Former Special Counsel Robert Mueller did not directly criticize President Trump in an unusual op-ed Saturday for commuting his friend and adviser Roger Stone's 40-month prison sentence, but he did make clear he didn't see the controversial and objectively self-interested move as serving justice.

Mueller's op-ed, published in The Washington Post, was mostly a response to accusations from Trump and his allies that the Russia investigation "was illegitimate," and specifically "claims that Roger Stone was a victim of our office," Mueller wrote. "Stone was prosecuted and convicted because he committed federal crimes. He remains a convicted felon, and rightly so."

"Stone became a central figure in our investigation for two key reasons," Mueller said: "He communicated in 2016 with individuals known to us to be Russian intelligence officers, and he claimed advance knowledge of WikiLeaks' release of emails stolen by those Russian intelligence officers."

Stone was convicted by a jury on several counts of obstructing justice and repeatedly lying to Congress and investigators about those communications with Russian intelligence, and about his frequent updates to seniors Trump campaign officials about Russia's leaking of damaging information on Hillary Clinton via WikiLeaks, Mueller explained. "And he tampered with a witness, imploring him to stonewall Congress." He did not mention that Stone threatened to kill that witness' dog.

The op-ed apparently persuaded Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.), who has rejected previous requests to call Mueller to testify, to reconsider his objections.

Mueller testified before two House committees to discuss his report. Taylor Reidy, a Graham spokeswoman, told the Post that a formal invitation to Mueller is being worked on, though the Post also noted the Senate has only about three dozen legislative days left before the election. Peter Weber

With more than 516,000 confirmed coronavirus cases, California has reported the most infections of any state, but Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) on Monday said there is some hope on the horizon.

In June and July, the number of cases in California surged, following an ease in lockdown restrictions. Over the last two weeks, the state saw an average of 121 deaths every day, with 214 reported on Friday — a 21 percent increase over the previous record that had been set on Wednesday, the Los Angeles Times reports.

However, the number of hospitalizations statewide has gone down about 10 percent over two weeks, and ICU admissions have fallen by 5 percent. Newsom also said the state has greatly increased its testing capacity, and the share of positive COVID-19 tests has dropped to 7 percent. This rate is "not where it needs to be, and it's still too high," Newsom said, but it's "good to see this number trending down, not trending up."

Newsom credits the small improvements to people being required to wear masks, social distancing, and the "very, very difficult" decision to shutter bars and prohibit indoor dining. There are 38 counties on the state watchlist, including every county in Southern California and the San Francisco Bay Area, and Newsom said everyone needs to stay vigilant, as "we can quickly find ourselves back to where we were just a few weeks ago, a month ago." The virus, he continued, "is not going away. It's not just going to take Labor Day weekend off. It's not going to take Halloween off, the holidays off." Catherine Garcia

President Trump expressed his displeasure Monday evening with Nevada lawmakers voting to automatically send mail-in ballots to all registered voters, telling reporters he will sue to block the new law.

The legislation was approved on Sunday, and Gov. Stephen Sisolak (D) signed it into law on Monday evening. Trump, who in April said mail-in voting "doesn't work out well for Republicans," claimed on Twitter Monday morning that the Nevada lawmakers conducted an "illegal late night coup" and the "Post Office could never handle the Traffic of Mail-In Votes without preparation. Using COVID to steal the state. See you in Court!"

During a press conference later in the day, Trump repeated his assertion that the U.S. Postal Service does not have the infrastructure necessary to handle an influx of mail-in ballots, and said he plans on having the lawsuit blocking Nevada filed Tuesday. Trump was asked whether he would issue an executive order on mail-in voting, and responded incorrectly: "I have the right to do it. We haven't gotten there yet. We'll see what happens."

Several state election officials have said they will expand mail-in voting to keep voters safe during the coronavirus pandemic. Experts say voter fraud is very rare, especially when there are proper safety measures in place, and a study released earlier this year found that universal vote-by-mail does not benefit any political party. Catherine Garcia

The Apple fire in Riverside County, California, which has burned more than 26,400 acres and is only 5 percent contained, was ignited by a malfunctioning diesel vehicle, fire officials announced on Monday.

The California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection said in a statement that on Friday evening, the vehicle released burning carbon from its exhaust system, which sparked the fire in Cherry Valley, an unincorporated town about 75 miles east of Los Angeles. Anyone with any information on the vehicle is asked to contact authorities.

The blaze has spread across hillsides and up the side of Mount San Gorgonio, destroying one home and two outbuildings. Nearly 8,000 people have been evacuated, and so far, no injuries have been reported. There are more than 2,300 firefighters on the scene.

"Much of the fire activity is being driven by the record-low moisture content of the vegetation in the area combined with high temperatures and low relative humidity," fire officials said on Monday afternoon. "These conditions are contributing to active fire behavior both day and night." Catherine Garcia

On Monday, Israeli jets struck several Syrian military targets, including intelligence-collection systems, observation posts, antiaircraft artillery facilities, and command and control centers, the Israeli army announced in a statement.

The army said this was in response to the Israeli military foiling an attack early Sunday, after troops spotted four suspected militants from Syria attempting to drop explosive devices along a security fence in the Golan Heights region; they were fired on by Israeli troops and aircraft and killed.

"The Israel Defense Forces holds the Syrian government responsible for all activities originating from Syrian soil, and will continue operating with determination against any violation of Israeli sovereignty," the army stated.

Last week, Israel said Hezbollah militants attempted to cross into its territory from Lebanon, and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said the group's sponsor, Iran, is trying to cause chaos by "entrenching its military in our region." Hezbollah denied being part of the operation. Catherine Garcia

World Health Organization Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said on Monday he is hopeful that the six coronavirus vaccine candidates now in their third phase of clinical trials will be effective, but warned that there is "no silver bullet at the moment and there might never be."

Until there is an approved vaccine, the world must follow "the basics" of disease control, he said, which involves testing, isolating, tracing, and quarantining, as well as social distancing, regular hand washing, and wearing masks. "The message to people and governments is clear: Do it all," Tedros added.

On Jan. 30, the WHO declared COVID-19 a public health emergency, and at the time "there were fewer than 100 cases and no deaths outside of China," Tedros said. Today, worldwide there are 18.1 million COVID-19 cases, with more than 690,000 people dying of the virus, according to the Johns Hopkins University coronavirus tracker. Catherine Garcia

A Department of Homeland Security intelligence report leaked to The Nation has some experts skeptical of the department's motives.

The report targeted several left-wing American activists whom the department would normally be prohibited from gathering intelligence on unless they had reason to believe the individuals were operating on behalf of a foreign power. The people named in the report, many of whom have identified with far-left causes, do have connections abroad — they traveled to Syria in the past and fought against ISIS alongside Kurdish factions like the YPG, PKK, and the Peshmerga.

The U.S., of course, considers ISIS an enemy, as well, so it may seem surprising that the U.S. government would focus on people who volunteered to fight against the terrorist group, but critics argue the Syria connection could be a front to root out potential antifa members. (Some of the individuals denied membership in antifa, which does not necessarily operate in any organized capacity to begin with.)

The report eventually appears to conclude there is no evidence of a "centralized effort to give marching orders to returning antifa-affiliated" U.S. residents, but either way, the briefing didn't sit well with everyone. "They targeted Americans like they're Al-Qaeda," a former intelligence officer in the department with knowledge of the operations told The Nation. "They were essentially violating people's rights like this was the 60s." Read more at The Nation. Tim O'Donnell