Trump USDA pick linked to Mueller probe withdraws nomination

Sam Clovis, a former Trump campaign official who has become entangled in special counsel Robert Mueller's Russia investigation, has withdrawn his nomination for a top post in the Agriculture Department. “We respect Mr. Clovis’s decision to withdraw his nomination," White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders said in a statement. CNN reported Clovis's nomination was in danger of being pulled after it was revealed he had encouraged George Papadopoulos to set up a meeting with Russian officials while working as a foreign policy adviser on the Trump campaign. Papadopoulos pleaded guilty to lying to FBI agents about his contacts with Russians...more