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 …

Sources: NBC Threatened Ronan Farrow if He Kept Reporting on Harvey Weinstein  —  Ronan Farrow had already left NBC News.  But a top lawyer at the network threatened to smear him if he continued to pursue the Hollywood mogul, multiple knowledgeable sources say.  —  Lachlan Cartwright

Did Trump just admit that he tried to fire Mueller and Sessions?  —  President Trump has made a habit out of admitting things — often via Twitter — that he perhaps shouldn't.  Did he just do it again?  —  In a tweet Thursday morning, Trump called it “fake news” that now-outgoing White House Counsel …

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 …

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 …

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 …

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 …

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.

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 …

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.

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 …

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 …

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 …

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 …

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.

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 …

'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.

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.

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 …

VP Pence to CBN News on Democrats Impeachment Talk: ‘I Take Them at Their Word’  —  VP PENCE TO CBN NEWS ON DEMOCRATS IMPEACHMENT TALK: “I TAKE THEM AT THEIR WORD”  —  WASHINGTON - In an exclusive interview with CBN News, Vice President Mike Pence said he believes Democrats when they say they plan …

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.