When you’re defending yourself against allegations of corruption, as Donald Trump is, and are trying to make the case that you acted completely appropriately when you leaned on another country to investigate your political rival, it’s generally considered inadvisable for your personal attorney to be a key player in the plot that might get you impeached. For Rudy Giuliani that ship sailed quite some time ago. Still, up until today, Trump could at least say that his defense lawyer wasn’t, like, under criminal investigation or anything. That sort of thing is typically viewed as something of a distraction while trying to argue your innocence and, well, you can probably see where this is going.

ABC News reports that the business relationship between Giuliani and Lev Parnas and Igor Fruman, the two men arrested Wednesday night as they tried to leave the country, is “a subject of the ongoing criminal investigation being conducted by federal authorities in New York,” according to people familiar with the matter. The investigation is being conducted by the FBI’s New York field office and the Southern District of New York, where, in a rather awkward twist, Giuliani worked before he became mayor. Parnas and Fruman, both born in former Soviet republics, were charged with conspiracy, falsification of records, and lying to the FEC about their political donation as part of an alleged scheme to “funnel foreign money to U.S. politicians in a bid to affect U.S.-Ukraine relations and launch a marijuana business,” according to the Washington Post. Giuliani, who like Trump, only surrounds himself with “the best” people, identified both men as clients back in May and had lunch with them at the Trump International Hotel in Washington hours before they were arrested. The former mayor’s work with the two men was reportedly related to, wait for it, Fraud Guarantee. Yes. Yes.

In addition to allegedly funneling foreign money to U.S. politicians—including, per their indictment, $325,000 to the pro-Trump super PAC American First Action through an LLC called Global Energy Producers that has since been placed in a segregated account—Parnas and Fruman are said to have played a valuable role in Giuliani’s attempt to dig up dirt on Joe Biden. According to the Wall Street Journal, the duo “introduced Mr. Giuliani to several current and former senior Ukrainian prosecutors to discuss the Biden case, acting as key conduits of information.” Parnas also accompanied Giuliani to a July breakfast meeting with Kurt Volker, then the U.S. special representative for Ukraine negotiations, who told House committees that Giuliani mentioned at the time that he was investigating Biden and 2016 election interference. Parnas and Fruman also allegedly sought the assistance of a U.S. congressman to help oust Marie Yovanovitch, the then U.S. ambassador to Ukraine who Giuliani told Trump was hampering his efforts to investigate Biden. And, because he was such a helpful guy, Parnas also reportedly arranged a Skype session between Giuliani and Viktor Shokin, the Ukrainian prosecutor who was pushed out in 2016 and who Giuliani and Trump have insisted was fired because he was looking into Burisma, the company on whose board Hunter Biden sat. (In reality, the investigation into Burisma had long since closed, and Joe Biden, along with many others, wanted Shokin fired because he was too easy on corruption.)

Speaking to the New York Times on Thursday, Giuliani initially appeared to acknowledge advising Fraud Guarantee and then said “I can’t acknowledge it’s Fraud Guarantee, I don’t think.” But he was happy to admit extensive ties to Parnas and Fruman, saying “I can acknowledge I gave them substantial business advice.” Giuliani added that he had no regrets about working with the two men, seemingly suggesting that there was a plot to take them down and, separately, that they were the only people willing to help him out with his deranged Biden campaign. “I have to presume they’re innocent,” he said. “There are a lot of motives going on trying to smear people, so I wouldn’t say that I regret it, no. Who else would I have turned to?” In what must have purely been a coincidence, Parnas and Fruman were arrested while trying to leave the U.S. on one-way tickets to Vienna, where Giuliani was also scheduled to travel last night.

Asked about Rudy’s dynamic duo on Thursday, Trump claimed not to know the men—who he reportedly had dinner with in May 2018—even if photos say otherwise. “I don't know those gentleman,” Trump told reporters, which is his go-to line when he wants to distance himself from someone even when he’s actually met them dozens of times. “That is possible I have a picture with them because I have a picture with everybody—I have a picture with everybody here. But somebody said there may be a picture with—at a fundraiser or somewhere so, but I have pictures with everybody. I don’t know if there’s anybody I don’t have pictures with. I don’t know them,” Trump said, adding “You’d have to ask Rudy.”

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Um…what?

Is this one of his weird attempts to distance himself from people he might as well be related to? Evidence of a ministroke? All of the above? Unclear!

Trump told reporters Friday that he didn’t know whether Giuliani was still his personal attorney, adding that the two hadn’t spoken since Thursday. “Well, I don’t know,” Trump said, responding to a question about the lawyer as he prepared to leave the White House for a rally in Louisiana. “I haven’t spoken to Rudy. I spoke to him yesterday briefly. He’s a very good attorney, and he has been my attorney.” Trump then added, “Yeah, sure,” before moving on to another question.

