The Catastrophic Performance of Bill Barr  —  I was willing to give Bill Barr a chance.  Consider me burned.  —  When Barr was nominated, I wrote a cautious piece for this magazine declining to give him “a character reference” and acknowledging “legitimate reasons to be concerned about …

F.B.I. Sent Investigator Posing as Assistant to Meet With Trump Aide in 2016  —  WASHINGTON — The conversation at a London bar in September 2016 took a strange turn when the woman sitting across from George Papadopoulos, a Trump campaign adviser, asked a direct question: Was the Trump campaign working with Russia?

Facebook bans far-right leaders including Louis Farrakhan, Alex Jones, Milo Yiannopoulos for being “dangerous”  —  The bans are a sign that the social network is more aggressively enforcing its hate speech policies under pressure from civil rights groups.  —  Facebook said on Thursday …

READ: White House letter to Barr on Mueller report  —  The White House accused special counsel Robert Mueller's team of playing politics with the investigation.  Read the letter:

Stephen Moore Withdraws as Trump's Federal Reserve Board Pick After Anti-Women Remarks Unearthed  —  The former Trump campaign advisor's views on women and other subjects sparked criticism from lawmakers, including Republicans.  —  Stephen Moore withdrew himself from consideration to sit …

Someone Did Get to Look at Trump's Tax Returns: Deutsche Bankers  — A trip to Weisselberg's office but no photocopies allowed  — Ivanka served as point person and suggested personal guarantee  —  Donald Trump doesn't want anyone to see his tax returns.  Not the public.  Not Congress.

Why I — a Bland White Guy You've Never Heard Of — Am Running for President  —  My name is Michael Bennet, and today I announced my campaign for the presidency of the United States.  —  Seeking the world's most powerful office is always an audacious act.  And doing so in the present context …

Baltimore Mayor Pugh resigns after month on leave amid investigation into her business deals  —  Pictures of Baltimore Mayor Catherine Pugh through the years  —  Baltimore Mayor Catherine E. Pugh resigned Thursday, apologizing for the harm she has caused to the city's image and the mayor's office amid …

Bernie Sanders personally spearheaded campaign strategy to take on Joe Biden  —  Sanders: Dems must campaign on policy issues, not attacks  —  (CNN)The decision by Bernie Sanders' campaign to immediately engage with Joe Biden — in a series of public remarks, tweets and emails to supporters …

Authorities: Alleged Russian spy whale is refusing to leave and seeking Norwegians' devotion  —  BERLIN — An alleged Russian spy whale is refusing to leave a Norwegian port city, in what appears to be a high-profile defection after a week of global attention on the unnamed beluga.

Mayor Pete Buttigieg's Unlikely, Untested, Unprecedented Presidential Campaign  —  As Pete Buttigieg addressed supporters off a back porch in Marshalltown, Iowa, the Devil was whispering his name.  “Pete,” the Devil hissed into a microphone.  “You're sooo smart, Pete.”

Gayle King pushes out Norah O'Donnell at ‘CBS This Morning’  —  Norah O'Donnell is officially out as co-host of CBS's struggling morning show — thanks to Gayle King.  —  Sources close to CBS say that the new anchor lineup for “CBS This Morning” has been set and it doesn't include O'Donnell because King …

Exclusive: Foreign government leases at Trump World Tower stir more emoluments concerns  —  WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. State Department allowed at least seven foreign governments to rent luxury condominiums in New York's Trump World Tower in 2017 without approval from Congress …

Scientists discover cocaine in every shrimp tested from English rivers, study says  —  Scientists studying freshwater shrimp in British waterways have made an eye-opening discovery, according to a new study: All the shrimp they looked at tested positive for cocaine.

Apple Podcasts Preview  —  Bill Clinton is a master at using storytelling to explain complex issues and bring people closer together.  To hear him tell it, this comes from growing up in a family where everyone had a story, but in order to tell one, you first needed to listen.

Maduro Announces Plan to ‘Improve Everything’ and ‘Correct Mistakes’ Through National Dialogue  —  Venezuela's President Nicolás Maduro has called for a weekend of national dialogue as opposition demonstrations have rocked the South American nation this week.

Surviving a stroke  —  CNN National Security Analyst Michael Hayden, a retired four-star US Air Force general, formerly headed the Central Intelligence Agency and the National Security Agency.  His daughter-in-law, Jessica Powley Hayden, helped him to focus his thoughts and put them on paper.

Did House Speaker's office attempt to frame activist?  DA asks for special prosecutor to investigate  —  Casada's chief of staff: ‘Black people are idiots’  —  NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WTVF) — Did Tennessee House Speaker Glen Casada's office try to frame a young activist who had challenged …

GOP Lawmaker Gave Pro-War Speech on Yemen — by Reading Saudi Lobbyist's Talking Points Verbatim  —  Rep. Ed Royce, a senior Republican who, at the time, chaired the Foreign Affairs Committee, gave a speech on the House floor in November 2017 imploring his fellow lawmakers to maintain support for the Saudi Arabian-led war in Yemen.