May 10, 2017

The firing of James Comey

Cliff Owen / AP

President Trump fired FBI Director James Comey today, and we're working to get everyone up to speed:

BREAKING: "Grand jury subpoenas issued in FBI's Russia investigation: CNN reports that it learned of federal subpoenas seeking business records related to Michael Flynn in the hours before Comey's firing. We're updating along, live.
The basics: Trump wrote in a letter to Comey that while he appreciated their three previously undisclosed conversations during which Comey had told Trump there was no FBI probe into Russia, he had lost faith in his ability to lead the Bureau. The cited reason: his handling of the Clinton email probe. More questions answered in a post with rolling updates, here.
Full timeline: How Comey got fired.
The reactions: Lawmakers and activists, ranging from Chuck Schumer to John McCain to the ACLU to Edward Snowden, have weighed in.
The Nixon thing: Democrats have seized on a theme to react to the news.
The Russia thing: The calls are pouring in to appoint a special investigation on Russia, in light of this firing. Justin Amash called Trump's comments to Comey "bizarre."
Clintonworld sounds the alarm: They're concerned about the future of the Russia investigation.
Read the letters yourself: If you want to see the letters, we've got them embedded.

Go deeper

China tries to contain coronavirus, as Apple warns of earnings impact

Data: The Center for Systems Science and Engineering at Johns Hopkins, the CDC, and China's NHC; Note: China refers to mainland China and the Diamond Princess is the cruise ship offshore Yokohama, Japan. Map: Danielle Alberti/Axios

As China pushes to contain the spread of the novel coronavirus — placing around 780 million people under travel restrictions, per CNN — the economic repercussions continue to be felt globally as companies like Apple warn of the impact from the lack of manufacturing and consumer demand in China.

The big picture: COVID-19 has now killed at least 1,775 people and infected more than 70,000 others, mostly in mainland China. There are some signs that new cases are growing at a slower rate now, although the World Health Organization said Monday it's "too early to tell" if this will continue.

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Ina Fried

Apple will miss quarterly earnings estimates due to coronavirus

Apple CEO Tim Cook

Apple issued a rare earnings warning on Monday, saying it would not meet quarterly revenue expectations due to the impact of the coronavirus, which will limit iPhone production and limit product demand in China.

Why it matters: Lots of companies rely on China for production, but unlike most U.S. tech companies, Apple also gets a significant chunk of its revenue from sales in China.

Go deeper2 hours ago - Technology

Orion Rummler

America's dwindling executions

The Trump administration wants to reboot federal executions, pointing to a 16-year lapse, but Pew Research reports the government has only executed three people since 1963.

The big picture: Nearly all executions in the U.S. are done by states. Even those have been steadily dropping for two decades, per the Bureau of Justice Statistics (BJS) — marking a downward trend for all executions in the country.

Go deeper4 hours ago - Politics & Policy