Politics

Susan Rice, President Barack Obama's former national security adviser, on Wednesday declined Senator Lindsey Graham's request to participate in a judiciary subcommittee hearing next week on Russian interference in the US election.

A letter obtained by CNN from Rice's lawyer, Kathryn Ruemmler of Latham Watkins, outlines the grounds for her decision not to appear which includes, among other things, a lack of sufficient notice and a lack of bipartisan support for her presence at the committee's hearing.

Former Obama adviser David Axelrod dropped a little more truth on the hosts of CNN's New Day this morning than they were expecting when they asked him to weigh in on Hillary blaming her 2016 defeat on Comey and WikiLeaks.  Rather than knocking the softball out of the park by blasting Comey and 'Russian interference," Axelrod decided to say what most people are thinking when he concluded: "If I were her, I would move on."

Authored by Michael Snyder via The End of The American Dream blog,

There has been a tremendous amount of talk about the spending deal that was just reached in Congress. Most of the focus has been on who “won” and who “lost” politically, and if you have been keeping up with my articles you definitely know my opinion on the matter.

After numerous media appearances, Macron and Le Pen are facing each other in a TV debate tonight, which Barclays' analyst Francois Cabau dubs "Crucial."

According to Barclays, this debate is key for two main reasons: 1) it will allow Le Pen to clarify her views on Europe (that she has tried to soften to a large extent recently in an apparent move to attract Fillon's voters) which are arguably a weak point on her side; and 2) it may be seen to, informally, mark the start of the campaign for the legislative elections.

Some further thoughts from Barclays:

Earlier this morning we reported that according to Korea Times, China had allegedly sent North Korea what amount to a final warning over its military provocations. The rumor cited the May issue of Hong Kong monthly news outlet Dong Xiang. It said a Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs junior minister invited Park Myung-ho, an official of North Korea, for a meeting. China's Foreign Minister Wang Yi attended the meeting and asked his junior to read aloud the warning to the North over the nuclear test.