1/ A report from the Senate Intelligence Committee concludes that Russia conducted an “unprecedented, coordinated cyber campaign� in order to undermine confidence in U.S. voting systems starting as early as 2014 and continuing through Election Day 2016. Senators report that the Russians targeted at least 18 states looking for vulnerabilities, and in six states they tried to gain access to voting websites. In “a small number of states� they actually breached election computer defenses. The committee said it found no evidence that vote tallies or voter registration information were changed, but that Russian hackers were “in a position to, at a minimum, alter or delete voter registration data.� (New York Times / The Hill)

2/ Top White House officials withheld information sought by House Intelligence Committee Chairman Devin Nunes, siding with senior FBI and national intelligence officials that the information could endanger a top-secret intelligence source. The Justice Department, however, invited Devin Nunes and Trey Gowdy for a classified briefing about their document request related to the Russia investigation after Nunes publicly suggested that he may try to hold Jeff Sessions in contempt for refusing to comply. Some administration officials worry that Trump will change his mind and support Nunes’ argument that “Congress has a right and a duty to get this information.� (Washington Post / CNN)

3/ One of the women who accused Trump of sexual assault won her uncontested primary bid for a seat in the Ohio state House of Representatives. Rachel Crooks accused Trump of kissing her without her consent in 2005 and went public with her claims in 2016. She is now the Democratic nominee for a seat in the Ohio state legislature. (CNN) / Washington Post)

4/ Trump mused about taking away press credentials from media outlets over “negative� coverage of him. “Why do we work so hard in working with the media when it is corrupt?� Trump tweeted. “Take away credentials?� Trump was apparently responding to a segment on Fox and Friends, which cited a study from the Media Research Center – a right-wing media watchdog. The study says 91% of network news stories about him are negative. (

1/ Trump pulled the U.S. out of the Iran nuclear deal, reinstating all sanctions it had waived and imposing additional economic penalties. Trump’s aides persuaded him twice last year not to withdraw. Trump called the accord “a horrible one-sided deal that should have never, ever been made,� adding that the 2015 pact was “a great embarrassment.� Following Trump’s announcement, Britain, France and Germany issued a joint statement expressing “regret and concern� while pledging their “continuing commitment� to the terms of the agreement. (New York Times / Washington Post)

2/ Trump is frustrated with Rudy Giuliani’s inability to handle the Stormy Daniels situation and is concerned that Giuliani’s media appearances are raising more questions than they are answering. Some aides say they expect Trump to fire Giuliani if he is unable to turn things around. Trump recently told a confidant that perhaps Giuliani should “be benched� from TV appearances temporarily if he can’t stay on message. Giuliani, however, said that Trump “is encouraging me to do more of them. I try to keep them under control,� adding that Trump is “very comfortable� with the strategy. (Politico / Associated Press / The Hill)

3/ Robert Mueller rejected Trump’s request to answer questions from investigators in writing. Trump’s legal team had been pushing for Mueller to allow him to submit written answers, because they’re afraid that Trump might lie to or mislead investigators during an in-person interview. Giuliani said he would fight a potential subpoena for Trump to testify in front of a grand jury, but has stopped short of saying that Trump would ignore a subpoena from the special counsel. (CBS News)

4/ Trump’s lawyers hope to decide by May 17 whether he will testify. May 17 is the one-year anniversary of the appointment of special counsel Robert Mueller. Trump’s lawyers contend that testifying would be a distraction from his work as president. However, in an informal, four-hour practice session, Trump was only able to walk through two questions. “Anyone can see he has great difficulty staying on a subject,� one person familiar with the legal team’s deliberations said. (Wall Street Journal)

5/ The shell company Michael Cohen used to pay Stormy Daniels received more than $1 million in payments from an American company linked to a Russian oligarch and Fortune 500 companies with business before the Trump administration. At least $4.4 million flowed through the shell company Cohen used, Essential Consultants, starting shortly before Trump was elected president and continuing to this January. Essential Consultants received about $500,000 from Columbus Nova, an investment firm in New York whose biggest client is a company controlled by Viktor Vekselberg, the Russian oligarch. (New York Times)

