President Trump's longtime political ally Roger Stone has refused to provide documents requested by the Senate Judiciary Committee and has invoked his Fifth Amendment right in declining to testify, the panel's top Democrat, Sen. Dianne Feinstein, said Tuesday.
The backdrop: This comes after Trump praised Stone, a target in special counsel Robert Mueller's Russia investigation, for having “guts" by refusing to testify against him. Stone has come under scrutiny for possibly acting as an intermediary between the Trump 2016 campaign and WikiLeaks, allegations that he denies. Feinstein said the committtee was seeking "communications related to hacked emails, communications with Russian hackers or Wikileaks, and communications with the Trump campaign." But Stone's attorney argues that the request is "far too overbroad, far too overreaching, far too wide ranging."
The Environmental Protection Agency is set to announce Thursday it is weakening an Obama-era rule that had required costly technology capturing carbon dioxide emissions on new coal plants, according to multiple people familiar with the news.
Why it matters: This is the latest regulatory rollback effort by President Trump in his attempt to revive America’s coal industry that's declining in the face of cheap natural gas and tougher environmental rules from the last administration.
Attorneys general from Maryland and Washington, D.C. plan to issue subpoenas Tuesday seeking documents from the Trump Organization, IRS and other entities tied to President Trump as part of a nearly two-year lawsuit that alleges Trump's business has benefited from his presidency, the Washington Post reports.
The big picture: The lawsuit claims that foreign government spending at Trump's D.C. hotel is in violation of the Constitution's emoluments clause. The subpoenas could trigger interviews with members of the Trump's Organization and could make documents, such as tax records related to Trump's business, public.
Defense Secretary Jim Mattis has approved the Department of Homeland Security‘s request to extend U.S. troops' mission at the southern border beyond the original December 15 mission end-date and through January 31, 2019, ABC News reports and a Department of Defense spokesperson confirmed to Axios.
Why it matters: The extension could keep troops on active duty through the holidays and new year. It wasn’t immediately clear if all of the roughly 6,000 troops will be asked to stay.
Senators left a briefing with CIA director Gina Haspel on Tuesday confident in taking action against Saudi Arabia in the wake of the murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi.
Why it matters: Lawmakers have been grappling with conflicting information from the CIA and the administration regarding the murder, with the CIA's assessment placing blame on Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman (MBS), and the administration deflecting such blame in an effort to preserve what they see as a crucially important partnership.
The foreign ministers of all 29 NATO member states have accused Russia of violating the 1987 Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces (INF) treaty by developing and fielding a prohibited missile system.
Between the lines: President Trump announced in October that, due to Russia's violations, he would be withdrawing the U.S. from the treaty. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo told his NATO counterparts that the U.S. will begin the withdrawal process in 60 days if Russia doesn't return to compliance. The NATO members certified that the U.S. is complying with the treaty.
Controversial lawyer Michael Avenatti, who represents Stormy Daniels, announced he will not be running for president in 2020, warning the Democratic party of nominating someone who would make a good president, but "have no real chance of winning."
Why it matters: Avenatti made a lot of noise as a potential challenger to Trump, who would have roiled the Democratic field but was never thought of as a serious candidate by most Democrats.
Thousands of sensitive emails from the National Republican Congressional Committee (NRCC) were stolen in a hack earlier this year, exposing emails of four senior aides to an outsider for months, three party officials told Politico and an NRCC spokesperson confirmed to Axios.
The big picture: The NRCC was alerted by its cybersecurity vendor of the intrusion, which was uncovered in April — just seven months before the 2018 midterm elections. GOP House leadership, including House Speaker Paul Ryan and House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy, were not alerted of the hack until this week, when Politico reached out to the NRCC about the incident.
Dan talks about the growing calls for Universal Basic Income (UBI) with 2020 Presidential Candidate Andrew Yang. Also, in the "Final Two" Dan talks about how America's "sin" industries look to consolidate and the new technologies that are guzzling tons of energy.
Recent policy and trade commitments by Saudi Arabia — like its multimillion-dollar Global Center for Combatting Extremist Ideology (Etidal) and Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman’s modernization plans — have been seen as signs that the kingdom is moving away from the extremist positions of its past.
The big picture: The murder of Jamal Khashoggi, however, belies the notion that substantive change has taken place, and has spurred calls for the U.S. to re-evaluate its relationship with Saudi Arabia on economic policy, human rights, counterterrorism, and especially support for extremism.
Former Vice President Joe Biden said during a stop on his book tour Monday in Montana that his prior work on some of the country's most pressing issues leads him to believe he's "the most qualified person in the country to be president," CNN reports.
"I am a gaffe machine, but my God what a wonderful thing compared to a guy who can't tell the truth ... No one should run for the job unless they believe that they would be qualified doing the job. I've been doing this my whole adult life, and the issues that are the most consequential relating to the plight of the middle class and our foreign policy are things that I have — even my critics would acknowledge, I may not be right but I know a great deal about it."
The big picture: Biden said he will make a decision about 2020 with his family in the next two months. Axios' Jonathan Swan reported in October that Biden is the potential opponent Trump's staff worries about most, as they fear he'll steal Trump voters from the Midwest and cut into the president's dominance among white men and whites without college degrees.
Almost 4,000 people have died or gone missing while trying to migrate to the U.S. through Mexico since 2014, the Associated Press reports.
Why it matters: The AP's tally is 1,573 more people than what has been previously reported by the UN, and it's likely still an underestimate as some migrants are missing or unreported — and it's just part of the total number of 56,800 migrants that have died or gone missing around the world in that time.
Democrats are moving women into leadership roles in key party organizations, including the campaign arms for national and state races — and eveninthe moderate Blue Dog coalition, which will be led by a woman of color for the first time in its 23-year history.
Why it matters: It's a recognition of the importance of women in the Democratic coalition — especially the role women voters played in the House midterm election victory — and a nod to the growing diversity of the party's elected officials. Republicans haven't made similar moves in their leadership ranks.
During meetings with Ecuador's then-incoming President Lenín Moreno in May 2017, Paul Manafort suggested he could help negotiate a deal that involved the South American country handing WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange over in exchange for debt relief from the U.S., the New York Times' Kenneth Vogel and Nicholas Casey report.
Details: Manafort, who served asPresident Trump's campaign chairman during the summer of 2016, reportedly met two times with Moreno to try and make the deal, which could have resulted in a large commission for Manafort who was under mounting pressure to pay off debts and legal bills at the time.
