Barr Assigns U.S. Attorney in Connecticut to Review Origins of Russia Inquiry  —  WASHINGTON — Attorney General William P. Barr has assigned the top federal prosecutor in Connecticut to examine the origins of the Russia investigation, according to two people familiar with the matter …

White House Reviews Military Plans Against Iran, in Echoes of Iraq War  —  WASHINGTON — At a meeting of President Trump's top national security aides last Thursday, Acting Defense Secretary Patrick Shanahan presented an updated military plan that envisions sending as many as 120,000 troops …

Before Trump's purge at DHS, top officials challenged plan for mass family arrests  —  In the weeks before they were ousted last month, Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen and top immigration enforcement official Ronald Vitiello challenged a secret White House plan to arrest thousands …

Trump Tower Is Now One of NYC's Least-Desirable Luxury Buildings  — Most condo owners who sold since 2016 have recorded a loss  — ‘No one wants in that building,’ says one former owner  —  Trump Tower, once the crown jewel in Donald Trump's property empire, now ranks …

Republicans surrender to Trump's China tariffs  —  The GOP is starting to give up on thwarting President Donald Trump's trade agenda.  —  Senate Republicans acknowledge that the president's latest tariff increase on Chinese imports are harming farm state economies, their own constituents and some of Trump's most reliable voters.

Fair Shot  —  About a hundred years ago, this was “the richest hill on earth.”  —  The men who owned it were called kings.  —  With their money, they bought politicians; attacked unions, exploited workers, and left us all with a toxic reminder of what happens when our democracy is put up for sale.

Trump's long trade war  —  Senior administration officials tell Axios that a trade deal with China isn't close and that the U.S. could be in for a long trade war.  —  The state of play: A senior administration official said the differences between the two sides are so profound that …

Rosenstein unloads on Comey, says he broke ‘bright lines that should never be crossed’  —  Rod Rosenstein unloaded on former FBI Director James Comey in remarks to the Greater Baltimore Committee (GBC) on Monday evening, slamming Comey's turn as a “partisan pundit,” reiterating that he deserved to be fired …

YouTube's Newest Far-Right, Foul-Mouthed, Red-Pilling Star Is A 14-Year-Old Girl  —  “Soph” has nearly a million followers on the giant video platform.  Its executives only have themselves to blame.  —  What does a 14-year-old girl dressed in a chador have to say on YouTube to amass more than 800,000 followers?

Donald Trump Jr.'s No-Shows Led to Subpoena, Republican Senator Says  —  WASHINGTON — Allies of Donald Trump Jr. may have stirred up a firestorm among Republicans over a subpoena to recall the president's eldest son to the Senate Intelligence Committee, but the panel's Republican chairman …

China is using the Washington swamp against us  —  Lots of countries hire Washington lobbyists and lawyers, even adversaries, but China and its state-directed corporations are stepping up their campaign to buy up parts of the swamp.  In Congress, there's an effort to stop that …

WhatsApp voice calls used to inject Israeli spyware on phones  —  A vulnerability in the messaging app WhatsApp has allowed attackers to inject commercial Israeli spyware on to phones, the company and a spyware technology dealer said.  —  WhatsApp, which is used by 1.5bn people worldwide …

NRA Legal Bills Raise ‘All Sorts of Red Flags’  —  Ollie North claims the NRA faces unfathomably high legal expenses.  Experts say his concerns are serious.  ‘The IRS would definitely be interested in it,’ one tells The Daily Beast.  —  Betsy Woodruff  —  “One hundred thousand dollars a day?

‘When Biden announced, everything changed’  —  First came the Cory Booker relaunch.  Then a pivot from Kamala Harris.  Now, Beto O'Rourke is hosting high-dollar fundraisers and courting national TV.  —  It's reset season in the presidential primary campaign.

The Navy's probe into sky penis  —  It prompted viral guffaws from some and online outrage from others.  —  There are shot glasses commemorating the event and it birthed memes ahead of the annual Army-Navy game.  —  But the inside story of how an EA-18G Growler jet crew drew a penis across …

The Damage That Harvard Has Done  —  Defense attorneys often arouse what John Adams called a “clamor of popular suspicions and prejudices” when representing reviled clients.  Just last week, the attorney Christopher Darden stopped representing a California man charged with killing …

Heidi Heitkamp and Joe Donnelly's Rural Voter Project Tied To “Medicare For All” Opponents  —  A dark money organization designed to help Democrats win rural votes in 2020 is getting support from anti-Medicare for All forces — and pushing their message with a pair of former Democratic senators.

Judge set to rule on Trump's subpoena challenge  —  President Donald Trump's strategy of outright resistance to House subpoenas will face its first test in federal court on Tuesday, setting up a ruling that could boost Democrats' efforts to investigate the president's business dealings.

Steve Bannon sought alliance with FBI in 2017 White House meeting  —  Bannon, then Trump's closest adviser, told FBI officials to put their past differences with the White House ‘behind them’  —  Steve Bannon urged two senior FBI officials to put their differences with the White House …

An Open Memo: Comparison of Clinton Impeachment, Nixon Impeachment and Trump Pre-Impeachment  —  [Editor's note: Just Security will publish a series in conversation with Blumenthal's Open Memo including from John Dean, Ryan Goodman, Hon. Elizabeth Holtzman, Kevin Kruse and Julian Zelizer (co-authored), and Walter Pincus.]

Behind The Scenes, Trump Diligently Tries To Slash Social Programs  —  In the shadows of his constitutional crisis, the president is still doing a lot of regular Republican stuff — without help from Congress.  —  WASHINGTON ― President Donald Trump's administration is doing some wild …

Why Trump's Iran Strategy Puts America on the Road to Nowhere Good  —  Trump has given up allied leverage over Iran, setting America on a collision course with chaos in the region.  —  THE DAILY DOSE  —  I am struggling to understand the Trump administration's policy toward Iran and hoping …

San Francisco's disturbing press crackdown  —  Bryan Carmody says several San Francisco police officers tried to break into his Outer Richmond home with a sledgehammer, detained him in handcuffs for hours, and seized computers, notes and more from his residence and office.

Beto O'Rourke Tells Rachel Maddow: ‘I Recognize That I Can Do a Better Job’  —  WASHINGTON — Former Representative Beto O'Rourke said Monday he “can do a better job” of communicating his 2020 campaign message, acknowledging that he must take steps to revive his once-promising presidential bid …

Trump targets Pell Grant money for NASA's budget boost  —  WASHINGTON (AP) — The Trump administration wants to shift money for Pell Grants for college education to fund new spending, including a $1.6 billion bump for NASA to return American astronauts to the moon by 2024.

Saudi Arabia Says Drones Hit Oil Pipeline, After Reports of Tanker Attacks  —  BEIRUT, Lebanon — A Saudi oil pipeline was attacked by drones, causing “limited damage,” the Saudi energy minister said on Tuesday, a day after Saudi Arabia said two of its oil tankers had been damaged in an act of sabotage …