MICK MULVANEY. Trump chief of staff defies impeachment inquiry subpoena one minute before he was due to appear: “This morning, one minute before his scheduled deposition was to start, Mr. Mulvaney's outside counsel informed us that his client had been directed by the White House not to comply with the duly authorized subpoena and asserted ‘absolute immunity,' ” the official said in a statement.
DOPPELGANGER. Helen Mirren is flattered to be mistaken for Keanu Reeves' girlfriend.
WHERE WE ARE ON TV. GLAAD report finds good news for LGBTQ representation: “Of the 879 regular characters expected to appear on broadcast scripted primetime programming this season, 90 (10.2%) were identified as gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender, and/or queer. This is the highest percentage GLAAD has found in the fifteen years this report has counted all broadcast series regulars. There were an additional 30 recurring LGBTQ characters.”
WHISTLEBLOWER. Lawyer for Ukraine whistleblower sends White House cease-and-desist letter warning Trump to stop attacks: “I am writing out of deep concern that your client, the President of the United States, is engaging in rhetoric and activity that places my client, the Intelligence Community Whistleblower, and their family in physical danger,” Andrew Bakaj wrote to White House counsel Pat Cipollone in a Thursday letter obtained by CNN's Anderson Cooper.
MICHAEL BLOOMBERG. Billionaire former NYC mayor poised to enter 2020 presidential race, will spend whatever it takes: “Mike will spend whatever it takes to defeat Donald Trump,” a Bloomberg source said. “The nation is about to see a very different campaign than we've ever seen before.”
ELIZABETH WARREN. Here's my calculator…
BILLY GRAHAM. Anti-gay evangelist to be honored with statue in U.S. Capitol. “The Billy Graham Evangelistic Association announced the honor on Thursday, which also marked Graham's 101st birthday. Graham died in 2018 at the age of 99.”
TRIGGERED. Donald Trump Jr. was invited on The View for some reason and it was rancid.
ON THE RAG. This week on the gay magazines…
VAPING. Trump may raise vaping age to 21: “We're going to be coming out with a very important position on vaping,” Trump said. “We have to take care of our kids, most importantly, so we're going to have an age limit of 21 or so, so we'll be coming out with something next week very important on vaping.”
BACK TO BROADWAY. Armie Hammer is set to star in The Minutes.
BRAZIL. Far-right politician takes swing at Glenn Greenwald: Nunes had said, “I was thinking of this couple: Glenn Greenwald spends the day on Twitter or working as a recipient of stolen messages; David is in Brasilia […]. Who takes care of the children they adopted? That's what the Juvenile Court should investigate.”
ROBOT TESTING OF THE DAY. Mini cheetahs. “MIT's new mini cheetah robot is springy and light on its feet, with a range of motion that rivals a champion gymnast. The four-legged powerpack can bend and swing its legs wide, enabling it to walk either right-side up or upside down. The robot can also trot over uneven terrain about twice as fast as an average person's walking speed.”
TRAILER OF THE DAY. The Invisible Man.
FRIDAY FLASH. Jack Falahee.
