Today's Headlines and Commentary

President Donald Trump asked then-Acting Attorney General Matthew Whitaker whether Geoffrey Berman, the U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York and Trump appointee, could be put in charge of the investigation into Trump’s alleged hush money payments to women during his presidential campaign, the New York Times reports.

Russian President Vladimir Putin threatened to aim new hypersonic missiles at the U.S. if the U.S. deployed further missile systems to Europe following Trump’s withdrawal from the Intermediate-range Nuclear Forces Treaty, according to the Washington Post.

Microsoft announced a newly-discovered spear-phishing campaign linked to APT28, a Russian military intelligence unit involved in 2016 U.S. election interference, that targeted prominent European think tanks ahead of parliamentary elections in 2018, the Post details.

Following Trump’s firing of FBI Director James Comey, Bureau officials organized a plan to protect evidence gathered in its investigations of the Trump campaign in the event that further senior FBI leadership were fired, the AP reports.

Civilians in the last pocket of Islamic State territory in eastern Syria have been evacuated as the U.S.-backed Syrian Democratic Forces close in for a final assault against the group’s territory, according to the BBC.

ICYMI: Yesterday on Lawfare

Michael P. Fischerkeller and Richard J. Harknett unpacked the concept of agreed competition as applied to cyberspace.

Richard H. Pildes analyzed the 1983 Supreme Court decision in INS v. Chadha in light of the current debate over presidential emergency powers.

Quinta Jurecic shared an interim report released by the House Committee on Oversight and Reform on the alleged efforts of Trump administration officials to sell nuclear technology to Saudi Arabia.

Jen Patja Howell shared a new episode of the Lawfare Podcast featuring a conversation with David Priess, Bill Harlow and Marie Harf on CIA public affairs.

Herb Lin commented on reports of a covert U.S. program to disrupt Iranian missile supply chains.

Stewart Baker shared a new episode of the Cyberlaw Podcast featuring discussion of new technology regulation, a Federal Trade Commission fine on Facebook and more.