The Note: Violence Looms Over Campaign Trail
— -- NOTABLES
--TRUMP, CLINTON RESPOND TO SHOOTINGS: Presumptive Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump weighed in this morning on the shootings of the past two days. He referred to the Dallas killings of police officers as "horrific," and called for law and order to be restored. "Last night’s horrific execution-style shootings of 12 Dallas law enforcement officers – five of whom were killed and seven wounded - is an attack on our country," Trump said in a statement. Trump also called the deaths of Alton Sterling in Louisiana and Philando Castile in Minnesota, “senseless” and “tragic.” Trump said: “This is a time, perhaps more than ever, for strong leadership, love and compassion. We will pull through these tragedies.” Trump cancelled planned campaign events in Florida today. http://abcn.ws/29tGd9j
--CLINTON EXPECTED TO SPEAK OUT TODAY: Presumptive Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton tweeted this morning: “I mourn for the officers shot while doing their sacred duty to protect peaceful protesters, for their families & all who serve with them.” Clinton today will deliver remarks about the police-involved deaths of Sterling and Castile at the African-Methodist Episcopal Convention in Philadelphia. ABC’s JOSH HASKELL and LIZ KREUTZ report that Clinton has postponed her planned campaign event with Vice President Joe Biden today in his hometown of Scranton, Penn., in light of the Dallas shooting, according to a Clinton campaign official. http://abcn.ws/29DbdCt
--STATE DEPARTMENT RESUMES INVESTIGATION OF CLINTON EMAILS. The State Department announced Thursday it has reopened its internal review of Hillary Clinton's use of a private email server when she was Secretary of State. The move comes a day after Attorney General Loretta Lynch agreed with the recommendation by the FBI and career prosecutors that no criminal charges should be filed in relation to the incident, ABC’s LUIS MARTINEZ notes. In April, the State Department halted its review of potential mishandling of classified materials to allow the FBI to complete its probe that began in March. "Given the Department of Justice has now made its announcement, the State Department intends to conduct its internal review," said State Department spokesman John Kirby.” http://abcn.ws/29TcCUf
POWERHOUSE POLITICS PODCAST -- EMPLOYEE OF TRUMP’S SON-IN-LAW, JARED KUSHNER, SPEAKS OUT. Dana Schwartz, an entertainment reporter at The Observer, had tweeted about Donald Trump before. But it wasn’t until she criticized his campaign’s use of an image, including what looked to be a Star of David atop a wall of money, that the hate messages started flooding her feed. “The people who tweeted back to me were horrific,” she told ABC News. “Just vile, vile stuff.” She penned an open letter to the owner of The Observer, Jared Kushner -- who just happens to be Donald Trump’s son-in-law. According to ABC’s BRAD MIELKE, in it, she called out Kushner, who is Jewish, for remaining at Trump’s side despite what she saw as blatantly anti-Semitic imagery. Speaking to ABC’s “Powerhouse Politics” podcast, Schwartz accused Trump of habitually sending “dog whistles” to hate groups, subtly signaling his approval. http://abcn.ws/29rJcfZ
YESTERDAY ON THE TRAIL with ABC’s VERONICA STRACQUALURSI
TRUMP ON THE HILL. Donald Trump met with Sen. Ted Cruz on Capitol Hill Thursday -- the first meeting between the two former bitter campaign rivals since Cruz suspended his presidential campaign. Republican National Committee Chairman Reince Priebus was also in the meeting, according to sources. This was Trump's second trip to Capitol Hill in two months. With less than two weeks before the Republican National Convention commences in Cleveland, Trump is looking to shore up support with the GOP's rank-and-file even as he faces backlash from members of his party, ABC’s JORDYN PHELPS, BENJAMIN SIEGEL and JOHN SANTUCCI report. Some Republicans who are facing a tough re-election battle have chosen to skip the convention while others declined to meet with Trump Thursday morning. http://abcn.ws/29kG3wD
