The House Intelligence Committee is investigating whether 4 Trump family lawyers obstructed justice in the Russia investigation by helping Michael Cohen shape his false testimony to Congress and offering a potential pardon in exchange for his loyalty, according to letters obtained by the New York Times.
"Among other things, it appears that your clients may have reviewed, shaped and edited the false statement that Cohen submitted to the committee, including causing the omission of material facts. In addition, certain of your clients may have engaged in discussions about potential pardons in an effort to deter one or more witnesses from cooperating with authorized investigations."
Gov. Ron DeSantis (R-Fla.) said on Tuesday that Russian hackers accessed voter databases in two Florida counties before the 2016 presidential election, AP reports. DeSantis said no Florida election results were compromised as a result of the hacking and no data was manipulated.
Our thought bubble, via Axios cybersecurity reporter Joe Uchill: It's important to remember, in cases of hacked voter databases, that the effect may not be manipulating elections. Voters removed from databases would still be eligible to vote via provisional ballots, and adding thousands of fictional voters to the rolls would mean creating an unwieldy operation that would require filling out thousands of fake ballots.
President Trump denied a report from the New York Times that his top national security aides discussed a plan to send up to 120,000 troops to the Middle East in case of a fallout with Iran, adding that if they were planning to, "we'd send a hell of a lot more troops than that."
Secretary of State Mike Pompeo meets in Sochi on Tuesday with his Russian counterpart Sergey Lavrov and President Vladimir Putin to discuss a long list of issues on which the U.S. and Russia are at complete odds with each other.
The big picture: The agenda for the talks — the first high-level meeting with Russian officials since last summer's widely criticized Helsinki Summit — includes arms control, Venezuela, Ukraine, Syria and Iran, according to the State Department. While it's unlikely the needle will move on any of these sources of longstanding disagreement, Sochi may help prepare for future summits.
President Trump joined other prominent Republicans in criticizing Rep. Rashida Tlaib (D-Mich.) on Monday after she invoked the Holocaust while explaining why she supports a one-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
"Democrat Rep. Tlaib is being slammed for her horrible and highly insensitive statement on the Holocaust. She obviously has tremendous hatred of Israel and the Jewish people. Can you imagine what would happen if I ever said what she said, and says?"
North Korea demanded Tuesday the immediate return of a cargo ship seized by the U.S. — which it said violated the spirit of the Hanoi summit between President Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, the state-run KCNA news agency reports.
Why it matters: The capture of the ship, the Wise Honest — which Pyongyang labeled "unlawful" — marked the first time the U.S. has seized a North Korean cargo ship for violating UN sanctions. North Korea warned it'd be the "biggest miscalculation" if the U.S. believed it could control it with force.
At the direction of national security adviser John Bolton, acting Defense Secretary Patrick Shanahan last week presented top White House national security officials with a plan to send up to 120,000 troops to the Middle East in the event that Iran "attack American forces or accelerate work on nuclear weapons," the New York Times reports.
Details: The plan was reportedly presented during a meeting about the Trump administration's broader Iran policy, attended — among others — by Bolton, CIA director Gina Haspel, Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Gen. Joseph Dunford and Director of National Intelligence Dan Coats. It's unclear if President Trump has been briefed on the details of the plan, which did not call for a land invasion of Iran, but requested a similar number of troops involved the U.S.' 2003 invasion of Iraq, per the Times.
PLO executive committee member Hanan Ashrawi claims she was denied a visa to the U.S. for political reasons.
Why it matters: Ashrawi is one of the best known and most respected Palestinian leaders internationally. She had close contacts to officials in previous U.S. administrations, including former Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice. The news comes amid a breakdown in relations between the U.S. and the Palestinians.
President Trump told reporters Monday that he will meet with Russian President Vladimir Putin and Chinese President Xi Jinping at the G20 Summit on June 28 and 29 in Osaka, Japan.
Why it matters: This will be the first time Trump will meet with Putin since the release of the Mueller report, and the first time he'll meet with Xi since U.S.-China trade talks collapsed, resulting in increased tariffs on $200 billion worth of Chinese goods and threats of retaliation. Trump also told reporters that he hasn't yet decided whether to go forward with new tariffs on $325 billion of Chinese goods, as he has previously threatened.
China Mobile isn't hiding its frustration after the Federal Communications Commission denied the wireless firm's bid to operate in the U.S.
What's happening: "After 7 years and 8 months of application, FCC now denies (China Mobile's) bid to operate in the U.S. without apparent reasons and basis," it said in a statement.
Saudi Arabia said Monday 2 of its oil tankers sustained "significant damage" in sabotage attacks near the coast of Fujairah in the United Arab Emirates, as 1 was on its way to pick up oil for the U.S.
Why it matters: The U.S. had warned that "Iran or its proxies" could target vessels in the region. The UAE said Sunday 4 commercial vessels were targeted by "sabotage operations" near its territorial waters, per Reuters. The U.S. says it's deployingforces including an aircraft carrier and B-52 bombers to the Persian Gulf to counter Iranian threats.
