1/ Canada: “We’re not there yet� on a NAFTA deal. The Trump administration had given Canada a Friday deadline to join a preliminary, new trade agreement between the U.S. and Mexico. Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said he would only sign a “good� NAFTA deal, while Canada’s top trade negotiator added: “We’re looking for a good deal, not just any deal. We will only agree to a deal that is a good deal for Canada.� A spokesperson from the U.S. Trade Representative’s Office described the negotiations as “ongoing,� while the Trump administration told Congress that it intends to keep Canada in the pact. (New York Times / Politico / Bloomberg / CNBC)

2/ Trump is unwilling to make any concessions to Canada at all on NAFTA, and said trade negotiations would be done “totally on our terms�. The remark was told to Bloomberg reporters off the record, but then reported by the Toronto Star. At the time, Trump said he couldn’t admit this publicly because “it’s going to be so insulting they’re not going to be able to make a deal.� He suggested he was forcing Canadian leaders into submission by repeatedly threatening to impose tariffs. Trump followed up by lashing out on Twitter, saying he was “BLATANTLY VIOLATED� due to the leaking of his “OFF THE RECORD COMMENTS� about Canada. He then confirmed the remarks by adding “At least Canada knows where I stand!� (Toronto Star / Politico / Washington Post)

Wow, I made OFF THE RECORD COMMENTS to Bloomberg concerning Canada, and this powerful understanding was BLATANTLY VIOLATED. Oh well, just more dishonest reporting. I am used to it. At least Canada knows where I stand!

3/ Robert Mueller’s investigation is pushing up against the “60-day rule,� an unofficial Department of Justice policy that suggests that investigators not take any actions within two months of an election in order to avoid influencing the outcome. Rudy Giuliani previously said that if the special counsel’s investigation is not completed by September, then there would be a “very, very serious violation of Justice Department rules,� because Mueller “shouldn’t be conducting one of these investigations in the 60-day period.� The cutoff, however, is not a hard and fast rule and, according to the Justice Department’s inspector general, it’s “not written or described in any Department policy or regulation.� Some of the evidence we’ve yet to see: Trump’s tax returns and bank rec...

1/ The Trump administration has been denying passports to U.S. citizens and accusing hundreds of Latinos along the southern border of using fake birth certificates to obtain citizenship. The State Department said it “has not changed policy or practice regarding the adjudication of passport applications,� but news reports suggest a dramatic shift in both immigration enforcement and the way passports are issued. Some passport applicants with U.S. birth certificates are being imprisoned at immigration detention centers and entered into deportation proceedings, while others have had their passports revoked when trying to reenter the United States. (Washington Post / CNN)

2/ Trump said Jeff Sessions’s job is safe at least until the midterm elections in November. Meanwhile, Trump has been lobbying “any senator who will listen� to him about firing and replacing Sessions. It’s unclear if the Senate would be able to confirm a replacement for Sessions due to its legislative schedule, which includes a government funding package and the confirmation of Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh. (Bloomberg / Politico / CNBC)

3/ George Papadopoulos accepted a plea deal from Robert Mueller and pled guilty to lying to the FBI about his contacts during the campaign with a professor who had “substantial connections to Russian government officials.� Papadopoulos was strongly considering backing away from the deal earlier this month, but decided to accept the deal and cooperate with Mueller’s probe into Russian interference in the 2016 election. (ABC News)

4/ Trump accused NBC of “fudging� his May 2017 interview where he admitted that the decision to fire James Comey was related to the Russia investigation. Comey was the FBI director at the time and was in charge of the investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 election. During the NBC interview, Trump admitted that he had “this Russia thing� in mind when he decided to fire Comey. On Thursday, Trump accused NBC Nightly News anchor Lester Holt on Twitter of “fudging my tape on Russia,� but provided no evidence to support the accusation. (Reuters)

Trump appeared to admit via tweet that he tried to fire Robert Mueller. “I am very excited about the person who will be taking the...

