John Dowd Resigns as Trump's Lead Lawyer in Special Counsel Inquiry  —  WASHINGTON — The president's lead lawyer for the special counsel investigation, John Dowd, resigned on Thursday, according to two people briefed on the matter, days after the president called for an end to the inquiry.

Massive spending deal clinched despite Trump's misgivings  —  Lawmakers will have to move quickly to avoid a shutdown on Friday night.  —  Congressional leaders on Wednesday night formally unveiled a mammoth spending bill that would deliver the largest funding boost to federal agencies in years …

Facebook gave data about 57bn friendships to academic  —  Volume of data suggests trusted partnership with Aleksandr Kogan, says analyst … Before Facebook suspended Aleksandr Kogan from its platform for the data harvesting “scam” at the centre of the unfolding Cambridge Analytica scandal …

Judge orders Gov. Scott Walker to hold special elections for open legislative seats in Eric Holder suit  —  MADISON - Dealing a setback to Gov. Scott Walker and other Republicans, a judge ruled Thursday the governor must call special elections to fill two vacant seats in the Legislature.

Jeff Zucker Hits “Propaganda Machine” Fox News: “It Is Really State-Run TV”  —  The CNN chief said the network does a “disservice to the country.”  —  CNN President Jeff Zucker lashed out at competitor Fox News at an industry conference on Thursday afternoon, saying that Fox News “is really state-run TV.

Charges Have Been Dropped Against Most Turkish Officers in D.C. Clash  —  Case had caused a rift between the U.S. and Turkey  —  WASHINGTON—Federal prosecutors have dropped charges against 11 of 15 members of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan's security team who were accused in connection …

Rex Tillerson takes an apparent parting shot at Trump … Rex Tillerson is officially done as secretary of state, but he got in what appeared to be one final dig at President Trump before heading out the door.  —  At the every end of his farewell speech to the State Department on Thursday …

He Gambles.  He Tips Staff.  He Eats Alone.  All the While, He's Stocking His Vegas Suite With Guns.  —  Sometimes we see him as other hotel guests would have seen him: as the tall gambler intent on the video poker machine across the casino floor, or as the customer standing in line in front …

John Bolton's Curious Appearance In A Russian Gun Rights Video  —  Former U.N. ambassador John Bolton recorded a video used by the Russian gun rights group The Right to Bear Arms in 2013 to encourage the Russian government to loosen gun laws.  —  The episode, which has not been previously reported …

60 Minutes interview with Stormy Daniels to be broadcast Sunday  —  The adult-film star and director describes the affair she says she had with Donald Trump in her first television interview about the alleged relationship  —  The 60 Minutes interview with Stormy Daniels …

Bill Murray The Parkland kids remind me of the students who helped end the Vietnam War  —  Their most powerful asset in their fight to bring change is their idealism  —  We are living in interesting times, and people are becoming politically activated who weren't previously.

Exit Stage Left or Right: Midterm Retirements and Open Seats in the House From 1974 to 2018  —  Republicans already have many abandoned districts to defend this November.  Are there more to come?  —  KEY POINTS FROM THIS ARTICLE  — By multiple measures — such as retirements, “pure” …

The School Shooting Generation Has Had Enough  —  It's lunchtime on a Tuesday, and the kids are piling into a pizzeria booth in Coral Springs, Fla., to plot a revolution.  “The adults know that we're cleaning up their mess,” says Cameron Kasky, an 11th-grader at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School …

Trump's Lawyers Sharing Office Space With Anti-'Deep-State' Group … President Donald Trump's legal team has done work out of the Capitol Hill offices of a conservative nonprofit group run by one of the president's lawyers.  —  Two sources familiar with the situation say attorneys representing …

Austin bomber: ‘Challenged young man’ or ‘terrorist’? … For weeks, the 23-year-old suspected bomber terrorized the city of Austin with a string of explosions that killed two and injured several others.  —  But should the bomber, identified by authorities as Mark Anthony Conditt, be called a terrorist?

The Radical Proposal That Moderate Democrats Should Be Running On  —  Last week, a self-styled moderate Democrat won a congressional race in the heart of Trump Country — and the last-surviving “Blue Dogs” promptly declared their vindication.  For the Democrats' right flank, Politico wrote …

Citigroup Sets Restrictions on Gun Sales by Business Partners  —  Citigroup is setting restrictions on the sale of firearms by its business customers, making it the first Wall Street bank to take a stance in the divisive nationwide gun control debate.  —  The new policy, announced Thursday …

House panel finds no Trump-Russia collusion, recommends leak crackdown  —  House Intelligence Committee Republicans voted Thursday to end their investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election, declaring that a string of contacts between Donald Trump's associates …

This Public Relations Firm Has Been Secretly Placing Articles In Conservative Publications  —  Inside the corporate payola machine.  —  Conservative media has long been the home for impassioned arguments against the welfare state, gun control, and taxes.  —  But if you look closely …

China to Target Trump's Base in Tariff Response  —  Beijing prepares to deliver pain to President Trump's support base, including with tariffs targeting agricultural exports  —  China is preparing to hit back at trade offensives from Washington with tariffs aimed at President Donald Trump's support base …

Police shot at a man 20 times in his back yard, thinking he had a gun.  It was a cellphone. … Police say they saw an object in Stephan Clark's hand before firing 20 bullets that killed him in his own yard Sunday night in Sacramento, with the disturbing moment made public through body camera footage released Wednesday night.

Foreign Relations Dem: Senate must act on Trump's ambassador nominees  —  A Democrat on the Foreign Relations Committee expressed frustration Thursday over the slow pace of confirmations for President Trump  —  's ambassador nominees, saying he would push Senate minority leader Charles Schumer

House leaders' biggest 2018 fear: The lazy Republican  —  On paper, Rep. John Culberson (R-Texas) appears to be a shoo-in for reelection.  He's served nine terms in what's been a GOP stronghold for decades, hasn't had a serious challenger in years and sits on one of the most powerful committees in Congress.

Frank Avruch, who played Bozo the Clown, dies at 89  —  (CNN)Frank Avruch, who was best known for playing Bozo the Clown, died Tuesday at the age of 89, according to his manager Stuart Hersh.  —  “While it's hard to say goodbye, we celebrate the legacy of joy and laughter he brought to millions …

CIA Fills In Some Blanks on Gina Haspel's Secret Life  —  A career as a clandestine officer has left little digital or paper trails on the CIA director nominee, so the agency is filling in some blanks: daughter of an airman, Kentucky native, Johnny Cash fan  —  As President Donald Trump's nominee …