1/ Mick Mulvaney tried to walk-back his claim that Trump’s decision to withhold nearly $400 million in military aid to Ukraine was in exchange for an investigation of the hacked Democratic National Committee server. Trump has repeatedly claimed his decision to hold up the aid was due to concerns about corruption in Ukraine and that European nations weren’t doing enough to help Ukraine. Trump was reportedly “not happy� with Mulvaney’s press briefing, in which his acting chief of staff said “We do that all the time with foreign policy� and that every one should “Get over it,� because “There’s going to be political influence in foreign policy.� Mulvaney later issued a statement, which was first reviewed by Trump, saying that “There was absolutely no quid pro quo between Ukrainian military aid and any investigation into the 2016 election.� When Trump was asked to clarify Mulvaney’s statement, Trump responded: “I think he clarified it.� Meanwhile, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi called Mulvaney’s comments a “confession.� (Wall Street Journal / New York Times / CNN)

2/ Associates of an indicted Ukrainian oligarch tried to dig up dirt on Joe Biden in exchange for Rudy Giuliani helping the oligarch avoid extradition to the U.S. Dmitry Firtash changed lawyers in July to Joe diGenova and Victoria Toensing, who were supporters of Trump and associates of Giuliani. They hired Lev Parnas, also a Giuliani associate, as a translator. Parnas was arrested last week along with several associates and accused of conspiring to violate campaign finance laws. The Justice Department has described Firtash as an associate of “Russian organized crime.� (Bloomberg)