Former President Trump announced on Sunday that lawyers David Schoen and Bruce L. Castor Jr. will lead his defense at his upcoming impeachment trial.
Why it matters: The hiring comes a day after news broke that South Carolina lawyers Butch Bowers and Deborah Barbier had left the team, due in part to the fact that Trump wanted them to argue the election was stolen rather than focus on the constitutionality of the trial, CNN reported.
KYIV — Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky tells "Axios on HBO" that he was "shocked" by the pro-Trump mob storming the U.S. Capitol, saying he never imagined this could happen in America and that it harms U.S. efforts to promote democracy abroad.
Why it matters: Zelensky's comments show how the Jan. 6 riots have echoed beyond America's borders, unsettling allies and emerging democracies that look to the U.S. for security and inspiration.
Some of President Biden's marquee administration picks had sizable incomes in recent years, according to numbers crunched by Axios, yet it's official disclosure forms about to become public that will tell a more compelling tale.
Why it matters: It's not surprising senior administration officials would also be successful in the private sector. But the populist moment the country finds itself in means personal wealth can come with political liability.
President Biden is tempering the ambassadorial expectations of his big-dollar donors, signaling he won't hand out plum posts for months and hinting he'll nominate fewer of them than his predecessors.
The big picture: The president embraced the Democratic Party's push for diversity when choosing his Cabinet. Now lawmakers are pressuring him to extend it to his ambassador picks, meaning white male donors — the core of his fundraiser base — will be in serious competition for fewer spots.
President Biden's team knows his national media honeymoon is coming to an end, so it's preparing to speak directly to the American people through local reporters and avoid distractions with its anti-Trumpian approach of ignoring Twitter.
Why it matters: The White House controlled the narrative for the first 12 days with daily themes and choreographed executive orders, but its communicators know they must be innovative as the press corps steps up its independent scrutiny, and they try to sell initiatives like a coronavirus relief package.
Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer told the Rev. Al Sharpton on MSNBC that at next week's impeachment trial, the House managers "are going to show the American people — vividly, on film — what happened there in the Capitol, what Trump said. … All of America will see it."
Why it matters:Most Republicans have said they will not vote to convict. But "the effort to present new video evidence and witness testimony appears designed to make Republican senators as uncomfortable as possible as they prepare to vote to acquit Trump," the Washington Post writes.
Joe Biden ranas a unifying centrist destined to be in conflict with activist liberals. Turns out, Biden is governing as an activist liberal constrained by centrists.
Why it matters: Biden has outlined the most liberal agenda in a generation. But centrist Democrats, including Sen. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.), are potential deal-killers on climate change, spending and immigration reform.
A group of 10Senate Republicans, led by Sen. Susan Collins (Maine), sent a letter to President Biden Sunday requesting a meeting, saying they have developed a counterproposal to the president's COVID-19 relief plan.
The big picture: The proposal includes $160 billion in spending for vaccines, testing and tracing, treatment and medical equipment. The senators said the plan "could be approved quickly by Congress with bipartisan support," if it gained Biden's support.
The big picture: Cecily Strong's Taylor Greene unleashed a raft of baseless conspiracies in her interview with host Kate McKinnon, who quipped as she left: "So government doesn't work." This week's host John Krasinski showed up as Tom Brady, whom McKinnon noted "might be the only thing in America that still works" but added "it’s not like you're a weird Trump guy, right?"
