Storied We’re Watching

Mueller Updates: Cohen & Mueller Walk into a Bar(r) 

Attorney General nominee William Barr assured US lawmakers earlier today that he would allow the special counsel’s investigation to continue. Legal analysts have expressed concern over Mr. Barr’s past memos which argue for unlimited executive authority. On Friday, the New York Times reported that the FBI have actually opened two, separate investigations against President Trump, a criminal one and a counterintelligence investigation. Over the weekend, the President denied having ‘worked for Russia’ and also issued a warning to Michael Cohen regarding his anticipated testimony before House Oversight early next month.

• New York Times: F.B.I. Opened Inquiry Into Whether Trump Was Secretly
• Politico: Barr pledges to allow Mueller to complete investigation
• The Guardian: Trump: ‘I never worked for Russia. It’s just a hoax’
• Axios: Top House Democrats warn Trump after Cohen comments

PM Theresa May Struggles to Salvage Brexit Deal ahead of Tomorrow’s Vote

British Prime Minister Theresa May pleaded with members of parliament earlier today to support her Brexit deal ahead of tomorrow evening’s Commons vote on the terms of the UK’s imminent withdrawal from the EU. Opposition leaders have vowed to take control of rewriting the deal’s terms if May’s deal is defeated tomorrow. Should that happen, MPs will then have only three days to revise it. Insiders warn that it looks increasingly likely that the UK will exit in a chaotic ‘no-deal’ scenario. The UK is set to exit the European Union, deal or not, on March 29.

• BBC: Theresa May urges MPs to back Brexit deal ‘for country’s sake’
• Wall Street Journal: UK’s May Faces Likely Defeat as Brexit Deadline Nears
• The Guardian: Theresa May’s Brexit deal unlikely to pass, says Liam Fox

Trump Threatens Turkey with Economic Devastation if Kurds are Attacked

Earlier today, Presidents Trump and Erdogan discussed the planned US troop withdrawal from Syria. The discussion comes after President Trump threatened yesterday to “devastate Turkey economically” if the US-allied Kurdish militia were attacked. President Trump also tweeted in support of a buffer zone along the Turkish border, a longtime goal of President Erdogan. Defense analysts warn that Iran, Russia, and the Assad regime would benefit from a power vacuum caused by a sudden US troop withdrawal.

• Bloomberg: Turkey’s Erdogan Calls Trump to Ease Syria Tensions
• BBC: Turkey dismisses Trump threat to economy over Syrian Kurds
• Task & Purpose: Trump Threatens Turkey With ‘Economic Devastation’
• The National Interest Online: The Many Problems with Erdogan’s Plan
• The Atlantic: Presidential Silence After an Attack on American Soil

Global Markets Fall Following Release of China Trade Data

US stocks, oil prices, the dollar, and industrial metals were down today following the release of multiple disappointing datasets. China’s weak December trade and the euro zone’s diminished industrial output have added to global anxieties of an upcoming recession. Economists warn that slowing global growth and lagging demand combined with uncertainty over Brexit and the US-China trade war could spark a selloff as investors flock to more stable, lower-yield bonds.

• Fortune: China Imports and Exports Fall, Hurting Global Markets
• The Independent: Global markets spooked as China reports weakest trade
• Forbes: Data-Driven Political Predictions For Global Markets
• Reuters: GLOBAL MARKETS-China trade shock hits global stocks

Secretary Pompeo’s Middle East Tour Updates

Secretary of State Mike Pompeo met with Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman earlier today as part of his eight-day Middle East tour. The two were widely expected to discuss human rights violations, Khashoggi, and the ongoing violence in Yemen. Following the meeting, two released statements stressing their commitment to de-escalation in Yemen. Secretary Pompeo is expected to next visit Oman, the only Persian Gulf state having diplomatic relations with both Iran and Saudi Arabia. The Trump administration has faced mounting, global scrutiny over the sudden withdrawal of troops from Syria as well as for the support of the royal family following the brutal murder of Khashoggi last October.

• NBCNews: Pompeo spends 45 minutes with Crown Prince
• CNN: Mike Pompeo’s long, strange tour through the Mideast
• The Guardian: Pompeo: Saudi Arabia must hold Khashoggi killers accountable
• The Independent: From Trump tweets to Pentagon leaks, infighting leaves US Middle East

BLOG: Pompeo in Cairo: Clueless and Dangerous 

Secretary of State Mike Pompeo went to Cairo ‘as an evangelical Christian’ – a weird self-designation I have not seen in almost 40 years of covering U.S. Secretaries of State – and gave a speech, reflecting not only the current poverty of America’s foreign policy, since the speech was bereft of any political ideas, but was also an abandonment of the American values of respect for basic rights and freedoms, good governance, legal accountability and political empowerment; values that are supposed to undergird U.S. foreign policy. As expected, Secretary Pompeo’s speech at the century old American University in Cairo was a pathetic paean to Arab autocracy at the very moment its brutal ascendancy against reformers, human rights activists and proponents of vibrant civil societies is near complete. Pompeo blurted 3596 words, but never uttered the phrase ‘human rights’, not even hinting at the need for accountable governance. But what was most stunning about the content of the speech was its unadulterated contempt for the intelligence, human agency and dignity of the peoples of the Middle East. Even his tone and body language were condescending to his audience. CONTINUE

ICYMI DEEPTECH:  Fakebook’s Problem: Your Aunt Carol & Other Republican Baby Boomers

Over the break, the US Senate Intelligence Committee released two separate reports detailing exactly how Russia’s disinformation operation used troll farms to weaponize social media before, during, & after the 2016 general elections. Russia’s Internet Research Agency used Facebook and a variety of other social media platforms to sow discord and confusion. It turns out that very few users actually shared fake news on Facebook during the 2016 presidential election, according to a recent study published in Science Advances. The researchers found that conservative users were more likely to share fake news articles and that users over 65 shared nearly seven times more fake news articles than users 18 to 29. READ MORE