Today’s Headlines and Commentary

President Trump’s former lawyer Michael Cohen has agreed to testify in a public hearing next month before the House Oversight and Reform Committee, says the Washington Post.

Secretary of State Mike Pompeo delivered a speech in Cairo, declaring “the age of self-inflicted American shame is over” and that the United States would pursue a more activist policy in the region, details the New York Times.

President Trump told reports before departing for a trip to the U.S.-Mexico border in Texas that he is likely declare a national emergency if Democrats don't go along with his demands for $5.7 billion for a border wall, reports the NPR.

The White House has asked the Army Corps of Engineers to determine if construction of a border wall could begin within 45 days and if funding could be redirected from ongoing projects in areas affected by recent natural disasters like Hurricane Harvey, reports the Post.

Federal prosecutors, including Special Counsel Robert Mueller, have been questioning witnesses about a number of Ukrainian business and political figures who attended President Trump inauguration, says the Times.

ICYMI: Yesterday on Lawfare

Benjamin Wittes laid out how Special Counsel Robert Mueller can prepare a report that the Department of Justice won’t be able to withhold from congressional investigators.

Ingrid Wuerth considered whether the Foreign Sovereign Immunities Act affords immunity to foreign sovereigns in criminal cases, an issue the D.C. Circuit left undecided in its recent opinion in In re Grand Jury Subpoena, a case assumed to be tied to the special counsel’s investigation.

Matthew Waxman offered a history of the Ludlow Amendment, a constitutional amendment that would have required a popular referendum before Congress declared war, on the 81st anniversary of its failure to pass the House of Representatives.

Alvin Cheung examined what a Dec. 2018 judgment by Hong Kong’s Court of First Instance portends about Hong Kong’s judiciary and its relationship with Beijing.

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