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 …

Exclusive: Kimberly Guilfoyle Left Fox News After Investigation Into Misconduct Allegations, Sources Say  —  Sources tell HuffPost that Guilfoyle, who is dating Donald Trump Jr., engaged in emotionally abusive behavior and showed colleagues personal photos of male genitalia.

G.D.P. Grew at 4.1% Rate in U.S. in Latest Quarter.  Here's What That Means.  —  The Commerce Department released its initial estimate of second-quarter economic growth on Friday, providing the latest snapshot of the American economy.  —  The Numbers  —  United States gross domestic product rose …

Leslie Moonves Accused of Sexual Misconduct in Ronan Farrow Exposé  —  The CBS CEO, one of the most powerful men in Hollywood, is accused of unwanted kissing and touching in a New Yorker article set to be published Friday.  —  The New Yorker is poised to publish an article by Ronan Farrow …

At Prayer Breakfast, Guests Seek Access to a Different Higher Power  —  WASHINGTON — With a lineup of prayer meetings, humanitarian forums and religious panels, the National Prayer Breakfast has long brought together people from all over the world for an agenda built around the teachings of Jesus.

GOP Rep. Jason Lewis called people on government assistance ‘parasites,’ said blacks on welfare ‘plantation’  —  GOP rep. said blacks have ‘entitlement mentality’  —  (CNN)Republican Rep. Jason Lewis has repeatedly demeaned recipients of welfare and government assistance, calling them …

Second-quarter GDP jumps 4.1% for best pace in nearly four years  —  Gross domestic product grew at a solid 4.1 percent pace in the second quarter, its best pace since 2014, boosting hopes that the economy is ready to break out of its decade-long slumber.  —  The number matched expectations …

How five key voter groups view Trump  —  President Trump's approval rating among five key voter groups shows how tough it will be for Republicans to keep control of the House in the midterm elections.  —  Data: SurveyMonkey online poll among a total sample of 52,211.  Margin of error of ±1.5 percentage points.

Immigrant Youth Shelters: “If You're a Predator, It's a Gold Mine”  —  We obtained police reports and call logs from more than two-thirds of the shelters housing immigrant children.  Here's what they show.  —  Just five days after he reached the United States, the 15-year-old Honduran boy awoke …

Help us identify Trump's unknown golf partners  —  In the flood of stories about how people close to President Trump sought to leverage their relationships for personal gain earlier this year, one story didn't attract as much attention as it might otherwise have.

While I Don't Relish Gutting Newspaper Payrolls, Unfortunately Sometimes It's Necessary So That I Can Have Slightly More Money  —  In today's increasingly difficult media landscape, there aren't always easy solutions to the challenges publishers face.  Earlier this week, Tronc …

Putin: ‘Ready’ to go to Washington, invites Trump to Moscow  —  (CNN)Russian President Vladimir Putin said Friday he is ready to go to Washington and has invited US President Donald Trump to Moscow, but there “has to be necessary conditions.”  —  “We are ready for such meetings, we are ready to invite President Trump to Moscow.

Why didn't FBI tell court about Christopher Steele bias?  —  There has been bitter debate about the release of a heavily-redacted version of the FBI's application for a Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act warrant to wiretap onetime Trump foreign policy adviser Carter Page.

Friday, July 27th is National Collusion Call-In Day  —  Your Action  —  Call your 3 members of Congress (833-293-9454) and tell them to protect the Mueller investigation and the rule of law by passing the Special Counsel Independence and Integrity Act (S. 2644) (H.R. 5505).  —  Background

Facebook removes four videos on pages operated by Alex Jones and InfoWars  —  Facebook removed four videos on pages operated by InfoWars and its founder, Alex Jones, a spokesperson for the social media company said Thursday night.  —  “We received reports related to four different videos …

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.

The Daily 202: Puerto Ricans who fled to Florida after Hurricane Maria are not registering to vote  —  THE BIG IDEA: Hurricane Maria ravaged Puerto Rico last September and prompted a mass exodus of more than 100,000 residents to the mainland United States.  The Category 4 storm destroyed …

New political movement seeks members from left, right and center to find solutions  —  The Republican Party was born in the mid-1800s, a coalition of northern Democrats and other anti-slavery factions dedicated to equality and the Union.  —  Over time, Republican adherence …

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 …

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.

The Bottom Line in Republicans' 42 Open Seats  —  With 102 days to go, Democrats remain substantial favorites for House control.  A big reason: Republicans are defending 42 open or vacant seats, a record since at least 1930.  The retirements of Speaker Paul Ryan (WI-01) …

How to Have Sex in a Canoe  —  “Three words: center of gravity,” says James Raffan, former executive director of the Canadian Canoe Museum in Peterborough, Ontario.  To avoid capsizing, bodies should stay low in the hull, especially if you intend to make any lateral rocking movements.

Government data shows the entire ‘family separation’ crisis was built of lies  —  Now that the truth has come out about separating families at the border, the media has lost interest in the story and is on to the next hotness.  It turns out that the people for whom they created biblical levels …

SF coffee shop turns down Salesforce contract in immigration protest  —  A San Francisco coffee company has joined the outcry over the services Salesforce provides to U.S. Customs and Border Protection by turning down a $40,000 contract to serve drinks at Dreamforce, Salesforce's annual user conference.

Bari Weiss at Chautauqua: “The New Seven Dirty Words” … Speaking during Week Five 2018, “The Ethics of Dissent”  —  Before joining the Times a year ago, Bari was an op-ed editor at The Wall Street Journal and an associate book review editor there.  For two years, she was a senior editor at Tablet …