Comey: Trump asked me to investigate ‘pee tape’ to reassure Melania  —  President Trump wanted James Comey to investigate the infamous “pee tape” allegations — to reassure Melania that he hadn't actually paid Russian hookers to urinate on a hotel bed, the former FBI chief claims in his upcoming book.

Trump, Mueller teams prepare to move forward without presidential interview  —  WASHINGTON — Special Counsel Robert Mueller's office and President Donald Trump's legal team are now proceeding with strategies that presume a presidential interview will likely not take place as part of the Russia investigation …

The National Enquirer, a Trump Rumor, and Another Secret Payment to Buy Silence  —  Late in 2015, a former Trump Tower doorman named Dino Sajudin met with a reporter from American Media, Inc., the publisher of the National Enquirer, at a McDonald's in Pennsylvania.

Lawmakers' Letter Claims Further Spending Abuses by the E.P.A. Head, Scott Pruitt  —  WASHINGTON — Scott Pruitt, the Environmental Protection Agency administrator, insisted on staying in luxury hotels that were costlier than allowed by government standards, while also pushing to fly on an airline …

Trump Reverses Course and Proposes Rejoining Trans-Pacific Partnership  —  WASHINGTON — President Trump, in a stunning reversal, told a gathering of farm state lawmakers and governors on Thursday morning that he was directing his advisers to look into rejoining the multicountry trade deal known …

The Principle of Professional Law Enforcement Is Now on the Line  —  Expect President Trump to fire Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein in the next few days.  Maybe he won't do it.  Maybe he'll change his mind.  But Trump is apparently livid at Rosenstein and both The Washington Post …

Staring Down on Syria  —  On Saturday I took my family to have a closer look at Syria.  —  This was on the Golan Heights, from a roadside promontory overlooking the abandoned Syrian town of Quneitra.  The border is very green at this time of year, a serene patchwork of orchards and grassland …

Diamond & Silk Claim Facebook Never Contacted Them.  Facebook Emails Prove Otherwise. … Pro-Trump vloggers Diamond & Silk found themselves the center of two high-profile congressional hearings this week lawmakers obsessed over claims the duo were “censored” by Facebook.

Former Texas Congressman Steve Stockman found guilty of 23 felonies  —  A federal jury in Houston has ruled that Steve Stockman, a conservative former Texas congressman, is guilty of all but one charge in his federal fraud trial.  —  Steve Stockman, a former Texas congressman …

Fire the special counsel.  Please.  —  Let me put it to you this way, Mr. President.  Who are you going to listen to — the voice of the stable genius inside your head, or the timid voices of experience, the ones that said you'd never win?  —  You know what you want to do.  Just do it already.

Holocaust Is Fading From Memory, Survey Finds  —  For seven decades, “never forget” has been a rallying cry of the Holocaust remembrance movement.  —  But a survey released Thursday, on Holocaust Remembrance Day, found that many adults lack basic knowledge of what happened …

Trump federal judicial nominee refuses to say whether she supports racial segregation in schools  —  Brown v. Wendy Vitter?  —  A Louisiana lawyer nominated by President Trump for a federal judgeship refused to affirm whether she's opposed to school segregation during a congressional hearing Wednesday.

Charlie Rose's Life Now: “Broken,” “Brilliant” and “Lonely”  —  Before the devastating allegations of sexual misconduct hit, Rose was a legendary man-about-town.  Now, the former CBS and PBS star, one of TV's most feted journalists, is hiding out on Long Island with occasional …

Biblical prophecy claims the Rapture is coming April 23, numerologist says  —  Is the Rapture finally here?  One Christian numerologist says a biblical sign strongly suggests it.  —  David Meade tells the U.K.'s Daily Express newspaper that on April 23, the sun and moon will be in Virgo, as will Jupiter, which represents the Messiah.

Disney CEO Bob Iger On Taking the Biggest Risk of His Career  —  Disney's plan to acquire 21st Century Fox is about keeping up with a rapidly changing world.  “The status quo, to me, is a joke,” says Iger, photographed at home in Los Angeles.  —  Photographed by Mark Peckmezian, Vogue, May 2018.

This Parkland teacher left his gun in a public bathroom.  It was loaded, BSO says.  —  Not the most normal sight: a gun left in the bathroom stall.  —  But that's exactly what went down on Sunday in a men's room at the Deerfield Beach Pier.  —  The circumstances of how the Glock 9mm got there are unusual.

Scoop: Ricky Waddell is leaving the White House  —  Trump's deputy National Security Adviser Ricky Waddell will leave the White House, according to two sources briefed on the decision.  New National Security Adviser John Bolton wants to bring his own person in, and Waddell was H.R. McMaster's hand-picked deputy.

Revealed: Secret rightwing strategy to discredit teacher strikes … A nationwide network of rightwing thinktanks is launching a PR counteroffensive against the teachers' strikes that are sweeping the country, circulating a “messaging guide” for anti-union activists that portrays the walkouts …

Seahawks postpone visit after Colin Kaepernick won't say if he'll stop kneeling  —  After arranging for Colin Kaepernick to work out for the Seattle Seahawks this week, team officials postponed the trip when the quarterback declined to say he would stop kneeling during the national anthem next season …