Dec 6, 2017

DOJ investigating texts between FBI officials after anti-Trump messages found

Photo: Manuel Balce Ceneta / AP

Text messages between FBI officials Peter Strzok and Lisa Page are being reviewed by the Department of Justice, Fox News reports, after Strzok's anti-Trump texts resulted in his removal from the Russia investigation.

Why it matters: There is concern amongst federal law enforcement, per the Washington Post, that the texts could potentially be used by the President and other Republicans to attack the credibility of Mueller's investigation. Fox News reports that the DOJ is sorting through 10,000 texts, but it's unclear if they have any relevance to the investigation.

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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."

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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.

Go deeper57 mins ago - Politics & Policy

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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