Trump's demand that the US get a cut of TikTok's sale could set a dangerous precedent

TikTok is up for grabs. But while the popular short-form video app likely won't lack for suitors, President Donald Trump says the US government needs to get a "substantial amount of money" as part of any deal.

It's a demand that experts say is far outside the norm at best, and if it were to be met could set a dangerous precedent.

"It's really not for the President to say that a deal can go through or a deal can't go through, or that a company must pay a ransom to the United States government or get a deal done by a particular deadline," said Avery Gardiner, general counsel and senior fellow for competition, data and power at the Center for Democracy and Technology. "That's very unusual, it's more than very unusual. It's wrong, it doesn't happen."

The US government's authority to compel foreign firms to sell their business to an American company comes primarily from the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS). CFIUS has stepped up its scrutiny of Chinese-owned firms in recent years as tensions between the United States and China on technology escalate — the committee recently forced the Chinese owners of Grindr to sell the gay dating app to a US-based company over national security concerns.

ByteDance, the Chinese tech firm that owns TikTok, is already under investigation by CFIUS over its 2016 acquisition of US app Musical.ly. And there is a scenario in which the committee could insert a fee to cover the government's expenses from the review process, according to Jeffrey Bialos, a partner at law firm Eversheds Sutherland who served as the Deputy Undersecretary of Defense for Industrial Affairs in the Clinton administration.

"The only argument I can see the government making is that they should be compensated for the time and effort they spent on this," Bialos said. However, "to require that part of the consideration ByteDance is getting from selling its business go to the US government, I think that's an overreach."

Trump says generals feel Beirut blast was likely an 'attack'

President Donald Trump said U.S. military generals have told him that they “seem to feel” the massive explosion that rocked Beirut on Tuesday, killing at least 70 people, was a “terrible attack” likely caused by a bomb.

Trump was asked why he called it an attack and not an accident, especially since Lebanese officials say they have not determined the cause of the explosion. He told reporters at the White House: “It would seem like it based on the explosion. I met with some of our great generals and they just seem to feel that it was. This was not a — some kind of a manufacturing explosion type of a event. ... They seem to think it was a attack. It was a bomb of some kind, yes.”

Trump offered condolences to the victims and said the United States stood ready to assist Lebanon. “It looks like a terrible attack,” he said.

A Pentagon spokesman declined to comment on the matter Tuesday night, referring questions back to the White House.

The explosion flattened much of a port and damaged buildings across the capital, sending a giant mushroom cloud into the sky. In addition to those who died, more than 3,000 other people were injured, with bodies buried in the rubble, officials said.

The cause of the blast was not immediately known, but initial reports suggested a fire had detonated a warehouse at the port. Abbas Ibrahim, chief of Lebanese General Security, said it might have been caused by highly explosive material that was confiscated from a ship some time ago and stored at the port. Local television channel LBC said the material was ammonium nitrate.

Witnesses reported seeing a strange, orange cloud like that which appears when toxic nitrogen dioxide gas is released after an explosion involving nitrates.

This week on "Face the Nation," December 15, 2019: Graham, Durbin

Judiciary Committee makes impeachment a reality After almost a month of hearings and contentious debate, the Democratic-led House Judiciary Committee moved to approve articles impeachment of President Trump, shifting the impeachment procedure into full gear. The votes Friday fell along party lines, passing 23 to 17. "Today is a solemn and sad day. For the third time in a bit over a century and a half, the House Judiciary Committee has voted articles of impeachment against the president — for abuse of energy and obstruction of Congress. The House will act expeditiously," Nadler said in a short assertion to journalists after the vote. The complete House of Representatives will move to vote on the articles -- abuse of power and obstruction of Congress -- sometime next week, making it all however sure that Mr. Trump turns into the 0.33 U.S. President in history to be impeached. The White House slammed the circulate by the House panel, calling it a "desperate charade of an impeachment inquiry." "The President seems ahead to receiving in the Senate the fair remedy and due process which continues to be disgracefully denied to him by the House," White House Press Secretary Stephanie Grisham said in a declaration. The committee exceeded the procedural change that precedes the very last vote on the two articles shortly before midnight on Thursday by using a voice vote. Ranking Member Doug Collins condemned the postponement as beside the point" on Thursday evening, and argued that Democrats most effective moved the vote to get greater media attention. "The chairman's integrity is gone," Collins instructed journalists after the meeting. "Words can't describe how beside the point this was." Democratic Congressman Hakeem Jeffries, who's a member of the Judiciary Committee, argued Friday morning that "the American humans deserve an impeachment vote in the mild of day." Trade negotiations While the White House continues to play defense towards the Democratic caucus, they appeared to present him a small win this week with the statement of a tentative deal on the United States Mexico Canada (USMCA) alternate agreement. The exchange settlement, signed through the leaders of those countries final year however not yet approved by way of Congress, is a revamp of NAFTA and a success of a key marketing campaign promise via the president who has vowed to take down the long-held alternate percent during his tenure in office. On pinnacle of the success for Mr. Trump and the Democrats -- the White House announced Friday that the United States and China have agreed on a trade settlement in principle after months of back-and-forth retaliatory price lists. The "Phase One" trade deal requires structural reforms and other modifications to China's financial and alternate regime in the areas of highbrow property, generation transfer, agriculture, economic services, and currency and overseas exchange, in step with White House negotiators. And as part of the U.S.-China change deal, the White House will leave 25% price lists on $250 billion in imports in place, while slicing some existing tariff charges to 7.5%. The p.C. still requires a final signature from key management officials. While it is but to be seen if the management will comply with Congressional finances negotiators so one can avert a government shutdown subsequent week, the alternate successes signal another win for the management that Mr. Trump will hail victory on just weeks earlier than the holiday break.