1/ The Justice Department will potentially announce the completion of Robert Mueller’s Russia investigation as early as next week. When that happens, Attorney General Bill Barr will likely submit a summary of Mueller’s confidential report to Congress. Mueller is required to submit a “confidential� report to the attorney general, which is not required to be shared with Congress or the public. Barr suggested during his confirmation hearing last month that the report might not become public, and has made clear that the Justice Department generally guards against publicizing “derogatory� information about uncharged individuals. Trump, meanwhile, will travel overseas next week for a summit with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, and Justice officials don’t want to interfere with the White House’s diplomatic efforts. Trump said “totally up to Bill Barr� as to whether Mueller’s report comes out while he is overseas. (CNN / NBC News / Washington Post)

The FBI developed a backup plan to protect evidence in its Russia investigation after James Comey was fired in the event that other senior officials were also dismissed. (Associated Press)

Trump intends to nominate Jeffrey Rosen as deputy attorney general. Rosen is currently the deputy transportation secretary and will replace Rod Rosenstein, who is expected to leave his post in mid-March. (Politico / CBS News)

Michael Cohen’s three-year prison stay has been delayed for two months because of a “serious surgical procedure� that requires extensive physical therapy. Cohen will now report to prison on May 6th instead of March 6th. (Bloomberg / CNN)

2/ Democratic 2020 candidates are already facing a coordinated barrage of social media disinformation attacks, with signs that foreign state actors are driving some of the activity. Kamala Harris, Elizabeth Warren, Bernie Sanders, and Beto O’Rourke have been the main targets of attacks, which have been focused on undermining their nascent candidacies through the dissemination of memes, hashtags, misinformation and distortions of their positions. (Politico)

3/ Democrats in the House and Senate believe a senior Department of Education official tried to oust the department’s independent watchdog because she pushed back against an attempt by the department to intervene in an investigation into Betsy DeVos. Lawmakers on four committees overseeing the DOE say the attempt to remove Sandra Bruce as acting inspector general was related to the probe of DeVos’ decision to reinstate an accreditor that had its certification revoked by the Obama administration. (NBC News)

4/ CNN hired a longtime Republican o...