Goldman Sachs taps ex-W.H. counsel  —  Goldman Sachs is launching an aggressive response to its political and legal challenges with an unlikely ally at its side — President Barack Obama's former White House counsel, Gregory Craig.  —  The beleaguered Wall Street bank hired Craig …

Gay rights protesters interrupt Obama speech at fundraiser  —  Gay rights protesters interrupted President Barack Obama's speech at a fundraiser for California Sen. Barbara Boxer (D) Monday night in Los Angeles.  —  Activists from a group called GetEQUAL began shouting at Obama while he was speaking at the podium.

This Is Apple's Next iPhone  —  You are looking at Apple's next iPhone.  It was found lost in a bar in Redwood City, camouflaged to look like an iPhone 3GS.  We got it.  We disassembled it.  It's the real thing, and here are all the details.  —  While Apple may tinker with the final packaging …

Sen. Collins pledges to block Democratic Wall Street bill  —  Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine) announced after meeting with Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner on Monday that she will vote to filibuster a Democratic Wall Street reform bill.  —  Her announcement hurts Democratic chances …

SEC Said to Vote 3-2 to Sue Goldman Sachs Over CDOs  —  The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission split 3-2 along party lines to approve an enforcement case against Goldman Sachs Group Inc., according to two people with knowledge of the vote.  —  SEC Chairman Mary Schapiro sided …

Half of Europe flights ‘to fly’  —  About half of flights over Europe are expected to go ahead on Tuesday, the Eurocontrol air traffic agency says.  —  A limited number of flights have taken off in northern Europe after five days of a blanket no-fly zone caused by the spread of volcanic ash from Iceland.

Immigration Bill Reflects a Firebrand's Impact  —  PHOENIX — The Arizona Senate passed one of the most stringent immigration laws in the country on Monday, marking a new level of influence for a Republican state senator who not long ago was seen by many as an eccentric firebrand.

FDA plans to limit amount of salt allowed in processed foods for health reasons  —  The Food and Drug Administration is planning an unprecedented effort to gradually reduce the salt consumed each day by Americans, saying that less sodium in everything from soup to nuts would prevent thousands …

The costs of crossing the president  —  Will the White House punish Democrats who defected on the monumental health care overhaul?  —  “There is not a whole lot of [President] Barack Obama and [Vice President] Joe Biden to spare on a good day,” one senior White House official told POLITICO.

But who will be Nick Clegg's political partner?  —  The Lib Dem leader has a problem with Gordon Brown ... but the Tories may prove incompatible too  —  Nick Clegg has been saying for months that he'd dance across the studio in a pink tutu for a place in the leaders' TV debate.

What's behind the anti-Tea Party hate narrative?  —  There's a new narrative taking hold in the wake of the recent Tea Party protests and the 15th anniversary of the Oklahoma City bombing: The Tea Partiers' intense opposition to the Obama administration has led to overheated political rhetoric …

Crist ‘listening’ to suggestions he run as an independent … TAMPA, FL — Gov. Charlie Crist sat down with ABC Action News reporter Sarina Fazan Monday afternoon.  When asked about whether or not he will run as an independent in the race for U.S. Senate, he said he has not made up his mind yet.

Debate tests members' financial IQs  —  Ask White House economic adviser Austan Goolsbee about derivatives, and he'll tell you about free tacos.  —  That's the trouble with the financial regulatory reform debate: The arcane terminology of the financial world can be daunting.

GOP Split Over How to Win in Fall  —  WASHINGTON—Sen. John Cornyn, who is spearheading the Republicans' campaign to take back the Senate, is on a roll.  The GOP snatched a seat in Massachusetts and polls favor Republicans in many key states.  —  But the genial Texas lawyer is facing an unusual challenge …

US climate report publicized in runup to Senate bill  —  Source: Reuters  —  An environmental coalition publicized a new U.S. draft report on climate change on Monday, one week before the expected unveiling of a compromise U.S. Senate bill that aims to curb greenhouse gas emissions.

Crist: 'I'm Staying in This Race' — By: Robert Costa  —  In an exclusive interview, Gov. Charlie Crist (R., Fla.) tells National Review Online that “damn right, I'm staying in this race.”  He tells us that he will not run as a Democrat.  “I was never going to do that.”

Two senators subpoena Obama administration for information on Fort Hood shootings  —  Sens. Joseph I. Lieberman (I-Conn.) and Susan Collins (R-Maine) issued the first congressional subpoenas of the Obama administration Monday after accusing the White House of stonewalling their requests for information about the Fort Hood shootings.

Justices Get Personal Over Privacy of Messages  —  WASHINGTON — The question in a case argued Monday in the Supreme Court sounded both irresistible and important: Did a California police department violate the Constitution by reading sexually explicit text messages sent by an officer on a department-issued pager?

Cyberattack on Google Said to Hit Password System  —  Ever since Google disclosed in January that Internet intruders had stolen information from its computers, the exact nature and extent of the theft has been a closely guarded company secret.  But a person with direct knowledge of the investigation …

Jon Stewart and Stephen Colbert To Stay on Comedy Central Through 2012 Election  —  With Conan O'Brien about to change the calculus of late-night cable programming, the Comedy Central channel has made a move to lock up its two dominant stars, Jon Stewart and Stephen Colbert.

As Abbott Flocks From Palm To Twitter, Pass Becomes The First Twitter CTO  —  Last Friday, news hit that Michael Abbott, Palm's head of software and services, the man in charge of its webOS platform, was leaving the company.  The news, which broke via a regulatory filing …

Everyone's Dean  —  Why Elena Kagan has earned the respect of conservatives, like me.  —  Some years ago, I told my colleague Jack Goldsmith, when his role in revoking the notorious Yoo-Bybee torture memos became public, that the only thing worse than being demonized by the left is being lionized by the left.