Four top law firms turned down requests to represent Trump … Top lawyers with at least four major law firms rebuffed White House overtures to represent President Trump in the Russia investigations, in part over concerns that the president would be unwilling to listen to their advice …

Trump Grows Discontented With Attorney General Jeff Sessions  —  WASHINGTON — Few Republicans were quicker to embrace President Trump's campaign last year than Jeff Sessions, and his reward was one of the most prestigious jobs in America.  But more than four months into his presidency …

Top-Secret NSA Report Details Russian Hacking Effort Days Before 2016 Election  —  Russian military intelligence executed a cyberattack on at least one U.S. voting software supplier and sent spear-phishing emails to more than 100 local election officials just days before last November's presidential election …

Notre Dame: Man shot by French police after attacking them with hammer  —  Live: security operation near Notre Dame  —  French police have shot a man outside the Notre Dame in Paris after he tried to attack them with a hammer, according to local media.  One policeman was injured in the attack.

The $110 Billion Arms Deal to Saudi Arabia is Fake News  —  Editor's note: This post originally appeared on Markaz.  —  Last month, President Trump visited Saudi Arabia and his administration announced that he had concluded a $110 billion arms deal with the kingdom.  Only problem is that there is no deal.

In Trump's White House, Everything's Coming in ‘Two Weeks’  —  The president has a penchant for making and missing deadlines  —  Tax and infrastructure plans are taking longer than promised  —  President Donald Trump has a plan.  It'll be ready in two weeks.

Nevada's legislature just passed a radical plan to let anybody sign up for Medicaid  —  Nevada, with little fanfare or notice, is inching toward a massive health insurance expansion — one that would give the state's 2.8 million residents access to a public health insurance option.

Ben Sasse is insufferable  —  The Vanishing American Adult, Sen. Ben Sasse's slick new paean to hard work and old-fashioned middle-class American family values, is the most boring book I've ever read.  —  The Nebraska Republican is, if not absolutely insufferable, the least sufferable person in the Senate.

Bird-flipping welcome for US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson in New Zealand  —  US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson at Premier House on a bleak Wellington day.  —  The weather was awful and the mood of the locals wasn't much better when US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson arrived in Wellington.

Voters head to the polls to pick L.A.'s next congressman in under-the-radar special election  —  Attorney Robert Lee Ahn, left, and Assemblyman Jimmy Gomez are running to replace Xavier Becerra in the 34th Congressional District.  (Marcus Yam / Los Angeles Times)

The Lawless Presidency  —  Democracy isn't possible without the rule of law — the idea that consistent principles, rather than a ruler's whims, govern society.  —  You can read Aristotle, Montesquieu, John Locke or the Declaration of Independence on this point.  You can also look at decades of American history.

Where Are the United States Attorneys?  —  Three months after President Trump abruptly fired half of the nation's 93 United States attorneys, following the resignations of the other half, he has yet to replace a single one.  —  It's bizarre — and revealing — that a man who called himself the …

More than 130 British imams refuse to bury London attackers  —  (CNN)More than 130 imams from Britain are refusing to offer Islamic burials to the three men who launched attacks Saturday night in London, killing seven and wounding dozens more.  —  “We will not perform the traditional Islamic funeral prayer …

Third London attacker told Italian police: 'I'm going to be a terrorist'  —  Youssef Zaghba was stopped by Italian police at Bologna Airport in March 2016.  —  The Moroccan-Italian man who has been identified as the third London attacker told Italian authorities “I'm going to be a terrorist …

Macho Putin in Driver's Seat as He Takes Oliver Stone for a Ride  —  Director quizzes president on U.S., Snowden in four-part film  —  Putin says he's 'not a woman, so I don't have bad days'  —  He could be just another Moscow commuter driving home from the office.

White House Looked At Dropping Russia Sanctions—Even After Firing Michael Flynn … The White House explored unilaterally easing sanctions on Russia's oil industry as recently as late March, arguing that decreased Russian oil production could harm the American economy, according to former U.S. officials.

Hugh Jackman dodges political talk at DC benefit  —  Hugh Jackman says he won't weigh in on politics because as an Australian, he would find it “hard to have American actors coming down talking about my political system.”  —  ITK caught up with the “Logan” star at “A National Night of Laughter and Song …

Progressive Editor: Democrats Making Huge Error Obsessing About Russia  —  The Nation's editor and publisher Katrina Vanden Huevel warned that Democrats' obsession about Russia was a mistake and could torpedo efforts to effectively combat the Trump agenda.  Granted, the latter part is typical run …