Nigel Farage Just Visited The Ecuadorian Embassy In London  —  Asked by BuzzFeed News if he'd been visiting Julian Assange, the former UKIP leader said he couldn't remember what he'd been doing in the building.  —  Nigel Farage visited the Ecuadorian embassy in west London on Thursday …

Trump to conservative leaders: If this plan fails, I'll blame Democrats  —  Washington (CNN)In an Oval Office meeting featuring several leaders of conservative groups already lining up against the House Republican plan to repeal and replace Obamacare, President Donald Trump revealed his plan …

EPA chief Scott Pruitt says carbon dioxide is not a primary contributor to global warming  —  EPA takes aim at CAFE standards: Scott Pruitt  —  Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Scott Pruitt said Thursday he does not believe carbon dioxide is a primary contributor to global warming.

Roger Stone's Russian Hacking “Hero”  —  Trump loyalist communicated with “Guccifer 2.0,” target of FBI probe  —  In the months before Election Day, a longtime confidante and political consultant for Donald Trump was in contact with the Russian hacking group that U.S. intelligence officials …

Steve Bannon Helped Preserve DACA But Democrats And Activists Aren't Celebrating  —  They're bracing for what's coming: millions of deportations and further crackdowns on both legal and illegal immigration.  —  WASHINGTON — The Trump administration doesn't want to talk about it.

McConnell on Mexico paying for the border wall: ‘Uh, no’  —  Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell on Thursday threw cold water on President Donald Trump's insistence that Mexico will pay for his proposed border wall.  —  “Uh, no,” McConnell said flatly, asked whether he thinks Mexico …

Burger-flipping robot replaces humans on first day at work  —  A burger-flipping robot has just completed its first day on the job at a restaurant in California, replacing humans at the grill.  —  Flippy has mastered the art of cooking the perfect burger and has just started work at CaliBurger, a fast-food chain.

How Many People Are Affected by Obamacare Premium Increases?  (Hint, It's Fewer Than You Think)  —  SCROLL TO START  —  Republicans cite rising insurance premiums as a primary reason for repealing the Affordable Care Act.  But only a narrow slice of the market was actually affected by the increases.

Hot story: Miami lawyer's pants erupt in flames during arson trial in court  —  A Miami defense lawyer's pants burst into flames Wednesday afternoon as he began his closing arguments in front of a jury — in an arson case.  —  Stephen Gutierrez, who was arguing that his client's car spontaneously combusted …

Sex Columnist Dan Savage Calls Melania Trump ‘Ugly on the Inside’  —  Savage says first lady gets a pass from some liberals because of her looks, but “is as ugly on the inside as she is pretty on the outside”  —  Author and sex columnist Dan Savage says many liberals are giving first lady Melania …

C.I.A. Scrambles to Contain Damage From WikiLeaks Documents  —  WASHINGTON — The C.I.A. scrambled on Wednesday to assess and contain the damage from the release by WikiLeaks of thousands of documents that cataloged the agency's cyberspying capabilities, temporarily halting work on some projects …

The Republican health-care bill threatens Trump's voters  —  “To the victor belong the spoils,” candidate Donald Trump reminded 2016 voters.  But the House Republican health bill turns that old maxim on its head.  —  Instead of broadly rewarding Trump's backers, the House bill hands huge benefits …

McConnell: Tax reform unlikely by August  —  (R-Ky.) on Thursday poured cold water on the Trump administration's goal of completing tax reform by the August recess.  —  “I think finishing on tax reform will take longer,” McConnell said during a Playbook Live interview.

The budget rule you've never heard of that ties Republicans' hands on Obamacare  —  Everything you ever wanted to know about reconciliation.

Former Trump aide Flynn says lobbying may have helped Turkey  —  President Donald Trump's former national security adviser, Michael Flynn, who was fired from his prominent White House job last month, has registered with the Justice Department as a foreign agent for $530,000 worth of lobbying work …

IRS has 7,000 unreleased documents related to conservative and Tea Party targeting  —  The IRS has told a federal court that they've recently identified almost 7,000 more documents that could contain information on how the agency targeted the tax-exempt applications of Tea Party organizations …

The 40-year decline in the tolerance of college students, graphed  —  Last week, the author Charles Murray was shouted down when he attempted to give an invited talk at Middlebury College.  Allison Stanger, the political science professor who, at the request of students, participated in Murray's visit …

Republican Study Committee backs two Medicaid changes to Obamacare repeal bill  —  The Republican Study Committee is backing two proposed changes to the Obamacare repeal bill that could help win over conservatives to the measure, which has been in a markup before the House Energy and Commerce Committee for nearly 24 hours.

Pope Francis issues veiled warning about Donald Trump: ‘Populism is evil’  —  Pontiff also confesses to moments of spiritual doubt in interview with German newspaper Die Zeit  —  Pope Francis has warned in an interview with a German newspaper of the dangers of rising populism in western democracies.