The media is fully consumed. The president is lashing out on Twitter. And the Russia story gets more complicated (and confusing) every day. Whether you view the glasnost as half full or half empty depends largely on your political party. In WaPo, Philip Bump provides an update on the web of relationships between Team Trump and Russia.

+ Jeff Sessions recused himself from investigations into any campaign-related probes. Interestingly, he also broke with intelligence agencies saying he doesn’t know if Russia wanted Trump to win. Also problematic is this report courtesy of the WSJ: Sessions Used Campaign Funds for Trip to Meet With Russian Envoy.

+ There have been several comparisons between the scandals of Mike Flynn and Jeff Sessions. But you really can’t compare the two when it comes to influence in the current administration. The LA Times has a useful chart showing how Jeff Sessions’ influence flows through the Trump administration.

+ “He has become a lightning rod for suspicions about Donald Trump’s ties with Russia, inadvertently bringing down one of the president’s closest allies and now threatening another.” Get to know Russian Ambassador Sergey Kislyak. (I already don’t recall linking to this story.)