1/ Michael Cohen used his Trump Organization email to arrange the $130,000 transfer to Stormy Daniels in exchange for her silence about her affair with Trump. Trump’s personal attorney regularly used the same email account during 2016 negotiations with the actress – whose legal name is Stephanie Clifford – before she signed a nondisclosure agreement. Daniels filed a civil suit against Trump alleging the contract she signed is invalid because it’s intentionally missing Trump’s signature “so he could later, if need be, publicly disavow any knowledge of the ‘Hush Agreement’� or the affair. (NBC News / NPR)

2/ Michael Cohen’s use of Trump Organization email address to organize payment to Stormy Daniels may have violated federal election law. Corporations and labor organizations are prohibited from making contributions to candidates or political committees. Daniels alleges that the money was paid to keep her from talking about a sexual relationship she had with Trump. Cohen, meanwhile, has argued that he used his personal funds to “facilitate� the payment and that he did not get reimbursed by the Trump Organization or campaign. (Washington Post / CNBC)

3/ Trump has added another lawyer in his outside legal team to take on Stormy Daniels. Lawrence Rosen, a New York attorney described as a “pit bull,� will join Trump’s personal attorney, Michael Cohen, in responding to the growing legal issues surrounding reports that Cohen paid the adult-film star to keep quiet about her affair with Trump. (ABC News / The Hill)

4/ Trump will meet with Kim Jong-un to negotiate “permanent denuclearization� of North Korea, which will cease all missile testing while the negotiations are being held. The two leaders are expected to meet in the next 60 days. News of a potential meeting has been met with positive reactions from China, Russia, and South Korea. (New York Times / Fox News)

5/ Trump’s lawyers want to trade a Trump interview with Robert Mueller in exchange for ending the Trump-related portion of the special counsel’s Russia investigation. Trump’s legal team wants Mueller to commit to ending the probe 60 days after the interview, as well as limiting the scope of the questioning. (Wall Street Journal /

1/ Trump authorized tariffs on aluminum and steel imports, exempting Canada and Mexico, and leaving the door open for other countries to be excluded. The moves will impose a 25% levy on steel and 10% charge on aluminum. The tariffs will take effect in 15 days. (New York Times / CNBC)

2/ Trump said he still likes “globalist� Gary Cohn and he has a “feeling� he’ll come back to the White House. Trump’s economic advisor resigned Tuesday after losing his fight against stiff tariffs on steel and aluminum. (CNBC)

3/ White House counsel Don McGahn issued ethics waivers to 24 ex-lobbyists and corporate lawyers allowing them to regulate the industries in which they previously worked. Trump signed an executive order a week into his presidency that barred former lobbyists and lawyers from participating in matters that they previously lobbied for or worked on for private clients, purportedly as a way to prevent corruption and “drain the swamp.� (NBC News)

4/ Trump asked Don McGahn and Reince Priebus about their discussions with Robert Mueller’s investigators. In one episode, Trump wanted McGahn to issue a statement denying that McGahn told investigators that Trump once asked him to fire special counsel Robert Mueller. McGahn had to remind Trump that he did ask him to have Mueller fired. In the other, Trump asked Priebus how his interview with Mueller’s investigators had gone, and whether they were “nice.� (New York Times)

5/ Jared Kushner met with Mexican President Enrique Peña Nieto on Wednesday in an attempt to reduce tensions between the U.S. and Mexico in the wake of a contentious phone call about Trump’s proposed wall on the southern U.S. border. Kushner, however, did not invite the U.S. ambassador to Mexico to accompany him on the trip. Ambassador Roberta Jacobson is among the State Department’s top Latin American experts, with more than 30 years of diplomatic experience in the region. (The Hill / New York Times)

6/ The head of Trump’s voter fraud commission acknowledged that their plan for identifying voter fraud wasn’t a good one. The White House wanted to check voter information against federal databases to identify people who were on voting rolls illegally. (HuffPost)

7/ Trump’s former campaign manager Paul Manafort pleaded not guilty to an 18-count indictment as part of Robert Mueller’s investigation into Russian meddling in the 2016 presidential election. The judge set the trial to begin July 10. Last week Manafort pleaded not guilty to conspiracy to launder money and failing to register as a foreign agent. (ABC News / Reuters)

8/ A federal judge expressed skepticism about whether Trump can constitutionally block Tw...

