Today's Headlines and Commentary

The White House stepped up pressure against Venezuela’s sitting president, Nicolas Maduro, announcing sanctions against the state-owned oil company and granting U.S.-recognized leader Juan Guaidó partial access to Venezuelan accounts at the New York Federal Reserve Bank, the Washington Post reports. Meanwhile, Venezuela’s attorney general directed its Supreme Court on Tuesday to open an investigation into Guaidó and freeze his accounts, according to Reuters.

Following Monday’s indictment of Chinese telecom firm Huawei and its CFO, the Chinese government appealed to the United States to end its “crackdown” on the conglomerate, according to the AP. Lawfare shared the 13-count indictment on Monday.

At a press conference announcing the Huawei indictment, Acting Attorney General Matt Whitaker said that Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation is nearing its end, adding that he has been “fully briefed” on the probe, CNN reports.

Sens. Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.) and Chuck Grassley (R.-Iowa), both members of the judiciary committee, introduced a bill to require Mueller’s final report be sent to Congress and made public, the AP details.

President Trump’s longtime adviser Roger Stone pleaded not guilty on Tuesday in D.C. federal district court following his arrest last Friday for charges brought by the special counsel’s grand jury, according to NPR.

Testifying before the Senate, the heads of six U.S. intelligence agencies contradicted central assumptions underpinning President Trump’s foreign policy, claiming that Iran is not actively developing nuclear weapons and that North Korea is unlikely to denuclearize, the New York Times reports. Lawfare shared a livestream of the hearing.

ICYMI: Yesterday on Lawfare

Curtis Bradley and Jack Goldsmith explored the constitutional questions related to Trump’s purported desire to withdraw the U.S. from NATO and recent legislation constraining such a move.

Alan Bersin and Nate Bruggeman analyzed Mexican President López Obrador’s planned use of the military to maintain public safety in Mexico.

Lev Sugarman shared the Justice Department indictment of Huawei, Huawei subsidiaries, and its CFO Meng Wanzhou on charges ranging from financial fraud and obstruction of justice to Iran sanctions violations.

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