Michael Cohen Secretly Taped Trump Discussing Payment to Playboy Model  —  WASHINGTON — President Trump's longtime lawyer, Michael D. Cohen, secretly recorded a conversation with Mr. Trump two months before the presidential election in which they discussed payments to a former Playboy model …

Manhattan Madam Kristin Davis — Subpoenaed by Robert Mueller  —  EXCLUSIVE  —  Kristin Davis, the Manhattan Madam who went to prison and was connected to former New York Governor Eliot Spitzer, is being subpoenaed in the Robert Mueller investigation ... TMZ has learned.

Why I'm No Longer a Russiagate Skeptic  —  Facts are piling up, and it's getting harder to deny what's staring us in the face.  —  When I wrote, back in February, that I was skeptical that President Donald Trump would ever be proved to have secretly colluded with Russia to sway the 2016 election in his favor, I mistyped.

James Gunn Fired as Director of ‘Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3’  —  The move comes after controversial tweets from the filmmaker were resurfaced.  —  James Gunn is exiting Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3.  —  The move comes after conservative personalities resurfaced old tweets Thursday …

The NRA Is Awfully Quiet About Maria Butina  —  Why won't the NRA comment on the arrest of the gun rights activist and accused Russian agent?  —  It typically takes a mass shooting to keep the National Rifle Association this quiet.  —  As of this writing, the NRA has issued no public comment …

Why I Needed to Pull Back From Twitter  —  The viciousness, toxic partisan anger and intellectual dishonesty are at all-time highs.  —  WASHINGTON, D.C. — I woke up last Sunday morning feeling anxiety in my chest as I checked the Twitter app on my phone, scrolling down to refresh, refresh, refresh.

So, Here's A Giant List Of All The Dumb Stuff I've Ever Done (Don't Worry, I'll Keep Updating It)  —  This week, in the space of 24 hours, I went from a nice person with good intentions who differs politically from liberals but doesn't bend the truth to a racist, sexist, bigot homophobe …

'I Couldn't Stop Laughing.  It's So Ridiculous.' A Surreal Week of Excuse-Making at the White House.  —  It's the end of the week in Washington, and there are some things that we know to be true: It's 83 degrees and partly cloudy, with 47 percent humidity.  At 11:30 a.m., Donald Trump's …

Senate candidate Corey Stewart says New York Times reporter broke into aide's apartment  —  Republican candidate for U.S. Senate Corey Stewart has accused a New York Times reporter of breaking into the apartment of a campaign aide, saying the “far left media” was trying to undermine his campaign against Sen. Tim Kaine in Virginia.

Fox News' Kimberly Guilfoyle leaving the network to hit campaign trail with Donald Trump Jr.  —  Kimberly Guilfoyle, a Fox News host and longtime network personality, plans to leave her role at the cable news channel, two people familiar with the matter said.

Iran has laid groundwork for extensive cyberattacks on U.S., say officials  —  Iran has positioned cyber weapons to hit private firms and infrastructure, but there is no suggestion an attack is imminent, say U.S. officials.  —  ASPEN, Colo. — Iranian hackers have laid the groundwork to carry …

McConnell issues Supreme Court ultimatum  —  The Senate GOP leader is vowing to squeeze Democrats with a vote on Brett Kavanaugh right before the midterms if they don't back down on their demand for documents.  —  Mitch McConnell has a warning for Democrats demanding copious documents …

Henry Kissinger: ‘We are in a very, very grave period’  —  It was not hard to entice Henry Kissinger to meet for lunch.  Though he is 95, and moves very slowly, the grand consigliere of American diplomacy is keen to talk.  He hops on and off planes to see the likes of Russia's Vladimir Putin …

GOP congressman said blacks have ‘entitlement mentality’ and view themselves as victims  —  GOP rep. defends prior comments on ‘slut’ women  —  (CNN)Republican Rep. Jason Lewis has a long history of racist rhetoric about African-Americans, pushing claims of a “racial war” …

Ta-Nehisi Coates is leaving the Atlantic  —  Ta-Nehisi Coates is leaving his position as a national correspondent for the Atlantic, a publication where he has emerged as one of the country's top reporters and thinkers.  He has not signed on with a competing publication.

Whoopi Goldberg: Jeanine Pirro ‘Cursed’ Us Out in Front of ‘The View’ Audience … “Unless you were under a rock yesterday, you know all about Jeanine Pirro's appearance here on the show,” Whoopi Goldberg said Friday morning on The View, putting an extra bit of snark on the Fox News host's name.

Republicans soften ZTE ban in concession to Trump  —  Republicans have agreed to water down legislation designed to punish Chinese telecom company ZTE, delivering a victory to President Donald Trump, according to a person close to negotiations in Congress.  —  Lawmakers reconciling House …

“There Is a Reason We Tried to Kill This”: After Helsinki, the Deep State Fears Trump Cannot Be Saved  —  As John Bolton grapples with the fallout from the president's harrowing performance in Finland, the analysts and experts who comprise the national-security apparatus brace themselves for what might come next.

USA Today Drops Columnist Cheri Jacobus After Tweet About Convicted Pedophile Jeffrey Epstein (Exclusive)  —  “Our editors let Jacobus know that she would no longer be writing for USA TODAY,” a spokesperson for the paper tells TheWrap  —  USA has dropped columnist Cheri Jacobus …

Father of Parkland School Shooting Survivors Killed in North Lauderdale Armed Robbery  —  North Lauderdale Robbery Surveillance Video  —  The father of two Parkland school shooting survivors was fatally shot at his own North Lauderdale convenience store during a robbery, according to the Broward County Sheriff's Office.

Bill Shine, Trump's Top Communicator, Was Questioned by Federal Prosecutors  —  WASHINGTON — Bill Shine, a former co-president of Fox News hired this month as President Trump's communications chief, brought conservative credentials and heavy baggage with him into the White House.

Trump says he's ‘ready’ to put tariffs on all $505 billion of Chinese goods imported to the US  — President Donald Trump has indicated he is willing to put tariffs on all $505 billion of Chinese goods the U.S. imports.  — The rhetoric marks ramps up the U.S-China trade war another step …

Why Trump Has Such a Soft Spot for Russia  —  It is possible, is it not, that Donald Trump simply believes what he says.  —  I realize, of course, that this is technically impossible from moment to moment.  But bear with me.  The slackened jaws, widened eyes, and general shock that greeted …

Fake, misleading social media posts exploding globally, Oxford study finds  —  WASHINGTON  —  Russia's social media blitz to influence the 2016 U.S. election was part of a global “phenomenon” in which a broad spectrum of governments and political parties used Internet platforms to spread junk news …