The end of Robert Mueller’s Russia probe allows President Donald Trump to relaunch his beleaguered presidency with new swagger ahead of the 2020 election. Trump’s supporters called it a turning point, saying he’ll have a fresh chance to connect with Americans now that questions about election-rigging are out of the way. But after the nearly two-year investigation found no collusion or clear obstruction of justice, Trump and his aides showed little interest in healing or national unity. Instead, they quickly launched a fierce counterattack against both Democrats and the media. [POLITICO]
Happy Monday!
Topping the news: Utah leaders largely responded positively to special counsel Mueller’s report into Trump’s campaign and possible Russian interference in the 2016 election. Rep. John Curtis said he looks forward to reading the report and thanked Mueller for his hard work, while Rep. Rob Bishop reported feeling “heartened” by the findings. [Trib] [DNews] [Fox13] [KUTV]
-> Utah Rep. Chris Stewart said Saturday that Mueller’s report should be available to the public because it will help prove Trump’s innocence and clarify that those accused of treason never broke the law. While he had yet to see the report, he suspected it contains nothing out of the ordinary. [Trib]
-> An ad farm in Bangladesh hoping to spread political misinformation and reap confusion targeted a Utah congressional campaign last fall before a Facebook employee removed the posts, according to a report conducted and published by Bloomberg. [Trib] [DNews] [KSL] [KUTV]
-> Utah Gov. Gary Herbert signed a bill Friday that would ban abortions performed because of a fetal Down syndrome diagnosis — a measure that will likely be challenged in the courts on constitutional grounds. [Trib] [DNews] [Fox13] [ABC4] [KUTV]
Tweets of the weekend: @ben_rosen: “If only years of true crime podcasts could have prepared us for an unsatisfying ending to an investigation.”
-> @aedwardslevy: “A good example of the potential of social media to skew perceptions about 2020 is that it feels as though 99% of every candidate’s supporters are currently arguing insufferably in my mentions, but that cannot possibly be the case."
In other news: At least a dozen Utah bars have been refusing to sell products made by Salt Lake City’s Red Rock Brewing Co. after the company’s founder told a Utah House committee that increasing the state alcohol limit on beer to 4.8 percent would make it “very easy” for adults and underage drinkers to overconsume. [Trib]
-> Brigham Young University officials filed an appeal Friday protesting the Utah Department of Public Safety’s decision to decertify the private university’s police force effective Sept. 1. They argue that the department’s sanctions were “extreme and unprecedented” and say the school is prepared for a legal battle, if necessary. [Trib] [DNews] [Fox13] [KSL] [ABC4] [KUTV]
-> Most of the candidates vying to replace Salt Lake City Mayor Jackie Biskupski agree that the inland port planned for the city’s northwest side represents an overreach of state power — but some said they would not replicate her hardline approach to the development, if elected. Here’s where they stand. [Trib]
-> After six years of experience serving as a Salt Lake City councilwoman, Erin Mendenhall announced Sunday her plans to run for city mayor, becoming the ninth candidate to enter the race. [Trib]
-> New Salt Lake County Mayor Jenny Wilson has created an Office of Environmental Services that she hopes will position the county as “the thought leader and the action leader” on sustainability efforts. [Trib]
-> More and more Utahns have gone to court over online speech in the last year — a fact one University of Utah professor has credited to the #MeToo movement. [Trib]
-> The Utah Department of Transportation received an additional $371 million it wants to put toward a series of big projects, such as converting a section of U.S. 89 in Davis County into a fully-fledged freeway, adding additional lanes to a project in West Davis and fashioning a bridge over a strip of railroad tracks in Salt Lake City. [Trib]
-> Utah has bounced back up to being the second best state in the U.S. for job creation, based on job data from the past 12 months. [Trib]
-> LaVarr Webb and Frank Pignanelli look at the extent of hurt and injury in the Salt Lake City mayor’s race, from Utah Sens. Mike Lee and Mitt Romney’s votes to overturn Trump’s emergency declaration on border wall funding and in legislative politics. [DNews]
-> Tribune cartoonist Pat Bagley depicts Mueller as the Great Sphinx. [Trib]
Nationally: After months of in-depth investigation, speculation and accusations, Mueller completed his report into Russian election interference and found no evidence that Trump or any of his staff were involved in the attacks. The full report has yet to be released, but Attorney General William P. Barr has released a summary to the public. [NYTimes] [Politico] [WaPost]
-> Mueller’s report doesn’t explicitly say whether Trump was guilty of obstructing justice over the 22 months of the investigation, but Barr declared the president free of committing any variation of crime. [NYTimes] [WaPost]
-> Forces backed by U.S. military troops forcibly took the last territory ruled by the Islamic State on Saturday. But the end of the caliphate won’t mean the end of the Islamic State, U.S. officials and analysts warn. [NYTimes] [WaPost]
-> North Korea upped its attempts to distance South Korea from the United States by urging the country’s leaders to continue forward with joint economic projects that have traditionally held back by United Nation sanctions, amid contradictory signals from U.S. leaders on whether they plan to increase trade sanctions. [NYTimes]
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-- Taylor Stevens and Sahalie Donaldson
https://twitter.com/tstevensmedia, https://twitter.com/SahalieD