1/ Stormy Daniels is suing Trump for failing to sign the non-disclosure agreement that prevented her from discussing their “intimate� relationship. Both Daniels and Trump’s attorney Michael Cohen signed the agreement, but Trump never did. Daniels, whose real name is Stephanie Clifford, filed a civil suit with the Los Angeles Superior Court Tuesday night seeking to void the 2016 “hush agreement,� as it’s referred to in the suit. (NBC News)

2/ Michael Cohen, meanwhile, obtained a restraining order to prevent Stormy Daniels from speaking out about her affair with Trump. Sarah Huckabee Sanders confirmed that Trump’s lawyer had won an arbitration proceeding against the actress, Stephanie Clifford. Trump and Cohen have been trying to keep the affair and payoff involving the porn star quiet for well over a year. (New York Times)

3/ George Nader, former Trump aide and adviser to the United Arab Emirates, is cooperating with special counsel Robert Mueller. Mueller is looking at how foreign money may have influenced Trump’s political activities and whether Nader funneled money from the UAE to support Trump’s political efforts. Nader testified last week to a grand jury. (New York Times)

4/ Robert Mueller has evidence about an effort to establish a back-channel between the incoming Trump administration and the Kremlin. Erik Prince, the founder of the private military company Blackwater, met with a Russian official close to Putin in January, 2017. Prince described the meeting to congressional investigators as a chance encounter. A cooperating witness told Mueller’s investigators that the meeting was set up in advance so that a representative of the Trump transition could meet with an emissary from Moscow to discuss future relations between the two countries. (Washington Post)

5/ Hope Hicks told the House Intelligence Committee last week that one of her email accounts had been hacked and that she could no longer access it and another account. It’s unclear which email account she was referring to: her personal account or the one she used during Trump’s campaign. (NBC News)

6/ The Trump administration is suing California over the state’s so-called sanctuary laws. The Justice Department claims California’s immigration policies are unconstitutional and make it impossible for federal immigration authorities to do their jobs, which include deporting criminals who are in the U.S. illegally. Justice Department officials have asked a judge to block California’s sanctuary laws. (New York Times)

7/ The Florida House approved gun control legislation that would impose a 3-day waiting period on most gun purchases, raise the minimum age to 21, and create a “school marshal� program to arm some classroom teachers. The bipartisan vote passed 67-50. The Hillsborough County School Board in Florida on Tuesday unanimously opposed a motion to arm school employees. (

1/ Trump’s personal attorney received leaked witness testimony from within the House Intelligence Committee. The lawyer representing Michael Cohen contacted the lawyer of a former John McCain staffer after someone from the House Committee told Cohen’s lawyer that the former staffer had information about the Steele dossier that could help Cohen. The information came from closed-door, committee-sensitive testimony. The dossier alleges that Cohen met with Kremlin officials, which Cohen denies. The conversation was reported to the House Intelligence Committee. Robert Mueller, meanwhile, has requested documents and interviewed witnesses about two or more episodes involving Russian interests and Cohen’s involvement. (The Daily Beast / Washington Post)

2/ Gary Cohn will resign over Trump’s plan to impose large tariffs on steel and aluminum imports, although officials insist there was no single factor behind the departure. Trump’s top economic advisor had been working to stop the tariffs that threaten to cause a global trade war, which Paul Ryan said he was “extremely worried about.� Cohn is expected to leave in the coming weeks. (New York Times)

3/ Kellyanne Conway violated the Hatch Act on two occasions, the Office of Special Counsel said as it referred its findings to Trump “for appropriate disciplinary action.� In her official capacity, Conway endorsed and advocated against political candidates during two television appearances in 2017. The Hatch Act prohibits government employees from engaging in political activities. The OSC is not affiliated with special counsel Robert Mueller’s Russia investigation. (The Hill / ABC News)

4/ Trump tweets “there is no chaos� in the White House, but there are “some people that I want to change� because he is “always seeking perfection.� The tweet comes a week after Trump called Jeff Sessions “disgraceful,� Hope Hicks resigned, and Jared Kushner’s security clearance was downgraded. (Washington Post / CNBC)

The new Fake News narrative is that there is CHAOS in the White House. Wrong! People will always come & go, and I want strong dialogue before making a final decision. I still have some people that I want to change (always seeking perfection). There is no Chaos, only great Energy!