1/ Trump plans to ask Congress to cut $7 billion from the Children’s Health Insurance Program. $5 billion would come from the Children’s Health Insurance Fund, which reimburses states for certain expenses, and $2 billion would come from the Child Enrollment Contingency Fund, meant to ensure states have access to funds if there is a higher-than-expected enrollment. In total, Trump wants Congress to strip more than $15 billion in previously approved spending from more than 30 different programs. The White House insists that the CHIP cuts would not affect access to health care. (Washington Post)

2/ The Trump administration will refer every person caught crossing the border illegally for federal prosecution, separating parents from their children, instead of keeping them in detention together. “If you are smuggling a child then we will prosecute you, and that child will be separated from you as required by law,� Jeff Sessions said. “If you don’t like that, then don’t smuggle children over our border.� Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen signed a memo Friday that directs the department to refer all suspected border-crossers to the Justice Department for prosecution under a federal statute that prohibits illegal entry. (Politico / NBC News / CNN)

3/ Trump: There is no obstruction of justice, “it’s called Fighting Back.� Trump attacked Robert Mueller’s team, tweeting that “The Russia Witch Hunt is rapidly losing credibility.� He added: “The 13 Angry Democrats in charge of the Russian Witch Hunt are starting to find out that there is a Court System in place that actually protects people from injustice…and just wait ’till the Courts get to see your unrevealed Conflicts of Interest!� (NPR / NBC News / The Hill / CNN)

Is this Phony Witch Hunt going to go on even longer so it wrongfully impacts the Mid-Term Elections, which is what the Democrats always intended? Republicans better get tough and smart before it is too late!

The Russia Witch Hunt is rapidly losing credibility. House Intelligence Committee found No Collusion, Coordination or anything else with Russia. So now the Probe says OK, what else is there? How about Obstruction for a made up, phony crime.There is no O, it’s called Fighting Back

1/ A federal judge criticized Robert Mueller’s criminal case in Virginia against Paul Manafort, and questioned whether Mueller exceeded his prosecutorial powers. U.S. District Judge T. S. Ellis said he believes that Mueller’s motivation is to oust Trump from office, adding that “we don’t want anyone in this country with unfettered power.� Ellis also charged that lawyers from the special counsel’s office “don’t really care about Mr. Manafort’s bank fraud,� but rather “getting information Mr. Manafort can give you that would reflect on Mr. Trump and lead to his prosecution or impeachment.� (Reuters / Washington Post / CNN / ABC News)

2/ Rudy Giuliani insisted Thursday night that Trump only recently found out that he had reimbursed Michael Cohen for the $130,000 paid to Stormy Daniels days before the 2016 election in return for a nondisclosure agreement. Giuliani said he shared details of the payment with Trump about a week ago, and that Trump didn’t realize he had paid Cohen back, responding: “Oh my goodness, I guess that’s what it was for.� (NBC News)

3/ Giuliani released a statement to “clarify views� about his remarks regarding Trump Friday afternoon, walking back his previous comments about the $130,000 hush money payment to Stormy Daniels as well as about Trump’s reason for firing James Comey. Giuliani maintained that the payment to Daniels doesn’t constitute a violation of campaign finance laws, because “it would have been done in any event, whether he was a candidate or not.� Giuliani added that his “references to timing were not describing my understanding of the President’s knowledge, but instead, my understanding of these matters.� (CNBC / ABC News)

4/ Trump on Giuliani: He’s still “learning the subject matter,� “he knows it’s a witch hunt,� and “he’ll get his facts straight.� Trump added that “virtually everything said has been said incorrectly, and it’s been said wrong, or it’s been covered wrong by the press.� Giuliani gave a series of interviews this week, claiming Trump had paid back Michael Cohen for the hush money payment to Stormy Daniels. Trump previously said he wasn’t aware of the payment. “Rudy is a great guy,� Trump said, “but he just started a day ago.� Giuliani started last month. (Washington Post / New York Times / CNN)

