Feb 7, 2020 - Politics & Policy

Trump impeachment aides leave White House post-acquittal

President Trump's impeachment gurus, Tony Sayegh and Pam Bondi, are leaving the White House after his acquittal in the Senate.

What we're hearing: Sayegh and Bondi were hired to run an anti-impeachment war room in the midst of the House impeachment investigation, but now that the president has been acquitted, the two plan to return to their former jobs.

  • Sayegh, who had served in a public affairs role for Trump’s Treasury Department and has a close relationship with Ivanka Trump, Jared Kushner and Donald Trump Jr., will return to Teneo as a managing director in New York City. Today is his last day at the White House.
  • Bondi, the former Florida attorney general who served as a member of Trump's defense tea​​m​ during the trial​, is due to depart by the end of next week.

Between the lines: Sayegh and Bondi worked behind the scenes to curry favor among Republicans to acquit Trump. But ​their roles were always temporary, and now that they have succeeded in pressuring Republicans to acquit the president they will return to their day jobs.

Yes, but: Both aides plans to visit Washington often and support Trump in outside roles.

Go deeper: The daily highlights from Trump's Senate impeachment trial

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Coronavirus dashboard

Illustration: Sarah Grillo/Axios

  1. Global: Total confirmed cases as of 2 p.m. ET: 5,929,312 — Total deaths: 357,781 — Total recoveries — 2,385,926 — Map.
  2. U.S.: Total confirmed cases as of 2 p.m. ET: 1,709,996 — Total deaths: 101,002 — Total recoveries: 391,508 — Total tested: 15,192,481 — Map.
  3. States: New York to allow private businesses to deny entry to customers without masks.
  4. Public health: Louisiana Sen. Cassidy wants more frequent testing of nursing home workers.
  5. Congress: Pelosi slams McConnell on stimulus delay — Sen. Tim Kaine and wife test positive for coronavirus antibodies.
  6. Business: Louisiana senator says young people are key to reopening the economy —U.S. GDP drop revised lower to 5% in the first quarter.
  7. What should I do? When you can be around others after contracting the coronavirus — Traveling, asthma, dishes, disinfectants and being contagious — Masks, lending books and self-isolating — Exercise, laundry, what counts as soap — Pets, moving and personal health — Answers about the virus from Axios experts — What to know about social distancing — How to minimize your risk.
  8. Other resources: CDC on how to avoid the virus, what to do if you get it, the right mask to wear.

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Updated 44 mins ago - Politics & Policy

Twitter fact-checks Chinese official's claims that coronavirus originated in U.S.

Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian. Photo: Greg Baker/AFP via Getty Images

Twitter slapped a fact-check label on a pair of months-old tweets from a Chinese government spokesperson that falsely suggested that the coronavirus originated in the U.S. and was brought to Wuhan by the U.S. military, directing users to "get the facts about COVID-19."

Why it matters: The labels were added after criticism that Twitter had fact-checked tweets from President Trump about mail-in voting, but not other false claims from Chinese Communist Party officials and other U.S. adversaries.

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President Trump is escalating his response to Twitter’s fact check of his recent tweets about mail-in voting, issuing an executive order that's designed to begin limiting social media's liability protections. Dan digs in with Axios' Margaret Harding McGill.

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