Your Evening Briefing

Josh Petri

09 May 2019, 02:45 AM IST

(Bloomberg) --

President Donald Trump asserted executive privilege over all of Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s investigative documents sought by Congress, a major escalation in his conflict with the legislative branch. The move comes the same day the House Judiciary Committee voted to hold Attorney General William Barr in contempt for failing to comply with a subpoena seeking access to the full, unredacted version of Mueller's final report on Russia's interference with the 2016 election.

Here are today’s top stories

Noah Feldman writes in Bloomberg Opinion that Trump's claim of executive privilege isn't a magic wand.

For at least a decade, Trump paid none or very little in federal income taxes by exploiting some of the same generous tax breaks that Amazon and others have used to reduce IRS bills, the New York Times reported. Trump defended the practice as "sport." The New York Senate on Wednesday approved a bill that would allow three congressional committees to access Trump's state tax returns.

The U.S. and China sent conflicting signals over trade. Trump (who also went after Iran) tweeted that Beijing hopes to "make a deal." Hours later, Beijing warned it will retaliate if the U.S. follows through on a threat to hike tariffs. Markets swung wildly on the news.

Volkswagen is about to find out whether its $34 billion strategy to topple Tesla will pay off. The German carmaker is now taking deposits for the new ID.3 hatchback.

Democrats have a wide range of plans for how to tax the rich to pay for social programs. Here's a handy guide.

Only two teams have won the Formula One title in nine years, and the only mystery in the competition is which Mercedes driver will come in first. The series' new owner aims to change that.

What’s Joe Weisenthal thinking about? The Bloomberg news director points out that the recent peak in the S&P 500 (on an intraday basis) was May 1, and it's basically been all downhill then. That's when Jerome Powell started his latest press conference, ascribing recent inflation softness to transitory factors. Over the last several months we've seen various market shifts coincide with changes in Fed tone, starting last October when Powell said the Fed remained far from neutral. If weakness persists, Joe says, it may be worth considering that it's not all about trade.

What you’ll need to know tomorrow

Almost one in two Americans takes prescription drugs.
John Kelly says Trump's family must be "dealt with."
Yes, such a thing as a "beach blazer" actually exists.
Hackers stole $40 million worth of Bitcoin.
Hackers also stole an unknown amount from Amazon merchants.
Each word of Trump's tariff tweet wiped $13 billion off stocks.
GM plans to sell its idled Ohio plant to a small EV maker.

What you’ll want to read tonight in Businessweek

Australia is the world's biggest coal exporter. The dirty fossil fuel is that nation's second-largest income generator after iron ore. Many lawmakers, including Prime Minister Scott Morrison, welcome efforts to boost an industry that brings in $42 billion a year, even as its effects accelerate the nation's growing climate crisis.