Mar 20, 2017

FBI investigating ties between Russia, Trump campaign

C-SPAN / Screenshot

In front of the House Intel Committee, FBI Director James Comey confirmed that — despite usual FBI policy — he has been authorized by the Department of Justice to confirm that the FBI is investigating the Russian government's efforts to interfere in the 2016 presidential election. Comey also stated that includes investigating connections between Trump associates and Russia.

Comey reiterated that some questions could not be answered due to the ongoing investigation's classified nature: "I know that is extremely frustrating to some folks, but that is the way it has to be."

WATCH FBI Director Comey's key statement on the investigation on Russian interference in 2016 pic.twitter.com/rErZTpZHDM— Axios (@axios) March 20, 2017

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Alayna Treene, author of Sneak Peek
39 mins ago - Politics & Policy

House prepares to pass revised COVID relief bill as White House talks hit roadblock

Schumer and Pelosi. Photo: Alex Wong/Getty Images

The House is planning to move ahead Thursday with Democrats' revised $2.2 trillion coronavirus relief bill as 11th-hour negotiations with the White House continue.

The latest: House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin spoke by phone at 1 p.m., following a 90-minute meeting on Capitol Hill Wednesday — the first in-person meeting between the two since August, when negotiations stalled. The two plan to speak again later this afternoon, according to a Pelosi aide.

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Felix Salmon, author of Capital
2 hours ago - Economy & Business

How equity became more attractive than debt

Illustration: Annelise Capossela/Axios

The prime example of something highly improbable that became conventional wisdom: The idea that both interest rates and inflation will remain near zero for well over a decade.

Why it matters: As Axios' Dan Primack writes, private equity firms (the polite rebranding of "leveraged buyouts") have historically bought companies and loaded them up with debt.

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Felix Salmon, author of Capital
2 hours ago - World

When society faces the unprecedented

Illustration: Aïda Amer/Axios

Our febrile world is not normal.

The big picture: The precautions that we're taking against the spread of COVD-19; the way in which the president of the U.S. delights in violating political norms; the fires, hurricanes and other signs that catastrophic global warming has arrived; the virulent spread of the QAnon conspiracy theory — all of these things, and many more, represent a stunning break with the world as we knew it.

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