The secret plan for President Trump to invite Taliban leaders to Washington to sign a peace accord took shape during a meeting in the Situation Room on Aug. 30, The New York Times reports. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and his Afghanistan negotiator, Zalmay Khalilzad, backed the underlying peace plan Khalilzad had tentatively cemented with the Taliban after nearly a year of talks; National Security Adviser John Bolton was opposed. Almost nobody else knew about Trump's plan to host the Taliban until he tweeted the summit had been canceled Saturday evening.

In the first few days of September, Trump decided "he would not only bring the Taliban to Washington, but to Camp David, the crown jewel of the American presidency," the Times reports. "The leaders of a rugged militant organization deemed terrorists by the United States would be hosted in the mountain getaway used for presidents, prime ministers, and kings just three days before the anniversary of the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks." Trump also decided to invite Afghan President Ashraf Ghani, whose government was not party to the talks. "The usual National Security Council process was dispensed with; only a small circle of advisers was even clued in," the Times adds.

Before the plan fell apart on Thursday night, The Washington Post reports, "Trump was the main person pushing for the Camp David meeting," believing "his personal style can persuade anyone." Ghani agreed to come, and the Taliban did, too, on the condition the deal was signed before the summit. That became a "fundamental dividing point contributing to the collapse of the talks," the Times reports, since "Trump wanted to be the dealmaker who would put the final parts together himself, or at least be perceived to be."

Trump's disclosure of the failed summit "surprised not only many national security officials across the government but even some of the few who were part of the deliberations," the Times reports, and several officials said "there was no reason for Mr. Trump to reveal what had happened." A senior administration official told the Post that Trump decided to unveil the talks "to control the narrative." Why he felt he had to do that is unclear, but the narrative was not well-received — inviting the Taliban to Camp David the week of 9/11 earned rare bipartisan condemnation. Peter Weber

The early results of Israel's elections are in, but the country's future seemingly remains almost as uncertain as it did when the day began, aside from the fact that Israeli Prime Minister's bargaining power appears to have weakened.

Initial exit polls Tuesday reportedly indicate Netanyahu failed to secure a parliamentary majority. And while Israel's three major television stations had challenger Benny Gantz's centrist Blue and White party holding a slight lead over Netanyahu's Likud party, neither will reportedly be able to control a majority in the Knesset — at least without the support of former Netanyahu ally Avigdor Lieberman's Yisrael Beitenu party, which refused to join Netanyahu's coalition in April. Lieberman may very well end up playing the role of kingmaker, Reuters reports, as the predictions that his party should capture somewhere between eight and 10 seats means he'd have the ability to form a coalition.

He reportedly wants to forge a unity government with Blue and White and Likud, though if he were to sign off on it, the government would reportedly have to exclude ultra-Orthodox parties, whose influence Lieberman is seeking to limit. Gantz has also ruled out participating in an administration with Netanyahu if the latter is indicted on corruption chargers. Basically, there's no easy path to a government at the moment.

Israel's exit polls can be imprecise, The Associated Press reports, but the consensus among the three stations implies that the forecasts might hold true. If that's the case, complicated political maneuvering could ensue while Netanyahu remains a caretaker prime minister. Read more at The Associated Press and Reuters. Tim O'Donnell

President Trump's border wall is putting archaeological discoveries at risk before they're even discovered.

Trump's border wall has jeopardized several government projects as he aims to drain military projects to fund its construction. It has raised protests from environmental groups who say it'll run through wildlife refuges. And as an internal National Park Service report obtained by The Washington Post reveals, it's likely to destroy or damage 22 unexcavated sites containing artifacts of the ancient Sonoran Desert peoples.

The sites in question are all within the Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument, a 330,000-acre area of protected wilderness that sits along the Arizona-Mexico border. It has been home to "desert-dwelling peoples" for at least 16,000 years and contains well-preserved artifacts thanks to its arid environment, the Post reports. There's currently a five-foot vehicle barrier along that section of the border, but Trump plans to turn it into a 30-foot steel wall. Two miles of that wall surrounding a border crossing in Lukeville, Arizona have already been built.

In its report, the National Park Service says some archaeological areas have already been damaged as the Trump administration's amped-up enforcement measures lead border patrol agents to drive recklessly through Organ Pipe Cactus. If construction continues, experts warn damage could get even worse. The several salt springs in the monument area could also dry up if groundwater is pumped to build the concrete wall, NPS continued.

CBP said it looked at "most" of the archaeological sites in question and said just five are within 60 feet of the proposed border area, and that only one showed signs of artifacts buried nearby. Read more at The Washington Post, and find the whole report here. Kathryn Krawczyk

Corey Lewandowski didn't even wait until the end of his congressional testimony Tuesday before launching a website for his potential 2020 Senate bid.

