'I don't want to sit on your lap,' she thought.  But, she alleges, Mark Halperin insisted.  —  Dianna Goldberg was a young researcher at ABC News in 1994 when she asked a colleague, Mark Halperin, for some information about a story.  He readily agreed to help her and asked her to come to his office.

British newspaper received mystery call minutes before JFK assassination  —  A British newspaper received a mystery call minutes before the assassination of John F Kennedy.  —  This is one of the most astonishing revelations from the JFK files, released on Thursday.

Conway confirms Trump wanted FBI informant's gag order lifted  —  Washington (CNN)In response to reporting that President Donald Trump personally pressed for an informant's gag order to be lifted, White House adviser Kellyanne Conway said Friday that he wanted the informant to be free to speak out.

State Department Scraps Sanctions Office  —  The Trump administration is three weeks late on Russia sanctions.  But it's killed the office that coordinates them.  —  The State Department shuttered an office that oversees sanctions policy, even as the Donald Trump administration faces criticism …

Gillespie's ads are poisonous to Virginia and the nation  —  (Pete Marovich/For The Washington Post)  —  SINCE 2001, when he was convicted of a sex offense and served a brief prison term, and early this year, when he was convicted on child-pornography charges, Virginia resident John Bowen …

Catalan parliament declares independence from Spain  —  The Catalan regional parliament has voted to declare independence from Spain, while the Spanish parliament has approved direct rule over the region.  —  Catalan MPs backed the motion 70-10 in a ballot boycotted by the opposition.

The Attempted Remaking of Michael Grimm  —  Steve Bannon looked at a convicted felon — and saw a populist.  —  It was Friday, which meant it was Michael Grimm's cheat day.  —  The muscle mass he carried during his time as a Marine, an undercover FBI agent, and even as a congressman has …

Gaffes, TV ratings concerns dominated as NFL, players forged anthem peace  —  NOBODY KNEW WHERE to sit.  Side by side or across from one another?  —  It was the final question raised by a group of 11 NFL team owners as they mingled inside the sixth-floor conference room …

The Very Busy, Very Unproductive Life of Leon Wieseltier  —  New Republic literary editor Leon Wieseltier is the egghead boy toy of such glamorous powers as Barbra Streisand, Shirley MacLaine, and Tipper Gore.  But has he abandoned the life of the mind to be the life of the party?

This Is What the Trump Abyss Looks Like  —  The past week was another watershed, it seems to me, in the rising power of Donald Trump.  Flake is quitting; Corker is retiring; McCain is mortal.  Sasse, Murkowski, Collins, and Paul remain, but the odds are mounting against them.

GOP eyes end of Russia probes with Trump collusion unanswered  —  Republican lawmakers say they're approaching the end of their investigations into Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election even though the most politically explosive issue — whether associates of President Donald Trump colluded …

How Congress plays by different rules on sexual harassment and misconduct  —  Briony Whitehouse was a 19-year-old intern in 2003 when she boarded an elevator in the Russell Senate Office Building with a Republican senator, who she said groped her until the doors reopened.

Amazon gains wholesale pharmacy licenses in multiple states  —  Throughout the past year, and without much fanfare, Amazon.com Inc. has gained approval to become a wholesale distributor from a number of state pharmaceutical boards, according to a review of public records.

Car drives into immigration protesters outside Rep. Ed Royce's office  —  A vehicle drove into a group of protesters outside of GOP Rep. Ed Royce's office in Brea on Thursday afternoon, but no injuries have been reported to police so far.  —  A vehicle drove into a group of protesters outside …

Mississippi judge resigns after barring mother from seeing newborn because of unpaid court fees  —  Even in the annals of “oppressive things done to poor people due to unpaid court fees,” this story seems particularly monstrous.  It comes via a press release from the MacArthur Justice Center at the University of Mississippi.

De Blasio donor's shocking testimony: $100K bought me the mayor  —  Mayor Bill de Blasio and donor Jona Rechnitz  —  A Mayor Bill de Blasio donor-turned-felon testified in extraordinary detail Thursday that he and his businessman pals wrote the book on city corruption …

George H.W. Bush Groped Me, Too  —  It was during an April 2014 photo op, and later I was asked to “be discreet.”  —  In April of 2014, I was invited to Houston as a guest author for the Barbara Bush Foundation for Family Literacy fundraiser, along with two well-known male authors …

How Team Hillary played the press for fools on Russia  —  MORE FROM: … Hillary Clinton's campaign didn't just pay for the Kremlin-aided smear job on Donald Trump before the election; she continued to use the dirt after the election to frame her humiliating loss as a Russian conspiracy to steal the election.

Russia's Troll Factory Made ‘Hillary Clinton’ Sex Tape, Ex-Worker Claims … A Russian-government-backed “troll factory” hired a black man and a Hillary Clinton look-alike to make a sex tape, according to the first former employee of the factory's American division to go on the record.

Mark Cuban's Not Done Trolling Donald Trump  —  If you want to know just how surreal things have gotten, consider this: In 2015, Donald Trump had to decide between playing the president in “Sharknado 3: Oh Hell No!” and running to be the actual president.  —  And it wasn't an easy choice.