Trump Says He'll Keep Sessions Until November Despite ‘Illegal’ Probe  — The attorney general has resisted Trump's pressure to resign  — Mueller probe is ‘an illegal investigation,’ president says  —  President Donald Trump said Attorney General Jeff Sessions's job is safe at least until the midterm elections in November.

National Enquirer Had Decades of Trump Dirt.  He Wanted to Buy It All.  —  Federal investigators have provided ample evidence that President Trump was involved in deals to pay two women to keep them from speaking publicly before the 2016 election about affairs that they said they had with him.

I Helped Create Insider Political Journalism.  Now It's Time For It To Go Away.  —  Traditional political journalists were the last people to notice in 2016 that the world had changed.  Candidate Donald Trump took advantage of a stubborn refusal to recognize the power of right-wing ideology …

Rudy Giuliani Is Putting Together a ‘Counter-Report’ to Question Robert Mueller's ‘Legitimacy’  —  It's being done with the explicit blessing of Trump who is ‘happy’ that this is part of his legal team's ‘strategy,’ the president's lawyer says.  —  President Donald Trump's legal team is crafting a …

Trump eliminates pay raises for civilian federal employees  —  In a letter sent to House Speaker Paul Ryan on Thursday, President Trump announced that civilian federal employees will not receive pay increases next year, undoing the original 2.1% pay increase that was set to take place in 2019.

Trump bashes CNN, NBC media executives  —  President Donald Trump lashed out Thursday morning at top media executives from NBC and CNN, continuing his tirade against media coverage that he considers unfair from outlets he has labeled “fake news.”  —  “The hatred and extreme bias of me by @CNN …

Chuck Todd Warns of Possible Mueller Bombshell: 'I Wouldn't Miss Work Tomorrow'  —  MSNBC's Chuck Todd issued a warning to the press on Thursday evening regarding the Russia investigation: Don't miss work tomorrow.  —  Todd's MTP Daily panel was discussing Special Counsel Robert Mueller's probe …

Judge Rules Against Alex Jones and Infowars in Sandy Hook Lawsuit  —  A Texas judge denied the motion by the conspiracy theorist Alex Jones to dismiss a defamation lawsuit brought against him and his Infowars operation by the parents of a Sandy Hook shooting victim, in a ruling released on Thursday.

Ex-Trump adviser Roger Stone says he expects Mueller to charge him with a crime  —  The Mueller team wants “to frame me for some nonexistent crime to silence me and pressure me to testify against the president,” says Stone.  —  WASHINGTON — Days after he predicted the president's eldest son …

California Man Charged with Making Violent Threats Against Boston Globe Employees  —  BOSTON - A California man was arrested today and charged with making violent threats against Boston Globe employees in retaliation for the newspaper's editorial response to political attacks on the media.

Trump Threatens to Pull U.S. Out of WTO If It Doesn't ‘Shape Up’  — Step would undermine cornerstone of international trade system  — Trump has complained Geneva-based body treated U.S. badly  —  President Donald Trump said he would pull out of the World Trade Organization …

Your Favorite Burger Chain Just Donated a Bunch of Money to the Republican Party  —  In-N-Out just dropped $25,000 into the GOP's coffers  —  Orange County is shaping up to be one of the hottest political battlegrounds going into the midterm elections-and, it appears, Irvine-based In-N-Out Burger has cast their vote early.

Ronan Farrow's Ex-Producer Says NBC Impeded Weinstein Reporting  —  In October, when Ronan Farrow published his first article in The New Yorker on the alleged transgressions of Harvey Weinstein, people in the media and entertainment industries wondered how NBC had missed the story.

Trump's Top Targets in the Russia Probe Are Experts in Organized Crime  —  Bruce Ohr.  Lisa Page.  Andrew Weissmann.  Andrew McCabe.  President Trump has relentlessly attacked these FBI and Justice Department officials as dishonest “Democrats” engaged in a partisan “witch hunt” …

Ron DeSantis's ‘monkey’ comment was just the start of his racist dog-whistling  —  Tallahassee Mayor Andrew Gillum's victory in the Democratic primary for Florida governor wasn't even 12 hours old when his Republican challenger, Rep. Ron DeSantis, hurled a few race cards into the general-election campaign.

Bank of America freezing accounts of customers suspected of not being US citizens  —  Saeed Moshfegh woke up earlier this month to discover the strangest thing: though he had plenty of money in his Bank of America account, he couldn't access it.  —  An Iranian getting his Ph.D in physics …

Former Nixon counsel John Dean to be witness opposed to Kavanaugh nomination to Supreme Court  —  Democrats seeking to defeat the Supreme Court nomination of Brett Kavanaugh have recruited former Nixon White House counsel John Dean to testify during next week's hearing on Capitol Hill …

Woody Allen's new film shelved by Amazon  —  A Rainy Day in New York may never be screened, after distributor says no release date has been set  —  Woody Allen's latest film, A Rainy Day in New York, has been left in limbo after Amazon Studios appeared to shelve it indefinitely.

Dem rep warns immigration officers following ‘illegal’ Trump orders: ‘You will not be safe’  —  A Democratic lawmaker issued a startling warning to government officials involved in “illegal” deportations that they “will not be safe” from future punishment when Donald Trump is no longer president.

Sept. 11 is still killing FBI agents: 'It's like Bin Laden reaching out from the grave' … FBI Agent Dave LeValley was driving to work in Manhattan when he saw the first jetliner strike the World Trade Center on a bright September morning 17 years ago.  He quickly parked his car and sprinted …

A Broken Relationship and Accusations of Emotional Abuse: The Case of Keith Ellison  —  MINNEAPOLIS — When Keith Ellison became the first Muslim elected to Congress in 2006, it made him an instant national star: a charismatic young black leader who was now a symbol of the Democratic Party's commitment to diversity and equal rights.

Trump administration to end U.S. funding to U.N. program for Palestinian refugees  —  The Trump administration has decided to cancel all U.S. funding of the United Nations aid program for Palestinian refugees, part of its determination to put its money where its policy is as it seeks …

Postal Service Accepts Blame for Release of Candidate's Security File, and Asks for It Back  —  WASHINGTON — The Postal Service on Thursday said it “deeply regrets our mistake in inappropriately releasing” the official personnel file of Abigail Spanberger, a former C.I.A. operative now running …

Top 2008 campaign aides shut out of McCain funeral  —  Campaign manager Steve Schmidt, senior adviser Nicolle Wallace, and longtime strategist John Weaver were snubbed, as was former running mate Sarah Palin.  —  John McCain's funeral will spotlight some of the late senator's political rivals …

Getting to Know White Voters  —  There are LOTS of opinions and narratives out there about white voters. … Most of these narratives are built on data supplied by the 2016 exit polls and the “education level” cross-tabs in current polling.  However, new data and analysis of the 2016 vote suggest …

Trump Says He Has ‘Patience’ for North Korea's Kim to Make Deal  — President called off a Pompeo trip to North Korea last week  — He's accused China of undermining U.S. efforts to press Kim  —  Donald Trump said he can be patient with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un …