Exclusive: First charges filed in Mueller investigation  —  Washington (CNN)A federal grand jury in Washington, DC, on Friday approved the first charges in the investigation led by special counsel Robert Mueller, according to sources briefed on the matter.  —  The charges are still sealed under orders from a federal judge.

Fusion GPS and the Washington Free Beacon  —  Since its launch in February of 2012, the Washington Free Beacon has retained third party firms to conduct research on many individuals and institutions of interest to us and our readers.  In that capacity, during the 2016 election cycle …

Four more women accuse Mark Halperin of harassment, bringing total to at least a dozen  —  Journalist Mark Halperin accused of sexual harassment  —  Two days after CNN first reported that five women said “Game Change” co-author and journalist Mark Halperin sexually harassed or assaulted …

Talking Points Brought to Trump Tower Meeting Were Shared With Kremlin  —  Natalia V. Veselnitskaya arrived at a meeting at Trump Tower in June 2016 hoping to interest top Trump campaign officials in the contents of a memo she believed contained information damaging to the Democratic Party and, by extension, Hillary Clinton.

Trump Donor Asked Data Firm If It Could Better Organize Hacked Emails  —  August 2016 exchange between Rebekah Mercer and Cambridge Analytica's CEO shows efforts to leverage Clinton-related messages  —  Trump donor Rebekah Mercer in August 2016 asked the chief executive of a data-analytics firm working …

Orrin Hatch Tells Friends He Plans to Retire  —  SALT LAKE CITY, Utah—Senator Orrin Hatch has privately told allies in Utah that he is planning to retire at the end of his term next year, and if he does, Mitt Romney intends to run for his seat, according to five sources familiar with the situation.

Texans players considered walkout over Bob McNair comment  —  HOUSTON — Some Texans players considered staging a walkout following a comment by team owner Bob McNair that compared NFL players to “inmates,” a source told ESPN.  —  About 10 players, including Pro Bowl wide receiver DeAndre Hopkins …

Dana Boente announces resignation as U.S. Attorney for Eastern District of Virginia  —  (Photo by Jabin Botsford/The Washington Post) (Jabin Botsford/The Washington Post)  —  Dana Boente, the U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia, has submitted his resignation, a spokesman confirmed Friday.

Trump wants State Department to release remaining Clinton emails  —  Washington (CNN)President Donald Trump has made it clear to the State Department that he wants to accelerate the release of any remaining Hillary Clinton emails in its possession as soon as possible, according to three sources familiar with the President's thinking.

Puerto Rico Is Burning Its Dead, And We May Never Know How Many People The Hurricane Really Killed  —  People whose bodies are cremated are largely not being counted in the official death toll.  The government says it's the fault of funeral directors, while funeral directors say they've received no guidance from the government.

Yuli Gurriel does slant-eye gesture after hitting homer off Yu Darvish, calls him slur  —  Yuli Gurriel started the scoring off Yu Darvish in Game 2 of the World Series, and Gurriel seemed so pleased with himself that he decided to out himself as a racist by mocking Darvish with a slant-eye gesture.

If Republicans can't oppose Roy Moore, they're headed for extinction  —  Alabama GOP Senate nominee Roy Moore serves as a convenient dividing line.  If Republicans cannot oppose a former state supreme court justice ousted twice from the bench who espouses rabidly anti-Muslim views …

Whitefish Energy contract bars government from auditing deal  —  A deal reached between the government and a small Montana energy company located in Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke  —  's hometown prohibits the government from reviewing labor costs or profits related to the company's relief efforts …

Trumps questions how media could produce ‘such beautiful children’ at trick-or-treat event  —  Trump later asked one child, ‘So how does the press treat you?’  —  President Donald Trump cracked that he could not believe members of the media could produce “such beautiful children” …

It was a pleasure last night to sit and talk at a Harvard Bookstore event with the excellent Robin Young of NPR's Here and Now.  The topic last night was my new book, “I Can't Breathe,” about the killing of Eric Garner.  At the end of the discussion she asked some difficult questions about my past …

The Week Trump Won  —  One hundred years ago on Friday, John Reed was in St. Petersburg watching Lenin, Trotsky and the rest of the Bolsheviks take over Russia.  It was interesting to read his account, “Ten Days That Shook the World,” this week — the week when Donald Trump and Steve Bannon solidified …

Former President Obama called to jury duty in Cook County and plans to serve  —  Former President Barack Obama “made it crystal-clear to me through his representative that he would carry out his public duty” and report for jury service, Cook County's chief judge said.  (Nancy Stone / Chicago Tribune)

Unsealed Documents Show That Kris Kobach Is Dead Set on Suppressing the Right to Vote  —  For almost a year, Kris Kobach, the secretary of state of Kansas, has struggled to hide the truth about his efforts to lobby the Trump administration to make it much harder for Americans to vote.

Conservative Think Tank Urged EPA To Consider Convicted Child Sex Offender For Climate Panel  —  The retired nuclear chemist made it onto the Heartland Institute's list of climate change deniers submitted to the EPA.  —  In 2008, Oliver Manuel, a nuclear chemist whose crank theories …