Axios

Rep. Katie Hill (D-Calif.) will resign amid a House Ethics Committee investigation into allegations that she engaged in an inappropriate sexual relationship with a congressional staffer, Politico first reported and Hill later confirmed in a statement.

Why it matters: Hill is one of the freshman Democrats elected in the 2018 midterms in a traditionally Republican stronghold. Hill admitted to an "inappropriate relationship" with a campaign staffer prior to being elected to Congress, but she has denied that she engaged in a relationship with a congressional staffer while in office.

In an interview with Jonathan Swan for "Axios on HBO," Iraqi President Barham Salih said that while the military defeat of ISIS is an important moment, it is still incomplete and could "easily unravel."

• The interview was prior to news of the death of ISIS leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi. Experts remain concerned about an ISIS resurgence even without the group’s leader.

In an interview with Jonathan Swan for "Axios on HBO," Iraqi President Barham Salih said U.S. allies are worried about America's dependability in the era of President Trump.

The big picture: The U.S. withdrawal from northern Syria has called into question Trump's loyalty to allied causes. The removal of U.S. troops in the region caused the displacement of hundreds of thousands of Kurds after Turkish forces invaded.

In an interview with Jonathan Swan for "Axios on HBO," Iraqi President Barham Salih said the U.S. withdrawal from northern Syria has the "entire neighborhood" worried.

The big picture: Trump's withdrawal from Syria has caused unrest in the region, displacing hundreds of thousands of Kurds as Turkish forces move in. Iraq shares a border with both nations, and it has also been left vulnerable to the growing conflict.

Iraqi President Barham Salih — long known as a pro-American leader — says he is no longer sure he can rely on the U.S. as an ally and may be ready to "recalibrate" Iraq's relationship with other countries, including Iran and Russia.

Why it matters: In an extraordinarily candid interview with "Axios on HBO," Salih said he still values his country's alliance with the U.S. 16 years after the U.S. invasion of Iraq. He wants to keep that alliance — but made clear that the Trump administration's policies are making that difficult.

Vice President Mike Pence said on CBS' "Face the Nation" on Sunday that there was no quid pro quo involved in President Trump's desire for Ukraine to open political investigations, despite testimonies from top State Department officials that suggest otherwise.

President Trump said in a press conference Sunday that he did not inform congressional Democrats before launching a military operation that resulted in Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi's death because of potential leaks.

House Intelligence Chairman Adam Schiff (D-Calif.) said on ABC's "This Week" that he wants former White House national security adviser John Bolton to testify in the Ukraine investigation, but that he assumes the Trump administration will fight House investigators in court to prevent him from appearing.

Philip Reeker, the acting assistant secretary of state for European and Eurasian affairs, told House impeachment investigators Saturday that top State Department officials overruled his attempted defense of Marie Yovanovitch, the former U.S. ambassador to Ukraine, the Wall Street Journal reports.

The big picture: The House Intelligence Committee subpoenaed Reeker after the State Department directed him not to attend his Saturday deposition. Reeker is one of several Trump administration officials to testify that he was disturbed by Rudy Giuliani's involvement in Ukraine policy and by the State Department leadership's lack of support for Yovanovitch.

Nobody noticed it at the time, but in one week in April, the tide of the Democratic primary flipped irreversibly, leading to the emergence of Elizabeth Warren — not Bernie Sanders — as the clear progressive favorite in the 2020 field.

Why it matters: That week coincides with the addition of Joe Biden to the field and the story that has generated more interactions on social media than any other piece about Warren this year, according to data from NewsWhip exclusively provided to Axios: the release of her student debt cancellation plan.

Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, leader of the Islamic State, or ISIS, was targeted in a raid led by U.S. military special operations and is believed to have been killed in the attack in northwest Syria, Newsweek first reported Saturday night.

Details: A military source told Fox News that a "high value ISIS target" believed to be Baghdadi was "killed by U.S.-led forces in Idlib, Syria." A U.S. official told AP the terrorist group leader was "killed in an explosion" in the province. American military sources told news outlets including CNN, ABC News, Defense One and Al Jazeera that a person believed to be Baghdadi detonated a suicide vest.

U.S. Ambassador to the EU Gordon Sondland told House investigators last week the actions of President Trump and his allies over Ukraine "amounted to a quid pro quo," his attorney told the Wall Street Journal Saturday.

Why it matters: The issue of alleged quid pro quo involving Trump and Ukraine is central to the House inquiry into his possible impeachment. The president and his allies have long denied any quid pro quo took place.