The Russia Thing: Former Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort and his former business associate Rick Gates were ordered to surrender to federal authorities this morning as the first shoe drops in the investigation into Russian influence on the 2016 election.

The charges were not immediately revealed.

With several news outlets reporting that Special Prosecutor Robert Mueller is about to reveal criminal charges in the Russian election–influencing investigation, President Trump yesterday unleashed a tweet storm trying to divert attention to his vanquished presidential opponent Hillary Clinton and favorite political piñata.

Trump tweeted, “Never seen such Republican ANGER & UNITY as I have concerning the lack of investigation on Clinton made Fake Dossier (now $12,000,000?).” He’s talking about the collection of reports connecting Trump to Russia.

The current Trump/Republican talking point is to claim Hillary Clinton should be the target, not his campaign. “The Uranium to Russia deal, the 33,000 plus deleted Emails, the Comey fix and so much more. Instead they look at phony Trump/Russia,… “collusion,” which doesn’t exist. The Dems are using this terrible (and bad for our country) Witch Hunt for evil politics, but the R’s… are now fighting back like never before. There is so much GUILT by Democrats/Clinton, and now the facts are pouring out. DO SOMETHING!”

Almost comically, Trump complained that no one is talking about his proposed tax cuts and reform. “All of this ‘Russia’ talk right when the Republicans are making their big push for historic Tax Cuts & Reform. Is this coincidental? NOT!”

As they say on the playground, he started it.

The Pre-Game Show: John Cassidy writes for The New Yorker, “A key political question is whether these charges are related to things that happened as part of the Trump campaign, or whether they relate to alleged wrongdoings that occurred before it began or separate from it. If there are direct ties between the charges and the campaign, that will obviously have huge ramifications on Capitol Hill and elsewhere. But if the charges concern alleged actions on the part of Manafort or others that were unrelated to the 2016 campaign, the White House may well accuse Mueller of moving beyond his remit.”

Lights Out: Puerto Rico’s power company yesterday cancelled the questionable $300 million no-bid contract granted to a two-man Montana company to fix the island’s devastated power grid.

The Federal Emergency Management Agency had expressed “significant concerns” and Gov. Ricardo Rosselló asked the power company to cancel the deal. To replace Whitefish Energy, Rosselló said in a statement, “I have given instructions to immediately proceed with the necessary coordination with the states of Florida and New York, in order for brigades and equipment to arrive on the island.”

About 70 percent of Puerto Rico is still without electricity.

NCIS: Two members of the Navy’s elite Seal Team 6 are under investigation in the strangling death of a Green Beret last June in Mali. Staff Sgt. Logan Melgar, 34, was found dead on June 4 in his embassy housing. It’s been ruled a murder, but the motive is undetermined.

Catalonia: Hundreds of thousands of Catalans marched in Barcelona yesterday to protest their government’s declaration of independence from Spain. The protesters presented themselves as a “silent majority” in the wealthy autonomous region of Spain. “We have organized ourselves late, but we are here to show that there is a majority of Catalans that are no longer silent and that no longer want to be silenced,” said Alex Ramos, head of Catalan Civil Society, a grassroots group. Like the rain, they want to remain mainly in the Spanish plain.

Boys of Summer: Los Angeles jumped out to a four-run early in the game last night in Houston, but the Astros recovered to win 13-12 and take a 3-2 lead in the World Series. The game included seven home runs. The last two games will be in Los Angeles.

Beauty: North Korean leader Jim Jong-un made an official visit to a cosmetics factory in Pyongyang. His sister Kim Yo-jong was present but Kim Kardashian was not.

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