📆 What The Fuck is on the Calendar

[mouseam (Ashley)]

Date	Event	Type
Mon, 3/26 - Fri, 4/6	Senate & House Recess	Congress
Fri, 3/30	Passover begins
Sun, 4/1	Easter Sunday
Tues, 4/17	James Comey’s book drops
Tues, 4/17	Tax Day
Sun, 4/22	Earth Day
Tues, 4/24	AZ-08 Special Election
Sat, 4/28	White House Correspondents Dinner
Mon, 4/30 - Fri, 5/4	Senate Recess	Congress

A Look Ahead

Coming Months

May

Date	Event	Type
Tues, 5/1 - Fri, 5/4	House Recess	Congress
Sun, 5/13	Mother’s Day	Holiday
Sat, 5/19	The Royal Wedding
Sat, 5/26 - Sun, 5/27	G7 Summit in Italy
Mon, 5/28	Memorial Day	Holiday
Mon, 5/28 - Fri, 6/1	Senate & House Recess	Congress

June

Date	Event	Type
Fri, 6/8 - Sat, 6/9	G7 Summit in Canada
Sun, 6/17	Father’s Day	Holiday
Thurs, 6/21	First Day of Summer

July

Date	Event	Type
Mon, 7/2 - Fri, 7/6	Senate & House Recess	Congress
Wed, 7/4	Independence Day	Holiday
Mon, 7/30 - Fri, 8/31	House Recess	Congress

August

Date	Event	Type
Mon, 8/6 - Mon, 9/3	Senate Recess	Congress

September

Date	Event	Type
Mon, 5/7 Sept 2018	Manafort trial begins (exact date: TBD) (Details)	Trump/Russia

October

Date	Event	Type
Mon, 10/8	Columbus Day	Holiday
Mon, 10/15 - Mon, 11/12	House Recess	Congress
Mon, 10/29 - Mon, 11/12	Senate Recess	Congress
Wed, 10/31	Halloween	Holiday

November

Date	Event	Type
Tues, 11/6	Election Day
Sun, 11/11	Veterans Day	Holiday
Mon, 11/19 - Fri, 11/23	Senate & House Recess	Congress
Thurs, 11/22	Thanksgiving Day	Holiday
Fri, 11/23	Black Friday
Fri, 11/30	G20 Summit in Argentina

December

Date	Event	Type
Sun, 12/2	Hannukkah begins	Holiday
Mon, 12/17 - Fri, 12/21	House Recess	Congress
Fri, 12/21	First Day of Winter
Tues, 12/25	Christmas Day	Holiday
Mon, 12/21	New Year’s Eve	Holiday

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Congressional Hearings - Discussion Thread: Who The Fuck Has Testified
NYT Interactive: 2018 Election Schedule

[MissJava]

I love that he is doing this on that fake news network.

[celena]

Awww, he canceled. That might be one of the most disappointing things I’ve heard all day.

[mouseam (Ashley)]

Updated today with the latest happenings in Congress & beyond…

[mouseam (Ashley)]

@mouseam

Thurs, 9/7: Don Jr to give close door interview/testimony with Senate Judiciary Committee.

Don Jr’s testimony is confirmed for this Thursday.

Senate Judiciary’s meeting with Trump Jr. scheduled for Thursday

[celena]

Yeah I’m not sure I would be a happier person for seeing his nonanswers (at best).

[mouseam (Ashley)]

I’m still patiently awaiting the day this release the Fusion GPS transcript. THAT is going to be pure gold …

@mouseam

Tues, 8/22: Head of Fusion GPS gave a 10hr transcribed interview/testimony Senate Judiciary Committee - Transcript is likely to be released, date TBD. Fusion GPS & top two Republicans on the committee already agreed to vote yes on the release. Putting a pin in this to keep in mind until the transcript is released.

[MissJava]

lol speaking of Fusion GPS dossier:

Fuckup Congressman Threatens FBI Director Over 'Pee Tape' Dossier

Original source was CNN, but Gizmodo’s headline was way more WTF appropriate.

[mouseam (Ashley)]

Calendars post has been updated with upcoming events – most notable additions/updates are to upcoming congressional hearings!

[John]

Senate Judiciary Committee has sent Jeff Sessions a letter on 9/20/17 with concerns about the Justice Department’s progress on implementing whistleblower protections at the FBI.

While this will be a “routine” DOJ oversight meeting, questions about Sessions’ and Trump’s interactions, conduct, and related events could potentially arise.

Sessions to testify before Senate panel about DOJ oversight

Sessions is scheduled to testify in front of the Senate panel on October 18, 2017.

Note: according to the article below, the hearing is not related to the Russia investigation.

Sessions scheduled to testify before Senate Judiciary next month

[mouseam (Ashley)]

@mouseam

Tues, 9/26: Roger Stone to testify before the House Intelligence Committee (NBC & CNN)

Roger Stone’s opening statement for Tuesday’s hearing was leaked.

