Exclusive: Hillary Clinton's Benghazi chapter  —  Hillary Clinton offers a detailed account of the deadly attack on the American embassy in Benghazi — and a pointed rebuttal to Republican critics who've laced into her over the incident — in a much-anticipated chapter of her forthcoming book, “Hard Choices,” obtained by POLITICO.

Rep. Tammy Duckworth on Eric Shinseki: ‘I think he has to go’  —  Rep. Tammy Duckworth (D-Ill.), a former Veterans Affairs official who lost both of her legs while serving in combat during the Iraq war, said Friday that her former boss Eric Shinseki should resign.

Toddler critically burned during SWAT raid  —  ATLANTA —  A family says a SWAT team raided their home in the middle of the night and seriously injured a 19-month-old boy with a stun grenade.  —  Alecia Phonesavanh told Channel 2's Ryan Young her child is at the Grady Memorial Hospital burn unit …

Edward Snowden responds to release of e-mail by U.S. officials  —  Former intelligence contractor Edward Snowden responded to questions from The Washington Post following the release of an e-mail he had sent while working for the National Security Agency.  —  Q: How do you respond …

The Affordable Care Act in Kentucky: It's Working  —  For months, critics of the Affordable Care Act boldly vowed to eradicate what they insisted was a failed health reform plan — vows they repeated even as thousands, then tens of thousands and now hundreds of thousands of Kentuckians began …

House Votes To End DEA Raids On Legal Medical Marijuana Operations  —  “Marijuana does not make people commit crime.  It makes them overeat,” Rep. Steve Cohen said.  The amendment passed 219-189.  —  WASHINGTON — The House passed an amendment late Thursday night to restrict …

Former Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer to buy Clippers for $2 billion  —  Former Microsoft chief executive Steve Ballmer won a frenetic bidding war for ownership of the Los Angeles Clippers, with his $2-billion offer setting a record price for an NBA team, The Times has learned.

Libertarianism 3.0; Koch And A Smile  —  The visionary brothers' new paradigm will frustrate the left and alter the right by fusing social tolerance with fiscal responsibility.  —  As a libertarian, I'm always slow to tell people what they should do.  But if you care about politics …

House takes action on gun checks  —  The House on Thursday approved a funding increase for the national background check system in response to last week's mass shooting in Santa Barbara, Calif.  —  Adopted 260-145, the amendment to a 2015 appropriations bill provides an additional $19.5 million …

GOP Senate Candidate: UCSB Shooting An ‘Unfortunate Accident’  —  Iowa state Sen. Joni Ernst (R), a candidate for U.S. Senate, said Thursday that the recent mass shooting near the University of California, Santa Barbara was an “unfortunate accident.”  —  During a televised primary debate …