1/ Michael Cohen’s business partner took a plea deal that requires him to cooperate with the government as a potential witness in state and federal investigations. Evgeny Freidman is a Russian immigrant known as the “Taxi King,� and he specifically agreed to assist government prosecutors in state or federal investigations, according to a person briefed on the matter. Freidman was disbarred earlier this month, has been accused of failing to pay $5 million in taxes, and is facing multiple counts of criminal tax fraud and one of grand larceny. Freidman’s cooperation is seen as potential leverage to pressure Cohen into working with Mueller’s team on the investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 elections. (New York Times / Washington Post / Politico / CNBC / Vox)

Cohen distances himself from business associate who struck plea deal. (The Hill)

Who is Evgeny Freidman? Michael Cohen’s “Taxi King� business partner may be key to Russia investigation. (Newsweek)

2/ Cohen received a secret payment of at least $400,000 to arrange talks between Trump and the president of Ukraine. The payment was arranged by intermediaries acting on behalf of Ukrainian president Petro Poroshenko. The meetings occurred at the White House last June. Cohen has denied the allegation. There is no indication that Trump was aware of the payment. (BBC)

3/ Robert Mueller asked the courts to begin the sentencing process for former Trump campaign adviser George Papadopoulos. Mueller asked the judge to order a standard investigative report and to begin moving forward with sentencing process. The judge will ultimately decide what Papadopoulos’ sentence will be. Papadopoulos has been cooperating with the special counsel for months, but the move suggests that his cooperation may no longer be necessary. (CNN)

4/ A federal district court judge ruled that Trump can’t block people on Twitter over their political views. Judge Buchwald of the Southern District of New York said Trump’s Twitter account is a public forum and blocking people based on their political opinions amounts to viewpoint discrimination and a violation of the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution. (The Hill)

5/ Trump said he constantly bashes the press in order to “demean� and “discredit� journalists so the public won’t believe “negative stories� about him. Lesley Stahl says she asked Trump, “Why are you doing it over and over?� She continued: “And he said: ‘You know why I do it? I do it to discredit you all and demean you all so that when you write negative stories about me no one will believe you.’� (

1/ Trump uses White House cellphones that lack the proper security features required to protect his communications, thus leaving him open to potential hacking or surveillance. Trump uses at least two different iPhones — one for calls and one for Twitter and news — and has resisted staff efforts to beef up phone security. Aides have urged Trump to swap out his Twitter phone on a monthly basis, but Trump argues the disruption is “too inconvenient.� Trump has gone as long as five months without a Twitter-phone security check-up. (Politico)

Trump is essentially doing the same thing he demanded Hillary Clinton be locked up for doing. Trump’s actions are identical to Clinton’s, but Trump’s situation is an easier target for foreign hackers, especially since Trump is particularly vulnerable to espionage and blackmail due to his concealed business interests and alleged adultery. (New York Magazine)

Trump’s communication security practices illustrate the clear double standard between Hillary Clinton’s emails and his own cell phones. Whether or not convenience was actually Clinton’s reasoning for the use of her private server is a fair question, but there are still clear parallels between what Trump attacked Clinton for and what he’s doing now. (Washington Post)

The White House pushed back on the report that Trump’s cell phones are not secure: “The White House is confident in the security protocols in place for the President’s use of communications devices,� a senior White House official said. (ABC News)

2/ White House employees who draft tweets for Trump intentionally incorporate poor grammar and spelling errors to mimic their boss. Overuse of exclamation points, random capitalization of words, and use of fragmented sentences are all elements of a process intended to make the tweets appear genuine. (Boston Globe)

3/ The EPA barred the Associated Press and CNN from a national summit on harmful water contaminants convened by Scott Pruitt. One AP reporter was grabbed by the shoulders and forcibly removed from the building after asking to speak to a public affairs representative. “This was simply an issue of the room reaching capacity,� said EPA spokesperson Jahan Wilcox. Wilcox later announced the afternoon session would be open to all press. (Associated Press / NBC News / Axios / CNBC)

4/ The Interior Department plans to reverse a 2015 ban prohibiting hunters on some public lands in Alaska from using cruel hunting techniques, including the use of spotlights to shoot mother black bears and cubs during hibernation, the hunting of black bears with dogs, the killing of wolves and pups in their dens, ...