1/ White House counsel Don McGahn will step down after the midterms or after Brett Kavanaugh is confirmed to the Supreme Court. McGahn was the top lawyer for the Trump campaign and has repeatedly considered resigning as White House counsel. He’s played the role of peacemaker between the White House and Robert Mueller’s team, as well as acting as Trump’s liaison to the Justice Department and Congress. Trump surprised McGahn with his Twitter announcement, since McGahn had not discussed his plans directly with Trump. McGahn’s successor will likely be Emmet Flood, an attorney who advised the Clinton administration during his impeachment hearings and served as White House counsel under George W. Bush. McGahn has said privately that after he steps down he plans to continue assisting Trump throughout his reelection campaign. Trump asked former White House Staff Secretary Rob Porter “several times� last year if he would take McGahn’s position. Porter reportedly told him that he didn’t feel “he was qualified for the role.� Republicans see McGahn as a stable force and accessible official, and were dismayed by Trump’s announcement. Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Charles Grassley said he hopes “it’s not true� that McGahn is leaving and urged Trump to not “let that happen.� (Axios / New York Times / Washington Post)

2/ Betsy DeVos is preparing new education policies that narrow the definition of campus sexual harassment, strengthening the rights of students accused of assault, harassment or rape, while reducing the school’s liability. The proposed rules would hold schools accountable only for formal complaints filed with “an official who has the authority to institute corrective measures� regarding conduct that occurred on campuses. The new rules would also establish a higher legal standard to determine whether schools improperly addressed complaints. (New York Times)

3/ Trump accused China of hacking Hillary Clinton’s emails during the 2016 presidential campaign. “Hillary Clinton’s Emails, many of which are Classified Information, got hacked by China,� Trump tweeted. “Next move better be by the FBI & DOJ or, after all of their other missteps (Comey, McCabe, Strzok, Page, Ohr, FISA, Dirty Dossier etc.), their credibility will be forever gone!� In an earlier tweet, Trump joked that Russia might be the culprit: “China hacked Hillary Clinton’s private Email Server. Are they sure it wasn’t Russia (just kidding!)? What are the odds that the FBI and DOJ are right on top of this? Actually, a very big story. Much classified information!� Trump offered no evidence to support his claims. (Reuters)

4/ Trump said his administration “did a fantastic job in Puerto Rico� despite the official death toll rising to 2,975. Last year, Trump awarded himself a “10 out of 10� on disaster recovery efforts during an Oval Office meeting with Puerto Rico’s governor. (

1/ North Carolina’s congressional district maps were unconstitutionally gerrymandered in favor of Republicans and new maps may have to be drawn before the midterm elections, a panel of three federal judges ruled. The judges acknowledged that primary elections have already occurred but said they were reluctant to allow voting to take place in districts that have twice been found to violate constitutional standards. North Carolina legislators are likely to ask the U.S. Supreme Court to hear the case. (Washington Post / CNN)

2/ Trump accused Google of being “RIGGED� against him because the “search results for ‘Trump News’� show mostly “BAD� coverage about him from the “Fake News Media.� Trump charged that Google was limiting “fair media� coverage about him and “suppressing voices of Conservatives and hiding information and news that is good,� declaring it a “very serious situation� and promising that it “will be addressed!� Larry Kudlow, the director of the National Economic Council, said the Trump administration is “taking a look� at whether Google should be regulated. (New York Times / Reuters / Axios / Washington Post / Wall Street Journal)

Google search results for “Trump News� shows only the viewing/reporting of Fake News Media. In other words, they have it RIGGED, for me & others, so that almost all stories & news is BAD. Fake CNN is prominent. Republican/Conservative & Fair Media is shut out. Illegal? 96% of....

....results on “Trump News� are from National Left-Wing Media, very dangerous. Google & others are suppressing voices of Conservatives and hiding information and news that is good. They are controlling what we can & cannot see. This is a very serious situation-will be addressed!

Google Responds: “Search is not used to set a political agenda and we don’t bias our results toward any political ideology. Every year, we issue hundreds of improvements to our algorithms to ensure they surface high-quality content in response to users’ queries. We continually work to improve Google Search and we never rank search results to manipulate political sentiment.� (CNBC)

Trump’s Twitter tirade followed a Lou Dobbs segment that aired M...