In a text message to the Washington Post’s Josh Dawsey shortly after the president’s comments, Giuliani confirmed that he’s still representing Trump. “Yes,” Giuliani wrote. “I am still his attorney.”

Unfortunately for Rudy, it seems pretty obvious we’re just days away from Trump telling reporters he only knew the former mayor casually years ago in New York, and a week out from claiming they’ve never met.

“Make ISIS Great Again” hats, coming to a Trump campaign store near you

Last Sunday, Trump announced that he was withdrawing U.S. troops from northern Syria and endorsing a Turkish military operation in the region against Kurdish forces, i.e. our biggest ally in fighting ISIS. The decision—which Trump defended by offering the characteristically bizarre argument that the Kurds didn’t help us in WWII, so fuck ’em—went against the recommendation of top Pentagon officials and the State Department, who think we should maintain a small presence in northeast Syria to continue operations against the Islamic State. And based on the events of Friday, you can kind of see where they were coming from:

Five Isis militants have broken out of a prison in northern Syria after Turkish shelling nearby, a spokesman in the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) has said. The detainees escaped from a prison in Qamishli city, Marvan Qamishlo said. Meanwhile, women affiliated with ISIS attacked security offices with sticks and stones during unrest at a camp in the region where Turkey has launched attacks. The unrest at al-Hol camp started in the foreigners’ section and involved more people than previous incidents at the camp, Mr. Qamishlo said. “The [ISIS] women rose against the internal security forces at al-Hol, they set ablaze tents and attacked the administrative and security offices there with stones and sticks,” he added said.

A video of the disturbance, distributed by the SDF and shot from a distance, showed around 20 fully covered women running in open space with several men appearing to pursue them. It came as Isis claimed responsibility for a car bomb attack in Qwamishli that killed three people. On Thursday, a Kurdish official warned that Isis detainees could break out of detention as Kurdish-led security forces confront the Turkish offensive and their ability to guard detainees is weakened.

Even Lindsey Graham was disturbed by the news, tweeting “Every concern I had about President Trump’s Syria decision is coming true in spades. The reemergence of ISIS is on the way. And if you think only Europe is threatened—you are sadly mistaken. The ability to recruit partners to fight radical Islam in the future has been virtually destroyed. Mr. President: change course while you still can.” While true, that message would mean a little more if Graham could actually bring himself to say this to his golfing buddy’s face or even, y’know, tag him in the post.

Is Trump’s “good” and “easy to win” trade war finally over after 19 months?

It’s possible:

The U.S. has come to a “very substantial phase one deal” with China in the high-stakes trade negotiations between the two economic superpowers, President Donald Trump said Friday. “Phase two will start almost immediately” after the first phase is signed, Trump said in the Oval Office alongside Chinese Vice Premier Liu He. The first portion of the trade deal will be written over the next three weeks, Trump said. It will address intellectual property and financial services concerns, along with purchases of about $40 billion to $50 billion worth of agricultural products by China, Trump said. It’s a “tremendous deal for the farmers,” Trump said.

Asked what changed between now and last April, when Trump claimed a deal was weeks away, President Art of the Deal told CNBC that this deal is “bigger,” though, according to reporter Kayla Tausche, that’s not actually the case:

Could it be that Trump, under fire on the whole impeachment and Turkey front, decided to cut a deal to give would-be voters something to smile about? If he did, so far it’s not working. “This agreement seemingly does nothing to address the crippling tariffs farmers currently face. The promise of additional ag purchases is welcome news but details on timeline, price, commodities, and many other questions will have to be answered,” Brian Kuehl, of Farmers for Free Trade, told the Washington Post.

Elsewhere!

Facebook’s Libra Loses Mastercard, Visa in Cascade of Exits (Bloomberg)

We Co. to shut down WeGrow school after this year (NYP)

Former Ukraine Ambassador Cites Giuliani, Trump Pressure in Her Removal (Bloomberg)

PIMCO Faces Gender Discrimination Lawsuit, Again (II)

Multiple courts rule against elements of Trump’s border policy on Friday (Washington Post)

Mark Zuckerberg says brain-reading wearables are coming, but certain functions may require implanted devices (CNBC)

Hawaii family’s 5.6-pound avocado certified as world’s largest (UPI)

City combating dog poop problem with flags reading ‘Is this your turd?’ (UPI)

— Impeachment fervor is causing a ruckus at Fox News
— Why Rudy Giuliani’s Ukrainian adventure could end his career
— Inside the stunning collapse of WeWork (and its kooky CEO)
— It’s official: Trump has met his Twitter match
— A surprise appearance by Tiffany Trump
— From the Archive: The power broker who taught Donald Trump the dark political arts

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