Sep 9, 2017

Hope Hicks lawyers up for Russia probe

Axios

Patrick Semansky / AP

Hope Hicks, Trump's recently appointed White House comms director, has hired a lawyer for Bob Mueller's Russia probe, per Politico.

  • Hicks is one of the six current and former WH staffers that Mueller wants to speak to, according to a WashPost report from yesterday.
  • She has hired Robert Trout as her personal attorney. He is a founder and "highly regarded attorney" at his firm Trout Cacheris & Janis, Politico reports.
  • Why it matters: Hicks has been close to Trump since before he announced his presidential campaign, and she has worked closely with him throughout the election and now in the WH. Her proximity to the president and exposure to his dealings suggests she would have ample information Mueller is seeking — thus increasing the need for a personal attorney.

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Stocks fall 4% as sell-off worsens

A trader on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange. Photo: Johannes Eisele/AFP via Getty Images

Stocks fell more than 4% on Thursday, extending the market’s worst week since the financial crisis in 2008 following a spike in coronavirus cases around the world.

The big picture: All three indices are in correction, down over 10% from recent record-highs, amid a global market rout. It's the S&P 500's quickest decline into correction territory in the index's history, per Deutsche Bank.

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Axios

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Data: The Center for Systems Science and Engineering at Johns Hopkins, the CDC, and China's Health Ministry. Note: China numbers are for the mainland only and U.S. numbers include repatriated citizens.

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The big picture: COVID-19 has killed more than 2,800 people and infected over 82,000 others in some 50 countries and territories. The novel coronavirus is now affecting every continent but Antarctica, and the WHO said Wednesday the number of new cases reported outside China has exceeded those inside the country for the first time.

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Watchdog opens probe into VA secretary over handling of sexual assault claim

VA Secretary Robert Wilkie on Fox Business Network’s "The Evening Edit" on Jan. 7. Photo: Steven Ferdman/Getty Images

The Department of Veterans Affairs Inspector General Michael Missal said Thursday he had opened an investigation into VA Secretary Robert Wilkie after lawmakers demanded an inquiry into his handling of a sexual misconduct report, the Washington Post reports.

Context: Wilkie allegedly "worked to discredit" the credibility of Democratic aide and veteran Andrea Goldstein after she reported last fall "that a man groped and propositioned her in the main lobby of the agency's D.C. Medical Center," a senior VA official told the Post.

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