U.S. Accuses Goldman Sachs of Fraud  —  Goldman Sachs, which emerged relatively unscathed from the financial crisis, was accused of securities fraud in a civil suit filed Friday by the Securities and Exchange Commission, which claims the bank created and sold a mortgage investment that was secretly devised to fail.

White House complains about CBS News blog post saying that possible Supreme Court nominee is gay  —  The White House ripped CBS News on Thursday for publishing an online column by a blogger who made assertions about the sexual orientation of Solicitor General Elena Kagan, widely viewed as a leading candidate for the Supreme Court.

The Fire Next Time  —  On Tuesday, Mitch McConnell, the Senate minority leader, called for the abolition of municipal fire departments.  —  Firefighters, he declared, “won't solve the problems that led to recent fires.  They will make them worse.”  The existence of fire departments …

Crist will look at indie bid ‘later on’  —  A day after vetoing a contentious teacher tenure bill in Tallahassee, Gov. Charlie Crist basked in the warm embrace of Miami-Dade educators and deflected questions about leaving the Republican party.  —  “I'm not thinking about that today,” …

Brutal attack on Republican fundraiser and her boyfriend appears politically motivated  —  Last Friday night, Allee Bautsch, the chief fundraiser for Louisiana's Republican Gov. Bobby Jindal, was violently assaulted, along with her boyfriend, outside of a famed New Orleans restaurant.

The Crashers: They came, they saw, they failed  —  You were ready for the Tea Party saboteurs.  And boy, did they fail epically.  Saul Alinsky would be ashamed.  —  Grass-roots activists smoked out the infiltrators — and tagged them immediately.  —  Reader Celeste in Columbus, Ohio, sends photos of a great comeuppance.

White NBC Reporter Confronts Black Man at Tea Party Rally: ‘Have You Ever Felt Uncomfortable?’  —  “There aren't a lot of African-American men at these events,” NBC News reporter Kelly O'Donnell, a white woman, told Darryl Postell, a black man at a Tea Party rally held Thursday in Washington …

U.S. SENATE RACE: Poll: Reid loses full ballot test  —  Third-party, nonpartisan candidates have little impact  —  U.S. Sen. Harry Reid must pick up far more support from crossover Republicans and independents to win re-election, according to a new poll that shows him losing to the GOP front-runner …

New House Ratings: 44 Seats Moved Toward GOP  —  We are still seven months until the midterm elections, so there is at least some possibility that the landscape could shift or that Democratic attacks on the GOP could keep Republican gains down to a minimum.  —  Substantial Republican gains …

APNewsBreak: Feds Indict Ex-Blackwater President  —  APNewsBreak: Feds indict ex-Blackwater president, 4 others on weapons charges  —  The former president of Blackwater Worldwide and four other former officials at the embattled security firm were indicted Friday on federal weapons charges …

HI-01: Three-way tie headed into special election  —  Research 2000 for Daily Kos. 4/11-14.  Likely voters.  MoE 5% (No trend lines)  —  Ed Case (D) 29  —  Colleen Hanabusa (D) 28  —  Charles Djou (R) 32  —  Other 4  —  Undecided 7  —  The May 22 special election is a “jungle primary” …

Barbour, advisers privately mull 2012  —  When asked about his presidential ambitions, Mississippi Governor Haley Barbour told reporters earlier this year that “If you see me losing 40 pounds that means I'm either running or have cancer.”  —  It might be time to start watching Barbour's waistline.