fate is already sealed. The draft statement, issued by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), was written to justify [Donald] Trump's decision to freeze federal fuel efficiency standards for cars and light trucks built after 2020. While the proposal would increase greenhouse gas emissions, the impact statement says, that policy would add just a very small drop to a very big, hot bucket."

Coral Davenport at the New York Times: E.P.A. to Eliminate Office That Advises Agency Chief on Science. "The Environmental Protection Agency plans to dissolve its Office of the Science Advisor, a senior post that was created to counsel the E.P.A. administrator on the scientific research underpinning health and environmental regulations, according to a person familiar with the agency's plans. The person spoke anonymously because the decision had not yet been made public. The science adviser works across the agency to ensure that the highest quality science is integrated into the agency's policies and decisions, according to the E.P.A.'s website. The move is the latest among several steps taken by the Trump administration that appear to have diminished the role of scientific research in policymaking while the administration pursues an agenda of rolling back regulations."

Spencer Ackerman at the Daily Beast: House Intel GOP Withholds Rohrabacher and Wasserman Schultz's Russia Probe Transcripts.

House Intelligence Committee Republicans voted on Friday against releasing interview transcripts of one of their House GOP colleagues that Democrats consider significant for the panel's now-shuttered Russia probe.

Two sources told The Daily Beast on Friday morning that Democrats on the House Intelligence Committee wanted their GOP colleagues to disclose an account given to the panel by Dana Rohrabacher (R-CA), who is considered the Republican legislator closest to the Kremlin.

"The Republicans are trying to conceal from the voters their colleague Dana Rohrabacher's Russia investigation testimony," said a committee source familiar with the issue. "There were highly concerning contacts between Rohrabacher and Russians during the campaign that the public should hear about."

...The Republicans also voted against releasing interviews from the Russia probe with several pivotal former intelligence officials. They include James Comey, the FBI director [Donald] Trump fired; John Brennan, the ex-CIA director whose security clearance Trump stripped; and Michael Rogers, who this year stepped down as the head of the National Intelligence Agency. The three men presided over the January 2017 intelligence assessment that stated Russia interfered in the 2016 election.

Luke Harding at the Guardian: Russian-U.S. Tycoon Boasted of 'Active' Involvement in Trump Election Campaign. "A Russian-American businessman who donated a substantial sum to Donald Trump's 2016 presidential election effort boasted to a senior figure in Moscow that he was 'actively involved' in the Republican candidate's campaign, the Guardian can reveal. Simon Kukes said he was helping Trump with 'strategy development' and shared photos of his 29-year-old Russian girlfriend posing with the future president. ...The disclosure raises questions about the role played by Kukes in the run-up to the election and what information, if anything, was being relayed by him to his associates in Russia."

What have you been reading that we need to resist today?