NOTED: TRUMP CLASHES WITH ARIZONA GOP SENATOR. Trump's private meeting with Senate Republicans yesterday was supposed to mend fences on Capitol Hill, but it ended with a clash between the presumptive GOP nominee and Arizona Sen. Jeff Flake. The spat, first reported by the Washington Post, began when Trump remarked that Flake had been critical of him in the past. “Yes, I’m the other senator from Arizona -- the one that wasn’t captured -- and I want to talk to you about statements like that,” Flake told Trump in the closed-door meeting, the senator confirmed to ABC News. He was referring to Trump’s comments last year when the real estate mogul questioned whether senior Arizona Sen. John McCain was a war hero because he had been captured. ABC’s ALI ROGIN and RYAN STRUYK have more. http://abcn.ws/29E96kg
FBI DIRECTOR GRILLED ABOUT 'DANGEROUS' PRECEDENT IN CLINTON INVESTIGATION. FBI Director James Comey faced skeptical and angry congressional Republicans Thursday in a hastily called hearing on Capitol Hill to question his findings in the probe into Hillary Clinton's use of a private email server. In his opening statement, the chairman of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, Jason Chaffetz, R-Utah, accused Comey of setting a "dangerous" precedent that will allow officials to "sloppily" handle classified information with "no consequence." Chaffetz said Comey's determination that charges weren't warranted in the case sent a message that "if your name isn't Clinton or you aren't part of the powerful elite...Lady Justice will act differently" toward you. But Comey strongly defended his recommendation that charges not be brought against Clinton or her aides for mishandling classified information by using a private email server when she was secretary of state, ABC’s JACK CLOHERTY, MIKE LEVINE and MARGARET CHADBOURN report. http://abcn.ws/29lbyYz
PAUL RYAN TO FORMALLY REQUEST THAT CLINTON BE DENIED CLASSIFIED INFORMATION DURING CAMPAIGN. House Speaker Paul Ryan will formally ask Director of National Intelligence James Clapper to deny Hillary Clinton access to classified information during the presidential campaign, ABC News has learned. The Wisconsin Republican first proposed the idea in an interview Tuesday night, after FBI Director James Comey's announcement that the agency would not recommend criminal charges against Clinton over her private email use when she was secretary of state, according to ABC’s BENJAMIN SIEGEL. "There is no legal requirement for your to provide Secretary Clinton with classified information, and it would send the wrong signal to all those charged with safeguarding our nation's secrets if you choose to provide her access to this information despite the FBI's findings," Ryan wrote in a letter to Clapper obtained by ABC News. http://abcn.ws/29jUuFU
NOTED: HOUSE PANEL TO SEEK NEW FBI INVESTIGATION INTO WHETHER HILLARY CLINTON LIED TO CONGRESS. A House panel will be seeking a new FBI investigation into whether Hillary Clinton lied to Congress when she told lawmakers last year that her personal server contained no information marked as classified, the panel's chairman told FBI Director Comey yesterday. More from ABC’s MIKE LEVINE: http://abcn.ws/29qbOYa
IN CASE YOU MISSED IT
TRUMP AND THE ART OF THE NON-APOLOGY. Donald Trump took the stage at a convention center on the outskirts of Cincinnati this week on a trip that was supposed to be solely focused on rival Hillary Clinton. The presumptive GOP nominee sought to defend himself over recent controversial comments and social media posts and made one thing painfully clear -- he is not backing down in the face of criticism. ABC’s CANDACE SMITH has more. http://abcn.ws/29l4IWv
WHO’S TWEETING?
@HeidiPrzybyla: Dallas shooting marks deadliest day for law enforcement since 9/11 http://usat.ly/29BtJxX via @usatoday
@ChadPergram: USCP don't feel there was ill intent on part of woman who set off alarms because of potential part of weapon in bag. Still looking for her
@chrisdonovan: On Fox Gingrich calls Obama: "A President who could've worked w/in the African American community to make people feel better about themselves"
@thehill: Kristen Bell responds to Trump's Frozen tweet: "Zip it Don" http://hill.cm/VD6z2fq
@billclinton: Happy 90th bday to an American treasure, @JohnDingell. And I don’t say it enough, but thank you for pushing through the Louisiana Purchase.