Today's Headlines and Commentary

On Thursday morning, former Trump personal attorney Michael Cohen pleaded guilty to a new criminal charge of lying to Congress about his involvement in efforts to build a Trump Tower building in Moscow before and during the 2016 presidential campaign, reports the New York Times.

President Trump announced over tweet on Thursday afternoon that he would no longer be meeting one-on-one with Vladimir Putin on Saturday at the G20 summit in Buenos Aires, says Reuters.Trump cited the Russian capture of Ukrainian vessels and sailors as the reason for the cancellation.

President Trump stated on Wednesday that a pardon for Paul Manafort was not off the table and characterized the special counsel’s treatment of Manafort as vicious and abusive, says the Times. Manafort faces 10 years in federal prison as he was convicted of eight felonies this summer and pleaded guilty to two more.

Senators from both sides of the aisle voted 63 to 37 to move forward on a measure limiting the U.S. involvement in Yemen under the War Powers Resolution after being denied a briefing by CIA director Gina Haspel on the death of Washington Post writer Jamal Khashoggi in Turkey, according to the Times.

The U.S. ambassador to Poland sent a letter to the Polish prime minister expressing deep concern over Warsaw’s attempts to prosecute journalists from a U.S.-owned television station that aired an undercover report of Polish neo-Nazis celebrating Adolf Hitler’s birthday in 2017, says the Post. The letter angered some Polish officials, who feel that the letter devastates the world’s image of their country.

Two U.S. navy ships sailed through the Taiwan Strait in the third freedom-of-navigation operation in the strategic waterway this year, reports Reuters.

ICYMI: Yesterday on Lawfare

Max Smeets and Herb Lin provided a comprehensive, outcome-based analysis of the new U.S. Cyber Command vision and the Department of Defense Cyber Strategy.

Stewart Baker posted this week’s episode of the Cyberlaw Podcast, which included discussion on corporate ethics, a Facebook Supreme Content Court, international confidentiality orders, and much more.

Rachel Brown and Preston Lim posted a new edition of SinoTech, Lawfare’s bi-weekly roundup of U.S.-China technology policy news.

Bob Bauer assessed Roger Stone’s use of deeply unconventional tactics during his career, and how interacting with a foreign government changed the game.

Jen Patja Howell posted this week’s Rational Security in which the gang discussed recent revelations on Paul Manafort, the G20 summit and Trump’s support of Saudi crown prince Mohammed bin Salman.

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