5/ Trump would “love to speak� with Robert Mueller, but only if he’s “treated fairly.� Trump said his lawyers have advised him against any talks, but he “would override my lawyer� if he “thought it was fair.� He added: “We’ve done nothing wrong.� (

1/ Rudy Giuliani: Trump reimbursed Michael Cohen for the $130,000 hush payment to Stormy Daniels, repaying Cohen through a series of payments over several months until the transactions were completed either in 2017 or early 2018. “The president repaid it,� Giuliani told Sean Hannity, but Trump “didn’t know about the specifics of it, as far as I know. But he did know the general arrangement, that Michael would take care of things like this, like I take care of things like this with my clients.� Giuliani said that Cohen had “settled several problems for� Trump, and the payment was one of them. (Washington Post)

2/ Giuliani’s comments directly contradicted Trump’s earlier statement to reporters that he didn’t know of any payments to Stormy Daniels or where Cohen got the money. Reporters asked him about both issues last month aboard Air Force One. (New York Times)

3/ Trump tweeted that campaign funds “played no roll in this transaction� — misspelling the word “role.� Trump and Giuliani both argued that the Stormy Daniels money came from Trump’s personal funds. Legal experts say that since it came right before the election, the transaction could be considered an in-kind campaign political contribution, making it subject to campaign finance laws. The Trump team never reported it. Trump tweeted that he paid Cohen a monthly retainer, suggesting that the payment by Cohen to Daniels could not be considered a campaign contribution. “The agreement was used to stop the false and extortionist accusations made by her about an affair,� Trump tweeted, “despite already having signed a detailed letter admitting that there was no affair.� Later, Giuliani said, “this was never about the campaign. This was about personal reputation. The money wasn’t paid to help the campaign or hurt the campaign.� (New York Times / USA Today)

Mr. Cohen, an attorney, received a monthly retainer, not from the campaign and having nothing to do with the campaign, from which he entered into, through reimbursement, a private contract between two parties, known as a non-disclosure agreement, or NDA. These agreements are.....

1/ Robert Mueller warned Trump’s legal team that he could subpoena the president to appear before a grand jury if he refuses to speak to federal investigators involved in the Russia probe. Mueller raised the possibility of a subpoena during a tense meeting in March after Trump’s attorneys insisted that Trump was under no obligation to speak with investigators. Unlike an interview with the special counsel, Trump would not be allowed to bring his lawyers to a grand jury hearing. (Washington Post)

2/ Trump’s current legal team lacks the security clearances required to discuss sensitive issues during a presidential sit-down with Mueller. Trump’s former attorney John Dowd was the only person on Trump’s legal team with the proper clearance – he resigned in March. (Bloomberg)

3/ Trump plans to add Bill Clinton’s impeachment lawyer to his legal team and replace Ty Cobb, who will leave at the end of May. Cobb has been the lead lawyer representing Trump in the special counsel investigation. Emmet Flood is expected to take a more adversarial approach to the Mueller investigation than Cobb. (New York Times)

4/ Ty Cobb said a Trump interview with Mueller is “certainly not off the table.� Rudy Giuliani added Trump’s legal team was still “several weeks away� from determining whether Trump would sit for an interview with Mueller. He also said that the White House needs to be “more aggressive� with the special counsel, saying that a potential interview would be “max, two to three hours around a narrow set of questions.� Cobb added that he has “no doubt� Mueller didn’t leak the list of 49 questions for Trump. (ABC News / Washington Post / The Hill)

5/ Trump threatened to “get involved� in the “rigged system� over the Justice Department’s ongoing dispute with the House Freedom Caucus about a memo outlining the topics being investigated by Robert Mueller. “There was no Collusion (it is a Hoax),� Trump tweeted, “and there is no Obstruction of Justice (that is a setup and trap).� (Bloomberg / Washington Post / CNN)

There was no Collusion (it is a Hoax) and there is no Obstruction of Justice (that is a setup & trap). What there is is Negotiations going on with North Korea over Nuclear War, Negotiations going on with China over Trade Deficits, Negotiations on NAFTA, and much more. Witch Hunt!