1/ Trump demanded that the Justice Department investigate whether the FBI “infiltrated or surveilled� his presidential campaign under Obama’s orders. After accusing the FBI on Friday of sending a “spy� to infiltrate his campaign, Trump tweeted Sunday afternoon: “I hereby demand, and will do so officially tomorrow, that the Department of Justice look into whether or not the FBI/DOJ infiltrated or surveilled the Trump Campaign for Political Purposes, and if any such demands or requests were made by people within the Obama Administration!� The FBI opened its counterintelligence investigation into Russia’s efforts to influence the 2016 campaign on July 31, 2016. They sent an informant, a retired American professor, to talk to George Papadopoulos, Carter Page, and Sam Clovis after receiving evidence that the pair had contacts linked to Russia during the campaign. (New York Times / Washington Post)

Reports are there was indeed at least one FBI representative implanted, for political purposes, into my campaign for president. It took place very early on, and long before the phony Russia Hoax became a “hot� Fake News story. If true - all time biggest political scandal!

I hereby demand, and will do so officially tomorrow, that the Department of Justice look into whether or not the FBI/DOJ infiltrated or surveilled the Trump Campaign for Political Purposes - and if any such demands or requests were made by people within the Obama Administration!

2/ The Justice Department asked the inspector general to review the FBI’s counterintelligence investigation of the 2016 Trump campaign hours after Trump demanded that the agency investigate whether his campaign was “infiltrated� by the FBI. Rod Rosenstein said in a statement: “If anyone did infiltrate or surveil participants in a presidential campaign for inappropriate purposes, we need to know about it and take appropriate action.� The suspected informant is Stefan Halper, an American who was a foreign policy scholar at the University of Cambridge until 2015. (Washington Post / New York Times / Wall Street Journal)

3/ Rod Rosenstein, FBI Director Christopher Wray and Director of National Intelligence Dan Coats met with Trump at the White House. The meeting comes a day after Trump tweeted that he would “demand� the Justice Department investigate whether his campaign was improperly “infiltrated or surveilled� for political purposes. Rosenstein agreed that John Kelly ...

1/ The Trump administration will withhold federal funding for family planning clinics that provide abortions or refer patients to places that perform them in a change to how Title X family planning funds are awarded. The rule will resurrect a Reagan-era policy that requires abortion services to have “separate personnel� and require a “bright line� of “physical separation� from other family planning services. Title X serves about 4 million women a year and costs taxpayers about $260 million. (New York Times / Washington Post / Associated Press)

2/ Trump tweets: The Justice Department put “an embedded informant� inside his campaign in order to “spy� on him in an effort to “frame� him “for crimes he didn’t commit.� Giuliani tried to clarify Trump’s tweets, saying the president doesn’t “know for sure� if there was an FBI informant in his campaign. He added that Trump’s legal team was told “off the record� that there was not one informant but two informants. Trump tweeted that if the reports are true, then it would be the “all time biggest political scandal!� He called the allegations “really bad stuff!� (NBC News / Washington Post)

Wow, word seems to be coming out that the Obama FBI “SPIED ON THE TRUMP CAMPAIGN WITH AN EMBEDDED INFORMANT.� Andrew McCarthy says, “There’s probably no doubt that they had at least one confidential informant in the campaign.� If so, this is bigger than Watergate!

“Apparently the DOJ put a Spy in the Trump Campaign. This has never been done before and by any means necessary, they are out to frame Donald Trump for crimes he didn’t commit.� David Asman @LouDobbs @GreggJarrett Really bad stuff!

Reports are there was indeed at least one FBI representative implanted, for political purposes, into my campaign for president. It took place very early on, and long before the phony Russia Hoax became a “hot� Fake News story. If true - all time biggest political scandal!

3/ Trump Jr. called a blocked number before and after the June 2016 meeting at Trump Tower. On June 6, Trump Jr. was in contact with a blocked number for three to four minutes. Immediat...

