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What do a porn star, Donald Trump's personal lawyer and a conservative TV news host have in common?
It's a weird triangle but that's 2018 folks, and that's where we start this week.
After the FBI raided the office of Michael Cohen, the President's personal lawyer had his first of what will likely be many days in court.
Legally, this case has a long way to run and Mr Trump's "fixer" is just one of several allies that we've seen paraded in front of the cameras entering a courthouse.
However, the difference here is that Mr Cohen's arrival at court was followed by the arrival of an adult film star.
Stormy Daniels, who allegedly had a one-night stand with Mr Trump and was given $130,000 in the form of hush money from Mr Cohen before the 2016 election, was in the gallery.
Outside court she made it clear that she was not going away:
"For years, Mr Cohen has acted like he is above the law … He has never thought that the little man, or especially women, or, even more, women like me, matter. That ends now."
If you thought things would calm down in the Trump administration at some point, now might be a good time to think again.
Will the pressure on Mr Cohen cause him to flip? Politico is reporting that Mr Trump's advisers are worried he might if severe charges are threatened.
Hannity remains silent on dealings with Cohen
While the hearing itself was mainly circus over substance, it did reveal who Mr Cohen's mysterious third client is: conservative talk show host and close friend of Mr Trump, Sean Hannity.
This caused a literal gasp from those inside the courtroom, followed by a collective "duh, natch" from outside it.
It would, perhaps, explain why Sean Hannity was so outraged when the FBI raided Mr Cohen's offices:
But did he mention his own dealings with Mr Cohen? Nope.
It was so serious that Hannity started getting criticised by the regulars on his own show.
He argues that he has the right to privacy and in a statement said:
Stormy Daniels' sketch sparked social media search
Continuing to capitalise on her media moment, Daniels and her lawyer followed their court appearance with an appearance on The View, releasing a sketch of the man who supposedly threatened her to keep quiet about her one night stand with Mr Trump.
With a $US100,000 reward up for grabs, folks on web were quick to try and find the culprit:
Okay, okay, guys.
It was enough to get the President to bite:
Oh, and the account he retweeted there? It belongs to Sheena Fox — a Scottish fan of Mr Trump — who stole thousands of dollars from a local choir in a bid to "meet her hero", according to The Mirror.
James Comey in the spotlight for his new book
Speaking of making the most of a media moment, former FBI director James Comey has been everywhere on the talk show circuit trying to sell his new book: A Higher Loyalty.
Mr Trump clearly isn't phased by his return to the spotlight as shown by his tweets from the weekend:
While Mr Comey hasn't gone so far as to call the current President a slimeball, he too has taken to Twitter to have a crack at the Commander-in-Chief:
It will certainly help sales but he's not making any friends. Check out how Mr Trump's backers over on Fox News have characterised it:
The President and friends
Meanwhile, Mar-a-Lago once again played backdrop to diplomacy.
Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe dropped by for talks on trade, North Korea and a quick round on the links:
The round with Australian ambassador to the US Joe Hockey on Sunday must have been a warm-up act.
While at Mar-a-Lago the President revealed that efforts to prepare for historic talks with North Korea are further underway than many thought.
First, he revealed that there are five locations being considered to host the historic meeting (Mar-a-Lago is not one of the five).
Second, he spilt the beans that current CIA Director (and nominee for Secretary of State) Mike Pompeo has been in North Korea meeting with Kim Jong-Un.
Sheesh.
Mr Pompeo's surprise trip over the Easter weekend has raised eyebrows. Particularly about the capacity in which he visited.
Was it in his role as CIA Director or as the incoming Secretary of State? The latter is not yet guaranteed.
The Senate Foreign Relations Committee will attempt to vote Mr Pompeo out of committee on Monday. Watch that space.
Trump addresses rumours he's going to fire Mueller
Meanwhile, the Senate is trying to mark up legislation to protect special counsel Robert Mueller.
But Senate Leader Mitch McConnell doesn't seem all that willing to entertain it:
Is the President going to fire the Special Counsel? It's a question that we've asked repeatedly in recent weeks, months, years.
The Hill reports that police in Pittsburgh have been told to bring their full riot gear to work in case Mr Trump does move on Mr Mueller.
This week, Mr Trump set the record straight:
"They've been saying I'm going to get rid of them for the last three months, four months, five months, and they're still here. So we want to get the investigation over with, done with, put it behind us."
Clarity, right?
Confusion over new sanctions on Russia
Well, knowing what the administration will do one day to the next is a near impossible feat:
Just ask Nikki Haley.
On Sunday, she said new sanctions on Russia were imminent.
When that didn't happen, White House chief economic adviser Larry Kudlow explained that the US ambassador to the UN had gotten "ahead of the curve".
Not according to Ms Haley, who provided this curt response:
Mr Kudlow apologised but Ms Haley has drawn a red line, she will not be embarrassed publicly by Mr Trump — unlike some other members of cabinet.
(For example, the "very weak", beleaguered Attorney-General Jeff Sessions).
Ms Haley didn't know — but, according to CNN, the Russians did.
When asked how her relationship was with the President after the kerfuffle, Ms Haley simply replied, "perfect".
Uh-huh.
So why didn't the sanctions go ahead? Apparently, the President changed his mind. But, when pressed by the press, Mr Trump simply said:
"There has been nobody tougher on Russia than President Trump".
Simple.
What I'm reading:
Coming up next week
The White House Correspondents' Association dinner is next weekend.
But it looks like the President won't be there, again. He's happened to schedule a rally far, far away from Washington DC.
Topics: donald-trump, government-and-politics, united-states