Politics

Francois Fillon has confirmed that he will stay in the race for the French presidential election following a rally he said proved his legitimacy as candidate. Taking a jab at the Republican Party establishment's pressure for hism to step aside, he exclaimed "I am innocent, no one has the power to force me to step down, it’s my decision." While his odds of victory remain low (sub-10%), we do note Le Pen's odds dropped below 30% for the first time in six weeks.

Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan accused Germany of "fascist actions" reminiscent of "Nazi practices" in a growing diplomatic rift over the cancellation of political rallies aimed at propping support for him among the 1.5 million Turks living in Germany. Erdogan's latest outburst on Sunday took place days after German authorities withdrew permission for two rallies by Turkish citizens in German cities, at which Turkish ministers were to urge a "Yes" vote in a referendum next month on granting Erdogan sweeping new presidential, almost dictatorial according to some, powers.

Following Obama's quasi-denial, Clapper's outright denial, and Mark Warner's "reckless" perspective on Trump's 'wiretap' accusations, none other than former George W. Bush Attorney General Michael Mukasey has come to the president's defense, explaining that Trump is likely correct that there was surveillance on Trump Tower for intelligence purposes.

The twists and turns of this 'whodunnit' continue as former intelligence officials and former presidents point fingers at each other with varying levels of denial.

By EconMatters

We discuss the Jeff Sessions controversy in this video for the Trump Administration, and why it is obvious that Sessions needs to step down, as it is bad precedent for the Attorney General to be caught lying under oath at the confirmation hearings.

The former Director of National Intelligence under the Obama administration, James Clapper, denied there was a secret court order for surveillance at Trump Tower. Speaking on NBC's Meet The Press, Clapper said that in the national intelligence activity he oversaw, "there was no such wiretap activity mounted against the president, the president-elect at the time, as a candidate or against his campaign."