Today's Headlines and Commentary

House Democrats introduced a measure to block President Donald Trump’s border emergency declaration, which is likely to pass the House next week before moving to the Senate and potentially facing a presidential veto, the AP reports.

Walking back Trump’s plan to withdraw all U.S. forces from Syria, the White House announced it will leave around 200 hundred troops in the country, forming what White House Press Secretary Sarah Sanders called “a small peacekeeping group,” according to the New York Times.

The Manhattan District Attorney has prepared charges against former Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort in case President Trump grants Manafort a presidential pardon, which can only clear federal convictions, Bloomberg reports.

Venezuelan troops fired on civilians on the Venezuela-Brazil border amidst a clash between civilians, who were attempting to keep the border open for humanitarian aid deliveries, and Maduro government forces closing the border, the Washington Post details.

A complaint was filed in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia on behalf of the father of a U.S.-born woman, who traveled to Syria to join the Islamic State, seeking recognition of her U.S. citizenship after Secretary of State Mike Pompeo declared she was not a citizen and President Trump tweeted that she would not be allowed reentry into the U.S, the Post reports.

ICYMI: Yesterday on Lawfare

Elizabeth Allan and Scott Anderson analyzed recent congressional resolutions on U.S. involvement in the Saudi-led military campaign in Yemen.

Mikhaila Fogel, Susan Hennessey, Quinta Jurecic and Benjamin Wittes proposed four principles for reading Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s reportedly-imminent final report. And Mikhaila Fogel shared a Lawfare Podcast Shorts episode featuring a reading of the post by Susan Hennessey.

Lev Sugarman shared a criminal complaint unsealed in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California alleging that an IRS analyst leaked suspicious activity reports related to Michael Cohen’s financial records.