Today's Headlines and Commentary

Theresa May announced Friday that she will resign as the U.K.’s prime minister effective June 7, reported the Associated Press.

President Trump granted Attorney General Bill Barr extensive new authorities to investigate law enforcement and intelligence activities related to the 2016 presidential election in a directive released on Thursday, said the New York Times. The president has ordered the intelligence community to cooperate fully with the probe, and Trump granted Barr the authority to unilaterally declassify documents. The full directive is available on Lawfare.

The Trump administration’s plans to send 1,500 more troops to the Middle East amid rising tensions with Iran, reported the AP.

House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jerrold Nadler said on MSNBC that Robert Mueller wishes to testify in private to the committee, but the committee would plan to make the transcript of the testimony public.

A faked, distorted video of a speech given by Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi at the Center for American Progress went viral on social media, according to the Washington Post. The video was altered to make Pelosi’s speech appeared slurred and to give the impression that Pelosi was drunk. The president’s lawyer Rudy Giuliani posted the video to social media, believing the video to be authentic, and the president tweeted it.

Facebook’s efforts to remove fake accounts has dramatically increased, with 3 billion fake accounts removed in the last six months, said the AP.

Trump has repeatedly urged the head of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to grant contract for border wall construction to a company whose executive a Republican Party donor and guest on Fox News, reported the Post.

ICYMI: Yesterday on Lawfare

Bob Bauer explored the implications and risks of a Mueller open congressional testimony.

Jack Goldsmith offered a second round of thoughts on the Mueller report interpretation of the clear statement rule.

Matthew Kahn posted the superseding indictment against WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange, who has been charged with violating the Espionage Act in addition to earlier violations of the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act.

Rachel Brown and Preston Lim provided an update on the Trump administration’s efforts to cut off Chinese telecom giant Huawei from U.S. networks.

Kahn shared a speech given by Associate Deputy Attorney General Sujit Raman regarding the rule of law in cyberspace.

Quinta Jurecic shared the presidential memorandum issued in the matter of Barr’s review into the investigation of the 2016 election.

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