“I think it’s time to stop the tweeting”

The Justice Department is in crisis; federal prosecutors file new charges against Huawei. Tonight's Sentences was written by Cameron Peters. A programming note: Sentences will be off on Monday for Presidents Day. We'll be back on Tuesday. TOP NEWS Bill Barr's Justice Department has a problem with politicization [Bill Barr]( Bill Pugliano/Getty Images - President Donald Trump asserted his power over the Justice Department and further undermined impartiality in a tweet Friday morning, saying that, as president, he has “the legal right” to interfere in criminal cases “but I have so far chosen not to!” [[Twitter / Donald Trump](] - That, of course, isn’t exactly right: The president has spent much of his past three years in office seeking to weaponize the DOJ to political ends, including as a tool to launch politically motivated investigations into perceived enemies. [[Washington Post / Matt Zapotosky and John Wagner](] - Trump’s tweet follows Attorney General Bill Barr’s attempt in an ABC interview Thursday to repudiate Trump’s perceived political influence over the DOJ. “I think it’s time to stop the tweeting about Department of Justice criminal cases,” Barr said. [[ABC News / Anne Flaherty](] - But Barr has done plenty to politicize the DOJ on his own. As Vox’s Andrew Prokop writes, “Barr and his allies are centralizing control over the Justice Department and acting in increasingly blatant ways to protect ... Trump’s interests and allies.” [[Vox / Andrew Prokop](] - Barr provided a leading example of that politicization earlier this week when he intervened in the sentencing of Trump ally Roger Stone. Three veteran DOJ prosecutors — “ethical, honest public servants,” according to a former prosecutor — quit the case as a result, and a fourth resigned from the DOJ outright. [[WSJ / Byron Tau](] - That interference has alarmed DOJ veterans: Donald Ayer, who served as deputy AG under President George H.W. Bush, told Politico that “With Bill Barr, on an amazing number of occasions … you can be almost 100 percent certain that there’s something improper going on.” [[Politico / Natasha Bertrand and Daniel Lippman](] - On Friday, Barr only amplified worries of political interference when he took the unusual step of installing an outside prosecutor to reexamine the case against former Trump National Security Adviser Michael Flynn, who pleaded guilty to lying to investigators in 2017. [[NYT / Charlie Savage, Adam Goldman, and Matt Apuzzo](] - However, the DOJ also decided against charging former FBI Deputy Director Andrew McCabe Friday, a move likely to displease the president given his frequent public criticisms targeting McCabe. [[NPR / Brian Naylor](] Federal prosecutors charge Huawei with racketeering and conspiracy - An updated 56-page indictment filed against the Chinese telecom giant Huawei on Thursday adds charges of racketeering and conspiracy to steal trade secrets to an already lengthy list of criminal accusations against the company. [[NPR / Merrit Kennedy](] - The indictment alleges that Huawei engaged in a widespread effort to steal and duplicate intellectual property as early as 2000. Huawei maintains that the charges against it are political. [[Politico / Steven Overly](] - The Pentagon also acceded to a proposed export-control rule on Huawei earlier this week, in a reversal of its previous stance. National security officials in the US have voiced concerns that Huawei products could help facilitate backdoor access by the Chinese government for intelligence-gathering purposes. [[WSJ / Katy Stech Ferek, Bob Davis, and Asa Fitch](] - Those concerns were apparent on Friday when US officials warned the UK that it should take a “hard look” at its decision to allow Huawei technology to be used in the country’s 5G network. [[Guardian / Patrick Wintour](] - However, contrary to previous warnings, the Trump administration also clarified that it won’t alter the current US-UK intelligence-sharing agreement despite the UK's decision to work with Huawei. [[CNN / Vivian Salama](] MISCELLANEOUS The mind-bending math of Mike Bloomberg’s campaign spending. [[Washington Post / Philip Bump](] - Dwyane Wade’s support for his trans daughter is groundbreaking. Here’s why. [[Vox / Vanessa Clark](] - A contentious new executive order proposed by the Trump administration could put an end to modern architecture for federal buildings. [[NPR / Elizabeth Blair](] - Two vloggers who helped document the coronavirus in China have disappeared. [[NYT / Vivian Wang](] CROSSWORD OF THE DAY [Can you solve today's crossword?]( What’s the four-letter name of Tennessee's state flower? [Solve today's new Vox crossword puzzle](, and stay tuned for more puzzles coming out Monday through Saturday. VERBATIM "Every single action he has taken has advanced his personal interest, starting with the monetizing of the presidency and the ignoring of conflicts of interest — perhaps even relishing conflicts of interest." [[Former government ethics chief Walter Shaub on President Trump / Vox](] LISTEN TO THIS [The mysteries of one of America's most powerful industries]( The mysteries of one of America's most powerful industries. [[Spotify / Matthew Yglesias and Emily Stewart](] [Read more from Vox](#) [What we know (and don’t know) about the Nevada caucus “tool”]( [It’s 2020. 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