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 …

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.

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.

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 …

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 …

Kimberly Guilfoyle Did Not Leave Fox News Voluntarily, Sources Say: Scoop  —  Sources have told HuffPost about the host's departure from the network.  —  Three sources tell HuffPost that longtime Fox News host Kimberly Guilfoyle did not leave the cable news network voluntarily.

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 …

“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.

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.

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 …

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.

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 …

Brennan and the 2016 Spy Scandal  —  Obama's CIA director acknowledges egging on the FBI's probe of Trump and Russia.  —  The Trump-Russia sleuthers have been back in the news, again giving Americans cause to doubt their claims of nonpartisanship.  Last week it was Federal Bureau …

CIA watchdog withdraws nomination after allegations of retaliation against colleagues  —  Washington (CNN)Christopher Sharpley, the acting Inspector General of the Central Intelligence Agency, is withdrawing his nomination after former colleagues alleged he retaliated against them for blowing …

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.

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.

Roseanne Barr on Valerie Jarrett tweet: ‘I thought the b—h was white’  —  Roseanne Barr spoke out relatively unapologetically about the vile Valerie Jarrett tweet that got her “Roseanne” reboot canceled: “I thought the b—h was white!”  —  In a video posted to Barr's YouTube page …

Study: NY Times, Wash. Post quote more than twice as many Republicans as Democrats in political coverage  —  Throughout May and June, two of the nation's leading newspapers, The New York Times and The Washington Post, quoted Republicans at more than twice the rate of Democrats in their political news coverage.

The Left Gives Up on Comedy  —  Jon Gabriel, Ed.  —  Four years ago, progressives were riding high.  Obama was president, healthcare was fixed forever, and the reset-button Ruskies were our best pals.  But even in that golden age, there was a growing sense that comedy was ... well ... problematic.

Major Escalation in Gaza: Israel Launches Massive Attack After Hamas Snipers Fire at Troops  —  Four Hamas members killed in Israeli attack after snipers target Israeli soldiers Netanyahu holding emergency discussion at army headquarters Rocket sirens heard in Gaza-border communities after strike starts

Neo-Confederates reach out to their ‘Russian friends’ in new project  —  In late 2014, before Russian hackers had stolen emails from Hillary Clinton or accused Russian agents had met with Republican higher-ups, a small conference gathered in Moscow's Izmailovo Alfa Hotel.

GOP candidate calls woman ‘naive’ for asking about climate  —  Body heat is making Earth warmer, and climate change is caused by the planet's movement toward the sun.  —  Those are the claims of Pennsylvania's Republican gubernatorial candidate, former state Sen. Scott Wagner.

Where the Super-Rich Go to Buy Their Second Passport  —  Cheaper than a Gulfstream, nimbler than a superyacht, a second passport—or a third or fourth—has become another trophy for the ultra-wealthy.  —  Even self-styled citizens of the world, it seems, need a Plan B. Plus, that gold Maltese coat of arms looks classy.

Trump can shut down his Russia critics with one bold move  —  If President Trump wants to shut down the critics of his performance this week in Helsinki and strengthen U.S. national security, he can do so with one bold move: Announce he is moving out most U.S. forces currently stationed in Germany and sending them to Poland.

A Theory of Trump Kompromat  —  Why the President is so nice to Putin, even when Putin might not want him to be.  —  The former C.I.A. operative Jack Devine watched Donald Trump's performance standing next to Vladimir Putin in Helsinki on Monday, and his first thought was, “There is no way Trump is a Russian agent.”