The Stormy Daniels Damage  —  Does Trump want Americans to believe him in a genuine crisis?  —  Most storms pass eventually.  This week Donald Trump tried to ensure that Stormy Daniels doesn't rain down permanent distraction on his Presidency, though at the cost of further damage to his credibility.

Why the Justice Department Is Defiant  —  A House subpoena, another missed deadline.  What is the department hiding?  —  The feud that has simmered for months between Congress and the Justice Department erupted this week into a cage match.  That's because the House is homing in on the goods.

Influential outsiders have played a key role in Scott Pruitt's foreign travel … Scott Pruitt's itinerary for a February trip to Israel was remarkable by any standard for an Environmental Protection Agency administrator: A stop at a controversial Jewish settlement in the West Bank.

Donald Trump's Pursuit of an Oval Office Meeting with Vladimir Putin  —  Inside the mystery behind the President's surprise invitation to Russia's leader, and his team's struggle to figure out what to do about it.  —  Late on Monday evening, the Secretary of Commerce, Wilbur Ross, started making calls to European allies.

Unemployment is below 4% for the first time since 2000  —  The job market hasn't been this good in a very long time.  —  The unemployment rate dropped below 4% in April for the first time since 2000.  The Labor Department reported Friday that it fell to 3.9% — inching closer to territory not seen in half a century.

Mueller requests 70 blank subpoenas in Manafort case  —  is requesting 70 blank subpoenas ahead of the trial of former Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort  —  Mueller is making the request for the subpoenas in the Alexandria, Va., court where Manafort is facing trial on several charges, including bank fraud.

Trump Orders Pentagon to Consider Reducing U.S. Forces in South Korea  —  WASHINGTON — President Trump has ordered the Pentagon to prepare options for drawing down American troops in South Korea, just weeks before he holds a landmark meeting with North Korea's leader, Kim Jong-un …

2018 Nobel Prize in Literature Postponed Amid Sexual Abuse Scandal  —  STOCKHOLM — The Swedish panel that awards the Nobel Prize in Literature said on Friday that it would take the extraordinary step of not naming a laureate this year — not because of a shortage of deserving writers …

Democrats: Don't Take the Bait on Impeachment  —  In 2010, as a member of the House Judiciary Committee, I led the effort to impeach a federal judge from New Orleans named Thomas Porteous Jr. He was accused of multiple acts of corruption, some of which preceded his appointment to the federal bench …

How Greg Abbott Got Played by the Russians During His Jade Helm Freakout  —  Texas Governor Greg Abbott's willingness to pander to the manic extremism broadcast through AM radio airwaves and streamed on the margins of YouTube apparently has him playing right into the hands of Russian disinformation campaigns.

Behind Erik Prince's China venture  —  The Blackwater founder has cut a lucrative security-training deal with Chinese insiders.  But is it against U.S. interests?  —  Beijing's International Security Defense College, which boasts of becoming “the largest private security training school in China …

Deputy Consul General Of Israel Allegedly Forced Out Of Uber Ride For Speaking Hebrew On Phone  —  CHICAGO (CBS) - The Deputy Consul General of Israel to the Midwest, Itay Milner, says he was ten minutes into his Uber ride on Lower Wacker Drive Thursday night when he was thrown out by the driver.

The Iran Deal Is Strategically and Morally Absurd  —  Editor's Note: This article is part of a debate about whether to stay in the Iran deal.  Read the other entries here.  —  It was surely Barack Obama's profound aversion to the use of American military power that so enfeebled …

Report: Qatar Just Bought $6.5M Apartment in Trump Property  —  Qatar's mission to the United Nations bought an apartment valued at $6.5 million in New York's Trump World Tower on Jan. 17, one month after a judge ruled that President Donald Trump was not violating the Emoluments Clause …

They Voted for Obama, Then Went for Trump.  Can Democrats Win Them Back?  —  RITTMAN, Ohio — In the daily race that is her life, Sharla Baker does not think about politics very much.  —  She rises early, drives to the gas station to buy coffee, feeds her baby, dresses her two other children …

Fox's Cavuto to Trump: 'That's your stink.  Mr. President, that's your swamp.' … Fox News host Neil Cavuto ripped into President Trump's trail of conflicting and false statements in a monologue on Thursday, targeting Trump for everything from the Stormy Daniels payment to his exaggerations …

House Republicans Prepare to Endorse Trump's Military Parade  — Lawmakers say it would honor ‘a century of military service’  — President called for a parade after seeing one in France  —  House Republicans are preparing to endorse President Donald Trump's plan for a military parade …

Trump to appoint Bill Belichick to his Sports Council  —  President Trump is appointing a number of sports celebrities, including New England Patriots coach Bill Belichick, to his “Council on Sports, Fitness, and Nutrition,” Axios has learned.  —  Why this matters: Trump signed an executive order …

10 SEALs Set to be Separated from the Service for failing Drug Tests; Investigation Underway  —  Ten enlisted Navy SEALs and a sailor who supported Navy special warfare are in the process of being administratively discharged from the service for testing positive for cocaine or methamphetamines, USNI News has learned.

Then they came for Peppa Pig … Most Americans have never heard of Peppa Pig, the cartoon star of a British television show for preschoolers, which Chinese censors started purging from Internet apps and Chinese social media over the past week.  Americans may not be bothered that an animated pig …

U.S. freezes funding for Syria's “White Helmets”  —  Less than two months ago the State Department hosted members of the White Helmets at Foggy Bottom.  At the time, the humanitarian group was showered with praise for saving lives in Syria.  —  “Our meetings in March were very positive.

Listen to ‘The Daily’: The Hunt for the Golden State Killer  —  Paul Holes was on the verge of retirement, having never completed his decades-long mission to catch the Golden State Killer.  Then he had an idea: Upload DNA evidence to a genealogy website.  —  On today's episode:

40 Questions Special Counsel Robert Mueller Needs to Answer Now  —  A Republican lawmaker contends the prosecutor has a lot to explain about his present job and prior posts as well  —  A firestorm was ignited earlier this week when The New York Times published a list of 40 questions …