Nightly Brief

Your Wednesday night briefing from the staff of Courthouse News

Top CNS stories for today including the Trump administration filed a lawsuit against California claiming the state’s cap-and-trade agreement with the Canadian province of Quebec violates the constitutional principle that the federal government alone can conduct foreign policy; A new poll shows a surging former Vice President Joe Biden has recaptured a double-digit lead over his Democratic rivals in the race for the White House; President Donald Trump claimed that a “permanent” ceasefire in Syria allows him to lift sanctions against Turkey, and more.

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National

1.) The Trump administration on Wednesday filed a federal lawsuit against California claiming the state’s cap-and-trade agreement with the Canadian province of Quebec violates the constitutional principle that the federal government alone can conduct foreign policy.

2.) A Pentagon official expected to offer detail on the lengthy holdup of U.S. military aid to Ukraine finally saw her deposition get underway Wednesday, five hours after two dozen Republican lawmakers armed with cellphones stormed the closed-door hearing and refused to leave.

3.) The arraignment of Rudy Giuliani’s associates Lev Parnas and Igor Fruman had been shaping up to be a routine plea of not guilty — until a defense attorney remarked Wednesday that the case could invoke evidence falling under the realms of executive privilege.

4.) In their bid to fend off a tax-return inquiry, a lawyer for President Donald Trump told the Second Circuit on Wednesday that the same immunity would shield Trump had he carried out his boast to shoot somebody in the middle of Fifth Avenue without losing voters.

5.) A surging former Vice President Joe Biden has recaptured a double-digit lead over his Democratic rivals in the race for the White House, according to a CNN poll released Wednesday

6.) Twitter has become the platform of choice for reporters and news junkies since its creation in 2006, but a new study from the Pew Research Center reveals that a only a small fraction of users contribute to the vast majority of political commentary on the website.

International

7.) As Russian troops move into the Syrian borderland and shelling of old American bases continues, the president on Wednesday claimed that a “permanent” ceasefire allows him to lift sanctions against Turkey. He has been sailing against the tide of public opinion, with Americans opposed to the U.S. withdrawal from Northern Syria by a 2-1 margin.

8.) A murder and human smuggling investigation into the deaths of 39 people crammed together in the back of a tractor-trailer from Bulgaria is spanning Europe as authorities try to piece together how the truck made it to an industrial park near London.