Today's Headlines and Commentary

The House Judiciary Committee voted for the first time on a potential impeachment investigation of President Trump. The vote, which followed party lines, is largely a symbolic gesture intended to signal progress towards impeachment without filing formal charges, according to the New York Times.

President Trump commented publicly that John Bolton, his ousted national security adviser, had made “some very big mistakes” and “wasn’t in line with what we were doing,” reports the Washington Post. Initially, Bolton declined to comment on Trump’s statements but later remarked: “I will have my say in due course.”

Following a parliamentary vote, British ministers officially published the previously leaked Yellowhammer no-deal Brexit document. The document outlines a series of “reasonable worst case assumptions” if the UK leaves the EU without a deal, including disruptions at channel crossings, shortages of fresh food and an increased risk of public disorder, reports the BBC.

United Nations investigators released a report claiming that U.S.-led coalition forces may have committed war crimes in Syria for failing to direct all attacks against specific military targets. The report also linked Syrian and Russian forces to potential war crimes, according to Reuters.

The Supreme Court released a brief staying a preliminary injunction on the Trump administration’s enforcement of new rules that disallow asylum applications from migrants who traveled through another country before arriving at the United States, according to the New York Times.

The Washington Post reports that the State Department approved the sale of 32 F-35 fighter jets to the Polish military. The estimated $6.5 billion order widens the scope of U.S. military cooperation with Poland, a major NATO ally.

ICYMI: Yesterday on Lawfare

Bruce Riedel discussed the state of al-Qaeda on the eighteenth anniversary of the 9/11 attacks and the group’s evolution from before 2001 to the present.

Rachel Brown and Preston Lim described the challenges of restarting trade talks between China and the U.S. Brown and Lim also analyzed the geopolitical dynamics behind Angela Merkel’s successful visit to China.

Jen Patja Howell shared this week’s episode of Rational Security, which includes discussions between Shane Harris, Tamara Cofman Wittes, Benjamin Wittes, and Susan Hennessey about John Bolton’s exit from the administration, the CIA’s extraction of a spy in Russia and Trump’s Middle East peace negotiator quitting.

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