Trump Administration

The New York Times reports: Federal prosecutors in Washington are investigating a years-old leak of classified information about a Russian intelligence document, and they appear to be focusing on whether the former F.B.I. director James B. Comey illegally provided details to reporters, according to people familiar with the inquiry. The case is the second time the Justice Department has investigated …

Via press release from the ACLU: The American Civil Liberties Union, National Immigrant Justice Center, Center for Gender & Refugee Studies, and Human Rights First filed a federal lawsuit today challenging the Trump administration’s policies regarding so-called “safe third country” agreements with Guatemala and other nations that force people fleeing for their lives to seek asylum in the same dangerous …

NBC News reports: President Donald Trump on Thursday announced a series of new rules and guidance memos designed to push federal funds to religious organizations and advance prayer in public schools. The guidance comes amid a formal White House declaration recognizing Jan.16 as Religious Freedom Day. In a reversal of Obama-era requirements that tightly restricted religious organizations receiving taxpayer money, …

The New York Times reports: The Senate is still discussing whether it will hear witness testimony from John Bolton, the former national security adviser, who has said he would comply with a subpoena during the impeachment trial. But he’s planning to reveal some of what he saw regarding the Ukraine matter in his upcoming book, according to people familiar with …

The Guardian reports: Donald Trump “abused”, “harassed” and “pestered” his homeland security secretary over immigration policy, demanding that the US border be closed, a new book reveals. And when the then secretary, Kirstjen Nielsen, warned the president that shutting down the border would be illegal, the then attorney general, Jeff Sessions, approved the radical measure – despite it being against …

The Washington Post reports: President Trump is preparing to divert an additional $7.2 billion in Pentagon funding for border wall construction this year, five times what Congress authorized him to spend on the project in the 2020 budget, according to internal planning figures obtained by The Washington Post. The Pentagon funds would be extracted, for the second year in a row, …

“I think the president is making clear that the Democrats are and have been parroting Iranian talking points and almost taking the side of terrorists and those who were out to kill the Americans. I think the president was making the point that the Democrats seem to hate him so much that they’re willing to be on the side of …

Fox News reports: The White House’s official Twitter handle on Sunday confused residents in Washington, D.C., when it tweeted out a nighttime photograph of the world’s most famous residence behind falling snowflakes with the caption: “First snow of the year!” One problem: It didn’t snow in the city that day and was, in fact, unseasonably warm, with highs that nearly …

Reuters reports: The United States on Friday rejected a formal request from Britain for the extradition of a U.S. diplomat’s wife who left the country last year after a road collision that killed 19-year-old Briton Harry Dunn. British prosecutors are seeking the extradition of Anne Sacoolas over the crash last August in which Dunn was killed while riding his motorbike. …

The Washington Examiner reports: The Department of Justice doesn’t want the Supreme Court to fast-track a case that could result in Obamacare being thrown out ahead of the presidential election, despite its position that the healthcare law should be abolished. If the court agrees with the Trump administration, then President Trump and Republicans will be spared the possibility of having …

The Associated Press reports: The White House is considering expanding its much-litigated travel ban to additional countries amid a renewed election-year focus on immigration issues by President Donald Trump, according to four people familiar with the deliberations. A document outlining the plans has been circulating the White House, but the countries that would be affected are blacked out, according to …

The Wall Street Journal reports: The Trump administration is working on a plan to tighten eligibility requirements for disability benefits, especially for older Americans, the latest step in a broader White House effort to shrink federal safety-net programs. The proposal being prepared by the Social Security Administration would revise eligibility for disability benefits based on age, education and work experience, …

ABC News reports: Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin detailed new sanctions on Iran at the White House Friday morning — the response President Donald Trump chose after backing away from further military conflict after Iran fired missiles at U.S. forces following his order to kill Iran’s top commander, Qassem Soleimani. Mnuchin said the administration was …

The Associated Press reports: Iraqi Prime Minister Adel Abdul-Mahdi has told the U.S. secretary of state to send a delegation to Iraq tasked with formulating the mechanism for the withdrawal of U.S troops from Iraq, according to a statement released Friday. The statement, from the office of the Iraqi caretaker prime minister, said the request came in a telephone call …

The Washington Post reports: A Justice Department inquiry launched more than two years ago to mollify conservatives clamoring for more investigations of Hillary Clinton has effectively ended with no tangible results, and current and former law enforcement officials said they never expected the effort to produce much of anything. John Huber, the U.S. attorney in Utah, was tapped in November …

Bloomberg News reports: The New York City Bar Association has asked Congress to investigate U.S. Attorney General William Barr, saying his recent actions and statements have positioned the Justice Department and its prosecutors as “political partisans willing to use the levers of government to empower certain groups over others.” The request disclosed on Thursday appears to be the first time …

Reuters reports:  The United States will withdraw or deny visas to any International Criminal Court personnel investigating possible war crimes by U.S. forces or allies in Afghanistan, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said on Friday. The court, which sits in The Hague, responded that it was an independent and impartial institution and would continue to do its work “undeterred” by …

NBC News reports: A federal judge has ordered the Department of Homeland Security to return a gay asylum-seeker who was deported to Chad, ruling that the government had not properly considered his asylum claim based on his status as a gay man before deporting him. Oumar Yaide arrived in the U.S. in 2009 and requested political asylum because he was …

The Washington Post reports: The Trump administration is seeking to delay a Democratic effort to require the Secret Service to disclose how much it spends protecting President Trump and his family when they travel — until after the 2020 election, according to people familiar with the discussions. The issue has emerged as a sticking point in recent weeks as Treasury …

The New York Times reports: Last week, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo was the loudest voice in the administration pushing President Trump to kill Iran’s most important general. This week, he is back in his role as the nation’s top diplomat, trying to contain the international crisis the general’s death created. True to form, Mr. Pompeo is not backing down. …