1/ Trump marked Robert Mueller’s one-year anniversary as special counsel by offering “congratulations� to America on “the greatest Witch Hunt in American History.� Trump charged that the FBI had “SPIED� on his campaign with an “EMBEDDED INFORMANT,� which makes the Russia investigation “bigger than Watergate!� Trump claimed he’s had the “most successful first 17 month Administration in U.S. history,� overcome a “disgusting, illegal and unwarranted Witch Hunt,� and noted there is “still No Collusion and No Obstruction.� He added that “the only Collusion was that done by Democrats who were unable to win an Election despite the spending of far more money!� (New York Times / Washington Post / CNN / NBC News)

Congratulations America, we are now into the second year of the greatest Witch Hunt in American History...and there is still No Collusion and No Obstruction. The only Collusion was that done by Democrats who were unable to win an Election despite the spending of far more money!

Despite the disgusting, illegal and unwarranted Witch Hunt, we have had the most successful first 17 month Administration in U.S. history - by far! Sorry to the Fake News Media and “Haters,� but that’s the way it is!

The Secret Origins of the Trump Investigation. Days after the F.B.I. closed its investigation into Hillary Clinton in 2016, agents began scrutinizing the presidential campaign of her Republican rival, Donald J. Trump. (New York Times)

Inside year one of the Mueller investigation. As the Mueller probe hits its one-year anniversary, the special counsel’s team has brought charges against 22 people and companies, notched five guilty pleas and seen one person sentenced. While a number of those charges were related to Russia’s interference in the 2016 presidential election, so far none of them has extended to potential collusion between the Russian government and Trump associates. (CNN)

Is Trump’s rhetoric about an informant in his campaign warranted? On the first anniversary of the appointment of special counsel Robert S. Mueller III to take over the investigation of Russian interference in the 2016 presidential campaign and any overlap with Donald Trump’s campaign, now-President Trump used his preferred political superlatives to disparage that inquiry on Twitter. (Washi...

1/ Trump “fully reimbursed� Michael Cohen between $100,001 and $250,000 in 2017 for an unspecified payment to a third party in 2016, according to Trump’s financial disclosure report. The disclosure corroborates Rudy Giuliani’s claim that Trump personally reimbursed Cohen between $460,000 or $470,000 for “incidental expenses� that he had incurred on Trump’s behalf. Trump reported assets of at least $1.4 billion and income of at least $593.3 million for the 2016 calendar year and the early months of 2017. Trump owes at least $310 million to various financial institutions, including $130 million to Deutsche Bank. (CNBC / New York Times)

2/ The Senate Intelligence Committee endorsed the U.S. intelligence community’s assessment that Russia interfered in the 2016 presidential election in order to help Trump and hurt Hillary Clinton. The Senate committee’s bipartisan conclusion contradicts Republicans on the House Intelligence Committee, who dispute the intelligence community’s findings that Putin was trying to help Trump. “We see no reason to dispute the conclusions,� the Senate committee’s chairman, Richard Burr, said. “There is no doubt that Russia undertook an unprecedented effort to interfere with our 2016 elections.� (Washington Post / Politico / CNN / Wall Street Journal)

3/ Senate Judiciary Democrats say the evidence is clear that the Trump campaign “was willing to accept Russia’s assistance.� The committee’s preliminary findings on the Trump Tower meeting also suggest they found “evidence of multiple contacts� between the Trump campaign and Russia, including “offers of assistance and purported overtures from Vladimir Putin.� The committee also found that Trump Jr. and the White House misled the public about the June 9, 2016, meeting with Russians at Trump Tower, and that Trump Jr., Paul Manafort, and Jared Kushner were frustrated “that more damaging information was not produced� at the meeting. (Feinstein / Senate.gov)

Senate Judiciary Democrats: "In its investigation so far, the Committee has found evidence of multiple contacts between the Trump campaign and Russian government officials or their intermediaries, including offers of assistance and purported overtures from Vladimir Putin." pic.twitter.com/fXPsBjzypl

Senate Judiciary Dem statement on transcripts released today: “[T]he Committee has found evidence of multiple contacts between the Trump campaign an...

