July 31, 2018 | by Chris Cillizza and Saba Hamedy

👻 The disappearing White House press briefing

Today is the last, the 31st, day of July.

In that time, there have been three White House "daily" briefings by press secretary Sarah Sanders, according to CNN's invaluable Allie Malloy. That's less than one "daily" briefing every 10 days. (Related note: I was awarded the Fields medal in mathematics last year.)

That trio of briefings lasted a total of 58 minutes, again according to Malloy. Let me repeat that: The sum total of White House "daily" press briefings in July 2018 is 58 minutes. Less than one total hour. In a month. (Again, I won the Fields medal so you can trust me on this.)

How does that compare to past presidential administrations in July of their second year in office? Again, Malloy's research to the rescue! The three briefings the Trump White House held in July 2018 is one-quarter the number (12) the Obama administration held in July 2010. George W. Bush's administration held nine press briefings in July 2006, while the Clinton administration held six press briefings in July 1994.

(Nota bene: Trump does talk to the press -- particularly in impromptu moments -- more than past presidents.)

It's no secret that Trump himself is no fan of the daily press briefing. A year and two weeks ago -- to the day! -- I wrote a piece headlined: "The White House is trying to kill the daily press briefing." As I wrote at the time:

"What the White House is doing is working to kill off the daily press briefing -- a ritual that has long functioned as the best (and often only) way for reporters to get the White House on record and on video about various issues affecting the country and the world. ... And even in the increasingly common off-camera briefings -- which were a very occasional occurrence in past White Houses -- Sanders and White House press secretary Sean Spicer appear to be working hard to be, at best, unhelpful and, at worst, openly misleading."

Why doesn't Trump like the briefing? Because he believes he is the best messenger the administration has -- and that when any voice but his own (or sometimes Rudy Giuliani's) is out talking, the administration is competing against itself unnecessarily.

The Point: Trump's presidency has brought lots and lots (and lots) of changes to the White House and official Washington. Don't overlook how much Trump has already changed the daily press briefing.

-- Chris

QUOTE OF THE DAY

"I'm still here!"

-Rep. Joe Crowley's first words at a press conference with New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo (h/t NYT's Shane Goldmacher). The New York Democrat was defeated in a shocking upset by Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez.

FACEBOOK REPORTS ATTEMPT AT POLITICAL MEDDLING

Facebook's data breach problems continue. CNN's Donie O'Sullivan and Jeremy Herb reported Tuesday:

"Facebook has removed a network of suspected Russian-linked accounts and pages involved in organizing political events in the United States. The network is the most extensive effort to interfere in American politics that Facebook has found and made public ahead of November's midterm elections. The move comes as part of Facebook's efforts to prevent a repeat of 2016, when accounts connected to a Kremlin-linked troll group posing as Americans ran rampant on its platform.

"In briefings on Capitol Hill, Facebook has told lawmakers it suspects a Russian group is behind more than 30 pages advocating US political stances, according to a congressional source briefed on the matter. Publicly, Facebook is saying it does not know for sure who was behind the network, but is saying it has 'found evidence of some connections between these accounts' and accounts that had been run by Russian trolls in the run-up to the 2016 presidential election. The company also said it had reported the network to law enforcement and to Congress."

Read more here.

CHRIS' GOOD READS

To commemorate the start of the Paul Manafort trial, go back and read Frank Foer's epic piece on the "American Hustler"

Jmart on how Trump totally changed the face of the Florida governor's race

An A.G. Sulzberger profile -- in the Washington Post!

TechCrunch's Matt Burns on how Nintendo got it right. Again.

The Ringer ranked the 100 best TV episodes of this century (so far)

Timesmen Nicholas Fandos and Kevin Roose on a coordinated campaign identified by Facebook that is targeting the 2018 election

MUSICAL INTERLUDE

Chris LOVES Tallest Man on Earth. (Yes, that is the name of the singer-songwriter.) And he -- TMOE, not Chris -- has new music!

INSTA POINT

Today's topic: Chief of staff John Kelly is staying on through 2020 ... really?

TRUMP WEIGHS IN ON 3D-PRINTED GUNS

Starting tomorrow (August 1), people will be able to manufacture their own guns and gun parts with a 3D printer, after gun-rights activists reached a settlement with the government.

President Donald Trump weighed in Tuesday, expressing skepticism over the concept of being able to download 3D printed guns.

Trump tweeted: "I am looking into 3-D Plastic Guns being sold to the public. Already spoke to NRA, doesn't seem to make much sense!"

Per CNN's Allie Malloy, the White House did not immediately return a request for additional comment. The NRA did not immediately have a comment. Read more in her full story here.

MANAFORT TRIAL KICKS OFF

A jury was sworn in Tuesday for the trial of former Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort. This is the beginning of special counsel Robert Mueller's prosecutors' first trial. Per CNN's Katelyn Polantz, Jeremy Herb and Marshall Cohen, the 12-person jury selected includes:

Six men
Six women
Four alternates (three women and one man)

Manafort was charged with a slate of financial crimes, including bank fraud and tax evasion, relating to old lobbying work he did for the pro-Russia government of Ukraine. If convicted, Manafort could spend the rest of his life in prison.

In their opening statements, prosecutors accused Manafort of being a "shrewd" liar who orchestrated a global scheme to avoid paying taxes on millions of dollars.

Uzo Asonye, a prosecutor working on the case with Mueller's team, said: "All of these charges boil down to one simple issue: that Paul Manafort lied. Manafort placed himself and his money over the law."

Read more of CNN's coverage here.

FRANKEN'S POST-OFFICE FEELS

Former Democratic Sen. Al Franken, who resigned in January after allegations he touched women inappropriately, misses serving his constituents.

The "Saturday Night Live" alum said Monday he hasn't ruled out the possibility of running for office again. "I haven't ruled it out, and I haven't ruled it in," he told TV station WCCO.

Franken added: "I miss the whole job. I loved that job, I loved the job as senator. ... It was very meaningful for me and bittersweet, I would like to still be there." Read more here.

YOUR DAILY GIF

H/T Brenna

From Brenna: "Energy Secretary Rick Perry took part in a cybersecurity summit today. Count out three friends who you want to share The Point with today." Tell them to subscribe.

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