On Politics: Two Giuliani Associates Are Arrested

2019年10月11日星期五

October 11, 2019

Good Friday morning. Here are some of the stories making news in Washington and politics today.

Lev Parnas and Igor Fruman, two associates of President Trump's private lawyer Rudolph W. Giuliani, were accused of helping fund efforts to investigate one of Mr. Trump's political rivals and charged with violating campaign finance laws in a new criminal case that touched on their work in Ukraine and alleged financial ties to Russia.
The president's lawyer was paid by Mr. Parnas and Mr. Fruman as they worked on behalf of Mr. Trump in Ukraine and had financial problems at home, according to the indictment.
House investigators issued subpoenas on Thursday to compel Mr. Parnas and Mr. Fruman to sit for depositions in the impeachment inquiry, just hours after the men were indicted.
During a 2017 meeting in the Oval Office with Mr. Trump and the secretary of state at the time, Rex W. Tillerson, Mr. Giuliani pushed for help to secure the release of a jailed client, an Iranian-Turkish gold trader, as part of a potential prisoner swap with Turkey.

William P. Barr, the attorney general, met privately on Wednesday evening with one of Mr. Trump's frequent confidants, Rupert Murdoch, the media mogul whose holdings include Fox News, which has recently become more critical of the president.

At a fiery campaign rally on Thursday night in Minnesota, Mr. Trump said former Vice President Joseph R. Biden Jr. did nothing but "kiss Barack Obama's ass."

When it comes time to make critical decisions regarding his presidential campaign, Senator Bernie Sanders of Vermont often relies on a committee of two: himself and his wife, Jane Sanders.

Republicans are attacking Senator Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts over authenticity, a sexist trope often used against female candidates. She has used those attacks to rally her supporters.

In a sign of how essential gay rights have become to their party's platform, nine Democratic presidential hopefuls gathered in Los Angeles on Thursday evening to share their plans for advancing L.G.B.T.Q. rights.

The United States and China could announce a limited trade agreement this week that would prevent Mr. Trump's planned tariff increase from going into effect this month and set rules on how China manages its currency.

Today's On Politics briefing was compiled by Isabella Grullón Paz in New York.

Is there anything you think we're missing? Anything you want to see more of? We'd love to hear from you. Email us at onpolitics@nytimes.com.