Good morning. Phew! What a scorcher. Very hot and humid today. A nominal high of 99, but the heat index will make it feel as hot as 109. A heat advisory will be in effect after 11 AM. The overnight low will be around 78, but that dastardly heat index will keep things uncomfortable.
Sports this weekend: The Mubadala Citi DC Open continues all weekend, with the women’s and men’s single finals on Sunday. The Nationals will visit the Minnesota Twins all weekend, those lucky devils. The Mystics will host the Seattle Storm tonight and the Phoenix Mercury on Sunday. D.C. United will host Austin Saturday. Loudoun United FC will visit North Carolina FC for a Jagermeister Cup match on 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:
Rainbow Kitten Surprise, “Painkillers.” I found out about this band via my youngest son’s girlfriend and am so grateful I uncharacteristically agreed to turn over control of the car stereo that evening. The group is reportedly terrific live, and I’ll find out for myself tonight when Rainbow Kitten Surprise play the Chrysalis at Merriweather Park with Petey.
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:
With friends like these: Jeffrey Epstein‘s estate said it was in possession of a book that Ghislaine Maxwell compiled for the disgraced, deceased financier’s 50th birthday and which reportedly includes a bawdy note from President Trump. (NYT) The leather-bound book also included messages from dozens of high-profile people, including former President Clinton, the billionaires Nathan Myhrvold and Leon Black, and Peter Mandelson, the British politician who’s now the UK’s ambassador to the US. And also there’s this detail: “At his Manhattan townhouse, Epstein hung a painting that depicted Clinton wearing a blue dress and red heels, according to people who saw it.” (WSJ) US Representative Ro Khanna of California says the House Oversight Committee is working, in a bipartisan fashion, to subpoena the book from the estate. (Intelligencer) Photos also appear to show Health Secretary RFK Jr. partying with Epstein. Kennedy previously defended knowing Epstein by saying he also knew Harvey Weinstein, Bill Cosby, and O.J. Simpson. (The Daily Beast) Meanwhile: The White House blasted a new episode of “South Park” that showed Trump in bed with the Devil, saying, “the Left has no authentic or original content, which is why their popularity continues to hit record lows.” (Rolling Stone) Speaking of which, Gallup reported Thursday that Trump’s approval rating has fallen to 37 percent. (Gallup) The FCC approved the merger of Paramount, which just signed a deal with “South Park”‘s creators, after it paid $16 million to settle a lawsuit Trump filed. (NYT) The show also made fun of the settlement. (NBC News)
She’s in the jailhouse (for) now: The Justice Department interviewed Maxwell, who’s in prison, yesterday. Days earlier, it opposed a petition she filed to overturn her conviction. (NYT) Her lawyer said she told the truth to Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche, who’s also a former defense lawyer for Trump, but prosecutors who worked on her case say that in the past she “made multiple false statements under oath and failed to take responsibility for her actions.” (NBC News) Blanche, who said yesterday’s meeting was “productive,” plans to meet with Maxwell again today. (Washington Post)
The darkest scour: FBI and DOJ officials assigned hundreds of employees to sift through more than 100,000 pages of Epstein documents this spring to “find something, anything, that could be released to the public to satisfy the mounting clamor from the angry legions of President Trump’s supporters.” They didn’t come up with much. (NYT)
Who’s got the awks: Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell corrected Trump during a tour of Fed HQ, which is undergoing a renovation whose expense Trump has criticized. (NYT) Asked what might make Trump cease criticizing the renovation, the President replied, “Well, I’d love him to lower interest rates.” (USA Today) Here’s how the renovation got so expensive. (Fortune)
Administration perambulation: Trump signed an executive order that calls for forcible hospitalization of some people who are homeless, though its effect “remains unclear because states set laws and handle the process of involuntary commitments.” (Washington Post) The artist Amy Sherald canceled a planned exhibition at the National Portrait Gallery “because she said she had been told the museum was considering removing her painting depicting a transgender Statue of Liberty to avoid provoking President Trump.” (NYT) The USDA will move most of its workforce out of the DC area. (Washington Post) The administration appears to have found a way to re-install Alina Habba, another former Trump lawyer, as the acting US Attorney in New Jersey. (NYT) The Justice Department sued New York City, saying its policies that limit NYC law enforcement’s cooperation with immigration officials “interfere with the enforcement of federal immigration law.” (Politico) The IRS may eliminate multilingual services that help non-English speakers pay taxes. (Washington Post) The Pentagon will suspend participation in think tank events while it vets invitations to determine whether they’re organized by entities “that run counter to the values of this administration.” (Politico) New Orleans’s Amistad Research Center, which has one of the largest collections of Black history artifacts in the US, has laid off half of its staff after the administration cut funding. (Washington Post) Three former Justice Department employees who say they were fired for their work on January 6 prosecutions are suing the government. (NBC News) Many Scots are taking a dim view of Trump’s trip there this weekend—Aberdeen South MP Stephen Flynn, who is bald, “told the BBC that he would be busy washing his hair during Trump’s visit.” (Washington Post) Protests are planned for Edinburgh and Aberdeen. (The Guardian) The front page of today’s edition of the National, a Scottish newspaper, reads, “CONVICTED US FELON TO ARRIVE IN SCOTLAND.” (The National/X)
One snazzy open house this weekend:
This four bedroom/three-and-a-half bathroom townhouse in Lanier Heights used to belong to the band Thievery Corporation, who recorded four albums there. Sorry, the studio’s gone, but the renovated property does sport two fireplaces in the living room, a butler’s pantry with wine storage, multiple decks/patios, and a primary suite with a Juliet balcony and soaking tub. It’s listed at $2.5 million, and you can see it Sunday. See Lindsey Byman‘s other picks for the weekend here.
Recently on Washingtonian dot com:
• The most expensive home sales in the area recently—and the boldfaced names who made the transactions.
• Indoor movies sound pretty good around now, don’t they?
Local news links:
• The DC Council unveiled its proposed stadium deal with the Washington Commanders, which chair Phil Mendelson says will bring DC $674 million in revenues from taxes on parking and food sales, among other line items. The body will take a first vote on the proposal August 1. (WBJ) The deal ” keeps intact much of the initial $3.7 billion agreement that the Commanders negotiated with Mayor Muriel E. Bowser (D) earlier this year.” (Washington Post)
• Montgomery County Fire and Rescue is under scrutiny. In recent days, staffers flooded a baseball field after a truck parked at a fire station got hit by a baseball, a fire truck had to be rescued after it drove into floodwaters, and a staffer reportedly made an “inappropriate comment” on a social media post by the county’s police department. (WTOP)
• How deep is the exodus at the Washington Post? It just lost most of its obituary writers. (Politico)
• The Metropolitan Washington Council of Governments says FEMA has failed to identify areas of Montgomery County that are at risk for floods. (Fox 5)
• Residents of Fauquier County say a neighbor who claims to run a sod farm is actually running an illegal dump. (NBC4 Washington)
• A car blew up in Crystal City. (WTOP)
• A former DC resident sold his memoir for $10 million. (WSJ)
Weekend event picks:
A great weekend awaits music-lovers.
Friday: A huh-huh, a huh-huh: Pixies will play the Anthem tonight.
Saturday: It’s the last-ever show for the great DC band Bad Moves at the Black Cat. Thanks for everything, y’all.
Sunday: Too Much Talent Band headlines R&B On The Water.
See lots more picks for the weekend from Briana Thomas, who writes our Things to Do newsletter.
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.