5/ Sam Nunberg says he’ll probably cooperate with Robert Mueller’s subpoena after all. Yesterday, the former Trump aide appeared on multiple cable news programs to announce his plans to defy the special prosecutor’s demands. Nunberg conceded that he’ll likely find a way to c...

1/ Robert Mueller’s grand jury issued a subpoena requesting all communications involving Trump’s associates, including Carter Page, Corey Lewandowski, Hope Hicks, Paul Manafort, Rick Gates, Roger Stone, Steve Bannon, Keith Schiller, Michael Cohen, and Sam Nunberg. Investigators are asking for emails, texts, working papers, telephone records, and more from November 1st, 2015, to the present. (NBC News / Axios)

2/ Sam Nunberg plans to defy a subpoena to appear in front of Mueller’s grand jury. The former Trump aide said he will not provide the testimony or documents requested and that he refuses to cooperate with the subpoena because he believes investigators will make him testify against his mentor Roger Stone. Nunberg then went on MSNBC and said he thought Trump “may have done something� illegal during the presidential campaign. Soon after, Nunberg appeared on CNN for a pair of interviews where he challenged Mueller to arrest him, saying “I’m not cooperating. Arrest me.� He added that Mueller has “something� on Trump. “Perhaps I’m wrong, but he did something.� (Washington Post / NBC News / CNN)

MORE:

Sarah Huckabee Sanders refuted Nunberg’s suggestion that the campaign colluded with Russia, saying “I definitely think he doesn’t know that for sure, because he’s incorrect. He hasn’t worked at the White House, so I can’t speak to him or the lack of knowledge he clearly has. As we’ve said many times before, there’s been no collusion.�

Nunberg then went on NY1, the New York cable news channel to respond: “If Sarah Huckabee wants to start debasing me, she’s a joke. Okay, fine, yeah, she’s unattractive. She’s a fat slob. Fine. But that’s not relevant. The person she works for has a 30% approval rating, okay?� (Mediaite)

Following the NY1 appearance, Nunberg went back to MSNBC, this time with Ari Melber, to say: “Sarah should shut up, frankly… she should shut her mouth.� As Melber tried to move on, Nunberg underscored his position: “I’m warning her to shut her mouth!� (Mediaite)

"I think that he may have done something during the election," former Trump aide Sam Nunberg says of President Trump, but adds, "I don't know that for sure." pic.twitter.com/4qpzxGcS2s

1/ A Kremlin-linked Russian politician spent six years building leverage and connections in order to influence the NRA and gain access to American politics. Alexander Torshin, a Putin ally, also claimed that his ties to the NRA afforded him access to Trump. Robert Mueller’s team is investigating whether Torshin, who serves as the deputy governor of the Bank of Russia, illegally funneled money to the NRA in order to help the Trump campaign in the 2016 presidential election. (NPR)

2/ Georgia lawmakers stripped Delta Air Lines of a $50 million sales tax exemption on jet fuel in retaliation for Delta ending its NRA member discount. The Georgia House and Senate had previously approved the tax break. The Atlanta-based airline said only 13 passengers have ever bought tickets with the NRA discount. (New York Times / USA Today)

3/ Mitch McConnell said the Senate will skip debate on gun legislation and instead turn to a banking bill next week, reflecting the reality that negotiators have not settled on legislation that can pass the House and Senate. (CNN)

4/ The NRA said it persuaded Trump to back away from his embrace of gun control. After a meeting with both Trump and Pence, NRA lobbyist Chris Cox tweeted that the two “support the Second Amendment, support strong due process and don’t want gun control.� (New York Times)

5/ A large cache of internal documents from a Russian troll farm were leaked and put up for auction on a Russian “information exchange� in February 2017. The auction received no bids for the Internet Research Agency documents, which promised “working data from the department focused on the United States.� The listing revealed details about the Kremlin-backed troll farm’s efforts to push propaganda and disinformation in the U.S. (The Daily Beast)

6/ Trump defended his plan to impose tariffs on steel and aluminum imports, tweeting that “trade wars are good, and easy to win.� According to two officials, however, Trump’s decision was born out of his frustration with an internal process that didn’t provide him with consensus advice from his team. As one official familiar with Trump’s state of mind said: the president became “unglued.� Investors are concerned that the tariffs could invite U.S. trade partners to retaliate. Paul Ryan and Trump’s economic advisors asked the president to reconsider the tariffs in order to avoid “unintended consequences.� (CNN / NBC News)

When a country (USA) is losing many billions of dollars on trade with virtually every country it does business with, trade wars are good, and easy to win. Example, when we are down $100 billion with a certain country and they get cute, don’t trade anymore-we win big. It’s easy!

