Today’s Headlines and Commentary

President Trump abruptly walked out of a meeting with congressional leadership when Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi said she would not fund a wall along the southern border, says the New York Times.

Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein will remain at the Justice Department until Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation concludes, reports NBC.

At the request of House Democrats, Secretary of the Treasury Steve Mnuchin is expected to provide Congress with a classified briefing about the Trump administration’s plans to end sanctions on companies linked to the billionaire Russian oligarch Oleg V. Deripaska, details the Times.

Seventeen new lawyers have joined the White House legal team in recent weeks to support expected litigation about whether executive privilege prevents President Trump’s discussions with top advisers from being disclosed to congressional investigators, reports the Washington Post.

ICYMI: Yesterday on Lawfare

Benjamin Wittes cautioned more information is needed to properly assess the importance of Paul Manafort’s sharing of polling data with a business associate with ties to Russian intelligence.

Quinta Jurecic explained why concerns about President Trump invoking a national emergency to secure funding for a border wall, though valid, are overblown.

Curtis Bradley, Jack Goldsmith and Oona Hathaway argued the Trump administration’s less frequent use of so-called Article II treaties does not diminish the need for more accountability and oversight of the process.

Seamus Hughes and Bennett Clifford detailed how the capture of Soulay Noah Su, a 16-year-old United States citizen ostensibly fighting for the Islamic State in Syria, represents a departure from the norms that apply to most foreign-born ISIS fighters.

Jung H. Pak examined what Kim Jong-Un’s New Year’s address and his trip to China this week means for North Korea, the United States’ relationship with South Korea and Beijing’s willingness to enforce sanctions.

Rachel Brown and Preston Lim discussed the issues surrounding the U.S.-China trade war and why there may be cause for cautious optimism.

Jen Patja Howell posted the latest episode of Rational Security, in which the crew discusses President Trump’s oval office address, John Bolton and Mike Pompeo’s Middle East diplomacy tours and the latest in L’Affaire Russe.

Stewart Baker shared the latest episode of The Cyberlaw Podcast, in which he and his associates discuss whether sanctions are hurting the AI industry, the APT10 indictment and more.

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