McCain appears to criticize Trump in farewell message to the nation  —  The Arizona Republican's moving final words were read to the public by his close friend Rick Davis in Arizona.  —  Sen. John McCain, who passed away Saturday from brain cancer, penned a farewell message before he died …

Manafort Sought Deal in Next Trial, but Talks Broke Down  —  Negotiations stalled after Mueller raised issues  —  Paul Manafort's defense team held talks with prosecutors to resolve a second set of charges against the former Trump campaign chairman before he was convicted last week …

Death in the Age of Narcissism  —  But enough about John McCain.  Here's some more about me.  —  Just before and after John McCain's death on Saturday, I read many tweets, Facebook posts and essays that beautifully captured his importance.  —  I read many that were equally concerned with the importance of their authors:

“Trump Is Nuts.  This Time Really Feels Different”: Trump Rejects “War Council” Intervention, Goes It Alone  —  With his closest allies defecting, the president increasingly trusts only his instincts.  He “got joy” from stripping former C.I.A. director John Brennan's security clearance.

APNewsBreak: Nation's top student loan official resigns  —  NEW YORK (AP) — The top government official overseeing the $1.5 trillion student loan market resigned Monday, citing what he says is the White House's open hostility toward protecting the nation's millions of student loan borrowers.

Glenn Greenwald, the Bane of Their Resistance  —  A leftist journalist's bruising crusade against establishment Democrats—and their Russia obsession.  —  Like a man in the first draft of a limerick, Tennys Sandgren is a tennis player from Tennessee.  Last winter, after scraping his way onto …

Bloomberg News reassigned reporter after Wells Fargo CEO called to complain  —  A Bloomberg News reporter who covered Wells Fargo was reassigned earlier this year after the bank's CEO called the news organization's editor in chief and complained about the reporter, multiple people familiar with the matter told CNN.

Nuns Killed Children, Say Former Residents Of St. Joseph's Catholic Orphanage  —  Millions of American children were placed in orphanages.  Some didn't make it out alive.  —  It was a late summer afternoon, Sally Dale recalled, when the boy was thrown through the fourth-floor window.

Secret message board drives 'pizzagate'-style harassment campaign of small businesses  —  The theorists are inspired in part by a far-right news website that has been used by prominent Republicans for fundraising efforts.  —  In January, Andrew Richmond, a co-founder of a Toronto-based chain …

Bruce Ohr Fought Russian Organized Crime.  Now He's a Target of Trump.  —  WASHINGTON — As President Trump has threatened to take away the security clearance of Bruce G. Ohr, a career Justice Department official, he has described him as a “creep,” accused him of profiting off “disgraced” …

Ted Cruz Opts for Campaign Trail Instead of Senate Votes  —  When Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell nixed much of the August recess, it raised the prospect that vulnerable Democrats might miss valuable campaign time, but it appears to also be having an effect on Republicans.  Case in point: Sen. Ted Cruz.

‘Sleeper’ case could torpedo Mueller report  —  It might even keep the special counsel from sending a report to Congress, shaking Democrats' hopes that such a document could provide the impetus for impeachment proceedings.  —  A little-noticed court case stemming from the apparent murder …

U.S. and Mexico Agree to Preliminary Nafta Deal  —  WASHINGTON — The United States and Mexico have reached agreement to revise key portions of the 24-year-old North American Free Trade Agreement and a preliminary deal could be announced on Monday, a crucial step toward revamping a trade pact …

‘It Is the Era of Trump’: How the President Is Remaking the Republican Party  —  President Trump's critics are leaving the scene, and his successful primary endorsements are bringing in a new crowd  —  JACKSONVILLE, Fla.—For months after Republican Adam Putnam entered the Florida gubernatorial race, he seemed almost unbeatable.

Kushner Companies and Michael Cohen Accused of Falsifying Building Permits to Push Out Tenants  —  Charles Kushner, the developer whose son Jared Kushner is a senior adviser to President Trump, and Michael Cohen, the president's former personal lawyer, face scrutiny in New York for claims …

Is Pam Bondi auditioning for Fox News while still working for Florida taxpayers?  —  Bondi sought ethics commission approval before spending three days co-hosting “The Five,” a news talk show.  —  Pam Bondi is still the attorney general of Florida, at least for another four months.

Revealed: Notorious Pro-Trump Misinformation Site True Pundit Is Run By An Ex-Journalist With A Grudge Against The FBI  —  Days after former FBI lawyer Lisa Page testified in a closed-door meeting with the House Oversight and Government Reform and House Judiciary committees …

IG Confirms Trump's Involvement in FBI Headquarters Project Across From His Hotel  —  President Donald Trump was more intimately involved in the debate over relocating the FBI headquarters than Congress was told, a new inspector general report finds.  —  Rep. Gerald E. Connolly …

Michael Cohen's lawyer has done real damage to the case against Trump  —  One of the most bizarre aspects of the investigations engulfing the Trump administration is the lawyers involved.  Here we have a presidency on the line, and this is Trump's team?  The top legal spokesmen for each side are . . .

Rick and Ann Scott's financial trail leads to Cayman Islands tax haven  —  The governor's 125-page U.S. Senate financial disclosure statement yields another revelation.  —  The portfolio of Gov. Rick Scott and First Lady Ann Scott includes earnings last year of at least $2.9 million …

Duncan Hunter's Political Promise Foiled by Hard Partying and a Corruption Scandal  —  SAN DIEGO — In Alpine, Calif., a suburban Southern California enclave, Duncan Hunter was a good neighbor.  He'd help people do yard work, or move heavy furniture.  He drove the same dented-up truck for years.

‘The Conners’: John Goodman Says Roseanne Barr Character Will Be Killed Off - Report  —  John Goodman did not go into detail but confirmed to The Sunday Times Roseanne Barr's character will be killed off in the upcoming The Conners spinoff.  —  When talking about the new iteration of the series …

Elizabeth Warren: Jeff Sessions Acted as “Catalyst” for Weed Legalization  —  The Massachusetts senator sat down with Rolling Stone to discuss the state of pot in America, and her new bipartisan bill that would federally decriminalize cannabis  —  This year, President Donald Trump broke ranks …

It Would Take Only a Single Senator  —  A few days ago I wrote a long item about changing assessments of Donald Trump: which first impressions had held up, and which had called for second thoughts over time.  —  The last part of the post concerned the main, and depressing, area where second thoughts were necessary.