The Atlantic Politics & Policy Daily: A Room of His Own

Today in 5 Lines

• Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Scott Pruitt, who’s previously drawn criticism for his spending habits, came under scrutiny again Friday after details of his housing arrangement emerged: According to media reports, Pruitt leased an apartment linked to a Washington lobbyist for $50 a night.

• Noor Salman, the widow of the Pulse nightclub gunman, was found not guilty of helping her husband carry out the attack.

• Russia’s Ministry of Defense released footage of a test launch of a new nuclear intercontinental ballistic missile.

• A family-ordered autopsy shows that Stephon Clark, the unarmed black man killed by Sacramento police earlier this month, was shot eight times, mostly from behind.

• Stacey Dash, who starred in Clueless, has withdrawn her congressional bid for California's 44th district.

Today on The Atlantic

• The Upside: Facebook Vice President Andrew Bosworth has come under fire for a leaked internal memo detailing the “ugly truth” about the company’s efforts to connect people. Conor Friedersdorf argues that Bosworth’s honesty was in fact a step in the right direction.

• An Overlooked Asset: President Trump’s dismissive comments about community colleges on Thursday revealed he doesn’t value one of the pillars of higher education in the United States. (Alia Wong)

• Why Trump Is Turning Against Russia: David A. Graham explains why Trump is willing to punish Russia for the poisoning of an ex-spy, but still won’t acknowledge meddling in the 2016 election.

• Radio Atlantic: To create a version of Martin Luther King Jr. that America could love, the nation sanded down the reality of the man, his ministry, and his activism. In this episode of Radio Atlantic, Vann R. Newkirk II and Adrienne Green join our hosts, Jeffrey Goldberg and Matt Thompson, to discuss the truth of King in the last years of his life and after.

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

Snapshot

What We’re Reading

The Secret Lives of Civil Servants: From the Education Department to the Department of Homeland Security, federal employees dish on what it’s really like to work in Trump’s Washington. (Andrew Restuccia, Politico)

The People Behind the Empty Seats: A Washington Post investigation found that the White House office responsible for appointing thousands of key positions in the Trump administration has very few employees—and even fewer with the adequate professional experience. (Robert O’Harrow Jr. and Shawn Boburg)

Silent Changes: President Trump has called on Congress to overhaul the nation’s immigration system, but the administration is already making changes on its own. (Tal Kopan, CNN)

Stephon Clark’s Shooting Was ‘Deeply Problematic’: In the wake of police shootings, people often fixate on whether the action was lawful or not. In doing so, argues David French, they miss the more important questions. (National Review)

More Money, More Problems: Congress awarded the Education Department a $2.6 billion boost in its spending bill—a move that actually derails Secretary Betsy DeVos’s plans to reduce the government’s role in education. (Michelle Hackman, The Wall Street Journal)

Visualized

Mapping the Myth: A large-scale study by four universities found that immigration doesn’t correlate with increased violent crime—in most cities with heavy immigration, violent-crime rates have gone down. (Anna Flag, The Marshall Project)

Portrait of a Man: While the most famous pictures of Martin Luther King Jr. have come to define the civil-rights movement, these lesser-known photographs better capture the era’s complexity. (Maurice Berger, The New York Times)

Testing, Testing

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-Written by Taylor Hosking (@Taylor_Hosking) and Lena Felton (@lenakfelton)