"Members of U.S. armed forces appear to have subjected at least 61 detained persons to torture, cruel treatment, outrages upon personal dignity on the territory of Afghanistan between 1 May 2003 and 31 December 2014," said a report issued Monday by the prosecutor's office of the International Criminal Court (ICC). These are allegations that American soldiers committed war crimes in the early years of the United States' longest war.

The State Department pushed back against the accusations Tuesday evening, saying an ICC probe into the actions of U.S. troops in Afghanistan is not "warranted or appropriate" and denying the ICC has jurisdiction to investigate because the United States is not party to the court. Some American military personnel have already been prosecuted for crimes in Afghanistan, including murder, and from 2009 and 2012, the Justice Department investigated CIA abuse of detainees but ultimately prosecuted no one.

If the ICC does proceed with an investigation, it is unlikely any Americans will be charged and sent to trial in The Hague. "The U.S. can prevent ICC prosecutions by undertaking a good-faith investigation and prosecution in its own military or civilian courts," explains Prof. Michael Scharf of Case Western Reserve University School of Law. ICC Prosecutor Fatou Bensouda is expected to decide how to proceed soon. Bonnie Kristian

Put your 2020 speculations on hold for a minute, and look even further into the future.

Rep. Will Hurd (R-Texas), who is retiring from Congress next year after three terms in office, might be gearing up for the 2024 primary already. Hurd was touring around New Hampshire on Sunday, attending six events focused on growing the Republican party in the state in one day.

Of course, New Hampshire is the first primary in the election cycle and second state to vote for nominees after Iowa (which holds a caucus), so Hurd's presence in the Granite State definitely raised some eyebrows.

It's a long way away from 2024, but Hurd hasn't dispelled rumors that he might run for president in the future, The Washington Examiner notes. "I will do what I have always done when I've had the opportunity to serve my country," he said. "I will think about it."

It looks like he's already doing just that. Tim O'Donnell

Rudy Giuliani's unflinching love for President Trump didn't come out of nowhere.

Sure, Trump and his lawyer have a lot of shared history thanks to their reputations as some of most well-known and New Yorkiest New Yorkers of all time. But Giuliani's staunchest affinity for Trump comes from how the president brings Giuliani and his son Andrew Giuliani together, Giuliani tells The Atlantic.

The 31-year-old Andrew Giuliani has a White House job as an associate director in the Office of Public Liaison, with current and former White House officials telling The Atlantic he coordinates events with athletes. Yet "sports-team visits are more special-occasion than scheduling staple in the business of government," especially with teams often rejecting meetings with Trump, The Atlantic writes. That's led White House officials to say it's clear Andrew Giuliani got a "nepotism job" thanks to his father's name, with one saying "he's just having a nice time" and not exactly working hard.

But Rudy Giuliani says that's just not the case. This "wasn't the usual 'hire my kid' situation," Giuliani said, because even though his son has "known the president since he was a baby ... they also had a relationship independent of me." That relationship came into play when Andrew Giuliani was a teenager and Rudy Giuliani was going through a divorce with Andrew's mother Donna. Andrew Giuliani "credits Trump with helping him navigate" his father's divorce and "particularly with helping him repair his relationship with Rudy," two former White House officials tell The Atlantic — and Rudy Giuliani said he agrees.

Andrew Giuliani didn't return a request for comment. Read more at The Atlantic. Kathryn Krawczyk

The House of Representatives is examining whether President Trump lied in his written answers to Special Counsel Robert Mueller, CNN reports.

Douglas Letter, the House's general counsel, on Monday cited questions over whether Trump lied to Mueller in explaining to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit why the House needs grand jury material from the special counsel probe, asking, "Did the President lie? Was the President not truthful in his responses to the Mueller investigation?"

