Jun 4, 2018

What we're watching: Bill Clinton confronted on #MeToo, Monica Lewinsky

Reflecting on his presidency in light of the #MeToo movement, former president Bill Clinton told NBC News' "Today" that he believes he did "the right thing" during the Monica Lewinsky scandal, adding that he wouldn't do anything differently if the facts were the same today.

The details: Clinton also admitted that he had never offered a private apology to Lewinsky, even after her admission that she had been diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder as a result of the intense media scrutiny during the scandal: "I have not talked to her. I did not — I never talked to her, but I did say publicly on more than one occasion that I was sorry. That's very different. The apology was public."

Clinton defended his record employing women — both as Arkansas governor and attorney general:

And things got heated near the end of the interview as Clinton invoked both JFK and LBJ, asking if they should have resigned:

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Sara Fischer, Jonathan Swan

Scoop: Inside the Trump campaign's big hedge on Facebook

Illustration: Eniola Odetunde/Axios

The Trump campaign has invested most of its advertising budget to date on Facebook, testing thousands of versions of ads per day to maximize its spending.

But behind the scenes, a source familiar with the campaign tells Axios, the thinking has shifted: "As everyone can see, we still have strong spending on Facebook, but the percentage of our total media budget [on Facebook] is shrinking."

Go deeper1 hour ago - Politics & Policy

Alayna Treene

Trump's revenge tour has the House in its sights

Illustration: Aïda Amer/Axios. Photo: Saul Loeb/Getty Contributor

In the lead-up to the 2018 midterm elections — buoyed by Republican control of both chambers — President Trump viewed campaigning for the House as a lower-tier priority and instead poured his energy into rallying for the Senate.

But after the GOP reckoning in 2018, and experiencing firsthand how damaging a Democratic-led House has been to him, Trump is now personally invested in helping Republicans regain the majority in November, several people familiar with his thinking tell Axios.

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Jacob Knutson

Pelosi warns U.S. allies against working with China's Huawei

Nancy Pelosi, Feb. 16. Photo: Sven Hoppe/picture alliance via Getty Images

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi on Sunday cautioned U.S. allies against allowing Chinese telecommunications giant Huawei to develop their 5G networks, arguing at the Munich Security Conference that doing so is akin to “choosing autocracy over democracy," CNBC reports.

Why it matters: Pelosi's hawkish stance marks a rare area of agreement with the Trump administration, which believes Huawei is a national security threat because the Chinese government may be capable of accessing its equipment for espionage.

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