Jeff Sessions ate a lemon this week.
Jeff Sessions ate a lemon this week and it tasted like borscht. Alex Wong / Getty

Are We Really Surprised About Jeff Sessions?: The Attorney General is yet another person appointed by Trump who had meetings with Russian officials that he failed to disclose when he applied for his security clearance, the Justice Department told CNN this week. According to officials, he had at least two powwows with Russian Ambassador Sergey Kislyak, and mentioned neither on the form that required him to list "any contact" he'd had with a "foreign government" or its "representatives" over the past seven years. This after criticism from Dems for not mentioning the same contacts with Kislyak during his Senate confirmation hearings earlier this year. (Sessions claims he was told by an FBI agent that he didn't need to list dozens of meetings with foreign ambassadors that happened in his capacity as a senator.)

After CNN issued the report, South Carolina Rep. Jeff Duncan (R) criticized the network, posting on his Facebook page that the "story was easily disproved within hours" and the network had “been forced to retract” the story. CNN responded to Duncan via Twitter:


In Other Sessions News, He'll Be Taking the Muslim Ban Block to the Supreme Court: Yesterday, Richmond, Virginia federal appeals court decided to uphold the block against Trump's second attempt to ban travel from six Muslim-majority countries. Even though Sessions 'strongly disagrees' with the ruling, he said the government 'will seek review' of it.

Two Men Were Shot at Gas Works Park: It happened sometime after midnight. According to the police report, witnesses said two groups of people were having get-togethers in the park. A fight broke out between the two groups, the suspect pulled out a gun, shot two people (one in the leg, the other in the stomach and leg), then fled the scene before officers arrived. Both victims were taken to Harborview Medical Center with non-life-threatening injuries; by 4 a.m., one man had been treated and released, while the second was in 'satisfactory condition.'


Greg Gianforte Won Montana Despite Being a Violent Asshole: The Republican and billionaire technology entrepreneur claimed a narrow victory in the state’s special election for the congressional seat. And he triumphed against Democrat Rob Quist despite the fact that less than 24 hours before, he assaulted Guardian reporter Ben Jacobs at a campaign event. But, the state is known for a long tradition of practicing early voting; roughly half of the estimated total ballots had already been cast by the time the scandal broke, and most favored Gianforte. He apologized for his behavior during his victory speech, though his problems aren't disappearing in a puff of smoke—he still faces a June 7 court date for “purposely or knowingly” causing “bodily injury to another.”

There’s a Whale Rotting on the Beach near Twin Harbors State Park: What’s a Washington park ranger to do when a 30-foot-long gray whale carcass washes up ashore? Apparently, nothing.

From Seattle Times:

“Visitors can expect strong, unpleasant smells as the carcass rots over the summer months,” a the State Parks statement stated, in a wild understatement.

Sound Transit Is in Trouble: Trump’s 2018 budget proposal will yank $1.1 billion to build the Lynnwood-Northgate light-rail extension (half of that project’s entire funding), claiming local transit projects should be funded by local money. The corridor is under final engineering and was previously recommended to receive the money from the Federal Transit Administration (FTA). But an FTA annual statement released Wednesday afternoon omitted the Lynnwood line despite its earning a “medium-high” federal rating and adding 67,000 daily riders. Sound Transit and its allies in Congress plan to fight the budget proposal.

The Proposed 2018 Budget Would Also Kill the West Coast Earthquake Early-Warning System: Federal funding for an earthquake early warning system being developed for the West Coast would be eliminated under the 2018 budget, thereby decimating the long-planned effort. Because, hey, it’s not important to know about an earth-shattering disaster ahead of time, right? It would also kill US funding for vital tsunami-monitoring stations in oceans and reduce funds for a next-generation weather forecasting system. According to scientists, this would derail the early warning system, which officials said would eventually be capable of sending public earthquake alerts to smartphones seconds or even minutes before a temblor.

At Least 28 Coptic Christians Were Killed in Egypt This Morning: Masked militants in three SUVs opened fire on a bus packed with Coptic Christians (including children), south of Cairo, killing at least 28 people and wounding 22, the Interior Ministry said. No group immediately claimed responsibility for the fourth attack to target Christians since December, but all signs point to the Islamic State group, as the attack came on the eve of the start of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan.

Of Course Deputies Said They Feared for Their Lives Before Fatally Shooting Renee Davis: During three days of testimony in a Kent courtroom, both of the King County Sheriff's Office deputies who shot at Renee Davis—the 23-year-old pregnant Muckleshoot woman who was killed during a welfare check last October—have claimed they believed their lives were in danger when they opened fire. At the end of the inquest into the police shooting, jurors will be asked to answer questions from lawyers on both sides, and County prosecutors will review the findings to help decide whether to file charges against the officers for Davis' death.

Memorial Day Weekend Lies Dead Ahead. This weekend, we theoretically remember the people who died while serving and realistically enjoy an extra day of leisure and play. Some ideas of ways to spend your time: go see a SIFF movie, check out a concert, leave town for a festival … I'd also recommend that you peep the 57 Best Things to do in Seattle this week, as curated by the Stranger Things to Do staff.