Today in one sentence: Israeli forces seized the Gaza side of the Rafah border crossing with Egypt; the Biden administration is expected notify Congress this week about whether it believes Israel has violated U.S. or international law in Gaza; Stormy Daniels testified in Trump’s his election interference trial involving falsified business records; Judge Juan Merchan rejected Trump’s request for a mistrial; Marjorie Taylor Greene – again – threatened to force a vote on ousting Mike Johnson as speaker unless he defunds the special counsel Jack Smith’s investigation into Trump; and the judge in Trump’s classified documents case indefinitely suspended the deadline for a key court filing in the criminal proceeding.

1/ Israeli forces seized the Gaza side of the Rafah border crossing with Egypt, shutting down the flow of humanitarian aid. Israel sent tanks into Rafah and took control of the border crossing less than 24 hours after ordering about 100,000 Palestinians to evacuate. The operation followed hours of confusion about a proposed ceasefire deal agreed to by Hamas, but later rejected by Israel. Egypt’s foreign ministry, which repeatedly warned Israel that military action on the border could violate a four-decade-old peace treaty between the two countries, condemned the Rafah operation as a “dangerous escalation [that] threatens the lives of more than a million Palestinians who depend primarily on this crossing, as it is the main lifeline of the Gaza Strip.” The U.N. humanitarian office said the operation had “choked off” the two main points of entry for getting aid into Gaza, calling it “a very effective way of putting the humanitarian operation in its grave.” Israel has now closed two key crossings – the Kerem Shalom and Rafah crossings – for humanitarian aid into Gaza. Biden, meanwhile, condemned the “ferocious surge of antisemitism” in the U.S. following the Oct. 7 Hamas attack against Israel during an address at the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum’s annual Days of Remembrance. “Too many people denying, downplaying, rationalizing, ignoring the horrors of the Holocaust and Oct. 7… It is absolutely despicable, and it must stop.” (Washington Post / New York Times / NPR / Bloomberg / Wall Street Journal / NBC News / CNN / Associated Press)

2/ The Biden administration is expected notify Congress this week about whether it believes Israel has violated U.S. or international law in Gaza. Under current arms transfer policy, which was updated last February, the U.S. can suspend delivery of American weapons to countries that were “more likely than not” to violate international law or human rights. Last week, senior State Department officials said they didn’t have “credible or reliable” assurances from Israel that they were using U.S.-provided weapons in compliance with international law. The Biden administration, meanwhile, has held up the sale of thousands of precision bombs to Israel. (New York Times / Washington Post / Politico / Wall Street Journal)

3/ Stormy Daniels testified in Trump’s his election interference trial involving falsified business records. Daniels described parts of her 2006 sexual encounter in detail, including how she went to the bathroom and when she returned Trump was “in boxer shorts and t-shirt,” how she thinks she “blacked out” during the encounter, and how Trump didn’t use a condom. She also testified that when she arrived at Trump’s hotel for dinner, he was wearing “silk or satin” pajamas. Daniels was paid $130,000 by Michael Cohen before the 2016 election to remain silent about the affair. Trump’s lawyer, meanwhile, accused Daniels of “looking to extort” him. Daniels replied: “False,” raising her voice. (NBC News / NPR / Associated Press / New York Times / Washington Post / CNN / CNBC / Bloomberg / Wall Street Journal / Politico / Axios)

4/ Judge Juan Merchan rejected Trump’s request for a mistrial. Trump’s lawyer argued that Stormy Daniels’s testimony should warrant a mistrial because jurors can’t unhear a number of “extraordinarily prejudicial” details, including that the claim that the encounter was not consensual, and that she had “blacked out” when it happened. Merchan replied that “I don’t think we’re at the point where a mistrial is warranted,” but noted “that I was surprised that there were not more objections” from Trump’s lawyers. “The defense has to take some responsibility for that.” (Axios / Washington Post)

5/ Marjorie Taylor Greene – again – threatened to force a vote on ousting Mike Johnson as speaker unless he defunds the special counsel Jack Smith’s investigation into Trump. Greene also wants Johnson to commit to no more Ukraine aid, avoid a government shutdown before the election by passing a continuing resolution to automatically enact a 1% spending cut, and only advance legislative priorities that have the support of the majority of the majority (i.e. Republicans). Johnson said the House will consider Justice Department funding and oversight of the special prosecutor’s office, saying: “Stay tuned.” (Politico / Axios / Washington Post / Punchbowl)

6/ The judge in Trump’s classified documents case indefinitely suspended the deadline for a key court filing in the criminal proceeding. The trial was initially schedule to begin on May 20, but was delayed at a March 1 hearing and a new trial has not yet been set. Judge Aileen Cannon, who was appointed by Trump, didn’t set a new deadline to resolve multiple pre-trial issues related to the Classified Information Procedures Act, and the delay increases the chance that the trial will not happen before the November election. The latest delay comes after Trump’s lawyers suggested that special counsel Jack Smith’s team had “failed to preserve critical evidence” in the case because some of the hundreds of classified documents documents in some of the 33 boxes the FBI seized almost two years ago from Mar-a-Lago may not be in the same order as when they were taken. (New York Times / The Hill / Associated Press / Washington Post / Axios / CNN / NBC News / Politico)

Three years ago today: Day 108: "We have a long way to go."
Four years ago today: Day 1204: "Overly prescriptive."
Five years ago today: Day 838: Privilege.
Six years ago today: Day 473: Fighting back.