James Comey says he is confused by Mueller's decision on obstruction  —  “The entire rationale for a special counsel is to make sure the politicals aren't making the key charging decisions,” the former FBI chief said.  —  CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Former FBI Director James Comey told an audience …

Barbara Bush: Did she still consider herself a Republican?  'I'd probably say no today.'  —  Barbara Bush, in a forthcoming book, had given up on the Republican Party.  Susan Page expounds upon the story from her book, “The Matriarch.”  —  CONNECT  —  EXCLUSIVE: This story is adapted …

White House Obamacare reversal made over Cabinet objections  —  The Trump administration's surprising move to invalidate Obamacare on Monday came despite the opposition of two key Cabinet secretaries: Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar and Attorney General William Barr.

For Michael Avenatti, a luxury lifestyle built on a purported house of cards  —  Long before he was Stormy Daniels' lawyer, well before he was accused of trying to shake down Nike for millions of dollars, Michael Avenatti was an Orange County plaintiff's attorney living a luxe life adorned with fast cars …

‘Undoubtedly there is collusion’: Trump antagonist Adam Schiff doubles down after Mueller finds no conspiracy  —  President Trump, emboldened by the special counsel's determination he was not part of a criminal conspiracy to sway the 2016 election, has an early target as he seeks recompense from his critics …

EXCLUSIVE: Elizabeth Warren lays out plan to target corporate agriculture, support family farms  —  Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren is taking aim at some of the nation's largest agribusiness companies, such as Tyson and Bayer-Monsanto, continuing her campaign's assault on corporate consolidation.

Facebook Bans White Nationalism and White Separatism  —  After a civil rights backlash, Facebook will now treat white nationalism and separatism the same as white supremacy, and will direct users who try to post that content to a nonprofit that helps people leave hate groups.

Betsy DeVos grilled in Congress over proposed elimination of Special Olympics funding  —  “What is it that we have a problem with, with children who are in special education?” a Democratic representative asked the education secretary.  —  Education Secretary Betsy DeVos struggled …

Indefensible: With no good explanation, prosecutors give Jussie Smollett a pass  —  Actor Jussie Smollett leaves the Leighton Criminal Court Building after all charges were dropped in his disorderly conduct case on March 26, 2019.  (Antonio Perez/Chicago Tribune)

John Roberts, Legislator  —  A new book tells of political horse-trading at the Supreme Court.  —  During a 10-day break for the Supreme Court in April 2012, several justices left Washington to give lectures or take short vacations.  But both John Roberts and Anthony Kennedy remained in Washington …

How Frank Luntz went from Trump enemy to White House insider  —  Frank Luntz had long been a loyal Republican insider — until Donald Trump came along.  During the 2016 campaign, Luntz openly criticized Trump, who attacked the storied pollster as a “low class snob” and called for Fox News to dump him from its airwaves.

Swedbank Laundering Case Explodes With Alleged Manafort Link  — Swedish bank is now reportedly being investigated in the U.S.  — Bank's headquarters in Stockholm were raided on Wednesday  —  The Swedbank AB money laundering scandal grew considerably more serious this week amid reports …

129 seconds that perfectly explain why liberals go wild for Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez  —  (CNN)On the day that the Senate rejected — by a vote of 0-57 — the broad strokes of the so-called “Green New Deal,” New York Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D), one of the leading voices for the legislation …

People Actually Like the Green New Deal  —  Mitch McConnell's show vote in the Senate on Tuesday rejected the plan, but Republicans may come to regret their mockery.  —  Mr. McElwee is one of the founders of Data for Progress.  —  Mitch McConnell, the Senate majority leader …

A job-scarce town struggles with Arkansas's first-in-nation Medicaid work rules  —  Marianna, ARK. — At the center of Court Square in this old Mississippi Delta town, the monument to the county's Confederate dead is inscribed: “No braver bled for a brighter land.  No brighter land had a cause so grand.”

How America's Biggest Theater Chains Are Exploiting Their Janitors  —  Every night, after the last show ended at the AMC theater in Santa Monica, Maria Alvarez arrived at work.  —  She and her husband had a key to let themselves in.  It was after midnight, and the building was empty.

Gillibrand Discloses 2018 Taxes, Pushing 2020 Rivals to Follow Suit  —  Senator Kirsten Gillibrand of New York disclosed on Wednesday that she earned about $218,000 last year through her congressional salary and a book deal, becoming the first Democratic presidential candidate to disclose …

Teen boys rated their female classmates based on looks.  The girls fought back.  —  Yasmin Behbehani had just walked into her third-period health class when her friend asked her if she had seen the list.  —  “There's a list of the girls' names,” her friend Nicky Schmidt …

Now China Is Detaining Muslims From Other Countries  —  Turkey is one of the few Muslim-majority countries to call out China's crackdown on Uighur Muslims.  A BuzzFeed News investigation finds that several Turkish nationals have also disappeared, something that has never been publicly acknowledged by Turkey.

Inside the Trump campaign's plan of attack  —  Some candidates haven't even formally announced their decision to run yet, but President Trump's re-election campaign is already gathering ammunition to use against his opponents and mapping out the regions where he is weakest.

Steve King, Facing Backlash From Both Parties, Fights for Political Life  —  ALGONA, Iowa — For nearly two decades, Representative Steve King pummeled Republican primary challengers, dispatched Democrats, even a former Iowa governor's wife, and glided to victory in his conservative district.

Psycho Analysis  —  Bret Easton Ellis rages against the decline of American culture  —  “I never pretended to be an expert on millennials,” writes Bret Easton Ellis halfway through White, and the reader desperately wishes this were true.  Ellis is best known for American Psycho …