Trump lawyer ‘paid by Ukraine’ to arrange White House talks  —  Donald Trump's personal lawyer, Michael Cohen, received a secret payment of at least $400,000 to fix talks between the Ukrainian president and President Trump, according to sources in Kiev close to those involved.

Trump's FBI Spy Theory Is Completely Insane  —  In the face of widening evidence of Trump campaign culpability in the Russia investigation, Republicans have churned through a frequently mutating series of conspiracy theories to defend him.  The latest, and possibly final, such theory …

What Are They Hiding?  —  Americans Want Answers on Mueller Investigation, Cabinet Scandals, Congressional Oversight, and #MeToo  —  Welcome to NAVIGATOR — a project designed to better understand the American public's views on the issues of the day and help advocates, elected officials …

Philip Roth, the Seminal American Novelist, Has Died  —  Philip Roth, the seminal American novelist whose book “American Pastoral” won the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction, in 1998, has died, at the age of eighty-five.  His great subjects, as Claudia Roth Pierpont wrote in this magazine, in 2006 …

Families of Sandy Hook victims, FBI agent file defamation lawsuit against right-wing radio host Alex Jones  —  Six families of victims killed in the Sandy Hook Elementary School mass shooting, as well as an FBI agent who responded to the scene, filed a defamation lawsuit today …

State Department warns U.S. citizens in China after employee suffers possible sonic attack  —  BEIJING — The U.S. State Department is warning U.S. citizens in China that a government employee reported unusual “sensations of sound and pressure” and was later diagnosed with a mild traumatic brain injury …

Prominent donor threatens GOP over DACA  —  CHICAGO — An influential, multi-millionaire GOP donor is threatening to choke off campaign resources to Republican congressmen who haven't engaged in the latest immigration battle in Congress.  —  Former Exelon chairman John Rowe …

Top Senate Republicans ask White House for entry into meeting on classified information  —  A trio of influential Senate Republicans, cut out of a high-stakes meeting this week on classified information about a confidential FBI source who aided an investigation into Trump campaign advisers …

N.F.L. Teams Will Be Fined for Players' Anthem Kneeling  —  The owners of N.F.L. teams agreed on Wednesday to a new policy for player conduct during the playing of the national anthem, an issue that escalated last season into a national debate that involved President Trump.

5 Key Takeaways From Tuesday's Primaries  —  It was a night for upsets and breakthroughs: In Georgia, a black woman was nominated for governor by a major party for the first time in any state.  In Kentucky, a math teacher defeated a Republican power broker.

The Risky Business of Speaking for President Trump  —  Flacks in this White House press office are getting enormous exposure — but potentially at a long-term cost to their credibility.  —  It was getting late on a Wednesday, and by 2018 standards the evening's news cycle felt almost serene.

Exclusive: U.S. Government Can't Get Controversial Kaspersky Lab Software Off Its Networks … Federal agencies are so far unable to comply with a law banning Kaspersky Lab software from U.S. government networks by October, The Daily Beast has learned.  Multiple divisions of the U.S. government …

Would you wear this muzzle around the office for private calling?  —  A new accessory called Bloxvox muffles your phone conversations in an open office.  Just don't share it.  —  Enlarge Image  —  Back in January of 2017 I discovered a product at CES called HushMe that I described as …

A 30-year-old demanded notice for eviction from his parents' house.  ‘Outrageous,’ a judge said.  —  Michael Rotondo refuses to move out of his parents' house.  —  So much so that the 30-year-old argued for a half-hour with a judge in Upstate New York on Tuesday, saying that while he knew …

The new AG itching to take on Trump  —  New Jersey Attorney General Gurbir Grewal has jurisdiction over 20 Trump properties and is ready to step into Eric Schneiderman's void.  —  The man aspiring to be the new face of the resistance is a practicing Sikh who likes to call attention to his turban …

Michael Cohen's Business Partner Agrees to Cooperate as Part of Plea Deal  —  A significant business partner of Michael D. Cohen, President Trump's personal lawyer, has quietly agreed to cooperate with the government as a potential witness, a development that could be used as leverage to pressure …

Sources: FBI Agents Want Congress To Issue Them Subpoenas So They Can Reveal The Bureau's Dirt  — Sources tell The Daily Caller several FBI agents want congressional subpoenas to testify about the agency's problems.  — The sources claim there is a demand within the agency to prosecute former Deputy FBI Director Andrew McCabe.

