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Jacob Miller  //  12/14/18  //  Daily Update

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President Trump claimed he “never directed Michael Cohen to break the law,” and publicly criticized his former attorney following Cohen’s sentence to three years in jail. A 7-year-old girl from Guatemala died of dehydration and shock after being taken into Border Patrol custody a week ago according to U.S. Customs and Border Protection. The United States Senate voted 56 to 41 to withdraw American military assistance to Saudi Arabia in Yemen, going against President Trump’s defense of the nation following the killing of Jamal Khashoggi. Solicitor General Noel Francisco filed two requests at the Supreme Court asking it to stay injunctions from three lower courts on the Trump administration’s ban on transgender individuals from serving in the military. National security advisor John Bolton outlined a new strategy for the The Trump administration in Africa aimed primarily at opposing China. Maria Butina pled guilty to conspiracy to act as a foreign agent, and agreed to cooperate with with federal prosecutors going forward.

 

TRUMP: INVESTIGATIONS & LITIGATION

President Trump claimed he “never directed Michael Cohen to break the law,” and publicly criticized his former attorney following Cohen’s sentence to three years in jail (NYT, WaPo, LATimes).

Special counsel Robert Mueller’s pattern of getting guilty pleas and cooperation throughout his investigation from those he has suspected indicates that his investigation as a whole may be ending soon, writes Devlin Barrett for the Washington Post. 

Federal prosecutors with the Manhattan United States Attorney’s Office are looking into whether President Trump’s 2017 inaugural committee misspent some its donations (WSJ).

 

IMMIGRATION

A 7-year-old girl from Guatemala died of dehydration and shock after being taken into Border Patrol custody a week ago according to U.S. Customs and Border Protection (WaPo).

President Trump claimed that Mexico would be “paying for the wall” based on the money saved by the United States in the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (NYT).

 

CIVIL RIGHTS

Solicitor General Noel Francisco filed two requests at the Supreme Court asking it to stay injunctions from three lower courts on the Trump administration’s ban on transgender individuals from serving in the military (Hill).

 

JUSTICE & SAFETY

National security advisor John Bolton outlined a new strategy for the The Trump administration in Africa aimed primarily at opposing China (NYT).

Mitch McConnell allowed a Senate vote to proceed on a major criminal justice reform bill that aims to reduce sentencing laws passed that were passed during the 1980s and 90s (NYT, Politico).

 

CONFLICTS OF INTEREST 

Senator James Inhofe (R-OK) purchased tens of thousands of dollars of stock in Raytheon, a defense contractor only a week after lobbying the Trump administration to increase military spending (NYT).

 

REGULATION

Republicans and Democrats have not been negotiating about ways to avoid a partial government shutdown that could happen next week (Politico).

 

CHECKS & BALANCES

The United States Senate voted 56 to 41 to withdraw American military assistance to Saudi Arabia in Yemen, going against President Trump’s defense of the nation following the killing of Jamal Khashoggi (NYT, LATimes).

The Senate took an important step when it unanimously approved a resolution that claims Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman was accountable for the murder Jamal Khashoggi, writes the Washington Post Editorial Board.

 

RUSSIAN INTERFERENCE 

Maria Butina pled guilty to conspiracy to act as a foreign agent, and agreed to cooperate with with federal prosecutors going forward (NYT, WaPo, LATimes).

 

Tags:

Immigration Conflicts Checks & Balances Regulation Democracy Civil Rights Justice & Safety Russian Interference

 

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