Roger Stone Indicted – Trump associate and campaign advisor Roger Stone was arrested by a dozen FBI agents in the wee hours of Friday morning and slapped with charges from Special Counsel Robert Mueller. Stone was charged over his communication with Wikileaks, the organization that released thousands of DNC emails during the 2016 campaign. Mr. Stone was charged with a total of seven counts, including witness tampering and making false statements. Grant Smith, a lawyer for Roger Stone, called the charges as “ridiculous”. White House Press Secretary Sarah Sanders said the charges against Stone did not reflect anything regarding the president.

Trump Postpones State Of The Union – Following House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s demand that Trump not give his planned State of the Union speech during the ongoing government shutdown, President Trump acquiesced, saying in a tweet that the address will be given at the Capitol once the shutdown ends, and he will not seek an alternative site to give the speech earlier.

Shutdown Continues – It seems the government shutdown will never end, with both the White House and Democrats refusing to cave to the others side. A temporary spending bill to open the government for several weeks to allow the opposing factions to reach a satisfactory agreement failed in the Senate. Meanwhile, some 800,000 federal employees are missing their second paycheck from the government, and federal agencies are facing manpower shortages. The FAA released a statement saying that consumers may experience service disruptions due to staff shortages.

Trump Recognizes Venezuela Opposition Leader – The Trump administration said they recognize Juan Guiado, the opponent of Venezuelan dictator Nicolas Maduro, as the rightful president of Venezuela. Guaido was elected the head of the National Assembly, the last remaining democratic institution in Venezuela, and thus Trump’s administration sees him as the legitimate ruler of the country. In response, Nicolas Maduro ordered all US diplomats out of the country, and announced the closing of the Venezuelan embassy in Washington.

Mueller: Buzzfeed Report Inaccurate – Special Counsel Robert Mueller issues a rare statement discrediting last week’s Buzzfeed report which claimed that Trump directed his former attorney Michael Cohen to lie to Congress regarding the timeline of negotiations for a Trump Tower in Moscow. But Peter Carr, a spokesman for Mueller’s team, said the report was incorrect. For their part, Buzzfeed said they are standing by their reporting and will work to get more information to corroborate their claims.