1. Counterintelligence officials are investigating the negotiations and financing surrounding one of Ivanka Trump's international business deals involving the Trump Hotel and Tower in Vancouver. It's not clear why investigators are looking into this particular deal, but CNN says the timing of the deal could be of interest. The 616-foot tower opened in February 2017, just after Trump took office, and the Trump Organization reportedly took in more than $5 million in royalties and $21,500 in management fees from the Vancouver property. (CNN)

  2. Internal documents from the Department of Interior show that the possibility of oil and gas exploration in the Bears Ears National Monument in Utah was a central concern at the agency, even before Trump decided to remove federal protections from large portions of the land. Discussions about removing federal protections from certain sections of Bears Ears that contained oil and gas deposits began as early as March 2017, when Sen. Orrin Hatch sent an email to Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke that said, in part, that adopting the new map would "resolve all known mineral conflicts" on the land. (New York Times)

  3. Jared Kushner's real estate firm reportedly made a direct appeal to Qatar's minister of finance in April 2017 for an investment in one of the company's most infamous and critically distressed properties — the Kushners’ signature development located at 666 Fifth Avenue in New York City. A month after the deal fell through, Kushner found himself engulfed in a diplomatic confrontation in the Middle East. Kushner ended up supporting Qatar's neighbors, and the standoff culminated in what was effectively a blockade of Qatar. According to reports at the time, Kushner later undermined efforts by Rex Tillerson to bring an end to the impasse. (The Intercept)

  4. Russian politician Alexander Torshin spent roughly six years cultivating leverage and building connections in order influence leaders of the National Rifle Association. Torshin also claimed that his ties to the NRA afforded him access to Trump and allowed him to serve as a foreign election observer in the U.S. during the 2012 presidential election. These latest revelations about Torshin come as Mueller's team is investigating whether Torshin, who serves as the deputy governor of the Bank of Russia, illegally funneled money to the NRA in order to help the Trump campaign win the 2016 presidential election. (NPR)

  5. Trump defended his proposal to impose a 25% tariff on steel imports and a 10% tariff on aluminium by tweeting that "trade wars are good, and easy to win." Investors have said they are concerned that the tariffs could invite retaliation from China and other major U.S. trading partners. The move has also created a divide between Trump's economic advisers, including Paul Ryan, who asked Trump to reconsider in order to avoid retaliation and other "unintended consequences" that could occur as a result of the tariffs. (CNN)

  6. A large cache of internal documents from the Russian troll farm known as the Internet Research Agency has been leaked after the documents were bought at an "information exchange," which is essentially an auction for stolen or confidential information. The leaked documents include details about, among other things, rallies in the U.S. that were pushed by IRA social media accounts, specific causes that were promoted by Russian imposter accounts, and the user names of American citizens who were used as unwitting proxies by Russian agitators. (The Daily Beast)