CNN's Jim Acosta Challenges Sarah Huckabee Sanders, Then Makes a Quick Exit  —  Jim Acosta, the square-jawed CNN correspondent, has stood out among the White House press corps for his impassioned on-air monologues about the importance of the First Amendment.

It's True: Trump Is Lying More, and He's Doing It on Purpose.  —  On Thursday, the Washington Post published a remarkable story on its front page revealing a recent spike in the number of “false and misleading claims” made by President Trump.  In his first year as President, Trump made 2,140 false claims, according to the Post.

Top Trump Donor Agreed to Pay Michael Cohen $10 Million for Nuclear Project Push  —  Consulting deal with Franklin L. Haney could have been among the most lucrative struck by president's then-personal attorney  —  A major donor to President Trump agreed to pay $10 million to the president's …

A note from the editorial leadership of The Verge  —  Newsrooms must stand up to targeted campaigns of harassment  —  Since announcing her new job with The New York Times, a widespread campaign of harassment has targeted Verge reporter Sarah Jeong for a number of tweets she wrote years ago.

My son, Osama: the al-Qaida leader's mother speaks for the first time  —  Nearly 17 years since 9/11, Osama bin Laden's family remains an influential part of Saudi society - as well as a reminder of the darkest moment in the kingdom's history.  Can they escape his legacy?

China plans more retaliatory tariffs against U.S.  —  China is planning on hitting the U.S. with “differentiated tariffs on about $60 billion of U.S. goods,” according to Bloomberg.  —  The big picture: This comes days after reports that the White House was considering increasing the tariffs on Chinese goods from 10% to 25%.

In Tennessee Senate Race, Democrat Tries To Show He Can Overcome Political Tribalism  —  In the Trump era, the phrase “all politics is local” may feel like an anachronism.  But in Tennessee, Phil Bredesen is trying to prove that national partisan divides can be overcome in the most surprising Senate battleground of 2018.

Exclusive: suspected Russian spy found working at US embassy in Moscow  —  Russian is understood to have had full access to secret data during decade at embassy  —  US counter-intelligence investigators discovered a suspected Russian spy had been working undetected in the heart …

O'Rourke Puts Race into Lean Republican Column  —  This race in a state that isn't usually competitive for Democrats in statewide races has generated an unusual amount of attention.  Most of it is thanks to U.S. Rep. Beto O'Rourke, the Democratic nominee, who is running an unconventional yet …

In Potential Kobach Candidacy, Kansas Faces Another Lurch to the Right  —  TOPEKA, Kan. — The evolution of the Kansas Republican Party mirrors that of the national party, a rightward shift from the moderation of Dwight D. Eisenhower to the mainstream conservatism of Bob Dole …

Trump Fury Over Mueller ‘Conflicts’ Dates to Oval Office Meeting  — Mueller met with Trump on FBI job day before taking over probe  — President suggested Sessions should remove special counsel  —  President Donald Trump sat with Robert Mueller in the Oval Office in May of last year …

Pompeo says North Korea weapons work counter to denuclearization pledge  —  SINGAPORE (Reuters) - Less than two months after a landmark U.S.-North Korea summit in Singapore, U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo flew back to the city state on Friday and said North Korea's continued work …

QAnon: Meet a real-life believer in the online, pro-Trump conspiracy theory that's bursting into view  —  After I wrote about QAnon, an online conspiracy theory that leaped on Tuesday from the far reaches of the Internet to the audience at Trump's rally in Tampa, an email arrived in my inbox from a man named Paul Burton.

Exclusive: Bannon blasts ‘con artist’ Kochs, ‘lame duck’ Ryan, ‘diminished’ Kelly  —  Stephen Bannon is ratcheting up his war on the Koch network, accusing the billionaire brothers of running “a conscious scam” and a “con job.”  —  He also has a warning for Republican candidates …

Trump administration tells ACLU to find deported parents  —  The Trump administration on Thursday informed a federal judge that it isn't responsible for locating deported parents separated forcibly from their children at the southern border.  —  DOJ said in a court filing …

Democrats hopeful after poll shows plummeting trust in Trump  —  “Russia, Immigration and Trade War Sticking to Trump” is the headline of a new polling memo for Priorities USA by Garin-Hart-Yang Research Group and Global Strategy Group.  —  Why it matters: “This translates into the worst ratings …

Police Report: Ex-GOP Official Calls Himself Second Christ, Sacrifices Dog  —  Todd Kincannon, former executive director of the South Carolina Republican Party, has reportedly killed his dog due to his belief that he is Jesus Christ and needed to perform a sacrifice.

Donald Trump Jr. co-hosts Dinesh D'Souza's very conservative D.C. film premiere  —  The red carpet for the screening of far-right filmmaker Dinesh D'Souza's new documentary was all business.  There's no time for chitchat about who is wearing what when you've got an entire liberal ideology to topple.

After investigating Clinton White House and Vincent Foster's death, Brett Kavanaugh had a change of heart  —  In early 1995, Brett Kavanaugh, a rising star in conservative legal circles, wrestled with one of the most inflammatory questions of the Clinton presidency: How did White House deputy counsel Vincent Foster die?

White Americans support welfare programs — but only for themselves, says new research  —  New study shows white Americans love government support programs — that is, if they're the beneficiaries  —  Donald Trump's administration recently decided to give $12 billion to farmers hurt …

Trump takes us-versus-them media war to new heights  —  When CNN's Jim Acosta was booed and cursed at a campaign rally for President Trump  —  this week, many political observers said it exemplified how much the media environment has changed under the current administration — and that is a sign of what's to come.

Generation Shapiro  —  Ben Shapiro and the future of American conservatism  —  I spend a few weeks every year teaching high school and college students, and in my interactions with young people in and around universities I have noticed a trend.  After class, at meals, and in walks around campus …

National Enquirer Boss David Pecker Tiptoes Away From His Pal Trump as Scandal Swirls and Circulation Drops … Shortly after the feds raided the office of Michael Cohen, President Donald Trump's now estranged personal attorney and longtime enforcer, National Enquirer publisher David Pecker went into a state of calculated retreat.

Trump's Inaccurate Claims About Highways, Immigration and Beyoncé From a Pennsylvania Rally  —  President Trump said his campaign rallies drew larger crowds than concerts for Beyoncé, Jay-Z and Bruce Springsteen.  That was one of 15 inaccurate claims he made.  —  THE FACTS

Ethnic cleansing makes a comeback — in China  —  If ethnic cleansing takes place in China and nobody is able to hear it, does it make a sound?  That's what millions of Muslims inside the People's Republic are asking as they watch the Chinese government expand a network of internment camps …

'Many didn't notice it as keenly as I did because I knew him way back when.  They thought Trump was being Trump, off the cuff,' Omarosa writes.  'But I knew something wasn't right'  —  Omarosa was beside herself when the president contradicted the White House party line that FBI head James Comey …