The Atlantic Politics & Policy Daily: Too Close to the Son

Today in 5 Lines

Reuters reports that Donald Trump Jr. hired New York lawyer Alan Futerfas to represent him in the ongoing probe into Russian interference in the 2016 election. On Twitter, Trump Jr. said he’s “happy to work with” the Senate Intelligence Committee, after Republican Senator Susan Collins suggested he be interviewed about a meeting he had with a Russian lawyer during the 2016 presidential campaign. Senate Republicans are reportedly planning to introduce a new draft of their health-care plan as early as Thursday. White House spokeswoman Sarah Huckabee Sanders told reporters that President Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin discussed sanctions during their meeting last week, despite Trump’s tweet to the contrary. Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi declared “total victory” over ISIS in Mosul, Iraq’s second-largest city.

Today on The Atlantic

• Not for Lack of Trying: If there was no collusion between the Trump campaign and the Russian government, writes David A. Graham, “it was not because top Trump aides were against it.”

• Fearing Medicaid Cuts: Under the GOP health-care bill, millions of disabled Americans’ Medicaid benefits could be at risk. (Jeremy Raff)

• ‘Mosul Is Completely Destroyed’: It will take time, collaboration, and billions of dollars to rebuild Iraq’s second-largest city—and history shows it could be a reconstruction project plagued with problems. (Igor Kossov)

Follow stories throughout the day with our Politics & Policy portal.

Snapshot

What We’re Reading

Did Obama ‘Choke’?: Former National-Security Adviser Tom Donilon thinks there’s “no doubt about it” that former President Barack Obama should have been more aggressive in responding to the Russian hacking of the 2016 election. (Susan B. Glasser, Politico)

Trump’s Opinion Counts: The race to fill Attorney General Jeff Sessions’s Senate seat in Alabama is pitting an establishment Republican against a more Trump-like candidate. Who will the president endorse? (Jonathan Martin and Alexander Burns, The New York Times)

Big-Time Loser: Despite losing his Senate bid to Republican incumbent Roy Blunt, 36-year-old Jason Kander is still thought to be one of the left’s rising stars. Why? Because “Democrats are desperate for something, for someone, to get excited about.” (Ben Terris, The Washington Post)

Out of Step: Isabel Sawhill argues that the new Senate health-care bill is evidence that Republicans “are simply victims of a once-successful but now discredited economic ideology.” (RealClear Markets)

Uninhabitable: The consequences of climate change could be worse—and happen sooner—than most people think: “No matter how well-informed you are,” writes David Wallace-Wells, “you are surely not alarmed enough.” (New York)

Visualized

Who’s Allowed?: Check out these charts to see which of your family members could visit the United States under President Trump’s travel ban. (The Washington Post)

Dogs of the Senate: Meet the pups roaming the offices of Senators Thom Tillis, Ron Wyden, David Perdue, and Edward J. Markey. (Alex Gangitano, Roll Call)

Question of the Week

The New York Times’ Jennifer Steinhauer interviewed a handful of lawmakers to find out what they do when they’re not busy legislating: During her free time, Iowa Senator Joni Ernst enjoys ruck marching, Maine’s Angus King is an amateur photographer, and North Dakota Senator Heidi Heitkamp is a certified pilates instructor.

If you were a senator, what hobbies would you make time for?

Send your answers to hello@theatlantic.com and our favorites will be featured in Friday’s Politics & Policy Daily.

-Written by Elaine Godfrey (@elainejgodfrey)