Russia, Venezuela’s elections, and the fact that hardly anyone can stay in the White House for longer than a few months, all in this week’s politics roundup
Putin asks 755 American officials to get out of Russia
On Sunday, Russian President Vladimir Putin announced that United States diplomatic efforts in Russia must reduce its workforce by 755 people. By the way, a majority of the 1,200 to 1,300 individuals currently working at or in relation to the U.S. embassy are Russian. All of this must be done by Sept. 1.
This move is intended to match the number of Russians working within the U.S. in a diplomatic capacity, which currently stands at 455 diplomats.
While the embassy in Moscow will remain open, its operation will slow to a glacial pace. Travelers hoping to visit the United States will likely wait months for visas issued by the embassy. Many employees remain in the dark about the fate of their jobs.
Russian employees may also face discrimination in hiring if they are indeed let go. When Russia shuttered the USAID office there in 2013, Russian companies were reluctant to hire workers who had been “tainted” by their association with Americans.
Mueller turns up the heat on the Russia investigation
While it seems as if every other high profile person in Washington, D.C. is busy tweeting, calling investigations “witch hunts” and forgetting that they aren’t on the set of a late-1980s soap opera, Robert Mueller has been working. The former FBI director and special counsel has been conducting an investigation into Russian intrusions into the 2016 U.S. elections.
On Thursday evening, The Wall Street Journal broke the news that Mueller has impanelled a grand jury in D.C. as part of the investigation. Mueller has not assembled his own investigation-specific jury, but is currently using one of a number of standing grand juries in the D.C. area.
Like a trial jury, grand juries are made up of American citizens. Lawyers will not necessarily hold a trial, but will instead ask the jury members if charges can be brought against an individual.
Unlike trial juries, grand juries can call witnesses to testify and subpoena documents. In fact, the particular grand jury in question has already subpoenaed documents related to the June 2016 meeting between Donald Trump, Jr. and Russian lawyers.
Otherwise, we know very little about what this jury is up to. That’s standard protocol for grand juries, which typically keep tight security on their investigations.
Someone helped Don Jr. draft his misleading response
But who could it have possibly been? Who could have had a stake in helping this perpetually confused man avoid prosecution and prison time?
Oh. Right.
Department of Justice to target affirmative action
Specifically, the civil rights division within the Department of Justice is set to refocus its resources towards affirmative action admissions policies at universities. According to a document obtained by The New York Times, the department is looking for lawyers to take on “possible litigation related to intention race-based discrimination in college and university admissions.”
How exactly such a project would take shape in the real world remains unclear. Still, this indicates an increasingly conservative bent at the Justice Department, surprising practically nobody. Affirmative action has long been a banner issue for politicians, conservative or otherwise.
Recently, Fisher v. University of Texas (2016) challenged the legality of race-based admissions policies. Abigail Fisher, the plaintiff, argued that she was denied entry to the University of Texas at Austin because of affirmative action policies. The University of Texas, meanwhile, claimed that Fisher’s grades were simply not good enough to earn her a place. Fisher ultimately lost her case, though it went all the way to the Supreme Court.
So, should we install a revolving door in the White House or something?
Well, that was fast. Anthony Scaramucci can now lay claim to one of the shortest tenures ever at the White House, with a whopping six days as White House communications director. He beats out Jack Koehler, who made it 11 days in the same post during the Reagan administration.
Scaramucci was fired shortly after John F. Kelly took over as the new chief of staff. Former Chief of Staff Reince Priebus left the position after Scaramucci was hired. If that wasn’t already a little confusing, remember also that Press Secretary Sean Spicer abruptly left, allegedly over Scaramucci’s hiring. Sarah Huckabee Sanders is now the White House press secretary.
During his short tenure, Scaramucci promised to be a divisive personality within the administration. During a profanity-laced phone call on July 26, Scaramucci told The New Yorker’s Ryan Lizza that he would fire everyone in the White House communications department if Lizza didn’t reveal an anonymous source. Scaramucci also took a few minutes to insult Priebus and strategist Steve Bannon.
Kelly now faces a difficult task. The retired four-star Marine Corps general must balance working for a volatile president and managing a staff riddled with upset and dissension. Politicians of varying political loyalties have praised Kelly’s appointment.
However, as secretary of homeland security, Kelly did not always make friends. He has questioned the need for an incredibly expensive border wall along the U.S.-Mexico border, yet also backed the president on the controversial travel ban.
The general hope is that Kelly will bring an end to the bickering that has arisen amongst White House staffers.
Venezuela’s violent, far-reaching election
Lest you think that all political turmoil is centered in the United States, let’s turn to Venezuela. The South American country held an election this past Sunday to drastically change the nation’s Constitution.
Essentially, sitting Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro had ordered that the Constitution be rewritten. Sunday’s election was meant to pick the assembly that will carry out the process. The majority of delegates elected to that assembly are politically friendly to Maduro. It even includes Cilia Flores, the president’s wife.
This move has driven a wedge further into an already deep political divide. Even leftist countries and individual politicians once friendly to the President denounced the move. Nikki Haley, U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, said that it was a “sham election”. Other sources say that election numbers have almost certainly been falsified by at least one million votes.
The assembly will have far-reaching power, such that it could unseat the President himself. The 545 members will be able to countermand all branches of the Venezuelan government. Maduro has said that he will use the assembly to unseat his opponents and strip them of immunity from prosecution.
Maduro has become deeply unpopular in his own country. An estimated 120 have already died during protests during his presidency. Now, the controversial election has created even more violence. One assembly candidate, José Félix Pineda, was murdered before voting could begin. At least one explosion took place in the capital of Caracas. 10 more people are reported to have died in protests.
And, finally, your palate cleanser
Unicorns are now the favorite of young children and people who are really into the “dewy” look. But the cultural understanding of these mythical creatures was actually far more complex in previous times than that weird-looking Starbucks drink would lead you to believe.
Take the unicorn tapestries on display at The Cloisters, for example. This branch of the Met, located in northern Manhattan, is pretty cool in its own right. The Cloisters focuses on the art and culture of medieval Europe and is housed in a reconstructed series of French monasteries, brought over from Europe stone by stone.
Next: Trump-free Friday politics roundup: July 28
Learn more about the history of the famed unicorn tapestries here and here. Of course, even if they aren’t strictly real, unicorns have been found in many other contexts. Check out the history of these beasts at WIRED and the American Museum of Natural History.