[John]

Update for your “Miscellaneous” calendar events:

After Trump’s travel ban 3.0 was announced, the Supreme Court has cancelled oral arguments and removed the hearing from their October 10 schedule. Both sides have to submit briefs as to whether they believe the “Muslim ban” and “refugee ban” are now, or soon will be, moot.

Supreme Court Cancels Hearing on Previous Trump Travel Ban

[mouseam (Ashley)]

Tomorrow, 10/3!

Supreme Court will begin to hear arguments in the Wisconsin gerrymandering case (Gill v. Whitford)

• “Can the Supreme Court Fix American Politics?” (NYT Editorial Board)
• A great explainer, which encompasses links to several useful articles: “The New Front in the Gerrymandering Wars: Democracy vs. Math” (NYT Magazine)
• Interesting article about Wisconsin’s defense: “Wisconsin Is Misusing My Research to Defend Gerrymandering” (TIME)

What’s most interesting is that ending partisan gerrymandering, is a non-partisan effort. Amicus briefs were submitted by top ranking politicians of both parties. The Brennan Center breaks down the details here.

“If our party loses the majority because of independent redistricting, we didn’t deserve it in the first place”

(Parpharsed qoute from either Arnold Schwarzenegger or my congressman Alan Lowenthal - can’t remember which!)

[mouseam (Ashley)]

Tomorrow at 10am EST!

@mouseam

Wed, 10/18: Jeff Sessions testifies before Senate Judiciary Committee (open) on issues related to oversight of the Department of Justice.

5 Things to Know Before the Hearing (USA Today):

• This is Sessions’ first committee hearing since June.
• This is a routine oversight hearing, but topics relating to Trump are likely to come up.
• Other likely topics: DOJ’s budget, DACA, Civil forfeiture regulations, LGBTQ protections (or lack thereof)

Here is the Committee’s livestream Link.

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Also, the main calendars post has been updated with upcoming events!

[mouseam (Ashley)]

The calendars post has been updated with upcoming happenings!

[matt (Matt Kiser)]

I might start including a link to this at the bottom of the daily newsletter.

[mouseam (Ashley)]

I’ve been doing what I can to keep it up-to-date and as current as possible (I typically only post letting people know it’s updated when there are notable updates).

Also, I’ve been posting reminders with “what to know” info for any major happenings – I can keep up with that if people find it useful?

[mouseam (Ashley)]

Today at 2:30pm EST
Senate Judiciary Sub-Committee Hearing: Extremist Content and Russian Disinformation Online - Working with Tech to Find Solutions

This will be the social media companies lawyer’s first appearance on the hill this week. Clint Watts (founder of Hamilton 68) will also be testifying.

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What You Should Know

• PBS: Hearing Overview & Livestream Link
• NYT: Meet the People Who Will Defend Google, Facebook and Twitter Before Lawmakers
• NYT: What to Watch for as Facebook, Twitter and Google Executives Testify on Capitol Hill

Securing Democracy’s overview of Russia’s disinformation war

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Updated: Here is an update of what we learned during today’s hearing

• CBS News’ Quick Recap: 5 things to know about the Senate social media hearing
• Recode’s In-Depth Coverage and Analysis

[mouseam (Ashley)]

Wednesday is a double header for Congressional #TechHearings with the social media companies!

• 9:30am EST / 6:30am PST: Senate Intelligence Committee Hearing on Social Media Influence in the 2016 U.S. Elections
• 2:00pm EST / 11:00am PST: Russia Investigative Task Force (House Intelligence Committee) Hearing with Social Media Companies

Watch both hearings via C-SPAN 3’s website, C-SPAN Facebook Live or listen on C-SPAN Radio app

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What You Should Know

• Learnings & Notes from Tuesday’s hearing:
  • Facebook ended up being the primary focus of the questioning during the hearing
  • Russian activity on Facebook after the election was aimed at “fomenting discord about the validity of election”
  • Facebook admitted that political ads bought by Russia were being paid for in rubles, that they probably should have caught
  • Hearing featured the first look at the fake Russian ads that were handed over to Congress
  • Twitter found 2,752 accounts associated with the known Russian troll farm, more than 10 times the number originally disclose
• Securing Democracy’s quick reference guide to Russia + Social media
• More about Tuesday’s hearing can be found here

Things to Watch For
Senator Mark Warner, who is the top Democrat on the Senate committee and former tech executive, wants to know the following:

• How did Russia use social media & search platforms to influence the 2016 election?
• How susceptible are these platforms to future disinformation campaigns waged by a small group of foreign hackers, trolls & bots?
• How do they plan to work with Congress to make sure this doesn’t happen again? (Specifically on legislation like the #HonestAds Act, which they have been hesitant on)

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Edit: Here is an update of what we learned during today’s hearing(s)

• The Atlantic’s 15 Things We Learned From the Tech Giants at the Senate Hearings
• Senate Intelligence Committee: Recode’s In-Depth Coverage and Analysis
• The House Intelligence Committee released the ads, etc received from the tech companies:
  • Facebook ads/events posted by fake Russian accounts: ads and metadata for ads
  • Russian Twitter bots used during the Election: a 65 page list