Written by Elaine Godfrey (@elainejgodfrey)
Today in 5 Lines
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Jurors in Paul Manafort’s fraud trial ended a second day of deliberations without reaching a verdict. The judge said he has received threats and denied media requests to release the names of jurors in fear for their safety.
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Trump refused to say whether he plans to pardon Manafort if he’s convicted, but said that his former campaign chair is “a very good person” and that the trial is “very sad.”
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Trump blamed the cancellation of his military parade on Washington D.C. officials, saying they had inflated the cost. D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser contradicted Trump on Twitter, claiming that she “got thru” to him about the high costs of the parade.
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Trump said he expects to “very quickly” revoke the security clearance of Brian Ohr, a Justice Department official who has ties to the Russia investigation. More than a dozen former U.S. intelligence officials condemned Trump’s decision to revoke former CIA Director John Brennan’s security clearance in a letter late Thursday.
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The U.S. has issued sanctions against four Myanmar security officials and two of its military units for human-rights abuses.
Today on The Atlantic
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Overruled: Former FBI agent Peter Strzok was set to receive a two-month suspension and a demotion for his alleged misconduct during the 2016 presidential election. Instead, he was fired. (Natasha Bertrand)
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She ‘Worked for Me’: Trump “employs a particular species of dismissive language when he’s talking about black women,” writes Vann R. Newkirk II—as evidenced by his remarks about the death of singer Aretha Franklin.
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Two Birds, One Stone: The United States is expected to have a massive physician shortage by the year 2030. A new decision by New York University’s School of Medicine might help fix that, as well as other problems. (Adam Harris)
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‘This Is a Crisis’: A new report shows that one in 10 Airbnb hosts is a teacher. Declining teacher pay is probably the reason. (Alia Wong)
Snapshot
What We’re Reading
The Melania Mystery: Some see the first lady as a “quietly loyal helpmate” to the president, while others see her as a sort of captive, stifled from expressing her own opinions. What’s the truth? (Katie Rogers, Julie Hirschfeld Davis, and Maggie Haberman, The New York Times)
A ‘Political Hack’: Trump’s decision to revoke former CIA Director John Brennan’s security clearance was vindictive, writes Stephen F. Hayes, but Brennan himself has used tactics like that. (The Weekly Standard)
‘I Know He’s Frustrated’: According to several current and former administration officials, Trump has shown interest in a Blackwater proposal to privatize the war in Afghanistan. (Carol E. Lee, Courtney Kube, and Josh Lederman, NBC News)
Past the Deadline: A total of 565 migrant children have not yet been reunited with their families and are still in the custody of the U.S. government, the Justice Department said in a status update. (Carla Herreria, HuffPost)
Visualized
No Strings Attached: Annie Lowrey explains why the United States should offer universal basic income to every American. (Jackie Lay, The Atlantic)
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