Trump Defends His Handling of McCain's Death  — Won't say if McCain would've been better president than Obama  — 'I've done everything that they requested' for senator  —  President Donald Trump insisted Thursday he properly honored John McCain following his death but wouldn't say whether …

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 …

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 …

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 …

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.

Donald Trump Is Setting Up A Lame-Duck Crisis  —  President Trump is preparing to thrust the country into a crisis as soon as the midterm elections are behind him—irrespective of which party wins the race for control of Congress—and Republicans are lining up to make sure he gets away with it …

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.

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.

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.

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 …

DOJ's Bruce Ohr kept Mueller deputy ‘in the loop’ about anti-Trump dossier, sources say  —  Embattled Justice Department official Bruce Ohr had contact in 2016 with then-colleague Andrew Weissmann, who is now a top Robert Mueller deputy, as well as other senior FBI officials …

Florida does it again  —  Florida, you have done it again.  —  The nation's biggest swing state has given us many suspenseful elections.  This year, its gubernatorial race will also provide something of a political laboratory experiment.  —  Both parties are testing the proposition that …

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.

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.

Is Delaware's Kerri Evelyn Harris the next explosion to rock the Democrats?  |  Will Bunch  —  Kerri Evelyn Harris' secret weapon in her upstart Democratic campaign for a U.S. Senate seat is size — or, more specifically, Delaware's lack of it.  —  The First State is, after all …

I Worked With Avital Ronell.  I Believe Her Accuser.  —  The humanities are ablaze.  This month The New York Times reported that the Title IX office had found Avital Ronell, a professor of German and comparative literature at New York University and a superstar in literary studies …

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 …

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 …

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.

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 …

Anticipation builds around Mueller as 60-day election window nears  —  The cut-off is not a hard-and-fast rule, but some former prosecutors expect Mueller to bend over backward to avoid taking steps that might be construed as improper before the midterms.  —  The window closes next week …

'My robot makes me feel like I haven't been forgotten'  —  Internet-connected robots that can stream audio and video are increasingly helping housebound sick children and elderly people keep in touch with teachers, family and friends, combating the scourge of isolation and loneliness.

Texas spent $7 million to fight against A/C in a prison.  It may only cost $4 million to install.  —  At a Capitol hearing, the Texas prison system's director said exceptions in construction requirements allowed for the cost decrease.  —  After settling a costly legal fight …

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 …

‘Totally dishonest’: Trump asserts only he can be trusted over opponents and ‘fake news’  —  Over roughly the past day, President Trump has decried the “totally dishonest” media, with its “fake news” and “fake books.”  He has argued that Google is biased against conservatives.

Cuba hardliner to be elevated to key White House post on Latin America  —  WASHINGTON  —  The Trump administration is expected to name Mauricio Claver-Carone, one of the most outspoken opponents of the Obama administration's rapprochement with Cuba, as the new senior director …

Climate change could render many of Earth's ecosystems unrecognizable  —  After the end of the last ice age — as sea levels rose, glaciers receded and global average temperatures soared as much as seven degrees Celsius — the Earth's ecosystems were utterly transformed.

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 …