Exclusive: What Got Cut From Fauci’s Diary

Today’s notice: The stuff redacted from Fauci’s journal in the last few days will surprise you. Todd Blanche’s confirmation vote delayed. Centrist Democrat vs. Centrist Democrat in Michigan. More green spending. And: Chris Murphy wants answers on the civics contest controversy.

THE LATEST

Anthony Fauci and the Millers: Former Trump administration official Katie Miller, wife of top White House adviser Stephen Miller, is publicly one of Fauci’s harshest critics, joining in conservative calls for him to be imprisoned for his work during the COVID-19 pandemic. But NOTUS’ Margaret Manto reports that Fauci’s journal, released by Sen. Rand Paul (R-Kentucky) ahead of yesterday’s blockbuster Senate hearing, reveals a different side to their relationship in the scary, early days of COVID.

“Tonight she had an anxiety reaction. I calmed her over the phone,” Fauci wrote of Katie Miller in an entry dated May 9, 2020. The journal entry said, “I am calling katie frequently to check on her couple time per day. She is very anxious about getting very ill since she is 10 weeks pregnant.”

In the entries, Fauci writes about providing medical advice to the family on several occasions, including when both Katie and Stephen contracted the virus.

These entries were public, but now they’re not. They were in Paul’s original document dump, but some entries were heavily redacted at some point between their release Saturday and yesterday. The original documents mentioned Katie Miller 56 times, while the redacted documents mentioned her 37 times. Paul’s office did not respond to a request for comment.

Katie’s explanation: She told Margaret yesterday that she purposely gave Fauci the impression that she was friendly with him so that he “did not leak against me or my husband.”

“He was not my doctor. He was not my friend,” Katie told NOTUS. “He was a work colleague who called me for work purposes, and in the course of a phone call, you would discuss other things.”

Open tabs: Re-Redistricting Yields a More Republican, Less Elastic House Map (Cook Report); Trump and DOJ ask SCOTUS to toss $83M defamation verdict in E. Jean Carroll case (AP); St. Paul mayor under investigation for sexual harassment after alleged ‘Weiner Wednesday’ text (KSTP); Democrats Can’t Recast Ballots Ahead of Wisconsin Gubernatorial Primary (NOTUS); More Migrant Kids Are Getting Removal Orders. Some Could Lose Their Attorneys Too. (NOTUS)

From the Hill

Todd Blanche’s confirmation grinds to a halt. For now, at least. The Senate Judiciary Committee has delayed a vote on the acting attorney general’s nomination to drop the acting from the title. Republican Sens. Thom Tillis of North Carolina and John Cornyn of Texas still haven’t agreed to vote for Blanche. An actual “no” vote from either of them would probably tank the nomination, NOTUS’ Al Weaver writes.

Senate Democrats don’t want a shutdown this fall: Several key caucus members told NOTUS this week that they are open to a short-term stopgap spending measure to get through the election, our Stephen Neukam and Igor Bobic report. Sen. Katie Britt (R-Alabama), an appropriator, said she is “cautiously optimistic” about the status of government funding talks.

From the campaign trail

“I think we might be about to shoot ourselves in the head on this one,” a Michigan Democratic strategist tells NOTUS’ Alex Roarty of the mess centrists have made for themselves in the state’s 7th Congressional District. It’s a top pickup opportunity for Democrats, but the establishment is torn between two candidates, former Navy SEAL Matt Maasdam and onetime Ambassador to Ukraine Bridget Brink, and risks splitting the vote and handing the nomination to progressive William Lawrence, co-founder of the oft-controversial activism group Sunrise Movement.

Neither centrist has shown any sign of backing down. Progressives are filling up another bowl of popcorn as it all unfolds.

First on NOTUS: More green money for Democrats. The super PAC affiliated with the League of Conservation Voters plans to spend $50 million on the midterms, NOTUS’ Elena Schneider reports. The money will go to help Democratic candidates across the country by targeting voters who feel the affordability pinch, the group told Elena.

Traditional environmentalism has taken a back seat in Democratic messaging this cycle, and the LCV-affiliated PAC is the latest green group to shift their focus to an affordability pitch. Last week, we told you about a Pennsylvania buy from NRDC Action Votes, the political spending group affiliated with the Natural Resources Defense Council, taking a similar approach.

When is a corporate donation not a corporate donation? The Democrats’ pick to challenge Rep. Rob Bresnahan (R-Pennsylvania) in November is running on a pledge against money from corporate PACs. But campaign finance documents show that money is still flowing in for Paige Cognetti, the mayor of Scranton — just indirectly, NOTUS’ Avani Kalra reports. And it’s reviving the long-debated question about PAC money and its role in politics.

Money from noncorporate PAC money is pouring into Congetti’s campaign, but those noncorporate PACs are frequently bankrolled by their corporate partners. Take for example Democratic Sen. Chris Coons’ Blue Hen Federal PAC. Cognetti has taken $5,000 from that PAC, which has ties to corporations such as Visa, FedEx and Google.

NOTUS METRO

Sign up for our local newsletter, written by Martin Austermuhle and Zara Norman.

Local news: Trump Announces $22B Renovation for ‘Impossible’ Dulles Airport, by Jenna Monnin

Janeese Lewis George Has Been Meeting With Her Critics, by Martin Austermuhle

What Is the Best Tasting Menu in D.C.? By Tom Sietsema

Sports desk: Want to Play Doubles With Venus Williams? The Correct Answer Is Yes. By Dave Sheinin

NEW ON NOTUS

Murphy wants answers on civics contest controversy: Thedisputed outcome of the national civics contest in honor of America’s 250th birthday left 15-year-old Aangad Singh and his family wondering if the results were biased or rigged against him. Now, Sen. Chris Murphy (D-Connecticut) is demanding transparency from Education Secretary Linda McMahon over the outcome of the contest, per NOTUS’ Sam Fortier, who first reported on Singh’s case.

“It is easy to understand why groups like the Congressional Asian Pacific American Caucus have suggested the competition was biased since the Trump Administration has made clear it believes anyone who is not a white male is inferior,” Murphy wrote in a letter to McMahon. He’s asked for explanations for disputed answers and any scoring documents by Sept. 1.

More: Immigration Agents Bristled at ‘Stunt’ Operation Outside Newsom Rally, Texts Show, by Angie Orellana Hernandez

Maine Makes Its Legal Case for Kneecapping Super PACs, by Taylor Giorno

Boozman Plans Senate Farm Bill Markup Without Clear Bipartisan Deal, by Tyler Spence

Major D.C. Law Firm Details Theft From Political Committee, by Jenna Monnin

NOT US

• Trump overrode his own agencies to deny 4 Democratic disaster requests, by Thomas Frank for Politico
• Thousands of children, sponsors arrested by ICE after tips from US child migrant agency, by Kristina Cooke for Reuters
• Corporate boardroom diversity sinks to lowest in more than a decade: Analysis, by Mira Bhakta for The Hill
• ICE working to open four new detention facilities with space for 5,500 detainees, by Laura Strickler and Joy Y. Wang for NBC News

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The newsletter was produced by Thomas Burr and Andrew Burton. Photo by Alex Brandon/AP.