1/ Gina Haspel said that “with the benefit of hindsight� torture was a bad idea and “not one the CIA should have undertaken,� in a letter to Mark Warner, the top Democrat on the Senate Intelligence Committee. The committee will vote on her nomination on Wednesday. She appeared to have secured enough votes to be confirmed as the next CIA director after Warner signaled his support for Haspel. (New York Times / Washington Post / CNN)

2/ The Trump administration eliminated the White House’s top cybersecurity policy role. In an email to National Security Council staff, John Bolton, Trump’s new national security adviser, said the decision is part of an effort to “streamline authority� for the senior directors who lead most NSC teams. (Politico)

3/ A federal judge rejected Paul Manafort’s request to dismiss criminal charges brought by Robert Mueller. Manafort claimed that Mueller’s charges of money laundering and failing to register as a foreign agent for a Ukrainian political party had exceeded his prosecutorial powers. Manafort has also filed a motion to dismiss another criminal case involving tax and bank-fraud charges. (Reuters / Politico)

4/ Michael Cohen claimed in a January 2017 interview that the Trump Organization had no recent relationship or business dealings with Russia. Cohen, however, sent emails during Trump’s 2016 presidential campaign seeking the assistance of the Kremlin in an effort to build a Trump Tower in Moscow. Trump launched his presidential campaign on June 16, 2015. The Moscow project was dropped in January 2016. (CNN)

5/ Obama’s ethics chief accused Trump of violating the emoluments clause for a Trump-branded golf course and hotel in Indonesia partially funded by the Chinese government. Norm Eisen tweeted: “See you in court Mr. Trump.� Adam Schiff also said he believes Trump is in “violation of the emoluments clause� after he said he wants to help Chinese telecommunications company ZTE get “back into business.� Earlier this year the U.S. Commerce Department prohibited U.S. companies from selling to ZTE because the firm violated American sanctions on Iran. (The Hill / New York Times / South China Morning Post)

Rep. Adam Schiff on President Trump's attempt at a deal with Chinese company ZTE: "I certainly view this as a violation of the Emoluments Clause, yes" https://t.co/AvakVRNzYd

1/ Trump and Sean Hannity often speak by phone several times a day, and the two speak most weeknights after Hannity’s show on Fox News is over. Current and former White House officials say the conversations help Trump “decompress� at the end of the day since “he doesn’t live with his wife.� One former White House official called the talks with Hannity “a fucked-up feedback loop� that puts Trump “in a weird headspace.� Hannity is one of a few dozen callers who have been cleared to use Trump’s official White House phone line. (New York Magazine)

2/ The White House declined to apologize for Kelly Sadler’s “joke� that John McCain’s opinion “doesn’t matter, because he’s dying anyway.� Instead, Sarah Huckabee Sanders said it was “selfish� for her staff to use the “inappropriate� comment as justification for leaking it to the press. “I am sure this conversation is going to leak, too. And that’s just disgusting.� (ABC News / New York Times / Axios)

3/ A Trump administration official proposed collecting and analyzing the communications of White House staff in order to identify leakers last year. Ezra Cohen-Watnick wanted to implement the “insider threat� detection program in order to find leakers or those disloyal to Trump. Cohen-Watnick worked as the senior director for intelligence on the National Security Council at the time. One current White House official said, “To cover my tracks [when leaking], I usually pay attention to other staffers’ idioms and use that in my background quotes. That throws the scent off me.� (Daily Beast / Axios)

4/ A former senior Trump campaign and transition aide is helping a Russian oligarch’s company shed US sanctions. Bryan Lanza is lobbying on behalf of the chairman of EN+ Group, an energy and aluminum firm controlled by Oleg Deripaska, who was the target of US sanctions imposed last month. The company wants to reduce Deripaska’s ownership in the company enough to be freed from US sanctions. (CNN)

5/ A Russian company indicted by Robert Mueller accused the special counsel of inventing a “make-believe crime� in order “to justify his own existence.� Concord Management is challenging the legal basis of Mueller’s charge that the company funded Moscow’s effort to disrupt the 2016 U.S. presidential election. Concord is one of three Russian businesses and 13 Russian individuals indicted in February for funding for a Russian troll farm that directed a social media campaign aimed at sowing discord among Americans and at favoring Trump over Hillary Clinton. Concord is owned by Yevgeny Prigozhin, a wealthy businessman who is known as Putin’s chef. (New York Times / Politico)

6/ Trump’s first campaign manager, Corey Lewandowski, is going to work for Mike Pence’s political action committee. Trump asked Lewandowski to join Pence’s Great America Committee PAC, which is aimed at helping the Trump re-election effort as w...