1/ The U.S. and Mexico reached an agreement to end the North American Free Trade Agreement and replace it with the United States-Mexico Trade Agreement. Trump called the new name for the trade deal “elegant,� because the NAFTA name had “a bad connotation� and was a job-killing “disaster� for the U.S. The preliminary agreement excludes Canada, as Trump has repeatedly criticized the country’s trade practices. Canadian leaders have insisted they will not sign a deal that does not work in their favor. The preliminary deal will last for 16 years and be reviewed every six years. (New York Times / Reuters / Associated Press / CNBC)

2/ A former doorman at Trump World Tower is now free to discuss “information regarding Donald Trump’s illegitimate child� – the one he fathered with an ex-housekeeper in the late 1980s. Dino Sajudin entered into a “source agreement� with American Media Inc., which publishes the National Enquirer, on Nov. 15, 2015, but he was “recently� released from the contract, according to his attorney. In April, Sajudin said he had previously been “instructed not to criticize President Trump’s former housekeeper due to a prior relationship she had with President Trump which produced a child.� At the time, AMI called Sajudin’s story “not credible.� (CNN / New Yorker / Source PDF)

3/ Trump refused to approve a White House statement honoring John McCain’s military service, which called McCain a “hero.� Sarah Huckabee Sanders, John Kelly, and other White House staffers advocated for a statement lauding McCain’s career, but Trump told them he wanted to tweet instead. Shortly after McCain’s death was announced, Trump tweeted: “My deepest sympathies and respect go out to the family of Senator John McCain. Our hearts and prayers are with you!� Trump is not invited to the late senator’s funeral. (Washington Post)

4/ A federal judge struck down most of Trump’s executive orders limiting the power of federal employee unions. In May, Trump signed three executive orders which made it easier for managers to fire under-performing federal employees and limited the issues that could be bargained over in union negotiations. In her decision, the judge wrote that the president cannot “eviscerate the right to bargain collectively as envisioned� in the federal labor-management ...

1/ The chief financial officer at the Trump Organization was given immunity by federal prosecutors in New York as part of their criminal investigation into hush-money payments to Stormy Daniels and Karen McDougal during the 2016 presidential campaign. Allen Weisselberg, who is identified in court filings as “Executive-1,� helped authorize $420,000 in reimbursements to Michael Cohen and was granted immunity last month in exchange for his grand jury testimony about his role in the payments. According to prosecutors, Cohen – then Trump’s attorney – sent an invoice to Weisselberg in January 2017 for “Payment for services rendered for the month of January and February, 2017,� which reflected Cohen’s $130,000 payment to Stormy Daniels in October 2016, as well as an additional $50,000 for “tech services.� Weisselberg directed another Trump Organization executive to “pay from the Trust� and to “post to legal expenses.� Executives at the Trump Organization “‘grossed up’ for tax purposes� the reimbursement, doubling the invoice to $360,000, adding a $60,000 bonus. After he was elected, Trump handed over control of his financial assets and business interests to Eric Trump, Trump Jr., and Weisselberg. (Wall Street Journal / NBC News / Washington Post)

2/ The Manhattan district attorney’s office is considering criminal charges against the Trump Organization and two senior company officials in connection with Cohen’s hush-money payment to Stormy Daniels. The state’s investigation would focus on whether the Trump Organization violated state tax law for listing Cohen’s reimbursement as a legal expense. Federal prosecutors have said the payments were based on “sham� legal invoices in connection with a nonexistent retainer agreement, and that Cohen did no legal work in connection with the matter. The New York State attorney general’s office is seeking a referral from the state Department of Taxation and Finance, which is needed to conduct the inquiry and to prosecute any violations of state tax law. Trump does not have the power to pardon people and corporate entities convicted of state crimes. (New York Times / Los Angeles Times / CNN)

Spiro Agnew’s lawyer: Trump should resign from office to keep federal prosecutors from prosecuting his family. “We already have everybody, you know,� Martin London said. “The rats are leaving the ship. He’s lost [Richard] Gates, [George] Papadopoulos, [Michael] Cohen, [Michael] Flynn, now [David] Pecker. He’ll probably lose others from the Trump Organization.� (The Hill)

