Trump urged Mexican president to end his public defiance on border wall, transcript reveals  —  President Trump made building a wall along the southern U.S. border and forcing Mexico to pay for it core pledges of his campaign.  —  But in his first White House call with Mexico's president …

Exclusive: top FBI officials could testify against Trump  —  The acting head of the bureau told top officials to prepare.  —  Shortly after the appointment of special counsel Robert Mueller in May, acting FBI Director Andrew McCabe told several of the highest-ranking managers of the bureau …

You Can Thank Leakers for New Russia Sanctions  —  A good policy outcome, but “unmasking” helped set a troubling precedent that forced Trump to capitulate.  —  If you are inclined, as I am, to see the new congressional sanctions on Russia as a positive development, then take a moment to thank …

McMaster, On ‘Warpath,’ Purges Key Trump Allies From White House NSC  —  An ongoing staffing purge being conducted by White House National Security Adviser H.R. McMaster has thrown the West Wing into chaos, according to more than half a dozen Trump administration insiders who told …

Ryan Lizza Revisits His Phone Call with Anthony Scaramucci  —  Anthony Scaramucci placed the phone call that ended his career late at night; he reached Ryan Lizza, The New Yorker's Washington correspondent, at home.  During their conversation, parts of which are available here …

PODCAST: The story behind our Trump golf story (and a certain explosive quote)  —  The real Donald Trump is revealed through his golf game  —  Of the 7,424 words in Alan Shipnuck's deep dive into President Trump's ties to golf in this week's issue of Sports Illustrated, seven words have caused a media frenzy:

Trump set to embark on 1st vacation since inauguration  —  Donald Trump once questioned the wisdom of taking vacations.  “What's the point?” he asked.  —  But now the president is getting ready to join the annual August exodus from this town he calls “the swamp.”

Reporter says ‘Russian propaganda outlet’ pushed him to cover conspiracy theory at the center of a White House lawsuit  —  WASHINGTON — Reporter Andrew Feinberg says a Russian state-owned news site he once worked for pressured him to advance a conspiracy theory about the fatal shooting …

Mueller's job would be protected by bipartisan Senate bill  —  WASHINGTON — Two members of the Senate Judiciary Committee are moving to protect Special Counsel Robert Mueller's job, putting forth legislation that aims to ensure the integrity of current and future independent investigations.

Researcher Who Stopped WannaCry Ransomware Detained in US After Def Con  —  Marcus Hutchins, AKA MalwareTech, previously registered a specific domain included in the ransomware's code, which stopped the malware from spreading.  —  On Wednesday, US authorities detained a researcher who goes …

This is not how Mitch McConnell wanted to head into recess  —  It's as if the summer turned into the perfect storm against the best-laid plans of Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell.  —  Soon after Memorial Day, McConnell (R-Ky.) drew up a game plan around approving a rewrite of the Affordable Care Act by the end of June.

Trump's New Top Aide Assures Sessions His Job Is Safe  —  New White House chief of staff John Kelly, in one of his first acts in his new post, called Attorney General Jeff Sessions to reassure him that his position was safe despite the recent onslaught of criticism he has taken from President Donald Trump.

Why leftists don't trust Kamala Harris, Cory Booker, and Deval Patrick  —  The contest for control of the Democratic Party between left and center is continuing apace.  The latest battleground is over a handful of minority Democrats being groomed by the centrist establishment to run for office …

The Clarence Thomas Takeover  —  The justice has spent his career pushing a fringy, right-wing ideology.  Now, he has an army of acolytes who can make his vision a reality.  —  There's a reason Clarence Thomas writes so many solo dissents and concurrences.

Half of Detroit's 8 mayoral candidates are felons  —  Detroit — Half of the eight mayoral hopefuls on Detroit's primary ballot next week have been convicted of felony crimes involving drugs, assault or weapons, a Detroit News analysis shows.  —  Three were charged with gun crimes and two for assault with intent to commit murder.

Those Calls to Trump?  White House Admits They Didn't Happen  —  WASHINGTON — Has President Trump told you about the time the head of the Boy Scouts called to say his was the best speech ever delivered to the more than century-old organization?  What about when the president of Mexico picked …

Outrage erupts over report DOJ will target affirmative action  —  Civil rights advocates are slamming the Trump administration over its reported plans to investigate affirmative action admission policies at universities that discriminate against white students.

New Fox Harassment Allegations: “A Contributorship...Was Contingent Upon” Sex  —  A former frequent on-air guest at Fox News says that a Fox consultant and top lieutenant to Roger Ailes, the network's late founder and longtime CEO, sexually harassed her repeatedly for more than a year …

A Vatican Shot Across the Bow for Hard-Line U.S. Catholics  —  VATICAN CITY — Two close associates of Pope Francis have accused American Catholic ultraconservatives of making an alliance of “hate” with evangelical Christians to back President Trump, further alienating a group already out of the Vatican's good graces.

Roman Britain in Black and White  —  I have been in something of a Twitter storm over the past few days, all because of an argument about the ethnic diversity of Roman Britain (sounds harmless enough you think, well... just see).  I have decided by the way not to include Twitter screen shots …