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 …

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.

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 …

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.

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 …

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 …

NRA Chief Wayne LaPierre Questioned on Travel Expenses  —  Lawyer for the gun-rights organization says vast majority of the money was spent on donor outreach, fundraising and other business

Trump easing offshore drilling safety rules from Deepwater  —  PORT FOURCHON, La. (AP) — The Trump administration moved Thursday to give oil and gas companies more flexibility in meeting safety requirements imposed after the 2010 BP Deepwater Horizon explosion, which killed nearly a dozen people …

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.

Ukrainian embassy confirms DNC contractor solicited Trump dirt in 2016  —  The boomerang from the Democratic Party's failed attempt to connect Donald Trump to Russia's 2016 election meddling is picking up speed, and its flight path crosses right through Moscow's pesky neighbor, Ukraine.

Trump says he's not inclined to let former counsel McGahn testify to Congress  —  WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Donald Trump said on Thursday he did not believe he would allow former White House counsel Don McGahn to testify to committees in Congress, saying McGahn had already spoken to the special counsel on the Russia probe.

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.