New York prosecutors may now pose a more immediate threat to Trump than Robert Mueller does. The offer of immunity to the Trump Organization’s chief financial officer is reminiscent to process law enforcement used to take down organized-crime. (

1/ Trump “would consider� pardoning Paul Manafort, according to Fox News host Ainsley Earhardt, who interviewed Trump. “I think he feels bad for Manafort,� Earhardt said. “They were friends.� Manafort was convicted on eight counts bank and tax fraud. While the White House maintains that Trump is not currently looking to pardon Manafort, Rudy Giuliani said Trump asked his lawyers several weeks ago for their advice on the possibility of pardoning Manafort and former aides under investigation. Trump’s personal lawyers cautioned him against considering pardons until Robert Mueller’s probe concludes to see if the special counsel’s report accuses the president of trying to block the federal probe of his campaign’s contacts with Russians. Giuliani said Trump agreed with their advice. (Reuters / Washington Post / New York Times / Mediaite / Politico)

Top Republicans in the Senate are warning Trump that it would be a mistake to pardon Manafort. “It would be an enormous mistake and misuse of his power to pardon,� said Sen. Susan Collins. The second-ranking Republican senator, GOP Whip John Cornyn also said that a pardon “would be a mistake.� Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chairman Bob Corker said that a pardon “would be very damaging to the presidency and to his position as president.� (The Hill)

One holdout juror prevented Manafort from being convicted on all 18 counts, according to one of the jurors. Paula Duncan, who identifies as a Trump supporter, said the single holdout juror could not come to a guilty verdict on 10 of the charges, leading the judge to declare a mistrial on those 10 counts. (Fox News / The Hill / Newsweek)

👮 Everyone who’s been charged as a result of the Mueller investigation. Between the Trump campaign and Russian officials, Mueller has issued more than 100 criminal counts against 32 people and three companies. (New York Times)

2/ Trump complained that “flipping� and cooperating with prosecutors is “not fair� and should “almost be outlawed� during an interview with Fox News. “It’s called flipping and it almost ought to be illegal.� Trump continued: “It almost ought to be outlawed. It’s not fair.� Trump also attacked Jeff Sessions, questioning his character for recusing himself in the Russia investigation, and asking “What kind of man is this?� and that the “only reason I gave him the job� was because he felt “loyalty� to Sessions for signing on to the campaign. “I put in an attorney general who never took control of the Justice Department.� (CNN /

1/ Michael Cohen has “knowledge� implicating Trump in a “criminal conspiracy� to hack the Democratic emails during the 2016 election, according to Cohen’s attorney. Lanny Davis also said Cohen’s knowledge reached beyond “the obvious possibility of a conspiracy to collude� and that Cohen is willing to share “all that he knows� with Robert Mueller’s team. (Washington Post / NBC News / Los Angeles Times / Politico)

Cohen’s lawyer said his client would never accept pardon from “corrupt� Trump because he “is not interested in being dirtied� or bailed out like Trump’s “political cronies.� (NPR / Politico / Washington Post)

Cohen’s attorney called for Congress to open an investigation into whether Trump directed Cohen to commit a crime. “There is most certainly enough evidence now� for Congress to open a probe, Lanny Davis said. (Bloomberg)

Democrats, meanwhile, have drafted contingency plans should Mueller be fired or Trump tries to end the Russia investigation by firing Rod Rosenstein or pardoning key witnesses. (NBC News)

2/ Trump’s real estate company approved $420,000 in “election-related� expenses to Michael Cohen for his effort to silence Stormy Daniels and Karen McDougal during the presidential campaign. The documents show an unnamed Trump Organization executive instructing an employee to describe the payments to Cohen as legal expenses “for services rendered for the year 2017.� Prosecutors say “the invoices were a sham,� and Cohen’s own disclosures filed with the Office of Government Ethics report that he had incurred “election-related� expenses in 2016 just before the election, and that Trump fully reimbursed him in 2017. Cohen’s reimbursements included the $130,000 payment to Stormy Daniels, other fees and taxes, and a $60,000 bonus. (Washington Post)

