'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 …

GOP winds down 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 …

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 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?

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 …

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 …

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 …

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.

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.

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 …

I Agree With Jonah Goldberg About Roy Moore and I Want Roy Moore to Win  —  I really do not have a lot to add to what Jonah Goldberg has written about Roy Moore.  Well, I should add that I endorsed Moore in the runoff and want him to win.  Other than that...

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.

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.

12 hours v. 20 minutes: Fox's uneven sex harassment coverage  —  https://apnews.com/5d83428f09ea495d9b14 a8bd887f7645  —  Link copied!  —  NEW YORK (AP) — Bill O'Reilly and Harvey Weinstein are the celebrity faces of sexual harassment in 2017.  But on Fox News Channel, O'Reilly's former home …