Good morning. We get a slight break from the heat and humidity today, with a high around 88 and storms possible this afternoon. Rain chances continue into the night, with a low near 73.
Sports this weekend: The Nationals are back on the field after the All-Star Break, and they’ll host the Padres today, tomorrow, and Sunday. D.C. United will visit Columbus Saturday. The US men’s and women’s rugby teams will play the national teams of England and Fiji, respectively, at Audi Field Saturday. Loudoun United FC will host Oakland Roots SC Saturday. You can find me on Bluesky, I’m @abeaujon.87 on Signal, and there’s a link to my email address below.
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I can’t stop listening to:
Rod Stewart, “Handbags and Gladrags.” Stewart’s startling run of late ’60s/early ’70s solo albums made and released while he was still a member of the Faces are some of my favorite LPs. This Mike d’Abo composition is a typical gem, one you may remember from the opening credits of the UK version of “The Office.” Stewart brings his “One Last Time” tour—which does not appear to be a farewell tour but whatever, it’s Rod—to Merriweather Post Pavilion Saturday with special guests Cheap Trick.
Take Washingtonian Today with you! I’ve made a playlist on Spotify and on Apple Music of my daily music recommendations this year.
Here’s some administration news you might have blocked out:
Doodlin’ Don: The Wall Street Journal published a bombshell report Thursday night that could complicate President Trump‘s attempts to shift the national conversation from the Jeffrey Epstein files fiasco consuming the right: In 2003, the Journal reports, Trump provided a birthday letter to Ghislaine Maxwell to fête the now-disgraced, now-deceased financier’s 50th birthday. The missive “contains several lines of typewritten text framed by the outline of a naked woman, which appears to be hand-drawn with a heavy marker. A pair of small arcs denotes the woman’s breasts, and the future president’s signature is a squiggly ‘Donald’ below her waist, mimicking pubic hair. The letter concludes: ‘Happy Birthday — and may every day be another wonderful secret.'” (WSJ) Trump denied he wrote the letter, claiming “I never wrote a picture in my life,” though he in fact has a history of producing “autographed doodle”s. (Rolling Stone)
Let’s insert a line break for readability: Okay. Onward. Trump called WSJ EIC Emma Tucker to try to stop the story, which does not appear to have worked. (Status) Trump said he would sue the Journal and its owner, Rupert Murdoch. (Rolling Stone) Trump directed Attorney General Pam Bondi to release grand-jury testimony from Epstein’s prosecution. Such records are typically “kept secret to protect crime victims and witnesses.” (NYT) He doesn’t want to appoint a special counsel. (NBC News) Such a call would be difficult for many of his direct reports, including Bondi, who’ve argued that special counsels are unconstitutional. (Politico) Meanwhile, in the House, Republicans moved toward a resolution that could see a vote that would call on Bondi’s department to release everything it has on Epstein. (NYT) On the Democratic side of the aisle, ranking Oversight Committee member Robert Garcia sent a letter to Fox News asking about an apparent edit to a Trump interview in which he initially “unequivocally support[ed] releasing the files.” (CNN)
The great recission: The House moved early Friday to “claw back $9 billion in public media and foreign assistance,” sending the measure to Trump’s desk. (Politico) Here’s where in the US the public media funding cuts will have the most effect. (NYT) David Folkenflik writes about how NPR and PBS lost support from both sides of the aisle. (NPR)
Cancel Colbert: CBS canceled Stephen Colbert‘s “Late Show,” saying it was “purely a financial decision.” That’s “bound to raise questions because it comes just two weeks after the parent company of CBS, Paramount, settled a lawsuit lodged by President Trump against CBS News.” (CNN) Colbert on Monday called the settlement Paramount paid Trump a “big fat bribe.” (AP) Colbert will remain on the air until May 2026. (Hollywood Reporter)
Administration perambulation: Democrats walked out of a Senate hearing yesterday on Trump’s nominations of Emil Bove and Jeanine Pirro. Republicans say the matter has now moved to the floor, but Dems plan to argue they broke the rules. (NBC News) Pirro on Thursday announced charges against Seth Jason, a Maryland man prosecutors say threatened US Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene when he was an employee at Voice of America. (NBC News) The Justice Department asked a federal court to sentence Brett Hankison, a former police officer convicted in the 2020 killing of Breonna Taylor, to one day in prison. (NYT) The administration granted ICE access to Medicaid recipients data. (AP) Trump’s plan to reopen Alcatraz could cost $2 billion. (Axios) Trump has been diagnosed with “chronic venous insufficiency” that caused swelling in his legs and bruises on his hand. (ABC News) The disclosure is “a rare admission from one of the nation’s oldest presidents who has long sought to project vigor.” (Washington Post)
One snazzy open house this weekend:
This seven bed/five-and-a-half bath Palisades manse features a chef’s kitchen, a heated pool, and, of course, an elevator. It’s listed at $4.495 million. See more of Lindsey Byman‘s picks for open houses this weekend.
Recently on Washingtonian dot com:
• Ideas for things to do with your kids this summer.
• This black-and-white wedding pursued an “elegant, lush, timeless” vibe.
Local news links:
• House Oversight Chairman James Comer sent a letter to the DC Council, urging the body to move quickly on an RFK deal and decrying what he called “unnecessary and politically motivated delays.” (Fox5)
• The administration plans to investigate George Mason University’s hiring practices. (Washington Post)
• The DC police suspended a commander, reportedly over “questionable changes to crime data.” (NBC4 Washington)
• More than 100 graves of Black children who died at a Maryland institution more than a century ago have been “left to deteriorate, despite records that show state officials have been aware of the segregated cemetery since at least the 1970s.” (Washington Post)
• Virginia Democratic gubernatorial nominee Abigail Spanberger has raised almost double the amount her GOP opponent, Lieutenant Governor Winsome Earle-Sears, has. (Virginia Mercury)
• Virginia Governor Glenn Youngkin visited Iowa, a trip he claimed was unconnected to any presidential ambitions. (Washington Post)
• Protesters used umbrellas to protest the Trump administration Thursday. (Washington Post)
• Causa/Amazonia, whose chef just won a big Beard award, faces eviction. (WBJ)
• Like brown flip-flops, spotted lanternflies are now just a fixture of life in Arlington. (ARLnow)
• Washington City Paper’s Best of issue is here.
• Dan Snyder‘s old house in Potomac just had another multimillion-dollar price drop. (Urban Turf) Flashback: It’s been on the market for more than two years. (Washingtonian)
Weekend event picks:
Friday: The National Cannabis Festival kicks off on the RFK campus, featuring performances tonight and Saturday by Big Boi, Three 6 Mafia, and Ty Dolla $ign.
Saturday: The Mubadala Citi DC Open returns to Rock Creek Park. Scads of tennis stars, including Hyattsville’s Frances Tiafoe, whom we profiled two summers ago, will appear.
Sunday: Local faves Light Beams will play Rhizome.
Briana Thomas, who writes our Things to Do newsletter, has lots more picks for the weekend.
We’re now taking suggestions for this year’s “Most Powerful Women” list. You can nominate someone here. Know someone we should consider for our Tech Titans feature this year? Put their name forward here. Did you miss our 100 Very Best Restaurants List? It’s here.
Andrew Beaujon joined Washingtonian in late 2014. He was previously with the Poynter Institute, TBD.com, and Washington City Paper. He lives in Del Ray.
