A federal judge in New York struck down Monday President Trump's and Michael Cohen's request that sought to block prosecutors from immediately reviewing files seized by FBI agents in last week’s raid on Cohen's hotel room and office, the New York Times reports.
Yes, but: The judge, Kimba Wood, said that the prosecutors who seized the documents would provide copies to Cohen’s attorneys, per Bloomberg. Wood also signaled that she may appoint a special master, as requested by Cohen's team, to assist his lawyers in reviewing the material to protect any documents that fall under attorney-client privilege.
A $12,375 taxpayer-funded charter flight, that Secretary of the Interior Ryan Zinke took last June from Las Vegas to his home in Montana, could have been avoided, the agency's internal watchdog said Monday.
Between the lines: The Inspector General's report says Zinke's team knew about the visit as early as March and could have worked out alternative travel plans. The revelation comes as several members of President Trump’s Cabinet have faced mounting backlash for their questionable spending habits.
Protestors took the streets around the world this weekend — over cronyism in Japan, the detention of separatist leaders in Spain, authoritarianism in Hungary, rape scandals in India and airstrikes in Syria.
The bigger picture: The U.S. isn't the only country living through a period of protest and political unrest.
More than 140 members of Parliament signed a letter to U.K. Prime Minister Theresa May pressuring her to give amnesty to thousands of British residents who arrived from the Caribbean as children between 1948 and 1971. In response, May has agreed to meet with representatives of 12 Caribbean countries this week, according to the Guardian.
Why it matters: Members of the "Windrush generation," named for the ship that transported some of the first Caribbean migrants to the U.K., often did not receive official paperwork confirming their legal status upon their arrival. Due to a 2012 rule change, many are now facing difficulty working and receiving health care in the U.K. — despite it being the only home they've ever known.
The headline of this story has been updated. It was previously: U.K. faces pressure to fix its own "dreamer" problem.
After a string of weekend tweets blasting former FBI director James Comey, President Trump continued his attacks Monday morning. His latest tweet, which alleges that Comey and other top leadership at the FBI "committed many crimes," comes after Comey called Trump "a serial liar" in an interview with ABC's George Stephanopoulos.
French President Emmanuel Macron on Monday clarified his claim during a TV interview Sunday that he convinced President Trump to keep troops in Syria "long-term." He now says that he "never said" the U.S. and France should maintain a military presence in Syria, AP reports, adding that he believes the U.S. has realized that its responsibility in Syria is to address humanitarian crises and the fight against ISIS.
The backdrop: Macron's Sunday comments spurred pushback from the White House which put out a statement saying, "The U.S. mission has not changed — the President has been clear that he wants U.S. forces to come home as quickly as possible."
"In battle over Russia policy, Trump’s aides are winning" ... The WashPost reports on "a tension at the core of the Trump administration’s increasingly hard-nosed stance on Russia."
The bottom line: Trump, a "reluctant hawk," "instinctually opposes many of the punitive measures pushed by his Cabinet that have crippled his ability to forge a close relationship with Russian President Vladimir Putin."
"The Trump Show," which has produced two seasons' worth of epic cliffhangers and plot twists, is getting a competitor: "The Comey Show," which is scheduled to run for at least five weeks, and will needle and gall President Trump amid global, legal and political crises.
Why it matters: In both his prime-time interview with ABC's George Stephanopoulos and an interview with USA Today, fired FBI Director James Comey argued that Trump is "morally unfit to be president," making it clear that, like a skilled political candidate, he'll be repeating a specific message with fervor and discipline on a coast-to-coast book tour that includes a saturation schedule of interviews and audience events.
In an exclusive interview with ABC News Chief Anchor George Stephanopoulos on "20/20" tonight, former FBI director James Comey said that Trump is "morally unfit to be president" and that the American public was "duty bound" to vote him out of office in 2020.
His key line: “You cannot have, as president of the United States, someone who does not reflect the values that I believe Republicans treasure and Democrats treasure and independents treasure. That is the core of this country. That’s our foundation. And so impeachment, in a way, would short-circuit that.”
Vice President Mike Pence's pick for his national security advisor, Jon Lerner, has decided against joining Pence's team. Lerner's decision comes after Axios reported earlier tonight that President Trump had attempted to block Lerner's appointment over his anti-Trump work for the Club for Growth during the 2016 campaign.
The reasoning: According to a source familiar with the deliberations, Lerner, who currently serves as UN Secretary Nikki Haley's deputy, sought to avoid drama: "Jon does not want to be a distraction. He’s done incredible work with Nikki Haley and it’s important to our country that this work continues."
Despite French President Emmanuel Macron's claim that France convinced President Trump to stay in Syria "long-term," White House Press Secretary Sarah Sanders pushed back on that assertion tonight, saying that Trump "has been clear that he wants U.S. forces to come home as quickly as possible."
The big picture: As Axios' Jonathan Swan put it, a reversal from Trump on his original thought process — with a long-term commitment in Syria — "would be one of the biggest and most abrupt foreign policy reversals in his presidency."
