Acting Director of National Intelligence Richard Grenell has declassified the full text of an email that memorializes former national security adviser Susan Rice's account of an Oval Office meeting on Jan. 5, 2017, in which top Obama officials discussed Michael Flynn's contacts with the Russian ambassador, Politico reports.
The big picture: The meeting was attended by Rice, former President Obama, former Vice President Biden, former Deputy Attorney General Sally Yates and former FBI director James Comey. The newly declassified portion describes Comey's concerns about the "unusual" frequency of communications between Flynn and Russian ambassador Sergey Kisylak.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) indefinitely extended its public health order on Tuesday, empowering border agents to quickly expel migrants who cross the border illegally.
Why it matters: The order will be reviewed every 30 days. Border agents have already used the authority to expel more than 20,000 migrants, including asylum seekers and children, in less than 2 months, according to DHS data.
Asked about the FDA's warning about the use of hydroxychloroquine for coronavirus patients, Trump responded by attacking a non-peer reviewed study released last month that found an increased risk of death associated with patients who were only treated with the antimalarial drug — calling it a "false study."
Why it matters: The president, who revealed Monday he is taking the drug as a "line of defense" against the virus, referred to the study as a "Trump enemy statement." He did not address the FDA's warning that hydroxychloroquine appears to cause some serious and potentially life-threatening side effects in coronavirus patients.
One takeaway from Tuesday's Senate coronavirus bailout hearing: The Treasury Department and Federal Reserve both think the worst could be yet to come for America's economy.
Why it matters: Fed Chair Jerome Powell reiterated his belief that a full recovery may not come until there's a vaccine, and Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said there's the risk of "permanent damage" if states delay reopening.
Nonessential traffic between the U.S. and Canada will be restricted for another 30 days, due to the coronavirus pandemic, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said at a press conference on Tuesday.
The big picture: The temporary travel restrictions — which have been a mutual effort between the two countries, Trudeau stressed — will last a total of three months under his latest extension.
Lawyers for former national security adviser Michael Flynn filed a writ of mandamus petition to the U.S. Court of Appeals in D.C. on Tuesday that would compel U.S. District Judge Emmet Sullivan to immediately grant the Justice Department's motion to dismiss charges.
Why it matters: Sullivan moved to put the DOJ's motion on hold last week to hear from outside parties that may seek to intervene through an amicus brief. He also appointed a retired judge to recommend whether Flynn should face a criminal contempt charge for perjury after he twice declared under oath that he had lied to the FBI before attempting to withdraw his guilty plea in January.
Senate Judiciary Chairman Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) told reporters on Capitol Hill Tuesday that he plans to finish his committee's investigation into the origins of the FBI's Russia probe by October and release a public report before the election, CNN reports.
Driving the news: Graham sent a letter to Attorney General Bill Barr and acting Director of National Intelligence Richard Grenell on Tuesday asking them to name the Obama administration officials who requested the identities of members of the Trump campaign or transition team caught up in foreign surveillance reports.
Norma McCorvey, the anonymous plaintiff in the 1973 Roe v. Wade case that protected women's abortion rights, told a documentary crew in a 2017 "deathbed confession" that she was paid to support the anti-abortion movement during the later years of her life, the Los Angeles Times reports.
What she said: "I was the big fish. I think it was a mutual thing. I took their money and they’d put me out in front of the cameras and tell me what to say. That’s what I’d say," McCovey told the makers of "AKA Jane Roe," which premieres Friday on FX.
A federal judge ordered Tuesday that New York must move forward with its Democratic presidential primary on June 23, Politico reports.
Why it matters: New York's Board of Elections initially canceled the primary because it believed the risk of spreading the coronavirus was greater than holding an election with only one contender — Joe Biden. The move angered Bernie Sanders supporters and prompted a lawsuit by former presidential candidate Andrew Yang, who argued that canceling the primary "denies voters the right to vote."
President Trump tweeted a letter Monday night threatening to permanently cut off the World Health Organization's U.S. funding, accusing the WHO of "repeated missteps" during the pandemic and demanding it "demonstrate independence from China."
What he's saying: If the WHO "does not commit to major substantive improvements within the next 30 days, I will make my temporary freeze of United States funding to the World Health Organization permanent and reconsider our membership in the organization," Trump said in the letter to WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus.
Immediately after President Trump revealed that he has been taking hydroxychloroquine as a preventative measure for the coronavirus, Fox News host Neil Cavuto warned viewers that the drug could have deadly consequences for patients with health risks: "It will kill you. I cannot stress enough."
Why it matters: The FDA issued a warning last month that hydroxychloroquine, which has not been proven to prevent coronavirus infections, could cause heart complications in positive COVID-19 patients.
President Trump said on Monday it'd be OK for a State Department employee to do Secretary of State Mike Pompeo's dishes as he'd rather have him "on the phone with some world leader than have him wash dishes because maybe his wife isn't there or his kids aren't there."
Why it matters: An inspector general ousted by Trump last week was reportedly investigating whether Pompeo inappropriately used a staffer to perform personal chores, including dog walking, picking up dry cleaning and booking dinner reservations.
President Trump's physician said in a statement Monday it was decided that hydroxychloroquine could be beneficial to him after a White House staffer tested positive for the coronavirus.
Why it matters: Trump said earlier Monday that he's been taking the antimalarial drug and a zinc supplement for "about a week and a half" as a preventative measure against the virus. The FDA warned last month that the drug should only be taken in hospitals because of the risk of heart complications. Its effectiveness against COVID-19 is unproven.
