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.)
President Trump Renews Attacks on Attorney General Jeff Sessions
President Donald Trump lashed out at Attorney General Jeff Sessions again on social media, saying that Sessions lets “real corruption” go untouched while special counsel Robert Mueller is “having a field day.”
Trump appears to be responding to the attorney’s response and defense to his attacks.
“While I am Attorney General, the actions of the Department of Justice will not be improperly influenced by political consideration,” Sessions said in a statement at the time.
The president took to Twitter on Saturday, saying that Sessions “doesn’t understand what is happening” beneath him. Trump’s tweet also reiterated his attack on the special counsel’s investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election as politically motivated and a distraction from “real corruption,” ABC News reports.
Jeff Sessions said he wouldn’t allow politics to influence him only because he doesn’t understand what is happening underneath his command position. Highly conflicted Bob Mueller and his gang of 17 Angry Dems are having a field day as real corruption goes untouched. No Collusion!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) August 25, 2018
Trump also quoted Sen. Lindsey Graham in another tweet, who said earlier this week that he believes the president will fire Sessions and appoint a new attorney general, but hopes that it would not happen until after the November election.
.@LindseyGrahamSC “Every President deserves an Attorney General they have confidence in. I believe every President has a right to their Cabinet, these are not lifetime appointments. You serve at the pleasure of the President.”
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) August 25, 2018
The president also pounced on reports that his former personal attorney, Michael Cohen, testified to Congress last year that he was unsure if Trump actually knew about the 2016 Trump Tower meeting with a Russian lawyer connected to the Kremlin, according to an interview in Axios with Cohen’s lawyer, Lanny Davis.
Michaels Cohen’s attorney clarified the record, saying his client does not know if President Trump knew about the Trump Tower meeting (out of which came nothing!). The answer is that I did NOT know about the meeting. Just another phony story by the Fake News Media!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) August 25, 2018
“I did not know about the meeting,” Trump wrote.
Democrats Push to Postpone Kavanaugh’s Confirmation
Citing concerns about possible “criminal wrongdoing” by President Donald Trump, Democrats on the Senate Judiciary Committee have called to postpone Judge Brett Kavanaugh’s Supreme Court confirmation hearing.
In a letter to Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley on Friday, Democratic senators said that, “Given the possibility of criminal wrongdoing by the President, doubts that Judge Kavanaugh believes a president can even be investigated, and the unprecedented lack of transparency regarding this nominee’s record, we should not move forward with hearings on September 4th.”
The senators instead suggested a special committee meeting “to discuss a bipartisan, fair, and transparent process for moving forward.”
Referring to the news of former Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort being found guilty and former Trump person lawyer Michael Cohen pleading guilty, the Democrats said that “in light of this week’s developments,” they felt it was important to postpone the hearing.
“Importantly, there is no legitimate reason for the Senate to rush this nomination and fail to perform its constitutional duty,” the senators said. “This is especially true, when the President, who faces significant legal jeopardy, chose the one candidate who has consistently and clearly expressed doubt as to whether a sitting president can be investigated or indicted for criminal wrongdoing.”
The lawmakers said they could also not move forward because “97 percent of Judge Kavanaugh’s White House record is being withheld from the public and more than 94 percent is being withheld from the Senate.”
The letter was signed by Sens. Dianne Feinstein and Kamala Harris of California, Pat Leahy of Vermont, Dick Durbin of Illinois, Sheldon Whitehouse of Rhode Island, Amy Klobuchar of Minnesota, Chris Coons of Delaware, Richard Blumenthal of Connecticut, Mazie Hirono of Hawaii and Cory Booker of New Jersey, USA Today reports.
Despite recent calls earlier in the week to postpone the hearing, Grassley spokesman George Hartmann said the hearing would continue forward in September. Hartmann noted that Justice Stephen Breyer was confirmed to the Supreme Court while then-President Bill Clinton was dealing with the Whitewater investigation.
“Obviously, we are nowhere close to that situation today. Calls to delay the hearing are just the latest tactic from opponents who decided to vote ‘no’ weeks ago, frantically looking for anything that sticks,” Hartmann said.
Scotland Is Making Period Products Free to Students
We’ve long fought the “period tax” and have supported to ensure equal access to menstruation sanitary products. Now, Scotland is about to become the first country in the world to provide sanitary products for free to all students at schools, colleges and universities.
The new $6 million policy, which was announced on August 24th, will work to ensure equal access to sanitary products and help prevent disruption in education. A recent study conducted by an organization called Young Scot found that 25 percent of respondents struggle to pay for sanitary products, The Guardian reports.
via Science Photo Library / Getty Images
These instances of “period poverty” contribute to challenges at school among the nearly 400,000 school-aged women in Scotland.
“In a country as rich as Scotland it’s unacceptable that anyone should struggle to buy basic sanitary product,” said communications secretary Aileen Campbell. “I am proud that Scotland is taking this world-leading action to fight period poverty. I welcome the support of local authorities, colleges and universities in implementing this initiative.”
According to Hello Giggles, women around the world continue to face challenges at school and face financial difficulty due to lack of access to these products.
In a report by Always, nearly 20 percent of women between the ages of 16 and 24 in the United States have skipped school or left early due to not having access to sanitary products. In other countries, like India and Ghana, women may opt out of school altogether.
But Scotland still wants to take it a step further, and destigmatize menstruation, (because it is a natural bodily process after all) by providing free sanitary products to all women, not just students.
Scottish Labour MSP Monica Lennon said she is introducing a bill to increase accessibility to these products.
“This is another great step forward in the campaign against period poverty. Access to period products should be a right, regardless of your income,” Lennon said. “No one should face the indignity of being unable to access these essential products to manage their period.”
What to look out for…
Lyft launched the “Ride to Vote,” and will be providing 50 percent off on rides, and free rides to those living in underserved communities. So come Election Day this November, you can catch a ride to go to the polls.