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| Hello, OnPolitics readers! |
| The Biden administration is employing an unusual strategy by disclosing U.S. Intelligence assessments of Russia's threat against Ukraine to the public. But, experts say, the strategy might be working. |
| "The very public discussion of the Russian threat is designed to keep Moscow off balance," said John Herbst, a longtime U.S. diplomat who was ambassador to Ukraine from 2003 to 2006. |
| For its part, top Kremlin officials and Russian media have downplayed the U.S. government's warnings that troops positioned along the Ukrainian border could invade "any day now," while also accusing the U.S. and its allies of looking for reasons to send more military aid to Kyiv. |
| "It's already past midnight, and there are still no Russians," one Russian nationalist news outlet proclaimed in a headline in recent days. |
| It's Chelsey with today's top stories out of Washington. |
Trump's accounting firm cuts ties with his organization |
| Mazars, the accounting firm involved in a pair of investigations into former President Donald Trump in New York State, has cut ties with Trump family business, according to court documents. |
| The firm also said a decade of Trump Organization financial statements "should no longer be relied upon," according to a document included in a Monday court filing by New York Attorney General Letitia James. |
| James and the Manhattan district attorney's office are investigating whether Trump's real estate company improperly inflated or deflated the values of its holdings to secure loans or lower its tax bills. |
| The accounting firm alerted the organization about cutting ties and directed the company to retract information contained in financial statements from 2011 to 2020. |
| The statements will likely play a key role in the investigations led by the New York Attorney General's Office and the Manhattan District Attorney's Office. |
Real quick: stories you'll want to read |
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U.S. vows sanctions against Russia if Putin invades Ukraine |
| President Joe Biden has repeatedly promised a "swift and decisive response" if Russian soldiers move into Ukraine. In lieu of troops, the proposed aid will come in the form of strict sanctions against the country, Russian President Vladimir Putin and his allies. |
| The White House announced support for legislation filed by two dozen Senate Democrats that would allow the Biden administration to block all U.S. property transactions and interests in property held by Putin and more than a dozen other top officials in Russia's government and military if Russia invades. |
| Indiana Republican Rep. Jim Banks also filed a separate bill to increase sanctions against Putin and many in Russia's upper echelon now instead of waiting for an invasion. The measure is co-sponsored by 40 other House Republicans. |
| But the Biden administration walks in a fine line in enacting economic sanctions against Russia that would negatively affect the U.S and NATO allies, such as removing the country from the SWIFT financial system that's used to transfer money from bank to bank around the globe. |
| "The toughest stick won't always ultimately be the most intelligent sword," Annalena Baerbock, Germany's foreign minister, told reporters in January. |
| That's all for today, OnPolitics readers. By the way, you can soon book a trip to outer space on Virgin Galactic for just $450,000. |
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