"Like other congressional committees, some staff of the House Judiciary Committee were permitted to offer their policy expertise to the Trump transition team about immigration law," a House Judiciary Committee aide said in a statement. "However, the Trump Administration is responsible for the final policy decisions contained in the executive order and its subsequent roll-out and implementation.”

The work of the committee aides began during the transition period after the election and before Donald Trump was sworn in. The staffers signed nondisclosure agreements, according to two sources familiar with the matter. Trump's transition operation forced its staff to sign these agreements, but it would be unusual to extend that requirement to congressional employees. Rexrode declined to comment on the nondisclosure pacts.

The Virginia Republican told lawmakers that he approved his staff to work for the Trump transition team. He said his staff gave policy advice but their work for Trump officials ended on Jan. 20, the day of the inauguration.

He also told lawmakers his staff had no input on the timing or the rollout of the immigration order, which bans travelers from seven predominantly Muslim countries and halts the refugee program.

POLITICO reported Monday night that Goodlatte staffers helped the administration craft the executive order but did not inform their chairman or GOP leaders on the Hill of their work on the policy. Sources said the staffers signed nondisclosure agreements so they could not talk about what they were working on.

Goodlatte's staff has said he was unaware of the executive action. And his staff has not responded to multiple questions about their signing of nondisclosure agreements, which would bar them from discussing the controversial policy with their boss or republican leadership.

For foreign diplomats, Trump hotel is place to be

About 100 foreign diplomats, from Brazil to Turkey, gathered at the Trump International Hotel this week to sip Trump-branded champagne, dine on sliders and hear a sales pitch about the U.S. president-elect’s newest hotel.

The event for the diplomatic community, held one week after the election, was in the Lincoln Library, a junior ballroom with 16-foot ceilings and velvet drapes that is also available for rent.

Some attendees won raffle prizes — among them overnight stays at other Trump properties around the world — allowing them to become better acquainted with the business holdings of the new commander in chief. (snip)

In interviews with a dozen diplomats, many of whom declined to be named because they were not authorized to speak about anything related to the next U.S. president, some said spending money at Trump’s hotel is an easy, friendly gesture to the new president.

“Why wouldn’t I stay at his hotel blocks from the White House, so I can tell the new president, ‘I love your new hotel!’ Isn’t it rude to come to his city and say, ‘I am staying at your competitor?’ ” said one Asian diplomat.