Cohen claims Trump knew in advance of 2016 Trump Tower meeting  —  (CNN)Michael Cohen, President Donald Trump's former personal attorney, claims that then-candidate Trump knew in advance about the June 2016 meeting in Trump Tower in which Russians were expected to offer his campaign dirt on Hillary Clinton …

Russian Hackers' New Target: a Vulnerable Democratic Senator … The Russian intelligence agency behind the 2016 election cyberattacks targeted Sen. Claire McCaskill as she began her 2018 re-election campaign in earnest, a Daily Beast forensic analysis reveals.

Meadows backs off impeaching Rosenstein after leadership talks  —  (R-N.C.) says he is tabling his efforts to impeach Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein  —  after having several meetings with Republican leadership, stating that he would instead pursue contempt if the Justice Department …

The Polls Are Crazy  —  You want to know where the American voter is headed, and what is likely to happen in November?  Good luck.  Some omens are good.  Thus, the Washington Times cites the NBC/Wall St. Journal poll for the proposition that Americans increasingly see Democrats as extreme:

Setting the record straight on shadow banning  —  People are asking us if we shadow ban.  We do not.  But let's start with, “what is shadow banning?”  —  The best definition we found is this: deliberately making someone's content undiscoverable to everyone except the person who posted it, unbeknownst to the original poster.

Emails: Lawyer who met Trump Jr. tied to Russian officials  —  LONDON (AP) — The Moscow lawyer said to have promised Donald Trump's presidential campaign dirt on his Democratic opponent worked more closely with senior Russian government officials than she previously let on, according to documents reviewed by The Associated Press.

Mueller Examining Trump's Tweets in Wide-Ranging Obstruction Inquiry  —  WASHINGTON — For years, President Trump has used Twitter as his go-to public relations weapon, mounting a barrage of attacks on celebrities and then political rivals even after advisers warned he could be creating legal problems for himself.

Scott Walker, other GOP candidates in key Midwest states trail Democratic rivals  —  NBC/Marist polls: Democrats lead in Senate contests in Michigan, Minnesota and Wisconsin  —  WASHINGTON — New polls in three key Midwest states show Republican Senate and gubernatorial candidates trailing …

White House says North Korea returns remains of U.S. war dead  —  North Korea on Friday returned the remains of what are believed to be U.S. servicemen killed during the Korean War, the White House said, with a U.S military plane making a rare trip from a U.S. base in South Korea to a coastal city in the North to retrieve the remains.

Bernie Sanders Adviser Is Assisting Special Counsel Investigation In Manafort Case  —  Tad Devine, a political operative who served at the highest levels of the Bernie Sanders campaign, will assist in the special counsel office's prosecution of Paul Manafort, Donald Trump's former campaign chairman …

Juncker's Trade Pitch to Trump: ‘I Can Be Stupid, as Well’  —  How bravado, flip cards and a White House ally helped European official sell U.S. president on trade detente  —  WASHINGTON—When Jean-Claude Juncker arrived the White House on Wednesday, the European Commission president …

Facebook's $100 billion-plus rout is the biggest loss in stock market history  —  Facebook was on track Thursday to post the largest one-day loss in market value by any company in U.S. stock market history after releasing a disastrous quarterly report.  —  With less than an hour to go in trading …

No More Free Lunch!  San Francisco Looks to Ban Tech Companies' Employee Cafes  —  San Francisco's working population is so homogenous that, when tech companies in the area (like Uber and Twitter) provide free lunches to employees, local restaurants are left empty.

A fist bump, then a rancorous call: How Trump's deal to free an American pastor in Turkey fell apart  —  President Trump thought he had a deal.  —  His NATO meeting with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan earlier this month had ended with a smile, a fist-bump and what Trump thought …

Kaine, Gardner, Reed, McCain Introduce Bill To Prevent The President From Leaving NATO  —  WASHINGTON, D.C. - Today, U.S. Senators Tim Kaine (D-VA), Cory Gardner (R-CO), Jack Reed (D-RI), and John McCain (R-AZ) introduced a bipartisan bill to explicitly prohibit the President of the United States …

Donald Trump could be ready to order a strike against Iran, Australian Government figures say  —  Senior figures in the Turnbull Government have told the ABC they believe the United States is prepared to bomb Iran's nuclear capability, perhaps as early as next month, and that Australia is poised to help identify possible targets.

From Russia to Bistro Bis: The Calif. congressman who dined with alleged Russian agent  —  When FBI counterintelligence agents plowed through the emails of alleged Russian agent Maria Butina's networking around Washington, they discovered her plan to arrange “friendship and dialogue dinners” with influential Americans.

Egypt zoo accused of painting donkey to look like a zebra  —  A zoo in Egypt has denied painting black stripes on a donkey to make it look like a zebra after a photo of the animal appeared online.  —  Student Mahmoud Sarhan put the images on Facebook after visiting Cairo's International Garden municipal park.

ICE to deport wife of Marine, Iraq veteran Aug. 3  —  U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents notified Alejandra Juarez Tuesday that she will be deported back to Mexico nine days from now, despite ongoing efforts to allow her to stay.  —  Juarez is married to former Marine Sgt. Cuauhtemoc …

How Facebook Went So Wrong So Fast  —  There are four theories, and three of them are alarming.  —  What happened?  —  That's what many of Facebook Inc.'s investors — and I — have spent the last 18 hours wondering.  On Wednesday, the company posted disappointing figures for second-quarter revenue, user growth and profits.

Role reversal: Architect of 2010 GOP House takeover in trouble  —  Texas Rep. Pete Sessions is at risk of losing his seat to a Trump-fueled wave.  —  DALLAS — The man who engineered the 2010 Republican takeover of the House is racing to save himself in his own election this year …

Starbucks Has to Pay for Drips of Off-the-Clock Work  —  Starbucks Corp. has to pay for California workers' off-the-clock work that lasts a few seconds or minutes past a scheduled shift, the state Supreme Court ruled.  —  The ruling could expose businesses in California to lawsuits …

Democrats Propose Making It Illegal To Spread False Election Information  —  Under the measure, knowingly spreading misinformation about voting criteria and election hours could be punishable by prison time.  —  Several congressional Democrats plan to introduce legislation Thursday …