FBI Warned Of Russian Intelligence Links To Oligarch In Cohen Payment Allegation  —  The FBI warned four years ago that a foundation controlled by the Russian oligarch who allegedly reimbursed Donald Trump's personal lawyer might have been acting on behalf of Russia's intelligence services.

Homeland Security Secretary Was Close to Resigning After Trump Berated Her  —  WASHINGTON — Kirstjen Nielsen, the homeland security secretary, told colleagues she was close to resigning after President Trump berated her on Wednesday in front of the entire cabinet for what he said was her failure …

White House official mocked ‘dying’ McCain at internal meeting  —  A White House official mocked Sen. John McCain  —  's brain cancer diagnosis at an internal meeting on Thursday, a day after the Arizona Republican announced his opposition to President Trump  —  's nominee for CIA director, Gina Haspel.

Dear Conservative Media: Do Some More Damn Reporting … The American political left has something that their counterparts on the right do not.  —  It's not a particular point of view, or a thing that is particular to a point of view.  It is more foundational than that.

Trump Was Told of Schneiderman Women Years Ago, Lawyer Says  — Lawyer asks judge seal Michael Cohen records to protect women  — New York Post journalist said to take allegations to Trump  —  Donald Trump's personal lawyer, Michael Cohen, was informed about allegations of sexual misconduct …

Maggie Haberman and the Toxic Swamp  —  On this week's episode of my podcast, I Have to Ask, I spoke to Maggie Haberman, a White House correspondent for the New York Times and an analyst at CNN.  She previously worked at the New York Post and Politico, has been at the Times since 2015 …

They mock vegans and eat 4lb of steak a day: meet ‘carnivore dieters’  —  For the last 18 months, Shawn Baker has eaten around 4lb of steak every day.  —  “I've got two rib-eye steaks waiting for me when I get off this call,” said the trained orthopaedic surgeon from Orange County, California.

How the Online Left Fuels the Right  —  I think I know what it feels like to be “red-pilled,” the alt-right's preferred metaphor for losing one's faith in received assumptions and turning toward ideas that once seemed dangerous.  —  For me, it happened over several visits to the West Bank.

The smear that killed the ‘reset’  —  Putin needed an American enemy.  He picked me.  —  From the beginning of the Obama administration, we knew we wanted to reboot our relationship with Moscow.  I coordinated Russia policy from the National Security Council, and Russia …

Trump to Drop Call for Medicare to Negotiate Lower Drug Prices  —  WASHINGTON — President Trump will lay out on Friday a broad strategy to reduce prescription drug prices, but in a break from one of his most popular campaign promises, he will not call for Medicare to negotiate lower prices …

Man With Gun Reported at High School in Palmdale, One in Custody  —  One person is in custody after deputies responded to a Palmdale high school Friday morning following a report of a man with a gun on campus.  —  The Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department confirmed deputies responded …

My journey to North Korea with the secretary of state … The State Department normally craves elaborate planning and procedures for everything.  Secretary of State Mike Pompeo's 13-hour visit to North Korea had little of that.  —  I had a view of the improvisational quality of his trip because …

About That FBI ‘Source’  —  Did the bureau engage in outright spying against the 2016 Trump campaign?  —  The Department of Justice lost its latest battle with Congress Thursday when it allowed House Intelligence Committee members to view classified documents about a top-secret intelligence source …

The Price of Getting Inside Trump's Head  —  Michael Cohen has profited from it, but we're all Trumpologists now.  —  On Easter Sunday, Chris Christie, the former New Jersey governor, was holding forth in the green room at ABC News in New York before going on the air.

Donald Trump's Lizard Wisdom  —  We're all educated by our peers, and, over the years, a good portion of Donald Trump's peers have been thugs.  Operating in the New York construction world meant dealing with S&A Concrete, co-owned by “Fat Tony” Salerno of the Genovese crime family …

Blankenship wants to ‘make sure’ Morrisey doesn't win Senate bid  —  Ex-coal CEO Don Blankenship, who lost the GOP primary bid in West Virginia this week, is actively plotting how to undercut state Attorney General Patrick Morrisey's Senate candidacy.  —  Greg Thomas, an adviser …

Florida Insider Poll: Doubts about Bill Nelson beating Rick Scott grow  —  Among more than 200 experts and veterans of Florida politics surveyed in the latest Tampa Bay Times Florida Insider Poll, nearly six in 10 this week said they expect Florida's Republican governor to unseat the three-term Democratic Senator.

A Qatari spy just got caught bragging about a payoff to Trump campaign member  —  A federal court filing in Los Angeles claims that agents of the nation of Qatar gave a payoff to convicted former Trump NSA, Gen. Michael Flynn, and also that he had accepted those payments.

Fox & Friends' Hegseth Trashes NY Times For Not Covering ISIS Capture Story First Reported by NY Times  —  Fox & Friends host Pete Hegseth had some fun mocking his favorite punching bag on Friday morning: The New York Times, which he proudly calls the “Failing New York Times,” a genius witticism he borrowed from Trump.

Black activist jailed for his Facebook posts speaks out about secret FBI surveillance  —  Now he is believed to be the first prosecuted under a secretive US effort to track so-called ‘black identity extremists’  —  Rakem Balogun thought he was dreaming when armed agents in tactical gear stormed his apartment.

Lawmakers weigh Plan B to protect Mueller's work  —  WASHINGTON — If Congress can't protect special counsel Robert Mueller's job, perhaps it can protect his work.  —  That's the thinking among several lawmakers on Capitol Hill, who are discussing ways to safeguard the special counsel's investigation …