Berate the Press: So much about Trump. In his first press conference since July 27th, President-elect Donald Trump said that to avoid conflicts between his business and government he would turn over his holdings to a trust run by his two adult sons. That means he is not completely divorcing or divesting himself from his worldwide business.

His lawyer, Sheri Dillon, said that to ask any more of Trump would be too much. “President-elect Trump should not be expected to destroy the company he built,” she said. Trump said that his company would not make deals in foreign countries while he is president and deals in the US will be vetted by an ethics officer.

The government’s chief ethics officer, Walter M. Shaub Jr., later said Trump did not go far enough to avoid conflicts.

In a session that was at times wild and contentious, Trump said he had no plans to reveal his tax returns as has been customary since Richard Nixon was president. “The only ones that care about my tax returns are the reporters, OK?” Trump said. His returns could reveal a lot of information about his income, how much tax he pays, to whom he owes money, and more.

The presser started with Trump’s appointed press secretary, Vice President-elect Mike Pence, and Trump himself all castigating the press for Tuesday’s report about an unverified salacious and embarrassing intelligence report about Trump. While congratulating many outlets for not carrying the report, Trump later refused to take a question from CNN reporter Jim Acosta saying, “You are fake news.”

The Highlights: Trump finally conceded that Russian hackers probably tried to influence the election. “As far as hacking, I think it was Russia,” Trump said.

–He suggested that the report “was released by maybe the intelligence agencies, who knows, which would be a tremendous blot on their record.”

— He called himself “very much of a germaphobe,” in denying reports about sex with prostitutes in a Russian hotel “Does anyone really believe that story?” he asked. Who knows, but almost no mainstream news outlet mentioned that story until he did.

— “Russia will have much greater respect for our country when I’m leading than when other people have led it.”

— Trump, contrary to Republican leaders, said Obamacare must be repealed and replaced simultaneously.

–“I will be the greatest jobs president God ever created.”

Deadbeat: Three construction companies have filed liens against Trump’s company claiming that he has stiffed them for $5 million owed for the development of his new luxury hotel in Washington’s Old Post Office Building. The “jobs” president doesn’t like to pay for the job done.

On the Floor: Democratic senators spoke in protest yesterday as the Republicans passed a measure to begin the financial gutting of Obamacare. Senator Maria Cantwell of Washington said that Republicans were “stealing health care from Americans.”

Advice and Consent: In what might otherwise have been the lead story of the day, Trump’s pick for Secretary of State, former ExxonMobil chief Rex Tillerson, was the target of incoming missiles from both Democrats and Republicans in his Senate confirmation hearing.

Many of the questions focused on Tillerson’s friendly business relations with Russia, and climate change. Florida’s Sen. “Little Marco” Rubio was surprisingly tough, trying to get Tillerson to admit that Russian President Vladimir Putin is a war criminal. Tillerson hedged on climate change. Despite the position of Exxon Mobil that it’s a problem, his new boss doesn’t think so. Tillerson said that much of the literature on the subject is “inconclusive,” even though about 99 percent of climate scientists are certain.

In the hearings for Attorney General nominee Jeff Sessions, three black members of the House and Senate made the unprecedented move of testifying against him. New Jersey Sen. Cory Booker said, “”The arc of the moral universe does not just naturally curve toward justice, we must bend it. America needs an attorney general who is resolute and determined to bend the arc. Sen. Sessions record does not speak to that desire, intention or will.”

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