1. Paul Ryan agreed to keep Rev. Patrick Conroy on as House chaplain in response to pressure from other members of the House. Ryan had previously asked Conroy to step down from his position, questioning whether Conroy was delivering sufficient "pastoral services" to the House. Conroy initially tendered, then retracted his resignation and accused Ryan's chief of staff of anti-Catholic bias. (Washington Post)

  2. Rudy Giuliani thinks there is a "50/50" chance that Robert Mueller will subpoena the president to testify in front of a grand jury. “I think it's 50/50,” Giuliani said. “But I got to prepare for that 50 percent.” Referring to his recent statements regarding the $130,000 hush payment to Stormy Daniels, Giuliani said, "We don't hear anything, see anything, see any documents that contradict what we've said." He continued: "Some of the recollection is a little hazy because it came during a very busy period. But, I mean, on both sides it's pretty clear. They may have a little differences here and there but nothing important.” (ABC News)

  3. Former CIA director Michael Hayden said the hysteria over the 2015 military exercise known as "Jade Helm" was fueled in part by Russians who wanted to dominate "the information space." In the summer of 2015, Hayden said, "Russian bots and the American alt-right media convinced many Texans [that Jade Helm] was an Obama plan to round up political dissidents.” Gov. Abbott's decision to send the National Guard to monitor the exercise demonstrated the power of disinformation campaigns to affect the American public. (Texas Tribune)

  4. Trump ordered the Pentagon to prepare for a draw down of American troops in South Korea. The move comes just weeks before a planned meeting between Trump and Kim Jong Un to discuss the denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula. Troop reductions are not in play as a bargaining chip, officials have acknowledged that a peace treaty between North and South Korea could reduce the need for the nearly 30,000 soldiers currently stationed in South Korea. (New York Times)

  5. The State Department has frozen all funding to the Syrian humanitarian group known as the White Helmets at Foggy Bottom, formerly known as the Syrian Civil Defense. State Department officials say support for the group is now "under active review" The decision is part of a larger $200 million reduction in funding for recovery efforts in Syria that began in March at Trump's direction, which means support for the White Helmets is not the only project that stands to lose funding. (CBS News)

  6. Scott Pruitt used money from two of his campaigns for Oklahoma attorney general to reimburse himself nearly $65,000. The 2010 and 2014 payments were recorded so vaguely, according to at least one election watchdog, that there is no way to tell if the payments broke the law or not. The payments could be a violation of two key pillars of campaign finance regulation: campaign spending transparency and a prohibition on using campaign funds for personal purchases. (CNN)