Previously, House lawyers while seeking grand jury information had said the materials "could reveal that Trump was aware of his campaign's contacts with WikiLeaks," Politico reported. In the recent trial of former Trump adviser Roger Stone, former Trump campaign official Rick Gates testified that Trump spoke with Stone over the phone in July, after WikiLeaks had started releasing hacked Democratic National Committee emails, and said after the call ended that "more information would be coming." In his written answers to Mueller, Trump said, "I do not recall discussing WikiLeaks with [Roger Stone], nor do I recall being aware of Mr. Stone having discussed WikiLeaks with individuals associated with my campaign."

CNN's Manu Raju notes that "whether Trump lied to Mueller is something Dems have raised in past legal filings," but "it was given new emphasis today in the aftermath of evidence that emerged from the Roger Stone trial." Trump attorney Jay Sekulow told The Daily Beast following Monday's news, "Read the answers to [the] questions. They speak for themselves." Brendan Morrow

Social media company TikTok has made waves in the United States, but some employees and investors are worried that its ties to China will hinder its growth stateside going forward, The Wall Street Journal reports.

Investors in TikTok's parent company, ByteDance, which was founded and is based in China, believe that success in the U.S. is crucial if the company wants to achieve their goal of an initial public offering next year (a spokesman for ByteDance said an IPO isn't the company's focus), people familiar with the matter told the Journal.

But despite the app's growing popularity, U.S. lawmakers have scrutinized China's influence on TikTok, accusing ByteDance of censoring content to appease Beijing and storing American user data in China. So there's some real fear among investors that the U.S. could force ByteDance to divest TikTok or cease U.S. operations, potentially bringing other countries like Japan or India along for the ride, sources familiar with the matter said.

Some employees and advisers reportedly brought some ideas before senior executives that would serve to create some distance from China for TikTok. These included suggesting expanding operations to Singapore or rebranding in the U.S. But, per the Journal, it all looks like a long shot right now. And the company has reportedly already reduced the amount of content from China on the app. "We're a Chinese company," said a former employee in TikTok's Los Angeles office. "We answer to China." Read more at The Wall Street Journal. Tim O'Donnell

John Legere is hanging up on T-Mobile.

Legere, who has been T-Mobile's CEO since 2012, will leave his position when his contract expires in April, he announced on a Monday conference call. Operating chief Mike Sievert will take the top spot, but Legere will remain on the board of directors at T-Mobile and help see the company through its acquisition of Sprint, the company said.

Since taking over the then-struggling mobile service provider seven years ago, Legere has led it to overtake Sprint as the third-largest cell service provider in the U.S. T-Mobile later bought Sprint for $26 billion, but still faces legal challenges as the merger takes shape. Beyond his business-leading prowess, Leger is also known for his colorful personality and Slow Cooker Sundays.

Legere's announcement comes after he was reported last week to be in talks to take over WeWork. The co-working space company had pushed out its eccentric CEO Adam Neumann with a multimillion-dollar exit deal, and were seemingly look to put another out-of-the-box leader in his spot. But Legere denied that, saying in the Monday call that he was "never having discussions to run WeWork" but still hinting he was looking to move to another company "that could use cultural transformation, leadership, and things similar to what we've demonstrated" at T-Mobile. Kathryn Krawczyk

Billionaire activist and Democratic presidential candidate Tom Steyer unveiled a health care plan Monday that would cost $1.5 trillion over a decade — and the early analysis is that it's mostly in line with the plans offered by other moderate Democratic candidates, like former Vice President Joe Biden.

Steyer, like Biden, is aiming to strengthen the Affordable Health Care Act which was achieved under the Obama-Biden administration. He's proposing a public option for the uninsured (who would be automatically enrolled when they engage with public assistance programs) and for people who aren't satisfied with their private insurance. So, Medicare-for-all isn't on the table for Steyer.

Another major aspect of the program is Steyer's proposal to lower prescription drug costs. He says he'd do so by having Medicare and the public option negotiate drug prices directly with manufacturers and extend those prices to private insurers, as well, which his campaign predicts will save more than $50 billion per year. Read the full plan here. Tim O'Donnell