Exclusive: Bannon says Rosenstein could be fired ‘very shortly’  —  's former chief strategist Stephen Bannon predicts that Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein  —  could be fired “very shortly,” in an interview that will be broadcast Wednesday evening in the United Kingdom.

Trump Blames China's Xi Jinping for Sabotaging the Kim Jong Un Summit … President Donald Trump met his South Korean counterpart in the White House on Tuesday, publicly acknowledged his planned summit with Kim Jong Un may never take place, and called out China's ruler for sabotaging the denuclearization process.

How the Mueller Investigation Could Play Out for Trump  —  If Robert S. Mueller III, the special counsel, finds evidence that Mr. Trump broke the law, he will have decisions to make about how to proceed.  We explain them.

Why I can't go back to Saudi Arabia to drive for the first time with my son  —  Manal al-Sharif, a Saudi women's rights activist, is the author of “Daring to Drive: A Saudi Woman's Awakening.”  —  The recent arrest of women's rights activists has marred what was meant to be a history-making event …

Comey Rips Trump's ‘Attacks’ on the FBI: ‘How Will Republicans Explain This to Their Grandchildren?’  —  Former FBI Director James Comey came to the agency's defense this morning as President Trump continues to attack it over the informant used during the election.

Teacher narrowly upsets Kentucky House GOP leader.  A sign of things to come?  —  As upset teachers across Kentucky Tuesday tried to flex their political muscle, Rockcastle County High School math teacher R. Travis Brenda narrowly defeated House Majority Floor Leader Jonathan Shell …

Women make up more than 40% of House Democratic nominees so far.  That's a big deal.  —  Calling 2018 a “Year of the Woman” has become so obvious that it's almost cliché at this point, but another huge primary night for Democratic women last night makes it worth revisiting again.

Deep in the Desert, Iran Quietly Advances Missile Technology  —  When an explosion nearly razed Iran's long-range missile research facility in 2011 — and killed the military scientist who ran it — many Western intelligence analysts viewed it as devastating to Tehran's technological ambitions.

Giuliani's New Stance On Russian Collusion: So What?  It's Not Illegal.  —  “It was sort of like a gift,” Giuliani said of the Clinton campaign material stolen by Russia.  “And you're not involved in the illegality of getting it.”  —  WASHINGTON His client insists there was “NO COLLUSION” …

House overwhelmingly passes bipartisan prison reform bill  —  WASHINGTON — The House by an overwhelming 360-59 vote passed a bipartisan reform bill Tuesday that provides more education for federal prisoners and gives them a second chance after their release.

The ACLU Is Suing To Strike Down Ohio's Congressional Map  —  The civil liberties group says Ohio's map is so heavily gerrymandered, it violates the Constitution.  —  The American Civil Liberties Union is suing Ohio to strike down the state's congressional map, saying it was intentionally drawn …

S.C. community outraged by photo of county council candidate in blackface  —  BRANTLEY TOMLISON-USER SUBMITTED FACEBOOK.jpg  —  KERSHAW COUNTY, S.C. (WACH) — A candidate for the Kershaw County Council is the talk of the town after a controversial photo began circulating on social media.

EPA bars reporters from toxic chemicals summit again  —  EPA staff Wednesday morning barred POLITICO and reporters from at least two other publications from entering a national summit on toxic chemicals.  —  The agency at the first day of the event on Tuesday allowed a select group of reporters …

There is no evidence for ‘Spygate’ — but there is a reason that Trump invented it  —  In the grand tradition of Gretchen Wieners, President Trump has a new catchphrase that he is trying on for size. … “Spygate” made its debut on Wednesday morning during Trump's “executive time,” …

Twitter adds candidate labels ahead of midterm elections  —  Twitter will start adding labels to the profiles of candidates running in the 2018 midterm elections after May 30th.  —  Why it matters: The move underscore's Twitter's ongoing effort to bring transparency to political discourse on their platform …