Axios

Republican lawmakers are preparing a push for the impeachment of deputy attorney general Rod Rosenstein, after he announced the indictment of a dozen Russian military intelligence officers for interfering in the 2016 election, reports Politico.

The backdrop: GOP members have been planning on removing Rosenstein "for weeks" behind the slow pace of their probe against FBI agents. Rep. Mark Meadows had an impeachment document ready at the moment Rosenstein spoke to reporters on Friday, the report says, but it's unclear when it will be formally introduced, or the level of support it would get from fellow Republicans.

A federal grand jury has indicted 12 Russian military officers working for the Russian intelligence directorate — known as the GRU — for running an active cyber operation in 2016 to steal and disseminate information with the intent to interfere in the U.S. election.

Why it matters: These are the first charges from the Mueller probe that directly accuse the Russian government of meddling in the 2016 election, and come just days before President Trump is set to have a one-on-one with Russian President Vladimir Putin.

President Trump, speaking at a joint press conference with U.K. Prime Minister Theresa May Friday, dismissed the notion that his repeated criticism of NATO countries will help boost Russian President Vladimir Putin's position ahead of their upcoming meeting in Helsinki on Monday, adding that the U.S. has "been far tougher on Russia than anybody."

Axios’ Jonathan Swan emails from Chequers: Trump “has still not been specific about what he wants to achieve from his meeting with Putin. I asked Trump to tell us the three or four things he wanted to achieve from his meeting with Putin and he just listed topic areas — ‘Ukraine,’ ‘Syria,’ ‘non-proliferation,’ etc. A senior European official told me that when he tried to get an agenda or even goals for the meeting the White House response was very vague.”

Energy Secretary Rick Perry, who's in Brussels, discussed U.S. opposition to Russia's proposed Nord Stream II natural gas pipeline into Germany. After meeting with EU energy officials, Perry fielded a press question about whether the project would come up in President Trump's July 16 meeting with Putin.

"The president, he is pretty straightforward about what he believes, and he thinks Nord Stream 2 is not in the European Union's best interest, and my bet is he'll be more than happy to tell President Putin that straight to his face."

Yes, but: While the U.S. opposes the project, Perry strongly downplayed the prospect of sanctions against European companies working on the long-proposed pipeline.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's senior economic adviser, Avi Simhon, last Tuesday supported President Trump's trade war with Beijing during a classified hearing on China. During the hearing, in the Foreign Affairs and Security Committee of the Israeli parliament, he attacked the economists who criticized Trump's tactics, calling them "Hillary Clinton supporters."

Why it matters: Simhon is heading Israel's national economic council, which is an organ within the Prime Minister's office. His counterpart at the White House is Larry Kudlow. His comments were unusual, mainly because he is one of the main supporters in the Israeli government of boosting trade with China. Moreover, his comments in a classified hearing of a Knesset committee create the impression that this is the Israeli government position.

North Korean leader Kim Jong-un sent a letter to President Trump on Thursday thanking him for his commitment to improving relations between the two countries during last month's summit in Singapore.

Timing: The letter, in which Kim addressed Trump as "Your Excellency Mr. President," came the same day that North Korean officials failed to show up for a planned meeting with their U.S. counterparts at the demilitarized zone.

North Korean officials failed to show up for a planned meeting with their U.S. counterparts at the demilitarized zone between the Koreas on Thursday to discuss the return of the remains of Americans who died in the Korean War, Bloomberg reports, citing the South Korean news agency Yonhap.

Why it matters: It comes right after North Korea pivoted on its commitment to denuclearization and called the U.S.'s demands for complete, irreversible, verifiable denuclearization "regrettable."

Update: The State Department says North Korea has suggested rescheduling the meeting for Sunday the 15th.