1/ Robert Mueller has at least 49 questions he wants to ask Trump regarding his ties to Russia and alleged obstruction of justice. The questions deal primarily with Trump’s firing of James Comey and Michael Flynn, as well as his treatment of Jeff Sessions and the 2016 Trump Tower meeting between Trump campaign officials and Russians who claimed to have damaging information on Hillary Clinton. Other topics of inquiry include Trump’s conversations with Michael Cohen about a real estate deal in Moscow, Jared Kushner’s attempts to set up a backchannel to Russia, contacts Trump had with Roger Stone, and Trump’s 2013 trip to Moscow for the Miss Universe pageant. (New York Times)

2/ Trump tweeted that it was “So disgraceful that the questions concerning the Russian Witch Hunt were ‘leaked’ to the media.� The leak didn’t come from Mueller’s office, but were provided to the New York Times by a person outside of Trump’s legal team. “No questions on Collusion,� Trump added. “Oh, I see…you have a made up, phony crime, Collusion, that never existed, and an investigation begun with illegally leaked classified information. Nice!� The list includes 13 questions related to possible cooperation between the Trump campaign and Russia. Trump followed up with another tweet 45 minutes later: “It would seem very hard to obstruct justice for a crime that never happened! Witch Hunt!�(Washington Post / Politico)

So disgraceful that the questions concerning the Russian Witch Hunt were “leaked� to the media. No questions on Collusion. Oh, I see...you have a made up, phony crime, Collusion, that never existed, and an investigation begun with illegally leaked classified information. Nice!

It would seem very hard to obstruct justice for a crime that never happened! Witch Hunt!

3/ A former Mueller assistant believes Trump was the source of the leaked questions. “Lawyers wouldn’t write questions this way, in my estimation,� said Michael Zeldin, a CNN analyst and former assistant to Robert Mueller. “Some of the grammar is not even proper,� he continued. “I think these are more notes that the White House has taken and then they have expanded upon the conversation to write out these as questions.� Zeldin worked with Mueller in the early 1990s. (The Hill)

1/ Michael Avenatti: Trump is in “panic mode� and expects Michael Cohen to cooperate with investigators. “We’re going to be able to prove that the president knew about the agreement,� Stormy Daniels’ attorney said, “and knew about the $130,000.� Trump has denied a relationship with Daniels or knowledge of the payment to her, but told Fox and Friends that Cohen was representing him in the “crazy Stormy Daniels deal� – contradicting what he said on Air Force One. (The Guardian / The Hill)

2/ The Trump campaign spent nearly $228,000 to pay for part of Michael Cohen’s legal fees. Federal Election Commission records show three “legal consulting� payments made from the Trump campaign to a firm representing Cohen between October 2017 and January 2018. Cohen did not have a formal role in the Trump campaign and it’s illegal to spend campaign funds for personal use. (ABC News)

3/ A federal judge granted a 90-day delay in Stormy Daniels’ suit against Trump, saying it appeared “likely� that Michael Cohen would be indicted in a related criminal investigation. The judge called Cohen “the alleged mastermind� of the deal, which makes his testimony “indispensable.� Cohen plans to assert his Fifth Amendment rights if asked to answer any further questions about Daniels’ suit, which seeks to void an agreement that led to a $130,000 payment Cohen facilitated before the 2016 presidential election. (Politico / Washington Post)

4/ Stormy Daniels filed a defamation lawsuit against Trump for his “total con job� tweet about the forensic sketch of a man who allegedly threatened her in 2011. The filing says the tweet was “false and defamatory,� arguing that Trump was speaking about Daniels and that he “knew that his false, disparaging statement would be read by people around the world, as well as widely reported.� (NBC News / ABC News / CNBC)

A sketch years later about a nonexistent man. A total con job, playing the Fake News Media for Fools (but they know it)! https://t.co/9Is7mHBFda

