6:14 a.m.

President Trump kicked off 2020 the same way he spent 24 percent of his days in 2019: With a visit to a Trump golf course.

By CNN's count, Trump visited one of his golf resorts at least 86 days in 2019 — or more than one day in five — and has now spent at least 252 days at a Trump golf club and 333 days at a Trump property during his nearly three years as president. For the last 12 days of 2019 and first day of 2020, that property was the Trump International Golf Club in West Palm Beach, Florida, not too far from his Mar-a-Lago winter vacation headquarters. Former President Barack Obama, whose golfing Trump frequently criticized, played 333 rounds over eight years, according to CBS's Mark Knoller.

Trump, who seems kind of sensitive about the golfing, noted you can do other things than golf at a golf club.

CNN's Daniel Dale, who spends much of his professional life fact-checking Trump, is skeptical.

With reason, it seems.

Maybe this is why Trump apparently hates CNN. Peter Weber

5:28 p.m.

Unredacted documents obtained by Just Security appear to show the Pentagon was concerned by President Trump's decision to withhold military aid to Ukraine.

Defense Department officials worried the move, at the center of Trump's impeachment, would violate requirements that money be spent as allocated by Congress. Trump is accused of leveraging the aid to pressure Ukraine into investigating Democrats for his political benefit.

Michael Duffey, associate director of national security programs at the Office of Management and Budget, told Pentagon officials there was "clear direction from POTUS to continue to hold" the aid when asked in August, though no rationale was explained. Later, when the hold was lifted and Duffey was asked why, he said it was "not exactly clear but president made the decision to go."

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) said the revelations that Trump was apparently directly involved in withholding the aid "further expose the serious concerns raised by Trump administration officials about the propriety and legality of the president's decision to cut off aid to Ukraine to benefit himself." Schumer called for further testimony in a Senate impeachment trial, The Washington Post reports.

House Intelligence Committee Chair Adam Schiff (D-Calif.), meanwhile, called the documents "incriminating" and said they "corroborate" testimony from the House impeachment inquiry.

5:22 p.m.

Let's be clear here. No one is suing over a necklace.

The U.S. district court in Puerto Rico is literally suing two necklaces, as well as a watch and $612 in cash. A 24 1/2 inch "rope chain necklace," a 27-inch "diamonds tennis necklace," and a "Gucci Grammy Awards special edition" watch are all named as plaintiffs in a suit unveiled Thursday, Reuters' Brad Heath noted.

The whole court filing clears up the story, to an extent. In an FBI agent's unsworn testimony, he describes arresting a man in Puerto Rico on various drug charges. Anthony Gonzalez Miranda, "also known as 'SALAMI,'" was allegedly arrested with these objects "on his person," and the FBI agent determined they were "forfeitable as proceeds of a drug trafficking offense."

Now, the biggest question is who will be cast as the jewelry in the case's HBO miniseries adaptation. Kathryn Krawczyk

3:58 p.m.

Marianne Williamson reportedly no longer has a campaign staff.

The author and 2020 Democratic presidential candidate has laid off her entire campaign staff nationally, as of Tuesday having "no staffers on board," WMUR reports. Among those no longer employed by Williamson are Patricia Ewing, her national campaign manager. The Hill is also reporting on the layoffs, citing sources close to the campaign.

After making her mark in the early Democratic presidential debates by railing against plans, describing the "dark psychic force of the collectivized hatred that this president is bringing up in this country," promising to "harness love" to defeat President Trump, and declaring she'd call the prime minister of New Zealand as president to say "girlfriend, you are so on," the spiritual guru has failed to qualify for the events in recent months. "Financial issues" are reportedly the reason for the layoffs.

Despite this, WMUR is also reporting that Williamson is still a candidate and that sources are "not aware of any plans by Williamson to drop out of the race," although one would assume that's inevitable for someone who has axed every one of her staffers, meaning it may not be long before Willliamson's campaign is so off. Brendan Morrow

3:44 p.m.

More than 200 Republicans in Congress want the Supreme Court's next session to get here already.

A total of 39 senators, all Republicans, and 207 House members, all Republican but two, signed on to an amicus brief sent to the Supreme Court on Thursday asking it to reconsider some landmark abortion cases.