President Trump's former campaign manager appeared before the House Judiciary Committee Tuesday for its first official impeachment hearing, mostly declining to answers Democrats' questions. During a break at one point, Lewandowski tweeted a link to a brand new website promoting the campaign for Senate he has been publicly mulling. Although Lewandowski asks his followers to "sign up now," the website he links to highlights no clear place to do so, which sort of defeats the purpose of the plug.

On the website right now is just a picture of Trump and Lewandowski with Trump's quote that Lewandowski "would be fantastic" in the Senate, a quote Trump gave in an interview last month, although the president has not actually officially offered an endorsement. Lewandowski would be running in New Hampshire against Sen. Jeanne Shaheen (D-N.H.). Along with the website, the Super PAC Stand with Corey has also been filed with the Federal Election Commission.

As the hearing resumed, Rep. Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.) slammed Lewandowski by reminding him that "this is not a Republican primary campaign" but a congressional hearing and he should "act like you know the difference." Still, later in the hearing, Lewandowski dropped a reference to "maybe someday" being in "the upper chamber" of Congress. Brendan Morrow

Pittsburgh Pirates closer Felipe Vazquez was arrested in Pittsburgh on felony charges of pornography and soliciting, the Florida Department of Law Enforcement announced Tuesday.

The FDLE's investigation reportedly began in August after the department obtained information that Vazquez allegedly had a sexual relationship with a 13-year-old girl in Lee County, Florida, and that the pitcher continued the relationship by texting with the minor, who is now 15-years-old.

The police affidavit, obtained by ESPN, says the girl's mother found texts, photographs, and a graphic video sent by Vazquez on her daughter's phone.

Vasquez has been placed on administrative leave by Major League Baseball, although ESPN reports that the league will not launch an immediate investigation into the matter because it plans to use the police's findings in pursuing discipline for Vazquez. Frank Coonelly, the Pirates' president, said the franchise is taking the matter "extremely seriously," but no one involved in the organization can comment any further since it's an ongoing legal proceeding.

The news comes at the end of what turned out to be a nightmare season for the Pirates, who have been dealing with numerous locker issues, including a fight between Vazquez and fellow reliever Kyle Crick, which, in light of the severity of Vazquez's charges, now seems trivial. Read more at ESPN. Tim O'Donnell

Edward Snowden's book, Permanent Record, was only released Tuesday, but it's already causing trouble for the author.

The Justice Department filed a lawsuit the same day against Snowden, a former CIA employee who leaked classified information from the NSA in 2013. The lawsuit is centered on Snowden publishing the memoir without approval, which the Justice Department is alleging violates non-disclosure agreements Snowden signed with the government.

The point of the lawsuit, however, is not to prevent the the publication or the distribution of the book; the Justice Department just wants to make sure Snowden doesn't get paid for it. Therefore, the department is seeking the proceeds Snowden earns from the book's sales. "Intelligence information should protect our nation, not provide personal profit," G. Zachary Terwilliger, the U.S. attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia, said in a statement. "This lawsuit will ensure that Edward Snowden receives no monetary benefits from breaching the trust placed in him."

Permanent Record reportedly reveals new details about Snowden's decision to steal files from the NSA's collection of phone and internet metadata and release them to journalists. Read more at The Washington Post and NBC News. Tim O'Donnell

Corey Lewandowski came to Capitol Hill Tuesday to passionately defend President Trump while dodging congressional Democrats' questions, and Trump appears to be loving it.

Trump's former campaign manager testified Tuesday as part of the House Judiciary Committee's first official impeachment hearing, in his opening statement nostalgically recalling the president's decision to "ride down the golden escalator" in 2015. Lewandowski said it was an "honor and a privilege" to be a part of Trump's "historic campaign," even getting in a dig at Hillary Clinton with a reference to deleted emails and claiming there has been "harassment of this president from the day he won the election."

As the hearing proceeded, Lewandowski frustrated Democrats like Rep. Jerrold Nadler (D-N.Y.) by dodging basic questions, such as whether he met with Trump in the White House in June 2017, by asking for specific citations and quotes from Special Counsel Robert Mueller's report. The White House had directed Lewandowski to not provide information outside of the Mueller report, although Lewandowski was never actually a White House employee. At one point, Lewandowski asked Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee (D-Texas) to repeat a question because "I didn't hear it. Just a rant."

Much of what Lewandowski said sure seemed to be directed at Trump himself, who was indeed watching and tweeted his approval for the "beautiful" opening statement, which he subsequently posted a video of. Lewandowski is currently mulling a 2020 Senate run, which he used a pre-hearing tweet to plug Tuesday morning. Trump previously expressed his support for the potential campaign, saying Lewandowski is "terrific on television." Brendan Morrow