5/ Trump threatened to shut down the federal government in September if Congress doesn’t agree to include more funding for his border wall in the next spending bill. “We come up again on September 28th,� Trump said during a rally in Michigan on Saturday, “and if we don’t get border security we will have no choice, we will close down the country because we need border security.� (

1/ The House Intelligence Committee found “no evidence that the Trump campaign colluded, coordinated, or conspired with the Russian government� in the 2016 election. The 253-page report criticized both the Trump and Hillary Clinton campaigns for “poor judgment and ill-considered actions� in their dealings with Russia-related figures. Democrats on the committee accused the Republicans of prematurely closing the investigation in “a systematic effort to muddy the waters and to deflect attention away from the President,� asserting that Trump associates’ willingness to accept Russian assistance suggests “a consciousness of wrongfulness, if not illegality.� The report accused the intelligence community of “significant intelligence tradecraft failings,� suggesting that Russia’s main goal was to sow discord in the United States and not to help Trump win the election. (New York Times / Washington Post / Politico)

2/ Minutes after the committee’s report was released, Trump tweeted “Wow!� the Russia investigation is “A total Witch Hunt!� and “MUST END NOW.� (The Hill)

Just Out: House Intelligence Committee Report released. “No evidence� that the Trump Campaign “colluded, coordinated or conspired with Russia.� Clinton Campaign paid for Opposition Research obtained from Russia- Wow! A total Witch Hunt! MUST END NOW!

3/ Natalya Veselnitskaya, the Russian lawyer who met with Trump campaign officials at Trump Tower in 2016, was an informant for Russian Prosecutor General Yuri Chaika. “I am a lawyer, and I am an informant,� she said in newly released emails. “Since 2013, I have been actively communicating with the office of the Russian prosecutor general.� Veselnitskaya insists that she met with Trump Jr., Jared Kushner, Paul Manafort, and others in a private capacity – not as a representative of the Russian government – despite an intermediary promising that Veselnitskaya had documents that would incriminate Clinton. (New York Times)

4/ Trump tweeted that James Comey is “either very sick or very dumb� for having “illegally leaked CLASSIFIED INFORMATION.� Comey is not under federal investigation for leaking classified information or lying. Trump added that Comey “lied all over the place� and “doesn’t understand what he did or how serious it is.� Comey wrote a series of contemporaneous memos documenting his interactions with Trump, which he leaked after being fired in May. “That memo was unclassified then,� Comey said, and “it’s still unclassified.� (

1/ Ronny Jackson announced that he was withdrawing his name for consideration to be the secretary of Veteran Affairs following allegations that he handed out medication with no patient history, wrote himself prescriptions, and drank on the job. Jackson denied the allegations, including one that he “wrecked a government vehicle� after getting drunk at a Secret Service party, and said they were “completely false and fabricated.� He continued: “If they had any merit, I would not have been selected, promoted and entrusted to serve in such a sensitive and important role as physician to three presidents over the past 12 years.� (Washington Post / New York Times / NPR)

2/ Trump: I try to “stay away from� intervening in the Justice Department, “but at some point I won’t.� During Trump’s half-hour phone interview on “Fox and Friends� he added: “I have decided I won’t be involved. I may change my mind at some point because what is going on is a disgrace. It is an absolute disgrace.� (CNN / ABC News / Washington Post)

3/ Jeff Sessions: The Mueller probe has taken on “a life of its own.� Sessions defended his decision not to appoint a second special prosecutor to investigate Republicans’ concerns about the FBI during a House appropriations budget hearing, saying the Justice Department needed to “be disciplined and stay within our classical procedure and rules� before rushing to hire more special counsels. (Reuters)

4/ Trump is “extremely opposed� to granting Robert Mueller an interview. Trump initially was open to meeting with Mueller, rejecting warnings from his lawyer John Dowd. His willingness to meet with the special counsel has cooled since Dowd resigned in March and investigators raided Michael Cohen’s office and residences in April seeking communications between the lawyer and Trump in the lead-up to the 2016 election. (Washington Post)

5/ Trump admitted that Michael Cohen re...