Trump offered a grieving military father $25,000 in a call, but didn't follow through  —  President Trump, in a personal phone call to a grieving military father, offered him $25,000 and said he would direct his staff to establish an online fundraiser for the family, but neither happened, the father said.

Twitter Was Warned Repeatedly About This Fake Account Run By A Russian Troll Farm And Refused To Take It Down  —  The account was one of hundreds created by Russia's Internet Research Agency and drew 136,000 followers by tweeting divisive messages in the name of the Tennessee Republican Party.

Senate Candidate Roy Moore Says NFL Protesters Are Breaking the Law  —  Senate candidate Roy Moore believes that professional athletes who take a knee during the national anthem are breaking the law.  —  In an interview with TIME magazine, the Alabama Republican argued that NFL players …

Poll: 46 percent think media make up stories about Trump  —  Nearly half of voters, 46 percent, believe the news media fabricate news stories about President Donald Trump and his administration, according to a new POLITICO/Morning Consult poll.  —  Just 37 percent of voters think the media …

FBI informant blocked from telling Congress about Russia nuclear corruption case, lawyer says  —  An American businessman who worked for years undercover as an FBI confidential witness was blocked by the Obama Justice Department from telling Congress about conversations and transactions …

Paul Ryan comes out against Alexander-Murray health care bill  —  House Speaker Paul Ryan's press secretary, Doug Andres, told Axios Wednesday that despite the bipartisan push behind the Alexander-Murray health bill , “The speaker does not see anything that changes his view that the Senate …

A Trump Golf Course Said It Gave Millions To Charity.  Here's What The Numbers Say  —  Throughout his presidential campaign and since, President Trump has made bold assertions about his charitable giving.  But as the Washington Post has thoroughly documented, those boasts of philanthropy don't always stand up to scrutiny.

Republican lawmakers' posh hideaway bankrolled by secret corporate cash  —  Bank records: Comcast, Microsoft, Koch helped fund GOP convention ‘cloakroom’  —  Donald Trump declared last year in his populist presidential nomination acceptance speech that he's “not able to look the other way” …

Facebook and Google Helped Anti-Refugee Campaign in Swing States  —  The big tech companies worked closely with Secure America Now to target an audience the group felt could be swayed by the message.  —  In the final weeks of the 2016 election campaign, voters in swing states including Nevada …

There's No Good Decision in the Next Big Data Privacy Case  —  In 2013, United States agents served a warrant on Microsoft seeking the emails of a suspect in a drug case.  Microsoft balked at the request, saying that the data was stored on a server in Ireland and out of the reach of United States law enforcement.

NFL ratings continue fall, latest Nielsen numbers show  —  Through the first six weeks of the NFL season, total viewership of games is down 7.5 percent, compared with the first six weeks of 2016.  —  An average of 15 million people watched games for the first six weeks this year …

5 shot, 3 dead in Maryland business park, gunman on the run, Harford sheriff says  —  Three people have died and two are injured in a shooting at an Edgewood area business park, the Harford County sheriff said Wednesday.  (Courtesy video)  —  Shooting in Emmorton business park in Edgewood area.

Real death toll in Puerto Rico is probably 450 — much higher than official count  —  Three weeks after Hurricane Maria devastated Puerto Rico, we've seen images of the destruction and heard stories about the lack of electricity and basic supplies like food and water in some areas.

Linda Bloodworth-Thomason: Lessons from Witnessing Four Decades of Harassment in Hollywood (Guest Column)  —  The creator of ‘Designing Women’ and Clinton confidant details horrific stories of sexual impropriety and abuse of power ("The No. 1 casting criterion for an actress is that she be 'hot and f …

Putin Rival Ties Kushner Meeting to Kremlin Bankers  —  A prominent exiled Russian oligarch said in an exclusive interview with NBC News that he is nearly certain Russian President Vladimir Putin tried to collaborate with the Trump campaign, and that he believes a top Russian banker was not …

Behind Trump, There's Bannon.  Behind Bannon, There's the Mercers.  —  And a new lawsuit is rather eye-opening.  —  If you accept, as Joshua Green argues in his splendid  —  Devil's Bargain  —  , and as events subsequent to the election have more than borne out, without Steve Bannon …

NHS provokes fury with indefinite surgery ban for smokers and obese  —  The NHS will ban patients from surgery indefinitely unless they lose weight or quit smoking, under controversial plans drawn up in Hertfordshire.  —  The restrictions - thought to be the most extreme yet to be introduced …

HACKED BUTT PLUG CAN BE CONTROLLED ‘FROM ANYWHERE’  —  Researchers have discovered a serious security flaw with a Bluetooth-enabled butt plug that allows hackers to remotely take control of the vibrating sex toy.  —  Italian security researcher Giovanni Mellini published his findings …

JPS school honoring Jefferson Davis to be renamed after Barack Obama  —  A predominately black public school in Mississippi named after Jefferson Davis will have its Confederate tied namesake stripped next year and replaced with the title of another president whose character students …

Dear White People: Be More Like Gregg Popovich  —  How white Americans view their country — and their president — appears to be almost split down the middle.  In a recent Gallup poll, 49 percent of white Americans said they do not approve of President Donald Trump's job performance.

Is Piketty's Data Reliable?  —  When Thomas Piketty's Capital in the Twenty-First Century first appeared many economists demurred on the theory but heaped praise on the empirical work.  “Even if none of Piketty's theories stands up,” Larry Summers argued, his “deeply grounded” and …