INTERVIEW – JOE DIGENOVA – legal analyst and former US Attorney to the District of Columbia
- DON JR: Senator Lindsey Graham advises Donald Trump Jr. to Avoid Testifying Over Russia Deal: “Call it a Day.” During an appearance on Fox News’s Sunday Morning Futures, Senator Lindsey Graham brushed off the Senate Intelligence Committee’s attempts to subpoena Donald Trump Jr. to give further testimony regarding efforts to build a Trump Tower in Russia. “If I were Donald Trump Jr.’s lawyer, I would tell him you don’t need to go back into this environment anymore,” Graham said. “You’ve been there for hours and hours, and nothing being alleged here changes the outcome of the Mueller investigation. I would call it a day.”
- UKRAINE TRIP: Giuliani cancels Ukraine trip, says he’d be ‘walking into a group of people that are enemies of the US.’ (Fox News) — Rudy Giuliani, President Trump’s personal attorney, said Friday on “Fox News @ Night” that he will not be traveling to Ukraine as previously announced.
- BIDEN / UKRAINE: Rand Paul: Americans Will Be ‘Shocked’ to Know What Biden’s Son Was Up To. Sunday on ABC’s “Meet the Press,” Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY) discussed a report from The New York Times on questions of former vice president Joe Biden’s potential conflict of interest.
- STEELE DOSSIER: State Department Under Pressure Over Christopher Steele Contacts. Three Republican senators are pressing the State Department to provide information about a meeting between dossier author Christopher Steele and a State Department official before the 2016 election. In letters this week to Sec. of State Mike Pompeo, GOP Sens. Chuck Grassley of Iowa, Ron Johnson of Wisconsin and Lindsey Graham of South Carolina pressed Pompeo for details about the Oct. 11, 2016 meeting, which was held at Foggy Bottom between Steele and Kathleen Kavalec, the deputy assistant secretary of state for European and Eurasian affairs.
- DEMS NOT READING THE FULL MUELLER REPORT: CNN’s SARAH WESTWOOD tweet: Five Republicans and no Democrats have so far read the less redacted version of the Mueller report that DOJ made available to 12 congressional leaders, @LauraAJarrett reports. This version of the Mueller report only contains redactions of grand jury material.
- Robert Mueller won’t testify next week, date is up in the air. (CNN)House Judiciary Chairman Jerry Nadler said Friday that special counsel Robert Mueller will not testify before his committee next week and that the exact date for Mueller to come speak publicly before Congress is under discussion. “It won’t be next week,” Nadler told reporters. “But we’re negotiating with him, we’re talking to him and the Justice Department.” The move was not unexpected as Nadler said Thursday evening that Mueller was unlikely to testify before the committee on May 15, the target date that the New York Democrat had floated earlier this month. Nadler said this week that negotiations with Mueller’s team at the Justice Department to finalize the hearing continue amid President Donald Trump’s various stated positions on whether the special counsel should testify.