1/ In 2014, the FBI warned that Viktor Vekselberg might be acting on behalf of Russia’s intelligence services, saying a foundation he controlled “may be a means for the Russian government to access our nation’s sensitive or classified research, development facilities and dual-use technologies with military and commercial applications.� Earlier this week Michael Avenatti released a dossier that claims Columbus Nova, a Vekselberg company, made more than eight payments to Essential Consultants, totaling more than $1 million in payments between 2016 and 2017. Essential Consultants is owned by Michael Cohen, who is Trump’s personal lawyer. Avenatti suggested that the Columbus Nova funds could have been used to reimburse Cohen for the $130,000 payment to Stormy Daniels in exchange for her silence about her alleged affair with Trump. (NPR)

2/ AT&T paid Michael Cohen $600,000 to provide advice about the company’s proposed merger with Time Warner, which required the approval from antitrust regulators. Trump had voiced opposition to the $85 billion merger on the campaign trail, and his administration ultimately opposed the deal. In a memo to employees, AT&T’s CEO said they made a “big mistake� hiring Cohen for advice on working with the Trump administration. (Washington Post / Reuters)

3/ A non-partisan Washington ethics group wants Congress and the Justice Department to investigate whether Michael Cohen should have registered as a lobbyist and disclosed his work with foreign clients. (ABC News)

4/ Robert Mueller’s team is investigating several Trump inauguration donors, including Andrew Intrater and Leonard Blavatnik, a dual U.S. and British citizen with business ties to Russia. Intrater is the CEO of Columbus Nova, a U.S.-based affiliate of the the Renova Group, which is controlled by Viktor Vekselberg. In particular, Intrater made a $250,000 donation to the Trump inauguration committee in early January 2017, and later made two more donations: a $35,000 to the Trump Victory fundraising committee and $29,600 to the Republican National Committee. Blavatnik gave $1 million to Trump’s inaugural fund through his company, Access Industries. Mueller’s team also questioned Thomas Barrack, a longtime Trump friend and confidant who oversaw the $107 million inaugural fundraising effort. (ABC News)

5/ Congress is considering a “Plan B� to protect Mueller’s work if Trump fires the special counsel or Rod Rosenstein, who oversees the probe. The discussions “involve assuring the evidence is preserved and reports are done if the special counsel is fired or other political interference is undertaken by the president,� Senator Richard Blumenthal said. Mitch McConnell refused to bring a Senate Judiciary Committee bill up for a floor vote last month, and House Republicans have refus...

1/ Mike Pence: It’s time for Robert Mueller to “wrap it up� because it’s “been about a year since this investigation began.� He added that the Trump administration has “fully cooperated� with the probe, which Trump has frequently referred to as a “witch hunt.� (Washington Post / Associated Press / CNN)

.@MitchellReports asks @VP if he thinks Bob Mueller’s investigation is a “hoax� pic.twitter.com/ec9kaiqN0t

2/ Rudy Giuliani: Trump “wasn’t aware� that Michael Cohen pitched his access to the President to potential clients following the 2016 election in order to land consulting deals. “I talked to the President only one time about this and that was the first day it came out and he wasn’t aware of that situation,� Giuliani said. AT&T and Novartis were among the companies that hired Cohen’s consulting firm, Essential Consultants, for “insights� about how the Trump administration would approach certain policy matters. (CNN)

3/ The Russia-linked company that hired Michael Cohen registered a number of alt-right websites during the 2016 elections. Columbus Nova is listed as the registrant behind a handful of website domains named after the alt-right movement, including Alt-right.co, Alternate-right.com, Alternate-rt.com, Alt-rite.com, and others. The brother of Andrew Intrater, Columbus Nova’s U.S. CEO, is named in the registration databases for the websites. Columbus Nova said Frederick Intrater was not acting on behalf of the company, even though he had used his work email address and listed the organization. Columbus Nova gave $500,000 to Cohen in the first half of 2017. (Washington Post)

4/ Democrats on the House Intelligence Committee released 3,500 Facebook ads purchased by a Russian troll farm from mid-2015 to mid-2017. The ads, from the Kremlin-linked Internet Research Agency, reached at least 146 million people on Facebook and Instagram, spreading inflammatory and divisive messages on immigration, race, gun control, Islam, LGBT-centric topics, and more, in an attempt to polarize Americans. Facebook’s targeting tools allowed the Russian agents to deliver their disinformation to groups of users according to their location, age, gender, and interests. (NBC News / USA Today /