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Trump news at a glance: Tulsi Gabbard faces mounting questions over handling of intelligence intercept

National intelligence director Tulsi Gabbard is facing growing questions about her handling of a report about an intercepted phone call between an individual associated with foreign intelligence and a person close to Donald Trump.

A whistleblower said that Gabbard blocked the National Security Agency from sharing the report, instead delivering it to the White House chief of staff.

For eight months, the intelligence report has been kept under lock and key, even after the whistleblower pushed to disclose details to congressional intelligence committees.

The highly sensitive communique, news of which was first published by the Wall Street Journal, has roiled Washington over the past week.

Here are the key stories at a glance:

NSA detected phone call between foreign intelligence and a person close to Trump

Last spring, the National Security Agency (NSA) detected evidence of an unusual phone call between an individual associated with foreign intelligence and a person close to Donald Trump, according to a whistleblower’s attorney briefed on the existence of the call.

The highly sensitive communique was brought to the attention of the director of national intelligence (DNI), Tulsi Gabbard – but rather than allowing NSA officials to distribute the information further, she took a paper copy of the intelligence directly to the president’s chief of staff, Susie Wiles, the attorney, Andrew Bakaj, said.

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Federal judge reverses Trump’s freeze on $16bn for NY-NJ tunnel project

A federal judge has reversed a freeze put on funds by Donald Trump for $16bn in enhanced rail links connecting New York and New Jersey amid reports that the US president wants major travel landmarks named after him in return for continued investment.

The Gateway Project will build a new commuter rail tunnel between Manhattan and New Jersey under the Hudson River on the western side of New York City and repair a century-old tunnel used by more than 200,000 travelers and 425 trains daily.

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Trump shifts blame to aide as he refuses to apologize for racist video of Obamas

Donald Trump said on Friday he made the call to post a now-deleted video depicting Barack and Michelle Obama as apes but deflected blame for the move, causing new speculation in his orbit about whether the blame lay with the president or his aide Natalie Harp.

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Trump lawyers aim to deport five-year-old boy after judge ordered his release

Attorneys for the Trump administration are aiming to deport Liam Conejo Ramos, the five-year-old boy whose photograph in a bunny hat in snowy Minneapolis circulated globally after his detention last month by federal officials during the aggressive anti-immigration crackdown there.

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What else happened today:

Interested in the Melania documentary? Alaina Demopoulos has this read on the first lady’s secretive life.
As the fallout from the Epstein files continues, Amelia Gentleman takes a look at the role of women in his sordid men’s club.
With all eyes on Minneapolis, immigration operations are still stoking fear and disrupting the ability to go to work, school or doctor’s appointments, across the country. This feature details the operations in Oregon, North Carolina, California and Washington DC.