Week In The News: Trump Administration And 'Crazytown,' Kavanaugh, Tech On Capitol Hill

With David Folkenflik

Partisanship and Judge Kavanaugh. "Crazytown” and Bob Woodward’s new book. Twitter and Facebook executives grilled. The roundtable dives in.

Karen Tumulty, Washington Post columnist who covers national politics. (@ktumulty)

Perry Bacon Jr., Washington-based senior political writer for FiveThirtyEight. (@perrybaconjr)

Jack Beatty, On Point news analyst. (@JackBeattyNPR)

CNN: "Read the stolen letter from Trump's desk reported in Bob Woodward's book" — "In an attempt to discredit Bob Woodward's new book, President Donald Trump said Wednesday that he 'read another phony thing in the book about a trade deal that certain people didn't want me to look at.' But CNN has obtained a copy of the book, and here is the letter.

"The document is reproduced in Woodward's book and is an example of how top White House aides would steal and hide documents from Trump that they believed to be a danger to national security. In this case, former White House chief economic adviser Gary Cohn swiped the draft letter off the Oval Office desk to prevent Trump from signing it, terminating a critical trade agreement with South Korea.

"Woodward reports Cohn was 'appalled' that Trump might sign the letter."

NPR: "Democrats, Republicans Dispute Status Of Released Documents" — "Sen. Cory Booker, D-N.J., released some of the confidential documents Thursday morning. Sens. Mazie Hirono, D-Hawaii, and Patrick Leahy, D-Vt., also released 'confidential' documents, drawing a stern rebuke from Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, who called them "irresponsible and outrageous."

"'This is no different from the senator deciding to release classified information,' Cornyn said Thursday morning. 'No senator deserves to sit on this committee, or serve in the Senate, in my view, if they decide to be a law unto themselves and willingly flout the rules of the Senate and the determination of confidentiality and classification.'"

FiveThirtyEight: "Kavanaugh Was Quietly Conservative On Day 2 Of His Hearing" — "The fog of Trump has hung heavy in the air during Kavanaugh’s hearing. From his opening answer on today, Kavanaugh sought to strategically forestall the left’s criticism of his nomination: that his expansive view of executive power, developed during the George W. Bush administration, could eventually serve to protect Donald Trump, expose the special counsel, and indeed that perhaps he was nominated for that very reason.

"To parry this suggestion, Kavanaugh repeatedly cited United States v. Nixon, which found that the president’s executive privilege is not immune from judicial review, as one of the most important moments in American judicial history. 'Why was it such a great moment?' Kavanaugh asked himself. 'The court stood up for judicial independence in a moment of national crisis.' He also cited the importance of Federalist Papers No. 69, by Alexander Hamilton, which distinguishes the president from a king and outlines the process of impeachment, and Kavanaugh’s own ruling in favor of Salim Hamdan, Osama bin Laden’s driver, against the will of the Bush administration. "

"Virtually treason," President Trump telling Fox News after a senior administration official goes rogue in the New York Times. The legendary Watergate reporter Bob Woodward’s latest — a damning account of a White House in crisis. Strife breaking out at confirmation hearings for Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh. Another progressive prevailing in the Democratic primary. States demanding answers from the Catholic church. Nike taking a knee. All on our weekly news roundup

This hour, On Point: Buckle up. It’s getting bumpy. All over again

— David Folkenflik