“The FBI was justified in opening its investigation into ties between the Trump presidential campaign and Russia and did not act with political bias, despite ‘serious performance failures’ up the bureau’s chain of command, the Justice Department’s internal watchdog said in a highly anticipated report Monday. The findings undercut President Donald Trump’s claim that he was the target of a ‘witch hunt.'” AP: FBI’s Russia probe justified, no bias found. (Within a few hours, this report will be twisted and turned every which way possible. Oh sorry, did I say hours? I meant seconds…)

+ “When constitutional scholars explained the case for impeachment last week, they cited the Founders’ phobia of foreign manipulation. The fear was that other countries might secretly influence a president to act contrary to the national interests, that interests from abroad would distort policy outside the public’s view. Behavior that terrified the Founders seems to be the very core of Giuliani’s business model. Donald Trump’s lawyer is Benjamin Franklin’s night sweats.” Franklin Foer in The Atlantic: Rudy Giuliani Is Living the Dream. “Don’t let his butt-dials distract from his cunning.”

+ “Before the 2016 election, Rudy was running around hawking Life Lock on commercials that ran at 2 a.m. on channel 83.” NYT: The Indispensable Man: How Giuliani Led Trump to the Brink of Impeachment.

+ Meanwhile, we’ve got more hearings. Here’s the latest from the impeach pit from WaPo.