Manafort Sentenced – Former Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort was sentenced on Thursday by judge T.S. Ellis to 47 months in prison for his convictions on eight bank and tax fraud charges. Prosecutors had recommended between 19 and 24 years in prison for the 69 year-old Manafort, but the judge said such a sentence would have been “excessive”. Manafort is still waiting sentencing in a separate case in which he pleaded guilty for illegal lobbying for a foreign government and witness tampering. The sentencing in that case could potentially add decades to the sentence handed to him on Thursday.

House To Investigate Possible Cohen Perjury – House Oversight and Reform Committee Chairman Elijah Cummings said his committee would be looking into statements made to this committee by former Trump attorney Michael Cohen to determine whether he should be referred to the Justice Department for prosecution for perjury. Cohen told the committee that he had never sought a pardon from President Trump, but multiple conversations he had on that topic seem to suggest otherwise.

Rep. Omar Controversy Continues – Rep. Ilhan Omar made yet another anti-Semitic remark this week. During comments at a forum in Washington, Omar complained that she is unable to make allegations against Israel without being accused of anti-Semitism and suggested that US Jews hold dual allegiances to the US and Israel, a common anti-Semitic trope. Her controversial statements about Jews have created a national uproar with many, including President Trump, criticizing her. In response to Rep. Omar’s comments, the Democrat-led House passed a resolution which didn’t mention even mention Omar by name, and condemned all bigotry. The resolution was so vague and watered down that even Ilhan Omar herself voted for it.

Democrats To Probe Trump – Democrats on the House Judiciary Committee are opening an investigation into allegations of abuse of power, obstruction of justice, and corruption by President Donald Trump. The panel’s members have begun sending document requests to 81 individuals and entities regarding Trump’s activities before and after he became president. The recipients of the documents request include Trump’s children Donald Trump Jr. and Eric Trump, who are currently running the Trump business, multiple non-family executives at the Trump Organization, former White House staffers, and even Wikileaks founder Julian Assange.

Fox Banned From Debates – Following an article in the New Yorker describing the close connection between the Trump White House and Fox News, the Democratic National Committee ruled out any 2020 presidential debates being moderated by Fox News hosts. President Trump responded in a tweet, saying “Democrats just blocked @FoxNews from holding a debate. Good, then I think I’ll do the same thing with the Fake News Networks and the Radical Left Democrats in the General Election debates!”