The brief comes ahead of the court's intention to consider June Medical Services LLC v. Gee this spring. June challenged a Louisiana law that would essentially shut down every abortion clinic in the state, and a lower court found in Louisiana's favor. The Republicans — along with Democratic Reps. Dan Lipinski (Ill.) and Collin Peterson (Minn.) — argue "Louisiana abortion clinics — including June Medical — have a long history of health and safety violations" and provide examples for their case. They then go on to say the Court should "reconsider" landmark abortion cases Roe v. Wade and Planned Parenthood of Southeastern Pennsylvania v. Casey "and if appropriate, overrule" them.

Just because some Republicans didn't jump on the brief didn't mean they don't support it, though. Sen. Josh Hawley (R-Mo.) sent his own brief earlier in the day. And while another 12 Republican senators stayed mum, eight of them are up for re-election in states that could be flipped later this year. Kathryn Krawczyk

3:20 p.m.

Washington Redskins owner Dan Snyder is finding himself just a few major holidays behind the rest of the world.

Snyder mere seconds into a press conference Thursday decided to baffle reporters coming back to work after New Year's Day with a hilariously late — or possibly even more hilariously early — holiday greeting.

"Happy Thanksgiving, everybody," Snyder said at the top of this January 2nd press conference.

Lest one assume Snyder is somehow under the impression he's still living in November 2019, he immediately followed up his puzzling comment by noting today is the start of "a great new year."

It didn't take long for "Happy Thanksgiving" to become a Twitter trend and overshadow the actual purpose of the press conference, which was to introduce the team's new head coach, Ron Rivera. This press conference, USA Today observes, was also supposed to show Redskins fans that "the ship was righted." So, that could have gone better. Brendan Morrow

2:43 p.m.

President Trump would like to suggest Turkey stay out of Libya.

On Thursday, Turkey's parliament approved a measure to send troops to Libya to support its government in its ongoing civil war. Trump called Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan later that day and, as a White House call readout said, "pointed out that foreign interference is complicating the situation in Libya."

Both Trump and Erdogan "stressed the importance of diplomacy in resolving regional issues" in Thursday's call, per the readout. But that contrasts what Turkey's parliament agreed to on Thursday: Sending Turkish troops to support Libya's United Nations-recognized Government of National Accord. Strong opposition parties voted against the accord, arguing that "Turkey should not get sucked into a murky quagmire," Al Jazeera writes.

There are no details yet about how many troops will end up in Libya, or when and where they'll be specifically be sent. But it does mark "the latest example of Turkey's growing self-confidence as a regional power," The New York Times says. Erdogan "has long held ambition for a kind of restoration of the Ottoman Empire," the Times continues, and Libya's current government would be more supportive of his "leadership in the Muslim world." Kathryn Krawczyk

2:36 p.m.

The Food and Drug Administration has officially issued its ban on flavored e-cigarette cartridges — with exceptions.

The Trump administration on Thursday unveiled its ban on fruit, candy, mint, and dessert flavors of small e-cigarette cartridges, but not on menthol and tobacco flavors, The Associated Press reports. Additionally, large tank vaping systems, which are used to mix flavors, will be exempt under the ban, which goes into effect in 30 days.

AP writes that these "major" exceptions "represent a significant retreat from President Donald Trump's original plan announced four months ago, which would have banned all vaping flavors — including menthol — from all types of e-cigarettes." Trump announced plans for this ban in September after six people died from lung disease tied to vaping. "We intend to clear the market of flavored e-cigarettes," Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar said at the time.

Companies will now have to stop selling the products covered under the ban within 30 days or face the threat of regulatory action, CNBC reports. Juul has already stopped selling most flavored e-cigarettes.

Trump was reportedly warned by his campaign manager that his proposed flavored vaping ban could hurt him in the 2020 election, with one senior administration official telling The Washington Post, "He didn't know much about the issue and was just doing it for Melania and Ivanka."

On Tuesday, Trump said of the upcoming ban, "We're going to protect our families, we're going to protect our children and we're going to protect the industry." Brendan Morrow

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