James Comey Has a Story to Tell.  It's Very Persuasive.  —  Truth, Lies, and Leadership  —  290 pages.  Flatiron Books.  $29.99.  —  In his absorbing new book, “A Higher Loyalty,” the former F.B.I. director James B. Comey calls the Trump presidency a “forest fire” …

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 …

President Trump poised to pardon Scooter Libby, Dick Cheney's former chief of staff, sources say  —  President Donald Trump is poised to pardon Scooter J. Libby, the former chief of staff to Vice President Dick Cheney, according to sources familiar with the president's thinking.

Trump, Having Denounced Amazon's Shipping Deal, Orders Review of Postal Service  —  WASHINGTON — President Trump abruptly issued an executive order on Thursday demanding an evaluation of the Postal Service's finances, asserting the power of his office weeks after accusing Amazon …

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 …

Trump had affair with housekeeper that produced a child, former doorman claims  —  President Donald Trump had a relationship with a former housekeeper that produced a child, a former Trump World Tower doorman claimed in a statement released Thursday afternoon.

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.

Confirm Mike Pompeo  —  MIKE POMPEO'S confirmation hearing to become secretary of state arrived at a moment when the Trump administration is grappling with a chaotic confluence of actual and looming foreign crises — including some of its own making.  President Trump is contemplating military strikes …

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 …

Proposal To Break California Into 3 States Could Make November Ballot  —  LOS ANGELES (CBSLA) — Voters could get a chance to decide whether California should be split into three states this November.  —  Venture capitalist Tim Draper, who authored an initiative to break up the Golden State …

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 …

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 …

APNewsBreak: Indiana GOP locked candidate out of database  —  INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — Senate candidate Todd Rokita likely violated ethics laws as Indiana's secretary of state by repeatedly accessing a Republican donor database from his government office, prompting party officials to lock …

How YouTube's Channel Recommendations Push Users To The Fringe  —  Researchers followed YouTube's channel recommendations wherever they led and often found Alex Jones and other fringe channels.  “Within the political communities, Alex Jones' channel is one of the most recommended ones,” they said.

Member of Trump's Voter Fraud Commission Sued for Voter Intimidation  —  A conservative activist and voter fraud alarmist is facing a federal lawsuit Thursday over dubious allegations of massive voter fraud in Virginia.  A civil rights group and four Virginia voters filed a suit …

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.

The Paul Ryan Story: From Flimflam to Fascism  —  Why did Paul Ryan choose not to run for re-election?  What will be the consequences?  Your guess is as good as mine — literally.  I can speculate based on what I read in the papers, but so can you.  —  On the other hand …

Cops Around the Country Can Now Unlock iPhones, Records Show  —  A Motherboard investigation has found that law enforcement agencies across the country have purchased GrayKey, a relatively cheap tool for bypassing the encryption on iPhones, while the FBI pushes again for encryption backdoors.