| The Cyber and Tech overnights have joined forces to give you Hillicon Valley, The Hill's new comprehensive newsletter detailing all you need to know about the tech and cyber news from Capitol Hill to Silicon Valley. Welcome! Follow the cyber team, Olivia Beavers (@olivia_beavers) and Morgan Chalfant (@mchalfant16), and the tech team, Harper Neidig (@hneidig) and Ali Breland (@alibreland), on Twitter. Send us your scoops, tips and hot NBA trade rumors. TRUMP HITS CHINA WITH $50 BILLION IN TECH TARIFFS: President Trump on Friday announced that the United States would impose tariffs on $50 billion in Chinese products, making good on a threat that has been months in the making. The White House's move is expected to ramp up trade tensions with Beijing and possibly risk a key cooperative partnership to help denuclearize the Korean peninsula. "My great friendship with President Xi of China and our country's relationship with China are both very important to me," Trump said in a statement. "Trade between our nations, however, has been very unfair, for a very long time. This situation is no longer sustainable," he said. China's Commerce Ministry released a scathing statement expressing its firm opposition to the president's move and accusing the Trump administration of being "fickle" and "provoking a trade war" by imposing massive tariffs on China. "This move is not only damaging bilateral interests but also undermining the world trade order," the statement said. China said it would "immediately introduce taxation measures of the same scale and strength." "All the economic and trade achievements previously reached by the two parties will no longer be valid at the same time," the statement said. Read more about Trump's tech tariffs here. And more on how China is hitting back here. FACEBOOK SEEKS TO REASSURE CONSERVATIVES: Facebook executives were scheduled to meet with top Republicans today to try and address the growing allegations that social media is suppressing conservative voices. The executives were to meet with House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy (Calif.), RNC Chairwoman Ronna Romney McDaniel and Brad Parscale, Trump's campaign manager. A McCarthy spokeswoman said that the meeting would focus on "continued issues with conservative censorship on their website." Facebook sent four public policy executives, all of whom are former GOP officials: Kevin Martin, who served as FCC chairman during the George W. Bush administration; Joel Kaplan, Bush's former deputy chief of staff; Greg Maurer, who was an aide to former Speaker John Boehner; and former Republican digital strategist Katie Harbath. We have more on the controversy here.
TALK ABOUT A DOWNGRADE: A federal judge ordered Paul Manafort to jail Friday after revoking the former Trump campaign chairman's bail. Manafort appeared in court after special counsel Robert Mueller asked a court to revoke Manafort's pretrial release conditions alleging attempted witness tampering. Mueller filed a superseding indictment against Manafort, who was already facing multiple charges related to financial crimes, accusing him of obstruction of justice and conspiracy to obstruct justice. Manafort has pleaded not guilty to all charges. Prosecutors asked U.S. District Judge Amy Berman Jackson in Washington, D.C., to narrow restrictions on Manafort or send him to jail amid allegations that he tried to convince two potential witnesses to lie to investigators about lobbying work for former Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych. The two witnesses reported Manafort's alleged attempt to influence them to Mueller, according to The New York Times. The decision to jail Manafort ahead of his trial in September could put pressure on him to cooperate with investigators examining the Trump campaign's possible ties to Russia. Key quote from Judge Jackson: "This is not middle school. I can't take his cell phone." Then, Trump on Friday tweeted that Manafort had received a "very unfair" sentence, even though no formal conviction was handed down. "What a tough sentence for Paul Manafort, who has represented Ronald Reagan, Bob Dole and many other top political people and campaigns," Trump tweeted. "Didn't know Manafort was the head of the Mob. What about Comey and Crooked Hillary and all of the others? Very unfair!" Read more here and here. A LOT HAPPENED YESTERDAY AND TODAY. But do not worry, we got you. Here are 5 takeaways from the inspector general's scathing FBI report released yesterday. AT&T CLOSES TIME WARNER MERGER: AT&T announced Thursday evening that it has completed its acquisition of Time Warner, two days after a federal judge gave the telecommunication and entertainment giants the green light to go ahead with their $85 billion merger. "The content and creative talent at Warner Bros., HBO and Turner are first-rate. Combine all that with AT&T's strengths in direct-to-consumer distribution, and we offer customers a differentiated, high-quality, mobile-first entertainment experience," AT&T's chairman and CEO Randall Stephenson said in a statement. U.S. District Judge Richard Leon announced the decision on Tuesday, delivering a blow to the Trump administration's Department of Justice (DOJ). The move gives AT&T control over channels such as CNN, HBO, TBS and TNT. SENATORS PRESS AMAZON OVER ECHO RECORDING INCIDENT: Two senators are demanding answers from Amazon following an incident where an Echo device reportedly recorded a couple's conversation and sent it to an acquaintance. "While Amazon has stated that the company is evaluating options to make this series of events less likely to occur, we are concerned that the device in this instance performed precisely how it was designed," Sens. Jeff Flake (R-Ariz.) and Chris Coons (D-Del.) wrote to the company on Friday. "Without prompt and meaningful action, we expect that additional instances like the one summarized above will happen again," they added. A LIGHTER CLICK: Read this the next time you think password security isn't a big deal. LONG READ OF THE DAY: The Washington Post profiles Laurene Powell Jobs and explores how she has used the Emerson Collective to become a philanthropic force in Silicon Valley. Her focus on the organization took a backseat to her focus on her husband Steve Job's health problems toward the end of his life. But since then, she has grown the organization's profile and impact. The group, which is technically an LLC not an official non-profit, has its hands in education and immigration advocacy efforts and has made sizable investments in media companies like Axios, Gimlet Media and The Atlantic, in which it owns a majority stake. AN OP-ED TO CHEW ON: Government robots, chatbots are coming -- better define their role now. (The Hill) NOTABLE LINKS FROM AROUND THE WEB: Hackers were able to spoof signatures by exploiting a decades-old bug in PGP. (Arstechnica) The NTIA's findings from an experiment on the use of micro-jamming technology in a Maryland prison. (National Telecommunications and Information Administration) Oprah Winfrey signs onto multiyear deal with Apple to create original programs. (CNN) The hidden cost of trying to land Amazon's HQ2. (Wall Street Journal) Trump 2020 working with ex-Cambridge Analytica staffers (Associated Press) Hands off my data! 15 more default privacy settings you should change on your TV, cellphone plan, LinkedIn and more. (Washington Post) | 
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