Document jmwVR2r778jN4wx1q2nxzwp29

of the government's ability to protect against terrorism, a Gallup poll released on Monday found, reflecting a boost [up from 55 percent] in public confidence since the last time the question was asked after the December 2015 attack in San Bernardino, California." http://politi.co/2rxgvGr MUELLER'S MUSCLE - "Mueller team lawyer brings witness-flipping expertise to Trump probes," by Reuters' Karen Freifeld: "A veteran federal prosecutor recruited onto special counsel Robert Mueller's team is known for a skill that may come in handy in the investigation of potential ties between Russia and U.S. President Donald Trump's 2016 campaign team: persuading witnesses to turn on friends, colleagues and superiors. "Andrew Weissmann, who headed the U.S. Justice Department's criminal fraud section before joining Mueller's team last month, is best known for two assignments the investigation of now-defunct energy company Enron and organized crime cases in Brooklyn, New York - that depended heavily on gaining witness cooperation." http://reut.rs/2tlSFPp FOR THE PRESIDENT -- "A Top Presidential Public Defender Was Also a Twitter Critic," by NYT's Julie Hirschfeld Davis and Maggie Haberman: "In April, Mark Corallo, the spokesman for President Trump's personal legal team, used Twitter to suggest - twice -- that Vice President Mike Pence, not Mr. Trump, should be the Republican nominee for president in 2020. In May, he posted several remarks disparaging the influence of Ivanka Trump, the president's daughter, and Jared Kushner, his son-in-law, in the White House, suggesting they were part of 'the swamp' the president had promised to drain. ... 'Hey Mr. President, where's all the "winning?"' Mr. Corallo wrote last month, appearing to compare Mr. Trump to Bill Clinton, who hailed from Arkansas, and his famous parsing of words. 'Or, like the guy from AR, are you going to tell me it depends on the definition of "winning?" " http://nyti.ms/2sk2YoB ... Corallo's Twitter http://bit.ly/2rQo62d WHAT MITCH MCCONNELL IS UP TO -- "Sources: Senate GOP prepares for Obamacare repeal vote next week," by Burgess Everett and Jen Haberkorn: "Senate Republicans are preparing to vote on Obamacare repeal next week, according to multiple sources familiar with the negotiations, potentially leaving rank-and-file lawmakers with no more than a week to review legislation that would affect millions of Americans and one-sixth of the U.S. economy. Senators are expected to see the text of the bill as soon as the end of this week, those sources said, provided this week's work goes smoothly. The timeline could change based on the response from individual senators toward the proposal at party meetings, but Republicans are increasingly optimistic they can hold a vote next week if this week's lunch talks go well." http://politi.co/2rxd1n6 MIXED MESSAGES -- "Some Dems reluctant to shut down Senate committees over Obamacare," by Elana Schor and Seung Min Kim: "Even as Senate Democrats began a Monday night talk-a-thon designed to spotlight the GOP's still-secret Obamacare repeal plan, some of their own questioned the party's other potential procedural tactic to block committees from meeting this week. The skepticism within the caucus underscores the risk facing Senate Democrats as they launch an all-out battle against a Republican health care bill they have had zero power to influence. "Democrats want to use every procedural tool at their disposal to slow the GOP's progress, but one of their more arcane options - the power to block committee meetings two hours after the Senate goes into session - risks inviting Republicans to paint them as heedlessly obstructionist. ... Two high-profile Tuesday hearings could get sandbagged by a Democratic blockade using the so-called 'two-hour rule,' if it is invoked: the Foreign Relations Committee's discussion of presidential authorizations for the use of military force and a Judiciary Committee look at past congressional and criminal investigations. If the tactic is used Wednesday, it could prematurely cut off an Intelligence Committee hearing on Russian meddling in the 2016 election." http://politi.co/2sQzZcR WHAT PAUL RYAN WILL SAY TODAY ON TAX REFORM -- Speaker Paul Ryan is giving what his office is billing as a major address on tax reform today at the National Association of Manufacturers conference. He isn't going to discuss the vast and crucial disagreements between the House, Senate and White House but will aim to "describe the important components of any reform - both for individuals and businesses, big and small." ONE BIG THING: He's going to lean into permanent tax reform instead of temporary measures, and will argue against "half measures" -- both signals that he wants to avoid a simple tax cut, which many see as an easy way to avoid tough decisions and political pain when cleaning out the cluttered tax code. -- EXCERPTS: "We are actually unique in the world in the way we discourage capital from coming back to America and how we incentivize off-shoring jobs. This is not the kind of exceptionalism we should aspire to ... We must think differently, so that once