Moscow meeting in June 2017 under scrutiny in Trump probe  —  WASHINGTON (AP) — Earlier this year, a Russian-American lobbyist and another businessman discussed over coffee in Moscow an extraordinary meeting they had attended 12 months earlier: a gathering at Trump Tower with President Donald Trump's son …

Top Russian Official Tried to Broker ‘Backdoor’ Meeting Between Trump and Putin  —  WASHINGTON — A senior Russian official who claimed to be acting at the behest of President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia tried in May 2016 to arrange a meeting between Mr. Putin and Donald J. Trump, according to several people familiar with the matter.

In Mocking Franken Over Claims of Sexual Misconduct, Trump Joins a Debate He Started  —  WASHINGTON — Last fall, Donald J. Trump inadvertently touched off a national conversation about sexual harassment when a recording of him boasting about groping women was made public at the same …

Sean Spicer Is Resetting His Post-White House Career Strategy  —  The former press secretary didn't land a lucrative TV news pundit job.  Now both Spicer and Washington super lawyer/agent Bob Barnett are distancing themselves from each other.  —  At first, Sean Spicer's exit …

Republican Governors' 2018 Dilemma: What to Do About Trump?  —  AUSTIN, Tex. — For nearly a decade, meetings of the Republican Governors Association were buoyant, even giddy, affairs, as the party — lifted by enormous political donations and a backlash against the Obama administration …

‘Girls’ Writer Murray Miller Accused of Raping Underage Actress Aurora Perrineau (Exclusive)  —  “Passengers” star says she woke up in 2012 with Murray “on top of me having sexual intercourse with me”  —  Actress Aurora Perrineau has gone to police to accuse “Girls” writer …

How Politics and Bad Decisions Starved New York's Subways  —  Disruptions and delays have roiled the system this year.  But the crisis was long in the making, fueled by a litany of errors, a Times investigation shows.  —  After a drumbeat of transit disasters this year …

Trump still loves polls  —  The president often decries surveys showing him with slumping support as fake, but advisers say he can't stop himself from obsessively keeping track.  —  As a TV host, Donald Trump loved ratings.  As president, he loves polls—as long as they show him on the upswing.

AGENCY:  —  Fish and Wildlife Service, Interior.  —  ACTION:  —  Notice.  —  The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Service) has made a finding that the killing of African elephant trophy animals in Zimbabwe, on or after January 21, 2016, and on or before December 31, 2018, will enhance the survival of the African elephant.

Fire dept. refuses to remove confederate flag so county axes funding  —  TROY, N.C. - There's a Confederate flag battle going on in a small town in Montgomery County.  —  TROY, N.C. - There's a Confederate flag battle going on in a small town in Montgomery County.

Focus group: Trump risking supporters by picking Twitter fights  —  President Trump's Twitter habits in the White House could be costing him a key demographic of voters ahead of elections in 2018 and 2020, according to an online focus group convened by former Obama campaign manager Jim Messina.

Greg Gianforte misled police after assault of Guardian journalist, report reveals … US congressman Greg Gianforte misled police after his assault of Guardian reporter Ben Jacobs in May, falsely stating that Jacobs had initiated physical contact and that the “liberal media …

Jake Tapper Would Prefer Not To Be So Agitated  —  Jake Tapper sometimes wakes up angry.  This may be a good thing for America.  —  Amid the chaos of the Donald Trump presidency, and the deep partisanship that filters through seemingly all aspects of American life in 2017 …

New York Times Reporter: Obama Administration Misled on al Qaeda  —  The new bin Laden documents make clear that there was intelligence politicization during the 2012 campaign.  —  Updated: A top foreign correspondent at the New York Times said Friday that the Obama administration deliberately …

Navy says it will hold Whidbey Island aircrew accountable for tracing giant phallus over Okanogan County  —  ryanc@spokesman.com  —  (509) 598-0014  —  Look!  Up in the sky!  —  It's a bird.  —  It's a plane.  —  No, it's a phallic skydrawing, and a military aircraft is the culprit.