U.S. and world news for June 27

Reaction to Trump Administration briefing on Iran bombing

Following a classified briefing for senators on the U.S. bombing of Iran’s nuclear facilities, Sen. Chris Murphy of Connecticut said that it is clear President Trump is not telling the truth when he claims that Iran’s nuclear program has been obliterated. Murphy did not disclose details of what was said during the classified briefing. Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer of New York said he did not come away from the briefing convinced that Iran’s nuclear program was obliterated as Trump and officials in his administration are claiming. Schumer said it was clear that there was no coherent plan for dealing with Iran’s nuclear program before the bombing and still isn’t. Trump supporters in the Senate such as Sen. Lindsay Graham said after the briefing that they believed Trump about Iran’s nuclear program having been obliterated.

Trump threatens to sue media for Iran bombing reporting

A lawyer representing President Trump has sent letters to CNN and The New York Times threatening legal action over their reporting on the U.S. attack on Iran. Attorney Alejandro Brito alleged that the stories published on June 24 describing an early U.S. intelligence assessment of the strikes were false and defamatory. Both media outlets rejected that claim. Trump has insisted that Iran’s nuclear enrichment sites were “completely and totally obliterated,” but the preliminary assessment from the Pentagon’s intelligence arm suggested the bombings did not destroy the core components of Iran’s nuclear program. Administration officials confirmed the existence of the early intelligence assessment. and Trump said that anyone who leaked it to the press “should be prosecuted.” The president also described both media outlets as “fake news” and called for one of the three CNN reporters who broke the story, Natasha Bertrand, to be fired. CNN replied: “We stand 100% behind Natasha Bertrand’s journalism and specifically her and her colleagues’ reporting” about the assessment.

Supreme Court conservatives again rule against women’s health care

In a six to three decision, the Supreme Court on Thursday blocked Planned Parenthood from suing South Carolina over the state’s decision to pull its Medicaid funding because the organization also provides abortions. At issue was an executive order signed by Gov. Henry McMaster in 2018 that pulled Medicaid funding from the state’s two Planned Parenthood clinics because he claimed it would amount to a taxpayer subsidy for abortion. That order also blocked Medicaid patients from receiving other services at Planned Parenthood, including contraception, breast exams and testing for sexually transmitted diseases. The court’s decision could prompt other Republican-controlled states to target Planned Parenthood and make it harder for Medicaid beneficiaries to choose their doctor.

Trump Administration plans to again deport Kilmar Abrego Garcia

Kilmar Abrego Garcia, the Maryland man who was mistakenly deported to El Salvador, jailed in the country’s notorious CECOT prison and returned to the U.S. months later, is currently being detained in Tennessee. During a court hearing on Thursday, a Justice Department lawyer told the judge that the Trump administration plans to send Abrego Garcia to a “third country” but wouldn’t specify a timeline for the deportation. While the administration’s original deportation of Abrego Garcia violated a 2019 order from an immigration judge that said he could not be deported to his home country due to fears that he would face gang violence, that order did not preclude his deportation to another country.

Wife of alleged Minnesota shooter says she’s shocked by what happened

The wife of the man accused of shooting two Minnesota state lawmakers and their spouses on June 14 said she was “absolutely shocked, heartbroken and completely blindsided” by the attack. Vance Boelter is accused of killing Melissa Hortman, a member of the Minnesota House, and her husband, Mark, as well as injuring John Hoffman, a member of the Minnesota Senate, and his wife in a separate shooting. Boelter is facing numerous state and federal charges, including murder, firearms offenses and stalking. In a statement through her lawyer, Jenny Boelter offered her “deepest sympathies” to the victims’ families, and said her family had fully cooperated with authorities. The Hortmans will lie in state at the Minnesota Capitol today.

Senate parliamentarian finds Trump’s big beautiful bill violates Senate rules

The Senate’s parliamentarian has ruled that Donald Trump’s spending bill that provides massive tax cuts for the wealthy while cutting spending on government social programs violates Senate rules in the way it sashes almost a trillion dollars in Medicaid funding. Republicans now must rework the bill so that it meets Senate rules and can be passed by a simple majority. It was expected that the Senate parliamentarian would find that other sections of the bill also violate Senate rules. President Trump has been pressuring senators to quickly pass their version of the bill so that it can be sent back to the House for a vote and then, if it passes, be sent to him to sign into law by July 4th.