1/ The White House is preparing to replace H.R. McMaster as national security adviser as early as next month. The move, orchestrated by John Kelly and Defense Secretary James Mattis, comes after months of strained relations between Trump and McMaster. (NBC News)

2/ Republicans on the House Intelligence Committee were behind the leak of text messages between the top Democrat on the Senate Intelligence Committee and a Russian-connected lawyer. The text messages between Senator Mark Warner and Adam Waldman, a Washington lawyer with Russian connections, were leaked to Fox News. They show that the senator tried to arrange a meeting with Christopher Steele, author of the so-called Trump dossier. Warner and Richard Burr, the top Republican on the Senate Intelligence Committee, were so “perturbed� by the leak that they met with Paul Ryan to raise their concerns about House Intelligence Committee Chairman Devin Nunes and the Republicans willingness to leak classified text messages. (New York Times)

3/ Putin warned that Russia has developed nuclear weapons that can’t be intercepted by missile-defense systems and that they’re planning to add nuclear-powered cruise missiles to their arsenal, which would allow them to strike any target on the globe. Putin added that Russia would consider any nuclear attack against itself or any of its allies an attack on Russia, warning that such an incident would lead to immediate retaliation. “No one listened to us,� Putin warned. “Listen to us now.� (Associated Press / Washington Post)

4/ Jared Kushner’s family real estate business received a total of $509 million in loans from two lenders shortly after White House meetings. Chief executives from Apollo Global Management and Citigroup had multiple meetings with Kushner at the White House and, following those meetings, Kushner Companies received $184 million in loans from Apollo – triple Apollo’s average loan size – and $325 million from Citigroup. Government ethics experts say the meetings and the subsequent loans are virtually unprecedented for such a high-level White House staffer. (New York Times)

A New York regulator asked Deutsche Bank AG and two other banks to provide information about their relationships with Jared Kushner, his family, and Kushner Companies. All three banks are chartered in New York, placing them under the regulatory eye of the state’s Department of Financial Services. (Bloomberg)

Jared Kushner has recently started focusing on the 2020 election, leading some in the White House to wonder if he’ll transition out of the West Wing to become an adviser to Trump’s reelection bid. (

1/ Hope Hicks will resign as White House communications director. Hicks, one of Trump’s longest-serving advisers, had been considering leaving for several months. Her resignation came a day after she testified for more than eight hours before the House Intelligence Committee. She declined to answer many questions during her appearance. (New York Times / Bloomberg / Politico)

2/ Hope Hicks told the House Intelligence Committee that she sometimes has to lie for Trump. After an extended conversation with her lawyers, however, the White House communications director insisted that she has never lied about matters related to Russian interference or possible collusion with Trump associates. (New York Times)

3/ Robert Mueller’s investigators have been asking witnesses about Trump’s business activities in Russia prior to the 2016 campaign. Mueller’s team has been asking about the timing of Trump’s decision to run, any potentially compromising information the Russians may have, and why a deal for a Trump Tower in Moscow fell through. (CNN)

A judge in Washington, D.C., set a September 17th trial date for Paul Manafort, putting the former Trump campaign chairman on trial at the height of midterm election season. (Politico)

Paul Manafort pleaded not guilty at an arraignment in federal court to a rewritten set of charges that had been levied against him late last week. (CNN)

4/ Mueller’s team is also asking witnesses whether Trump knew about the hacked Democratic emails before they were publicly released, and whether he was involved or aware of WikiLeaks’ plan to publish the emails. Investigators have also asked about the relationship between GOP operative Roger Stone and WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange, and why Trump took policy positions favorable to Russia. (NBC News)

5/ Trump attacked Jeff Sessions on Twitter for his “disgraceful� handling of an investigation into potential surveillance abuses. “Why is A.G. Jeff Sessions asking the Inspector General to investigate potentially massive FISA abuse. Will take forever, has no prosecutorial power and already late with reports on Comey etc,� Trump tweeted. “Isn’t the I.G. an Obama guy? Why not use Justice Department lawyers? DISGRACEFUL!� Yesterday, Sessions announced that the Justice Department is looking at whether the FBI properly handled FISA applications to monitor members of Trump’s transition team. (CNN / The Hill)

Why is A.G. Jeff Sessions asking the Inspector General to investigate potentially massive FISA abuse. Will take forever, has no prosecutorial power and already late with reports on Comey etc. Isn’...

