Good morning Her Campus! With a break-neck news cycle, there is no possible way for you to stay on top of every story that comes across your feeds—we’re all only human, after all.
But, life comes at you fast. So grab a cup of coffee and settle in for this quick and dirty guide to stories you might’ve been sleeping on (like, literally. It’s early.)
Virginia’s Rep. Garrett, Citing Alcoholism, Will Not Seek Reelection
Rep. Thomas Garrett, a Virginia Republican, announced on Monday that he’s an alcoholic and will not seek reelection in November. Garrett was initially planning to run for a second term; however, he now plans to spend more time recovering and with his family.
“Any person — Republican, Democrat or independent — who has known me for any period of time and has any integrity knows two things: I am a good man and I’m an alcoholic,” Garrett said in a video on Monday. “This is the hardest statement that I have ever publicly made by far. It’s also the truth.”
Garrett recently made headlines after his chief of staff resigned and four former aides of his told POLITICO that the congressman and his wife “used official staff to run errands and take care of their dog.” However, Garrett called the allegations “a series of half-truths and whole lies.”
President Trump Maintains “Spygate” Conspiracy
Amid tweets about Memorial Day, Trump also posted about what he’s dubbed “Spygate,” — which The New York Times describes as a conspiracy theory that “a ‘criminal deep state’ element within Mr. Obama’s government planted a spy deep inside his presidential campaign to help his rival, Hillary Clinton, win.”
“The President deserves some answers.” @FoxNews in discussing “SPYGATE.”
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) May 28, 2018
“We now find out that the Obama Administration put the opposing campaigns presidential candidate, or his campaign, under investigation. That raises legitimate questions. I just find this really odd…this goes to the heart of our electoral system.” Jonathan Turley on @FoxNews
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) May 28, 2018
In doing so, Trump highlighted quotes from a Fox News segment in which George Washington University law professor Jonathan Turley called for an investigation into the FBI’s probe of Trump’s campaign. Trump had previously called for the same investigation after it was revealed the FBI used an informant to speak with members of Trump’s 2016 campaign about Russian collusion.
Just a day before Trump’s tweets about Spygate, Sen. Marco Rubio contradicted the president’s claims, saying there’s “no evidence” the FBI spied on Trump’s campaign, but rather, focused on “individuals with a history of links to Russia that were concerning.”
North Korea Summit Still Possible, But Trump Plans To Meet Japan’s Prime Minister First
The on-again, off-again planned summit meeting between Trump and North Korea’s Kim Jong Un is reportedly “on,” for now. According to CNN, Trump is pressing his advisers to “move ahead with the goal of meeting on June 12.”
The supposed scramble comes after a slew of events that threatened the summit, including a high-level North Korean Foreign Ministry official calling Vice President Mike Pence a “political dummy.”
However, if the summit does occur, it will be after Trump meets with Japan’s Prime Minister Shinzo Abe of Japan. The New York Times reported that the two agreed to meet amid Abe’s concerns that Trump might make a nuclear disarmament deal with North Korea that protects the U.S., but not Japan. Neither Trump nor Abe have provided any details of the meeting.
What to look out for…
The progress of Alberto — the first named storm of the 2018 hurricane season — as it continues to progress throughout Florida.