Exclusive: Trump campaign had at least 18 undisclosed contacts with Russians: sources  —  Michael Flynn and other advisers to Donald Trump's campaign were in contact with Russian officials and others with Kremlin ties in at least 18 calls and emails during the last seven months of the 2016 presidential race …

The Special Counsel Mistake  —  Rosenstein bends to political pressure, and here we go again.

Roger Ailes, who built Fox News into a powerhouse, dies at 77  —  Roger Ailes dead at 77  —  Roger Ailes, who transformed cable news and then American politics by building Fox News into a ratings powerhouse, died Thursday.  He was 77.  —  The death was announced by his family and reported on Fox News Channel.

House majority leader to colleagues in 2016: ‘I think Putin pays’ Trump  —  KIEV, Ukraine — A month before Donald Trump clinched the Republican nomination, one of his closest allies in Congress — House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy — made a politically explosive assertion in a private conversation …

Trump weighs downsizing Spicer's public role  —  President Donald Trump is considering scaling back White House press secretary Sean Spicer's public role, according to several officials familiar with the president's thinking, as Trump also weighs a broader shakeup of his communications shop in the wake of several scandals.

Pence Creates PAC ahead of 2018, 2020 Elections  —  Vice President Mike Pence is launching his own PAC — the “Great America Committee” — to aid his own future political interests, including helping Republican candidates ahead of the 2018 midterms.  —  The group, which filed paperwork …

Trump isn't a toddler — he's a product of America's culture of impunity for the rich  —  “When you're a star, they let you do it.”  —  Ross Douthat's column arguing for the superiority of “25th Amendment remedies” to impeachment for Donald Trump's various misdeeds is impressive in its ability …

If you work for Trump, it's time to quit  —  After the Comey firing and the Russia intel leak, the I'm-taking-one-for-the-team ship has sailed.  —  I've been a Republican political consultant for almost 30 years, and I've dispensed a lot of private advice.

Pat Buchanan: It Isn't Watergate Yet, But How Long Can This Sustain?  —  Pat Buchanan says the nonstop uproar following Trump's firing of former FBI director James Comey is not comparable to Watergate, but he does wonder if the Trump presidency can function with this level of drama.

Comey prepped responses ahead of Trump discussions  —  (CNN)Ahead of discussions with President Donald Trump, Former FBI Director James Comey prepped with his team on ways to respond to anticipated questions so that he would not come across as confrontational during the ongoing Russia probe, according to an official close to Comey.

The media has lost its marbles  —  Just five months in, 2017 is going down in history as the year that gave us the worst media bias America has ever witnessed.  —  It's worse than slanted, it's flat-out rigged against our president and he knows it.  Yesterday at the Coast Guard Academy …

Race between Democrats running for Virginia governor is neck-and-neck  —  RICHMOND — Virginia Democrats Tom Perriello and Ralph Northam are battling in a very close contest for the party's gubernatorial primary, with divisions reemerging from last year's Democratic presidential race …

We tracked the Trump scandals on right-wing news sites.  Here's how they covered it.  —  We're experiencing these historical events very differently.  —  The past week of Trump scandals for people reading mainstream news outlets has gone something like this: President Trump fired …