1/ Jared Kushner’s security clearance was downgraded from “Interim Top Secret� to “Interim Secret.� The Interim Top Secret clearance, which Kushner has been operating under for about a year, allowed him to attend classified briefings and read the President’s Daily Brief, among other things. (Politico / Reuters / Axios)

2/ At least four countries privately discussed ways they could manipulate Jared Kushner by taking advantage of his complex business arrangements, financial issues, and lack of foreign policy experience. Officials in the White House were concerned that Kushner was “naive and being tricked� in conversations with foreign officials. (Washington Post)

3/ Robert Mueller moved to dismiss 22 tax and bank fraud charges against Rick Gates, a former Trump campaign official. Gates pleaded guilty last week to conspiracy against the U.S. and lying to federal investigators. As part of his plea, Gates agreed to cooperate with Mueller’s probe regarding “any and all matters� deemed relevant to his investigation. (Washington Post / Axios / CNBC)

4/ Trump tapped Brad Parscale to manage his 2020 presidential re-election campaign. Parscale was the digital director for Trump’s 2016 campaign. Trump filed a letter of intent to run for re-election with the FEC on January 20th, 2017 – the day he took office. (CNBC / Reuters)

5/ Hope Hicks refused to answer questions under instructions from the White House during a closed-door House Intelligence Committee session today on Russian meddling in the 2016 presidential election. “We got Bannoned,� a member of the House intelligence committee said, in reference Steve Bannon’s earlier refusal to answer committee questions. The White House communications director is one of Trump’s closest confidants and advisers. She was originally expected to appear before the committee in January, but her interview was cancelled due to concerns about the scope of questioning and conflicts over the White House’s assertions of executive privilege. (Bloomberg / CNN / Washington Post)

6/ A Department of Housing and Urban...

1/ The Supreme Court rejected the Trump administration’s request to skip the appeals court process and review a district court judge’s ruling requiring the administration to resume renewals of protected status under the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program. In September, Trump announced that he would shut down DACA on March 5, but two federal judges ordered the administration to allow people to renew their protected status while legal challenges move forward. DACA shields some 700,000 young, undocumented immigrants from deportation. (New York Times / Politico / Washington Post)

2/ Trump’s refusal to drop his demand that Mexico pay for a border wall derailed a planned White House visit by President Enrique Peña Nieto. A contentious phone call between the two presidents led to an impasse over the promised border wall, which Mexico considers offensive and has no intention of paying for. (Washington Post / New York Times)

3/ The House Intelligence Committee released a redacted version of the Democratic memo rebutting the memo written by Devin Nunes, which claimed the FBI and Justice Department were biased against the Trump campaign and abused their power. Trump blocked the release of the latest memo two weeks ago. It was released after undergoing a review by top law enforcement officials and redactions. The White House dismissed the Democratic memo as an attempt “to undercut the president politically.� Click here to read the redacted version of the Democratic memo. (New York Times)

4/ Trump’s reelection campaign used a photo of one of the survivors from the school shooting in an email soliciting campaign donations. The photo shows 17-year-old Madeline Wilford in a hospital bed surrounded by members of her family and the president and first lady. “Trump is taking steps toward banning gun bump stocks and strengthening background checks for gun purchasers,� the email reads with a link to the campaign’s donation page. (CNN)

5/ Trump claimed he would have run into the Florida high school during the shooting without a gun to stop the gunman. “I really believe I’d run in there even if I didn’t have a weapon,� Trump told a group of governors at the White House. He added: “Don’t worry about the NRA. They’re on our side.� (The Hill / NBC News)

6/ Ivanka Trump thinks it’s “inappropriate� to ask her about her father’s sexual misconduct because she has a “right as...