Monday, Sept. 12

• Lawyers for former President Donald Trump filed a request with Federal Judge Aileen Cannon to reject the Justice Department’s push to resume its review of documents that the FBI seized from Trump’s Mar-a-Lago estate last month. At least 100 of the 11,000 records obtained were classified.
• Secretary of State Antony Blinken met with Mexico’s Foreign Minister Marcelo Ebrard in Mexico City to discuss “issues of mutual interest” including drug trafficking, migration and trade.

Tuesday, Sept. 13

• The Justice Department said it will accept one of Trump’s suggestions for the “special master” role in its review of documents seized during the FBI’s raid on Mar-a-Lago: Raymond Dearie, the former chief judge of the federal court in New York’s East District.
• Former Twitter security chief Peiter “Mudge” Zatko spoke to the Senate Judiciary Committee about the social media platform’s weak cyber-security, which make it vulnerable to exploitation. “Twitter leadership is misleading the public, lawmakers, regulators and even its own board of directors,” said Zatko. “They don’t know what data they have, where it lives and where it came from and so, unsurprisingly, they can’t protect it. It doesn’t matter who has keys if there are no locks.”
• Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) introduced a bill that would ban abortions at 15 weeks of pregnancy across the United States. While it has no chance of passing in the Democratic-controlled Congress, the bill highlights the conservative push for more stringent abortion restrictions. There are currently no federal laws regulating abortion.

Wednesday, Sept. 14

• The Treasury Department said it will transfer $3.5 billion in Afghan central bank assets, which were part of the reserves seized after the Taliban took power last year, into a new Swiss-based trust fund called the Afghan Fund. It will be managed by an international board of trustees, shielded from the Taliban, and used “for the benefit of the people of Afghanistan” with the potential to pay for electricity, debts, and the printing of new currency.
• The Treasury Department imposed sanctions on 10 individuals and two entities that it claims are linked to Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps — a branch of the Iranian Armed Forces — and involved in cyber warfare such as ransomware attacks, “unauthorized computer access, data exfiltration, and other malicious cyber activities,” per the department.

Thursday, Sept. 15

• The Biden administration secured a tentative deal between leading rail companies and labor unions to avert a major strike that could have impacted the transportation of critical food and fuel supplies in the U.S. President Joe Biden said the deal was “a win for tens of thousands of rail workers who worked tirelessly through the pandemic to ensure that America’s families and communities got deliveries of what have kept us going during these difficult years,” although it still fell short of union requests.
• Biden spoke at the United We Stand Summit, a White House event where civil rights, women’s rights, religious and other leaders gathered to address the rise of hate and violence in the U.S. He pledged to urge Congress to do more to hold social media companies accountable for spreading hate. “White supremacists will not have the last word,” Biden said.
• Federal Judge Aileen Cannon rejected the Justice Department’s request to allow investigators to continue reviewing the classified documents seized from Mar-a-Lago until the files are vetted by an independent arbiter.

Friday, Sept. 16

• The White House condemned the actions of Republican leaders, particularly Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, for a legally dubious scheme to transport about 50 Venezuelan migrants from Texas to Martha’s Vineyard, Massachusetts, that took place Wednesday. White House spokesperson Karine Jean-Pierre told reporters that it was a “cruel, premeditated political stunt.”
• Biden met with South African President Cyril Ramaphosa at the White House to discuss efforts to tackle the climate crisis, the war in Ukraine, and other matters of mutual interest. “Our partnership is essential in addressing many of the world’s pressing challenges … and South Africa is a vital voice on the global stage,” Biden said.
• Biden met with the families of basketball star Brittney Griner and former marine Paul Whelan, two American citizens who are currently incarcerated in Russia. “While I would love to say that the purpose of this meeting is to inform the families that the Russians have accepted our offer and we are bringing their loved-ones home, that is not what we’re seeing in these negotiations at this time,” said a White House spokeswoman.
• Lieutenant General Scott Berrier, director of the U.S. Defense Intelligence Agency, said Russian military resources are stretched and currently incapable of achieving President Vladimir Putin’s initial invasion aims in Ukraine. “We’re coming to a point right now where I think Putin is going to have to revise what his objectives are for this operation,” said Berrier.
• The Justice Department asked a federal appeals court to let it resume reviewing the classified materials seized in the FBI search of Trump’s Florida estate. The department said delaying the review of the documents, which it argues are government property, “impedes the government’s efforts to protect the nation’s security.”

Saturday, Sept. 17

• House Speaker Nancy Pelosi arrived in Armenia during a ceasefire following Azerbaijan’s “illegal and deadly attacks” that killed 200 people. Pelosi is the highest-ranking U.S. official to travel to Armenia since the nation’s independence from the Soviet Union in 1991.

Sunday, Sept. 18

• Biden arrived in London, United Kingdom, for Queen Elizabeth II’s funeral. He paid tribute at her coffin and later joined King Charles III and other world leaders for a reception.
• In response to a question on 60 Minutes, Biden urged Putin to not use tactical nuclear or chemical weapons. “Don’t. Don’t. Don’t. It would change the face of war unlike anything since World War II,” he said.