Senate Intelligence Leaders Say House G.O.P. Leaked a Senator's Texts  —  WASHINGTON — The Senate Intelligence Committee has concluded that Republicans on the House Intelligence Committee were behind the leak of private text messages between the Senate panel's top Democrat and a Russian-connected lawyer …

White House preparing for McMaster exit as early as next month  —  WASHINGTON — The White House is preparing to replace H.R. McMaster as national security adviser as early as next month in a move orchestrated by chief of staff John Kelly and Defense Secretary James Mattis, according to five people familiar with the discussions.

Exclusive: FBI counterintel investigating Ivanka Trump business deal  —  (CNN)US counterintelligence officials are scrutinizing one of Ivanka Trump's international business deals, according to two sources familiar with the matter.  —  The FBI has been looking into the negotiations …

Mueller eyes charges against Russians who stole, spread Democrats' emails  —  WASHINGTON — Special Counsel Robert Mueller is assembling a case for criminal charges against Russians who carried out the hacking and leaking of private information designed to hurt Democrats in the 2016 election …

Justice Dept. Report Is Expected to Criticize Andrew McCabe Over Media Disclosures  —  WASHINGTON — A Justice Department review is expected to criticize the former F.B.I. deputy director, Andrew G. McCabe, for authorizing the disclosure of information about a continuing investigation to journalists …

Voters vow to elect a Congress that stands up to Trump, poll shows  —  WASHINGTON — Americans are mad, and that is putting Republicans at risk.  —  A new USA TODAY/Suffolk University Poll finds voters looking toward the midterm elections are overwhelmingly unhappy with the country's direction …

U.S. Ambassador to Mexico to Quit Amid Tense Relations Under Trump  —  MEXICO CITY — The United States ambassador to Mexico plans to resign from her post in May, according to a memo circulated on Thursday to embassy staff, the latest in a string of senior diplomatic departures from the region …

See HUD's $31,000 mahogany dining set  —  Washington (CNN)A $31,000 dining set the Department of Housing and Urban Development purchased, which raised eyebrows when first reported Tuesday, includes a table, sideboard, breakfront — all in mahogany — and 10 mahogany chairs with a blue velvet finish …

Longtime Fox News exec who wrote controversial Olympics column out at network  —  Fox News exec slams Olympic committee's focus on diversity  —  John Moody, the longtime Fox News executive who wrote a controversial column about the US Olympic committee last month, is no longer with Fox News …

‘March For Our Lives’ gun-control rally bumped from Mall by ‘talent show’ … A planned rally against mass shootings can't be held on the Mall later this month because it conflicts with what's described in a National Park Service permit application as a “talent show.”

Trump Plans Tariffs on Steel and Aluminum and Markets Slump  —  WASHINGTON — President Trump said on Thursday that he will impose stiff tariffs on imports of steel and aluminum, thwarting some of his top pro-trade advisers and rattling stock markets as the prospect of a global trade fight loomed.

Mike Huckabee resigns from CMA Foundation board following controversy  —  Mike Huckabee and TBN president Matthew Crouch talk about the new show in Nashville  —  Less than one day after his appointment was announced, former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee has resigned from the CMA Foundation board of directors …

Rick Gates tells judge he's canceling trip due to threat invoking Russian mafia  —  Ex-Trump campaign aide Rick Gates pleads guilty  —  Washington (CNN)Former Trump campaign deputy Rick Gates told a federal court Thursday afternoon that he and his wife believe it's “not prudent” …

Putin threatens US arms race with new missiles declaration  —  President says Russia has new line of nuclear-capable weapons that can breach US defences … Vladimir Putin has announced that Russia has developed and is testing a new line of strategic, nuclear-capable weapons that would be able …

Questions linger about how Melania Trump, a Slovenian model, scored ‘the Einstein visa’  —  In 2000, Melania Knauss, a Slovenian model dating Donald Trump, began petitioning the government for the right to permanently reside in the United States under a program reserved for people with “extraordinary ability.”

Georgia Passes Bill That Stings Delta Over N.R.A. Position  —  ATLANTA — Georgia lawmakers approved a bill on Thursday that stripped out a tax break proposal highly coveted by Delta Air Lines — the most stinging punishment that America's pro-gun forces have leveled so far …

Meet The ‘Experts’ Kobach Is Using To Defend His Voter Fraud Claims In Court  —  Next week, Kansas Secretary of State Kris Kobach will go to federal court to defend a voting restriction that he has for years tried to implement in his state.  —  To help Kobach make his case …

Dark money group America First Policies is running a pro-Trump polling operation.  Here is an inside look at its secretive work  — America First Policies, a nonprofit group with close ties to President Donald Trump, has hired Trump's pollsters to conduct a wide range of political polling and research.

Fights Worth Having  —  For my money, the best op-ed published in The Times this week was Mona Charen's Feb. 25 barn-burner, “I'm Glad I Got Booed at CPAC.”  Charen is a movement conservative who worked for Nancy and Ronald Reagan and is a longtime contributor to National Review.

French far-right leader Marine Le Pen charged over IS photos  —  PARIS (AP) — French prosecutors filed preliminary charges Thursday against far-right leader Marine Le Pen for tweeting brutal images of Islamic State violence, in a new blow to a woman long seen as the face of Europe's anti-immigrant populism.

Robert Kraft's much younger girlfriend secretly had a baby  —  There was speculation about Patriots owner Bob Kraft after his much younger girlfriend Ricki Noel Lander secretly had a baby — but he's confirmed that the child is not his.  —  Billionaire Kraft, who has four adult sons …