What Michael Cohen’s plea and Paul Manafort’s conviction mean for Trump the Mueller investigation. (Lawfare)

Michael Cohen deleted a 2015 tweet mocking Hillary Clinton about going to prison. The now-deleted tweet read: “@HillaryClinton when you go to prison for defrauding America and perjury, your room and board will be free!� A cached version can still be found

1/ Michael Cohen pleaded guilty to campaign finance violations for paying Stormy Daniels and Karen McDougal to secure their silence “at the direction of the candidate� for the “purpose of influencing the election� for president in 2016. Cohen used a home-equity line of credit to finance the $130,000 payment to Daniels in October 2016 – one month before the 2016 election – and submitted invoices to Trump’s company in order to obtain reimbursement for the unlawful campaign contributions. Two months before the election, Cohen recorded a conversation with Trump in which they discussed a $150,000 payment to Karen McDougal. Rudy Giuliani later confirmed that Trump had discussed the payments with Cohen. While the plea agreement does not require Cohen to cooperate with federal prosecutors in Manhattan, it also doesn’t preclude him from cooperating in the future with Robert Mueller’s investigation. In total, Cohen pleaded guilty to eight violations: five counts of tax evasion, one count of making a false statement to a bank, and two campaign finance violations for making an unlawful corporate campaign contribution and for making an excessive campaign contribution. He faces between four and five years in jail. Cohen is the fifth Trump associate to have pleaded guilty or been charged since Trump took office. (Washington Post / New York Times / Bloomberg / Wall Street Journal / Politico / Associated Press / Reuters)

1/ White House counsel Don McGahn has cooperated extensively with Robert Mueller’s obstruction of justice investigation and Trump’s lawyers don’t know what he’s told the special counsel. McGahn has given investigators at least three voluntary interviews lasting a total of 30 hours over the last nine months. McGahn was present for Trump’s comments and actions during the firing of James Comey and attempts to fire Mueller, and has provided Trump’s lawyers with a limited accounting of what he told investigators. Trump tweeted that he “allowed� McGahn to “fully cooperate� with Mueller’s investigation into obstruction of justice. Last fall, Mueller’s office asked to interview McGahn, which Trump and his lawyers encouraged. McGahn decided to fully cooperate with Mueller on suspicion that Trump was intent on letting him take the fall for any obstruction of justice-related decisions by claiming that he was only following legal advice from counsel. McGahn’s cooperation is also meant to protect himself from becoming the next John Dean, the White House counsel for Nixon, who pleaded guilty to conspiracy to obstruct justice. Trump and McGahn have a strained relationship and rarely speak one on one. Trump questions McGahn’s loyalty while McGahn calls Trump “King Kong.� In response to the report, Trump tweeted that McGahn “must be a John Dean type ‘RAT’ […] I have nothing to hide……� (New York Times / Wall Street Journal / Politico)

I allowed White House Counsel Don McGahn, and all other requested members of the White House Staff, to fully cooperate with the Special Counsel. In addition we readily gave over one million pages of documents. Most transparent in history. No Collusion, No Obstruction. Witch Hunt!

The failing @nytimes wrote a Fake piece today implying that because White House Councel Don McGahn was giving hours of testimony to the Special Councel, he must be a John Dean type “RAT.� But I allowed him and all others to testify - I didn’t have to. I have nothing to hide......

Trump’s lawyers don’t know just how much Don McGahn has told Mueller’s investigators, reigniting a debate about whether Trump was given bad advice by his former lawyers John Dowd and Ty Cobb to allow full cooperation with Mueller’s team, including by waiving attorney-client privilege. Dowd and Cobb believed that cooperation would help prove that Trump had done nothing wrong and would quickly end to the investigation. While Trump had approved the cooperation, he didn’t know the conversations stretched for 30 hours or that his legal team didn’t conduct a full debriefing with McGahn after the fact. (New York Times / CNN)

John Dean: “I think Trump has got a real problem here. And I’m not sure how he’s going to handle it.