Conservatives mount a whisper campaign smearing Khashoggi in defense of Trump  —  Hard-line Republicans and conservative commentators are mounting a dark whisper campaign against Jamal Khashoggi that is designed to protect President Trump from criticism of his handling of the dissident …

Justice Dept. charges Russian woman with interference in Midterm elections  —  The Justice Department on Friday charged a Russian woman for her role in a conspiracy to interfere with the 2018 U.S. election, marking the first criminal case prosecutors have brought against a foreign national for meddling in the upcoming Midterms.

GOP Rep. Jason Lewis once mocked women who felt traumatized by unwanted touching  —  GOP rep. defends prior comments on ‘slut’ women  —  (CNN)Republican Rep. Jason Lewis once mocked women who were traumatized by unwanted sexual advances, including those inappropriately kissed …

For U.S. Senate: Beto O'Rourke  —  United States Senator: Beto O'Rourke  —  Beto O'Rourke - Democratic Party: ★★★★ 1/2  —  The collective swoon that U.S. Senate candidate Beto O'Rourke has aroused among victory-starved Democrats nationwide recalls, even as it far exceeds …

Georgia purged an estimated 107,000 people largely for not voting, an APM Reports investigation shows  —  A handful of states, most of them led by Republicans, are using someone's decision not to vote as the trigger for removing them from the rolls.  No state has been more aggressive …

New York man arrested for threatening senators over Kavanaugh  —  A Long Island, New York man was arrested on Friday for threatening to harm two senators over their support for Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh, according to the Justice Department.  —  Ronald DeRisi, 74 …

Michael Cohen: Vote, or face more years of ‘craziness’  —  New York (CNN)Michael Cohen, Donald Trump's former lawyer, pleaded with the American public on Friday to head to the polls and vote against the President and the Republican Party, predicting that if they did not, there would be two or six more years of “craziness.”

Nancy Pelosi hints at short-term lease on House speakership … Democrats have yet to win a House majority and Nancy Pelosi's return as speaker is by no means certain, but already she has one eye on the exits.  —  “I see myself as a transitional figure,” Pelosi said in an interview …

Justice Dept. Rank-and-File Tell of Discontent Over Sessions's Approach  —  WASHINGTON — During his 20 months in office, Attorney General Jeff Sessions has swept in perhaps the most dramatic political shift in memory at the Justice Department, from the civil rights-centered agenda of the Obama era …

How Do You Solve a Problem Like Hillary?  —  She's not going away—and Democrats aren't sure what to do about it.  —  In recent months, some reporters who cover the Trump White House have received phone calls from the last person they would expect: Hillary Clinton.

Paul Manafort arrives at court hearing about sentencing date in a wheelchair  —  Paul Manafort, the onetime Trump campaign chairman, arrived in court on Friday for a hearing about his sentencing date in a wheelchair.  —  Manafort is currently in detention in an Alexandria jail awaiting sentencing …

Uh Oh: Woman Claims “Unwanted” Sexual Advance By Senate Dem In “Late 1980s”  —  Shall we go by the old rules or the new rules?  Rep. Jim Renacci's (R-OH) Senate campaign has highlighted a claim by an anonymous woman that incumbent Senator Sherrod Brown (D-OH) might have sexually harassed or assaulted her in the late 1980s.

First group from Honduran caravan crosses into Mexico, testing President Trump's red line  —  “If migration and the federal police do not allow us access, we will do the impossible to cross into Mexico,” one migrant said.  —  The U.S. government is now tracking a small group of immigrants …

I pulled a 1,500-year-old sword out of a lake  —  People are saying I am the queen of Sweden because of the legend of King Arthur  —  Every summer, my parents, my six-year-old brother and I go to stay in a cabin by a lake called Vidöstern in Tånnö in southern Sweden, not far from where we live.

Texas Congressman Joaquin Castro Offers a Jared Kushner Conspiracy Theory So Absurd That Even CNN Won't Touch It  —  Even CNN has its limits as to how far it will go down the rabbit hole when it comes to attacking Republicans, and Rep. Joaquin Castro (D-Texas) found that limit on Friday morning.

Schumer blasts GOP on health care, says Senate election races now ‘neck and neck’  —  Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer said Friday that Democrats are running “neck and neck” for the majority in the Senate, telling MSNBC that Republicans have handed the minority party a “gift” …

Haley breaks with Trump: ‘In America, our political opponents are not evil’  —  Outgoing U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley insisted Thursday night that “in America, our political opponents are not evil,” a shark rhetorical break from her boss, President Donald Trump …

Founder of Proud Boys Says He's Arranging Surrender of 8 in Brawl  —  The founder of the far-right group the Proud Boys said on Friday that he was arranging the surrender of eight members whom the police are seeking in connection with a brawl outside a Republican club in Manhattan last weekend.

Apple CEO Tim Cook Is Calling For Bloomberg To Retract Its Chinese Spy Chip Story  —  “There is no truth in their story about Apple.  They need to do the right thing.”  —  Apple CEO Tim Cook, in an interview with BuzzFeed News, went on the record for the first time to deny allegations …

Mueller report PSA: Prepare for disappointment  —  And be forewarned that the special counsel's findings may never be made public.  —  President Donald Trump's critics have spent the past 17 months anticipating what some expect will be among the most thrilling events of their lives …

A shouting match inside the White House unmasks one of Trump's biggest lies  —  A shouting match has erupted inside the White House between two of President Trump's top advisers.  While angry arguments are typical in the world of stressful, high-stakes White House decision-making …

Owner of Major League Baseball team among funders of racist super PAC  —  A shockingly racist radio ad from a super PAC calling itself Black Americans for the President's Agenda went viral on Thursday evening.  The spots, running on radio stations popular with black voters in Arkansas and Missouri …